Chapter 157 Hand Mill
It was already late when they finished cutting the peppers, so Zhang Hongying went next door to find Gao Xiulan to use their hand mill.
The door of the house was open, and only when you reached the eaves could you hear the faint cry of the child.
Zhang Hongying stood at the gate and called out, "Sister-in-law! Are you in the house?"
Gao Xiulan responded from inside the room: "Yes, yes, just come in."
Zhang Hongying entered the house and Gao Xiulan was busy there. She fed the child a little, then helped him urinate and put him back.
Zhang Hongying stood at her bedroom door, waiting for her to finish. She lowered her voice and asked, "Did you really bring the child here?"
As he spoke, he walked closer and took a look. His eyes were already open, as black as grapes: "He really takes after Dongcai. His eyes are exactly the same as Dongcai's." This was not an exaggeration. The Lu brothers all had a pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes, and Li Laiying had phoenix eyes.
Chuyi's eyes are the same almond-shaped eyes as Lu Dongcai's. Although her face is still wrinkled and slightly red, and there are a few fine white hairs, Zhang Hongying feels that she will definitely be a beautiful girl when she grows up.
Gao Xiulan sighed, "Exactly. He looks exactly like Dongcai when he was a child, just a little thinner. He'll be a very beautiful child if he's well. How could there be such a cruel woman? I put up with all the tantrums during pregnancy, thinking it was not easy for her to carry such a child in her belly, so I just had to be patient and accommodating. Who knew it would be even worse after the baby was born. The first thing she asked me after the baby was born was whether it was a boy or a girl. I told her it was a girl, and you didn't see her face. She looked so depressed all of a sudden, as if her father had died."
"Tell me, I've never done anything unscrupulous in my life, whether to the old or the young. How did I end up like this? When I heard it was a girl, she didn't even bother to look at her. She just lay in bed pretending to be dead. She didn't care if the child was hungry or wet, and let her cry. She didn't show any mercy even after she cried until she was hoarse. I'm a woman too, and I've never seen anyone so cruel. I can understand wanting a son. Who doesn't want a son? When I was with your eldest brother, the first child was a girl, and the next one was also a girl. I didn't see her just ignore her and let her starve to death. Let alone her own child, even if it was a passerby, if they saw her, they would at least give her a bowl of water and say hello."
The sound was neither loud nor soft. Although the door opposite was closed, Zhang Hongying felt that the wooden door was not enough to block Gao Xiulan's voice, and Li Laiying could hear it from inside.
She advised Gao Xiulan, "Seeing that it has come to this, don't get angry with the young people. If you get angry with her, it will only make Dongcai suffer in the middle. No matter what, life must go on. Everyone knows the situation in her family. She may always feel that she cannot stand in this family without a boy. If she doesn't like the baby on the first day, you can keep her for now. When she is older and can call her dad and mom, she will naturally not be like this now. Or after a year or two, get pregnant again and give birth to a son. Wouldn't that make everything stable all of a sudden? You should take good care of yourself during the confinement period. It's not like our time now. If you don't take good care of yourself and your body collapses, Dongcai will be the one who suffers."
Gao Xiulan sighed again, sniffed, and rubbed her eyes with her hands: "Let's take it one step at a time. As long as I have something to eat, the child will not starve to death. It's her fate to have such a mother."
Zhang Hongying decided not to continue the topic: "Sister-in-law, I have prepared the peppers. Are you done? I want to use the hand grinder and grind them this afternoon. I can also finish the work by packing them."
"When you're done, you use it first. I need to take my time and finish it in half a day. I can't leave anyone at home without you."
Zhang Hongying responded, went back to call Lu Chun'e and Lu Donglin, and came over with the prepared chili segments and ginger.
Wen Wan also put down the needlework in her hands, closed the door, and ran over to see what was happening.
It's quite different from pushing a stone mill. You don't need to push the mill bar to turn it in circles; you just need to use your hands. Zhang Hongying pushed the stone mill with one hand holding the handle, and with the other hand holding a spoon to add chili peppers to the millstone. She also talked to Gao Xiulan while grinding, looking quite relaxed.
She took a look at it, eager to try it.
"Mom, take a break. Let me try."
Zhang Hongying laughed: "This looks light, but it's still a bit heavy to push."
Having said that, he finally stopped and made room for her.
Hearing her say it was very heavy, Wen Wan was prepared. She gripped the handle of the hand mill and exerted a lot of strength, pushing the mill in one go. Yes, she pushed it too hard, almost breaking the millstone up and pushing it out. She blushed as soon as she started.
Gao Xiulan laughed the loudest: "Hey, Wanwan, that's not the right way to use strength. You have to use it evenly. The strength in your hands has to be even."
Wen Wan had no idea how to evenly grind the millstone. The first time, she used so much force she nearly broke it off. The next time, she felt it was incredibly heavy. It looked small, but it was incredibly strenuous. She had no idea how other people managed to grind it so effortlessly. Even pushing was incredibly difficult, requiring two hands to pull, let alone trying to push with one hand and spoon something into the millstone like Zhang Hongying did.
