For dinner, she planned to make braised pork belly. The pork belly she bought today looked particularly appealing, and Xu Lai could already imagine how tempting it would look.
When Xu Lai returned from her trip, the fruits and vegetables she had planted at home were almost ripe, and many of them were quite old. She went to the vegetable garden, picked two eggplants, a handful of chili peppers, and gathered a bunch of water spinach before going home.
She sat by the door, picked up a basin and started preparing vegetables. Tonight she could stir-fry some water spinach with garlic and make eggplant with chili peppers.
It was almost 6:30 in the morning, and the sky was still full of sunset colors. The clouds were piled up in clusters, changing into different shapes. That's what summer is like. It gets dark late. When I was a child, I could still see the stars when I looked up after dinner.
She cooked the remaining vegetables, and reduced the sauce on the braised pork until it looked appetizing.
The salted duck eggs she had pickled earlier were ready to eat. She took five, cooked them, and then it was time to eat.
Seeing that Xia Ning hadn't arrived yet, she was about to call her when she saw her arrive on an electric scooter, with Grandma Xia sitting behind her.
Xia Ning brought the gifts inside, and Xu Lai said to her, "Why are you so late? I was just about to urge you to hurry up."
Xia Ning glanced at her: "I just went to town to buy some things for my grandparents," and then she looked at her grandparents again, "Grandpa and Grandma, it's been so long since I've seen you."
After everyone took their seats, Xia Ning was the first to notice the salted duck eggs and said, "Isn't that the one you and Grandma Xu made together in that video?"
Xu Lai nodded: "This is it. Try it and see if the yolk is sandy."
Xia Ning cracked one open, and inside was a golden yellow color with oily yolk, looking very delicious.
Seeing that the finished product was quite good, Xu Lai said with some pride, "It seems that it was me who made such a successful pickling."
Xia Ning said, "Don't rush, don't rush. We haven't even tasted it yet. What if it doesn't taste good? You'll be embarrassed."
She took a bite and found the texture to be delicate. The saltiness was just right now; if it had been marinated for too long, it would have been too salty.
Seeing that she liked it, Xu Lai said, "We still have a lot pickled at home, you can take some back with you later."
After dinner, Xia Ning and Xu Lai washed the dishes together. Xu Lai asked, "Now that you're back, what are your plans? How about we start a social media business together?"
Xia Ning was somewhat tempted, but she felt it would be difficult for her to stick with it, so she was hesitant to give it a try.
Seeing this, Xu Lai laughed and said, "You were the one who encouraged me to film the video before, so why are you so hesitant now?"
Xia Ning hesitated, "Let me think about it some more."
...
The next morning, she got up at five o'clock with the sound of a rooster crowing. After breakfast, she picked up her hoe and sickle and went to the vegetable garden.
When she was picking vegetables yesterday, she saw that the cucumber vines had withered and died, with only a few small cucumbers still hanging at the very top.
She picked the cucumbers, pulled out the bamboo poles, and piled them aside. Once the cucumbers she had planted this time had sprouted, she would continue to plant them in the soil to provide support.
Cucumbers are short-season plants; they bloom and bear fruit a few times before withering. So, if you want to eat cucumbers, you have to plant two more crops.
She cleared away the cucumber vines from the plot, turned over the soil, and then waited two days before planting the seedlings.
It was still early, so she weeded the field and then went to pick corn.
Many families in the village had already finished harvesting their corn. They planted it early, so it ripened early as well. Xu Lai's corn had just ripened, and she picked more than half of it, planning to take it home and eat it slowly.
In another week, the corn will be too old. The old corn can be dried and fed to the chickens and ducks, so it's not a waste.
There were seven or eight watermelon seedlings planted at the far end of the vegetable garden. Xu Lai had picked some watermelons a few times before, and today she planned to try her luck and see if there were any big watermelons.
She parted the weeds and saw that there were indeed a few. Xu Lai picked one that looked ripe and put it in her basket. She covered the other watermelons with weeds to prevent passersby from picking them because they were thirsty.
After working for almost two hours, it was only a little past seven o'clock. She picked up her basket, carried the pile of weeds, and threw them into the fishpond to feed the fish. Her grandfather would get up every morning to cut grass to feed the fish, but she felt that the grass was just sitting there anyway, so she might as well give it to the fish.
After taking a shower, she rode her bike to town. She had bought enough vegetables for two days yesterday, and she went to town to buy pesticides because the rice seedlings in the fields had already started to sprout, and it was time to start spraying pesticides.
Passing by the market, she also bought a few pork bones and a yam to make soup when she got home.
When she got home, she gave the pesticide to her grandfather. She had originally planned to go down and kill the pests herself, but her grandfather was worried that it would be easy for her to get pesticide poisoning since it was her first time doing it, so he told her not to go. She gave up the idea.
Xu Lai pulled out the basket against the wall, picked up the watermelon, washed it twice and put it in the refrigerator. She emptied out all the corn, peeled off the outer leaves, leaving only the innermost two layers, then put it in a bag and put it in the refrigerator.
She also packed a bag to give to Xia Ning, and sent seven or eight to Grandma Jiang as well.
When she arrived at Xia Ning's house, Xia Ning was still in bed. Xu Lai went to her room, patted her butt and said, "If you're going to make a social media video, are you really planning to film your sleeping routine? It's almost ten o'clock, get up."
Xia Ning rolled over. "I finally quit my job and don't have to be a beast of burden anymore. Let me sleep for two days."
Xu Lai said regretfully, "Never mind then. My third uncle originally asked me to pick lotus pods, and I said I'd like you to come along, but..."
Xia Ning quickly got up to wash up. After she finished, Xu Lai had already gotten on the electric scooter and said with a smile, "Tomorrow morning at five o'clock, the sun is so strong now, I must be crazy to go pick them with you."
Xia Ning laughed in exasperation, "Xiao Lai, you're something else!"
When she got home, she played with the puppy for a while, then put on her apron and started cooking. She cut the corn into chunks and peeled and chopped the yam.
When peeling yam, she wore two layers of gloves. The reason was simple: her hands were so itchy after peeling without gloves that she had to apply white wine to make them feel better.
Wash the pork bones with hot water to remove the blood, then transfer them to a clay pot, add corn, and simmer for an hour. Then add Chinese yam and simmer for another ten minutes or so.
Wash the picked peppers, put them in a pan and stir-fry until they develop a tiger-skin pattern. Heat oil in a pan, add fermented black beans, and stir-fry evenly with the peppers. It's very appetizing.
In the morning, she picked two eggplants, cut them in half, sliced the inside into strips, steamed them until cooked, and then prepared a small sauce. After steaming the eggplants, she drained the water and poured the sauce over them.
The soup was ready, Grandma brought the dishes to the table, Xu Lai ladled out the soup, and Grandpa went to pour the wine. The dishes for lunch today were really good with rice.
She served Grandma Jiang a large bowl of soup separately, as she lived alone and her meals were inevitably simpler.
When she went inside, she found Grandma Jiang making instant noodles. She was startled when she saw someone come in, but relaxed after realizing it was her.
Xu Lai said with a righteous tone, "Grandma Jiang, you actually stole instant noodles!"
Grandma Jiang shushed him, "Don't tell Qingyun. I thought he had already come back when you suddenly appeared. You scared me."
Xu Lai grasped the key point: "He's coming back?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
