Chapter 94 Chapter 94-Two-in-one braised pork trotters
Lin Qingqing was crying in the stationmaster's yard. Since childhood, Wang had always said that Wang Quan was honest and obedient and that she should be nice to him.
Every time Wang went to her uncle's house, she would go to the city to buy a bag of snacks. If she asked for some, her mother might not buy it for her, but if her cousin wanted some, he would get it soon.
Also, during the Chinese New Year, when they bought cloth to make clothes, her mother would use the money she had saved to buy a piece of cloth and send it to her uncle's house.
Whenever there was something good, her mother would think of that foolish cousin.
Originally, she wanted to introduce Lin Chunxing over because Lin Chunxing was able to set up a stall to sell noodle soup and make money. Why didn't she say that she wanted to introduce Lin Chunxing and Lin Chuntao over before the incident in the fifth room?
At that time, Lin Chuntao was already nineteen years old, and no one was interested in her marriage.
But just because I have the ability to make money, people will keep an eye on me.
Now that Lin Chuntao doesn't agree, she is the backup candidate.
She didn't understand who was the biological child between her and Wang Quan.
Lin Changhua patted Lin Qingqing's shoulder and comforted her, "Don't take your mother's angry words to heart."
Aunt Lin San also said, "That's right, Qingqing, your mother loves you very much and will definitely find you a good family."
Lin Qingqing refused to listen to any words of comfort. She took a stool and sat down in the yard. She looked up at the sky. It was already very dark. There were many stars hanging in the sky, but the moon had just come out a little bit, so it was not very bright yet.
She thought that if her mother really married her to Wang Quan, she would be covered in blood on the wedding day!
Lin Chuntao and the others didn't know what was happening with Lin Qingqing and the others. They fried a can of chicken mushroom oil and half a basket of pig skin. It was already very late.
When it was almost time to go to bed, Lin Duoer said she wanted to eat the chicken mushroom noodles. Lin Chuntao smiled, made a small dough, kneaded it quickly, stretched it into thin noodles, and cooked it in a pot.
Lin Chuntao asked with a smile, "Would you like some mixed noodles or noodle soup?"
"How about just mixing it with noodles?"
The younger sisters had no objections; they thought whatever Lin Chuntao cooked would be delicious.
There were some tomatoes and eggs left over from dinner, and it was perfect for eating noodles now, so Lin Chuntao heated them up. They didn't want them, so Lin Chuntao mixed them into the noodles herself.
Chicken mushroom oil, fried chicken mushrooms, Lin Chuntao added a small amount of green onions and coriander, added salt and chili powder, and stirred it into a bowl of red.
It was so fragrant and spicy that Lin Duoer almost licked the bowl clean.
"Sister, I want to eat some more."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It's time to go to bed. Eat less. It's not easy to sleep if you eat too much."
Lin Duoer smacked her lips. Lin Chunhe and Lin Chunxing also regretted that they should have said they were very hungry. They had just said they were not very hungry, so Lin Chuntao only made a little.
After finishing this small bowl, I feel like I haven't eaten anything. I can eat another big bowl.
"Then let's eat it again tomorrow." Lin Chunhe asked.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Sure, sure. I have a big jar of chicken mushroom oil. I can make it whenever I want."
After saying that, Lin Chuntao said, "Wash the pots and dishes, wash up and go to bed. You can cook when you wake up."
The system did not broadcast mushrooms the next day, so Lin Chuntao followed them to the county town again. This morning they were going to count and divide the trees, so Lin Chuntao could also discuss it with Yu Meixi and the others.
At daybreak, Lin Chunhe and Lin Duoer woke up and discovered that Lin Chuntao had not gone to the county town. Their eyes lit up instantly and they said in unison, "Sister, we want to eat noodles."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "You two aren't thinking about food even when you're sleeping, are you?"
Lin Duoer said: "I just had a dream. I dreamed that you made a big pot."
"You woke up before you could eat?"
Lin Duoer chuckled, and Lin Chuntao said, "Light a fire and boil some water. I'll go knead the dough."
After hearing what Lin Chuntao said, the two sisters were so happy that they were about to fly. They jumped up and down to get firewood to start the fire.
