Chapter 33
Mid-to-late August is the busiest time in rural areas. After harvesting wheat, beans, corn and other miscellaneous grains can be harvested. These coarse grains are the basic guarantee for farmers' survival.
The Tang family went back and forth between the fields and the wheat field every day. Song Yingzi took Tang Guo to get corn in the wheat field. After the wet corn was recovered, the corn husks should be peeled off and arranged into circles. , pile it high so that the corn cobs can be exposed to direct sunlight. During this period, the bottom and top are moved back and forth twice so that the corn above and below can be basically dehydrated. The dehydrated corn is more convenient to thresh and will not be easily broken. The speed Faster too.
The beans side was even more eye-opening to Tang Guo. Due to exposure to the sun, there would be many gaps in the land in the wheat field. After the wet pods dried, some small beans would fall along the gaps, so the village chief determined which area After drying the beans, Tang Jiahe would first pull the cow dung over, mix it with some water, and paste it on the ground. After they brought the pods from the field, and the ground was dry, they would then pour down all the bean sprouts, responsible for The pod pickers moved a small bench and sat there chatting while picking.
After all the pods are removed, the bean sprouts are arranged together. Later, the Tang family and the old man who pulls the donkey put the bean sprouts into the warehouse. Both cows and donkeys particularly like to eat these bean sprouts. Especially the fresh ones, not to mention how delicious they are.
The torn corn husks are placed in piles aside to dry, which is most convenient for lighting a fire for cooking.
Tang Guo skillfully tore open the corn husks and took out the corn cobs. Song Yingzi saw this and couldn't help but stretched out her hand to straighten the straw hat on Guo Guo's head. "Mom, you are careless. You should ask your father to knit a straw hat for you. This It's too big!" It's easy to cover your eyes when you put it on, and it's easy to run backwards when you push it up.
"It's better to be bigger, it will cover more places!" In this era, there is no sunscreen, and even sun-protective clothing is so difficult. Although she has long-sleeved cotton clothes, between being too hot and getting a tan, she would rather choose to sunbathe. black.
"That's right. Mom is going to drink some water. Do you want to come with us?" After sitting for a long time, it would be nice to get up and move around. Tang Guo picked up the kettle and went to fetch water with her mother.
This water is made from earthworks in the village, boiled with thatch roots. It is said that drinking more can prevent heatstroke, so the village chief sent a person to boil this water and supply it continuously throughout the day. After it has cooled down, you can still drink it. Very tasty.
"Grandma!"
Mrs. Tang also came to fetch water. When she saw Guoguo's cheeks were red and wet with sweat, she couldn't help but take off her straw hat and fan her, "Isn't it hot?"
Tang Guo handed the kettle to her mother, took off her straw hat and fanned the old lady, "Hot!"
"Yingzi, turn around and stuff a towel behind her back to wipe away the sweat!"
Song Yingzi took a sip of water and touched Tang Guo's sweaty hair, "I did it, but she didn't want it. She said it was hot and it was uncomfortable to wear!"
"Today is much hotter than in previous years!" Mrs. Tang took a sip of water and wiped her face with a towel, "Okay, I'll go over there. Drink more to avoid heat stroke."
Song Yingzi nodded quickly, and Tang Guo, whose mouth was filled with water and bulging like a hamster, also nodded.
The old lady had just walked halfway when she heard an argument taking place over the peanut pickers.
"Li Fang! This is a seriously condemnable act of yours, do you understand? Even though it is just a little peanut, you are stealing the collective property! Do you admit it or not?" Tang Yongnian, the reporter, held a bag in his hand. The peanuts fell out of Li Fang's pants pocket.
Li Fang had done it many times. She never thought she would be discovered. She sat for too long and kept her legs curled up. Just when she wanted to stretch her legs, Tang Yongnian came over unexpectedly. She was so damned. There were peanuts in her pocket. Because this movement was out of place, if she had known she would not stretch her leg, the people next to her must have done it on purpose, and they would not have told her that the person who keeps track of work points is here. Now that the matter is exposed, she will just follow this vicious sun. It was like a slap on the face, it was burning and painful.
"As punishment, you will lose all your work points these days. When the meeting is held, you have to go on stage to read a letter of apology!"
