Chapter 33: There are some signs
There is also chili sauce. The chilies are harvested from the private plots after the beginning of autumn. The green ones are shredded and pickled, some of the red ones are left to dry, and the rest are directly cut and crushed on the hand-pushed mill outside the kitchen door and put into jars.
There is also a jar of pickles and sauerkraut next to it, so that no vegetables in the private plot will be wasted.
People living in the mountains have their own tricks for making a living. As long as they are diligent, they can always make a good living. They can figure out some new ways to make even the simplest things work.
"Is breakfast good enough?"
Zhang Hongying said, "We eat in the morning and at night, and eating after dark would waste kerosene. After eating, we should wash up and go to sleep. The more we save, the better."
Lu Dongping nodded. It made sense and he couldn't refute it.
He sat down in front of the fire pit, while Zhang Hongying glanced outside and saw Wen Wan talking to Lu Donglin. Lu Donglin, who was always a troublemaker, was unusually honest and sat properly.
It seems to be going well.
The awkward feeling in my heart dissipated a little.
Lu Dongping poked the fire and asked, "Where's Dad?"
"I went to your uncle's house. It's already the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, and time is running out. He plans to kill the pigs in the next few days, and then go to the pig farm to catch two little ones. I need to discuss with your uncle to decide on the right day to kill them."
The two brothers used to feed one pig each, and after completing the task pig together, they killed one together.
Later it became two pigs, each killing one, but they still killed the pigs together.
As Zhang Hongying spoke, she deftly chopped the washed garlic sprouts and coriander, then mixed them with chili sauce. "Go and tell them it's time for dinner. Don't start chatting endlessly."
Lu Dongping got up and went outside. He looked at the two people who were still doing their homework and asked, "Haven't you finished yet?"
Lu Chun'e said, "It's almost there, right away!"
Lu Donglin stuffed the notebook into his pocket and said, "I'm done, I'm done. I'm going to call Dad for dinner!"
Wen Wan was amused by his words "I'm done, I'm done". He is simply a funny guy.
Lu Dongping called her: "Go inside and get some food. It'll be time for dinner soon."
Wen Wan got up and went into the house, and he followed her closely. When he entered, he quietly pulled Wen Wan's hand. Wen Wan poked him rudely and called Zhang Hongying, "Aunt!" Then she looked away, her face flushed, and she felt a little guilty.
Zhang Hongying responded with a smile on her face and called Lu Dongping: "Dongping, scoop some rice for Wen Wan first, she eats slowly."
Wen Wan said: "Don't worry, my uncle hasn't come back yet!"
"Don't wait for him. We don't care about these things here unless it's a festival. We just eat when we're hungry."
Wen Wan took the lunch box and said, "Then I'll do it myself."
Lu Dongping smiled and pushed her with his hand: "I'll scoop it out for you, I promise not to scoop too much."
He started to touch me again.
Wen Wan subconsciously glanced at Zhang Hongying and found that she was also looking at her, and their eyes happened to meet.
The heat came again unexpectedly.
She lowered her head shyly and took two steps forward to distance herself from Lu Dongping.
Zhang Hongying shifted her gaze from her to Lu Dongping. He had been like this since he came in, with a smile in his eyes the whole time. It was very unusual. She hadn't seen it in all these years and found it a bit strange.
Lu Dongping didn't notice her look. He scooped some rice for Wen Wan and asked her, "Can you eat spicy food?"
Wen Wan nodded: "Yes, I'm not picky."
Lu Dongping didn't dare to scoop too much chili sauce, but instead put some pickles in her bowl.
Just as I finished, Lu Mingjiang came in from outside.
Wen Wan stood up and greeted him: "Uncle!"
Lu Mingjiang waved his hand: "Eat, eat."
Wen Wan then sat down.
Lu Dongping scooped a bowl of rice for his father and handed it to him.
Zhang Hongying sat behind the stove and asked Lu Mingjiang, "Where are Chun'e and Donglin? How come I went to call you and ended up calling myself to death?"
Lu Mingjiang picked some vegetables and sat down by the fire, just a little bit. Although the dishes at home looked like a lot, he had to eat them sparingly. After all, the jar was so small. The chili peppers would have to wait until next autumn, and the pickles would have to wait until after Qingming Festival. There wasn't much left in the jar of chicken.
"Outside, two people are whispering to each other and I don't know what they are doing."
What could Lu Donglin do? He just felt that his brother was a little abnormal today.
After being pulled by him and hearing his useless nonsense, Lu Chun'e said angrily, "You are abnormal. Why don't you eat?"
Wen Wan had never eaten rice directly with chili peppers like this before. She mixed the chili peppers with salt and vegetables in the paste. It was delicious, but a little spicy, and she couldn't help but inhale a hiss. Zhang Hongying smiled and said, "Too spicy? Ask Lu Dongping to give you some more rice?"
Wen Wan shook her head: "No, no, I've had enough. It's a little spicy, but it tastes good." The spiciness made her feel hot all over.
Lu Dongping stood up and put down the bowl, went to the main room outside and shook the kettle, which contained water. He took the teacup she had brought back in the morning and ran to Zhang Hongying's room to scoop out some brown sugar, and gave her half a teacup of sugar and boiled water.
"If you don't want more rice, drink some water to rinse your mouth."