Lin Chuntao took a clay pot and scooped the noodles in. Pei Ying needed to be more forceful and quick in kneading the noodles. It took her a while to pull the noodles out.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Eating so early in the morning, would you like the clear soup or continue with the mixed noodles from last night?"
"Mixed noodles!"
The two answered together, and Lin Chuntao shook her head helplessly. She was still thinking about having a light breakfast, but since they wanted mixed noodles, then she had mixed noodles.
Lin Chuntao cooked a lot today, and the mixed soup made a big bowl. Lin Chuntao tore the chicken mushrooms that she fried in oil last night by hand. After all, they were long strips, and after squeezing them dry, they became golden threads, chewy and fragrant, especially when two of them were wrapped in a mouthful of noodles, the fragrance was so fragrant that it went straight to the heart.
By the time they finished breakfast, it was already bright day. The sky was a red glow, and the sun had not yet risen.
After clearing the dishes, Lin Chuntao cooked potatoes for the piglets, mixed some bran into the chickens, fed them, and let them out of the yard.
After this busy time, smoke slowly rose from the chimneys of many houses in the village.
Lin Chuntao went to check on the soybeans that had been soaked yesterday. They had been soaked for long enough and were ready to be steamed.
It was still early, and Lin Cunzheng and the others hadn't gone to count the fir trees. They had nothing else to do, so Lin Chunhe asked, "Sister, should we steam some beans now?"
Lin Chuntao said, "Let's do it. Drain the water first. If the potatoes are still not cooked after you've cooked enough, we can light a fire in the yard and steam them."
"good!"
Having just finished their meal, and having eaten the chicken mushroom noodles that they had been craving for last night, the two sisters are now full of energy and enthusiasm.
Lin Chuntao brought the steamer over, and also took the clay basin and winnowing basket and put them away. The three sisters began their day's work.
Time passed quickly, and soon the sun slowly rose.
When the sun rose, Lin Jiahui and his friends had breakfast and went out of the yard together. Lin Cunzheng and Lin Changzong were going to count the trees, while the sisters-in-law Sun and Hu were going to do some work for Lin Chuntao.
Lin Cunzheng and Lin Changzong were about to call Lin Changhua and the others, but Sun and Hu did not go with them to count the trees, so they left without waiting for Lin Changzong and the others.
When they went to Lin Chuntao's place, they would pass by Meng Yun's house. Meng Yun waited for them for a while before they went there together.
When they arrived, they saw Lin Chuntao and her two sisters had already started working.
"Chun Tao, you didn't go to the county town today?"
When Sun saw her coming in, she asked, and Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I had to go count the trees today, so I didn't go to the county town. Grandma, have you had breakfast?"
Sun smiled and said, "I have eaten. Have you eaten yet?"
Lin Duoer replied with a smile: "We have eaten too, hehe."
In the past, Sun and her family did not eat breakfast. They mainly had two meals a day. After working in the fields, they usually went home when they were hungry. They were relatively free. But now that they were helping Lin Chuntao and getting paid, they couldn't just run away when they were hungry, so they decided to get up early and cook something to fill their stomachs.
Lin Chuntao thought that since Sun and the others had arrived, Lin Cunzheng and the others must have gotten up as well.
"Grandma, when are Grandpa and the others planning to go to the cedar forest?"
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, Sun said, "I was just about to tell you that your great-grandfather and the others went out with us just now, but we went to call your second uncle Changhua and the others. I think they will be here soon."
Lin Chuntao nodded slightly, and Mrs. Hu smiled and said, "They will also take this road next to them in a while. Your aunt is going too. She said she will come to call you in a while."
Lin Chuntao laughed when she heard that, "Then I'll wait for my aunt and the others to come."
As they were talking, Lin Chunhe got up to get money for Lin Jiahui. Meng Yun made a note of the bill and then ran over to get beans with Lin Chuntao and the others, which made Lin Chuntao feel a little guilty.
She smiled and said, "Mrs. Meng, I've paid you two jobs for one penny."
Meng Yun also smiled and replied, "I'm just reserving a position. I'll get a raise when the boss has more work to do."
Everyone laughed as he finished speaking, and Lin Chuntao replied, "Of course!"
At this time, everyone in Lin Changhua's house was up. Wang still had a gloomy face, and Lin Qingqing's eyes were swollen from crying. She almost didn't sleep all night last night.
