Chapter 25 Chapter 25 Rolling Noodles

After waking up from her nap, Xia Qinqin opened her eyes and turned her head to look left and right. Both sides of the bed were empty. She jumped up and shouted to the living room, "Mom, Mom!"

Meng Yufei heard her daughter's voice and hurried in and said, "Qinqin is awake."

Xia Qinqin felt relieved when she saw her mother. She turned her head to look behind her and asked, "Where's Dad?"

Meng Yufei explained, "Dad went outside to find someone to pull wood, and he's coming back to build a grape trellis."

Meng Yufei went to the bed, picked up Xia Qinqin, put her on the sofa in the living room, and combed her hair.

Xia Qinqin's eyes lit up when she heard the word "grapes" and she said quickly, "Then I can eat grapes at home."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Yes, when the time comes, you can sit under the grape trellis and just reach out to pick the grapes."

Thinking about this scene in her mind, Xia Qinqin clapped her hands happily and said, "Great!"

After combing Xia Qinqin's hair, Meng Yufei took her daughter out to the cement floor under the eaves. The shells that had been hung there in the morning were already dry.

"Let's make wind chimes."

"Okay, let's make wind chimes~"

While Xia Qinqin was taking a nap, Meng Yufei went next door to borrow a shoe-making awl, which was just right for making holes in shells.

"Qinqin, please choose a few shells you like first."

Xia Qinqin lowered her head and began to select carefully. Meng Yufei picked up the shells she had chosen, drilled a small hole in the middle of each shell with a drill, and then strung the rope through.

Break off a few branches from the trees outside, cut them into smooth small wooden sticks, and make them into the shape of a small cross. Then fix a few ropes strung with shells on the wooden frame, and wrap them around to form a rope. In this way, a simple shell wind chime is ready.

After shaking it gently, the shells made a tinkling sound. Although the sound was not as crisp as the wind chimes made of metal, Xia Qinqin was very satisfied.

She said happily: "Wow, Mom is amazing, this wind chime is even prettier than the one at Sister Lili's house!"

Meng Yufei handed the wind chime to her and said with a smile, "Here, you can play with it."

Xia Qinqin took the wind chime, swung it back and forth to listen to the sound of the shells, her eyes fixed on the shells jumping on the wind chime string, her face full of smiles.

After playing for a while, Xia Qinqin said, "Mom, can you make another wind chime? I want to give it to Sister Fangfang."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Okay, let's make another one, and you should choose the shells."

"Uh-huh."

They made another wind chime using the same method. The mother and daughter took the wind chime to the next door and returned the cone at the same time.

Mrs. Zhang took Meng Yufei to see her own pickled vegetable jars. There was a row of black ceramic jars neatly arranged in the yard, and they were all filled with pickled vegetables made by Mrs. Zhang.

"Girl, look what you like to eat. There are beans, pickled cabbage, pickled cucumbers, basil garlic, pickled peppers... Okay, I want to get some for you, and you can go back and see what you like and come back to get it."

Meng Yufei said hurriedly: "Don't bother. My family can't finish it. Sister-in-law, just give me some pickled cucumbers."

"Okay, I'll get it for you."

I brought back a bowl of pickled cucumber from Mrs. Zhang's house, put it in my own bowl, washed the bowl and returned it.

Xia Qinqin ran around the house holding the jingling wind chimes. When she had enough fun, she ran to Meng Yufei and said, "Mom, let's hang up the wind chimes."

Meng Yufei took the wind chime, looked around the house and said, "Well, where should I hang the wind chime?"

Xia Qinqin pointed to the window in the living room and said, "Mom, hang it on the window."

Meng Yufei agreed: "Okay, this way we can hear the wind chimes when the wind blows."

A chair was brought over, and Meng Yufei stood on it to hang the shell wind chime on the window.

Just after hanging up, I heard someone talking at the gate.

"Here it is. Please put it in the yard."

Xia Junshan shouted and led two people into the yard, pushing a wooden cart with seven or eight wooden stakes stacked on it.

Meng Yufei saw the people coming from the window, poured two glasses of water and came to the yard, handed them to the two people pushing the cart, and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

The two men were residents of the island's commune. Two days ago, Xia Junshan found the secretary of the commune and said he wanted to buy some wood. There were many trees on the island, but they were all public property, so if they wanted to be cut down, they had to get permission from the public.

It just so happened that there were still a few pieces of wood left over from building houses in the commune's warehouse, so there was no need to go through the trouble of chopping them down. Someone just delivered them over today.

The two men took the water with a smile, drank it, unloaded the wood from the car, put it in the yard and left.

Xia Qinqin ran over curiously and looked around the long piece of wood, exclaiming in surprise: "It's so long!"

She looked up and asked, "Mom, what is this wood made of?"

