The next morning, the chirping of chicks could be heard from the Xie family's yard. The whole family gathered around the table to eat breakfast. Xie Zhao finished his breakfast quickly, put down his bowl, and stood up, saying, "I'm going to work."
Grandma Xie asked with concern: "Did Zhao Ge'er not sleep well last night? You look so bad. Why don't you eat more?"
Cheng Yaoyao looked at Xie Zhao after hearing this. His expression was cold as always, and his lips were a little dry: "No. I'm going out."
Grandma Xie looked at Xie Zhao's back with some confusion.
Cheng Yaoyao suddenly remembered something and took out a photo from his pocket: "By the way, let me show you something."
Grandma Xie wiped her hands on her apron, took the photo and looked at it carefully. "Oh my god, who is this movie star? She is so beautiful."
Xie Fei also came over and when she saw the person in the photo, she exclaimed, "It's Sister Yaoyao! Sister Yaoyao, when did you take this photo? It's so beautiful!"
Cheng Yaoyao proudly raised his tail and said, "A reporter took the photo for me."
Grandma Xie asked: "Reporter? Why did the reporter take a photo of you?"
Cheng Yaoyao was afraid that Grandma Xie would nag him, so he didn't dare to tell her the complicated chain of events. He said, "When I went to the cultural center, I happened to see them taking pictures, so he took a picture of me."
Grandma Xie didn't ask any more questions, but just said, "Eat quickly, the porridge is getting cold."
This summer, floods caused heavy losses to the communes around Tianshui Village, and every village was without food. In order to supplement their livelihoods, many families began to catch chicks and raise them. The rule that a family was only allowed to raise three chickens was gradually broken, and the inspection team did not come to the door to supervise.
Seeing that the neighbors had started raising chickens, Grandma Xie finally made up her mind and asked Xie Zhao to catch some chicks to raise. Chicks are afraid of the cold and are difficult to raise in winter, so Grandma Xie put the chicks in her room at night and took them out to bask in the sun during the day.
Today the sun was shining brightly, and the ground was covered with a few newspapers. The chicks were placed on the ground, and the yellow balls of fluff immediately scattered, chirping and exploring everywhere in the yard. Grandma Xie sprinkled chicken feed mixed with millet and chopped green vegetables on the ground, and the chicks ran over, pecking at the ground bit by bit with their little heads.
Everyone liked the new chicks very much. The only one who was unhappy was Stubborn, because he was not allowed to play with the chicks. After all, when the ten chicks grew up, they could produce at least ten eggs every day, which was a very valuable asset for the farmers.
Grandma Xie looked at them happily and said, "These chicks are great and full of energy!"
Cheng Yaoyao and Xie Fei came out of the kitchen carrying a large basin of lotus roots. Upon hearing this, they said complacently, "Of course, I picked these myself!"
Grandma Xie asked, "What are you doing?"
Cheng Yaoyao smiled and said, "Make lotus root starch."
Xie Zhao dug out lotus roots, and apart from the ones he gave away, he still had about 100 kilograms of them left. Grandma Xie smiled and said, "I heard you say that you wanted to make lotus root powder a long time ago. I have tried the lotus root powder from Hangzhou. Can we make it ourselves?"
"Why not? Making lotus root starch is not difficult. You will know if you watch me make it." Cheng Yaoyao put the lotus root on the ground, took a small stool and sat down, rolled up his sleeves and began to work: "To make lotus root starch, you have to choose old lotus roots that are dark in color and short in thickness. This kind of lotus root has a high starch content and is suitable for making lotus root starch. The kind of lotus root that tastes crunchy cannot be made."
Xie Fei nodded repeatedly, picked out the old lotus roots, and used a plane to peel off the lotus root skin, revealing the white flesh. She peeled and removed the nodes from a large basin of lotus roots, and rinsed them clean after processing.
The next step is the most difficult: grinding the lotus root. Cheng Yaoyao took the squeegee used to scrape sweet potatoes, and Xie Fei used a coarse earthenware bowl to vigorously scrape the lotus root into pieces. In order to wash out all the starch in the lotus root nodes, the lotus root must be ground to the finest possible size.
Cheng Yaoyao's arms were aching after he had only shaved a few hairs. He complained, "I don't know where Xie Zhao has gone." This kind of work would be best given to Xie Zhao, who is strong.
"Zhao'er went out early in the morning." Grandma Xie said, "Did you have an argument?"
"No." Cheng Yaoyao looked innocent. Weren't they fine when they came back from the city yesterday?
Without Xie Zhao's help, Cheng Yaoyao's arms were almost exhausted, but he finally ground up a large basin of lotus roots. He poured a bucket of well water into the lotus root paste and rubbed it vigorously with his hands. The basin of water soon turned into a white turbid liquid. After filtering out impurities with gauze, he left it alone.
