Ajiu stared blankly at the handful of peanuts the boy handed her. Seeing that she didn't know how to take them, he casually stuffed them into her arms.
"Eat up, my grandma said she'll invite you to my house for noodles at noon." Grandma is the maternal grandmother.
After saying that, he stared at the braids she had made from wheat straw in her hand, "Last year's?"
Ajiu nodded, "Yes, this is a stalk of straw left over from last year. There's not much, but the wheat straw will be harvested soon this year, and Grandma said I should practice so I can earn some pocket money this summer."
Every wheat harvest season, women would select the wheat stalks that were white and of moderate thickness, gently thresh them to remove the grains, remove the leaf sheaths, break off the root stalks, and store them in a dry place for later use.
After the wheat harvest is over or during a break, take it out and soak it in clean water until it softens before using.
A "braid" is usually made by starting with four hairs, leaving seven strands, four on one side and three on the other, and then weaving them together.
A single braid consists of about ten loops, each loop being approximately two feet long.
When braiding their hair, women usually tuck a handful of soaked wheat straw under their armpits and coil several braids around their arms. They gather in groups of three or five in a cool place, braiding their hair while chatting about everyday matters.
Braiding is the most basic traditional handicraft of straw weaving, which can be used to make straw hats, flower baskets, pot mats, decorative gifts, etc.
Because the "braids" are handmade, they are delicate, tight, practical and beautiful, and are very popular with straw weaving merchants. Peddlers often pass by to buy them, and a plate of them can be exchanged for a lot of daily necessities. Older people love to do this kind of handicraft.
"Brother Yue, my grandma told me that your hometown is very, very far away from us. Do you have this where you live?"
Zhou Yue shook his head and then nodded, "I've only seen it before, I know what it is, but I don't know how to do it."
"Brother Yue, sit down! I'll be your little teacher, okay? Look, I can do it really well. If you learn it, you can earn money to buy candy for Grandma Zhou!"
Perhaps it was because Ah Jiu's smile was too bright, but the usually serious boy awkwardly reached out his hand, wanting to learn from her. She subconsciously touched the back of his left hand, and he flinched, wanting to hide his hand in self-consciousness. He even stood up instead of sitting down.
"Brother Yue, don't go! Did Ajiu hurt you? Quick, sit down, Ajiu will blow on it and it won't hurt anymore."
Ugh, it's a bit disgusting to have a woman in her twenties pretending to be young, but if it can heal a boy's childhood trauma, she doesn't mind being a little disgusted. So she looked at Zhou Yue with a childish and helpless voice, full of worry.
He was stunned when a pair of soft little hands carefully grasped his wrist and gently blew on the back of Zhou Yue's hand with a small mouth.
Looking down at the tiny little one who barely reached his waist, for some reason, his eyes suddenly stung. He tried to pull his hand away, but she pulled it back.
Then she looked up with a pitiful expression: "Brother Yue, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hurt you... Please don't be angry and leave, okay? You promised to learn from me, I can be a teacher, really, look how well I did, even Grandma praised me!"
Tell me, who wouldn't soften upon seeing such a pair of bright, watery eyes? Even the strongest temper would melt into a lump of dough under such onslaught, right?
Zhou Yue didn't know why he was so obedient. He not only sat down again, but even started learning how to braid hair with the little girl.
Despite his young age, he is articulate and teaches very diligently. His lessons are simple and easy to understand, and he learned them in just a few minutes.
Just then, the store was crowded, and when his grandmother called out, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly handed over the piston in his hand.
"Little sister, I still have work to do, you can play by yourself first!" After saying that, he couldn't wait to leave.
Ah Jiu laughed as she watched his retreating figure. "Look, you scared him! You even made him speak in Northeastern dialect, haha!"
In Ajiu's opinion, no matter how serious a person is, as long as they speak Northeastern dialect, they are definitely a comedian!
She loved listening to Northeastern dialect, so when she heard that the two brothers came from a farm in Northeast China, she kept thinking about chatting with them to recapture the feeling of being a tough girl in her dorm back then. Two of her roommates were from Northeast China, and they were very close.
So when she saw people from Northeast China again today, she felt incredibly warm and familiar with them.
"Hmm, the peanuts smell pretty good, it's a pity they weren't roasted, otherwise they would taste even better!"
Although it was only five peanuts, it was still quite a rare treat to receive such a precious gift!
So when Zhou Yue came over to call Ajiu for lunch, she gave him four long roasted sweet potatoes.
"I baked this this morning, try it, it's super sweet!"
"Jiu, Jiu, how come you still have sweet potatoes at this time of year?"
Zhou Yue was surprised to see the four sweet potatoes, each the size of a radish head, in his hand.
Of course, the sweet aroma of the sweet potato stimulated his saliva production.
Suppressing his craving, he looked at Ah Jiu with curiosity.
Ajiu waved her hand dismissively: "These are the little guys my grandparents picked out of the cellar after they planted sweet potatoes. They were going to feed them to the sheep, but I thought the smaller ones would taste better roasted, so I specially kept a small basket of them. How about it, isn't the color beautiful? Let me tell you, they're incredibly delicious. Quickly take them over to my Grandpa and Grandma Zhou so they can try some too. I haven't had noodles in ages."
As she spoke, she skipped and hopped to the front yard with her two pigtails. Zhou Yue couldn't resist and took a big bite, putting most of the sweet potato in his mouth. He couldn't help it; the roasted sweet potato was just too tempting. He took a bite, skin and all, and it melted in his mouth. It was so delicious that he couldn't help but squint his eyes.
The little girl really knows how to enjoy herself! This sweet potato is so sweet and delicious, soft, sticky, and fragrant, yet not dry at all. She's never eaten such a delicious sweet potato in her entire life.
Before I knew it, I realized that I had already eaten a sweet potato while standing at the door of someone’s kitchen. After finishing it, I looked at the three sweet potatoes left in my hand and felt a little unsatisfied.
Suppressing my craving, I quickly took the remaining three noodles to the noodle shop, only to find the little girl with pigtails already sitting in the corner eating noodles, swinging her legs. Her grandparents had even found her a small wooden bowl, filled with about a chopstick's worth of noodles, which she was slurping up with great relish.
The diners across the table saw the little girl eating with gusto and kept calling out to the kitchen.
"Is my noodles ready yet? Hurry up, why am I so hungry today?"
It's just a simple bowl of mixed noodles, so how come people taste it like it's a delicacy?
Seeing that there were more and more diners, Zhou Yue quickly went into the kitchen and stuffed sweet potatoes into his family's mouths. Because the sweet potatoes were so small, they could be eaten in just a few bites. He also thought they tasted best when eaten hot, so his actions were rather simple and rough. After feeding his grandparents and brother, he quickly served the food to the guests according to his grandmother's instructions.
With a sudden bang, everyone was startled. Zhou Yue lifted the curtain and saw the older brother waiting for the food already grumbling unhappily.
"Hey old man, can you stop moving so slowly? Hurry up, I'm starving! Are you deaf? Can't you hear me urging you?"
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