Chapter 184: Pulp Quilts
After the planting, the brigade gave everyone a day off to rest. After a month of rushing to plant, everyone was exhausted.
It was a rare rest, and the sun was shining brightly, so the women in the village were busy. They took off the quilts that had been used for a whole winter, washed them, and dried them.
It was also the weekend, so Su Mo went to visit Lu's family. When
Li Yue'e saw Su Mo coming, she asked, "Xiao Mo, have you washed your quilts?" Her belly was so big, if she hadn't done it, she would have gone to help.
"I've washed them." Su Mo said. The last time Lu took a rest during the Long March, she asked him to wash them, and dried the ones that needed to be dried when no one was around.
"Have you washed them?"
"Ah?" Su Mo didn't understand.
"This quilt, after washing, needs to be starched. This way the quilt will be straight and smooth, the quilt cover will be strong, dirt-resistant, not easy to penetrate dust, easy to wash, and not easy to be damaged."
"Is there such a saying? I have never starched it." Su Mo had never seen it, let alone heard of it, and was very curious.
"Mom will starch it in a while, just watch. If you think it's good, mom will do it for you later." Li Yue'e knew that Su Mo must have never seen it before, and it seemed that there were very few starched quilts in big cities.
These starched clothes and quilt covers are very durable and not easy to be damaged.
"Okay." Su Mo nodded, sat next to Li Yue'e and chatted with her.
When the quilt cover was about 70% dry, Li Yue'e got busy.
First, boil a pot of hot water, then mix the starch and hot water into the pot to make a paste. When it is almost done, take an enamel basin to scoop it up.
The paste is not too thick. Su Mo thinks it is slightly thicker than the lump soup.
Put the quilt cover on the kang and spread it out. Li Yue'e brings the paste in and rolls the quilt cover a little bit on the paste until the whole quilt cover is paste. After paste, you have to keep beating it so that the paste can penetrate the cloth.
Then take it out to dry. When it is almost done, Li Yue'e calls Liu Yuzhi to come over for help. The two of them grab one side of the quilt and pull it hard to make it flat.
After stretching, Su Mo took a look and found it was indeed straight, almost like ironing in later times. It was a little cool to the touch and was indeed quite smooth. Su
Mo also learned something new. In the ancient novels she read before, they always mentioned starching clothes for washing. She thought that it was OK to wash clothes, why starch was needed for washing? It turned out that this was "starch".
"What? Do I starch your clothes?" Li Yue'e asked.
"Third sister-in-law, starch is better. When your child is born, the bedding will get dirty very quickly. It will be easier to wash after starching." Liu Yuzhi smiled. Lu
Xingjun passed the exam to work at the credit station last month. People who can receive a salary are big customers for her family. The more deposits they absorb, the higher her husband's year-end bonus will be.
After the mind was opened, the relationship between the first and second wives also eased a lot. Lu Weiguo saved 100 yuan to support his eldest brother.
Su Mo also saved 500 yuan, just to support the first wife's work. When she is leaving in the future, she can take it all out.
Su Mo thought it was very fresh and thought it was okay to try it for a while. If she couldn't get used to it, she could just wash it off.
"Thank you for your hard work, mother."
"It's not hard." Li Yue'e went to help Su Mo happily.
While the paste was being cooked, Lu Changzheng came back. Seeing his mother cooking the paste, he asked what she was going to make. When he heard that she was going to make a quilt, he quickly objected.
"Wife, don't starch it. After starching, the quilt will be hard. It's not only cold when you cover it, but also not tight."
It's okay in summer, but it's really drafty in winter. After finally making the quilt soft, it's time to take it apart and wash it in summer.
Li Yue'e was so angry that she picked up a spoon and wanted to hit Lu Changzheng with a hammer, "After starching, the quilt cover will be dirt-resistant and durable. Otherwise, it will be damaged by washing every two or three days."
This wasteful thing, cloth coupons are so rare nowadays.
"Just sew it if it's damaged. After starching, it's not breathable in summer and it leaks from top to bottom in winter." Lu Changzheng firmly disagreed with starching.
His wife had never seen it before, and might think it's good to starch it, but it's actually uncomfortable to cover it. Life was hard before, but there was nothing he could do. His family was not so poor that they could not afford to replace the quilt when it was broken.
In the end, the quilt was not made into pulp, so he added some sugar to the pulp and asked Li Yue'e to take it back for the children to eat.
*******
Time went by in the blink of an eye and it was June.
The main farm work in June was to apply tillering fertilizer to rice, irrigate with shallow water, and dry the fields appropriately and timely; there were also deep tillage and topdressing of dryland crops such as wheat, corn, and soybeans, as well as weeding; and then it was catching insects and weeding.
This was considered an agricultural idle period for farmers. Moreover, at this time, it was dark late, and more people went up the mountain after work every day.
Most of them went to pick wild vegetables, such as Artemisia selengensis sprouts and Echinops thornyii sprouts, which were regular guests on the dinner table in May and June.
A small number of people went to try their luck, maybe they could pick up stones with gold grains. Since the news of the gold mines here was announced, people have been going up the mountain to look for them from time to time. Some people have actually found them and sold them for a lot of money.
Geng Changqing was born in June. On his birthday, he received a call from Su Tingde.
The two brothers first exchanged information in a secret language, and then Su Tingde changed the subject, "Changqing, you are already 31 years old, and it's time to consider personal problems."
This younger brother is good in everything except that he doesn't want to get married. He even suspects that he has been hurt at some point.
He has said this every year since he was 25, but every year there has been no result.
When he was in Haishi before, he could still ask for introductions through his connections, but in the north, he has no connections there, so he can't do anything.
Geng Changqing's scalp tightened. It was the time of the year to urge marriage.
"Brother, things haven't been resolved yet, so I won't consider personal issues for the time being."
"This matter has nothing to do with your family. You're not young anymore, really, if you find a suitable partner, you should consider it." They are just too far away, otherwise Fu Manhua Hospital would have a few good ones.
Geng Changqing wiped his cold sweat, and finally dealt with Su Tingde. Just after hanging up the phone, the old leader called again.
The purpose was the same as Su Tingde, and he also came to urge marriage. Moreover, the old leader not only urged, but also asked someone to select a candidate, and ordered him to go and see the candidate in two days.
After Geng Changqing hung up the phone, he couldn't stop smiling bitterly.
He really didn't want to get married, but it was not easy to refuse the kindness of the old leader.
I hope the other party is a sober and good comrade, and I can just tell him clearly when the time comes. I was really scared when I was in Haishi before.
At that time, Sutinde asked someone to introduce him to several people. He clearly told one of them that he would not consider personal problems for the time being and had no plans to get married, but the other party still pestered him for a long time, and occasionally met him by chance, which really annoyed him.
Fortunately, he was transferred here later, otherwise I don’t know how long he would be pestered.