Four Foods in the Mountains

When Cen Ning and Yao Chunling arrived home, Brother Zhi had already got up, dressed himself, and was sitting on a small bench in the yard eating a steamed bun. When he saw them coming back, his big eyes lit up, and he walked The legs flopped over.

"Aniang, Xiaomo." The little Jiujiu who was spread out above his head swayed.

The spatula was heavy, and Brother Zhi couldn't hold the porridge, so he just took a steamed bun to eat dry. Yao Chunling quickly put down the wooden basin and went into the kitchen to fill him with porridge and eggs. Cen Ning went in and took a comb out to comb Zhi's hair. Tie a small round bun again.

Brother Zhi liked Xiaoma, touched her with his hand, and smiled until his eyes were crooked.

"Auntie, I'll go back to work first."

After saying hello to Yao Chunling, Cen Ning walked home with the basin in his arms.

It rained heavily yesterday, but the sun came out today. After drying the clothes one by one, Cen Ning put on his back basket and picked up a machete, ready to go to the back mountain to dig some bamboo shoots.

Ci bamboo shoots are not as fresh and tender as spring bamboo shoots, with less meat and a bitter taste. There are many things to eat in the mountains in summer, and people in the village don't dig them much.

But Cen Ning was at home before he got married, and often went to the mountains with his mother to dig and eat.

His aunt is dexterous and patient. After peeling the bamboo shoots, put them in a pot with the bamboo leaves and cook them. After they are cooked, take them out and soak them in cold water several times. More tender and crisper, his father likes to eat this most.

The extra bamboo shoots are sliced ​​and dried into dried bamboo shoots, which are thin and easy to store.When the cats were wintering, his mother would grab a handful from time to time, soak them in hair, and stew them with the meat. The taste was even more delicious than meat.

Both his father and elder brother were good at hunting, and there was never a shortage of meat in the family. Often there was still some meat in the pot at the end, and all the dried bamboo shoots soaked in broth were picked and eaten.

There are bamboo shoots all over the mountain, and Cen Ning dug a basket full in a short time. Now that the bamboo shoots are growing a lot, dig a little more, so that in winter, there will be one more vegetable to eat at home.

Following Auntie's example, Cen Ning cooked the peeled bamboo shoots, soaked them in cold water, and took out all the dustpans at home and spread them in the yard, so that the bamboo shoots could be dried later.

These dustpans are not needed for drying bamboo shoots. Cen Ning thought about it, and ran to the back of the house to pick two handfuls of day lily. The dried day lily after cooking and drying is delicious whether it is boiled noodles or scrambled eggs.

After packing up a basket of bamboo shoots, it was already noon, and Cen Ning was about to sit down for a rest when Uncle Wu's husband came home.

"Brother Cen, the second boy asked me to pass a message to you. The two brothers are staying in the town to work today, and they probably won't come back until the evening."

"I see, thank you, Grandma." Cen Ning stood up, and before he had time to prepare anything else, he took two handfuls of bamboo shoots and handed them to Wu's husband.

"Grandma, I blanched these bamboo shoots, they don't taste bitter at all, you can take them back and fry them for a taste."

"That's right, then I'll take it. If it's delicious, I'll go up the mountain to dig some up tomorrow." After receiving the item, the smile on Wu's husband's face became even more eager. Although the item is not expensive, it is still a heartfelt gift. .

Lu Yunchuan and Lu Yunlang didn't come back at noon, so Cen Ning locked the courtyard door, packed a basket of bamboo shoots, took a sewing basket and went to the front room.

Seeing Cen Ning coming, Yao Chunling knew that the two brothers were staying in the town to work. At noon, the three of them had dinner. There were no men who worked, and the meals were simple to prepare.

Yao Chunling didn't ask Cen Ning to help, but asked him to go to the yard to play with Brother Zhi on the flower rope.

I quickly fried a plate of bamboo shoots that Cen Ning brought, stewed a bowl of winter melon with soy sauce, went to the vegetable garden to pick fresh amaranth and garlic cloves, fried them together, scooped up the rice and cooked it Pot fresh dry rice to eat.

The amaranth soup was red when fried. Yao Chunling filled a small bowl of rice, scooped a few spoonfuls of amaranth soup, mixed the rice red and handed it to Brother Zhi.