Li Fang pursed her lips, very unwilling to accept that her work points these days were just gone. If her man found out, he would scold her! "Brother Yongnian, I really don't know how this peanut got into my pocket. I guess I just went to drink water and forgot to throw it into the basket. I definitely have no intention of stealing collective property. I must be busy in the middle. I forgot, see if you can forget it this time?"
Tang Yongnian shook his head, "No, if I hadn't noticed, you would have put the peanut back. That would be unfair to the other people who worked hard today. You said you forgot, but summer clothes are so thin, you put the peanut back It's impossible not to have feelings in your pocket. You're just quibbling. Besides, if it were someone else, I could believe that you really forgot. But you have a record of encouraging your children to steal watermelons. I highly doubt the authenticity of your words. !"
Then Tang Yongnian held up the work notebook in his hand and said with a straight face to everyone present: "If I find someone stealing collective property again, I will deal with it impartially. I hope everyone will not affect our production team for their own selfish interests." The honor of the production team is everyone's honor. Anyone who harms the collective honor is enough to make everyone hate it. I hope you can learn from it!"
"That's right, our production team has been ranked first for several years in a row. If our production team cannot take first place because you took the lead in stealing things and the production dropped, can you take full responsibility for this?"
"Responsible? Just don't rake it all up when the time comes. Clerk, we can dig your pockets and see if they are clean. There is nothing!"
"I asked why she kept drinking water. I guessed that she must have stolen more peanuts than this. I applied for a good interrogation. There must be some hidden peanuts!"
Tang Yongnian frowned when he heard this, "Have you hidden other peanuts?"
Li Fang quickly shook her head and swallowed with guilt, "No, no, I really didn't mean it. I didn't know when I put it in my pocket. It must have been too hot and I got dizzy. I will forget, you guys who just watch the excitement and don't mind the trouble, how could you harm me like this? I'm so short-sighted? Do you have to steal these peanuts back? It's not even enough to fry a plate!"
"You still want to speculate on the co-author, Tang Yongnian, we all know Li Fang's personality, and I also think she must have stolen more than this peanut."
Tang Yongnian glanced at Li Fang up and down, "Stand up and let everyone see!"
"What! You guys are still trying to be tough!" Li Fang was anxious. It would be too embarrassing if he was taken away.
"You wear thin clothes in the summer. We will know if you are hiding anything at a glance. Stand up quickly!"
Li Fang stood up reluctantly, turned around in a circle, and turned her pockets out, "Now you believe it! I really didn't mean it, brother Yongnian, I was really confused by the heat."
There was indeed nothing in his pocket, and there was no bag to hide things next to him. Tang Yongnian had no choice but to give up and waved his hand for her to sit down, "Okay, you can sit down and continue working. Li Fang, remember, I will keep a close eye on you." Stay with you!"
Li Fang breathed a sigh of relief and quickly sat down. Forget that her work points for a few days were gone. At worst, she would eat less white rice.
But who knew that Tang Dabao was here, carrying a small basket filled with peanuts picked from the peanut field, "Mom, I'm so thirsty, give me some water!"
As he said that, he went to get the kettle next to Li Fang's bench. Li Fang saw his hand and snatched the kettle back angrily.
"This place is empty! If you need some water, go home and drink it!"
"Mom, the kettle is very heavy. There must be water in it. Please let me drink it!" Tang Dabao anxiously wiped his sweat and reached for the kettle in Li Fang's hand.
"If I say it's empty, it's empty. If you want to drink it, go home and drink it!" Li Fang stared at Tang Dabao with a stern face and a stern tone.
Tang Dabao felt uncomfortable with the heat, thirsty and fierce. Finally he couldn't help but sit on the ground and cry, but the ground was too hot. He was so hot that he got up and continued to cry. He was already thirsty. After howling a few times, My voice became hoarse and I started to retching.
Some people couldn't stand it any longer and said, "Li Fang, what are you doing? If your child wants to drink water, give it to him quickly. If the kettle is empty, go over there and fetch water. It's so hot today, but the child is suffering from heat stroke!"
"Yes, you are too cruel. You still let Tang Dabao run home on such a hot day. When he comes back after drinking at home, he must be thirsty again!"
