"Are you two going to listen to their Errenzhuan performance tomorrow night?" asked Old Mrs. Tian.
His team six and team five are close to each other, and it usually takes more than ten minutes to walk there. However, team six and team four are far away, and it takes at least half an hour to walk there. People like Tian Baobao and Tian Zhuo are young and have short legs, so it takes even longer.
Besides, for things like this, everyone would go early to grab a spot, but their house was far away, so in the end they couldn't get a good spot.
"I want to go and listen! Their duo rap is so interesting!" said Tian Baobao.
He also heard it from his classmates in Team 5 of the school. He had never listened to a play before.
I heard that in some places they show movies during the autumn harvest, but Tian Baobao has never seen a movie as far as he can remember.
"Grandma! I want to go too!" Tian Zhuo also echoed.
"Mom! It's been many years since the art troupe came to the countryside to perform for us. The autumn harvest is over and there is not much work to do at home. Why don't we go and listen together?" Chen Guihua also said.
It sounds like the art troupe is leaving in groups. They might go to group five tomorrow, and group six the day after tomorrow. No one can tell for sure. After going to group five, they might not go any further. Then they won't be able to hear the people in group six anymore, and they don't know when they will hear them again.
"What do you mean there is not so much work? There are so many mountain products on the mountain, why don't you pick them up and just leave them there? The weather is getting cold soon, so don't you go up the mountain to pick up more firewood? There is so much work to do and you still say there is no work. You are really idle every day!" said Old Mrs. Tian.
Chen Guihua stopped talking immediately.
"You guys go and listen. It's just for a short while in the evening. They don't perform all day long. During the day we go up the mountain to collect more firewood and you guys just need to pick up wild goods. Mom, you guys should all go and listen. The autumn harvest is very tiring. You can go and relax for a while." Tian Lisong came out and said.
It's not easy for them to come down to the local area to perform, so we should go and listen.
Tian Tian was also looking at Old Lady Tian eagerly, she also wanted to listen.
When she was young, she didn't want to listen to these, but later her blood seemed to awaken and she quite liked listening to these operas.
"Then you guys go and listen, and bring Tian Tian and Tian Baobao along as well. We have some freshly harvested melon seeds at home, I'll fry some for you tomorrow and take them with you while you watch. It'll be hard to chew them without something to chew on. I won't go, as someone has to stay at home to look after the family. You brothers should also go, as it's not good for a few women to walk at night," said Old Lady Tian.
Old Mrs. Tian actually wanted to go and listen, but she couldn't let go of the things at home.
I planned to stay at home to look after the house and let Chen Guihua and the others relax.
"Mom! You can come with them and listen. I will stay at home. I have something to do in the village tomorrow and cannot go to listen. I can rest assured that Lao Er and Tian Yuan will accompany them." Tian Lisong said.
His mother just doesn't worry about other people in the family and wants to solve everything by herself. Then he said that there is nothing big to do right now and it would be nice to listen to some crosstalk and relax.
Old Mrs. Tian actually wanted to go too. After hearing what Tian Lisong said, she thought about it for a while. She still believed Tian Lisong more, so she agreed.
"Okay then! Don't forget to heat up all the rooms in your house. The weather is getting colder every day. You have to heat up the kang at night. It will be too cold in the second half of the night."
After the family discussed the matter, they happily finished their meal, cleaned up the dishes, and began to discuss watching the Errenzhuan performance tomorrow night.
The last time they listened to this kind of rural drama was many years ago. After the incident, most of the plays were changed to the model opera format. Since then, they have only heard this play once, and they have no idea what it is like now.
Tian Baobao and the others also started discussing what delicious food to bring to the theater tomorrow.
"Didn't grandma say she would roast some melon seeds for us tomorrow? We can roast some chestnuts and hazelnuts during the day, or roast some fresh sweet potatoes, and take them over there to eat in the evening. That way we don't have to eat dinner at night," said Tian Baobao.
"You can also put some sand apples and ginger sour pears in it. They are delicious and thirst-quenching. The sour taste is also suitable as a snack." Tian Tian also joined in with great interest.
This is a bit like going on a spring outing. Tian Tian has been here since last year, and it has been more than a year now, but she has never experienced such a thing. Let alone watching a movie, even every time she goes to the county town, she follows Old Lady Tian. She can't find anything interesting to kill time. There is nothing else to do except work every day to relieve boredom.
This is also a rare way to entertain yourself.
