It was not even six o'clock when the food started to be served.
"The fried loach is here~" Gu Qingqing was the first to bring out the dish.
There were many people in Gu's family, and the stone table in the yard was not enough for everyone to sit at, so Gu Yuanchao put two large wooden tables together.
"Mapo tofu is fragrant and spicy, you are welcome to try it." Gu Bao followed his niece swiftly. Gu Tiezhu, Zhang Cuifen, Gu Jin and other adults had already taken their seats and were watching the children perform.
Han Lianxin tilted her head and talked to Zhang Yuqing, "Abao, you must have learned this from the third brother. You can do it quite well."
Zhang Yuqing covered her mouth and laughed: "He is the one who makes trouble."
"Shredded potatoes with vinegar and hot pot pork with green peppers are here!" Gu Jianguo brought two dishes at the same time. Gu Heping looked at them eagerly, thinking, "Brother, you have to be calm!"
"The next dish is vegetables," Gu Qingqing cleared her throat, turned her head to glance at her brother Weiguo, and shouted with a smile: "Grandma's favorite fried cabbage with pork fat, and uncle's pickled radish~"
Zhang Cuifen was amused by her granddaughter's festive tone. She said to Gu Tiezhu, whose face was wrinkled with laughter, "Qingqing is acting like it's Chinese New Year." After saying that, she looked at the white flour steamed buns, pork with chili and two large pots of dumplings on the table and felt a little distressed: "All the meat coupons have been used up. I can only eat vegetarian food in the next few months before the Chinese New Year."
Gu Tiezhu comforted his wife: "We still have chickens and ducks at home..."
Before he could finish his words, Zhang Cuifen stepped on him hard.
"Chickens and ducks are used to lay eggs. If it weren't for the Mid-Autumn Festival today and I wanted to give Qingqing something good to eat, I wouldn't want to move them. If anyone dares to do the same as that kid from the Zhang family, don't blame me for turning against you."
Gu Bao and his father looked at each other, feeling a little nervous, as if these words were a warning to them.
"The signature dish is here~" Gu Cai shouted, his strong arms holding the bottom of the porcelain basin steadily. The salty aroma of the kohlrabi was paired with the snails and duck that had been stewed in thick soup for more than two hours, and then sprinkled with a handful of chopped green onions. Gu Qingqing kept sniffing.
Smells so good!
She distributed the thin bamboo skewers that her second uncle had peeled to her family to eat snails, and she stared eagerly at the tender and plump duck meat in the black clay pot in front of her.
"Grandpa." She couldn't help being overwhelmed by the aroma that filled the table.
Gu Tiezhu tried to hold back his laughter. Seeing his youngest son cleverly pour him a glass of melon wine, he drank it happily and then raised his chopsticks: "Eat it all. Look how greedy we are. We are almost drooling."
"She is always hungry. She even had stewed loach and grilled crab the day before yesterday." Shi Rushuang served rice to her parents-in-law. Today was a holiday, so she didn't cook sweet potatoes and mix them in the rice. It was all real rice.
"Being able to eat is a blessing. We have so many men in our family, can't we support a little girl? Eat more, darling. The farm work has been heavy lately. Look how thin your little face is." Zhang Cuifen picked up a big piece of pork belly for her granddaughter.
Gu Cai fried the fat oil a little and used it to stir-fry the cabbage. The pork belly was very crispy and fragrant, and it was really delicious when paired with garlic and green and red peppers.
Gu Qingqing just lowered her head and ate the fragrant and glutinous rice, uttering a few unclear "hmm" sounds to show her agreement with her grandma's words.
Seeing that grandpa and grandma had started eating with their chopsticks, Gu Xiong slurped the snails without saying a word. His third uncle's cooking skills were really amazing. The next time he could eat them would be during the Chinese New Year.
"Oh my goodness!" Han Lianxin looked at the table full of delicious dishes, not knowing where to start. She sighed, "Why do I feel like I'm eating in a hotel now!"
