Chapter 19 19 Lazy Tofu
Zhou's mother and Zhao Huifang came out upon hearing the noise, and saw that except for Zhou Jiaming and Zhou Xiaoqian whose faces were cleaner, the others all looked like big tabby cats. They looked at them in a state of confusion, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Qiuyue, take them to wash their hands and faces." Zhou's mother said, looking at Zhou Jiaming, "Classes will start tomorrow. Have you finished your homework?"
"I'll do it right away." Zhou Jiaming hurried back to his room to get his homework. When he came out, he saw Zhou Xiaoqian and the others threading flower petals. "Go away, they're busy doing their homework. You guys go away."
After saying that, he pushed the flower petals in front of a few people, sat down and started to draw talismans.
"Lululu," Zhou Xiaoqian angrily made a face at him, "I'm not busy in the morning, but I'm anxious at night. I get up in the middle of the night to mend my crotch, patching it horizontally and vertically, until it looks like a chicken butt..."
Zhou Jiaming pointed at them and said, "If you say that again, I'll beat you up!"
"Lululu~" Zhou Xiaoqian made faces, "Lululu~"
"Stop~" Zhou Jiaming stood up and chased after him.
Zhou Huairong saw this and went over to grab him and slapped him. "The school has three days off. We have to go back to school tomorrow. Haven't you finished your homework yet?"
Now only Zhou Jiaming, Zhou Jialiang and Zhou Xiaoqian are in primary school, one in the third grade and two in the second grade.
Zhou Xiaoqian pulled Zhou Huairong and said, "Dad, I have finished my homework."
Zhou Jiaming glared at her and said, "You snitch, don't play with me next time."
Zhou Xiaoqian pouted, "I didn't complain. I told you to do your homework. I even helped my second brother with his homework."
Yang Chunyan looked at Zhou Xiaoqian and suddenly remembered that this girl had helped her two brothers write homework for several years under the coercion and inducement of their two brothers, and in the end she was the only one in the Zhou family who was admitted to high school. She couldn't help laughing.
Zhou Huairong patted his son again and comforted Zhou Xiaoqian, "If he dares not to play with you, Daddy (Uncle) will beat him."
Zhou Xiaoqian looked at Zhou Jiaming, who was keeping his head down and silent, with pride: "..."
In return, Zhou Jiaming glared: ...
Yang Chunyan carried a colander to the kitchen, which was the Zhou family's double-eyed earthen stove. The small pot outside was stewing stone crab and yellow croaker, and the pot inside was cooking soy milk.
Zhao Huifang stood in front of the stove, cooking broad bean and corn cakes. The cakes, made by mixing golden corn flour and light green broad bean paste, sizzled on the edge of the pot and gave off the unique sweet aroma of fresh broad beans.
Zhou's mother was pounding chili powder with a pestle and roasting peppercorns on the bricks in front of the stove.
There are many people in the family, so the seasonings are used up quickly.
Zhou's mother thought that the family rarely had meat in a month, so even if it was vegetarian dishes or rice with whole grains, she tried to make them taste better so that the strong laborers in the family would have the strength to do heavy work.
It was also because she took the trouble to prepare meals carefully that the Zhou family's sons grew taller than other children of the same age on the team.
Zhou Huaian is particularly tall. Perhaps because he did not work much and followed his grandmother to herd sheep when he was a child, he would drink goat milk when he was hungry. Therefore, he is taller than his brothers. At about 1.78 meters tall, he is considered tall in the village.
Zhou Huaian often said that if he had not undergone appendectomy surgery, he would have joined the army long ago, and Xiong Laoya would have no chance to be the militia company commander of the brigade.
Yang Chunyan put the colander on the stove, took out a cutting board and cut the pumpkin into shreds. She cut a dozen tender pumpkins into a full pot. "Mom, have you put salt in the pot?"
Zhou's mother smiled and nodded, "I've put it in. The pepper powder is on the cupboard."
"Oh!" Yang Chunyan picked up the spatula and shoveled the soy milk in the pot a few times to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Then put the pumpkin tips, pumpkin shreds and pumpkin flowers into the pot in turn. When they are almost out of the pot, add some green pepper powder to remove the bean smell. The lazy tofu with light green color and rich fragrance is ready.
