Chapter 104
Dumplings are made of glutinous rice, and the Lu family does have a lot of glutinous rice. In other words, as long as it is related to food, the Lu family generally has it. After lunch, Lin Qingqing prepared to make snacks in the afternoon, but she needed a nap. While she was taking a nap, Lu Cheng prepared the ingredients for snacks, which was to cook glutinous rice.
Lin Qingqing also prepared to make dumplings, but not only dumplings, but also rice cakes.
Following the tasks assigned by Lin Qingqing, Lu Cheng began to cook glutinous rice. Dumplings and rice cakes require several pots of glutinous rice. After Lu Cheng cooked enough glutinous rice, he went to wake Lin Qingqing up.
Lin Qingqing had worked in the cafeteria, so she knew where the pounding stone needed to pound rice cakes was.
There is this stone pounding machine in the army cafeteria, placed together with the stone mill. So, around two o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Qingqing took Lu Cheng, Lu Haici and Qin Ming to pound glutinous rice.
Lu Cheng carried a wooden barrel of glutinous rice by himself, and Lu Haici and Qin Ming carried the necessary tools.
"Lu Haici, what are you doing?" Ji Yang next door estimated that he had installed a surveillance camera in Lu's house, and as soon as they went out, Ji Yang saw them.
"Let's go to pound rice cakes." Lu Haici said happily, "The rice cakes are delicious, there are white rice cakes and brown sugar rice cakes."
"I'll go too." Ji Yang ran over.
Because everyone was preparing for the New Year, there were a lot of people in the family compound, and there were many people coming in and out. Everyone was busy preparing for the New Year, so they walked in the family courtyard and met many people.
"Captain Lu, what are you doing with a bucket of glutinous rice?" someone asked.
"Comrade Lin, do you still have glutinous rice? Can you exchange a few kilograms with my family?" Some people had ideas about glutinous rice. Glutinous rice is usually hard to buy. In some places, there is a custom of eating glutinous rice during the New Year, but there is no glutinous rice. Seeing Lu Cheng carrying a large bucket of glutinous rice, they tried to ask.
Lin Qingqing said, "We can still exchange two kilograms at home. The extra ones have been cooked today. If my sister-in-law wants it, we can exchange it when we come back."
"Then I will come to Comrade Lin to exchange it after dinner."
Even if others wanted to exchange it, they would not have the chance, because Lin Qingqing said that they could only exchange two kilograms.
Lin Qingqing greeted everyone along the way, and then the family came to the stone mill.
"How do I use this?" Lu Cheng asked, looking at the hammer in front of him.
Lin Qingqing said, "Put the glutinous rice in the hammer, and then use the hammer to crush the glutinous rice into glutinous rice balls."
Lu Cheng: "Okay, I got it."
Lin Qingqing remembered that when she was a child, she used glutinous rice to make glutinous rice cakes. Every time she pounded the glutinous rice, it took several men to take turns, because it required arm strength, otherwise the arms would get tired after a few poundings.
However, she saw Lu Cheng pounding for a long time and still supported it.
Lu Haici and Qin Ming watched from the side. The two boys were a little tempted and wanted to try it. But they also knew that they didn't have enough strength.
"Mom, can you make rice cakes like this?" Lu Haici asked curiously.
Lin said softly, "Okay, but not so fast. We have to cut it into pieces later. This rice cake is not only delicious when fried, but also delicious as a snack. Look at the glutinous rice cooked with brown sugar water over there. When the time comes, make brown sugar rice cakes, and then make dried rice cakes, it will be even more delicious."
That was the taste of childhood, but the rice cakes she had when she was a child were made with the village's rice cake pounding machine, not by hand. Especially at the end of each year when rice cakes were pounded, everyone started in the early morning. Although it was tiring, it was very lively. When the rice cakes were pounded, they were hot and the best. That kind of warm taste was a little different from the taste of this kind of pounding with a pounding stone, because the glutinous rice was already cold after it was pounded.
Around 4 o'clock, all the glutinous rice was already mashed.
Back home, Lin Qingqing instructed Lu Cheng to knead the mashed glutinous rice into strips, and then cut them into rice cakes.
After the rice cakes were cut, dinner was fried rice cakes.
Stir-fried rice cakes with vegetables, eggs, bacon, and shredded carrots. First, fry the eggs and set them aside, then fry the bacon and shredded carrots and set them aside. The last thing to fry is the vegetables. After the vegetables are fried, pour in the sliced rice cakes, fried bacon, shredded carrots, and eggs, then add seasonings and stir-fry everything for a few times, and finally remove from the pan.
The soul of stir-fried rice cakes lies in the soup. When she was in college, she liked to go to fast food restaurants to eat stir-fried rice cakes, and then pair them with a bowl of seaweed soup. There
are four people in the Lu family now, just enough to sit in four seats. Each person is paired with a plate of stir-fried rice cakes and a bowl of seaweed soup. There is also a side dish for each person, which is pickled radish, and the sour and sweet taste is also very good.
Making pickled radish is very simple. You only need to slice the radish and then marinate it with soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. In modern times, Lin Qingqing likes to put plums when marinating, but there are no plums in this era, so she can only put nothing. But pickled radish without anything is also delicious.
"Auntie, the fried rice cakes you made are so delicious. I wish I could be your son, so I could live here every day and have dinner with you every day." Qin Ming said enviously.
