Zhou Chenyu caught a glimpse of Baoyu carrying a bundle of large bamboo poles back. He was so tired that he sat down by the well, scooped up a ladle of water, and was about to drink it when he exclaimed, "I'm so thirsty!"
"Hey, hey, wait a minute!"
Zhou Chenyu shouted loudly to stop Baoyu, who stood there dumbfounded like a chicken.
She brought over a bowl of mung bean and taro ball sweet soup, saying, "The sweet soup for sale is ready. Here, have a taste. It's very sweet."
"Sweet soup? Sister, is this what you're selling?" Baoyu stared at the bowl of mung bean soup with purple, white and yellow taro balls, and grinned like a puppy, saying enthusiastically, "Then I'll have to try it."
"Eat up, eat quickly." Li Xiuju urged with a smile, while quietly putting away the bamboo poles scattered on the ground.
Baoyu didn't use a spoon; he drank a big mouthful straight from the bowl, which not only quenched his thirst but also filled his stomach.
Zhou Chenyu looked at him nervously, "What do you think of the taste? Is it good?"
Baoyu nodded vigorously, hurriedly finished the bowl with his bare hands, and, relying on the fact that he had carried back a bundle of bamboo, said arrogantly, "Sister, give me another bowl."
The mung bean and taro ball sweet soup that Zhou Chenyu had painstakingly made received a satisfactory response. Considering how hard he had worked, Zhou Chenyu didn't hold it against him, took the bowl, went back to the kitchen, and served him another bowl of sweet soup.
The mung bean and taro ball sweet soup was a hit, so there's no need to redo it. All that's left is to slightly adjust the sweetness. All that's left is to prepare the tables and chairs for the stall.
Zhou Chenyu's business of selling sweet soup was aimed at passersby and local rice harvesters who wanted a place to rest on a hot day and have a bowl of cool, sweet soup to relieve the summer heat.
Following the model of that tea stall, five or six tables were set up on the spot, with four chairs for each table.
This was their first time doing business, and they were running a small business, so they didn't want to invest too much capital. Therefore, they planned to set up only three tables and twelve chairs in front of their stall.
So Zhou Chenyu and Li Xiuju stayed home that day to help Baoyu.
Zhou Chenyu sat in a chair, looking at the scenery outside the courtyard. "It's so nice. It's more comfortable to sit like this. I don't have to feed the mosquitoes on the mountain."
Baoyu was engrossed in making bamboo stools and found Zhou Chenyu in his way. "Sister, move the chair aside and give me some space."
Zhou Chenyu finally managed to find a sprawling position and reluctantly moved her feet.
Li Xiuju looked at them with a smile on her lips, "Do you still remember when you were little, I was weaving cages like this, and you would play and frolic in the yard? Thinking about it now, it feels like it was just yesterday. In the blink of an eye, you two siblings have grown up."
Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu exchanged a glance and sat quietly to the side, listening.
Looking at the two of them, who now looked like adults, Li Xiuju smiled wryly and said, "When you were little, I always looked forward to you growing up, getting married, and having children. But now that you're all grown up, I wish time would slow down so that we could spend more time together as a family."
“Mother, we’ve grown up, aren’t we still family?” Baoyu asked, puzzled. “I’m not one of those heartless people. Even if my sister gets married, she can come home whenever she wants. As long as I’m here, this is her home.”
Li Xiuju knew that once a woman was married, she was like water spilled from a cup; no matter how much Baoyu promised now, it couldn't withstand the changes that would occur after they got married.
However, she, as his mother, was very pleased that he had this idea.
“Of course, in the future, Mother…” Li Xiuju paused, then changed her words: “You are brothers and sisters, even if your bones are broken, your tendons are still connected. You should support each other and not be like some people who turn against each other for the sake of profit.”
Zhou Chenyu noticed Li Xiuju's unusual behavior. Separation and death are things that everyone has to experience. Since we cannot control our fate, we should live each day to the fullest.
She blinked and muttered, "Who said I was going to get married? I'm not getting married, I'm going to stay at home for the rest of my life."
Staying at home for the rest of my life?
Baoyu muttered softly, "Sister, are you really not going to get married?" Thinking of the times he'd been tricked, he quipped, "Oh dear, I wonder who saw it..."
Li Xiuju stopped what she was doing, looked at Baoyu with anticipation, and asked, "Who is it?"
"You brat, all you have to do is spout off like that." Zhou Chenyu lifted the sole of his shoe, and Baoyu took off running. The two of them played around all over the yard.
Seeing this scene, Li Xiuju finally found a trace of their childhood memories, and she laughed and had a headache at the same time: "Alright, alright, Chenyu, Baoyu, stop running, don't trip over the bamboo pole, be careful and slow down."
The three of them had a small taste of the taro ball sweet soup, and there was still a large pot left over, so Li Xiuju did not go to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables at noon. Instead, she opened the jar of pickled radish that she had made a while ago and grabbed a large plateful.
Prepare red chilies, chop them into small pieces, add a spoonful of lard, pour in the chopped chilies and stir-fry until fragrant, then mix in the whole plate of pickled radish, stir-fry until the moisture evaporates and the chilies and radishes are coated with a layer of oil.
"Don't bother, come and have lunch." Li Xiuju brought the dishes and bowls into the house. Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu put down their things and washed their hands.
A plate of stir-fried chili peppers with pickled radish is sour, spicy, crunchy, and fragrant; it's so delicious that even several bowls of plain porridge aren't enough.
In the height of summer, after an afternoon nap, it is the time when the sun is at its most intense.
The air outside the courtyard seemed to have been baked by fire. People who had finished their farm work sought refuge in the shade of the trees to cool off. The children playing in the village and the elderly sitting quietly at their doorways also returned to their houses.
For a moment, Zhoujia Village was silent, with only the chirping of cicadas and birds.
Zhou Chenyu knew nothing about making bamboo chairs and tables, so she stood aside and watched Baoyu make one.
He first used a knife to cut the bamboo into two equal sections, then punched several round holes in the bamboo and inserted the remaining bamboo into them to connect them.
Next, take another long bamboo, compare it with the length of the bamboo base, make two grooves at the marked position, soften it with fire, bend it, and then put the bamboo base in it. Do the same on the other side.
In this way, a simple bamboo stool is made.
Li Xiuju was older and not as strong as Baoyu, so it took her longer, but she still managed to make a bamboo stool.
The steps to making a bamboo stool were so complicated, and it was her suggestion that made it. Zhou Chenyu looked at the unfinished stool in her hand and could only worry anxiously. In a moment of carelessness, she cut her finger on a bamboo splinter with a knife. "Ouch."
Li Xiuju could see her anxiety and irritability. "You've never done this kind of work before, so it's normal to be slow. Don't worry."
"Sister, I told you to leave these things to me, don't do them." Baoyu reached out to grab the bamboo pole, but Zhou Chenyu held on tightly, and the two were locked in a stalemate, neither willing to let go.
Zhou Wanqiu's voice came from outside the door, "Auntie, Sister Chenyu, what are you doing?"
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