Before Chen Tan even reached the door, he could smell the aroma of frying oil.
Then, more than a dozen children in ragged clothes gathered in front of the Wei family’s door.
The youngest one had just learned to walk, and the oldest was eleven or twelve years old. They lay down through the crack in the door and looked into the house.
On the little face covered with frostbite, there were two black runners of snot, like black leeches.
Before going out, Chen Tan wrapped a scarf around her neck and wore a homemade white mask, leaving only her big watery eyes and smooth forehead exposed.
Like Qin Li, she had a cold and oppressive look in front of outsiders.
The children looked at her emotionless eyes and stepped away.
Chen Tan glanced at them and knocked on the door. A middle-aged man inside asked, "Who is it?"
"Uncle Wei, it's me, Chen Tan." Chen Tan replied in a crisp voice.
"Tan Nier, your aunt is talking about you."
Wei Xiao's father, Wei Mancang, raised his voice happily, "Xiaozi's mother, Tan Ni'er is here."
"Really?" Wu Xia happily ran out of the kitchen and opened the door to the yard. "Oh, I was just about to call you, and you're here. Come in quickly."
"Aunt Wu, this is the radish my grandma asked me to bring."
When Chen Tan came, Qin Qiuniang asked her to bring five big radishes to make radish balls for Wu Xia.
"Great! I was just about to go down to the cellar, but now I don't have to." Wu Xia took the basket with one hand and quickly closed the door with the other. "Auntie is frying hemp leaves. Come in and try some."
When the children outside saw the door closed, they immediately gathered around it, gathered at the crack of the door, and sniffed the smell of oil inside.
After Chen Tan entered the house, he called out to Wei Mancang, who was sitting in a wheelchair in the yard, "Hello, Uncle Wei."
During the time when Qin Li was not at home, she came to the Wei family twice and met Wei Mancang.
"Okay, okay, go to the kitchen and warm up."
Wei Mancang also liked the polite and well-behaved little girl very much.
If their family background was not bad, he and Wu Xia would have adopted her as their goddaughter.
"Okay."
Chen Tan followed Wu Xia into the kitchen, and the first thing he saw was a large dough board with a dough covered with black and white sesame seeds cut into small diamond-shaped pieces.
On the stove next to it, there were two iron pots, one large and one small, and a small stove hole for a ceramic pot.
At this moment, in a large iron pot, light yellow hemp leaves were rolling in rapeseed oil.
On the stove, a large ceramic basin was half filled with fried hemp leaves.
"Chen Tan is here."
Liang Yujin stood up from behind the stove and looked over shyly.
Chen Tan didn't expect that she would come too. He walked over with a smile, a mischievous look in his eyes, "Oh, my sister-in-law is here."
Liang Yujin's face flushed red at her teasing, "I should call you sister-in-law."
She knew that Wei Xiao regarded Qin Li as his elder brother, and since she was in Qin Li's row, she had to call Chen Tan sister-in-law.
Chen Tan didn't expect to be teased by her, and her smile became even brighter. "Then we can call each other sisters from now on. You are older than me, so I will call you Sister Yu Jin, and you can call me Chen Tan. How about that?"
"Sure, Sister Chen Tan." Liang Yujin is also a lively person.
Wu Xia was extremely happy to see that the two of them could get along well.
She took out a bowl, filled it with sesame leaves, handed it to Chen Tan, and said with a smile: "Tan Nier, try it quickly."
"Thank you, Auntie. This is too much." Chen Tan took the bowl and poured most of it down. "I just had dinner, so I'm not hungry yet."
"Okay, okay, I won't eat that much. I'm going to fry some fried dough sticks and save some for later."
"Okay, I'll light the fire for you." Chen Tan carried the bowl and came to the back of the stove. He sat next to Liang Yujin and handed the bowl to Liang Yujin. "Sister Yujin, you eat too."
"No, I ate a lot before you came, and my stomach is full." Liang Yujin smiled and waved her hand, "Aunt Wu's cooking is great, you should try it."
"Okay, I'm welcome."
Chen Tan smiled and picked up a hemp leaf and put it into his mouth.
It is crispy, sweet and has a sesame aroma. It is especially delicious.
"Auntie, your cooking skills are really good. I have never eaten hemp leaves so delicious."
When Wu Xia heard her praise, her eyes narrowed into slits with a smile, "Oh, our Tan Nier is so sweet. Auntie made a lot today. If you like it, take some back."
"Okay, I'm welcome."
Chen Tan finished eating the hemp leaves in the bowl, washed his hands, went to the chopping board, and helped fold the hemp leaf skin into shapes.
With her joining, Wu Xia worked much faster. She fried ten pots of hemp leaves in a row, filling three large clay pots.
Then she fried fried dough twists. Dough twists require a lot of flour, so Wu Xia only fried ten pounds of them.
Youtiao (fried dough sticks) are easy to fry, so Wu Xia fried a hundred of them, and then fried Sanzi (fried dough sticks), sugar cakes, glutinous rice balls, and sweet potato balls, and was busy until noon.
The three of them didn't eat either, mainly because they would feel very full after just one bite.
In the afternoon, the three of them continued to fry radish balls.
It weighed more than fifty pounds and filled two medium-sized jars.
"Tan Nier and Yu Jin are exhausted today."
After finishing the work, Wu Xia made a ceramic cup of milk powder for each of the two girls.
Chen Tan was really thirsty, so he took the cup and drank a sip comfortably.
"I was just helping out, so I wasn't tired. But Aunt and Sister Yu Jin's arms were sore for half the night."
Liang Yujin laughed, "I'm very stupid. I only know how to light a fire. It doesn't make me tired at all."
As she spoke, she stood up and poured Wu Xia a glass of water, "Auntie, have a drink."
"Thank you, Yu Jin is so thoughtful," Wu Xia held the bowl, praised her future daughter-in-law, and looked at Chen Tan again, "I will trouble you again tomorrow. When your sister Yu Jin comes home, I will thank you very much."
Chen Tan responded politely, "Auntie treats me like a daughter. I don't know how to thank you enough. How can doing a little work be considered troublesome?"
"Okay, okay, auntie won't be polite with you for now. Come on, I'll take you back."
Wu Xia picked up the sandalwood basket and took her out.
The group of children were still clinging to the crack of the door, and they scattered when they saw the door open.
Wu Xia went back into the house, brought out a basket of hemp leaves, gave each of them a few, and then sternly drove them away, "It's getting dark, go home and eat."
The children took the hemp leaves and put them into their mouths hurriedly, with smiles on their skinny little faces, but no one said thank you.
At this time, Qin Li walked out from the back corner of the house, took the basket, and looked at Wu Xia, "Auntie, I'm here to pick up Xiao Tan."
"Oh, I was just saying I'd send her back. You're here just in time," Wu Xia pushed Chen Tan in front of him. "It's getting late. I have to send Yu Jin back, so I won't keep you here any longer."
"Well, Auntie, we're back!"
Chen Tan followed Qin Li obediently, "Brother, why are you here?"
Qin Li stood by the roadside and motioned her to go ahead, "I'll pick you up."
"It's such a short distance, there's no need to pick it up," Chen Tan said, taking a few quick steps. "Have you had dinner yet?"
"I've eaten. Grandma cooked some corn porridge. Have you eaten it?" Qin Li's eyes stayed on her shiny black head. "Don't you like that hairpin?"
His voice was soft and low, sounding soft and warm to Shen Tan's ears.
"It's too expensive. There's no occasion to wear it."
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