Meng Yufei replied: "It's a tree."

Xia Qinqin was puzzled: "Huh? Why doesn't it have bark or leaves?"

Meng Yufei explained: "The bark and leaves are like the tree's clothes. To make a wooden frame, you have to take them off."

"Oh." Xia Qinqin nodded, not quite understanding.

Meng Yufei looked at the wood and asked, "This wood doesn't look like it was cut down recently."

Xia Junshan said: "Yes, this is what was left over from the construction of the commune last year. It would take a lot of effort to cut it fresh. Anyway, we are just building a wooden frame, so it doesn't make any difference."

As he spoke, he took out a shovel from somewhere, walked to the west side of the yard, in front of the bedroom window and said, "How about we build it here? When the grape trellis is finished, we can see it from inside the house."

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "Okay, do you want to ride now?"

"Well, I have nothing to do in the afternoon anyway." Xia Junshan said and started digging the hole.

Meng Yufei walked over and asked, "Then I'll help you. Um, what should I do?"

Xia Qinqin also came over and said, "Qinqin also wants to help."

Xia Junshan said with a smile: "Wait until I finish digging this hole, then you can come over and help me with the wood."

Meng Yufei glanced at the tangled flowers and plants around her and said, "Then I'll clean up the weeds here."

Xia Junshan reminded: "There are labor protection gloves on the shoe cabinet. Go get them and put them on. Don't hurt your hands."

"Okay, got it."

He took out three pairs of gloves and put them on Xia Qinqin's little hands. Xia Qinqin shook the big gloves and laughed, "Hehe, my hands have grown bigger."

Meng Yufei handed a pair to Xia Junshan, "You can wear them too."

Xia Junshan waved his hands and said, "No, I don't like wearing gloves. My hands are slippery and it's hard to work. It's okay. I'm used to it."

Seeing that he was unwilling, Meng Yufei took back the gloves and reminded him, "Then be careful not to hurt your hands."

Xia Junshan nodded and smiled: "Okay, I know."

Meng Yufei took Xia Qinqin to pull weeds. No one knew what kind of weeds were growing in the yard, but they were easy to pull out. They were pulled out by the roots with just a little effort.

Wearing gloves, Meng Yufei plucked a small piece in a short while. Xia Qinqin followed behind, plucking the small flowers on the weeds, and soon her palms were filled with them.

Meng Yufei said to her, "Qinqin, you picked so many flowers, put them on the cement floor under the corridor, where you dry shells in the morning, put the flowers there and play with them."

"Okay~"

Xia Qinqin ran over, squatted down and placed the flowers neatly on the ground one by one.

Xia Junshan dug a hole and carried a piece of wood into the hole. Seeing this, Meng Yufei hurried over to help hold the wood. Xia Junshan said worriedly, "Be careful, this wood is a bit heavy."

After saying that, seeing Meng Yufei holding the wood steadily, Xia Junshan confidently picked up the shovel and filled the soil he had just dug out back into the pit.

The two of them worked together and soon finished driving a few wooden stakes. Xia Junshan clapped his hands and said, "Okay, I'll go ask the commune in a couple of days to transplant a few grape seedlings."

After that, he took Meng Yufei to wash her hands and took off her gloves. Seeing that her palms were a little red, he touched them distressedly and asked, "Does it hurt?"

Meng Yufei patted him gently and said with a smile: "It's not a broken skin, it's just a little red."

Xia Junshan turned on the faucet to wash her hands, picked up the soap next to her, and carefully lathered each finger.

"Dad, Mom, I want to wash my hands too." Xia Qinqin suddenly ran over, stood in front of the two of them, raised her hands and shouted.

Meng Yufei took her little hand and said with a smile, "Okay, Mommy will wash it for you."

After washing their hands, the family of three returned to the living room. Meng Yufei poured a glass of boiled water for each person. Xia Junshan sat on the sofa, pulled Meng Yufei to sit down together and said, "Let's take a break."

Xia Qinqin lay on her father's lap, pointing at the wind chime on the window and said, "Dad, look, this is a shell wind chime that Mom made for me. I picked the shell on it. Doesn't it look good?"

Xia Junshan looked up and saw a breeze blowing, and the wind chimes were ringing softly. The colorful shells were shimmering in the setting sun, just like at the seaside.

"This wind chime is really beautiful." Xia Junshan praised.

Xia Qinqin smiled and continued, "I also asked my mother to make one for Sister Fangfang, and she liked it very much. Sister Fangfang's second sister, Sister Xiaomei, said that my mother is beautiful and the things she makes are also beautiful."

Xia Junshan nodded and said, "Yeah, Dad thinks so too."

Xia Qinqin said hurriedly: "Qinqin also thinks so, mom is the most beautiful mother in the world."