Seeing the playfulness of the color, Brother Zhi took a spoon and stuffed it into his mouth one by one. He also knew how to stretch his neck so as not to stain his clothes.

Yao Chunling picked up a chopstick and tasted the bamboo shoots, and said, "You still have a way. After soaking in water, these bamboo shoots are really not bitter, and they are still crunchy after eating."

Cen Ning said: "That's right, dig some and dry them into dried bamboo shoots, then soak them in water in winter and eat them."

Brother Zhi raised his head from the bowl with bulging cheeks when he heard this: "Save it for winter."

"Yes, Auntie will take you to dig in the mountains tomorrow, and you will have to eat." Yao Chunling said with a smile.

This is the case in the mountains. In summer, we must slowly prepare for winter food, and prepare more diligently on weekdays. When it is cold, the family can comfortably spend the winter and have a good rest. Therefore, even the children We all know that we need to stock up on food at home before winter.

After lunch, Cen Ning washed the bowls and chopsticks before Yao Chunling. Brother Zhi was going to sleep at noon when he was young, so the two of them washed the fruits and embroidered handkerchiefs in the main room.

The handkerchief embroidered some time ago was taken by the brothers to the town and sold by the way, but they don’t know how much they can sell for.

In summer afternoons, the two of them sat in the main room, listening to the cicadas chirping outside, embroidering handkerchiefs and chatting about the household chores. When they were tired, they ate some fruit and drank herbal tea, which was quite pleasant.

The whole afternoon passed like this, and it was already dark when Lu Yunlang and Lu Yunchuan came back.

The food was already simmering in the pot, and while the two were washing their hands, Yao Chunling and Cen Ning put the food on the table.

Lu Yunlang wiped off his hands, picked up Brother Zhi and kissed him, his beard was tied so that Brother Zhi laughed.

A plate of fried bacon with bamboo shoots, a plate of scrambled eggs, and a bowl of green beans and a large pot of sour soup. The sour soup is filled with tofu skin, tomatoes and fungus, cooked with sauerkraut leaves, and it smells sour.

Together with rice and steamed buns, the table is full.

Lu Yunlang first took an egg and fed it to brother Zhi: "You are hungry, eat more."

Yao Chunling looked amused: "I didn't starve your darling, I steamed a bowl of egg custard for him to eat, you can eat yours quickly, so worry about it."

Lu Yunlang scratched his head, smiled and picked up another chopstick for his wife, then picked up the bowl and began to eat.

Cen Ning squinted his eyes while watching from the side. Suddenly, his thighs under the table were pressed against him, and the other person's body temperature could be felt through the fabric of his clothes. Rito is shy.

Lu Yunchuan ate his food sullenly, got straight and finally started to talk about business.

"There is a master in the town who wants to repair his garden. There are special people to do the work. We are doing odd jobs and helping to transport mud and wood. The master is in a hurry and wants to finish the work within [-] days. The wages of us small workers are as follows: The working hours are calculated, my elder brother and I can work four hours a day, so we can earn more than one or two taels of silver on the day the work is finished."

This wage is already considered high in the town, and everyone thought it was a good job to be able to have this kind of income during the slack season.

"Fortunately, Chuanzi and I went early, and the people behind are full, so we don't need any more people." Lu Yunlang said, holding a bowl.

Lu Yunchuan added: "The handkerchiefs were also sold in the shop, and a handkerchief was exchanged for two Wen."

The cloth and colored thread are all paid by themselves. The price offered by the store is not high, but it is not low either. Yao Chunling and Cen Ning are also satisfied with the money they can exchange to subsidize the family.

Everyone in the family feels happy when they have income. Farmers are like this. They have hope when they have work to do, and they have energy when they have hope.

After dinner, Lu Yunchuan and Cen Ning returned to their home. After moving the mud for a day, Lu Yunchuan was also very tired. After washing up, they went into the house to prepare to rest.

The oil lamp was lit in the room, Cen Ning spread the quilt and sat on the side of the bed, Lu Yunchuan also went to bed with a money bag in his hand, and poured out thirty Wen from the money bag.

"This is the money you exchanged for those handkerchiefs. You keep it and spend it yourself." Lu Yunchuan said with a smile.

It's not that he hasn't seen money before, he saw a lot more money than this when he helped his mother handle money at home, but Cen Ning still couldn't help being excited when he saw the thirty copper coins.

This is the money he earned, the money he earned for himself and Lu Yunchuan's family.

