Rain on haystack
"Nothing will change. I'll just continue to set up the stall and grind the wheat when the time comes..." Hu Yufeng watched Qin Shengtian perform the whole scene, was speechless for a moment, and then made her decision. This old guy is getting more and more cunning. I didn't intend to let him go, but he installed it first.
Seeing that their mother had made up her mind, Yang Xiu and Qin Wenli hesitated for a moment, then got up to start making the dough and soaking the beans.
Hu Yufeng continued to listen to the laughter of her grandchildren and stared at the starry sky in a daze.
"Mom, the new wheat will be harvested soon, and there isn't much left in the warehouse. How about we take some time to move it out?" Qin Wenli asked as he came out of the grain shed. He just took a look and found that only the bottom layer of the granary that he had accumulated over the years was left. Given the amount of flour his family was using, he was afraid that it would barely be enough to supply the new crop.
Before Hu Yufeng could reply, Qin Shengtian, who was lying dead in the room, jumped out and shouted, "Is the wheat gone? What should we do? We have to buy some quickly. What should we do if there is no food?"
Hu Yufeng closed her eyes and yelled, "Shut up, if it's gone, it's gone. Just buy more. If you open your mouth, I'll do whatever I want. Otherwise, I'll sell you for food."
Qin Shengtian decisively shut up, ran in to take a look at the granary, and came out with a look of grief, perhaps, the loss of his parents was not as big a shock to him as the loss of food.
Hu Yufeng was speechless and said, "You care so much about food, but you only realize it when it's almost gone?" Besides, I have no idea how many fried dough twists my family has sold this year. So fried dough twists are not made of flour? What a fuss! ! !
Qin Wenli also smiled and said, "Don't worry, Dad. I told my mom the last time I was grinding flour to buy it after clearing out the old grain. I've been asking about it. Anyway, we use a lot of flour to make fried dough twists, so we'll have to buy it sooner or later... Besides, our new wheat will be harvested soon, so there'll be enough for us to eat!"
Hu Yufeng nodded, and seeing Qin Shengtian moving his lips a few times and glancing at her, she said, "What's the matter? I'm not going to starve you to death. If you have anything to fart, just let it out..."
"I told you not to scold me... That is, when the new wheat comes down, how about you give me some food and I can keep it for myself..." Qin Shengtian gritted his teeth and poured out all his thoughts.
Hu Yufeng was so angry that she laughed twice. "You want food, right? Fine, I'll just separate you from home and give you a set of cooking pots and stoves. You can live your own life in the future, so that you won't be burdened by a big family like us. Do you think this is okay?"
Qin Shengtian was dumbfounded, and immediately waved his hands like windshield wipers: "If you don't want to give it to me, then don't give it to me. What are you talking about? How can you separate me from you? Just pretend I didn't say anything..." He was just afraid of hunger, and he just wanted to have food in the granary so that he wouldn't be worried. This woman is really scary, she wants to divide the family property as soon as she opens her mouth!
Hu Yufeng glanced at him unkindly and said, "Then you'd better remember, if I hear you talking about yours and mine next time, then get out of this house, and don't get involved with us no matter how we live in the future!"
Qin Shengtian nodded listlessly, looking dispirited.
*
People say the weather in June is as cold as a baby's. A few days ago, the sun was scorching and people could hardly breathe. Today, a heavy rain poured down. Some wheat that had not been transported in time was soaked through. The owners were so angry that they cursed God for being blind.
Although Yang Xiu and her mother-in-law had put up the awning early, they still held up umbrellas to protect the oil pan and wash basin to prevent the rain from blowing in with the wind.
Soon, streams of water formed on the streets, flowing down the streets, carrying away debris and dust. Hu Yufeng's thousand-layer soles were soaked through. When she lifted her feet, the water made a splashing sound. However, she didn't care about this matter at all. She looked anxious and asked, "I wonder if our haystack is covered?"
Everything is not all right once the wheat is harvested. If God is not kind to us, it may rain for more than ten or twenty days. At this time, you can only cover the haystack with tarpaulin and wait until the sky clears up before drying it.
Yang Xiu was also very anxious, but there was nothing he could do. The three of them were at the market, and the old and young who were left at home could only hope that their father-in-law would be smart and go home quickly when they saw that the weather was not good.
"Mom, Xiu'er, you guys go to the eaves to avoid the rain, I'll look after the stall..." Qin Wenli saw that there was not much tofu left, so he simply put it in a plastic bag and ran over.
"It's okay... What a shitty weather! The weather forecast said it would be sunny last night, but it's raining today. It's not accurate at all." Hu Yufeng couldn't help complaining.
"We're looking at the weather forecast for Ancheng, which is hundreds of kilometers away, so it may be inaccurate..." They were looking at the central weather forecast, which only reported on the provincial capital. The provincial capital is 300 kilometers away from home, so how could it be accurate?
Hu Yufeng sighed helplessly, looking at the hazy rain curtain, at a loss as to what to do.
The rain came quickly and went away quickly. The people who went to the market hiding under the eaves of each house were like a flock of swallows taking shelter from the rain. As soon as the sky cleared up, they came out in droves, and each of them was worried and kept rushing home. The three members of Lao Qin's family also quickly packed up their things and followed the crowd home.
*
As soon as they got home, they didn't even bother to unload the goods and rushed to the field. There were four large wheat stacks standing in the threshing floor. Only the smallest one was covered with a crooked tarpaulin, while the rest were left open to welcome the baptism of the heavy rain.
