She took the peanuts, tossed them casually onto the pile, and asked, "Just got off work?"
Zhao Qingyun nodded: "Yes, do we have to pick out all these peanuts?"
Xu Lai sighed, "Yeah, just thinking about it gives me a headache."
Zhao Qingyun casually said, "I'm not busy tonight, I'll come over and help later."
Xu Lai's eyes lit up: "Is it okay? It won't take up too much of your time, will it?"
He smiled upon hearing this, "Don't worry."
They had porridge for dinner as usual. They hadn't cooked rice at night for the past few days. They cooked extra rice at noon and then used the leftover rice to make porridge, which was very convenient.
After her grandparents finished eating dinner, Xu Lai washed the dishes, then took a small stool and sat down to pick peanuts.
She couldn't help but ask, "How can you eat all these peanuts?"
As Grandma picked the sesame seeds, she said, "They're for pressing oil. Peanut oil is very fragrant when stir-frying vegetables. We also have some sesame seeds at home, so we can pick those tomorrow."
Xu Lai was practically in despair; planting so many crops was a waste of her granddaughter's energy.
The courtyard gate creaked open, and Xu Lai looked over to see Zhao Qingyun coming in from outside. He hadn't changed his clothes, but he had taken off his suit jacket. She had never understood why a lowly employee like him always dressed so formally for work.
Later, when I learned his identity, it made sense. He was a big boss, and if he went to work in a T-shirt and shorts, his subordinates would secretly wonder if the company was going to go bankrupt.
He rolled up his sleeves and, without Xu Lai even bringing him a stool, skillfully brought one over himself and sat down next to Xu Lai.
The peanuts were covered in mud. Even though the mud was shaken off when they were pulled up, some mud still clung to them. They had to be picked off and washed clean in water.
As the sun slowly set and the courtyard was shrouded in darkness, Xu Lai could barely see anything. She got up and turned on the courtyard lights, and in an instant, the entire courtyard was illuminated.
Grandma smiled and said, "I was just about to say that it was getting dark and I was going to turn on the light, but you went."
Xu Lai wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and said, "I can't even see clearly anymore, I just picked randomly."
And as she maintained that position, her thumb and forefinger began to ache slightly. There was still a third of the peanut left. Xu Lai heard her grandfather's old-fashioned mobile phone announce the time: "It is now 8 o'clock Beijing time."
She said to Zhao Qingyun, "It's eight o'clock. You have to go to work tomorrow. Go back. We can finish the rest by ourselves. We'll be done soon."
Zhao Qingyun stood up, patted the dirt off her hands, and said, "Okay, see you tomorrow."
Grandma thanked him, saying, "Thank you so much, Xiao Zhao. We definitely wouldn't have been able to finish picking them today without your help."
When he got home, he washed his hands. His fingertips were a little red and painful to the touch.
The old lady came out of the room and asked, "Have you picked them all?"
Zhao Qingyun put her hand down and said, "Not yet, there's about a third left."
The old lady laughed: "Then why did you come back?"
Zhao Qingyun was speechless for a moment. He couldn't very well say that Xu Lai had called him back, even though that was the truth.
Grandma Jiang said with a rather earnest tone, "The situation next door is like this: they mainly farm. If you decide to be with Xiao Lai, then you have to accept everything about their family."
Zhao Qingyun nodded: "I know. I would never hesitate because of this. In my opinion, farming is not a shameful thing. Whose ancestors were not farmers? Our family started from my grandfather and made a name for ourselves."
Grandma Jiang smiled with satisfaction: "It's good that you know what you're doing."
After Zhao Qingyun left, the three of them, grandmother and grandson, finished sorting the peanuts around nine o'clock, filling four baskets. She stood up and stretched, saying, "Finally done, I'm so tired."
Grandma told her to go and rest. Tomorrow, Grandpa should go to the stream to wash the peanuts clean. Don't worry about the leaves for now. Take them to the yard, spread them out on the ground to dry for a few days, and then they can be used as firewood.
Seeing that she had finished her work, Xu Lai washed her hands and went back to her room to wash up.
After washing away her fatigue, she came out, dried her hair, covered it with a hair drying cap, and applied medicine to her fingers. Her index finger and thumb were already broken from overuse and hurt when touched.
After applying the medicine, the hair drying cap had absorbed most of the moisture from her hair, so she took out a hairdryer and dried her hair.
When her hair was half-dry, Xu Lai got lazy. She unplugged the cord, turned on the small fan, and stood with her back to the air vent to dry the ends of her hair.
After playing on her phone for a while, she pulled the blanket over herself and fell into a deep sleep.
Because she went to bed relatively early the night before, she woke up naturally at six in the morning. Actually, it wasn't exactly a natural wake-up, as the chickens in the house were crowing and the dog was barking every now and then.
She lay awake in bed, and could hear her grandmother feeding the ducks. The ducks quacked, and as soon as the corn kernels were poured in, they just kept eating and the noise subsided.
Xu Lai got up, quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth. When she went downstairs, she saw Zhao Qingyun driving to work.
She couldn't help but admire Zhao Qingyun. As far as she knew, Zhao Qingyun had a habit of jogging every morning. Even if he exercised for twenty minutes, he would have to get up before 5:30, run, take a shower, eat breakfast, and then go to work.
Grandpa had just returned from cutting fish grass. Xu Lai went to the kitchen and saw that Grandma was cooking noodles. When she saw that Grandma had gotten up, she said, "Get up! Help Grandma wash two scallions. The noodles will be ready to eat soon."
Xu Lai went to the small vegetable garden next to the yard, picked two scallions, removed the dry outer parts, washed them clean, and then chopped them.
Originally, the vacant land next to it was meant to be reserved for my uncle to build a house, but since he was now considered a son-in-law, and the land was just sitting there empty anyway, my grandfather planted fruit trees on it and turned it into a small orchard, where he also raised chickens, ducks and geese.
After breakfast, Xu Lai and her grandfather each carried a load of peanuts to the stream to wash them clean.
You can wash them at home, but it uses too much water. To wash all these peanuts clean, you would have to wash them three or four times.
Grandpa took a dustpan, poured in some peanuts, rubbed them vigorously with his hands, then shook and washed them several times until the mud came off. He then rubbed and washed them again, and the peanuts were clean.
Xu Lai thought using her hands was too slow, and since she was wearing rubber boots, she grabbed one side of the dustpan, put her feet in, and stomped on it a few times.
I have to say, this method cleans peanuts quite well, and it's also very efficient.
In less than half an hour, the peanuts were washed clean, white and still wet with water droplets, looking very pleasing to the eye.
She washed the basket clean, poured the peanuts in, and then carried them back to dry in the sun.
Grandma had already laid out a plastic sheet in the yard. Xu Lai poured the peanuts on it, spread them out with her hands, and let them dry in the sun for three or four days before they could be harvested.
She also kept a few pounds of peanuts, intending to boil them in salt water.
Put peanuts in a pot, add water to cover them, then add salt and Sichuan peppercorns, and cook until done.
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