"Li Fang, give the pot to Tang Dabao and ask him to fetch water!"
Li Fang glared at Tang Dabao fiercely, "What a debt collector. I'll get you some water!"
Someone was confused, "Li Fang, didn't you fetch water several times? Why did you drink it so quickly? Dabao said your kettle is heavy, isn't it filled with water?"
Li Fang tightened her grip on the kettle, "Child, you are too thirsty. You thought there was water in it. You are talking nonsense. Dabao, go drink water with your mother!"
"Li Fang, I don't understand. It's so strange that you let Tang Dabao go home to drink water on such a hot day. If my brat came and said he was thirsty, my first reaction would be to give him the empty water bottle. He went to fetch water himself,"
Everyone couldn't help but look at the kettle in her hand. She said it was empty, but Tang Dabao said it was heavy. He must know better than anyone the weight of his own kettle when it is not filled with water.
Could it be?
Tang Yongnian narrowed his eyes and walked straight to Li Fang, "Please show me the kettle."
Li Fang smiled guiltily, "Brother Yongnian, my Dabao is thirsty. I have to get him water quickly!"
With that said, she pulled Tang Dabao to leave, but Tang Yongnian reached out to stop him.
"Are the peanuts in the kettle?"
Li Fang's heart skipped a beat, and the corners of her mouth trembled. After a few seconds, she said, "What are you talking about? The kettle holds water, how can I hold peanuts?"
Tang Yongnian looked at her without blinking, took the kettle from her hand, and put some weight on it, "It's quite heavy. It seems there is something in it!"
Li Fang was too nervous just now to let go of the kettle. Now her heart seemed to be clenched tightly by a hand. She absolutely couldn't let him open the kettle. She quickly reached out to grab it. Tang Yongnian took a step ahead of her, opened the lid of the kettle, and went down. At the same time, all the peanuts came out!
"Mother! Mother!"
"Quick! Carry her under the tree and pinch her!"
--
Li Fang's incident was making a big fuss. Tang Youwei pointed angrily at Tang Jiading and yelled, "You can't talk to your wife properly. With so many people watching, the impact will be bad. Tell me about the trouble you have been having these days." How many things have happened? You two will go on stage to report to me when I leave work tomorrow!"
Tang Jiading stood there with a gloomy expression on his face. Now he wished he could go back and pull that woman over. Why should he be punished here for the stupid things she did? It was really so damn embarrassing.
Song Yingzi picked up some clean corn husks and went home, deciding to make something delicious to reward her family.
Tang Guo saw her picking a tender pumpkin and went home, and couldn't help but wonder what her mother was going to do.
When she got home, Song Yingzi peeled the pumpkin and cut it into cubes for later use. Tang Jiahe was still busy and hadn't come back yet. Tang Guo was going to help her mother light the fire.
"Guoguo, you don't know how to burn it. I'll burn it myself later. You go play with your sister Jiang Si!"
Why doesn't she have a fever? What's so great about lighting a fire?
Tang Guo sat in front of the stove unconvinced, lit the soft wood with a match, and put it into the stove hole. She followed her father's method and first put some twigs and then the hard wood, "Mom, do you want a big fire?"
Song Yingzi put the pumpkin cut into pieces into the steamer, and then added water to the pot. When she heard Guoguo's question, she looked over and said, "Big fire."
After saying that, he looked at the fire with concern and said, "Be careful, don't set your hair on fire."
Tang Guo nodded, "Okay!"
As soon as the fire came up, she quickly filled it with hard wood, but the fire went out as soon as she filled it. Thick smoke came out of the stove hole. Tang Guo took a breath and choked her and couldn't help but sneeze.
Song Yingzi was washing corn husks. When she heard Tang Guo sneezing, she quickly asked her to come over, "Come here, come here!"
Tang Guo covered her mouth and nose and took out the hard wood from the entrance of the cave.
Song Yingzi was afraid of burning him, so she quickly took the hardwood in her hand and pounded it, "You put too much hardwood, it's too dense. Put less and it will burn."
Tang Guo didn't leave either. He squatted next to her and watched her operate. Soon her mother put out the fire.
