Pei Yao glanced at the soybeans in the pot, picked one up with her chopsticks and squeezed it. The soybeans had become soft and glutinous after steaming, and they crumbled easily when squeezed.
"That's about it."
The soybeans are almost done steaming, so Pei Yao wrapped the handles on both sides of the steamer with a cloth and took the soybeans out.
Pour the soybeans onto a bamboo sieve, smooth them out, and let them air dry in the yard for a while.
These freshly steamed soybeans are very hot and need some time to cool down.
Pei Yao took down the small winnowing basket hanging on the kitchen wall, and carried a small bamboo basket on her back. She planned to go to the river to catch some dried shrimp so she could make stir-fried river shrimp for lunch.
Pei Yao ran into Pei Yichen and Pei Xuan, who had just returned from cutting grass outside, as soon as she left the hospital.
Pei Yichen could tell at a glance that Pei Yao was about to go out, so he quickly put down what he was holding and asked, "Cousin, where are you going?"
"Let's go catch shrimp in the little river at the edge of the village." Pei Yao said, then thought for a moment and added, "Do you two want to come together?"
"Go, go, go, I'll go feed the rabbit first, right away!"
"No..." Before Pei Yao could even utter those two words, Pei Yichen had already rushed into the courtyard.
Xiao Xuan'er was holding a small jar in her hand. Pei Yao felt her scalp tingle just from looking at it. The jar was full of earthworms that the two of them had dug up that morning.
Pei Yao's lips twitched at the sight.
Pei Xuan was very happy to hear that her older sister was going to take her to catch shrimp. Although she had never seen what shrimp looked like, she thought it would be just as fun as digging for earthworms with her cousin.
He loved digging up earthworms for the chicks. Every time he poured earthworms into the chicken coop, the chicks would swarm over to eat them.
Pei Xuan looked up at her older sister, whose lips were twitching, and tugged at her sleeve: "Sister, can we catch some shrimp to feed the chicks?"
"Yes, we can eat them, but if Xuan'er catches them herself, she can give them to the chicks."
When Xiao Xuan'er heard that she could feed the chicks, her eyes lit up and her mood visibly lifted.
Kids always like to treat small animals as their good friends, and they always think of them when they have something delicious to eat.
Pei Yao rubbed the little girl's head, just about to praise her, but when she looked down, she saw the dark earthworms wriggling around in the jar, and her mood immediately soured.
She silently withdrew her hand. Why did this little girl, who looked so cute, like to grab such scary things? Pei Yao couldn't understand.
"Xuan'er, go and give this earthworm to the chicks. They've been hungry all morning."
Upon hearing this, Pei Xuan went to feed the chicks.
Pei Yichen also threw the tender kudzu leaves he had just picked into the rabbit's burrow in the yard, and chopped up the pigweed he had cut and mixed it with rice bran to feed the chicks.
The chicks were huddled together, frantically pecking at the earthworms that Pei Xuan had just dumped, while showing little interest in the rice bran that Pei Yichen had poured out.
It continued to chase and peck at the wriggling earthworm.
There aren't many animals at home yet, so the whole feeding process didn't take long.
He recovered quickly and, thinking about catching shrimp, grabbed a small wooden bucket as he left the yard: "Cousin, let's go."
"Okay." The three of them then closed the courtyard gate and walked towards the small river at the village entrance.
They ran into Liu Yu on the road. He and Liu Yan seemed to be heading to the river as well. Liu Yu was carrying a wooden bucket, and Liu Yan was holding a small bamboo net.
"Yao-mei, are you going to the river to catch fish too?" Liu Yan walked over.
Pei Yao shook her head, smiled, and asked, "We're going to the river to catch shrimp, are you going to catch fish?"
Liu Yan nodded: "Yes, there are quite a few small fish in that river. They're good for making soup, but they have a lot of bones, so you have to be careful when eating them."
Liu Yu chimed in, "Yeah, Yao-jie, let's go together. I'll take you to a place my sister and I found earlier. There are a lot of fish there. You can catch some and make a fresh fish soup."
It would be better to go to the riverbank where there would be more people around, so that they could look out for each other. Therefore, Pei Yao agreed.
What was originally a small group of three has grown into a small group of five after Liu Yu and Liu Yan joined.
When you reach the small river at the village entrance, you can see Yunniang and others washing clothes under the big banyan tree.
Little Xuan'er waved her hands and tugged at Pei Yao's clothes: "Sister, I saw Mother."
Pei Yao nodded: "I saw it too..."
Qiaohui raised her head to stretch her sore neck, but when she looked up, she saw a group of children led by Pei Yao walking towards her.
"Yunniang, your Yao'er is here." She gestured for Yunniang to look in the direction of Pei Yao.
When Yunniang heard her daughter's name, she looked up and followed the direction Qiaohui was pointing. Sure enough, she saw Pei Yao and the others.
Yunniang was a little confused, so she stopped pounding the clothes with the wooden stick she was using, stood up, and waited for Pei Yao and the others to approach before asking, "Yao'er, where are you going?"
"Mother, let's go catch shrimp in the river up there."
Shen Cong, who had been obediently squatting next to Qiao Hui, also looked up at them curiously after hearing about catching shrimp.
When Yunniang heard that they were going to catch shrimp, she was somewhat bewildered.
"Yao'er, is 'catching shrimp' something you can eat?"
Yunniang had never seen anyone else catching shrimp in the river, so she thought shrimp were something edible.
Pei Yao was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this: "Mother, we're going to catch small river shrimp in the river. I'll make stir-fried shrimp for lunch when I get back today."
Yunniang blushed slightly, embarrassed by Pei Yao's laughter: "Is that so?"
Pei Yao smiled and nodded.
Yunniang looked at the small river behind her. Although the river wasn't very big, and in many places it was still only up to her knees, there was still a risk of drowning. So Yunniang warned, "Yao'er, you must be careful when you're catching shrimp, and try not to go into deep water."
"Oh, Mother, don't worry, I'll be careful."
Shen Cong looked at them, his eyes unusually bright. He walked to Pei Yao's side, tugged at her sleeve, looked up at her, and called out in a childish voice, "Sister Yao..."
Pei Yao: "!"
Pei Yao looked down at Shen Cong and couldn't help but sigh. Although Shen Cong was young, his face was really handsome, so handsome that it was hard to tell if he was male or female.
Pei Yao's favorite things and people are beautiful, so when she saw Shen Cong's devilishly handsome face with his big, blinking eyes looking at her, she immediately felt that she was about to be melted by this cute little boy.
So cute! Absolutely so cute!!!
"Do you want to come along too?" Pei Yao asked him, resisting the urge to pinch Chen Cong's cheek.
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