Chapter 7 Chapter 7 The little mute is the pillar of the family...
The bright moon was blocked by dark clouds, and Qingshui Village suddenly became pitch black.
The rooster has already crowed for the first time.
Tian Ge got up in the dark, yawned, and put on his clothes rustlingly.
He first went to the stove and lit a fire.
The firelight illuminated a small area in front of Tian Ge, stretching his long shadow to the earth wall behind him.
Tian Ge scooped a bowl of multi-grain flour and added water to make a paste.
Then on the chopping board, chop the wild shepherd's purse into small pieces and add it to the batter.
Take the pan, add a little lard, pour some batter, and shake the pan to spread the pancake.
Wait until the crust is slightly bulging and golden spots appear, then turn it over.
Repeat this process.
Tian Ge worked without stopping for a moment, baking more than a dozen pancakes in a row, with a thin layer of sweat oozing from his forehead.
There was movement in the yard.
"Brother Tian, you've got up so early, you must have worked hard." Sister-in-law Jin Guihua walked into the kitchen first, her hair loose and not having had time to comb it, looking tired.
Tian Ge pointed at the fire pit and made a kettle shape.
My sister-in-law has been having her period these days and has been feeling uncomfortable in her stomach, so she can't wash her face with the cool well water.
He had boiled some hot water by the fire pit in advance.
Jinguihua was enlightened and took a wooden basin to pour hot water, feeling relieved.
Tian Ge's music didn't stop, as she was afraid of wasting her brother and sister-in-law's time, so she continued to cook the soup.
As usual, add some lard to the pot, flatten the wild onions and stir-fry until fragrant, then add water.
Take two chicken eggs, stir them evenly in a bowl with chopsticks, wait for the water to boil, pour them into the pot, and stir again.
Wash and chop the small tomatoes grown in your own field, then pour them into the soup and cook them together.
Finally, add salt and chopped wild onions and remove from heat.
Tian Da and Tian Er followed in soon.
"It's very hot, let me serve it." Tian Da said, walked forward and took away the big bowl of hot soup in front of Tian Ge.
"Look how tired our little brother is. He's sweating all over." Tian Er wiped Tian Ge's forehead with his palm. "It's good to have a little brother at home. I haven't even entered the kitchen yet and I'm already dizzy with the smell."
Tian Ge touched his ears, smiled and shook his head.
What he meant was that he didn't believe the nice words his second brother said.
Because my second brother says this several times every day in different ways.
But the usually taciturn eldest brother also came to join in the fun today, "Not only that, I smelled it in the room, and woke up to the aroma of food."
Tian Ge sat down at the table, pretending to have a stern face, scratched his ears and shook his head.
----I don’t believe it.
The two brothers also laughed.
"Okay, you two, hurry up and eat, it's almost dawn." Jinguihua said while rolling up the pancake.
It is the busy farming season in summer, and only the cool hours in the early morning are precious.
They still have to go to the large field on the mountain to dig potatoes today.
Tian Ge always eats slowly and chews his food carefully, but his brother and sister-in-law hold their bowls and eat noisily.
He couldn't help but speed up his chewing.
After eating some flatbread soaked in hot soup for breakfast, my stomach feels full and I feel completely refreshed.
My sister-in-law went to pick up the farm tools, backpacks, and water for the mountain trip.
The eldest and second brothers went to Dad's room and helped him relieve himself, change his clothes, and wipe his body...
Tian Ge watched her brother and sister-in-law leave.
He fed his father breakfast.
Then I carried the basket on my back and went to the stream next to my house to pick grass to feed the chickens and ducks.
The chickens and ducks at home can lay eggs, so they can't go hungry.
The sun is just rising, and the sunlight at this time is not hot on the body.
Tian Ge had some free time, so he went into the house, helped his father sit on a wooden chair, and pushed his father to the yard to bask in the sun.
The wooden chair has wooden wheels embedded under it to facilitate pushing. It was custom-made by a carpenter in the village.
