Chapter 35: Is it good to be a good worker? Yes.
Lin Shu peeled one and handed it to He Guixiang, "Mom, don't just stand there and watch. Come and try my cooking."
He Guixiang praised it highly after eating, "It's sweet, soft and glutinous, and really delicious." She ate very slowly, taking small bites at a time, as if she was savoring it slowly.
After finishing one, someone suddenly stuffed another into her mouth. Lin Shu held up the zongzi and looked at her with a smile. "I can't finish two. Mom, please eat half for me."
Such small rice dumplings, you can definitely finish them all.
But these words made He Guixiang feel very relieved, as her Ah Shu was a caring person.
Lin Shu indeed didn't eat enough, but compared to her previous life, she was already extremely satisfied. Now she had a small appetite, and one and a half rice dumplings could be equivalent to half a meal.
After everyone had eaten their share of Guanyin tofu and rice dumplings, Lin Shu held a large bowl of Guanyin tofu, while Lin Xiaopu carried four small and exquisite alkaline water rice dumplings, and went to the back of the vegetable patch to bring snacks to Zhou Ye.
Lin Shu didn't know how many times Zhou Ye had walked back and forth, and she was shocked again when she saw the current state of the fish pond.
Oh my god, what a skilled worker this is!
The first layer of coarse sand and gravel for such a large fish pond had already been laid. When the two sisters went there, Zhou Ye was stacking pebbles in rows on top, and the pebbles had already piled up into a small hill next to the fish pond.
Looking at the ground again, there was a large backpack full of pebbles, which had not yet been poured out.
In order to finish the fish pond as quickly as possible, Zhou Ye even used a bamboo backpack to carry stones.
Fortunately, Grandpa Gao’s bamboo backpack is famous for its sturdiness, otherwise it would have collapsed after carrying so many stones.
Seeing the two people coming, Zhou Ye jumped out of the fish pond, wiped the sweat from his forehead, glanced at Lin Xiaopu's hand, and asked Lin Shu, "Is this... a zongzi?"
Lin Shu was slightly surprised, "Has Brother Aye ever eaten this before?"
The place where Zhou Ye fled to is already part of the northwest, right?
Zhou Ye explained, "Our hometown is dry land, and the staple food is noodles. These glutinous rice dishes are rare. Although I haven't eaten them, I have seen them and heard people talk about delicacies from other places. I heard that the wealthy areas of Jiangnan are particularly fond of zongzi."
Lin Shu curled her eyes. "You're in for a treat today! You can eat now, right? The fish pond is right behind the courtyard. Did you smell the fragrance of the rice dumplings? Isn't it delicious?"
Zhou Ye looked at her and nodded, "It smells good."
"Here, come on, I'll give you four small dumplings, just enough to fill your stomach."
Lin Xiaopu immediately said, "Brother Aye, you got the most rice dumplings. Mom and sister only ate one and a half, I only had two, Dad had three, and you had four!"
Zhou Ye looked at Lin Shu and said, "One is enough for me. You three can each eat one of the remaining three."
Without waiting for Lin Shu to answer, Lin Xiaopu replied mischievously, "That won't do. The rice dumplings were made by my sister, so we have to divide them however my sister says. If you don't eat them, it means you think my cooking is not good enough, and my sister will be angry."
Lin Shu put her hands on her hips and said in a tone that brooked no refusal, "Just eat when I tell you to. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"
Zhou Ye was speechless. He washed his hands and face with the spring water and easily picked up the large basin. The Guanyin tofu, cooled with spring water, was not only smooth and tender but also cool and refreshing, a perfect way to cool down a man like him after a long day of work.
After eating a large bowl of Guanyin tofu, most of the heat in my body dissipated.
Then there was the small and exquisitely wrapped rice dumpling. It was the first time that Zhou Ye had seen such a crystal clear golden rice dumpling. He held it in his hands, and the rice dumpling looked even more delicate and lovely against his big palms. For a moment, he was reluctant to eat it.
"Eat quickly. After we finish eating, Xiao Pu and I have to go see Dad."
Zhou Ye paused for a moment before eating the golden, translucent rice dumpling. He ate one in two bites, his mouth full of the rich aroma.
Delicious! If he had the conditions, he would eat dozens or even hundreds of these dumplings.
Seeing that he was eating with relish, Lin Shu smiled with satisfaction.
It's impossible to have the horse run and not eat grass at the same time. It's impossible to feed Zhou Ye at this time, but it's okay to make some snacks from time to time to nourish his stomach.
Lin Shu took another look at the fish pond that was growing rapidly, and smiled like a money-grubber who had found a treasure.
I found a treasure, I really found a treasure.
After feeding Zhou Ye, Lin Shu and Lin Xiaopu took the two snacks to the fields.
It was busy farming season, and aside from those whose fields were close by, many families would deliver food to the fields, though it was mostly breakfast. Ping'er, Lin Dashan, and Zhou Ye worked quickly, so they didn't need any food delivered; they ate their own meals. So, the sight of them, one carrying a bamboo basket and the other carrying a bamboo backpack, was quite conspicuous, inevitably drawing the attention of passing villagers.