Lu Donglin had sharp eyes and saw the boiling water in the enamel pot at a glance: "Wow! Brother, you are so biased. You actually added sugar to Sister Wen Wan's boiling water and you won't let me drink it."
Wen Wan hurriedly said to him, "Take the bowl and I'll give you half."
"Why divide it? Just eat your meal and drink by yourself. Don't bother with him." Lu Dongping gave Lu Donglin a warning look: "That stuff is for girls to drink. Are you a girl?"
"Last time you said that sugar water was for children, but now that Sister Wen Wan is here, you've changed again."
Lu Donglin was still young after all. Although he kept nagging Lu Dongping to pursue Wen Wan, he was still indignant about things like sugar. This was all Lu Dongping's fault. He was biased. Humph (￢︿??￢☆)!
Wen Wan stood up, went to the chopping board, took a clean bowl, and poured half of the brown sugar water in the teacup into the bowl: "I can't drink that much after just eating, so I'll give you half."
Lu Donglin felt embarrassed: "I don't really want to drink it. It's sweet, but it has a medicinal taste. I secretly tasted a little last time-"
"Lu Donglin, when did you break into my room and rummage around again?" Zhang Hongying suddenly reacted.
Brown sugar was a rare commodity. She could only get one or two kilograms of it from Lu Dongping throughout the year, but she was reluctant to eat it. She would save it and sometimes take a little bit from people when she had a favor to show for it.
Lu Mingjiang didn't care about this, and only she and Lu Dongping knew about it at home.
Lu Dongping's food is not tasty, and many of his things are brought back from the commune. If a girl wants to pursue him, she won't mind a little brown sugar, but this little bastard Lu Donglin really deserves to be punished.
When Zhang Hongying yelled, Lu Donglin reacted immediately. Oh no, he had slipped up and was going to be beaten. He ran away with the bowl in his arms.
After dinner, Wen Wan went to wash the dishes, but Zhang Hongying stopped her and said, "Hurry up and drink some hot water. You look red in the face because of the spiciness. You'll know next time. You can't handle spicy food very well, so we'll have to use less spicy food."
Wen Wan said, "I eat at home too, but I eat less." Her mother doesn't like strong flavors, and since she wants to sing, she's worried that her voice will have problems, so she's very particular about what she eats.
Lu Dongping glanced at her quietly and saw that her face was indeed a blush that was not usually seen on her face. Her pink lips were also crimson, looking extremely tempting. The firelight in the fire pit reflected in her eyes, flickering, and he found that he could not look away.
His gaze was so intense that Wen Wan couldn't even lift her head. Zhang Hongying reached out and poked Lu Mingjiang, who coughed lightly. "I just went over to discuss this with your uncle. He said they'll have to slaughter the pig a little later this year, probably around sixteen or seventeen. He said Dongcheng wrote a few days ago saying he'll be back for the New Year and bringing his partner with him. Maybe he wants to wait until they get back to slaughter the pig so we can have some fun together. What do you mean? Should we slaughter it earlier or wait until we can do it together?"
Lu Dongping said, "Why are you asking me? It doesn't matter when you kill the pigs. However, if you kill them too late, won't the bacon be smoked thoroughly? Even if it's only a few days away, it's only fifteen or sixteen. Are there any suitable pig sons at the pig farm? Shouldn't we go see if we can get a couple of small ones to feed them? Otherwise, once this pig is killed, the pigpen will be empty and we won't even have anywhere to pour the water from the pot."
Lu Mingjiang nodded: "When are you free, let's go take a look."
"I won't be going to the commune these days. Any time is fine?"
Lu Mingjiang was stunned for a moment: "No need to go for training?"
"Need not."
Lu Dongping naturally would not tell him that he had taken leave to pursue his girlfriend. If his family knew about it, they would definitely be dissatisfied with Wen Wan.
Wen Wan finished drinking the water, stood up, scooped some water to rinse the teacup, and said to Zhang Hongying, "Aunt, I'm going back first. It's still a little light outside."
Zhang Hongying asked, "With such a big fire, why don't you keep it warm for a while longer?"
"No more roasting. It will be inconvenient when it gets dark." After saying that, he called out to Lu Dongping, "Can you spare some time to go over and get the rations from my room?"
Lu Dongping stood up after her: "How about we go now? We can just carry a backpack and come back in one trip."
"Alright."
Wen Wan called out to Lu Mingjiang, "Uncle, I'm leaving! Chun'e!" She blinked at Chun'e and waved.
Lu Chun'e also imitated her, blinking and waving.
Wen Wan smiled and walked out of the house, and Lu Dongping followed her closely.
After everyone left, Zhang Hongying said, "Have you noticed that he seems different from yesterday? There are some signs." He usually has a stern face, as if he had borrowed money from someone and didn't pay it back, but today he looked like this, with a smile in his eyes and his mouth stretched up to his ears.
Lu Mingjiang was stunned for a moment. "I'm a grown man, and I can't stare at people, so how can I notice these things? It's better to see some signs. Don't waste your time and energy and end up with nothing. That would be troublesome."
Lu Chun'e smiled and replied, "Of course not. My brother is so kind. He has been so patient with everyone. He scoops rice for me and adds water for me. As long as he is sincere, he can even warm a stone."
Speaking of this, Zhang Hongying felt unhappy: "You finally hit the nail on the head. Raising a son is just to collect debts. He is a slave to others, but he is an ancestor to me."
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