"Your sister-in-law is also busy with farming this year, and a lot of chores at home are left to you. You must be exhausted." Tian Youcai said, looking at his youngest child with a smile.
But if you look closely, the smile doesn't reach his eyes.
If you put aside his sallow complexion and purple lips, Tian Youcai can be considered to be in good spirits.
Last year, Tian Youcai was not so sick, and he was still half a laborer during the busy farming season.
Sister-in-law Jinguihua stayed at home to take care of the business.
Tian Ge doesn't have to be so busy.
----I am so awesome. I can do everything. I can contribute to my family. I feel happy and full of energy.
Tian Ge performed his moves like dancing, and when he was done he clapped his arms to show his strength.
He and his little nephew Zhuangzhuang were both sitting on small stools, surrounding Tian Youcai on the left and right.
"Grandpa, me too. I can carry a large basket of chicken grass." Zhuangzhuang said proudly with a raised eyebrow in a childish voice.
Zhuangzhuang and Tian Youcai look alike, as they are from different generations. Both grandfather and grandson have square faces, regular features, thick eyebrows and big eyes.
Their expressions were even more similar when they were talking and laughing.
The breeze rustled the leaves of the loquat trees in the yard, and the sun was shining brightly.
Tian Youcai was in high spirits. He held Tian Ge'er's hand in his palm, closed his eyes, and sighed imperceptibly.
If you can't die, and you can't live well, how long will you be a burden to your children and grandchildren?
The child's mother couldn't bear to watch this and didn't come to take him away.
Tian Ge went to get his father's pipe.
Ever since Dad fell ill and kept coughing, my eldest and second brothers didn't allow him to smoke.
They hid Dad's pipe.
But Tian Ge always finds it.
"Shh." Tian Ge held the pipe in one hand and raised a finger with the other hand, putting it on his lips and making a gesture to Zhuangzhuang.
This is their little secret.
Zhuangzhuang nodded firmly and pursed his lips, indicating that he would keep his mouth shut and would never betray his uncle.
When Tian Youcai saw the pipe, his eyes brightened.
"Xiao Ge'er, give Dad a few more puffs today."
Tian Ge rolled the cigarette seriously, shook his head when he heard it, and pointed a finger at his father.
----Just one bite.
"Two puffs, just one more puff." Tian Youcai bargained, and cried out in anger twice, "Son, my waist and legs hurt. Smoking a pipe makes me feel better. I'm old, and I rely on you."
Even Zhuangzhuang was laughing, knowing that grandpa was acting.
Except when he wanted to smoke a pipe, my grandfather never cried out in pain.
Tian Ge agreed readily and raised two fingers to his father with a smile.
----Just two bites, the bargaining is over, no more.
Tian Youcai cried out in his heart - it's not enough. If I had known, I would have said a few more numbers.
But Tian Youcai was also open-minded. At least he had one more bite than last time.
After giving Dad two puffs of his cigarette, I saw that he was still savoring it.
Tian Ge went into the house and took out the Chinese medicine that had been placed on the stove to cool.
The bowl of medicine was pitch black and smelled bitter.
Tian Youcai had just tasted the sweetness and was in a good mood, so he drank it in one gulp.
The bitter taste spread across his tongue belatedly, making his face wrinkle and he gasp.
Zhuangzhuang thought it was funny and imitated the movement, breathing heavily through his teeth.
The grandfather and grandson began to compete to see who could breathe longer, each one more childish than the other.
Tian Ge put the bowl away, went into the house, scooped a spoonful of sugar with a wooden spoon, protected it in the palm of her hand, and came out to feed it to her father's mouth.
Tian Youcai leaned back on the wooden chair, closed his eyes and smiled.
"Xiao Ge'er, go scoop another spoonful of sugar and share it with Zhuang Zhuang. You two are drooling all over me."
