Chapter 113 Garlic Ribs - Harvesting Soybeans
Upon hearing this, Pei's mother glanced at Pei Jing. They were aware of the subtle undercurrents between him and Pei Jing when Pei Ying came home last time, but they felt they could understand it.
They felt that both Pei Jing and Pei Ying needed time to gradually accept each other. They couldn't neglect Pei Jing just because Pei Ying was back, but they also couldn't abandon Pei Ying just because Pei Jing existed. If they didn't want him, they wouldn't have gone to find him.
When Pei Ying was a child, he was lively and adorable, and a chatterbox. After he was found, it seemed difficult for him to even open his mouth to call out "father" and "mother".
The child has been missing for so many years, and we don't know how much suffering he has endured outside, but when asked, Pei Ying just said lightly that it's all in the past, as if he were blaming them.
Pei's mother tried to get closer, but Pei Ying's silence and indifference made her uncomfortable. She kept thinking that she should wait, and that as time went by, the family would get to know each other better, and things would be fine.
But they didn't live to see that day come; they only saw Pei Ying leave.
Not long after Pei Ying left, his family moved south to Yizhou. Pei's mother thought that unless Pei Ying came looking for her, she might never see him again in this lifetime.
Unexpectedly, Pei Ying also came to Yizhou and was even encountered by Pei Jing.
Pei Jing didn't hide anything from them after encountering something important; instead, he told them.
Pei's mother took Pei Jing's hand and patted it gently, as if to comfort him and express her gratitude. "Mother understands."
Pei Jing said, "Mother, don't worry. My elder brother is married and lives in Yizhou. We'll go see him tomorrow. Even if he doesn't come home, it's close by. We can see him anytime we want."
Madam Pei nodded slightly, "Jing'er is so thoughtful."
“Mother, this is what your son should do. If my elder brother can come back, we brothers will have someone to keep us company.”
His tone was calm and gentle, as if every word was sincere. Pei's father said from the side, "Jing'er is right. You are not feeling well. Don't be too anxious. Calm down and we will go to find Ying'er together tomorrow."
Pei Ying returned early today, around lunchtime.
Lin Chuntao then told Lin Jiaye and the others to rest, and that she would go cook and prepare dinner in a little while.
Because they needed to wash and cook the mushrooms, and it would take a while before they could eat, and since the place was nearby, and they had eaten a big bowl of noodles in the morning and weren't hungry yet, Lin Jiaye said to Lin Chuntao, "Sister, you cook and we'll go back and pick some more."
Just as Lin Chuntao was about to say that she would rest first, Pei Ying smiled and said, "I'll go with you."
Since Pei Ying wanted to go, Lin Chuntao didn't stop her. The rice wasn't cooked yet, and it would take a while to prepare the dishes, so she let them go.
Lin Chuntao soaked the dried bamboo shoots, poured a basin of mushrooms out of her basket, and carried it to the backyard.
The rice was still steaming when Lin Chunxing, along with Lin Chunhe and Lin Duo'er, came over to wash it together. Picking mushrooms was not as tiring as washing them. Half a basin of mushrooms made their backs ache, but fortunately, there were many people, so they washed them a little faster.
After washing, the meat needed to be rinsed twice with clean water, so Lin Chuntao let Lin Chunxing and the others do that while she went back to prepare the meat.
Cut the pork belly into square pieces and stir-fry until it changes color. Add garlic cloves, ginger slices, bay leaves, and other seasonings and stir-fry together until the flavors are released. Then, add the soaked dried bamboo shoots, water to cover the ingredients, a small amount of salt, cover the pot, and start cooking.
Lin Chunxing bought three pieces of pork belly, with ribs still attached. Lin Chuntao separated the meat and ribs, took a knife and chopped the ribs into small pieces, minced half a bowl of garlic and added it to cold water, setting it aside for later use.