Lu Yunchuan was also happy to see Cen Ning's smiling face, but he didn't forget to tell him: "It's good to embroider handkerchiefs to make money, but you have to be careful not to hurt your eyes. Just embroider two pieces in your spare time. Don't tire yourself out. The flowers are for me."

"I know, I always embroider handkerchiefs during the day, so I won't tire myself."

Seeing Lu Yunchuan nodding, Cen Ning put away the copper plate and put it in the money box at home. Although there is not much money in the box now, Cen Ning is still very satisfied.

Every day after getting married, he is rejoicing.

Fortunately, the husband came to his house to propose marriage. Fortunately, when his parents asked him, he chose Lu Yunchuan.

He doesn't want a life of great wealth and wealth, and the current life is very good.

After that day, Lu Yunchuan and Lu Yunlang got up early every day to go to work in the town, and Cen Ning cleaned up the house at home and took care of the vegetable garden. In his free time, he went to Yao Chunling to embroider handkerchiefs and play with Brother Zhi.

It's just that the breakfast is more refined than before. Thinking about the fatigue from work, Cen Ning puts effort into making breakfast every day.

Baked the cake soft and tough, brushed a layer of soybean paste on the cake, stuffed it with full vegetables and rolled it up, the side dishes were fried eggs or bacon and prunes, the patterns were changed every day, just put It can be eaten cold without affecting the taste.

It was the first time for Lu Yunlang to eat pancake rolls, and he was full of praise when he returned home, causing Yao Chunling and Cen Ning to learn this skill. Since then, the two brothers have carried a small pack of pancake rolls to work every day.

The food in the town is expensive, and the men who come to do small labor are not willing to spend money to buy food. They always bring dry food from home. The dry food is nothing more than steamed buns and flatbreads. The dryness makes the pancake rolls of the Lu brothers extraordinarily delicious. .

Every time I went to the construction site to take a break for lunch, there would be men looking over their heads to see the brothers eating, and they would sigh: "The family is so virtuous, it is really a blessing."

They worked like this until the first ten days of August, when Yao's boy, Yao Chunling's natal brother, was about to marry a wife. The house at home was getting old, and the Yao family planned to build a new house.

Although Yao's father and Yao's mother said that they have already found someone and they don't want Lu Yunlang to help, but thinking that his father-in-law and his mother-in-law didn't think that their family was poor and married their daughter to him, and they often used things to supplement them, Lu Yunlang immediately quit his job in the town , paid the wages ahead of time, and went to help the old man build a house.

Lu Yunchuan worked until mid-August, a full 20 days, four hours a day, and the housekeeper gave Lu Yunchuan one or two halves of silver.

With the heavy money bag in his pocket, Lu Yunchuan raised the corners of his mouth and was very happy. With this money, he could finally buy those two important things.

Hurrying to the shop, after buying two items and carefully putting them into the basket, Lu Yunchuan breathed a sigh of relief, and it was considered a matter of concern.

I was rushing home with a basket on my back, and when I passed the steamed stuffed bun shop, the proprietress greeted me, "Thin-skinned meaty steamed stuffed buns with big stuffing, one bite is full of oil, sir, would you like a steamed stuffed bun?"

The steamed buns in the cage looked white and fluffy, Lu Yunchuan stopped in his tracks.

It wasn't because of the meat buns, but because I saw the pastry shop next to the bun shop.There are all kinds of exquisite pastries on the wooden counter in the pastry shop, which smells very sweet.

Lu Yunchuan himself had never bought food from pastry shops, they were all precious things, and he never thought about eating them, except that Lu Yunlang would sometimes buy a small piece for Brother Zhi.

But now that there is a husband in the family, thinking about Cen Ning's crooked eyes, Lu Yunchuan walked into the shop and said to the shop assistant, "Make me two packs of trough cakes."

The waiter hurriedly agreed: "Okay, our trough cake is loose but not loose, oily and soft, firm and sweet in the mouth, if you want to eat after eating, two packs of twenty copper coins, you take it."

Lu Yunchuan handed the clerk twenty Wen, took the oiled paper bag and put it in the back basket, and went home with a basket full of things on his back.

The sun was about to set, thinking that Fu Lang was busy with rolled up sleeves in the kitchen, making hot rice and hot soup waiting for him to go back, Lu Yunchuan quickened his pace again.