Chapter 230: Can you catch the little fish?
Jiang Jianhua was adding firewood to the stove when he heard the noise in the yard and poked his head out with a smile: "Xiaolan, you came at the right time. The steamed buns have just been steamed. I'll bring some back later."
She turned and scooped out some flour from the jar. "Acheng, pick the big lotus leaves. I'll make lotus leaf porridge this afternoon to help the kids cool down."
Fu Yucheng held up the lotus leaf and spread it into the tank. The water droplets on the leaf rolled into the water, startling the small fish and making them scurry like silver threads. "Got it, I'll make sure the leaf can cover the entire mouth of the tank."
Nian'an ran while holding a small lotus leaf. The dew on the tip of the leaf wet the tiger bellyband, and the tiger pattern embroidered with gold thread was stained with dark marks.
"Run slower," Song Yushuang said as she sat under the eaves picking eggplants. The purple eggplant strips were piled up like a small mountain in the bamboo basket. "Don't fall into the eggplant pile, or you'll become a purple tiger."
Nian'an held up a lotus leaf and covered her head with it. The silver longevity lock jingled against the bamboo basket, making everyone laugh.
Yun Tangyin moved the pickle jar into the cool storage room, and the jar made a slight sound as it rubbed against the blue brick floor.
"This jar of eggplant paste needs to be dried in the sun for half a month," she said, wiping the rim of the jar with a cloth. "When it turns dark brown, it will be more flavorful when spread on steamed buns."
Jiang Jianhua walked out of the kitchen carrying a steamed bun filled with brown sugar. The steam from the steamer turned into mist in the morning light. "Come and try it. The brown sugar filling is so runny."
Xiaolan took a bite of the bun, and the sugar dripped down her fingers: "Second Aunt, your cooking skills are better than those in the pastry shop in town!"
She suddenly pointed at Nian An's lotus leaf and smiled, "There is a little frog on Nian An's lotus leaf!" Nian An looked down and saw a little green frog squatting in the center of the leaf. He was so scared that he loosened his grip and the lotus leaf floated into the fish tank, scaring the fish to fly around.
Fu Yuanshan came out of the woodshed carrying a saw, wanting to make a wooden lid for the fish tank.
"There needs to be a gap in the lid," he wrote, drawing a line on the board, "so the fish don't get suffocated, and it can also block the cat's claws."
Nian'an leaned over to take a look, and his little hand left a shallow impression on the wooden board. Fu Yuanshan immediately chiseled a small hole along the mark: "Leave an observation hole for Nian'an, so you don't have to lift the lid if you want to see the fish."
The midday sun made the locust tree leaves curl up. Jiang Jianhua cut the eggplant into strips and arranged them neatly on the reed mat spread out in the yard.
"It has to be sun-dried until it's half dry," she said, sprinkling salt on the eggplant strips, "so that the pickles will be crispy."
Xiaolan squatted beside him to help turn the eggplant strips. The rabbit basket was placed beside him, which contained uneaten brown sugar buns. "Second aunt, my mother said that adding a handful of Sichuan peppercorns when pickling eggplant will make the flavor more vivid."
Jiang Jianhua smiled and nodded: "Your mother is more experienced. I will go get the peppercorns later."
Fu Yucheng came back from the field with a bundle of corn stalks on his shoulders, with a tender corn hanging on the leaves.
"This corn is so sweet it could be eaten as fruit," he tossed the corn to Nian'an, "give it to your second aunt to cook and give it to the children as a snack."
Nian An ran with the corn in his arms, and his tiger-head boots stepped on the dried eggplant strips. Jiang Jianhua quickly grabbed him and said, "Little ancestor, if you step on it, you won't be able to eat the eggplant jam."
Song Yushuang sat under the shade of a tree sewing shoe soles. The sound of the hemp thread passing through the cloth soles was particularly clear.
"The soles of these shoes are so densely stitched," she held them up to the light. "They'll definitely keep your feet warm when you wear them inside cotton shoes in the winter."
Yun Tangyin brought over the freshly brewed chrysanthemum tea. The chrysanthemums in the porcelain bowl slowly expanded in the hot water. "Take a break and drink some tea to cool down."
She looked at the eggplant strips drying in the yard and said, "When they're done, I'll teach you how to make dried eggplant. Use it as a lining for steaming meat. It's even more fragrant than pickled mustard greens."
The evening glow dyed the fence golden red, and Fu Yuanshan's fish tank lid was ready.
The wooden lid is engraved with a lotus pattern, and the small observation hole is just big enough for a finger to fit in.
"Nian'an, give it a try," he said, putting the lid on the tank, "Can you touch the little fish?"
Nian An lay on the edge of the tank. As soon as he put his finger into the small opening, the little fish swam away with a "whoosh", making him giggle.
Jiang Jianhua's lotus leaf porridge was cooking deliciously, with a faint aroma of lotus and rice wafting from the clay pot.