Zhuangzhuang was already hiding his saliva, and when he heard this, he quickly reached out and wiped his mouth, "I didn't, Grandpa lied to me."
Tian Ge nodded, went back in, scooped up a thin layer of sugar, and shared it with Zhuangzhuang.
This candy is specially for dad, no one in the family will touch it.
"Let's do it secretly and not tell them." Tian Youcai whispered.
"I know." Zhuangzhuang answered quickly, also lowering his voice, "This is a secret between the three of us, just like grandpa secretly smoking a pipe. We can't let my parents and second uncle know."
Tian Ge gave Zhuangzhuang a thumbs up.
Free time always flies by quickly.
Seeing that the sun was getting higher, Tian Ge quickly prepared lunch.
Under such scorching sun, people working in the fields are sweating profusely.
No matter how tight the family's finances are, we cannot skimp on food at this time.
Tian Ge washed the grains, used the water from washing rice to water the vegetables, and steamed the rice with water on the fire.
I cook dry rice for lunch these days because it is the only thing that can satisfy my hunger.
There is also a main dish for lunch today - stewed potatoes with cured pork ribs.
The wild boar bacon was given to me by Qin Xiong last time, and it just happened to solve the urgent problem.
Otherwise, there would be no decent meat dishes at home.
It was hot in the kitchen, so Zhuangzhuang sat with Tian Youcai in the shade of the stone edge in front of the house, watching Tian Ge busying herself.
The cured pork ribs need to be chopped into small pieces with a machete.
Tian Ge was very agile. If he didn't have enough strength to chop it off with one knife, he would chop it twice.
The two people outside the house were not idle either. They were using iron scrapers to scrape the potato skins.
The potatoes grown at home come in both red and white skins. When stewed until soft, they taste crunchy, soft, glutinous and sweet.
Wash the cured pork ribs, pour water into them and boil them directly, then skim off the foam when the water boils.
Add garlic, ginger, cinnamon, star anise and bay leaves, and simmer over low heat.
After about half an hour, add the chopped potatoes and cook together.
The whole house is filled with fragrance.
The dish is so filling that it can’t even fit in two large bowls. It has soup and meat, and the portion is quite large.
Tian Ge remembered to leave a bowl for Qin Xiong and the others.
Such fragrant bacon, especially wild boar meat, is considered a rare dish even in the county town.
Qin Xiong was really generous.
......
Tian Datian, Ertian and Jinguihua, all three of them carried a large basket of potatoes down the mountain.
A backpack weighs at least 70 or 80 kilograms.
Several people's clothes were soaked and their steps were heavy.
As soon as I walked to the edge of the field in front of my house, I smelled the aroma of meat and vegetables.
My stomach growled in response, but I couldn't tell whose it was.
"I bet this fragrance comes from our house. It must be Tian Ge'er making something delicious." Tian Er spoke while panting.
"It smells like stewed bacon to me," Tian Da continued.
Jin Guihua was walking in front, carrying a heavy load on her back, unable to turn her head. She laughed at her husband, "You've got a dog nose. We'll be there soon. We'll know when we get home."
The closer they got to their home, the more confident they became.
The fragrance made their mouths water.
Tian Ge was still busy in the kitchen, stir-frying a plate of wild shepherd's purse as a refreshing dish.
Then I took some pickled radish and sour cowpea from the jar, cut them up and put them on a plate.
"Dad, we're back." Several people came in and greeted Tian Youcai first.
After unloading the backpacks into the main room, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"There is boiling water on the table. It should be ready to drink. Just bear with the heat first and don't drink the well water. It's cool." Tian Youcai waved his hand.
"Okay, let's go drink some hot water." Tian Datian Er responded.
Tian Ge came out of the kitchen, also sweating all over.
He first walked up to Jinguihua and said that he had boiled some hot water so that Jinguihua could wipe her body to feel refreshed.
The two brothers can get their bodies doused with cold water while bare-chested, but my sister-in-law can't.
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
