After playing with the two for a while, Xu An reminded them again that they could only play in the yard, and that they had to ask him before he would open the door, even if they knew someone. Then he took the vegetable basket and the knife and went out.
This time, the destination was the vegetable garden at home.
Each of the four members of the Xu family was allocated eight-tenths of an acre of land, totaling 3.2 acres.
However, the family consisted of many people, young and old, and the only able-bodied man, Xu An, was still in school. So the land was rented out to a private owner for cultivation, with a rent of 300 yuan per mu per year.
The vegetable garden we're going to is one that Grandma Xu cultivated and built herself by the river. Other families in the village have also cultivated vegetable gardens by the river, one after another, using bamboo fences to separate their respective gardens.
Following his memory, Xu An found his family's vegetable garden.
Upon seeing this, Xu An froze, finally understanding why his grandmother hadn't responded to him.
Grandma didn't plant green beans this year; instead, she planted eggplants!
Memories from too far in the past are indeed unreliable.
After a moment of reflection, Xu An quickly dismissed all distracting thoughts and focused his attention on what to eat for lunch.
"Anzi, are you picking vegetables?"
Xu An, who was seriously thinking about what to cook, was interrupted by a greeting. He turned around and saw his neighbor, Aunt Hong.
Aunt Hong was just like I remembered, with her neat short hair and her eyes crinkling as she spoke, giving off a warm and friendly vibe.
Aunt Hong's real name is Han. She is called Aunt Hong because she wears red tops all year round. The style may be different, but the color is always red.
"Aunt Hong."
"I just received a call from your aunt. She said she's coming to visit your grandma the day after tomorrow morning. If you need anything, just come and find me," Aunt Han said with some concern, feeling a pang of sympathy for Xu An's family.
Xu An's younger sister was a very nice person when she was a young girl, but her personality has become stranger year by year since she got married.
She was quite well-behaved when her parents were still alive, but in the last two years she has become increasingly unruly. Every time she comes back, she argues with her grandmother until they are red in the face and part on bad terms.
"Alright, thank you for making the trip yourself, Aunt Hong."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Aunt Hong left.
Xu An inspected the vegetable garden, picked two eggplants that would be a bit old by tomorrow, added two green peppers, and went home with his vegetable basket.
When I got home, I saw the two little ones playing quietly in the sand, so I didn't disturb them and went straight to the kitchen to start making lunch.
After graduating from university and starting work in my previous life, I brought Xiaokang and Xiaole back to live with me. Through practice, I developed excellent cooking skills.
Leaving aside the expensive and complicated dishes, most people who have eaten ordinary home-cooked meals will give them a thumbs up.
The first thing to do is make bone broth. After buying the bones, I put them in a basin and soaked them in cold water. They've been soaking for exactly an hour now, and there's a layer of blood floating on the bottom of the basin.
Remove the bones and put them into a pressure cooker. Discard all the bloody water and pour clean well water into the cooker.
I found red dates and goji berries in the seasoning section, added three slices of ginger and a little salt, then put the lid on and set it aside.
Xu An's family did not have a gas stove; they still used a traditional wood-fired stove, and a honeycomb briquette stove for making soup.
A honeycomb briquette costs four cents. Each time you use it, you add one and it will burn for three hours, just enough time to simmer a pot of soup. It's much cheaper than using gas.
Take out the pliers, remove the two honeycomb briquettes from the top and set them aside. Remove and discard the bottom honeycomb briquettes that have burned out, and then put the two honeycomb briquettes that were removed earlier back in.
Take out leaves and other flammable materials from the burlap sack next to you, put them in and light them, then add small twigs on top. Once the honeycomb briquettes are lit, take out a new honeycomb briquette and place it on top. Put the pressure cooker on top, and the soup is done.
Cut the eggplant into small pieces, marinate with a little salt to draw out the water, and then squeeze out the water.
Take out a piece of meat with some fat, cut it into small pieces and then mince it. Put half of it in a dish, and keep the other half to make minced meat and eggplant.
Xu An called out to the courtyard, and Xu Kang and Xu Le came running to the kitchen. One of them fetched firewood, while the other set up the fire and started the fire. They worked together very efficiently, clearly experienced.
Heat the family-inherited iron wok, add oil, and when the oil is about 80% hot, add the eggplant. Stir-fry the eggplant until it is wilted and soft, then add the minced meat and stir-fry together.
When the minced meat changes color, you usually add fermented soybean paste, but I didn't have this seasoning at home, so I just used green peppers and fermented black beans to make a paste.
To be honest, Grandma Xu is very good at growing vegetables and doing housework, but she's not good at cooking. Her cooking skills are just good enough to make sure the food is filling and won't make you sick.
Therefore, the only seasonings used at home are usually oil, salt, and soy sauce.
Once the green bell pepper strips have softened, add soy sauce and salt. After tasting and confirming that the seasoning is right, remove from heat and plate.
Wash the iron pot once, measure out twice the amount of rice, wash it clean and pour it into the pot, add water up to the back of your hand and the second joint of your fingers.
Place the bamboo rack on the stove, put in a dish of seasoned meat patties, cover the pot with the lid, and then wait for the rice to cook.
After finishing his work, Xu An told the two of them to go outside and play for a while longer, as the food would take another ten minutes to cook and would taste even better after simmering for a while.
But the two of them didn't want to go out, so they took a deep breath in front of the minced meat and eggplant on the stove.
"Brother, it smells like meat, it smells so good!"
"Brother, this smells so delicious! I'm going to eat two bowls of rice!"
"Okay, eat more so you can grow taller and stronger."
Will I grow as tall as my brother?
Xu An glanced at Xu Le. For a girl to grow to 1.8 meters tall would be too tall. Although she thought this in her heart, she agreed with him, saying, "If she eats two bowls of rice every meal, she can grow taller than her brother."
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