Chapter 121 Making glutinous rice balls and delivering medicine
When Xia Juanjuan heard this, she washed her hands and went out to find the postman to pick up the telegram. Along with the telegram came a remittance slip.
Xia Juanjuan couldn't help but laugh. How could this person send money back right after leaving? He hadn't even spent the money he gave her when he came back before the New Year.
She was too embarrassed to open the envelope and read the letter immediately, so she hurried back.
On the way, I happened to see Shen Wanxue limping and shoveling cow dung out of the cowshed from a distance, putting it outside to dry, waiting to be used as fertilizer during the spring ploughing season.
Xia Juanjuan frowned slightly. She thought she had sprained her foot and the commune should have already found a doctor to see her. Now it seemed that no one had taken care of her.
However, she did not do anything immediately. She went home as usual and opened the telegram when she got home.
Li Zhan didn't say anything, except that he had already arrived in Beijing and would soon set off to carry out a new mission, so there might be no news from him in the next one or two months.
The remittance slip was for fifty dollars, and she was asked to save the unused money for building a new house this year.
The three little guys came over and looked at Xia Juanjuan expectantly.
"Mom, what did Fourth Uncle say?"
"Mom, did Fourth Uncle tell me how many bullet shells he picked up?" Xiao Wu was most concerned about the bullet shells he had been thinking about day and night.
Xia Juanjuan smiled and pinched his face, saying, "You heartless little thing, you only remember your bullet shell. You didn't even ask how your fourth uncle is doing?"
After putting away the letter and remittance slip, Xia Juanjuan started making glutinous rice balls.
First, prepare the fillings. This time, she plans to make three kinds of fillings: one with red bean paste, one with black sesame, and one with peanuts.
First, dry-fry the black sesame and peanuts in a pan until cooked. Then crush the peanuts and grind them into powder. Grind the black sesame into powder as well, add sugar, lard, and a little glutinous rice flour to the two, and mix them with water to make the filling.
For red bean filling, just boil the red beans until soft, then mash them into a paste and add sugar and mix well.
Next is to make the outer shell of the glutinous rice balls. Mix glutinous rice flour with warm water, cut into small pieces, roll them into a ball and flatten them, then wrap the fillings in it, roll it into a round shape, and coat it with a layer of dry glutinous rice flour to prevent sticking.
After they were done, Xiaowen heated the pot and put some in first. She and the three kids each had a bowl of seven or eight to taste first.
Most children like sweets, and the filling of the glutinous rice balls is made of sugar and lard, which is fragrant and sweet. The three little kids' eyes lit up as they ate.
Beibei looked up and asked, "Mom, glutinous rice balls are delicious! Can we eat glutinous rice balls every day from now on?"
Xia Juanjuan laughed and said, "How can that be possible! This is full of sugar. If you eat too much, your teeth will be eaten by worms!"
When Beibei heard this, he opened his eyes wide in horror and covered his mouth: "How can bugs be so bad! Don't eat Beibei's teeth! Wuwu... Beibei won't eat glutinous rice balls anymore!"
Xia Juanjuan was in tears and laughter. She couldn't explain to her that tooth decay was actually caused by the decay of the teeth, not by bugs. She could only comfort her, "Don't be afraid, Beibei. There won't be any bugs if you eat a little bit occasionally!"
Beibei was half-believing and half-doubting, but finally couldn't resist the temptation of the glutinous rice balls, and obediently picked up the bowl and started eating.
Xia Juanjuan made a lot, so she gave some to Xiaowen to deliver to Zhou Qiuhe's home.
She has a lot of children in her family, so they will probably like it very much.
In this era, sugar and oil are luxury goods, and not many people are willing to spend as much as she does on making glutinous rice balls as a "snack".
I also set aside a portion and planned to go back to my mother's house tomorrow to send it to Xia Shuangshan and Lin Yuru. I also planned to send them some pork - of course not the wild boar that I hunted two days before the fierce battle, but the meat in the space.
She had no intention of sharing the wild boar meat that she had beaten.
In the afternoon, Xia Juanjuan carried a bamboo basket into the mountains to pick some wild mushrooms and dig some herbs.