Then he said to Xia Junshan: "Dad is the most handsome dad in the world."

Xia Junshan scratched her little nose and said with a smile: "Then our Qinqin is the cutest kid in the world."

Meng Yufei smiled as she watched the father and daughter praising each other, and said, "It's time for dinner. Sister Zhang from next door sent me a bowl of pickled cucumber this afternoon. I'll go to the cafeteria and get two more dishes."

Xia Junshan said, "Let's have hand-rolled noodles tonight. I made crab sauce today. It goes best with hand-rolled noodles."

Meng Yufei said, "I don't know how to make hand-rolled noodles."

Xia Junshan said: "I can!"

Meng Yufei was surprised: "You can also make hand-rolled noodles?"

Xia Junshan said: "I am from the north, and I am born to know how to make noodles."

Facing Meng Yufei's disbelieving look, Xia Junshan stood up from the sofa and said, "Today you get to taste my cooking." Then he walked towards the kitchen.

Meng Yufei followed him curiously and saw him take out a bag of flour from under the cupboard. She said, "I was wondering why there was a bag of flour at home, and I was thinking I don't know how to make noodles. It turns out you want to make it yourself."

Xia Qinqin also trotted over and saw Xia Junshan take out a bowl, scoop flour into the basin and add water to mix the dough. She asked curiously, "What is Dad doing?"

Meng Yufei replied: "Dad is cooking."

"Wow, Dad, cooking is so fun."

Xia Junshan smiled as he kneaded the dough: "Just watch, it will be more fun later. Kneading the dough is just like playing with mud, it's really fun."

Xia Qinqin asked: "What is playing in the mud?"

Xia Junshan paused for a moment before realizing that his child had grown up in Haishi City and had probably never seen mud. He glanced at Meng Yufei and said to his daughter, "When mom is not at home, dad will take you out to play."

Xia Qinqin looked at her mother in confusion, blinked and asked, "Why do you have to wait until Mom is not at home? Can't you bring Mom along to play?"

Meng Yufei tapped her head gently and said, "Because mom doesn't allow you to play in the mud."

Xia Qinqin tilted her head, looked at her father, then looked at her mother, hugged her mother's thigh and said with a smile: "If mom doesn't let me play, then I won't play. I listen to mom."

Xia Junshan: “…”

Meng Yufei squatted down and kissed Xia Qinqin's little face, then said to Xia Junshan with a smile: "Don't try to hide anything from me in the future, because I have my little intelligence agent at home."

Xia Junshan nodded repeatedly and said with a smile: "Okay, I understand. From now on, I will follow your instructions and will never do anything behind your back."

As we were talking, the flour and water had been fully mixed to form a dough.

Meng Yufei took a rag and wiped the dining table clean. Xia Junshan brought a basin to the dining table, sprinkled a thin layer of flour on it, then poured the dough out of the basin and began to knead the dough on the table.

Xia Qinqin climbed onto the chair and curiously reached out to touch the dough, but Meng Yufei quickly stopped her and said, "Qinqin, you can't touch it."

Xia Junshan looked at his daughter's eager look and couldn't bear it so he tore off a small piece of dough to give it to her to play with. Meng Yufei glanced over and Xia Junshan stopped passing the dough to her.

"This is food, how can we let her play with it casually?"

Xia Junshan said: "It's just a small piece. I'll just eat one less bite at night."

Meng Yufei still shook her head and said, "No, life has just gotten better in the past two years. Many families are still hungry. If we give food to the children to play with, what will people say if they find out?"

Seeing Xia Qinqin staring at the dough with a disappointed look on her face, Meng Yufei said, "How about this, you take her to play with mud next week. Isn't it the same as playing with dough?"

Xia Junshan had been used to a hard life since he was a child, and he cherished food very much. Normally, he would not give food to his children to play with. However, he had not seen his daughter for many years, and he could not help but want to try his best to meet his daughter's request.

Hearing Meng Yufei's words, Xia Junshan smiled and said, "Qinqin, Mommy agrees. Daddy will take you to play in the mud next weekend and make a tank car for you. It's fun."

When Xia Qinqin heard there was something new to play with, she stopped thinking about the dough and nodded expectantly, "Yeah, sure! Let's play with mud."

It must be said that this kind of dough is indeed suitable for people with strong strength. Xia Junshan kneaded the dough in just a few strokes. He took out a rolling pin from the kitchen and started rolling the dough. He had long arms and rolled the dough into a large thin sheet effortlessly.

Fold the slices into long strips, cut them into thin strips with a knife, and unfold them to form long noodles.

Xia Qinqin clapped her hands excitedly and said, "Wow, the noodles are out."

Meng Yufei praised: "This noodle is rolled really well, have you learned it before?"