Lin smiled softly: "Then you can come here to eat every day." Anyway, it is not stressful for their family to prepare meals for one more person. And if Qin Ming really comes to eat every day, Zhang Hongping will definitely bring his food over.
"That won't work." Qin Ming said, "My grandma said that food is precious. I can't come to your house to eat every day." Although he is a bear, he is not stupid.
Lu Haici said: "Then you can bring the food."
Qin Ming heard it: "Can I? Auntie?"
Lin smiled softly: "Of course I can."
After they finished dinner, the military wife who had been agreed to come came to exchange glutinous rice.
"Qingqing... Qingqing..." Lin Qingqing had just changed the glutinous rice when she heard Yu Xiuyao's voice. "Sister-in-law, I'm here."
Yu Xiuyao came with a basket filled with a large bowl of dumplings and several salted duck eggs: "Qingqing, these are the dumplings and salted duck eggs I made, for you to eat on New Year's Eve."
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and it's just right to eat dumplings.
"Thank you, sister-in-law." Lin Qingqing took the dumplings and salted duck eggs, "By the way, sister-in-law, we made rice cakes at home, wait a minute." She took out ten rice cakes from the kitchen and put them in the basket, "Sister-in-law, give it to you."
"Oh, you originally came to give something, but now you come to get something." Yu Xiuyao joked.
After Xiuyao, several other military wives who had good relationships with her came to give gifts. Lin Qingqing always gave them rice cakes as return gifts. Fortunately, she made a lot of rice cakes, so even if she gave them to a few families, she still had a lot left at home.
The first day of the first lunar month is the busiest day in the entire family compound, because early in the morning, the children began to visit each household to wish them a
happy new year. "Lu Haici, Qin Ming, are you done?" Ji Yang shouted as he entered the yard, "Auntie, I'm here to wish you a happy new year. Auntie, happy new year."
Lu Haici and Qin Ming wolfed down the dumplings in their bowls, then put on their schoolbags: "Here we go."
Lin Qingqing took out a White Rabbit candy, a handful of peanuts, and a few twisted dough sticks: "Here, Ji Yang, happy new year." Then there was a red envelope, which was wrapped in red paper.
"Thank you, auntie." This was not the first time Ji Yang received a red envelope from Lin Qingqing. He had received it in the past few years.
Of course, if Ji Yang had some, Lu Haici and Qin Ming must have some too, so she took out two red envelopes wrapped in red paper and gave them to them.
The three children hurriedly put the red envelopes in their schoolbags, and then ran out together. After a while, the voices of Lu Haici and Qin Ming were heard in the yard of the Ji family next door: "Happy New Year... Happy New Year..."
The voices passed from one family to another, and in the blink of an eye they could not be heard again.
It was almost noon when Lu Haici and Qin Ming came back, and their schoolbags were already full of things. As soon as they got home, they poured the things in their schoolbags out and onto the table, which was full of candies, biscuits, cakes and some other snacks. The two began to pick up the things they liked to eat and put aside the things they didn't like to eat.
A few days after the New Year, Mr. Qin and Zhang Hongping came back. On the first day they came back, they brought many local specialties to the Lu family. They also brought the Lu family rations for Qin and Ming Dynasties. The rations were all flour and rice, and the vegetables were directly converted into money.
Lin Qingqing accepted it directly without refusing.
In the second month of the year, that is, at the end of March in the Gregorian calendar, Mother Lin came. At that time, Lin Qingqing was four months pregnant and her belly was a little pregnant. The family really needed someone to take care of her. Especially when Lu Cheng was on a mission, it was inconvenient to have only every helper at home.
Mother Lin called Lu Cheng before she came. Lu Cheng was naturally willing for his mother-in-law to come, and he was very moved. After telling Lin Qingqing about this matter, Lin Qingqing did not refuse.
When Lin's mother arrived at the train station, Lu Cheng drove to pick her up. When Lin's mother got off the train, she saw Lu Cheng and immediately shouted, "Son-in-law... Lu Cheng..."
Lu Cheng heard Lin's mother's loud voice and hurried over, "Mom." He automatically picked up the two sacks on Lin's mother's back. The sacks were a bit heavy, and Lu Cheng said, "Mom, you've worked hard all the way."
Lin's mother said, "It's not hard, nothing is more important than Qingqing's pregnancy. This sack is the child's clothes, and the other sack is made of bacon at home. There are several of them, which can be used to nourish Qingqing's body."
Lu Cheng: "Thank you, Mom." In fact, if they want to drink chicken soup, they can buy it at the farm, but the thought that Lin's mother brought along the way is very precious.
When the car arrived at the gate of the military unit, Lin Qingqing was seen standing there. Lin's mother had chosen a special day to come, and chose to arrive at the military unit on Sunday, so that her son-in-law would not have to ask for leave when he came to pick her up. So Lin Qingqing had a good rest.
Before the car stopped, Lin's mother shouted to Lin Qingqing through the window: "Girl...Girl..."
But Lin Qingqing could not hear her.
When the car stopped in front of Lin Qingqing, Lin's mother waited for Lu Cheng to open the door, and then she couldn't wait to get out of the car. The first thing she did after getting off the car was to look at Lin Qingqing's belly, and then she breathed a sigh of relief and said: "It's not big, it's okay. Girl, you need to nourish your body when you are pregnant, but not too much." Otherwise, like her, if the belly is too big, it will be troublesome to have a difficult delivery.
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