The atmosphere in the yard was depressing. Lin Cunzheng and the others called out to Lin Changsen, Lin Changhua and others outside. The people in the yard responded and came out quickly. Many adults and children from the family followed them out. Since they had nothing to do, they all went to join in the fun.
After Lin Changhua left, Aunt Lin San, Aunt Lin Dabo and Wang Shi said, "Second sister-in-law, are you going?"
Wang replied coldly, "I'm not going. You guys go."
Third Grandma glanced at Wang, then at Lin Qingqing. Her eyes were swollen like walnuts. She took a deep breath and said, "Let's go. I'll go with you. It's been a while since we've been there."
After saying that, the old lady stood up and passed by Lin Qingqing. She patted Lin Qingqing on the shoulder and said softly, "Qingqing, let's go together."
Lin Qingqing originally wanted to say that she didn't want to go, but after looking at Wang next to her, she nodded.
It’s just that her eyes are so ugly that she can’t tell others what’s wrong when they ask her.
But in fact, when they quarreled last night, the noise was quite loud, and people from the second and fourth rooms on both sides heard everything. Lin Qingqing was usually sweet-mouthed and obedient, and she didn't offend anyone much. When everyone saw that her eyes were red from crying, they still had some sense of boundaries and didn't stare at her to ask what was wrong.
She had been huddled beside the old lady. Chen Dongniang called Lin Chuntao to come out and go together. After walking for a long time, Lin Chuntao finally noticed Lin Qingqing and saw her red eyes.
Chen Dongniang noticed Lin Chuntao's inquiring eyes and whispered, "It seems she had a quarrel with her mother last night."
Lin Chuntao frowned slightly. There were only a few reasons why a girl and her mother quarreled. Thinking about how Wang had been targeting her last night, it was not difficult to guess.
Lin Chuntao didn't ask for details. There were so many people around, and as soon as they started talking, everyone started talking.
But even if Lin Chuntao didn't ask, not everyone has a sense of boundaries. Take Li Honghua for example. Last night, when she heard Wang say that Lin Qingqing should marry her cousin, she became very curious and wanted to know whether it was true or not.
She didn't ask what happened to Lin Qingqing, but instead asked the old lady: "Third Aunt, Qingqing's mother said she would marry her to her cousin, is that true?"
The old lady raised her eyebrows and glanced at Li Honghua. "Who told you that? Qingqing hasn't even started dating yet, how can she be betrothed?"
Li Honghua thought to herself, "Didn't I tell you that? Qingqing's mother said it, why is the old lady still pretending to be deaf?"
"Did I mishear? I seemed to hear her mother say that last night."
Aunt Lin San said, "Sister-in-law, you are still young, why are your ears not working well?"
Seeing Aunt Lin's provocation, Li Honghua didn't back down. She said with a forced smile, "Oh, my ears really aren't working well. I seemed to hear something last night about Wang Shi wanting to introduce Chun Xing to her fat nephew. I remember that kid seemed a little slow-witted. How could Chun Tao possibly agree to that?"
The old lady's face slowly darkened. Wang was in a state of madness, not much different from Li Honghua. She took a deep breath and cursed, "Since your ears aren't working well, then listen more and talk less. If you keep talking nonsense, you might lose your tongue one day and become mute!"
Li Honghua chuckled, unconcerned. "Isn't a mouth meant for speaking? Why are you allowing others to do things but not to speak?"
As she spoke, she also called out to Lin Chuntao in front of her.
"Chun Tao, I heard that your second aunt wants to introduce Chun Xing to her nephew. Is that true?"
After hearing this, Lin Chuntao's eyes gradually darkened. "Aunt, who told you this? I, Chun Xing, am still young and there's no rush for marriage. Who is this rotten gossip behind my back?"
Li Honghua grinned awkwardly and replied vaguely, "I heard that. Is that true?"
Lin Chuntao said, "I already said Chunxing's marriage was not urgent. How could there be such a thing? Auntie, who told you that?"
Li Honghua was stared at by Lin Chuntao and asked this question. Wang was very angry at the moment. If she said that Wang said it herself, wouldn't Wang come over and tear her apart?
Thinking about it, Li Honghua said, "I just overheard it by accident."
Lin Chuntao snorted and her face darkened.