There are all kinds of herbs in her space, but the things in the space can be classified according to her wishes. She knows them when they grow in the space, but if they really grow with other herbs in the deep mountains, she will still make mistakes, so she still needs to practice more.
This time I was lucky enough to dig up some Atractylodes macrocephala, Arisaema consanguineum, and some wild virgin olive.
After returning home and having dinner, she waited for the three kids to wash up and fall asleep before she took out some Chinese herbs such as Radix Tougu, Frankincense, Safflower, and Panax Notoginseng from the space to dissolve blood stasis, relieve swelling and relieve pain. She found a canning bottle, poured in white wine, soaked the herbs in it, sealed it, wrapped the bottle with cloth, and walked towards the cowshed in the dark, making sure no one could see her.
She has never been involved in matters here, always staying away from them and concentrating on living her own life.
But after the last close contact with Shen Wanxue, I felt guilty for some reason when I wanted to stay out of it.
Many of these people have made various huge sacrifices and contributions for the country. It would be fine if we didn't see it, but if we really saw it with our own eyes, we would feel sorry for them and feel unfair for them to some extent.
Xia Juanjuan thought that she would just send the medicine this time, and when her foot injury healed, she would not care about it anymore...
Shen Wanxue lived in a thatched hut. When Xia Juanjuan arrived at the door, she heard the noise from inside.
"Alas... the swelling is getting worse. I need to take medicine immediately. I may have to stop working for a few days..."
"Who doesn't know? But we've already filed a report, and the commune's doctor has gone to the county to study these two days. I heard he doesn't have many medicines, and there's no other doctor in this village..."
"Who said there is none? Wasn't Brother Yang an old Chinese medicine doctor at the Beijing Chinese Medicine Hospital? Brother Yang, what medicine do you think we need? Let's talk to the villagers tomorrow and ask everyone to stop working for a day and go to the mountains to dig and see if we can get all the medicines..."
"Alas... Even if the village agrees, the right Chinese medicine is not available in this season. Even if it can be found, it has not been processed and the efficacy is average..."
"What should we do? If it really doesn't work, we can only apply to go to the county hospital. The Shen family's sister's eye disease has become more and more serious recently. If she doesn't get treatment, she may be permanently blind... It's a good opportunity for us to go and see her..."
"Hey! Do you think that people will approve your application? Now our words are like farts, who will listen to us?"
Everyone was talking at once, and then a gentle voice sounded:
"Thank you, brothers and sisters. My foot is fine and will get better in a few days. As for my eyes, I know it's probably because I'm too tired and have a lot of things on my mind. I'll get more rest and adjust myself, and it will get better in a few days. It's getting late, so you should go back and rest early. We still have to clean the cowshed tomorrow."
After hearing this, everyone had no other choice but to disperse.
Xia Juanjuan quickly hid in a dark corner nearby, and only dared to knock on the door gently after everyone had left.
"Who?" After Shen Wanxue and the others left, she blew out the oil lamp - the oil they distributed was not much, so they had to use it sparingly. Besides, she couldn't see clearly with the lamp on.
Xia Juanjuan lowered her voice and said, "Aunt Shen, my husband carried a bucket of water for you two days ago. Do you remember?"
Shen Wanxue was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "It's you, wait a moment, I'll open the door for you."
Shen Wanxue opened the door, and Xia Juanjuan went in without asking for the lights to be turned on. She said softly, "Auntie, I have some Chinese medicinal herbs at home, so I brought them to you. If you rub the sprained area repeatedly, it should be of some use."
Shen Wanxue was a little flattered and frightened: "How...how can I do this! What if...what if..."
"Auntie, don't be afraid. I was very careful when I came here, and no one saw me. Hide the medicine and apply it before going to bed at night. Don't let the smell of alcohol be discovered..."
Xia Juanjuan looked at her eyes again. From what those people had said, she couldn't see now. But in this regard, her limited knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine was really useless...
Tears welled up in Shen Wanxue's unfocused eyes. She tightly grasped Xia Juanjuan's hand and whispered, "My dear, I really don't know how to thank you..."