In the evening, the first snow of the winter of 1971 arrived as expected.
Shen An Ning tidied up the small living room in the north wing, lit the coal stove, placed a steel pot on it, and the three of them sat on the kang to make dumplings. Two-month-old Shen Zixi was sleeping soundly on the kang.
"Sister, how many kinds of dumplings should we make?" Shen Anxuan asked blankly, looking at the three basins on the kang, which contained cabbage with oil residue, mutton and radish, and pickled cabbage and pork.
"Let's make dumplings with two-grain flour. We can make more. It's snowing today, so we can freeze them outside. We can take them out when we want to eat them later."
Shen Anning took out the dough that had been kneaded and proofed, cut it into long strips, then cut it into small pieces, and rolled it into dough with a rolling pin. Because it used more white flour and less cornmeal, the dough was very chewy.
The three of them worked for nearly two hours, wrapping more than four hundred dumplings and placing them on the bamboo curtain. Shen Anning took the dumplings out directly and put them under the shed where firewood was stored, waiting to bury them in the snow tomorrow morning.
At night, Shen Anning took Shen Anxuan and Shen Zixi to sleep together, and Shen Anyu slept in the room where Anxuan used to live.
Turn off the coal stove first, leaving a small gap, and place the iron teapot on it so that you can use hot water directly when you wake up tomorrow morning.
Shen Anxuan slept very soundly at night. Little Zixi woke up several times and cried so loudly that she was not woken up. Shen Anning was originally thinking of using the things in the space more carefully, but now, she decided to do whatever was convenient.
There were many kinds of milk powder in the space, and Shen Zixi was not at all uncomfortable with it. Except for the first day she left her mother, she felt much better after settling down, and she ate well and slept soundly.
At five o'clock in the morning, after a snowfall, it also announced that the hibernation officially began. Without the sound of the gong to go to work, Shen An Ning was still a little uncomfortable. There was enough firewood on the kang, and the room was warm. Lying on the kang covered with a soft quilt, Shen An Ning didn't want to get up.
There are still nearly forty days before the Chinese New Year, and after the Chinese New Year, it will take more than a month to end the hibernation. Shen Anning is a little worried about the lack of entertainment activities for such a long time.
It was the winter solstice and the snow was heavy, so no one went out. At seven o'clock, Shen Anning heard the radio coming on after a long absence. The young and old in every household got up and started to remove the snow from the thatched roofs to prevent it from being damaged by the heavy weight. Shen Anning's yard was a brick house, so there was no need to worry about these. She took Shen Anyu to shovel the snow on the road in front of the yard and piled it on both sides, and then went to several nearby houses and educated youth sites to help.
The families between Shen Anning's home and the Youth League compound included accountant Uncle Wang Youcai, team leader Wang Xianzheng, and the outsider Li Daguo. The village chief and the Party secretary lived in the front row. Because Shen Anning's family usually used the east gate near the river, they rarely ran into the others, but this didn't affect their interactions.
I usually have to work to earn work points and take care of the family's food and drink, so I don't have much time to visit others.
Shen Anning shoveled the snow. Aunt Sufen from the accountant's family and Aunt Xiuhua from the Daguo uncle's family were also busy, and brought her younger brother to help.
Geng Sufen was a little surprised when she saw Shen Anning shoveling snow so easily. Then she thought of her taking the children in the village to exercise, and shook her head with a smile. She was not a simple little girl.
"An Ning, I'm going to start making sticky rice dumplings in a few days. You and the girls from the Youth League Institute should come to my house and help. Let's work for a few days in a row to make all the dumplings for the winter."
Shen Anning looked up and smiled, then replied: "Okay, auntie, I haven't made it before anyway, so I'll listen to you. I'll bring the things to your house when the time comes and that's it." If a family wants to make 100 kilograms of sticky rice dumplings, it would be exhausting to do it alone. If they make one for a family a day for several days in a row, it will be more convenient for everyone to do it together.
