Chapter 21 A long-lost feeling of happiness
Soon, wisps of smoke rose from the kitchen.
The millet is clean and doesn't need to be washed, just cook it like this. The lotus root still needs to be rinsed, otherwise the soup will be full of mud. At present, the Ding family is not short of water, so there is no big problem.
The remaining water was poured into Ding Xiaodie's gourd bottle, and Ding Gui also found a gourd bottle of his own.
Well, now everyone has a water container.
Fortunately, these townspeople could not take their pots and pans with them when they fled the famine. At this time, the three of them gathered in front of the stove, looking at the steaming millet porridge boiling in the pot, their hearts and eyes filled with happiness.
There are no big fish, shrimps or meat, but I am alive, I have healthy millet porridge, and my family is together. What could be more important than this?
On the other side, Dabao and Erbao, who returned home with lotus roots, shocked the whole family.
Their family's conditions were not the worst in the village before, so they could always take some surplus food with them when they went out. But along the way, they tried to save as much as possible and eat as little as possible.
According to the order of seniority, Village Chief Lai Fu has an old mother and a 90-year-old grandmother above him, and two half-grown sons below him. Naturally, the food should be given to the ancestors first.
The old ancestor didn't want to burden the younger generation, so he only ate two or three bites no matter what.
In this way, the Laifu family would engage in a tug-of-war every day over who would eat and who would not.
Now it's ready. There are so many lotus roots and there is water in the gourd. Pour some water into the gourd and wash it. Then grab two handfuls of rice, cut three pounds of lotus roots and put them in. Cook according to Xiaodie's instructions. Bring to a boil over high heat and then simmer over low heat.
Soon after, a pot of soft and sticky lotus root porridge came out. It tasted fresh and delicious, and even the ancestor said it was delicious.
This time, I don’t have to give in to everyone.
Lai Fu's wife, Yang, put some lard that she had saved after much effort into the porridge. Her eyes were slightly red. The family had old people and two boys as the youngest. How could they eat the little food at home and have the next meal?
She was the only one who had to take care of all these elaborate plans, which was very stressful and tiring.
Lai Fu naturally understood what his wife was feeling wronged about. He patted her shoulder gently and said, "Serve it up. One bowl for each person today. Let's eat our fill."
The whole family, young and old, smiled sadly.
It has been a long time since I have seen such a happy smile.
Especially when he saw the old ancestor's smile, Lai Fu felt uncomfortable.
Dabao then said, "Speaking of which, I really have to thank Xiaodie this time. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't even know there was such a thing as lotus root."
"Yes, Sister Xiaodie is very smart. I couldn't tell that when we were in Aozigou before." Erbao also praised.
Lai Fu nodded and said, "That's good. Our family must remember this. If anything happens to Ding Gui's family in the future, you brothers should be more diligent."
"knew!"
Dabao and Erbao drank the porridge happily, their stomachs felt warm, and their moods had not been so cheerful in a long time.
…
Zhang Xiu is also very skillful at doing housework. She made the fragrant porridge quickly. For Wang Dafeng's sake, she also cooked the lotus root to the softest and most glutinous state.
Then Xiaodie went to wake Wang Dafeng up to eat.
After calling for a long time, Wang Dafeng opened her eyes and said in a daze, "You little girl, eating? Oh, I'm afraid I'm dreaming. There's no such thing as eating these days. There's only begging and begging."
Ding Xiaodie couldn't help but laugh. The old woman was quite cute sometimes. She blinked her big eyes and said, "Don't you smell the fragrance of the millet porridge?"
Wang Dafeng immediately squinted his eyes and sniffed it.
Hey, it seems like there really is a smell of food.
She immediately sat up with full energy, her head was no longer confused, her legs no longer hurt, and her hands no longer felt sore. She quickly went downstairs and went straight to the kitchen.
Unexpectedly, she saw a pot of millet porridge on the square table, and another pot of something she didn't know what it was. It looked sticky and delicious.
"This... where did this come from?" Wang Dafeng was so shocked that she was incoherent. She had never seen such delicious millet porridge when she was in Aozigou. Was she dreaming?
"Third brother, pinch me."
As he spoke, he stretched out his old arm. Ding Gui smiled and helped her sit down: "Mom, don't pinch me. This is not a dream, it's real. Come and eat. I can make sure you have enough to eat today."
Zhang Xiu had already served three bowls of porridge and lotus root, and handed chopsticks to each of them: "Eat, Mom. Xiaodie, you eat too."
Wang Dafeng sat down suddenly.
Only when she drank the sweet porridge and heard herself subconsciously let out a sigh of relief did she realize that she was not dreaming.
But where do millet and this thing called lotus root come from?
Wang Dafeng insisted on getting to the bottom of things, so Xiaodie lied. "Grandma, I've heard people say that when you're lucky, when you're blessed, you shouldn't ask where the blessings come from. If you ask, they'll run away. I think you should just not ask, and don't tell anyone. As long as we have something to eat, that's all that matters."
When Wang Dafeng heard that the little girl was right, she nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes, I won't ask you again in the future. If I do something wrong, you can remind me."
Unexpectedly, the old woman had changed so much. Ding Gui and Zhang Xiu looked at each other and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Millet porridge tastes good, and lotus root is also delicious. It’s okay without oil, but without salt the flavor will be lost.
Ding Gui thought of taking out a pound of millet to exchange for some salt. Anyway, the rest could last for a while, and if they did some good deeds, Xiaodie could go to the space to get more.
So after dinner, he took the millet and went out.
Zhang Xiu and Ding Xiaodie were not worried about this at all.
Although Ding Gui sometimes looks unreliable, he is actually a good businessman and good at calculating. No one can think faster than him.
After Ding Gui left, the three women in the family sat in front of the stove and chatted after eating and drinking.
As they chatted, Wang Dafeng sighed, "If only we could dig lotus roots from that lotus pond every day, we could settle down here and not have to run away any further!"
This sentence sounds a bit sad, but if you really can find a place to stay, no one would want to sleep in the open air.
Ding Xiaodie knew very well that it was impossible to stay in Yangliu Town for a long time. For one thing, some people on the street still had bodies in their homes. Now everyone pretended not to know and ignored it. In such weather, flies would be flying everywhere in two days.
By then, this wouldn't be an ideal place to live unless all the bodies in the town were disposed of.
…
The next morning, the villagers went to the streets early, everyone holding buckets and basins, hoping to find some water in the town.
Everyone rested in the house for a night, their minds a little wandering. If they could find a water source, they didn't want to move forward even a step. They had had enough of living with their families.
Lai Fu was so anxious that he tried to stop a few people: "Listen to me, don't look for it blindly. It's not only a waste of energy if you can't find it, but also a waste of energy. Let's save our energy and set off as soon as it gets dark."
(End of this chapter)
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