Lin Jiaye and the others are all teenagers, and it seems that they would prefer fried food to stewed meat. Lin Chuntao is preparing to fry some garlic ribs.
Garlic ribs are also easy to make. After chopping the ribs into small pieces, add a small amount of salt and a small amount of pepper. Lin Chuntao mixed some starch and baking soda and sprinkled them on the ribs. Finally, stir the minced garlic in the bowl and pour the water used to soak the garlic into a basin.
Reach out and mix the ribs thoroughly, then add two spoonfuls of flour and continue mixing.
After preparing the ribs, Lin Chuntao rinsed the half bowl of minced garlic again and set it aside for later use.
The meat dishes included stewed pork and spare ribs. A few days ago, after marinating the meat, Lin Chuntao soaked some salted tofu, which was now half-dried. Lin Chuntao took a piece, washed it, sliced it into half a bowl of thin slices, cracked in a few eggs, and stirred it well before using it.
After she finished doing all that, Lin Chunxing and the others returned with the cleaned mushrooms.
"Sis, should we stir-fry the mushrooms plain or add some sliced meat?"
Since they were only washing green-headed mushrooms, stir-frying them would be good, so Lin Chuntao asked, "How would you like to eat them?"
Lin Chunhe said, "I feel that adding a little bit of meat makes it more fragrant when stir-fried."
Lin Chuntao said, "Then let's cut some meat and stir-fry it together."
After saying that, Lin Chunxing cut a small piece of lean meat and sliced it thinly. Lin Chuntao looked at the stewing meat, which had already boiled, but still needed to cook for a while longer.
The rice was already steamed, and the fire next to it was burning. Lin Chuntao was going to fry the ribs first.
To make garlic ribs, you need to first fry the garlic until it turns slightly yellow. Remove the garlic and set it aside. Use the remaining oil to fry the ribs directly. The heat should not be too high and the oil temperature should not be too high, otherwise the outside of the ribs will burn while the inside remains raw, making it impossible to crisp the ribs and resulting in a less delicious dish.
After frying over low heat for about fifteen minutes, the ribs were fried until golden brown, and the aroma filled the entire yard. Lin Chuntao took the ribs out, added a small amount of Sichuan peppercorns and dried chili pepper pieces, and stir-fried them until fragrant. Then she poured the garlic and ribs that she had just fried back in.
Stir-fry evenly and serve. The golden, peppery ribs brought Lin Duo'er a look of delight.
"Sis, this smells so good!"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Then you should eat a few more pieces later."
The pork ribs were fried, and the stewed pork with dried bamboo shoots was almost done. The pork was already tender, and there was still quite a bit of broth left. Lin Chuntao added some firewood, reduced the sauce over high heat, and then served the pork.
Lin Chunxing sliced the meat, and Lin Chunhe broke the mushrooms into small pieces.
Lin Chuntao used two stoves to cook at the same time: one for stir-fried meat and mushrooms, and the other for frying eggs and tofu slices.
After the tofu skin puffed up, water was added. Lin Chuntao cut half a bowl of pickled cabbage and put it in to cook together. After these two dishes were cooked, there was still some bean curd left from yesterday. Lin Chuntao planned to stir-fry a cabbage dish before having dinner.
Pei Ying and the others hadn't returned yet, so Lin Chuntao turned to Lin Duo'er and said, "Duo'er, go and call your brother-in-law and the others. It's time to eat."
Lin Duo'er responded and ran off.
She had just run out of the courtyard gate when she saw Pei Ying and Lin Jiaye walking home. Lin Duo'er turned around and ran back, "Sister, brother-in-law and the others are back."
Lin Chuntao said, "Then let's get ready to serve the rice with bowls and chopsticks."
As she spoke, Lin Chunxing brought the ribs and stewed meat from the stove to the table. The mushrooms were cooked, and Lin Chuntao also served them. The pickled cabbage and bean curd were still cooking. Lin Chuntao chopped some scallions and garlic and made some dipping sauces.