Xie Fei wiped the sweat off his face and asked curiously, "Is this all right?"
"Well, the water will separate into upper and lower parts after settling for a few hours, and the starchy slurry that settles down is lotus root starch," Cheng Yaoyao explained.
Grandma Xie smiled and said, "This is the same way we make sweet potato flour in our village."
Xie Fei was a little bit unbelievable: "Such a big pot of lotus root, and only this much is left after cooking?"
Cheng Yaoyao flicked the water droplets onto her face and teased, "After drying in the sun, it will become even less! Three and a half catties of lotus root can only make two ounces of lotus root powder, you do the math."
As they were chatting and laughing, a group of uninvited guests suddenly came into the yard.
Lin Dafu led a few strangers and said with a smile: "Cheng Zhiqing, guests are coming!"
The leader was Director Rong, followed by his secretary and two young men, carrying boxes. As soon as the stranger entered the yard, he ran away with a stubborn meow from lying in the sun.
When Xie Fei saw the stranger, she also hid behind Grandma Xie nervously. Grandma Xie looked at Cheng Yaoyao: "Who is this?"
Cheng Yaoyao stood up immediately, and Lin Dafu rushed to introduce him: "Auntie Xie, this is a famous director from the provincial capital! He came here specially to see Cheng Zhiqing!"
Director Rong's attire and demeanor were different. He walked into the courtyard with his hands behind his back and a big smile on his face. He greeted Grandma Xie politely, "You don't blame me for coming uninvited, do you? This is just a small gift, just a token of my respect."
The secretary immediately handed over a bag of gifts. Grandma Xie smiled and said slowly, "We dare not accept such valuable things. Yaoyao, you guys chat, I'll go make some tea."
Grandma Xie also took Xie Fei away. Lin Dafu also said goodbye with a smile: "Director, you guys continue chatting. I'm leaving first."
Cheng Yaoyao was the only one left in the yard. She was very unhappy with Director Rong's uninvited arrival and did not greet them. Director Rong did not mind and looked around the yard with interest.
The Xie family's old house was built in an antique style. The yard was spotless, the vegetable garden was lush and green, firewood was neatly piled against the wall, and a group of goose-yellow chicks gathered together to peck at food. Dried vegetables were drying on the wooden racks, emitting a drowsy fragrance.
"It's very tidy, very Jiangnan style. This is a good place for filming." Director Rong smiled at Cheng Yaoyao, "It's a pity that you are not suitable for this place."
Cheng Yaoyao frowned: "What's inappropriate?"
"It doesn't suit your temperament. This courtyard used to be inhabited by a wealthy family, right?" Director Rong pointed his finger at a frame and pointed at Cheng Yaoyao: "It would have been suitable thirty years ago. Now..."
Director Rong shook his head with great regret.
Cheng Yaoyao was angry and his face showed anger: "Director Rong, I said yesterday that I have no interest in making movies. Why did you come here to disturb our family?"
The secretary said angrily: "How can you speak to the director like that!"
Director Rong raised his hand to stop him and said with a smile: "Xiao Cheng, you misunderstood me."
At this time, Grandma Xie also came out with some snacks and greeted the people who followed Director Rong with a smile: "Please sit down. The countryside is simple and we don't have anything good to serve you. These are homemade snacks. Please have a taste."
A pot of coarse tea and a plate of goat milk cake were the snacks Cheng Yaoyao made for home. But the snacks were very delicate, with the petal-shaped cakes dotted with bright red wolfberries, white and delicate.
Everyone had come to the countryside early in the morning and was hungry, so they picked up the cakes and ate them without hesitation. They were stunned after taking a bite. The cakes melted in their mouths, were sticky and soft, and had a strong milky aroma. They were even better than the Western cakes of Lao Dachang! When the light golden tea was poured into the stoneware cup, the tea aroma rose with the smoke, and Director Rong's face also showed a little surprise.
While everyone was having snacks, Grandma Xie pulled Cheng Yaoyao aside and whispered, "Yaoyao, we are guests, don't lose your temper."
Cheng Yaoyao said guiltily: "Grandma, I didn't know they would come to our house. They are..."
"Okay, let's deal with the person first. We'll talk about everything after Zhao'er comes back." Grandma Xie said with a smile.
Cheng Yaoyao had no choice but to nod.
Director Rong held a cup of tea and said to Cheng Yaoyao earnestly, "Xiao Cheng, I want to apologize to you. It is a bit presumptuous of me to come to your house like this, but I have no ill intentions. I am really satisfied with you being my heroine. You see, we came all the way from Shanghai just to find the girl in the photo. We finally found you, how can we be willing to return empty-handed?"
Cheng Yaoyao said: "I know. But I really have no interest in making movies."