Zhang Xiuxiang carried a colander into the kitchen, took out chili peppers, coriander, and green onions, and handed them to Yang Chunyan to chop into small pieces. She also scooped up dried chili powder, green pepper powder, and soybean oil to make a large bowl of dipping sauce.
The stone crickets and yellow croaker in the pot were cooked, but the corn cakes had not been baked yet. Yang Chunyan asked Zhao Huifang to put the basin in the middle, and the two of them baked the broad bean and corn cakes together.
Zhao Huifang glanced at her and consoled her, "Chunyan, don't be angry. Although the youngest is a little playful, he never messes around outside. The main reason he's like this now is that the family hasn't been divided yet, and he has his mother, husband, and brothers to support him. That's why he's so lazy."
"You see, there are several guys like Huai'an in the team. After they got married and moved out, they became hardworking and can still support their families. Just wait for you to move out."
"Thank you, sister-in-law." Yang Chunyan understood that the habits Zhou Huaian had developed over the years could not be completely changed overnight, and she was willing to give him time to change.
But if their relationship wants to go further, it depends on his performance.
After cleaning the pot, Zhou's mother cut a small piece of bacon and said, "Chunyan, stir-fry the chicken mushroom with the bacon."
"Okay!" Yang Chunyan took the bacon, scraped it clean with hot water, put it on the chopping board and cut it into slices.
The slices of meat cut from old bacon are oily and emit a unique aroma.
Cut the green pepper and red pepper into short sections, slice the ginger and garlic, put the fat into the pan to extract the oil, pour a little rapeseed oil into it, and when the oil is hot, add the ginger and garlic slices and stir-fry for a few times, then add the lean meat and stir-fry.
Then pour the chicken mushrooms torn into thin strips into the pot and stir-fry for a few times, add a spoonful of water and a little bit of salt and simmer for a while. After the water is simmered dry, add the green and red peppers into the pot, stir-fry for a few times and put them into an earthen plate.
Zhao Huifang had already baked the corn cakes and filled two clay bowls. When her sisters-in-law carried the bowls and plates out of the kitchen, they saw Zhou's father and old man Zhou entering the yard together.
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Grandpa, I made lazy tofu today."
Grandpa Zhou smiled and nodded, "Okay, lazy tofu and tender pumpkin are the best!"
Zhao Huifang smiled and said, "Grandpa, there are also chicken mushrooms!"
Mr. Zhou narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Today we are in for a treat, we are going to eat some mountain delicacies!"
The family sat down at two tables. Grandpa Zhou looked around and didn't see Zhou Huaian, so he shook his head secretly.
He picked up the lazy tofu that Zhou's mother placed in front of him and started eating. "Today's lazy tofu tastes good, with fresh broad beans and corn cakes, and the sweet taste is also very good."
Mother Zhou smiled and said, "Chunyan cooked it today and added pumpkin flowers to it, so it tastes fresher."
Grandpa Zhou nodded and said, "Pumpkin is a good thing. It is delicious to eat whether you are old or young."
Father Zhou picked up some chicken mushrooms and two stone crickets and put them in his bowl. "Old man, eat the chicken mushrooms and the fish."
"I know!" Grandpa Zhou turned his head and looked at his great-grandchildren, "Kids, be careful when eating fish, eat slowly, and don't get stuck by fish bones."
"I understand, ancestor." I don't know who responded.
Zhou Huaian liked to go fishing in the river. Every time he caught a fish, he would send some home, so the children of the Zhou family learned to eat fish from a young age.
The stone crawler and the yellow croaker have only one spinal thorn and three large thorns from head to tail, and no small thorns on other parts of the body.
In addition, when Zhou Huairong and Zhou Huaishan killed the fish, they had already cut off the three big bones, so they were not worried about the children getting stuck by the fish bones.
Zhou Jiaming picked up a fish, lifted it by the tail, and used chopsticks to hold the fish and cut it off from the tail. Only a thorn and a fish head were left on the stone. "Look, ancestor, the thorn is gone."
Grandpa Zhou nodded happily, "Okay, eat more. There are also chicken mushrooms. I won't be able to eat them anymore. I'm going to sell them for money."
Zhou Jiaming nodded, "Old Ancestor, you eat too."
"The ancestors also eat."
(End of this chapter)
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