The next morning, before dawn, Xuemei went to the kitchen and steamed a basket of corn cakes and some sweet potatoes, while also cooking some pig food. She also filled three kettles with boiled water. When the corn cakes and sweet potatoes were almost cooked, Xuemei woke the rest of the family and went back to bed for a nap.
At half past seven, Xuemei woke up, washed, ate, fed the chickens and pigs, and then went up the mountain carrying a backpack and a vegetable basket.
More than two hours later, Xuemei came back from the mountain with a full basket of pig food. She also found a few grape trees and brought back dozens of kilograms of food using her spaceship. She also picked a handful of wild onions.
Xuemei put her things down and checked the clock. It was almost eleven o'clock. She quickly boiled some mung bean water and went to the garden to cut some chives. After washing and chopping the chives, she poured two pounds of cornstarch and half a pound of white flour into a wooden basin, sprinkled some salt, added water in a 2:1 ratio of water to flour, and mixed well. Next, she cracked three eggs and mixed them well, adding the chopped chives and small shrimp. Xuemei used bamboo baskets to catch the shrimp in ditches and fish ponds when she had free time with her younger siblings. After catching them, she washed them, dried them, and sprinkled them on the egg soup at home.
After the chive paste was ready, the mung bean water was also boiled and a little snow plum was added to it, which was just slightly sweet. Then it was put into a wooden barrel and hung in the well.
She then put the pig food in a large iron pot and placed a steamer in the pot to steam some sweet potatoes. Next, she started making the chive pancakes. She dried the small iron pot, greased it lightly with oilcloth, and then scooped a large wooden spoon full of corn paste, pouring it into the pot in a circular motion along the edge. Once both sides were cooked, she removed them and placed them in a dustpan to dry. Xuemei made a total of thirty-one chive pancakes.
Xuemei put the thermos of ice-cold mung bean water, steamed sweet potatoes, and six small wooden bowls into her backpack. Then she carried a basket of leek cakes and chopped peppers and green onions in one hand and a clay pot of boiled water in the other, and walked towards the threshing ground.
"Xuemei, aren't you going to work today?"
"We have a day off today, Aunt Liu, are you going to deliver the meal too?"
"Yes, I'll go deliver the food too. These two are so helpless. This is the only way." Aunt Liu's daughter-in-law gave birth to a son and a daughter, the older one a daughter, the younger one a two-year-old son. Aunt Liu was carrying two baskets, one filled with food and water, the other with her grandson, and her granddaughter walking behind her.
"Xuemei, what delicious food did you make for your mother and the others?"
"It's pretty much the same as usual. I made some chive cakes with cornmeal and chives. The chives in the garden are going stale if I don't eat them sooner, and I also wanted to give my mom and her family a change of pace. Otherwise, they've been eating corn cakes all day."
"Yeah, there's no one cooking at your house right now, so wouldn't it be more convenient to just eat corn cakes?"
"Aunt Liu, what delicious food did you make for my uncle Liu and sister-in-law?"
"Hey, I'm not as fancy as you and your mom. I just make something simple. Today I made steamed sweet potato rice and fried chili eggs."
"That's great! We have both dry rice and eggs. My uncle Liu and the others will be happy and full when they eat, and we can earn more work points in the afternoon."
Aunt Liu said happily, "That's great."
When Xuemei arrived at the threshing ground, Liu's father and his colleagues had already finished work and were fanning themselves with straw hats under a big tree.
"Dad, Mom, how long have you been off work? Am I late?"
"We're not late. We just got off work." Father Liu said as he stood up and helped Xuemei take the backpack off her back.
"Dad, the thermos is filled with mung bean water, which has been chilled in the well. You should each have a drink to cool down first."
"Sister, it's delicious. You even added sugar." Ruirui finished the whole bowl in one gulp.
"I added a little bit, maybe it's a little sweet. The chive pancakes are in the vegetable basket. I also made you some chopped peppers and wild onions for you to mix with them."
"Xuemei, there is almost half a bottle of mung bean water in the thermos. Take it and the bowl and let your second uncle and Shengnan have a taste." said Liu's mother.
"Okay, I made a few extra chive pancakes. Shengnan is with Second Uncle and the others, I'll take them over."
"Sister, the leek pancakes are so delicious. You haven't eaten them yet, right? I'll leave a few for you." Qingya said incoherently while biting a leek pancake.
"Ah, just leave two for me. Qingya, eat slowly and don't choke. By the way, if you're not full, there are still sweet potatoes in the basket."
"Sister, there are dried shrimps in the leek pancakes, they are so delicious!" Feifei looked up at Xuemei and said.
"I read in a book that dried shrimps contain protein, calcium, phosphorus and other nutrients that are good for our bodies, so I put them in there on purpose. As long as they taste good, I'm fine. I'm afraid they won't taste good. I'll send the food over to them first."
As Xuemei walked over, Grandma had just arrived to bring Grandpa and his family lunch. Grandma was currently tending the rice in the threshing yard, while Grandpa was drying things there. When work was almost over, Grandma would go home to make lunch, but she had to take care of three young men, so she was a little late. Liu Xiu, from Shengnan's family, would wait until the tofu shop was almost done before returning home to make lunch, so he'd be about twenty minutes later than most.
Nowadays, people generally don't charge for steaming rice or sweet potatoes for the educated youth. However, if they need vegetables or firewood for bathing, they have to pay one cent a day to the hostel. Of course, if they want meat or eggs, they can get them for free, but they have to provide the ingredients themselves.
"Grandpa, grandma, second uncle, second mother, second brother, and you two sisters, Shengnan, I made some mung bean water today. Come over here and each of you bring a bowl to taste it."
"Sister, this mung bean water is sweet and cool. Why don't you put it in the well to chill it?" Mingwu said with an unsatisfied look after drinking half a bowl.
"Yes, I also made chive pancakes. I brought five of them over here. You can share them among yourselves."
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