"Aunt, I'm afraid it's not just you who likes to gossip, right? If you don't keep saying these things behind their backs, won't your tongue rot? If you really can't help it, ask Fourth Grandma to sew your mouth shut with a long shoemaking needle! You are the elder, and I don't want to say anything too harsh. No one needs to worry about the marriages of my three younger sisters. When they are old enough, I will find them suitable. You can worry more about your own affairs!"
Lin Chuntao didn't want to say anything unpleasant at the end, but what she said just now were very unpleasant. She directly cursed Li Honghua and said something about using a needle for sewing shoe soles to sew her mouth. Isn't this cursing Li Honghua's mouth as someone else's shoe sole?
There were men and women along the way, many of whom were elders. At this time, everyone was quiet and just focused on walking forward.
Chen Dongniang and the others would definitely stand on Lin Chuntao's side. The people from the second house would not show up either, and they had no conflicts with Lin Chuntao and the others. The people from the third house had just been stabbed by Li Honghua, and they would definitely not help Li Honghua now. As for the people from the fourth house, Lin Changsong was too embarrassed to argue with his niece. The old lady was usually a man of few words, and all the good and bad words followed Li Honghua's lead. Looking at Lin Chuntao's expression at this moment, and what she said later that no one needed to worry about it, she didn't even have a chance to laugh it off, so she simply didn't say anything.
Li Honghua looked around and saw that no one spoke or joined in. She bit her back teeth and swore in her heart to let Lin Chuntao wait.
They walked all the way to the cedar forest as if nothing had happened on the way.
The fir trees were planted quite neatly at that time, and the horizontal rows were easy to count, so it didn't take long to finish counting. There were a total of 176 trees, and if there were seven families on average, each family would get 25 with one extra tree.
This one is easy to say, mainly because of its size. This tree is many years old, and many of them are very thick and big trees. You can't see the top of the tree when you stand next to it and look up. You have to step back a little to see it.
Lincunzheng decided to measure the thickness of all the thick ones according to the positions people wanted to know, and then divide them.
He took a bamboo pole and two people worked in a group, one measured and the other recorded.
Lin Chuntao helped them with the bamboo poles and was busy for an hour and a half before she finished. Many of the onlookers had lost their patience and left early.
Lin Qingqing followed the old lady and the others, and they slowly came back after many people had left.
Thinking of what Wang said last night, Lin Qingqing felt uncomfortable.
She always felt that what her mother said was true and that she really wanted to marry her to Wang Quan.
Only when there were no outsiders around did Lin Qingqing say to the old lady, "Grandma, I don't want to marry Wang Quan!"
The old lady glanced at her and asked, "Who said you were going to marry Wang Quan?"
Lin Qingqing pursed her lips, feeling extremely aggrieved. The old lady said, "Didn't your father tell you last night that you shouldn't take your mother's nonsense to heart?"
Lin Qingqing was silent. The old lady said, "Silly girl, your mother was just trying to scare you. Her eyes are swollen from crying."
"No, she's not trying to bluff me this time."
The old lady frowned slightly and said, "You are our daughter, and she doesn't have the final say on your marriage. Don't worry, I won't let you marry your cousin."
After hearing what the old lady said, Lin Qingqing nodded.
"I know you and Chun Xing are good friends, but you shouldn't have been so hasty to contradict your mother about this matter." The old lady said this, and Lin Qingqing slowly looked over. "Does grandma also think that my mother was right to treat Sister Chun Tao and the others like that last night?"
The old lady pursed her lips and said nothing. People are selfish. Lin Chuntao's decision to cut down so many trees was actually taking advantage of other families. Fortunately, she was smart enough to discuss this matter before cutting down the trees. Otherwise, if she cut down the trees when her house was halfway built, how could these families divide the trees so easily?
She will definitely make a fuss and won’t be able to build the house.
Even if the house was finally built and she paid for the trees herself, but if someone made trouble during such a happy event as building a new house, it would bring bad luck to her, and it would mean that someone maliciously hoped that she would always be in trouble.
Many people think that I can live without it, but you can’t either. They have so many bad intentions.
She thought that Lin Chuntao would have to cut down a lot of trees, and thought that the house would be very big. They had not used up the two trees they had used to build the house they lived in now. How big a house would Lin Chuntao have to build?
