Four Foods in the Mountains

It has been sunny for more than a month. At the end of July, the weather is cloudy and cloudy, and it will rain from time to time in the mountains.

The sun was still raging in the morning, and it was overcast at noon. Lu Yunchuan came back from the field and washed his face and said, "The day is changing so fast, there will probably be heavy rain in the afternoon."

Cen Ning took a cloth towel and wiped off the water for him: "It's fine if it rains, just take a rest."

This year's wheat harvest is good, and corn and soybeans were planted two days ago. During this period, the work in the field does not have to be as rushed as it was some time ago.

Some time ago, when harvesting wheat, Lu Yunchuan alone worked the several mu of land at home. Every day when he came back from the field, he was drenched in sweat, and his hands were even red and swollen from the wear of the farm tools.

Cen Ning looked distressed, boiled hot water to soak Lu Yunchuan's feet every night, and massaged Lu Yunchuan's shoulders and neck before going to bed, just wanting him to have a good rest.

The trees on the top of the mountain were rustling by the strong wind, and the air was full of water vapor, which was the unique coolness before the heavy rain.

In the kitchen, Lu Yunchuan lit a fire, Cen Ning rolled out the noodles, and cooked a large pot of noodles.

I don't know why, but Lu Yunchuan is not picky about food, but he especially loves his noodles. Cen Ning always has to cook a big pot for him to eat.

The noodles are boiled together with the leaves of the green vegetables. After they are cooked, they are put into a bowl and sprinkled with green onion. On the bottom of the bowl are two poached eggs and a few drops of sesame oil.

The pickled cucumbers that were pickled some time ago were edible. Cen Ning picked up two pickles from the pickle jar and cut them into diced cucumbers. Without seasoning, it was crispy and refreshing when eaten empty-handed.

The two of them ate in the kitchen with bowls in hand. After eating a bowl of noodles, raindrops fell outside the house.

The rain in summer is fast, and soon it will fall heavily, and the patter of rain will make the tiles on the roof jingle.

After Cen Ning washed the dishes and came out, the milky white mountain mist surrounded the mountains, and the air was full of moisture. Whenever it rained in the mountains, there would be strong winds, and it was extremely cool at the moment.

Lu Yunchuan sat under the eaves and weaved bamboo baskets. When he was not doing farm work, he made small gadgets, and when he saved them, he could sell them in the town for money.

Cen Ning made a pot of barley tea and put it on the wooden table next to him. He also took a bench and sat next to Lu Yunchuan to embroider handkerchiefs. The shop in the town accepts these. He and Yao Chunling embroidered some when they were free, and waited until Lu Yunlang and Lu Yunchuan went to town. Take it with you from time to time and sell it together, and you can earn some money for your family.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and even the sky was getting dark.

Lu Yunchuan weaved a bamboo basket and poured a cup of barley tea, the strong aroma of barley filled his mouth immediately.

This was made by Cen Ning some time ago. The barley was roasted until browned and put into a cloth bag. When you want to drink it, just pour some out and brew it with hot water. It tastes better than tea.

"It's getting dark, don't hurt your eyes carefully, go into the house and rest for a while." I don't feel like I'm busy in the field on weekdays, but now that I'm free, I feel sleepy listening to the sound of rain.

Cen Ning wanted Lu Yunchuan to rest a little longer. Hearing this, he put down his needle and thread and went into the house with Lu Yunchuan. The room was also dark. The two of them took off their coats and lay on the bed, listening to the sound of rain hitting the lintel outside the window. fell asleep together.

When Cen Ning woke up again, the rain had stopped, the side was empty, and Lu Yunchuan was talking to someone outside the courtyard gate.

Getting up and getting dressed, when Cen Ning walked outside the house, Lu Yunchuan was pushing the courtyard door in.

"Is anyone here? Why don't you come in and have a cup of tea?"

"The second boy of the village chief's family, come and tell me that there is a master in the town who is recruiting people to work. He asked me if I would go. I knew you were sleeping in the house and didn't come in. It's okay to say a few words."

Cen Ning nodded, and asked again: "Are you going to work in the town? You just finished harvesting the wheat, and you haven't rested for a few days yet."

