By the time the family had finished wrapping all the rice and cooking the two pots of rice dumplings, it was already past twelve o'clock.
They started making zongzi at seven o'clock in the morning, and it took more than four hours just to cook them.
After the rice dumplings are cooked, as soon as you open the lid of the pot, the house will be filled with the rich aroma of rice dumplings.
Tian Tian couldn't help swallowing her saliva. She was very hungry after being busy all morning. In her eyes, this rice dumpling tasted better than any other delicacies.
Old Mrs. Tian picked out all the cooked rice dumplings, and Tian Lisong, Tian Lilin and others also tidied the table.
The whole family had their meal at almost one o'clock.
Tian Tian reached out and took a rhubarb rice dumpling. She had never eaten rhubarb rice dumpling before.
When the rice dumpling skin is peeled off, the inside is yellow. Tian Tian took a bite and it was soft and sticky, full of the fragrance of the rice dumpling leaves. The taste is similar to that of a normal glutinous rice dumpling. Because it is a coarse grain, the texture is a bit rough, and it tastes very different from a glutinous rice dumpling.
The pot was used to cook rice dumplings this morning, so Grandma Tian did not stir-fry any other dishes. Instead, she took out the pickled radish tops, rinsed them with water, then added some vinegar, chili and soy sauce, mixed them, and ate them with the rice dumplings.
It's sour and spicy and goes well with rice.
The rice dumplings made by Old Lady Tian were big, and Tian Tian almost finished one. After everyone finished their meal, Tian Lisong and Tian Lilin went to the brigade's fields to spread fertilizer, and then went to the potato field to see how the potatoes were growing.
Before the famine, potatoes were always grown as vegetables. The brigade did not grow potatoes, but only grew corn, wheat, and sorghum, which were regular grains.
Later, during the famine, those who grew a lot of potatoes at home survived by relying on potatoes. After that, the brigade specially set aside two acres of land to grow potatoes.
Potato land can also be used to grow soybeans or corn.
However, their team usually chooses to grow corn. When it is time to harvest corn in August or September, the corn in these two fields will be tender corn, sweet and tender, and can be cooked and eaten directly, and the harvest will not be too less.
Of course, the grown potatoes will not be handed over to the grain station as food. Only a part will be distributed to the people in the team, and the rest will be used for seeds, waiting to continue planting potatoes next year.
Lin Meiyu and Chen Guihua finished washing the dishes, and then went to the kang to mend clothes and pants with Old Lady Tian.
Tian Baobao and Tian Zhuo went out to collect grass for the pigs, while Tian Tian lay on the kang in the house and read a book secretly.
"Auntie! Grandma Tian! Is anyone home?" Zhang Lanru's voice came from the yard.
Tian Tian sat up from the kang with a start, climbed onto the window and looked outside.
Maybe it’s because everyone is busy with spring planting during this period and not many people are talking about Zhang Lanru’s family affairs, so Zhang Lanru has been going out quite frequently recently and Tian Tian can often see her.
Tian Tian didn’t know what the current situation of their family was, and no one in their family asked about it afterwards.
However, the day before yesterday, when Shen Lingling was chatting with Tian Tian, she said that Huang Kangri had been to the widow's house at the village entrance several times, helping the widow to fetch water and grow vegetables.
Huang Kangri did not hide it, so almost everyone in their village knew about it.
Zhang Lanru should also know this.
Tian Tian watched her mother come out of the house and say something to Zhang Lanru, and sighed with regret.
Zhang Lanru is such a good and capable person, and Aunt Huang is also great. She was able to raise the child alone at this time, but she ended up having a son and a husband like Huang Kangri. It is not a good time to get a divorce. If the girl's parents love her, they will come to help her or take her home, but they cannot avoid the gossips from the neighbors.
What about Zhang Lanru's family? Her biological mother who loved her died a long time ago, and her stepfather didn't expect him to love Zhang Lanru much, just not to hold her back.
Zhang Lanru had no support from her natal family, and she had no confidence to separate from Huang Kangri, so she could only make do with this from now on.
Life in the afterlife is better! If you encounter such a thing, just divorce. Even if you can't find a job to support yourself, you can go anywhere in the city.
Unlike now, a rural household registration basically means that you can only live in the production team, and it is very difficult to find a job in the city.
Tian Tian watched Lin Meiyu and Zhang Lanru talk for a few words, and then Lin Meiyu went back into the house and took out a small oil-paper bag and handed it to Zhang Lanru. Zhang Lanru said a few more words to Lin Meiyu and went home.
Tian Tian was curious, so she jumped off the kang and went to find Lin Meiyu, "Mom! What is Sister Zhang doing here?"
Zhang Lanru came to Lin Meiyu to talk about nothing serious, and Lin Meiyu didn't intend to hide it from Tian Tian, so she told her, "She came to borrow brown sugar. She felt a little uncomfortable in her stomach during this visit, and wanted to drink some brown sugar water to warm herself up. But she ran out of brown sugar at home, so she came to borrow some from us!"
"Oh!" Hearing that he just came to borrow brown sugar, Tian Tian didn't ask any more questions. She went back to the room, closed the door and windows tightly, and continued reading her novel.
The afternoon passed uneventfully. The only thing that surprised Tian Tian was that her father and her two younger brothers picked a few cherry branches for her when they came home in the evening.
I feel really happy today, but I picked too many cherry branches. My teeth are so sour that I haven’t eaten several of them yet.
But looking at the red cherries on the branches, she couldn't bear to throw them away, so she gave them to Tian Baobao and the others. However, Tian Baobao thought they were too sour and didn't want any of them.
Later, Tian Tian put all the cherries into a bowl, crushed them with a rolling pin, and then used a cloth to filter out the pits and skins, leaving only the red juice.
She asked Old Lady Tian for some sugar and sprinkled it in the pot. After waiting for the sugar to dissolve, Tian Tian took a small sip.
Although it's still a little sour, it's much better than before.
Tian Baobao and Tian Zhuo originally disdained cherry juice, but when they saw Tian Tian sprinkle sugar into it, they couldn't take their eyes off it.
"Sister! I want to drink too!" Tian Zhuo pulled Tian Tian's hand and said coquettishly.
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