"Sprinkle some sugar into the porridge," she said, stirring it with a wooden spoon. "It tastes better when it's cold."
Fu Yucheng walked in with eggplant sauce. The sauce-colored eggplant strips were sprinkled with sesame seeds. "Come and try this. I just made it."
Nian An raised his spoon to eat, but Jiang Jianhua stopped him: "It's too salty right now. Eat it tomorrow."
The dinner table was set with lotus leaf porridge, brown sugar steamed buns, cold cucumber salad, and freshly fried eggplant.
Nian'an held the bowl of porridge and drank it happily. The fragrance of lotus leaves mixed with the aroma of rice slowly spread in his mouth.
Xiaolan put a piece of eggplant into his bowl and said, "This one isn't salty. Erbot fried it with less salt."
Nian'an opened his mouth to catch it, and some porridge grains were stuck on his little face, making him look like a harlequin cat.
As the moonlight climbed up to the top of the locust tree, Jiang Jianhua was sewing a small lotus leaf-shaped purse for Nian'an.
"Put some mint in it," she said, embroidering leaf veins with green thread. "Carry it with you in the summer, and mosquitoes will stop biting."
Song Yushuang sat nearby and watched. "Embroider a little frog on the leaf. It will be perfect for Nian'an's adventure today."
Yun Tangyin was cleaning up the dishes. The sound of the porcelain bowls colliding and the croaking of frogs outside the window mixed together like a gentle nocturne.
Fu Yucheng and Fu Yuanshan sat in the yard drinking tea, the chrysanthemums in the teacups floating up and down in the water.
"Let's dig up the vacant lot in the east tomorrow," Fu Yucheng said, taking a sip of tea. "We'll plant some radishes so we can pickle them in the winter."
Fu Yuanshan nodded: "I'll go cut some more bamboo and make a few radish cellars to prevent them from freezing."
The wheatear fish in the fish tank swam in the moonlight, and their shadows were cast on the bottom of the tank, like a group of moving silver threads.
Nian An was lying on the small bed holding a lotus leaf purse, and the rain flower stone beside her pillow was glowing softly in the moonlight.
"Frog, jump," he muttered vaguely, his little hand still clutching a dry lotus leaf.
Jiang Jianhua covered him with a thin blanket and gently blew out the oil lamp: "Go to sleep. Tomorrow I will take you to see the big frogs in the lotus pond."
The only things left in the room were moonlight and the sound of the child's even breathing. The night in the locust tree courtyard was like a bowl of warm lotus leaf porridge, wrapped in the smell of fireworks in the courtyard, slowly settling into the most peaceful taste.
As soon as the sky turned bright, the frogs in the lotus pond began to croak.
Nian An jumped up and ran to the yard holding the lotus leaf purse. The little frog on the purse was wet by the morning dew, and the pattern on its back embroidered with green thread looked like it was really covered in mud.
"Frog, pond," he held up the purse and tugged at the corner of Fu Yuanshan's clothes, and the silver longevity lock shone with tiny lights in the morning light.
Fu Yuanshan was tying buckets onto a shoulder pole when he stood up with a smile. "I'll go right away. Ask your uncle to bring the wooden basin. Maybe we can catch a tadpole."
The sweet aroma of corn wafted through the kitchen. Jiang Jianhua took out the cooked tender corn and soaked it in cold water.
"This corn needs to be air-dried," she said, poking the kernels with her chopsticks, "otherwise Nian An will jump from the heat."
Song Yushuang sat in front of the stove, adding firewood, and used the tongs to poke the sparks in the hearth. "I steamed some glutinous rice and will make corn cakes later. The children will love them because they are so sweet."
White steam came out of the glutinous rice in the steamer, mixed with the aroma of corn, drifted over the threshold and condensed into tiny water droplets on the reed mat in the yard.
Fu Yucheng carried the wooden basin and walked towards the lotus pond. Nian An followed behind like a little tail. His tiger-head boots stepped on the mud splashed by the puddles, leaving dark spots on his tiger bellyband.
"Run slowly," Fu Yucheng turned around and warned, "It's slippery by the lotus pond. If you fall, you'll cry."
Nian'an pointed at the green duckweed on the water and giggled. The frog embroidered on the purse was swaying gently in the wind, as if it was really about to jump into the pond.
Xiaolan came with a rabbit basket on her back to deliver the freshly picked beans. The purple and green beans were piled into small hills in the basket.
"My mother said these beans should be eaten while they're tender," she said, placing the basket on the stone table. The bamboo rabbit ears were stained with grass leaves. "Second aunt, look at this grasshopper cage I made. It's even sturdier than last year's."
Yun Tangyin was flipping eggplant strips to dry. Upon hearing this, she smiled and praised, "Your skills are getting better and better. When grasshoppers come in a few days, I'm sure we can catch a whole basket."
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