At noon, Lian Xiaomin stayed for lunch. Zhang Dacui and Yufang made sauerkraut stewed with pork belly and sorghum rice. The sauerkraut tasted really good. Compared with today's meat, Lian Xiaomin liked sauerkraut more, which made everyone laugh.
"Xiao Min, pick up some meat. At Grandma Da Cui's house, eat as much as you want." Zhang Da Cui picked up two big pieces of fat pork belly for her.
Lian Xiaomin looked at her bowl, her face wrinkled, and she grinned bitterly. After thinking for a while, she couldn't bring herself to eat it, so she picked it up and put it in Yufang's bowl.
"Give it to Yufang. I don't know why I just don't like fatty meat. Grandma Cui, I won't be rude to you. Don't worry. I always go to Daqing Mountain to hunt. There's no shortage of meat at home. It's just the pickled cabbage you made. It tastes so good!"
Lian Xiaomin gave Zhang Dacui a thumbs up, which made her laugh again. "Okay, then you should eat more pickled cabbage. There are still two in the jar. I'll make some for you during the Spring Festival! The harvest is really bad this year. There aren't many cabbages left, so I didn't pickle any."
Lian Xiaomin ate the sour and delicious sauerkraut without even raising her head, thinking, I have rapeseed in my space, I'll plant some cabbage and give some to Da Cui Nainai to pickle, and then say that I exchanged it from outside, cabbage can still be found here anyway.
Today I stewed an egg custard for each of the two little ones, and made some millet porridge. This millet was also taken by Lian Xiaomin before, and I left it for the children to make porridge.
Xiao Feng'er ate by herself with a small spoon, and Lian Qiuping fed Xiaofu while she ate at the same time. When she was around, Xiaomin was never needed. She just let her eat well and take care of herself.
After finishing the meal and cleaning up, the kids were a little sleepy, so they took a nap together in Lian Qiuping's room. Yufang said, "Xiaomin, let's go find Xiaolingzi."
Zhang Dacui said, "You two go ahead. The kid will be at home this afternoon. I'll take care of him. Qiuping, you can take a nap too."
The two little girls went out of the house one after the other. They both wore the same woolen scarves, one red and the other blue. They looked at each other and giggled.
There was a heavy snowfall a few days ago. Although the roads in the village have been cleared, there are still many places that are usually deserted and covered with thick white snow.
They walked in the village. The white snow made Yufang's red scarf look particularly bright, and her little face was also rosy. Lian Xiaomin found the scene in front of her particularly vivid.
She suddenly remembered something and asked, "Yufang, when is your birthday?"
"It's the first day of the third lunar month. How about you? I remember my sister-in-law mentioned it, but I didn't remember it."
Lian Xiaomin patted her shoulder and said, "I'm born on the eighth day of the first lunar month. No one is older than me. Haha, I don't know what month Xiao Lingzi is. It depends on how the three of us rank."
Yufang happily slapped Xiaomin's hand away: "Why do you still want to be like in the opera, with the whole Peach Garden Oath of Brotherhood? You are the only one who calls yourself sister in front of me? Forget it, don't forget it, you have forgotten what's going on. I am your aunt! You are all my nieces ~ hahaha ~"
The two little girls walked towards Xie's house laughing and joking. All the meat in the village had been distributed in the morning. At noon, smoke was rising from the chimneys of every household. At this moment, there was no one on the village streets.
As soon as they arrived at the gate of the yard, they saw that it was not closed, but open. Yufang pulled Lian Xiaomin and walked directly in, whispering, "Is Xiaolingzi home? I brought Xiaomin here."
Suddenly a person came out from the room. Lian Xiaomin took a look and found that it was not Xiao Lingzi, but Zhang Xianglan.
Zhang Xianglan lifted the curtain and saw that it was her eldest aunt's cousin Yufang who came with Xiaomin. She immediately asked, "Yufang, have you seen my Xiaolingzi? My two younger siblings and I were anxious to divide the meat, and she went for a walk nearby. But she didn't come back until dinner time. If it were any other time, I would have thought she was out having fun, but how could she be stupid not to come home after eating meat? I was really worried about her. Her father and all the men in the family went to look for her. She just left."
"Cousin, I didn't see Xiao Lingzi. I didn't go out today. I was cleaning up at home. My mother went to pick up the meat in the morning." Yufang was also anxious.
When Lian Xiaomin heard what Aunt Xianglan said, she immediately felt something in her heart and remembered the time when she saw Cheng Zhi appear nearby.
At this time, several women came out from other rooms, including Aunt Daqiao, Aunt Qiuyu, and Grandma Xie.
Aunt Daqiao said, "Qiuyu, you are still pregnant, you and mother should not go out. My sister-in-law and I can walk fast, so let's go door to door and ask."
Grandma Xie also said, "Then we will wait at home, you guys go quickly."
Lian Xiaomin saw this and said quickly, "Aunt Xianglan, I was standing at the gate of your house today. After we met, as soon as the four of you left, I saw a short, fat man, no more than 20 years old, staring at you from behind a tree. When he saw you leave, he went to the east entrance of the village and didn't follow you."
Zhang Xianglan immediately grabbed Lian Xiaomin's arm and asked anxiously, "Xiaomin, tell me more about that person's appearance!"
Lian Xiaomin said: "He is just very ugly, very short, with a round body. He is not too old, probably about 17 or 18, definitely no more than 20."
Daqiao spoke first: "It's the boy from the Cheng family, Cheng Zhi!"
Zhang Xianglan panicked for a moment and asked again, "Xiaomin, are you sure you saw that person walking towards the east end of the village, towards the entrance of the village? Did he not go west?"
Lian Xiaomin shook her head and said, "No, he slipped away towards the village entrance, but I saw that the way he was looking at you at that time was strange."
Now the Xie family sisters-in-law were even more confused. Grandma Xie was a little confused after hearing this, and asked Qiuyu to help her go into the house and sit down quickly.
Zhang Xianglan and Daqiao hurried out to look for the captain's house. If they couldn't find the person on their own, there were still the village militia. If they found that Cheng Zhi was really involved, they would go to the old Cheng's house and find Xiao Lingzi as soon as possible!
Yufang and Lian Xiaomin didn't want to stay any longer, and immediately left the yard and turned back.
Yufang muttered to herself, "Let's go home and ask our eldest brother to look for it too. Let's get started."
Lian Xiaomin looked at the endless mountains in the distance, pondered in her heart, and suddenly stopped, grabbed Yufang and said, "Yufang, I'm fast on my feet and have practiced martial arts. Most people are not as tall as me! I'll go look for them too. I'll leave the two kids at your house first. You go back and tell them. If I come back late, or even tomorrow, tell my family not to worry!"
She turned around and was about to leave. Yufang was so anxious that she grabbed Xiaomin and tried to stop her, but her lips were trembling. She knew she couldn't stop her. Finally, she said, "You have to be careful. Be extra careful, okay?"
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