It turns out that she put it too densely and took away the air in the stove. Air is needed for fire to burn.
"Mom, I know how to do it, let me do it."
As she said this, she brushed off her bangs. Song Yingzi glanced at her and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Silly boy, you've made yourself dirty, go and wash your face!"
Tang Guo touched her face in confusion. Song Yingzi looked at her little cat-like face and said with a smile: "Go and show it to your sister Jiang Si."
Tang Guo looked down at her hands. Her fingertips were all black. It was not difficult to imagine what her face looked like now. "Mom, I'm going to wash my face first, and I'll help you light the fire later!"
As soon as she ran out, she saw Jiang Si kicking sandbags in the yard, and quickly ran to the water basin with her head lowered.
"Guoguo, let's play shuttlecock!"
"Okay, wait for me for a while!" Tang Guo always lowered his head and did not look at her.
Jiang Si did not doubt that he was there and continued to play shuttlecock. Tang Guo took a handful of water and washed her face quickly. She was worried that it would not be clean, so she changed the water several times.
"Sister Jiang Si, do you see something on my face?" She ran to Jiang Si.
Jiang Si took the sandbag in his hand and looked at Tang Guo's face carefully, "Is there anything?"
Tang Guo felt relieved, wiped his face, and threw the water on his face to the ground, "I'm going to go in and help light the fire. Let's play after dinner."
Jiang Si simply went to the kitchen with her. There was a sweet smell of pumpkin in the air.
The pumpkin has been steamed. Song Yingzi took off the steamer, placed it on the chopping board, and stirred it with chopsticks to speed up the cooling.
"Auntie, what are you doing?"
Song Yingzi kept stirring the pumpkin puree, "Pumpkin cake!"
pumpkin pie? Pumpkin cake consumes a lot of oil and is definitely not the pumpkin cake she imagined.
Jiang Si asked curiously: "Just keep stirring like this and then put it on the stove?"
Song Yingzi shook her head and put in half of the glutinous rice flour, "You don't need a kang, use steaming!"
The pumpkin puree with glutinous rice flour began to clump together, and as Song Yingzi kept kneading it, it formed a ball. She kneaded the pumpkin glutinous rice ball into a long strip, and then divided it into small balls.
"Jiang Si, help me tear the corn husks in half!" Song Yingzi demonstrated, tearing the corn husks into two squares.
Then put a pumpkin glutinous rice ball on top of each square corn husk, "Just place it like this, and it will be steamed directly in the pot!"
Tang Guo also helped put a few away. Song Yingzi looked at her clean little face and couldn't help but said to Jiang Si, "Did you see how Guoguo looked like the little cat just now?"
Jiang Si said: "No, no wonder Guoguo asked me to look at her face just now. I said it was nothing. Why did she ask me to look at her face?"
Tang Guo didn't want to recall what happened just now, so she quickly said: "Hurry up and steam it, I'm hungry!"
Song Yingzi and Jiang Si looked at each other and smiled, "Okay, okay, you said you were hungry, we listen to you and speed up."
"Mom! You know how to tease me!"
"Hahaha!"
Laughter and laughter came from the kitchen, making Tang Jiahe, who was leading the oxcart home, unconsciously curl his lips as soon as he walked in.
He walked to the kitchen door and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Tang Guo found a supporter and walked up to her father, "Dad, mother and sister Jiang Si bullied me!"
Tang Jiahe looked at the two people who were smiling like flowers, and picked up Tang Guo, "Really? How did you bully me? Dad also wants to have fun with me!"
Song Yingzi glanced at him and said, "Hurry up and put Guoguo down. He's all dirty. He'll stink up Guoguo in no time!"
The Tang family laughed and put their daughter down after hearing her daughter-in-law's words, "I'm going to wash up first!"
"Hurry up, the meal will be ready soon!"
Tang Jiahe responded, took a towel and walked out the door. On the way, he met someone who was also going to bathe in the river. They walked away talking and laughing.
Song Yingzi put the steamer basket on the pot, and Jiang Si helped cover the lid. She quickly stopped her and said, "Wait a minute, there is still one step left to do!"
With that said, she carried the bowl and left the kitchen.
