Today is the twelfth day that Liu's father and his men have been chiseling and moving stones. Xuemei took advantage of Qingya's day off to take a day off and improve Liu's mother and father's lunch by making some hot food and sending it to them.
Mingwu heard yesterday that Xuemei was at home today, so he sent two pounds of cornmeal, one pound of white flour, and four eggs in the evening, and asked Xuemei to make leek pancakes with him.
After breakfast this morning, Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu took Mingwen, Juhua, Qingya and Ruirui to the mountain to chop firewood. Xuemei specifically asked them to come back early and eat cakes at her place when they came back.
After breakfast, Xuemei and Feifei went up the mountain, each collecting a basket of pig grass. After cleaning the house, they began preparing chives. Xuemei used four pounds of cornmeal, a pound and a half of white flour, eight eggs, and half a bowl of dried shrimp to make the chive paste, filling two wooden basins.
Xuemei first taught Feifei how to make leek pancakes using a small iron pan a few times. After Feifei learned how to make them, Xuemei started making leek pancakes using a large iron pan, making three or four at a time.
Just as Xuemei and her brother finished blazing a wooden basin, Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu came back with Qingya and the others.
"Grandpa, grandma, second brother, you're back. Go wash your hands and eat first. These baked leek pancakes are just right for you now." Xuemei said as she looked at the three people who came in.
"Okay, Xuemei. Let's eat first. If you and Feifei are hungry in the kitchen, remember to eat, otherwise the cook will starve himself." Grandma Liu said.
Xuemei and Feifei nodded to show that they heard.
Xuemei saw that Feifei's pancakes were just finished baking and said, "Feifei, you should go eat first. Remember to take out the porridge from the rice cooker so that we can share some. It's too dry to just eat the pancakes."
"Sister, what about you?" Feifei asked as she took the pancake out of the pan.
"I'll come over right after I finish making this pot of leek pancakes. Why don't you go first?" Xuemei said.
Feifei then walked towards the main room.
After Xuemei and Feifei had eaten their fill, they returned to the dining room to make pancakes with the remaining leek paste. It was almost midnight when they were done, so Xuemei quickly packed the pancakes, making a total of 28, and asked Qingya to put the remaining corn porridge into a clay pot, and also filled a clay pot with white cold boiled water.
"Fei Fei, come here. Big sister has a favor to ask of you." After Qing Ya went out to call Rui Rui to come and get something to deliver the meal, Xue Mei waved to Fei Fei.
"What's the matter, sister?" Feifei asked in confusion.
Xuemei reminded her, "Do you remember the last time I told you that Han Zhiqing helped me fix my bicycle?"
Seeing Feifei nod, Xuemei continued, "I didn't thank him last time, so I made five extra chive pancakes today. Put them in your pocket later. When you go with your second sister and your younger brother to deliver the meal, quietly find a chance to give them to Han Zhiqing and tell him that this is from your eldest sister to thank him for his help last time. Got it?"
Feifei asked in confusion: "Why do I have to go there specially? Can't my second sister and little brother do it?"
Xuemei explained, "If your second sister had been asked to see him off, wouldn't your eldest sister have gone herself? Your younger brother isn't as calm and cautious as you are. I'm afraid if he went to give the leek cakes to everyone, everyone in the village would gossip about your eldest sister and Han Zhiqing. When you go to see him off, make sure to call Han Zhiqing to a quiet place. If you can't find an opportunity, just give the cakes to your parents and ask them to go, okay?"
"Okay, sister, I understand." Feifei said seriously.
"Sister, give me the key. I'll go open the lock. My second sister and I are going to deliver the meal by bicycle." Ruirui came in, carrying two clay pots and said.
"Don't ride a bicycle. You'll need to carry two clay pots, as well as cakes and bowls. It's very easy to spill the contents of the pots if you ride a bicycle. Feifei will go with you. It's only two miles away. The sooner you go, the sooner you can come back." Xuemei said.
Ruirui knew Xuemei was telling the truth, but she was still a little disappointed. Xuemei saw this and said, "If you three want to ride your bikes, wait until you get back from delivering the food and I'll let you ride together for an hour."
"Sister, is it true?" Ruirui asked happily.
Xuemei nodded.
After Qingya and the other two went to deliver the meal, Mingwen came in with Juhua.
"Xuemei, you must be tired after cooking for so many people this morning. Leave the kitchen to Juhua and me. Why don't you go and have a rest?" Mingwen said.
Xuemei didn't hesitate to say thank you and left.
…
"Sister, we're back." Ruirui said.
"Ruirui, Feifei, where is your second sister?" Xuemei asked as soon as she saw Ruirui and his brother came back.
"My second sister took Wu Zhiqing to the commune hospital." Ruirui replied.
"What happened to Wu Zhiqing? Why did he suddenly want to go to the hospital?" Xuemei asked.
"I don't know either. When my parents were eating, Wu Zhiqing suddenly fainted. At first, I thought she wanted to eat our leek pancakes and was pretending to faint.
But after waiting for more than ten minutes, she still didn't wake up and her face was pale. It was only after the elder Zhiqing He gave her a few sips of sugar water that she woke up. Then, after she woke up and took a while to recover, my father asked my second sister to help Zhiqing Wu go to the commune hospital. Anyway, when we came back, my second sister and the others were not back yet. "Rui Rui replied.
The villagers were afraid that they would not be able to distinguish between He Wenting and He Jing when calling them He Zhiqing, so they called the two He Zhiqing "Big He Zhiqing" and "Little He Zhiqing" according to their ages.
After Ruirui finished speaking, Feifei nodded to indicate that it was true.
"Okay, then we'll go chop wood now and come back early in the afternoon. You two can wait for your second sister to come back and ride her bike, and then you can read books together, okay?" Xuemei said to the two brothers.
"Okay, big sister. Second sister also told me that we should wait for her to come back before riding the bike. Let's set off to chop wood immediately. Second sister will definitely come back earlier than us." Ruirui said and went to get the tools.
Feifei waited until Ruirui left before quietly saying to Xuemei, "Sister, I gave the food to Han Zhiqing and no one noticed. He said thank you and it was delicious."
"Okay, that's good. Otherwise I'd always feel bad. I'll go close the door, you go get a pot of water, and then we'll leave." Xuemei replied.
Around four in the afternoon, when Xuemei and her two siblings returned with a cart full of firewood, the courtyard gate was already open. Qingya had already returned and was sitting on a chair in the corridor in front of the main hall.
"Sister, you're back. Feifei, just let go and I'll push it." Qingya ran over and said, pushing the cart.
Xuemei asked, "When did you come back? Have you been waiting in the corridor for a long time?" When Xuemei and her friends went to chop wood, they thought that all the laborers in the village had gone to collect stones, and their home was at the entrance of the village. They were afraid that someone would steal things while they were not at home, so they locked the main room and the kitchen.
"Not long after we came back, Wu Zhiqing and I went to the commune hospital. When the doctor wanted to examine Wu Zhiqing, Wu Zhiqing asked me to buy her some food. When I bought it for her, she was still undergoing the examination, and the results would not be available today. However, the doctor said that she could not do heavy work in the next few days. After we came out of the hospital, I helped her to ask for leave from my father, and then I sent her back to the educated youth home." Qingya replied.
"It seems that Wu Zhiqing is really tired this time and his body is suffering." Xuemei concluded, and Qingya nodded. Although she didn't like Wu Zhiqing, Wu Zhiqing was really not feeling well this time. He was in a bad mood all afternoon.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
