I only sliced a little of the two pounds of meat I bought yesterday and put it in the cabbage and tofu dish; the rest is still locked in the cupboard.
The mother and daughter had a simple lunch. Song Qing chopped some minced meat, added soaked hazel mushrooms, and stir-fried it with Uncle Lao Gen's homemade sauce.
The noodles are made by mixing cornmeal and wheat flour, scalding them in a pot, placing them in a bowl, and then adding a fragrant and glossy stir-fried topping. It looks good and tastes delicious.
Even though An'an had already eaten a lot of popcorn, she couldn't stop and finished all the noodles in her bowl.
“I’m so full.”
The sun was shining brightly at noon, and it felt warm and cozy on people. Song Qing moved her chair into the yard so she could sit there and bask in the sun.
An'an isn't fat, she just has baby fat on her face and looks round. Some babies naturally have chubby bellies, which become more noticeable after a full meal. Her little hands are fair and tender, and her knuckles have the little dimples that children her age have.
Song Qing loves to look pretty and likes to dress her up. The mother and daughter apply oil to their faces every night, so their skin doesn't crack even in winter, and their skin is smooth and tender. In addition, she is bold and not afraid of strangers, and she seems like a very generous child.
"Mom, when are we going to the zoo?"
Once people are full, they start thinking about other things. Visiting the zoo is a big deal for a child, and so she started talking about the zoo again.
"Wait until your dad takes a vacation."
"When does Daddy take his vacation?" She wasn't actually asking anything specific; she was simply talking about the zoo.
The mother and daughter chatted idly, making small talk.
They had originally planned to stay at home for a day, but the house had been cleaned for so many days that there was really nothing left to do. The two of them were getting restless and decided to go to Uncle Lao Gen's house for a visit.
Uncle Lao Gen's team hasn't had any work yet, so everyone's staying indoors. They're taking this time to go over there and chat.
Without hesitation, the mother and daughter locked the door, picked up their belongings, and went to Uncle Laogen's house.
That's why we still need to buy bicycles. It takes them half an hour to walk, but only 10 minutes to ride a bicycle.
Lu Yang will go to the zoo first, and then buy things, while he takes his vacation.
There were quite a few people at Lao Gen's house today. Everyone was carrying winnowing baskets and picking soybeans. When they saw Song Qing arrive, they all greeted her warmly.
"Old Cui, are your relatives visiting?"
"You're from the South, aren't you? You're really beautiful."
Old Gen's wife was quite surprised to see Song Qing and the others when she came out.
“Sister Gen, we were so bored at home that we thought we’d come to the village for a visit. These are dried vegetables that my mom sent over; they’re great for soups and stir-fries.”
"You've already come all this way, and you even brought things with you. If you're bored, come visit our village more often. There's no work right now, but once the snow melts, we'll be turning the soil and planting crops, and then everyone will be at work."
"So we'll take advantage of this time to play a little longer."
Old Gen's wife took the dried vegetables and pulled Song Qing aside to introduce them to her.
“This isn’t my relative. Xiao Song lives in the family compound. Xiao Song, sit down and listen to our chat.”
Several middle-aged women sat in Uncle Laogen's courtyard, smiling as they watched the mother and daughter. It turned out they were military wives who had come from the family compound to accompany their husbands. No wonder their demeanor was so different from those of the women who had been rolling around in the mud.
Old Lady Lao Gen took two dried persimmons from inside the house and gave them to the two girls. "These were dried earlier and they're very sweet. You should try them."
The women were all older than Song Qing, belonging to her mother's generation. They were very friendly and chatted with the mother and daughter.
The soy sauce that Lao Gen's family makes is famous in this area. Now that it's time to make soy sauce blocks again, everyone is gathering in her yard, hoping to learn how to make it.
"Sister Gen's sauce is really delicious. We used it to stir-fry vegetables yesterday, and the aroma was so good that the neighbors came to ask about it."
"You silly child, you're exaggerating." No one dislikes hearing compliments, and Old Root's wife has always been proud of her sauce-making skills.
"How is this sauce made? I'd like to learn how to make some when I get home."
When Lao Gen's wife heard this, she thought that since it was her first time doing it this year, she might not do it well, so she decided to do it together.
"Bring some beans over; my pot is big enough to cook them all in one pot."
After the sauce blocks are made, they need to ferment in a cool, dark place for two months. Only after fermentation are you can you take them home and use them to make soybean paste.
Song Qing's family didn't have any soybeans, but Lao Gen's family could spare 10 jin (5 catties), so they simply sold them to her.
A group of people sat there chatting and picking soybeans when Aunt Tian, one of the women, looked at Song Qing strangely. "Young lady, your way of speaking doesn't sound like it's from your hometown. Some of the words you use are actually the same as those from our hometown."
"Aunt Tian, aren't you from around here?"
Northeastern dialect is particularly easy to assimilate. Outsiders can't hear the subtle regional differences, but they can tell it's from the Northeast just by hearing the accent.
“Our family used to come from outside the Great Wall. My dad carried us children in a carrying pole and ran here.”
The two of them paired up and discovered that Aunt Tian's hometown was actually in the same province and city as Song Qing's mother's hometown.
As the conversation continued, more coincidences were discovered, the most shocking being that they even shared the same commune.
Aunt Tian's eyes immediately welled up with tears. She didn't actually have a deep memory of her hometown, but her parents missed it. It was only a few years ago when they went back that they learned what commune it belonged to. She didn't know what production team the village belonged to, but she remembered the scene next to her house.
"I only went there once when I was a child. I just remember there was a river there, and my maternal grandmother's house was in the village behind the river."
"Yes, yes, isn't there a big banyan tree behind the village? People used to go there to worship it."
Song Qing nodded. She remembered the tree; she had gone to see it with her cousins back then.
“Oh dear, then we must be from the same village. My dad said that almost everyone in the village is related to someone else. So, you should call me auntie.”
Aunt Tian, with tears welling up in her eyes, grasped Song Qing's hand. What kind of fate was this? She had actually met someone connected to her hometown here.
"My goodness, what a coincidence!"
"Tian Cuihua, why don't you hurry up and take your newly adopted niece home for dinner?" Everyone was surprised and teased each other, saying that this was truly a coincidence.
"Come on, Xiao Song, bring your child to our house for dinner tonight."
Aunt Tian insisted on taking Song Qing there for a meal. She was the youngest in the family and was only a few years old when she came over. The whole family had settled down in Northeast China.
“My parents went very far away back then. The place they live now is dozens or even hundreds of kilometers away from here, and it’s even colder than here.”
Aunt Tian had married far away and could only return home once every few years. Seeing Song Qing reminded her of her parents who always longed for their hometown.
Even some of the older siblings said they would go back to visit when conditions improved, but unfortunately they only went back once or twice.
Song Qing was also very shocked. She had only started thinking about her mother last night, and today she actually met her mother's fellow villager, who might even be a distant relative.
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