After Grain in Ear, it was almost time for the summer harvest. The Zhao family had planted five mu of rice. Li Yuemei asked Yu Ge'er, who was on leave from the busy farming season, to go to the shop with Lin Yan to help, while Zhao Shiyun stayed home to harvest the rice. With the three of them working hard, they could finish the harvest in three or four days.
Lin Yan got up early, baked more than a dozen leek pancakes, mixed some pickles, and gave them to them for lunch.
"Ah, we're leaving. There's a small bucket of sour plum soup in the well. You can take it to the fields and drink it." Lin Yan gave the instructions and got on the donkey cart.
Since Zhao Shiyun wasn't at the shop, Yu Ge'er took over as the driver. Fortunately, he'd driven occasionally before, so he wasn't feeling unwell. The donkey cart drove steadily into the city gate. Lin Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead. The weather was getting hotter, and the drinks had been selling well lately. Lin Yan even made an extra half bucket. Unfortunately, there was no ice, so the drinks weren't cooling enough by noon. But people were still buying them. Ice was too expensive, and Lin Yan couldn't afford it just yet.
Fewer people eat rice bowls, but relatively more people eat mixed noodles.
Lin Yan reduced the amount of fried bean curd with meat and spicy and sour chicken offal, and made more sauce for other noodles.
Lin Yan had lost his appetite because of the hot weather. His belly had grown quite a bit recently, and he found it quite novel. He would touch his belly every night before falling asleep. One day, Zhao Shiyun saw him touching his belly with a gentle expression, and curiously covered it with his hand, which earned him a slap from Lin Yan.
Zhao Shiyun touched his reddened hand and thought, "If you don't let me touch you, I'll wait until you fall asleep and then touch you secretly. Humph."
In the fields, each family put the lunch they brought in a cooler place and began to cut rice, sweating profusely. Zhao Shiyun was fast and reached the middle in a short while. There was no wind in the weather, and the sun beat down on his body as if he was being roasted by fire. Wearing a hat was of no use.
After a whole morning of mowing, only half of the acre of land had been mowed. Even Zhao Shiyun, a young and strong man, was exhausted. His stomach began to growl. He put down his sickle and walked to where his lunch was kept. "Dad and Mom, let's take a break and eat first."
Li Yuemei wiped the sweat from her eyes with the cloth hanging around her neck. It was uncomfortable. Then she stretched her waist and walked towards the shade with heavy steps.
Zhao Shiyun had already opened the basket, and Lin Yan also filled a bamboo tube with water for them to wash their hands. The mother and son poured water to each other and washed their hands. Zhao Qiming came late, and Li Yuemei called him to come over and wash his hands.
A clay pot of sour plum soup was brought in, and Zhao Shiyun poured a cup for each person to drink to moisten their throats first.
The chive pancakes were already cold, but no one minded. They ate them in big mouthfuls. Zhao Shiyun ate one in a hurry before he regained some strength to eat the second one.
This time he ate slowly and took a good rest. "Dad, you guys take a nap later. The sun is too strong and it's very hot."
"Okay, there's no rush." There isn't much land at home, and it can be harvested in a few days. After that, let Shi Yun go to his in-laws' house to help harvest together.
Zhou Chunlan didn't harvest rice today. Today was the market day, so she went to sell vegetables as usual. While setting up her stall, she unexpectedly saw someone selling winter melons and peaches. This morning, when she was riding in the car with Lin Yan, she saw that he had lost weight. She guessed that the heat had lost his appetite. Zhou Chunlan planned to buy a winter melon and a few pounds of peaches for Lin Yan to try.
When Lin Yan went to buy pork this morning, he also brought back a pig ear and a pair of pig intestines. He also went to Zhou Wanan to buy some chicken feet and chicken wings, planning to braise the meat for everyone tonight. They must be very tired from harvesting rice at home, so they need to eat meat to replenish their energy.
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Lin Yan opened the door carrying the winter melon and peaches Zhou Chunlan had given him. The winter melon was so large that Lin Yan refused to take so much, so he cut it in half in the shop and only took half. Zhou Chunlan looked at the remaining half, worried that she couldn't finish it all and it would go bad, so she cut it in two more and gave one to Widow Liu.
Widow Liu couldn't refuse, so she accepted it, thinking that she would bring some mangoes from home to Zhou Chunlan and Lin Yan next time.
There is a mango tree planted in her yard. It doesn't bear many fruits every year, so she just eats them herself. It just so happens that the fruits are ripe now, but she hasn't picked them yet.
Lin Yan put the cold melon on the table and pulled Yu Ge'er to start cleaning the pig ears and pig intestines.
Yu Ge'er broke off a new willow branch and washed the pig's ears inside and out. He also carefully poked the ear holes several times and finally rinsed them with clean water.
Lin Yan placed the pig's large intestine in a basin and briefly rinsed off any impurities and blood. He then rolled it up with his hands, then rolled one end of the intestine outward like a sleeve, exposing the inner wall. When it was about halfway rolled up, he scooped water into the rolled part with a gourd ladle, letting the water flow into the rolled part, using the force of the water to help the intestine flip over smoothly.
Next, you can tear off the excess grease and dirt, then add flour and rub it vigorously. Pay special attention to the wrinkles, rub it more, and then rinse it clean.
This is not enough, you also need to add white vinegar and rub it again to remove the fishy smell of the large intestine. If you want it to be particularly clean, you can repeat the washing process several times with flour and white vinegar. Lin Yan did not make such a fuss. After rubbing it with white vinegar for a while, he rinsed it with clean water.
Put all the cleaned ingredients into the pot. Lin Yan took out five eggs, washed the shells and put them in. Add water to cover the ingredients, add ginger slices, white wine, and green onion knots and blanch them.
Lin Yan found a cloth towel, put bay leaves, cinnamon, star anise, peppercorns, and dried chilies in it, wrapped it up, and tied it tightly with a rope to make a marinade bag.
Add appropriate amount of water to the pot, put in scallion knots, ginger slices, garlic, marinade bag, soy sauce and sugar, bring to a boil over high heat, then turn to low heat and cook for about a quarter of an hour to allow the flavor of the spices to fully blend into the soup to make the marinade.
The color of this marinade is not dark enough. If you fry some sugar color first and add it when cooking the marinade, the color will be better looking. The braised meat will be a beautiful reddish-brown color. However, Lin Yan felt that he was not going to sell it, so it was fine as long as it was edible.
Once the marinade is ready, add the pig ears and large intestines, ensuring they are completely submerged. Simmer over low heat for a quarter of an hour before adding the chicken wings, feet, and peeled eggs. Simmer for another quarter of an hour or so, until the pig ears are cooked through. Lin Yan inserts a chopstick into the thicker part of the pig ear. If no blood seeps out, it's done.
Add appropriate amount of salt to season and continue to braise for about half a quarter of an hour. Lin Yan told Yu Ge'er that he could start steaming the rice. Judging from the weather, her husband and the others would be back soon.
It would taste better if vermicelli was added, but the vermicelli needs to be soaked in advance. Lin Yan plans to get up early tomorrow to soak it, then chop the vermicelli and braised meat into small pieces, spread some thick pancakes, and eat it with the vermicelli.
When it was almost done, Lin Yan threw in a handful of greens. Her family wasn't particular about food, so they just cooked everything in one pot. Lin Yan turned off the fire, simmered the braised meat in the pot, and waited for her husband and the others to come back before she could start eating.
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