Tang Guo saw her bringing back a small bowl of sugar water, "Mom, are you putting the sugar in now?"
She thought her mother was going to pour sugar water into each ball, but her mother tore off a small corn husk and then dipped it in sugar water and brushed it on each pumpkin glutinous rice ball.
"Okay, cover the pot!"
After giving the order, Jiang Si immediately put the lid on the pot. Before the sugar water in the bowl was used up, Song Yingzi added some hot water and planned to share it with them later.
It was very hot in the kitchen. Even though the windows and doors were open, the inside was still like a steamer. There was sweat on each of their faces, but no one wanted to go out. They all wanted to see the yellow pumpkin glutinous rice balls with their own eyes. Remove from the pan.
After a while, steam came out of the steamer, and white smoke slowly swept over the entire kitchen.
Song Yingzi took away the pot lid with a wet rag, and the heat came to her face instantly. She quickly stood sideways to avoid being injured by the steam.
As soon as the steamer was brought over, Tang Guo hurriedly gathered around to take a look. The pumpkin glutinous rice balls, which were originally balls, had become larger and deflated. Song Yingzi used chopsticks to slightly separate them and said, "Okay, you can eat when your father comes back." Got it!"
The glutinous rice flour filled her stomach, so she didn't plan to make anything else, lest she eat too much and not digest it at night.
After chatting casually for a while, Tang Jiahe came back. During this period, Tang Guo couldn't wait to place the dishes and chopsticks.
Because it was too hot in the room, they moved the table to the yard. When she saw her father coming back, Tang Guo immediately sat up straight.
Song Yingzi couldn't help complaining: "Having been gone for so long, are you competing with someone to hold your breath?"
Tang Jiahe chuckled, "I held it in for the longest time!"
Song Yingzi opened the steamer lid with an expression that I already know, "Hurry up and eat, Guoguo is already hungry!"
Tang Jiahe quickly apologized to Guoguo, "Guoguo, it's dad's fault, hurry up, no one can touch the first one, give it to Guoguo!"
As he spoke, he put a pumpkin pie and corn husks into the fruit bowl.
Tang Guo shook her head and gave it to her mother, "My mother has the hardest work, so she eats first!"
It was her mother who had the hardest time working in a kitchen that was like a steamer room for so long on such a hot day, just to make a delicious dinner for the whole family, and she didn't even help, she couldn't even light a fire.
Tang Jiahe quickly echoed: "Yes, yes, your mother is the benefactor of our family, the benefactor eats first!"
When Song Yingzi heard what he said, her face couldn't help but blush, and then she glared at him. The children were all here, so there was no formality.
Tang Jiahe took another one for Guoguo, and Song Yingzi took another one for Jiang Si. Everyone had one in their bowls, and they looked at each other and smiled.
"Eat, eat, otherwise you will feed the mosquitoes!"
Tang Guo couldn't wait to take a little bit of it with her chopsticks and put it into her mouth. The glutinous texture was very similar to the soft texture of her strawberry daifuku.
The pumpkin itself is not very sweet. There is a little sweetness on top, which should be the sweetness of white sugar. Mixed with the pumpkin, the sweetness is just right, and you won't feel tired at all!
"Mom, this is so delicious!"
Song Yingzi took a bite, tasted the taste, and tasted it carefully, "White sugar is not as good as honey. If it is made with honey, it will taste better!"
Honey?
Tang Guo thought, "Mom, can we still get honey here?"
Song Yingzi shook her head, "I also ate this made with honey when I was a child. Now honey is impossible to buy. You think about how rare sugar is, let alone honey! But I heard that there is a village with a backing. They At the market, there are people from the mountains taking out beehives in exchange for food."
"No one cares?" Isn't that considered speculation?
Song Yingzi shook his head, "Exchanging things is still allowed. Besides, maybe the people in charge of this will exchange things themselves. It's already so difficult now. As long as you don't go to the county town and make mistakes under the eyes of others, most of them will Or are you willing to turn a blind eye? You don't know, in those years when the management was strict, countless people starved to death. Those in charge were probably afraid that people would make trouble with them if they were too strict! "
As if remembering the hard days before, Song Yingzi couldn't help but sigh.