"It's hard to find work during the slack, don't worry, I'm not tired." Lu Yunchuan stretched out his hand to smooth the wrinkles of Cen Ning's jacket, "I plan to go to the town tomorrow to have a look, and I'll go to my elder brother's house and talk to him, let's sit together for a while? "

Knowing that Lu Yunchuan was going to work, he couldn't persuade him, so Cen Ning could only nod his head: "Okay, then I'll take the sewing basket and go find my sister-in-law to embroider handkerchiefs together."

The two put on the courtyard door and walked to the front room together.

After it rains in the mountains, there will be fog, and because the rain stops, the sky is a little brighter, and the clouds and fog are shrouded in the past, which is very beautiful.

It was cool after the rain, and every family in the village was sitting in the courtyard to enjoy the shade and talk about their daily life. Lu Yunlang and Yao Chunling were also playing with Brother Zhi in the courtyard, and they saw them coming over to make tea and wash the fruits.

Lu Yunlang and Lu Yunchuan were talking about going to work in the town, and Cen Ning was carrying a sewing basket to do needlework with Yao Chunling. Brother Zhi was well-behaved, and sat quietly by the side peeling and eating fruits by himself, and from time to time fed them to Yao Chunling and Cen Ning one.

"Thank you, brother Zhi." Cen Ning lowered his head and ate the fruit, then patted Zhi brother's head with a smile.

Brother Zhi smiled a little embarrassedly, his big eyes were moist.

Yao Chunling also laughed: "He likes the two aprons you sewed last time, and he has to put them on every night when he goes to bed and pats them with his hands. It rained the day before yesterday and they didn't dry up, so he went under the shelf at night to look at them helplessly. , Your elder brother felt sorry for him, so he ran to the kitchen and lit a fire, dried it and put it on for him."

The last time I cut cloth for Lu Yunchuan to make a middle coat, I had some leftover fabric. Cen Ning thought that it would be hot in summer and children would catch cold easily while sleeping on the quilt, so he made two small bellybands for Brother Zhi to protect his stomach.

Thinking it was my little brother's apron, I specially embroidered patterns with colored threads, one with geese on it and one with bunnies on it. He is good at needlework, and the embroidery is so tight that Yao Chunling praised it for a long time when she saw it. .

In fact, the bellyband is a trivial matter. For such a precious thing as cotton cloth, Cen Ning can think of using it to sew a bellyband for brother Zhi in case he catches a cold at night. This kind of thought is the most important thing. When Lu Yunchuan got married, Lu Yunlang and Yao Chunling were the eldest brother Sister-in-law has been busy and worried about him a lot, now seeing that Cen Ning is a good-natured and easy-going person, Yao Chunling is relieved.

When the rain stopped, the children in the village couldn't stop running out to play.

A plum tree was planted in the courtyard of the Lu family. A group of children passed by and saw the fruit hanging outside the courtyard wall. The leading child was Da Huzi, who poked his head into the courtyard and asked, "Aunt Yao, are you picking your plums?" ?”

"I'll pick it, but the tree is too tall to climb. Let your Uncle Lang use a stick to knock it down for you."

A group of children cheered and rushed into the yard. Lu Yunlang and Lu Yunchuan beat the plums with sticks, and they waited to pick them up under the tree. There was laughter and laughter in the yard for a while, and even Brother Zhi ran over and squatted down to pick up some plums. I didn't keep it for myself, I handed it all out.

After picking up the plums, the children said thank you and ran out to play in a swarm.

"Brother Zhi, do you want to go and play?" The youngest child just got the plums that Brother Zhi gave him, so he leaned over and asked Brother Zhi.

Before Brother Zhi opened his mouth, Da Huzi slapped it down: "Are you a fool? How can a little brother play around with a group of kids."

The child was carried away with his head covered. Brother Zhi shrank into Yao Chunling's arms in embarrassment. Yao Chunling hugged him and said with a smile: "Brother Zhi is not going, you go and play by yourself, plums need to be washed Eat it after it's clean, don't just imitate the grown-ups and wipe your clothes."