Now that the weather is hot, the green beans can be eaten cold, which is even more refreshing.
Just as Lin Chuntao finished serving the dishes, Pei Ying and Lin Jiaye came in. She poked her head out and called out, "Put down the baskets and we'll clean them up in a bit. The food is ready, come and eat!"
Pei Ying led them to wash their hands. When they came in, Lin Chuntao and the others had already served the food.
Of the six dishes on the table, three contained meat, and they could smell the aroma as soon as they entered the courtyard.
Looking at the golden fried pork ribs, Lin Jiayang swallowed hard. His family raised sheep, and sheep were not cheap. They often ate pork, but each time they would only fry a bowl, unlike the huge bowl on Lin Chuntao's table, which was so big that it seemed like everyone could eat as much as they wanted.
Lin Chuntao invited them to sit down and eat. They were all around the same age. They might have been a little reserved in the morning, but after working together that morning, they were now completely captivated by the aroma and couldn't be polite at all.
Everyone devoured the rice that Lin Chuntao steamed.
Even Pei Ying was captivated by the newly made garlic ribs, eating several pieces before asking Lin Chuntao, "Are there any more ribs at home?"
Lin Chuntao knew what he meant as soon as she heard that, and laughed, "We can have another frying tonight."
Having received the message, Pei Ying didn't say anything more. Lin Duo'er asked, "Sister, are we still going to fry it tonight?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Fry it. If you want to eat it, just fry it. It's not difficult to make."
Lin Jiayang and the others listened without saying a word, and even wanted to ask Lin Chuntao if she would hire someone to help with the corn harvesting. They could do it themselves, and the beans would be harvested in a few days.
After lunch, before the weather reached its hottest point, Lin Chuntao and the others went to pick crops a few more times. When the sun was at its strongest, they rested at home for half an hour, watching the sun gradually set in the west, before returning to the fields.
There wasn't much difference between a teenager and an adult working; on this day, all the bean sprouts from the three plots were harvested and brought home.
These bean sprouts were pulled up and bundled together in groups of a dozen or so. We carried them back and piled them all up against the wall.
In the evening, Lin Chuntao cooked dinner, and Pei Ying set up bamboo poles on top of the field. She then led Lin Jiaye and the others to hang the bean sprouts on the bamboo poles to dry, neatly arranging them.
When they returned home after dinner, it was already dusk. The adults were still thinking that Lin Chuntao had made the children work instead of letting them rest earlier, and that the children must be so tired they wanted to cry.
But to my surprise, when they returned, they were grimacing and didn't look like they had just finished a day's work at all; they were in a very good mood.
Aunt Stone laughed at Lin Jiayang and his friends.
"Are you happy to eat the food cooked by your Sister Chuntao?"
Lin Jiayang chuckled, his eyes crinkling with laughter. "Today, Sister Chuntao made braised pork with dried bamboo shoots and fried pork ribs. The pork ribs she fried smelled so good. She fried a huge bowl of them this morning and then fried some more tonight."
Lin Jialiang chimed in, "When we went this morning, Sister Chuntao picked a basketful of mushrooms. We even had two meals of stir-fried mushrooms with meat. Hehe, we'll go again tomorrow."
Uncle Stone shook his head helplessly, "Looks like she's quite satisfied with the meal. Has she been helping her with the work? Don't just let her eat without giving her any chores to do."
Lin Jiayang laughed and said, "It's definitely ready. When we went there this morning, Sister Chuntao even cooked a bowl of meat sauce noodles for each of us. We ate three meals today!"
Aunt Stone hissed coldly, "You ate three meals?"
Lin Jiayang said, "Chunxing and the others come back late, so they eat breakfast a little later, and they eat breakfast earlier."
Lin Chuntao had been pulling beans all day. She wasn't too tired, but her palms had turned green from pulling the bean sprouts.
If we wait until all the beans are harvested, will our hands still be white again?
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