I worked until about half past ten in the morning and then went home.
Zhang Qiurui wrapped the sweet potato leaves and pumpkin seedlings he had picked in an old piece of clothes and ran towards home.
"Third brother, what are you doing home?" When Zhang Qiurui returned home, she saw her third brother sitting in the main room holding Mingxia and teasing her.
Her third brother has thick eyebrows and big eyes, is tall, and is a little handsome. No wonder he was able to find a partner in the county.
"I just got home not long ago. I heard from my second sister-in-law that you were sick a while ago. How is your health now?" Zhang Wenmin put Mingxia down and poured Zhang Qiurui a glass of boiled water.
"It's okay, I'm fine! Third brother, sit down and take a rest. I'll prepare two fresh dishes for you." After drinking the boiled water handed to her by her third brother, Zhang Qiurui took a bag of sweet potato leaves and pumpkin seedlings and walked towards the kitchen.
"This girl is still so impetuous." Zhang Wenmin looked at his younger sister's departing back and couldn't help shaking his head, but a doting smile hung on the corner of his mouth.
"Second sister-in-law, I will cook today, you take a rest." When she arrived at the kitchen, Zhang Qiurui saw that her second sister-in-law had already cooked the rice. She filled a large basin with water and took out the sweet potato leaves and pumpkin seedlings to wash them.
"Okay, I'll help you." Xie Lin knew that his sister-in-law and brother-in-law had a good relationship. In the past, when his brother-in-law came back, his sister-in-law would cook a few of her signature dishes herself, and today was no exception.
Girls from farming families can wash clothes and cook at the age of seven or eight. Eleven-year-old Zhang Qiurui has already mastered the recipes of various home-cooked dishes.
"Today, let's make stir-fried pork with green peppers, stir-fried sweet potato leaves, fried egg with pumpkin sprouts, cold-mixed eggplant, stir-fried beans, and fried tofu." Zhang Qiurui had an idea in mind when she saw her third brother brought back a piece of meat weighing two taels and three pieces of tofu.
"Qiu Rui, can these sweet potato leaves and pumpkin seedlings be eaten? Don't waste our eggs." Xie Lin couldn't help but feel worried when he heard the dishes Zhang Qiu Rui was going to make.
In her impression, sweet potato leaves and pumpkin seedlings were mostly used to feed pigs. To serve them directly on the table, especially with precious eggs, made her feel it was a bit of a luxury.
"Second sister-in-law, don't worry, I know what to do. Cut the meat into slices first, and then go to the yard to pick some eggplants, beans and peppers." Zhang Qiurui turned to Xie Lin and smiled while cleaning the ingredients skillfully.
Xie Lin saw that his sister-in-law was thinking about it and knew that she had her own ideas, so he said no more. After cutting the pork, he went to the yard to pick vegetables.
In this era, every household did not have a vegetable garden or anything like that, so no one dared to plant too much. Most people would just plant a row of vegetables in the yard, enough for their own consumption. If they planted too much, people would use it to make trouble, accusing them of either undermining socialism or engaging in speculation.
I dare not raise more than two chickens and ducks. Firstly, I am afraid of trouble. Secondly, if I raise too many, I can’t afford to feed them.
After her second sister-in-law picked the vegetables, she steamed them directly in the pot. She stir-fried the pork belly brought back by her third brother until both sides were golden brown. She poured out all the excess oil and used it to stir-fry today's dishes.
Then, cut the green pepper into sections, throw it into the pot and fry it until cooked, then add the garlic and stir-fry for a few times before serving.
"Zhang Wenmin from the Zhang family is back today!"
"Sister-in-law Zhou, how did you know Zhang Wenmin would be back today?"
"Don't you smell anything?"
"This is the aroma of meat. Zhang Wenmin brought it back from the county."
As soon as Zhang Qiurui started frying the meat, the aroma spread out instantly. In this era, frying meat is a rare thing, especially since every household can only eat meat during the Chinese New Year.
Everyone in the team had a keen sense of smell. As soon as they smelled the tempting aroma of meat, they guessed something in their hearts.
Soon, Zhang Qiurui finished cooking several dishes. It is worth mentioning that when he was frying the meat, the two little ones, Mingduo and Mingxia, were lying on the door frame of the kitchen, their eyes wide open, their saliva almost flowing out, and their eyes were fixed on the bowl of stir-fried meat with green peppers.
"It's done. Mingqi, Mingren, and Minghua, please come out and serve the dishes. We can eat now."
Ming Ren ran the fastest. As soon as he entered the door, he was attracted by the bowl of stir-fried pork with green peppers. He couldn't help but take a deep breath, as if he wanted to inhale all the rich aroma into his lungs.
Mingqi was much more steady. He quietly picked up the bowls, chopsticks and rice pot, came to the main room, and began to place the chopsticks and serve rice to the adults in the family.
Soon, a table full of delicious dishes was neatly placed on the table. In addition to the mouth-watering stir-fried pork with green peppers, there were also several vegetarian dishes. Although not gorgeous, they looked particularly warm.
The whole family sat together. Zhang Ercheng raised his chopsticks and said, "Come on, let's eat."
"What kind of dish is this? We haven't grown it at home. It's sweet and refreshing, and it tastes really good." Zhang Wenmin saw that one of the vegetables was one he had never seen before. Curiosity flashed in his eyes, and he couldn't help but pick up an extra piece with chopsticks and put it in the bowl to savor it carefully.
"It's really delicious. What kind of dish is this? It looks familiar." Zhou Guihua also took a bite and thought it was very good.
"Third brother, if you like it, eat more. Here's this egg pancake, I just made it, it's delicious too." Zhang Qiurui picked up a piece of fried egg with pumpkin sprouts and gave it to her third brother.
"Aunt, this is sweet potato leaves, right?" Zhang Mingqi had been dealing with sweet potato leaves all morning today, and she knew what kind of dish it was at a glance.
"Isn't this for feeding pigs? No wonder the pigs are so fat, they eat such delicious dishes every day." When Minghua said this, the whole family laughed, even Zhou Guihua, who always had a serious face, couldn't help but smile.
"Little sister, what vegetables did you add to the fried egg pancake? It tastes really good." Zhang Wenmin asked.
"I added pumpkin sprouts. It's quite delicious." Zhang Ercheng said happily.
"Qiu Rui, what are you thinking about? You want to stir-fry sweet potato leaves and pumpkin seedlings." Zhou Guihua stared at her little girl for a few seconds.
It seemed like her little girl was a little different since she recovered from her illness, but she couldn't tell exactly what was different.
I have become smarter and have more ideas.
"These two dishes are common. If my family likes them, I can ask Dad to pick some and bring them back to fry. You just need to use oil. We don't have oil at home, so we can't fry this dish.
"But you can make a dipping sauce, and it's also good to eat with it." I picked up a piece of meat and ate it with shredded sweet potato rice. The taste can't be said to be bad, but it's just not as good as white rice. The sweetness of the sweet potato in the rice and the oil and salt in the vegetables feel a bit weird.
"Little sister, your cooking skills are getting better and better. This cold-mixed eggplant has a unique flavor." Zhang Wenmin looked at his little sister. He felt that although he hadn't seen her for only a month, she was still the same person. He felt that his little sister had become more mature, like an adult.
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