The family discussed enthusiastically until it was completely dark, and then everyone went back to their rooms to prepare for bed.
Maybe because she knew she was going to watch an opera the next night, Tian Tian was very excited the whole night and didn't sleep well at all. In the morning, before dawn, Tian Tian got up excitedly.
Before anyone else in the house got up, Tian Tian walked around the house and dug out all the plates of melon seeds that were grown at home.
Tian Tian kept some of the raw melon seeds and prepared to fry the rest in a pan after dinner.
The melon seeds grown at home are different from those bought outside.
No matter how expensive the melon seeds sold on the market are, there will always be some inferior and low-quality melon seeds mixed in. But Tian Tian doesn’t have to worry about that at all since she grows her own melon seeds at home.
Old Mrs. Tian didn't grow many melon seeds, so she just scattered a small row of them around the courtyard wall. She didn't take good care of them and let them grow freely. Instead, the melon seeds grew quite well. Not only did every seed sprout, but the seed disks also grew very large, and the grains were very plump. Even the seeds that weren't fried yet tasted very fragrant.
Tian Tian had never fried melon seeds before, but she remembered seeing Old Lady Tian frying melon seeds. There was no fancy method and not too many seasonings were needed.
Just put the melon seeds in the pot, control the temperature of the pot, and then stir-fry the melon seeds in the pot.
You don’t need to add any other seasonings, so just add a little bit of salt, pepper, and aniseed, and the fried melon seeds will be very fragrant.
The only thing is that someone needs to stand in front of the pot and watch the melon seeds all the time, otherwise the seeds will get burnt very easily.
Tian Tian hesitated for a while between frying the melon seeds or cooking, and finally decided to fry the melon seeds first.
The grain for her family was just brought home yesterday and has not yet been taken to the production team for grinding. Tian Tian can't do anything.
She fried melon seeds in a big pot and buried some potatoes and sweet potatoes that she had just brought back yesterday in the brazier. She ate the roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes in the morning. There were also a circle of chestnuts and peanuts around the brazier. The roasted chestnuts and peanuts tasted especially good.
Tian Tian was sweating all over while frying melon seeds. During this time, Old Mrs. Tian woke up and took out all the roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes. Seeing that there was something edible in the morning, she didn't tell Tian Tian that she had gotten up so early in the morning to fry melon seeds.
After Tian Baobao and Tian Zhuo got up and finished their meal, they took their lunch items and planned to bring some delicious food directly to Team 5 in the evening, but Old Lady Tian directly rejected them.
Even if melon seeds and peanuts can be considered food, it is impossible to let two children take away so much food. What's more, these melon seeds and peanuts are still raw, and how can they taste as good as cooked ones.
Old Mrs. Tian only told them to go and reserve a seat first in the evening, and they could get the rest of the food when they went there in the evening.
Although Tian Baobao and his friends were not happy in their hearts, they still listened to Old Lady Tian and took their lunch, as well as some sand apples and pears, to school.
After Tian Baobao and the others left, the family members were busy the whole morning. Chen Guihua and Lin Meiyu were twisting corn kernels at home, and in the afternoon they crushed the kernels and ground them into cornmeal.
Tian Tian and Old Lady Tian were frying melon seeds at home, and also frying some peanuts and chestnuts. In their free time, they would go to the hut to pick up crooked and cracked soybeans.
Tian Lisong, Tian Lilin and Tian Yuan went up the mountain to collect firewood and some mountain products.
In the afternoon, Tian Tian helped Chen Guihua and others move grain to the mill. There were a lot of people in the mill, and they had to wait for a while before it was their turn to use the mill. When Lin Meiyu saw that Tian Tian had delivered the things, she asked Tian Tian to go home quickly.
Tian Tian realized that there was really no point for her to stay here, so she told Lin Meiyu that after grinding the cornmeal, she should ask someone to tell her that she had finished grinding the cornmeal. Then she went home to help Old Mrs. Tian.
Now everyone else in the team also knows that Team Five is going to set up a stage to perform a two-person opera in the evening, and they are all discussing the matter.
When Tian Tian returned home, she ran into Li Jiuniang, who also asked Tian Tian whether this matter was true.
Before, Li Jiuniang didn't know what seasonal food was available in the countryside, so she was very close to Tian Tian. Now, Li Jiuniang has lived in the brigade for a year, and she has some idea of what she can and cannot eat, so her relationship with Tian Tian has become a little distant.
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