Lin Xiaopu is lively at home, but very shy outside. Lin Shu is thick-skinned and smiles whenever she meets someone. She calls them "Auntie" and "Sister" and takes the initiative to explain to those who are curious: "Brother Aye has been helping me dig the fish pond these past two days and hasn't been able to go to the fields to help Dad hoe the land. Xiaopu and I feel sorry for Dad working so hard alone, so we made some snacks for him."
"Aunt, it's nothing. It's my duty to respect my father."
"Auntie, if I make more next time, I'll give you some to try."
"Oh, sister-in-law, we are from the same village. No need to be polite. I will not be polite to you in the future."
Lin Xiaopu stared at Lin Shu in shock, full of admiration.
"Sister, have you gotten to know everyone in the village?"
Lin Shu said calmly, "What do you mean by familiar? I don't recognize any of the people I just met."
"Then, then you..." They were so familiar with each other as if they were cousins.
"If we're not familiar now, won't we get to know each other slowly in the future? I think the people in our Tianshui Village are very friendly."
Looking at these rosy, living faces, she felt incredibly at home. Not only were their complexions rosy, but their eyes also held a longing and anticipation for a better life. Unlike the apocalypse, where the living were increasingly indifferent, the lower-ups increasingly numb, and the dead were like walking corpses, their brains and intestines hanging out, stinking and ugly, only capable of being decapitated.
Lin Shu doesn't miss her previous life at all. The life she has now is what she wanted most in her previous life.
When Lin Dashan, who was working in the fields, learned that his two daughters had come to bring him food, he couldn't stop smiling.
When she saw that the snacks included not only Guanyin tofu but also three glutinous rice dumplings, she smiled so much that the fine lines at the corners of her eyes deepened.
When it entered his stomach, he felt so good that his feet floated up, and all the fatigue from a hard day's work was swept away. The food his daughter cooked was even more delicious than his wife's!
"Dad, please don't tire yourself out. Take a break from time to time. Your health is the most important thing."
"Okay, I'll listen to my daughter." Lin Dashan said with a simple smile.
"Is there still water in Dad's bamboo tube? I filled it with boiled water and it's just the right amount for Dad to drink."
"And, if the bamboo tube is empty, Dad can just go to the river and scoop some to drink."
"Father, except for mountain spring water, you should avoid drinking water from streams and rivers. Especially river water, you have to boil it before drinking it, otherwise you will get sick."
Lin Dashan nodded with a smile, "I know, I know. I'll listen to my daughter."
After delivering the snacks, the two of them happened to pick some purslane along the edge of the field.
Lin Xiaopu now has blind trust in Lin Shu, and she does whatever her sister asks her to do.
"So this is also a wild vegetable. I saw Yueya and the others use this to make tassels when they played house."
Lin Shu smiled and broke off a long stem and removed the thin stems that grew out of it, leaving only the middle one. She then cut it into small pieces, removing every other piece and connecting the rest with the bark to make a string of beads. "Is this what Xiao Pu is talking about?"
If you want to make this bead necklace, sweet potato vines are the best, but there is no sign of sweet potatoes at the moment.
Lin Xiaopu nodded vigorously, "That's it, my sister does it better!"
Lin Shu tied the beads made of purslane into her bun and said, "Look, our little Pu is wearing tassels too."
Lin Xiaopu reached out and touched it, giggling.
The two sisters picked a lot of purslane just by wandering around the fields and roadsides, and the vegetable basket they brought as snacks was almost full.
"The best time to pick purslane is actually early morning and evening. Picking it when the sun is strong will cause it to lose moisture. However, I want to make it into dried vegetables, so the picking time doesn't matter to me."
"Don't worry, sister. We'll go pick them tomorrow morning. They're everywhere in the mountains."
"Let's not pick them today. Mother must have been making dinner. Let's go help her."
"Hehe, Brother Aye is still waiting to eat the loach and snails made by my sister."
Lin Xiaopu remembered something, half covered her mouth with her hand, and lowered her voice, "The wild boar that Brother Aye hunted had some fat in its stomach. Our mother refined a lot of lard and kept it. I saw it all. Sister, please put some lard in your cooking!"
"Pfft, you're such a clever trickster. I'll make stir-fried loach for you today."
The loaches and snails have been raised in cool mountain spring water for half a day, but we can’t expect them to keep growing for just a short while, so we still need to use duck-foot mugwort to remove the fishy smell.
He Guixiang helped to process the loach's internal organs. Lin Shu cut it into pieces and put it in a basin. She spread salt evenly on the inside and outside of the loach, then added a handful of shredded duck foot mugwort and rubbed it repeatedly. After marinating it for a quarter of an hour, she added oil to a hot pan. The oil did not need to be too much, but not too little either.
Lin Shu scooped a few large spoonfuls from the jar filled with milky white lard and glanced at He Guixiang secretly. "Hehe, don't worry, mother. Brother Ye said that he will go to the forest to hunt wild boars in the future."
"Just use it, mother won't feel bad about it." He Guixiang said.
To say she wasn't heartbroken would be a lie. Normally, she even bought less pork, and the lard she saved was reserved for guests. But this time, the wild boar was hunted by Ah Ye, and getting such a large jar of lard was a pleasant surprise. The children could eat it if they wanted.
The loach in the pot is fried until golden brown, wild onions are added and stir-fried, and then seasoned and sprinkled with shredded duck foot mugwort. The aroma immediately fills the air.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