Xia Junshan shrugged and said, "No, I saw someone else do it before and I took note of it. Today is the first time I'm rolling it."

In fact, he had seen it when he was working for a landlord as a child. Of course, he never got to eat a single bite of it, but the rolled noodles kept coming back to him in his childhood memories, and he wondered countless times how delicious the noodles tasted.

Now, he can also eat hand-rolled noodles made from white fine flour.

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Then Qinqin and I are lucky today. We got to eat the noodles you rolled for the first time."

Xia Junshan said gently: "If you like to eat it, I can cook it for you for the rest of my life."

After the noodles were cut, Meng Yufei lit the coal stove to heat water, and when the water boiled, she put the noodles in. Xia Junshan patted the flour on his hands and said, "This noodles needs to be cooked a little longer than the dried noodles."

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "I understand. Go wash your hands."

After the noodles were cooked, they were served in three bowls and placed on the dining table. Meng Yufei took out the crab sauce she had made in the morning and put two tablespoons of it in each bowl.

The crab sauce, which had originally turned cold, was put on the noodles and melted by the heat, stimulating the aroma of crab. The crab sauce flowed into the gaps between the noodles and fully wrapped around each noodle.

After eating a handful of crab sauce noodles and a bite of pickled cucumber, Xia Junshan said with satisfaction: "I wouldn't trade this for anything even if I were a god."

Meng Yufei's eyes lit up after she took a bite of the noodles. "This noodles is so tasty! It's much better than dried noodles!"

Xia Junshan said, "Of course, how can dried noodles compare to hand-rolled noodles?" Then he shook his head and said, "Especially Haishi's noodles, I really can't get used to them, they don't have any flavor at all."

Meng Yufei also nodded in agreement and said with a smile: "After eating the noodles you made today, I really feel that the noodles I ate before were not as good."

Xia Junshan picked up the noodles covered with crab sauce and said, "The crab sauce you made, paired with the noodles I made, um, how do you say it, that word?"

Meng Yufei said: "They complement each other."

"Yes," Xia Junshan smiled and said, "They complement each other very well. It's a match made in heaven!"

Xia Qinqin, who was eating at the side, nodded repeatedly. After a while, she finished half a bowl of noodles. She raised the bowl high and said, "Dad, I want more noodles."

Xia Junshan took the bowl and said, "Okay, Dad will serve you more."

Meng Yufei reminded: "Serve less. She can't digest if she eats too much at night."

Xia Junshan said: "It's okay, I'll take her out for a walk after dinner to help her digest the food."

He also filled Xia Qinqin's small bowl with half a bowl of noodles and added crab sauce, which Xia Qinqin finished quickly.

She licked her lips and still felt a little unsatisfied, so she touched her belly and said, "Qinqin is full."

Xia Junshan said, "If you are full, don't eat it. If you want to eat noodles, dad will make them for you next time."

Xia Qinqin nodded, "Okay~"

After washing the dishes, the family of three went out for a walk to digest the food.

I left the house and walked along the path to the coast, feeling the comfortable evening breeze as I walked slowly.

Xia Junshan said: "Qinqin ate two bowls of noodles tonight. It seems that she has a stomach for noodles like me and likes to eat noodles."

Xia Qinqin looked up and smiled when she heard this: "Yes, Qinqin likes to eat noodles just like dad."

Meng Yufei raised her chin and said, "Qinqin likes to eat candy. She has the same taste as me, she likes to eat sweets."

Xia Qinqin turned her head and looked at her mother and smiled: "Yes, Qinqin likes sweet food just like mom."

Xia Junshan took Meng Yufei's hand with a smile, "Qinqin is our daughter, of course she looks alike."

The family of three walked slowly along the coast and saw a few figures not far ahead. Xia Junshan had good vision and recognized who they were. He pointed ahead and said, "That's Captain Ma from next door. He brought his two sons to the beach for training."

Meng Yufei sighed, "It's not easy for Zhang's sister-in-law. When she was young, she lived apart from her husband and was very worried. Now the family is finally reunited, but her son has to go far away to serve in the army. She will inevitably continue to worry in the future."

Xia Junshan stopped and looked at Meng Yufei with deep eyes and said seriously: "Fei Fei, you have worked hard these years. Because of me, your life has a lot more unnecessary worries and troubles than before."

Meng Yufei said, "What nonsense are you talking about? You are at the front and you have suffered the most. Because of your hard work, Qinqin and I can live in a peaceful and happy environment. What does a little trouble mean to you?"

The sea breeze blew up the strands of hair at Meng Yufei's temples. At this moment, the image of her smiling at herself was deeply engraved in Xia Junshan's heart.

The sun slowly sank into the seabed, and the bright moon rose, illuminating the way home for the family of three.