After Han Chen and Xuemei decided on a location to build the house, Liu's father went to the village to get a permit and personally went to the brick factory to apply for green bricks. The brick factory's output has increased several times in recent years. If things go well, there will be bricks for building the house after the autumn harvest.
As for sending the package, Liu's father took Ruirui and Qingya to the mountain twice, hunted a few rabbits and a roe deer, and asked Xuemei and Liu's mother to roast them into jerky on the stove.
After the dried meat was baked, Xuemei spent a dozen yuan to buy some dried salted fish, canned fish, and canned oranges. These dried salted fish and canned fish were produced by the newly built fish factory in Wangjia Village, which began production at the end of February of the lunar calendar this year. These items were the factory's third batch; the first two batches had been shipped and sold elsewhere.
The Wangjia Village Fish Factory was established, and Xuemei's second aunt Zhang Zhaodi and her sister were both selected as workers in the fish factory. They now receive 1,500 work points and a salary of six yuan per month.
After Xuemei and Han Chen discussed it, they decided to send three pounds of dried meat, a pair of women's gloves made of rabbit skin that had been nitrated, some dried vegetables, a can of canned fish, and a pair of cloth shoes that Xuemei made for Zhang's mother according to the size Han Chen specified, to the family of Han Chen's mother, Zhang Meilin.
There were more things given to the Lin family, including ten pounds of dried meat, dried salted fish, two cans of canned fish, a can of mushroom meat sauce, two pairs of rabbit skin gloves, a set of rabbit skin knee pads, two pairs of cloth shoes for little boys, and a can of homemade loquat paste.
This loquat paste was made from the last ripe loquats on the trees in the yard. Using more than half a pound of rock sugar, Xuemei and Liu's mother spent a day making four jars. They gave one to Wang Weimin and Wang Weixi, one to Wang Weiguo and one to Wang Weidong, each of whom was mailing something, leaving only one at home.
When the seasons change and children at home catch a cold, cough, or have a sore throat, you can make some loquat paste with boiling water and drink it, and they will get better quickly.
A few days after the package was sent out, it was June in the Gregorian calendar and Liujia Village began the summer harvest.
Xuemei was resting at home today, and she went to the commune early in the morning to grab half a pound of meat.
After coming back, I went to the mountain to pick two baskets of pig grass, and also used the space to pack 20 kilograms of grass for May.
As soon as we reached the bottom of the mountain, we saw Li Deliang's eldest daughter, Li Fen, holding something in her arms and running towards the commune cautiously.
Xuemei didn't have time to say hello, and the person had already left. Xuemei wondered when Li Fen came back, and why there was no news at all.
Li Fen has been away for almost a year. Many people in the village still think that she is looking for a son-in-law there. Her mother Yi Jiao has been living in her parents' home since she was exposed by Liu's mother last time.
Xuemei returned home, boiled the soaked mung beans and started preparing lunch. She planned to cook a bowl of potato and rice, and went to the vegetable garden to pick some peppers, a handful of beans, and a few cucumbers.
After the rice is cooked and the mung bean water is almost done, add sugar and pour it into a wooden barrel. After the sugar melts, hang it in the well to chill.
Then she put the pig food in a big iron pot and started to stir-fry the dishes. After a while, the stir-fried pork with peppers and stir-fried beans were ready. Xuemei also fried a cucumber.
After all the dishes were prepared, Xuemei took out the specially made wooden bowls at home, first filled each bowl with half a bowl of rice, then put the fried pork with chili peppers on top, and then filled the bowl with rice.
Finally, he took out a lunch box, filled it with two bowls of rice, put a little of each dish on it, and then closed the lunch box tightly.
After the food was distributed, Xuemei saw that it was still early, so she ate at home first.
After dinner, Xuemei poured mung bean water into two thermoses, put the food and other things into two baskets, and specially washed a small basket of plums and put them into the baskets.
After packing up, Xuemei put on a straw hat and carried a pair of baskets as she walked towards the threshing ground.
As soon as they reached the threshing ground, Liu's father and his family had finished their work. This year, everyone in the family had gone to the fields except Xuemei, who put her things under a large tree.
After Liu's father and the others arrived, Xuemei poured each of them a bowl of mung bean water. After they finished, Xuemei handed each of them a bowl of rice and brought out the other dishes for them to eat. Xuemei then took the bowl and a thermos full of mung bean water and walked over to where Wang Shuihua and the others were sitting, calling over Shengnan and her sister along the way.
When they arrived, Xuemei put down the bowls and thermos and asked each of them to pour a bowl of mung bean water to quench their thirst and cool down. They could come back to get the food when Xuemei came back.
Then Xuemei called Han Chen to the tree where they rested. Han Chen and the others had brought their lunch in the morning. Xuemei handed the kettle to Han Chen and said, "Drink it! It contains mung bean water. I know you don't like sharing a bowl with others!"
Han Chen's face was covered in sweat, his clothes soaked and sticky. During the summer and autumn harvests, everyone looked like Han Chen now. The men and boys in the village didn't talk much, wearing only a vest. Han Chen, like the women and girls in the village, didn't take off his coat.
Xuemei handed Han Chen the handkerchief and said, "If you're too hot, just take off your coat. I don't mind!"
Han Chen shook his head and said, "It's okay!"
Xuemei stopped talking when she saw she couldn't persuade him. She didn't want anyone to see Han Chen shirtless. Whenever a man took off his coat, the aunts and wives in the village would scrutinize him and discuss his physique and fitness. There were even more discussions, and Xuemei had the misfortune of stumbling upon them several times. Some of the unmarried girls in the village would also take the opportunity to peek at the young men and compare them in their minds.
Han Chen looked at Xuemei, not knowing what she was looking at. His face darkened as he turned Xuemei's face away with his hands, saying, "What are you looking at?"
"Ah, I didn't see anything. I was just distracted?" Xuemei pulled Han Chen's hand down and said.
"You're really not looking at Zhou Bing!" Han Chen asked suspiciously.
Xuemei then went to the place she had just looked at. It turned out that Zhou Bing deliberately wore a vest and sat in front of Shengnan to eat.
Han Chen saw Xuemei looking over there again, and he got even angrier. He pulled Xuemei's face back. Then he walked over to Zhou Bing, threw his coat over his head, and said coldly, "Put it on quickly!"
Before Zhou Bing could react, Han Chen had already returned to sit next to Xuemei, but he looked very unhappy.
Xuemei tugged at Han Chen's sleeve, and Han Chen turned around and said a little aggrievedly, "What are you doing?"
"I wasn't looking at him just now. I was thinking about him and Shengnan!" Xuemei explained in a low voice.
Xuemei saw that Han Chen's face looked better, so she handed him the lunch box and said, "Here's your snack, eat it quickly!"
Han Chen took the lunch box and asked, "Have you eaten?"
"I've eaten it, you should eat it quickly! I know you're afraid of spicy food, so I didn't give you any chili peppers!" Xuemei replied.
Han Chen then opened the lunch box and started eating in big mouthfuls.
After everyone had finished eating, Xuemei filled their kettles with water, divided the plums among them, and then carried the basket home.
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