"Yuqing, you are so lucky."
Zhang Yuqing pursed her lips and smiled, "We are all blessed to be able to marry into the Gu family. Our parents treat us well, not to mention our brothers and sisters-in-law. The children in the family are all sensible and considerate. It would be even better if Yuan Chao's marriage could be settled earlier, so that we can feel at ease in the city..."
When she talked about Yuan Chao's marriage, Han Lianxin felt like she had found a confidant. Looking at Gu Xiong who was just concentrating on eating, she kept chattering with her brother and sister-in-law: "All the children in our family are the best. Matchmakers have come to our house many times, but Xiong Wa has never responded. When we asked him when he wanted to get married, he didn't say a word. He is just like his father, a man with a sharp tongue."
"Not really. I think Xiongwa is much smarter than my second brother. The children are grown up and have their own ideas. We adults should just help to look over their shoulders and let them make their own decisions in the end."
After living in the city for a few years, Zhang Yuqing's thinking changed a lot. After all, the children have to live their own lives, and of course they have to choose their own wives, so that they won't regret it in the future.
As adults, they have to keep a close eye on their children's behavior.
"Our Qingqing is still the best. Qinglie knows everyone in the army thoroughly." Zhang Yuqing said to Shi Rushuang enviously: "Sister-in-law, Qingqing is the youngest child in our family. She may get married before her brothers."
"What marriage?" Gu Jin was confused. "Is Qinglie still saying something in the letter? I didn't see it, but I saw that the boy said he wanted to eat candied green plums. I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative tomorrow to get a ticket to buy some sugar."
"Your son sent a photo back to your daughter," Shi Rushuang glanced at her daughter who was picking up snail meat with a bamboo stick, "She kept it in her pocket like a treasure and looked at it with a silly smile for the whole afternoon. She even went north alone to deliver the candied green plums."
"Qing Lie's photo?" Gu Jin was not too worried about what was wrong with his daughter going out alone. His daughter was brave and had big ideas, so it would be good for her to go out and broaden her horizons.
"Not only Qing Lie... but also his comrade. The boy is more handsome than our Can Yang. He has already seduced your daughter's soul before they even met."
Shi Rushuang was also a little helpless. The girl had always judged people by their appearance since she was young. Maybe it was because her brothers were all good-looking, so she liked to play with good-looking kids since she was young.
Gu Jin smacked his lips and smiled innocently, "It's rare that Qingqing'er likes it. Qinglie must have found a good one. Didn't he send the cloth coupons back? I have something to do in the team and can't accompany you back to your parents' home tomorrow. On your way back, take your daughter to buy some cloth to make two nice clothes. Your daughter is grown up now."
"Why do you say that?" Shi Rushuang glared at him. Although she already knew that her man was a rough but delicate person, she still couldn't help but mutter a few words in her heart.
She is not a fool. When a lady grows up, she will join the army, so of course she has to buy her some decent clothes. Girls all love beauty, and she dare not be careless when it comes to the most important event in her life.
But her darling child has a wild temperament and is always working in the fields. It would be good for her to move around more at the educated youth center and have more contact with the girl named Ye Zi. It would be even better if she could awaken her love of beauty.
Now she is somewhat worried whether the boy will look down upon the young lady.
It was obvious that the kid was not from the village, and no one knew what his family did. The son asked around to find out everything.
"Sister-in-law, I also brought three boxes of biscuits from the city. We don't have any children at home, so tomorrow you and second sister-in-law should each take a box back for the babies of your brothers-in-law. I'll go to the house and get them for you after dinner."
At work, Zhang Yuqing was often able to use ration coupons to exchange for other coupons from her co-workers. The couple had no shortage of food in the city. They saved some of the ration coupons issued by the unit and sold some. They had some left, which they used to exchange for snacks from time to time to entertain their nephew from their natal family.
