An'an's hair was all messed up from sleeping. She stood on the kang (a heated brick bed) looking a little anxious. She had drunk a lot of water before going to bed last night and hadn't gotten up in the middle of the night. She had finally managed to hold it in until now, but she was about to burst.

Song Qing quickly wrapped her in clothes and carried her to the toilet.

"Mom, let's go to Auntie's house."

"Let's have breakfast first before we go. We'll be there all day, so we should bring some more biscuits with us."

Aunt Tian's youngest son attends school in the county, so she has to go there early every morning.

“Your cousin has a little daughter. They live in the family compound not far from here. If you come back early today, you might run into them.”

"Why don't you invite them over for dinner tonight? I'll go and call my dad and brother back after school. My cousin is already here, why don't you invite her over?"

Aunt Tian slapped her thigh, thinking this was a reliable plan, and immediately took out the meat ticket and handed it to her son.

"Go find your dad at noon and ask him to come home for dinner tonight. After you get home from school, buy the meat and come back early."

Yesterday she was so busy chatting with Song Qing that she forgot Song Qing's husband was here too. How could she not invite him over for a meal?

"I'll tell your cousin later to remember to come home early today."

Aunt Tian's husband's surname is Liu. He is a member of Yanghe Village Brigade of Wuzihe Commune. His eldest son, Liu Jianqiu, is twenty years old and works in a glass factory in the county. His youngest son, Liu Jiandong, is fifteen years old and just started junior high school this year.

Liu Jiandong was also very surprised when he heard his mother say it last night. He originally thought it was his maternal cousins, but he didn't expect it to be his maternal grandparents' relatives.

"Third Aunt, we're here!" An'an shouted at the top of her lungs from outside the courtyard, and Aunt Tian greeted her with a smile.

"Have you had breakfast yet? Auntie's family has vegetables and tofu."

Aunt Tian opened the gate to the yard and welcomed them in. The goose was no longer in the chicken coop; Aunt Tian had tied it up in the yard with a rope.

"Huh?"

"Keep an eye on it from the yard. Don't lie next to the chicken coop; you'll smell terrible."

Aunt Tian didn't expect that An'an would like this goose so much. She squatted by the chicken coop all day yesterday without complaining about the smell.

An'an loves the goose, and she loves the goslings she's about to have even more. She hadn't finished her popcorn yet, so she secretly put a handful in her pocket to feed the goose.

"I'll give you food, hurry up and lay your eggs."

She threw the popcorn on the ground, and the goose ate it one by one. But she was stingy and kept two for herself.

Song Qing handed the smoked fish and cured meat he had brought to Aunt Tian, ​​but Aunt Tian refused to accept them and was a little angry.

"I invited you over for dinner, and you brought so much stuff. Do you think I'm an outsider?"

"No," Song Qing explained, "The smoked fish and cured meat were made by my mother according to the way she makes them in her hometown. I brought them for you to try."

This pen was a reward from my workplace, and I thought I'd bring it to Jiandong so he could use it too.

Before Aunt Tian could say anything more, Song Qing pulled her into the house.

"Alright, don't do this again next time. You and your nephew-in-law come over for dinner tonight. Don't make excuses. I've already sent the child to call his father to come back tonight."

Song Qing sighed. "Then we'll eat here today. I'll go and call Lu Yang over this afternoon."

The beans, which had been simmering overnight, turned slightly reddish in color. They were soft and mushy when touched, and had a fragrant aroma of cooked beans. The beans were placed in an iron basin and then crushed in a clean glass jar.

"You can also use a stone mill to grind it, that will make it softer and more mushy."

Finally, Aunt Tian brought out a clean wooden board, sprinkled bean powder on it, and pounded the mashed beans on the board repeatedly until they were formed into large cubes.

"That's about right. Wrap it in newspaper and put it on the corn granary. It will be ready to make soybean paste in two months."

The two of them were handling forty pounds of beans, and since Song Qing was a complete novice, they hadn't finished by lunchtime.

"It's lunchtime, I'm going to grind some sour soup noodles."

Aunt Tian's family had soaked cornmeal. After washing it clean, they put it in an iron bucket and ground it into powder with a millstone. They put the dough in hot water to scald it, then crushed and kneaded it while it was still hot. Finally, they squeezed it into long strips by hand and sent it into the hot pot.

The resulting sour soup is a beautiful golden yellow color, especially when served in a bowl. It tastes smooth and sour with the aroma of corn, and has a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Aunt Tian also cut up some salted pork that she had cured in winter to stew with kidney beans, and stir-fried some egg sauce. There was also a plate of spicy pickled vegetables on the table.

"Let's have a simple lunch, and I'll cook you a big meal tonight."

An'an finally got to eat the sour soup noodles she'd been craving. They were sour and chewy, and with a few spoonfuls of egg sauce, she couldn't stop eating them. Song Qing also loved the taste; the sourness was very appetizing.

“Is it delicious?”

An'an didn't have time to answer, she just kept nodding and slurping while her mouth was pressed against the edge of the bowl.

Seeing how much she enjoyed the food, Aunt Tian was happy and kept putting food on her plate.

"If you like it, then Auntie will make it for you from now on."

After finishing her meal, An'an didn't want to move anymore. She didn't even look at the goose. She sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), rubbing her belly and letting out two burps. She covered her mouth with both hands and stared at Song Qing with wide eyes.

"Mother"

Before I could finish speaking, he typed another one.

"Don't run around right after you finish eating. Just play on the kang (heated brick bed)."

Song Qing and Aunt Tian continued to make sauce blocks in the yard. After making the sauce blocks, they wrapped them in newspaper. Aunt Tian had already set up partitions in the corn granary, so they just needed to put a few sauce blocks in there.

While they were washing things in the yard, they suddenly heard several people talking outside. Old Gen's wife even excitedly called out to Aunt Tian.

"Tian Cuihua, is Xiao Song still here? Her friends have arrived."

Song Qing was still standing on the corn silo, looking at the gate of the courtyard with a puzzled expression. She hadn't been here long and didn't know many people. Could it be Chen Yuehong and Sister Fang?

Old Gen's wife was leading a few people into Aunt Tian's house. Zhou Lian, who was being pulled by her, looked embarrassed. She had only said it casually, but who would have thought that Song Qing would actually be here.

She mediated a fight at the bathhouse last night, but unexpectedly became friends with the two arguing people. Just as she was marveling at how they became friends after their fight, the three of them bumped into each other again at the vegetable market today.

The vegetable market didn't offer any good produce; it mostly sold radishes and potatoes that had been stored for a while. People who had lived there for several years were used to it and rarely went to the market in the dead of winter.

These newcomers didn't want to eat potatoes every day, so they went to the vegetable market every morning hoping to find other vegetables.

After discovering they had run out of vegetables, Zhou Lian told them there was a village nearby where they might be able to buy vegetables from the villagers.

"Let's go and trade with them; we're tired of eating these potatoes."

So Zhou Lian took Sanya and the two women she had met the night before to Yanghe Village.