Zhang Hongying couldn't help but sigh: "Come on, let me do it. You should go back and do your own thing. Chun'e will be cooking later. If you are free, help her." She had known for a long time that this was not a person who could do heavy work. Fortunately, she listened to her sister-in-law Gao Xiulan and asked Lu Dongping to find a job for her at school. Otherwise, how could she do this!
Wen Wan made room for her, said hello to Gao Xiulan and went back.
The chili sauce needs to be mixed with plenty of salt. The clay pot at home has been emptied and washed long ago. The mixed chili sauce can be directly poured into it and covered. This will be a dish that goes well with rice for the next year, so no carelessness is allowed. Not only does it need to make chili sauce, but the green chilies that have been picked out also need to be pickled because they can't be eaten all at once. There is no need to grind them. Just like before, wash them, dry them, cut them into strips, add shredded ginger and mix them with salt.
Two jars of pickles consumed more than two kilograms of salt, which made Zhang Hongying very distressed. Fortunately, the remaining red peppers did not need to be pickled, so the straw that Lu Donglin brought back came in handy.
After dinner in the evening, Lu Mingjiang and Lu Dongping sat there and started twisting ropes. Lu Chun'e and Lu Donglin were on their left and right, cutting the peppers into small handfuls of three or five and handing them to them. The two men twisted the ropes while twisting the peppers.
After rolling them into a string, they were hung on the pillars. Wen Wan thought it was more festive than the red lanterns hung during the New Year in the capital.
Lu Dongping washed his hands, went into the house in the dark, got a flashlight, and went to the main room.
Lu Donglin's voice came from the main room: "Brother, is it time to eat?"
Lu Dongping scooped one up and gave it to him: "Try it and see if it works."
Lu Donglin was not particular about the fruits. He didn't wash or peel them. He just picked up the persimmons and started chewing them. The persimmons were crisp and sweet. The corn stalks were sweet too. After running for more than half a month, the astringency in the persimmons had just been soaked away, so he enjoyed eating them very comfortably.
"It's delicious, brother. You can eat it now. If you soak it any longer, it will be too much and it won't be good."
Lu Dongping nodded and scooped a few out for him: "Give them to your parents and Chun'e." Then he scooped out two more for himself before closing the lid.
I went to the kitchen to get a kitchen knife, carefully peeled the skin, put it in a bowl and took it to the bedroom.
Wen Wan had already washed up and got into bed. She sat wrapped in the quilt and looked around: "Lu Dongping, I feel like once the mosquito net is removed, the whole top of my head will be empty."
Lu Dongping sat down on the edge of the bed: "Then I'll wash it tomorrow, dry it and hang it up again to block the wind." As he said that, he handed over the bowl.
"What is this?"
"Soaking persimmons. Did you forget the straw you cut last time?"
Wen Wan picked up the bowl and sniffed it, it had a sweet smell.
Some regret: "I have already brushed my teeth."
So many details?
"It's okay, it's sweet, eat one."
Wen Wan couldn't resist the word "sweet", so she took a bite and then slipped out of bed to rinse her mouth again.
In just a short while, my body felt as cold as ice.
Lu Dongping held the person close to him and said, "You've been so cold these past two days. How did you get by when it was even colder? Huh?"
Wen Wan absorbed the warmth from his body without hesitation: "I used to keep it warm myself, but now you keep it warm for me." So, having a partner does have some substantial benefits, and warming your feet is one of them.
"How's the wheat field?"
"If the weather is good like this, we can just dry it for a few more days and there will be no problem. We can weigh out the grain that needs to be paid, and the rest can be directly weighed and put into the warehouse."
Wen Wan grabbed his clothes and said, "I want to go to the county town when I'm done with my work."
"It should be almost done in another week. We're not really done yet, but the harvest is the main part now. After paying the public grain, we have to dig the sweet potatoes, and then we have to plow the soil and prepare to plant wheat. Only after planting the wheat can we really have some free time."
Wen Wan thought back to when she first arrived the year before: "After the wheat is planted, do we still need to open up the wasteland?"
"We have to open it. We only have so much land, but the population is growing. If we don't open the land, where will we get enough food to distribute?"
The weather was better, with several days of sunshine in a row, drying the rice thoroughly at once.
On the day of weighing, the threshing floor was bustling with activity. The educated youth from the educated youth point and the laborers from the team were all there to help.
Xu Qingming rolled up his sleeves, revealing his bronze arms, and worked with Lu Dongping to throw the weighed grain onto the tractor. Xu Wenfang stood by, recording the weight in a small notebook with a pen.
With so many people in the team, the amount of public grain they have to pay in this trip is not enough. They have to go once, and then come back to collect the corn kernels and pull them again. It's almost like this every year.
After the rice was transported to the commune, it was considered a big thing. When Lu Dongping had some free time, he planned to accompany his wife to the county town. He found a chance to go to Lu Minghai, got a note, and then went to the brigade to get a letter of introduction.
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