"Okay, then I won't be polite with you." Shi Rushuang's thoughts were pulled back by her sister-in-law. She smiled happily, "Tomorrow I will go to the back mountain of my mother's house to pick more oranges. Then I will make some canned food for you to take back to the city."
"Mom still has more than fifty eggs saved, all of which were taken out by Qingqing from the chicken coop." Han Lianxin interrupted, "I'll go back and see if the walnuts in the back mountain are ready to be harvested. Then, sister-in-law, you can make some more canned food and pack some walnuts for Qinglie to send over."
"Qingqing, can you lift it?" Zhang Yuqing couldn't help but look at her niece's thin arms and legs, and asked with some doubt.
"She chopped down the thick pile of firewood with just one axe. She's so strong." Gu Bao ate with his mouth full of oil, half of his head sticking out.
He felt that he was the weakest member of the Gu family.
"Abao, how can you let Guaiguai chop wood?" Han Lianxin teased him, "Now you can't even lift an axe? Hurry up and eat more. Our Abao is in the growth stage now!"
In response to his second sister-in-law's blatant ridicule, Gu Bao just chuckled twice in embarrassment.
"How shameless." Zhang Cuifen shook her head: "At 23 or 24, it's useless to grow physically, you need to grow your brain instead."
"If his head grows any bigger, it will reach the sky." Gu Tiezhu snorted and laughed, "He has used all his intelligence and energy to be lazy."
Gu Bao shrank his shoulders, lowered his head and concentrated on eating, trying to appear invisible.
"Boss, after the rice seedlings are planted in two days, it's time to distribute the food. What are your team's plans?" Gu Tiezhu drank his wine with his eyes squinted and looked very enjoyable.
"The yield this year is good, about 480 kilograms per mu. After paying the requisitioned grain and keeping it for reserve, there is still a lot left. Qin Mengzi, Lao Yang and I discussed it and found that there are still more than three months before the Chinese New Year. If we add about 100 kilograms per person and some coarse grains such as soybeans, sweet potatoes, taro and corn, it will be enough to last until the end of the year."
"One month after the autumn ploughing, we will have to organize the river work. We can't be idle this month. In addition to the existing crops in the fields, I also want to reclaim wasteland and plant medicinal herbs."
At this point, Gu Jin was a little envious: "Now we have to go to the Red Flag Production Team next door to press oil and mill rice. I want our members to work together and strive to set up our own processing plant by the end of the year."
Datunzi Village and Dagouzi Village have a lot of soil and hillsides, most of which are not cultivated. In recent years, the task of grain production has been heavy, and everyone has been concentrating on the fields and thinking about how to increase production and apply fertilizer. Except for cotton and ramie, which are barely economic crops, the others are only used to fill the stomachs of the members, and there is no financial resources to improve the situation in the team.
He and Qin Mengzi made up their minds to make a great effort by the end of the year and bought two diesel engines, one large and one small, and also added a rice mill and a cotton rolling machine. This way, the members would not have to push the grain a long way over a hundred miles to the Hongqi Production Team, and they would be able to go out with confidence.
"Just discuss it with your team. The young and strong people are going to repair the river bank, and we, the old and young men and women, can stay at home to grow crops and produce medicinal herbs."
Gu Jin nodded, thinking that he would have to go to the village to find the older generation of uncles who grew medicinal herbs later. He couldn't do anything rash.
"Grandpa and grandma, I'm full!" Gu Qingqing wiped her mouth and stood up: "I'll go make some moon cakes and tofu and send them to Sister Yuanyuan."
"Okay, Abao, aren't you going to the Qin family? Hurry up. Xiongwa, you two brothers should also make some tofu mooncakes for your grandfather and send them to the other families." Zhang Cuifen arranged these and collected the dishes with the wives.
"Boss," Gu Tiezhu said, "please go to the old man's house in person."
"Huh? Okay." Gu Jin instantly understood his father's intention.
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