Hu Yufeng almost gasped when she saw this. The old lady had been standing in the field wiping her tears, and when she saw a few people, it was as if she had found her backbone. Her tears flowed freely and her voice choked with sobs, "The three of us can't reach it, so we can only cover it with this..." The two children looked at the adults' faces and did not dare to interrupt.
"Where is Qin Shengtian? Where did he go?" Hu Yufeng looked at the old lady with her eyes erect.
The old lady was still wiping away tears: "I didn't see him come back. I looked in the ditch several times and sent Yuyu to look for him, but he still didn't see him..."
Hu Yufeng cursed angrily, walked forward to pull down the wheat to look at the situation, then turned around and went home without saying a word.
When Qin Shengtian got home, he ran to check the wheat first. When he saw that it was all wet, he felt very disappointed. I reluctantly walked into the house, and noticing the low pressure hovering in the house, I didn't even dare to go out. But he failed to get away with it. Hu Yufeng grabbed him and scolded him. He hung his head in dejection for a long time before he made a weak defense.
It turned out that he was preparing to go home because the weather was not right. It just so happened that the rain fell early upstream, and by the time he realized something was wrong, a flood had already occurred upstream, which isolated him on the other side of the river. He had to wait until the river level subsided before he could return.
Everyone in the room was silent for a moment. Yang Xiu cooked some food casually. No one had an appetite, so they forced themselves to eat a few bites.
"Forget it, it's already like this. Let's dry it again tomorrow if the weather is good!" Qin Wenli comforted everyone. What else can they do? It was their mistake today. They should have thought that the weather could change unpredictably and should have left a backup plan for their family.
In the evening, the whole family crowded in front of the TV, watching the weather forecasts on several channels in a row, anxiously waiting for the coming day.
But what people fear most is bound to happen. The next day, it started to rain outside and the Qin family all looked gloomy!
The continuous rain lasted for three days. Hu Yufeng had blisters on the corners of her mouth. She was completely out of temper. Only then did the sun come out.
…
"Oh, her second aunt is drying the wheat. I thought you were only concerned with business and didn't care about this little harvest..." Chen Xiulian's wheat was covered in time, so only the wheat stalks were wet. When she saw that four out of the five wheat stacks at her old rival's house were wet, she couldn't help but want to show off.
Hu Yufeng was too lazy to pay attention to her. She and Yang Xiu and others stood up the wheat bundles to let the wet ears of wheat greet the sun.
Seeing that she ignored her, Chen Xiulian curled her lips and continued, "If you ask me, it's all the old lady's fault. If you call everyone in the family, who wouldn't come to help?"
Hu Yufeng is so annoyed. This woman is like a fly that cannot stand the light. She buzzes around whenever there is a chance. Does she have to stir up trouble before she will stop? Humph... She raised her head and shouted at Liu Rong in the next field: "Wenqing's wife, I see you are drying wheat, how can you come here alone? Your mother is free, why don't you ask her to help you?"
Chen Xiulian's face suddenly froze and she was visibly panicked.
"Oh, my mother is very busy. I dare not use her. What if someone's wheat is missing a bundle or half a bundle and we can't explain it..." Liu Rong's sarcastic voice came, and Chen Xiulian immediately fled.
Hu Yufeng raised the corner of her mouth: Old thing, I can’t cure you!
However, hearing the hidden meaning in Liu Rong's words, she couldn't help but look over there a few more times.
The wheat is all in place, and now it’s up to the sun to harvest. Hu Yufeng walked back and forth in the field, turning the wheat over from time to time, and couldn't help praying that the sun would be hotter so that all the wheat could be dried in one day.
Seeing that her mother-in-law was filled with anxiety, Yang Xiu quickly cooked some mung bean soup and asked Qin Yu to bring it to her to cool her down, for she was afraid that the wheat would be dried out before her mother-in-law!
Perhaps her prayers worked, for God was especially kind to her. The scorching sun made people dizzy, and the wheat was almost dried. When the sun was setting, Hu Yufeng and a few others picked up the fruits in bundles, stacked the dried ones up again, and picked out the sprouted ones and put them aside.
Finally, 13 bundles sprouted, and they could no longer be mixed together for grinding. Even if the sprouted wheat grains are ground into flour, the leavened dough will not rise, and the dead dough will stick to the teeth. Hu Yufeng touched a handful of wheat ears with heartache and gritted her teeth. If all else failed, she could grind them into flour and eat them herself. If she couldn't have steamed buns or noodles, she could at least make a mess, right?
Yang Xiu was watching from the side and couldn't help but say, "Mom, how about we make it into sprouted wheat noodles?"
Hu Yufeng was puzzled. What was that? Although Lao Qin's home and Yang Xiu's parents' home are separated by more than ten miles of mountain roads, this does not prevent Yang Xiu from occasionally saying something that she cannot understand, making her feel very ignorant.
Seeing that everyone looked confused, Yang Xiu started to explain. Sprouted wheat noodles are made by husking sprouted wheat grains, grinding them into powder and steaming them. The finished product is light yellow in color and slightly sweet in taste. In the past, the family couldn’t afford sugar, so her grandmother used this instead of sugar. It can not only be eaten alone, but also used to make dumplings.
Hu Yufeng was really enlightened and couldn't help but exclaim: "Your grandma is a talent. How can she make anything edible!!!"
Really, she felt that as long as it was an object, it could become food in Grandma Yang Xiu's hands. If you don’t believe it, just ask around within a hundred miles. She has never seen anyone who knows more about food than Grandma Yang Xiu.
Yang Xiu also laughed. Her grandmother was indeed amazing. All the sweetness in her childhood was brought by her grandmother’s skillful hands.
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