Director Rong asked: "Why are you so reluctant to make a movie? What are your reasons and concerns? Can you tell me? Maybe I can help you?"
Cheng Yaoyao thought about it and said frankly, "I don't worry about it. It's just that I have never thought about making a movie. To tell you the truth, I have been studying hard and hope to be admitted to university."
Director Rong nodded in understanding: "It seems that although you are young, you already have a lot of ideas about your future. In fact, if you want to go to college, the film studio can help you get admitted."
Cheng Yaoyao's mind moved, then she shook her head and said, "That's different." She had reviewed with Xie Zhao for a long time, and had review materials, so she didn't need to make such a big turn.
The director sighed, "Going to college is a good thing, but I can't force it."
Cheng Yaoyao felt a little embarrassed: "Thank you for your understanding."
Director Rong then brought up another matter: "We are here in Lin'an City on a business trip at public expense, so we can't return empty-handed. If you don't want to make a movie, can you cooperate with us to take a set of photos? At least I can report my mission and prove that I have found the girl in the photo."
Cheng Yaoyao asked curiously, "What kind of photos do you want to take?"
Director Rong smiled and said, "I think this old house and small courtyard are very quaint, and it's not bad as a background. Xiao Pu, what do you think?"
Xiao Pu was a young photographer who came with us. He looked at the house and nodded vigorously: "This house has a sense of style and good colors. The photos will definitely turn out great! Comrade Cheng... Comrade Cheng is also very photogenic."
Xiao Pu lowered her voice when she said this and glanced at Cheng Yaoyao shyly.
Cheng Yaoyao hesitated for a moment, and the secretary said, "This old house is not that good. It can't be compared with the Huizhou merchant mansion used in the filming of "Eternal Regret". What can be filmed here?"
Cheng Yaoyao was furious. She had deep feelings for this old house and would not tolerate anyone saying anything bad about it. Cheng Yaoyao's rosy lips curled up slightly: "Then open your eyes and see what you can take pictures of."
Director Rong smiled and said, "Okay! Then let's take a few pictures first to try it out."
When Grandma Xie heard that we wanted to take photos of the old house, she was a little surprised: "This house hasn't been repaired for many years. What's there to take photos of in such a dilapidated house?"
While debugging the machine, Xiao Pu and his assistant laughed and said, "We need this kind of atmosphere. Old houses have history and sediment. Only in such places can we tell stories."
Grandma Xie was suddenly moved and sighed deeply. Cheng Yaoyao whispered, "Grandma, don't you want them to take pictures?"
"No." Grandma Xie forced a smile and fixed Cheng Yaoyao's hair. "I heard it all in the kitchen. They came all the way here and are so sincere, so let's take some photos for them. Take some photos of our house, so they can look back on it in the future."
Cheng Yaoyao smiled and said, "Yeah!"
Cheng Yaoyao went back to the room to change clothes. Director Rong discussed with Grandma Xie, "Can we move the things in the living room?"
Grandma Xie smiled and said, "Okay!"
The Xie family's house had a high ceiling, with camphor wood beams and a spotless floor made of water-polished blue bricks. Director Rong had some of the clutter removed, leaving only the central hall table against the wall, two carved armchairs, and a huanghuali high-legged flower table on the left.
Xiao Pu held the camera and slowly turned it, selecting the best shot to communicate. The transparent winter sunlight poured into the hall, casting a nostalgic filter on the lens. Turning to the left side of the hall, he saw a yellow-white shadow passing through the lens and jumping onto the flowerbed.
A small fat orange and white cat ran out from somewhere, lay down carelessly on the flowers, yawned, and fell asleep with its furry tail drooping.
The shutter clicked, capturing the scene in the camera.
The flash startled the little fat cat, and it said "hmm" stubbornly, jumped off the ground and ran away. Xiao Pu found it interesting and followed the little fat cat with his camera, but saw a pair of high-heeled shoes appear in the camera.
The camera slowly moves upwards, revealing a pair of slender ankles, and further up, a black velvet skirt, the soft fabric fitting the delicate curves.
Cheng Yaoyao changed into a black velvet dress, imitating the style of a cheongsam. It was just a test shoot, so she only put a little lipstick on her lips, and her hair was slightly messy and scattered on her shoulders. She held the kitten in her arms and lowered her head slightly to look at it. Her black hair slid down with her movements, half covering her snow-white red lips.
Xiao Pu's fingers were shaking so much that he couldn't hold the camera. His voice was trembling: "Look here!"
Cheng Yaoyao stood lazily in front of the yellowed carved door, gently stroking the back of the little fat cat's neck with his fingers, and glanced at the camera nonchalantly with his peach blossom eyes. Just this one glance has amazed the film industry for many years.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