All of my grandchildren are no worse than Lin Chuntao and the others. The fifth branch of the family has lost all its members, but Lin Chuntao and the others are still here to make their mark. Sometimes it is hard not to feel jealous.
Only Lin Qingqing followed Lin Chunxing foolishly. She didn't even think about the fact that Lin Chunxing went out to make money every morning and would occasionally call her to go cut grass for pigs in the afternoon. Others were busy with their work at home and outside.
She wouldn't compare at all.
Thinking that Lin Qingqing had just had a fight with Wang, the old lady didn't say anything to her in detail, but just thought about it in her heart.
"Your mother was just thinking a little off the mark. She felt Chuntao didn't give her face, and she was a little unhappy. But I don't think your mother was wrong about the trees. The trees belong to everyone, and it's definitely not the case that any family can cut down as many as they want. Chuntao said that, and it's good that she divided out her own trees."
Lin Qingqing remained silent and did not respond.
It was at this moment that she seemed to understand that everyone was talking about how pitiful Chuntao and Chunxing were, but they didn't really feel sorry for them. It was just a casual talk after dinner. They were just bored and wanted to chat about their sisters.
When they really need help, these people hope that bad things will happen to them.
I hope they will never have a good life and always be so miserable.
Perhaps only the grandmother and the others really felt sorry for Chun Xing and the others, so they gave the old house to them to live in to shelter them from the wind and rain, or perhaps it was like Aunt Guizhi, who could ask them to pick some vegetables to eat.
Adults’ thoughts are so complicated.
When Lin Chuntao and the others finished measuring, it was almost lunchtime. Lin Chuntao called out to Lin Cunzheng and Lin Changhua and said, "Grandpa, uncle, come to my house for lunch. I'm sorry to bother you. You've been busy all morning."
Lin Cunzheng shook his head and said, "No, no, measuring a tree is no big deal."
Wang stabbed Lin Chuntao several times last night, and Lin Changhua was actually a little uncomfortable, but she called him, just like she called Lin Changzong and the others, smiling and politely, and he gradually got rid of some of the embarrassment.
He said, "We'll eat after your new house is built."
Lin Chuntao also laughed and said, "When my new house is built, I will treat you uncles to a drink."
Several people came back from the fir forest together. When they were about to separate, Lin Cunzheng said, "Chuntao, let's go back and do it. After lunch, we will decide which trees to divide and then go back to divide them. After dividing them, we can plant the stone stakes at the same time."
Lin Chuntao nodded: "Thank you for your help, Grandpa."
Hayashimura Masamichi: "They are all trivial matters."
When Lin Chuntao came back, Lin Chunhe and the others had already steamed a lot of beans.
Before leaving, Lin Chuntao briefly talked to Lin Chunhe about how cool the beans should be after steaming, how much flour to put in, and how thick to spread the flour after mixing it.
She took a look at the ones that Lin Chuntao had covered with gauze. They were all done very well, and she even marked them on the dustpans like she did yesterday.
Lin Chuntao felt very happy.
When Lin Chunhe saw Lin Chuntao enter the room, she followed in and saw Lin Chuntao checking what she had just done. She felt a little nervous.
"Sister, is it okay?"
Seeing her expectant eyes, Lin Chuntao patted her head and said, "Very good! You did a great job!"
"Then I feel relieved. I was so nervous just now, afraid that I might spoil the beans."
Lin Chuntao said, "If you look at it more and do it a few more times, you won't be nervous anymore. It won't break that easily."
"Okay, then I'll go out and continue."
With that he ran out of the house.
It was almost time for lunch, and Lin Chuntao went to check on the meat. Pei Ying had brought back a few pig's trotters yesterday, but they hadn't been used to make other dishes. Now that they hadn't returned home yet, Lin Chuntao prepared to wash them, chop them into small pieces, and stew them to make a braised pig's trotter.
Lin Chunhe had already soaked the rice. Lin Chuntao saw that the rice was ready to be steamed, so she simply put the rice in the steamer and put the pot on the stove to steam it.
After preparing the meal, she took a clay basin to scoop water and wash the pig's trotters.
Pei Ying and his team handled the pig's trotter quite cleanly, and there wasn't much hair. Lin Chuntao scraped off some of the shell under the trotter, scraped it clean with a knife, and then chopped it into small pieces.
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