After finally completing today's task, it was almost time for dinner. Lin Shuchao held the watermelon and ate it resentfully, staring at the TV motionlessly, vowing to make up for the time he had spent watching and eating less today, with interest!
Liang Shengdi came back excitedly carrying a basin. There were few fish and shrimps these past two days and the sun was scorching, but that didn't stop her from wanting to go out and have fun.
"Come on! Come and help me wash the lotus roots!"
With a clang, the basin was thrown to the ground. It was full of muddy lotus roots. Liang Shengdi looked up and saw several granddaughters.
"Hey! You haven't gone home yet! I just gave your mother a pot, and your pot is even bigger. You can go back now and order some food!"
Jiu Ni took the lead and ran towards the meeting place, shouting, "Ahhhhhhh I want to eat sweet osmanthus candied lotus root!"
Her little sister ran so fast that Wu Ni couldn't hold her back. She could only say hello to her grandmother and cousins embarrassedly, "Then we'll go first..."
"Go ahead, come over early to play tomorrow!"
…
Lin Shuying stood at the door and waved goodbye to Wu Ni and the others. She also walked a few steps outside and looked at the pond at the door. The pond was not small, and half of it was filled with lotus leaves.
There are several more ponds like this in the village, none of which belong to individuals but to the village collective. In previous summers, once the double harvest season was over and everyone had recovered, these ponds would bustle with activity, with people picking lotus seeds and digging lotus roots, desperate to dig up everything edible, both above and below the surface.
It was not so noticeable this year. I only saw a few half-grown children jumping up and down in other ponds.
Lin Shuying ran back to the yard, squatted on the ground to help her grandmother wash the lotus roots in the basin, and asked curiously,
"Grandma, didn't you dig these lotus roots from the pond in front of the door?"
"Of course not!" Liang Shengdi hummed a little tune while washing lotus roots. "I was just lying on the boat and wandering around, and I ended up at the back of Xiaxi Mountain. There was a wild lotus pond over there, so I went down and caught some."
"Look at how thick this lotus root is!!"
"Hey~ Do you want to go digging lotus roots with me in a couple of days?"
…
Perhaps because she knew that she was really getting old, Liang Shengdi finally did not make the mistake of taking the children to the wild lotus pond.
In the past, those who went up the mountains and down the rivers were going to places that had been visited by others. They were too remote and wild. If something happened, no one, young or old, could escape.
So the pond at the door suffered.
One morning in late July, the boys and girls, all in tank tops and shorts, followed their grandmothers barefoot into the pond. Homework was suspended for the day, a few of the younger girls were staggering in the water.
A thick layer of silt has accumulated at the bottom of the pond over the years. If you step in, you will sink halfway into it, and it will be a bit difficult to move forward.
Liang Shengdi asked them to wait by the side while she dug up and collected them.
I don't know how she saw it, but she was searching among the messy lotus leaves. When she felt that this leaf caught her eye, she touched it down along the stem, her face almost touching the water, and her fingers dug in the mud.
The lotus root is buried in the mud, and it is not easy to dig it out intact. Although it doesn’t matter if it is broken if you eat it at home, it is always better to keep it intact.
Liang Shengdi touched a piece of lotus root, bent down and cleaned the mud in the water bit by bit. The lotus root branch was very fragile and could not be pulled hard. She could only remove the soft mud around the lotus root branch bit by bit, like peeling a cocoon, until it was completely exposed.
Then Liang Shengdi gently held the lotus root with both hands and lifted it up.
When the lotus roots break off and emerge from the mud, they can float on the water.
Lin Shumei quickly reached out and scooped up the floating lotus root. She dug it out very completely, with five or six pieces of lotus root connected together, and one long root was longer than her arm.
Shuying, Wuni, Shuchao and Shugan also followed Liang Shengdi's example and hid in the water to feel for the lotus roots. The third brother dug and dug but still couldn't find anything, so he took a deep breath and dived into the water.
The mud at the bottom of the pond was busy muddying the water. When he came out to breathe, his face and hair were covered in mud. It was so funny.
The key point is that the lotus root in his hand is only half.
As they were digging, Liang Shengdi suddenly shouted for a basket. The basket floated on the water, and she sank into it like the third brother. After a while, she threw a yellow eel into the basket.
"Damn it! I almost got bitten!" Liang Shengdi cursed as she pulled the basket towards the pond, saying that she wanted to go back to get the eel cage. It has been a year, and the eels underneath must be fat!
In this way, led by Liang Shengdi, Ying Yingwu followed to pick lotus roots, while Qi Ba Jiumei stood by as porters. In the whole morning, they really picked up a huge pile of lotus roots.
Although it doesn’t look as thick as the ones Liang Shengdi dug from the wild lotus pond a few days ago, the white and tender lotus roots look fresh and crisp after being rinsed with water. After peeling the skin, I took a bite and it was sweet, juicy and crunchy!
It was a pity that except for the lotus roots dug by Liang Shengdi, which were relatively intact, the ones dug by the others were mostly broken, especially the third brother, whose lotus roots were broken into pieces, some of which were only half of the lotus roots. Liang Shengdi was so distressed that she kept scolding him for wasting food and asking for punishment from heaven.
There is no such thing as too much lotus root dug out, as it can be distributed to various families. The remaining lotus roots can be used to make lotus root powder. Once you start making lotus root powder, even a hundred pounds is not too much.
One year, the villagers made lotus root powder together. One hundred kilograms of lotus roots could only make about 10 kilograms of lotus root powder. In the end, the people who dug the lotus roots and made the lotus root powder divided the money, and each family only got a few taels. It was really not cost-effective.
The biggest problem with touching lotus roots is that your fingers will hurt after a long time, and your nails will turn black after being soaked in mud for a long time, and it will take several days to wash them before they recover.
Lin Shuying and her younger brothers and sisters were trying to save their fingers by the water tank. Jiuni was telling Shumei how delicious the glutinous rice sweet lotus root her mother made that day was, and Shumei was recalling how delicious the lotus root and pork ribs soup they had that day was.
A few children were chattering when they heard someone calling Shuying's name in the distance. Liang Shengdi picked up a large lotus leaf to fan herself with air and squinted her eyes. It seemed to be Ma Dexiang coming.
"Wuni, your father is here to see you."
Wu Ni poked her head out and said, "No way, he was calling my eldest cousin's name..."
As she spoke, she seemed to remember something, stood up straight, and shouted to Lin Shuying, "Cousin! Are your grades out?"
Just as she finished speaking, she heard a voice from outside, coming closer and closer, shouting, "Shuying, your results are out~~~ Your college entrance examination results are out~~~"
The voice was a little choppy, but after hearing it, everyone in the yard burst into laughter. No one washed their hands and they ran out of the door, more excited than Lin Shuying who was taking the college entrance examination.
"How much! How much! How many points did my sister get in the exam!"
"Uncle! How many points did my eldest sister get in the exam?"
"Dad! Why don't you tell me a few points first!"
"Yes, yes! What time is it?"
…
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