Fruit is not a rare thing. Most families in the village let their children pick it and eat it, and these children don’t pick it in vain. Each person will always divide some into a small basket and put it at the door of the house.

Lu Yunchuan and Lu Yunlang agreed to get up early tomorrow and go to the town to see the work, and they were going to go home with Cen Ning. Yao Chunling brought a black fish back and asked them to take it home to cook soup. Lu Yunchuan: "I guess there will be another rain. If the rain is heavy, I have to go to the field to have a look."

After returning home, I had a simple meal of steamed buns and porridge. In the evening, it really started to rain again. It was light rain at first, but then it became heavier and heavier.

Lu Yunchuan brought a bamboo hat and farming tools and said to Cen Ning, "It's raining too much, and the ridge of the field might collapse. I'll go to the field to have a look. If it's late, you can go to bed first, don't wait for me."

It was raining violently, and the thunder suddenly rang. Cen Ning was still a little timid sitting alone in the main room. He took the oil lamp into the room and embroidered handkerchiefs while waiting for Lu Yunchuan to come back. , the rain is not small.

Cen Ning lost his needle and thread again and ran to the kitchen to light a fire and boil two large pots of water.

It’s already cool at night in the mountains, and it’s cold when it’s raining heavily and windy sitting in the house. This day, it’s raining for a while, no matter how good your physique is, it’s unbearable. good.

Seeing Huo looking into the yard, Cen Ning felt a little anxious, and worried that Lu Yunchuan would be hungry after he returned from work, so he simply disposed of the black fish that he brought back in the afternoon, and planned to make fish soup to drink.

Cut the processed fish into pieces, fry in the pan until both sides are slightly yellow, stir-fry the scallions and ginger slices, pour boiling water, sprinkle with salt, and start to simmer slowly, the smell wafts out, and the whole kitchen is full of fresh fragrance.

Cen Ning looked out while turning on the fire, and finally moved the bench to the kitchen door to look at the courtyard door and so on.

I don't know how long I looked outside, the wind made my hands cold, and a faint light finally appeared outside the courtyard gate.

The courtyard door was pushed open, and Lu Yunchuan was covered in mud, as if he had just been fished out of the water.

"Quick, I've boiled hot water, go wash it quickly, I'll get you clean clothes." Cen Ning took the clothes and scooped up the hot water. It was raining outside, so Lu Yunchuan just scrubbed in the kitchen.

His hands and feet were cold, and people felt better after being washed in hot water. Lu Yunchuan rubbed his hair and smelled the smell of the room, and asked, "Did you cook fish soup?"

"Yes, the dinner is simple. I was afraid that you would be hungry, so I stewed the black fish that my sister-in-law gave me. The fish is not big, so I just boiled a small pot of fish soup and drank it to drive away the cold."

As Cen Ning spoke, he lifted the lid of the pot, and the fish soup in the pot was white and fresh. While the soup was boiling, he cut a few pieces of tofu and put it in.

The kitchen floor was wet, Cen Ning took out the fish soup, took the bowls and chopsticks, and the two sat down at the wooden table in the main room.

Lighting the oil lamp, it was raining outside, and the wind was even stronger, rustling the trees on the mountain behind.

Cen Ning was afraid when he was alone, but now that Lu Yunchuan was beside him, he felt comfortable listening to the sound of rain.

Lu Yunchuan took a big gulp of the soup while holding the bowl, Cen Ning smiled and said, "Drink it slowly, it's hot."

Lu Yunchuan also laughed, and gave Cen Ning the tofu in his own bowl. The tofu boiled in the fish soup was tender and smooth, and Cen Ning liked it.

It was pitch black outside the window, with strong wind and heavy rain, but the room was lit with dim candlelight. The two of them drank a bowl of hot fish soup and chatted about homework, warming up their bodies.

When they went back to sleep in the back room, Cen Ning spread out the bedding neatly and pressed the four sides inward, so as not to catch the wind and keep warm.

After the oil lamp was blown, the two of them hugged each other and lay in the bed, listening to the sound of heavy rain outside, they had a good night's sleep.