Shen Anning agreed and went to the educated youth point to tell them again, "Sister Wanli, let's make Aunt Sufen's first tomorrow, then Aunt Xiuhua and Aunt Erlan. Since the eight of you make more, can you put them last?"
"Okay, An Ning, in previous years we didn't feel comfortable going with the fellow villagers. The things we made ourselves would always be exposed. When there were a few old educated youth here before, the fellow villagers were unwilling to take us. This year, we are all thanks to you."
"Sister Qian Hui, don't be so polite. We just have to help each other to survive here." As a group of people were talking, Shen Anning heard the voices of Zhao Aiguo and Liu Cheng.
Xu Hongxia put down the bamboo pole in her hand and walked over. "Why are you here? It's so cold."
Zhao Aiguo felt a little embarrassed and scratched his head before saying, "There aren't many male educated youth among us who can cook. We usually just eat flatbreads, but now we have food on hand. I was thinking of making dumplings and sticky rice dumplings for winter, but I'm not very good at cooking, so I had no choice but to come to you for help."
After listening to this, Shen An Ning laughed. It was difficult for these boys. Seven men were always fooling around, but now that they were going to hibernate for the winter, it was normal for them to want to eat well.
"An Ning, what do you think?" Xu Hongxia was a little unsure. After all, the aunts were willing to be friends with them because of Shen An Ning and the honesty of this group of new educated youth.
"It's okay. The aunties are nice people. Since they are willing to take us with them, they certainly won't mind adding another portion. There are many male educated youths anyway, so they will be responsible for going up the mountain to collect firewood to supplement the aunties' household expenses."
Everyone discussed it and agreed to come together at noon to make dumplings for the Winter Solstice. Because Shen Anning had a little baby at home who was not easy to bring over, everyone agreed to work in Shen Anning's small courtyard, which was large and convenient.
After returning home, he took out two kilograms of flour and half a kilogram of meat, put them in the kitchen, and filled the water tank in the yard with water, and then Shen Anning waited for everyone to come.
More than a dozen people were busy working quickly, and everyone brought a lot of things, including cabbage and pork, and pickled cabbage and pork. According to the quantity of 25 female educated youth and 35 male educated youth, a total of 480 dumplings were made. Two pots were cooked in the kitchen, and dumplings were made one by one and put into the lunch boxes brought by everyone. They were paired with spicy cabbage, pickled cucumbers, pickled beans, and vinegar made by Shen Anning. Everyone was very satisfied with the meal.
"An Ning, your pickled cucumbers and beans are really delicious. Next autumn, you can teach Sister Wanli how to pick them. Then we can eat them too."
Shen Anning was about to be laughed to death by Xu Hongxia, "You want to eat but you don't want to learn, so you throw it to Sister Wanli, you are really..."
"I'll make some for each of you. I had a lot of vegetables growing in my yard and on my own plot at the time, so I pickled all that I could to avoid wasting them. You can take some home to eat with your porridge."
After the meal, the pots and bowls were washed, and Shen An Ning took everyone to the warehouse to get pickles. There were four large jars and ten small jars surrounding the walls of the warehouse. When Shen An Ning pickled vegetables, the jars were not enough, so he bought a batch. It looked very spectacular.
The educated youth were all stunned.
"An Ning, you are so good at living. No wonder your uncle, aunt and brother are willing to send their child to you to take care of." Wang Xinrong was really surprised. Her family had asked her to go to the countryside with her cousin just to have someone to take care of her. She originally thought that she was good enough, but now it seems that she is not as good as Shen An Ning.
"The Northeast is different from other places. We don't start working until March, and we only harvest grain once a year. The rest of the harvest is potatoes and sweet potatoes. In winter, we only have radishes and cabbages. If we don't save what we can't finish in autumn, it will be too bland in winter. Anyway, we'll just use up some salt. Come to my place next year and I'll call you when I'm ready to pickle it."
Okay, we’ll come over and learn when the time comes.
Each person packed a lunch box with pickled beans, cucumbers, kimchi, and pickled garlic, giving them some of each. Seeing that it was about to snow outside, Shen An Ning didn't keep them any longer.
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