Splendid peasant girl busy farming

In the kitchen, Liu was wearing an apron and standing behind a brand new stove. In front of her was a large, deep clay pot in which she was kneading a ball of glutinous rice flour.

There are two bowls of water next to it, one is cold water and the other is hot. The cold and hot water are mixed alternately to knead the dough. The kneaded dough is pounded and beaten in the clay basin, trying to make it smooth and soft.

At the same time, Liu was still talking to Sun next to her. Sun also folded her hands, stood aside and gave some instructions from time to time.

Under Sun's guidance, Liu's dough became better and better.

So much so that Liu couldn't help but praise Sun: "Third sister-in-law, you are really a good master. You can even teach a stupid apprentice like me."

Sun smiled and said, "You are not stupid, you will learn it once you are taught!"

"No, no, no, I'm stupid. I didn't know how to knead it before. It was either too dry or too watery. Sister-in-law, please give me some pointers. Look, it's kneaded so well!"

"Haha, after all, it's you who are smart, you can learn it in no time."

"Oh, I just walked in and heard you two sisters-in-law praising each other." Yang Ruoqing walked into the kitchen with a smile and saw through the situation at a glance.

It turned out that the chimney of the fourth room was smoking because after Liu received the glutinous rice flour sent by Sun, she couldn't wait to knead the dough to make glutinous rice balls.

As a person with the sentiment of a giver, Sun was of course happy to see Liu's behavior, so he stayed here to teach Liu step by step, striving to make the most perfect dumplings with the glutinous rice flour he ground, thus realizing the ultimate emotional value.

"Qing'er, don't go. Wait until the pot is hot and then put the dumplings on the stove. Then you can taste Fourth Aunt's cooking!"

Liu rolled up her sleeves and called Yang Ruoqing, apparently ready for a big fight.

"Okay!" Yang Ruoqing agreed happily, "Aunt Si, you and my mother can make dumplings first, and I'll go to your house to take a look."

"Go ahead, look around, take a look."

Liu waved her hand, seeming to be very confident about these rooms.

Yang Ruoqing nodded to Sun again, turned and left the kitchen.

She first visited the main room next door, where a long table was placed against the middle wall, and above the table hung a central hall with a painting of an old birthday star and couplets on both sides.

There is a pair of red candles on the long table, which are extinguished. There is also a shrine in the middle of the red candles. The goddess Guanyin is enshrined in the shrine, and there are three plates of offerings in front of the shrine.

It’s strange, how could my fourth aunt insist on not eating any of the offerings placed in front of the shrine this time?

Then came the basic furniture of a farmer's home, an octagonal table, matching stools, and teapots and teacups. Overall, there weren't many things, but they were all in their place and very neatly arranged.

Next door are Yang Huaming and Liu's wing rooms. The design this time is a little different from the past. In the past, the doors of several rooms were all facing east, just like the government family dormitories in the 90s, one next to the other.

But this time, except for the kitchen door which was opened separately, the other three rooms were entered from the main door of the main hall. There was a doorway on the right wall, through which there was a front suite of about four or five square meters. The large half of the room behind the suite was where Yang Huaming and Liu slept, with a bed, two four-legged wardrobes, a washstand, a set of washbasins, and Liu's dressing table at the head of the bed.

There was a table in the suite with some simple sundries beside it. There was still a doorway on the right wall of the suite. Through the doorway was the fourth room in the west wing, which was also a place reserved for the girls of the fourth room to stay when they returned to their parents' home.

Yang Ruoqing also leaned over and took a look at the fourth room.

Because it is a place to stay, the focus is on sleeping.

So a bunk bed was set up in the room. Opposite the bunk bed was a table, two long stools, and a curtain hung in the corner. Behind the curtain was probably the place where the urine bucket was placed.

The bunk bed could probably accommodate seven or eight people... After seeing all this, Yang Ruoqing couldn't help but marvel at it.

It is said that this design was tailor-made for them by Li Laoer after Fourth Uncle had a lot of communication with Li Laoer and expressed the practical value he pursued in building this house.

You know what, it’s really practical!

For example, when Juer, San Yatou, Chunxia and the others came back, the six of them all lived in the old house and had no need to move to the new house at the entrance of the village.

"Qing'er, the glutinous rice balls are ready, come and eat them!"

Liu's voice came from behind. Yang Ruoqing turned around and found that Liu had already found her way into the suite.

Seeing Yang Ruoqing standing on the bunk bed and looking around, Liu rubbed her hands on her apron and said with a smile, "How is it? This room is a little small, but it's still quite comfortable to live in, what do you think?"

Yang Ruoqing nodded sincerely, "Although the house is small, it has everything. Usually, Fourth Aunt and Fourth Uncle live comfortably in this house. During the holidays, Juer and her family can also be accommodated. It's great!"

Receiving Yang Ruoqing's affirmation, Liu was very proud and smiled with all her features flying.

She didn't care that her hands were still greasy. She went up and patted the neatly folded bedding on the bunk bed, saying, "Juer and San Yatou stayed here a few days ago. The kids were chirping and making noises at night. It was so lively!"

"In the future, when He'er gives birth to a baby, the three sisters will come back with the baby and there will be room for them all to stay here!"

That’s how good it is to have a bunk bed!

Yang Ruoqing also likes the dormitory room, but this house still has some flaws in its design.

That is, since this is a dormitory bed with an earthen kang, the distance between this room and the kitchen should have been close, instead of being separated by two rooms, which is a huge distance.

The advantage of being next to the kitchen is that if you open up a connection in the middle, when there is a fire in the kitchen, the kang can also be heated up.

This is how Luo Fengtang's mother Tuoba Xian designed her courtyard many years ago when she lived in the Luo family.

Later, Tuoba Xian left here and returned to the place that belonged to her. No one lived in that courtyard anymore. Later, when Luo Baobao grew up a little, she moved in.

"Let's go and eat some dumplings! I just took a bite and it's so sweet. Come quickly!"

Liu used her greasy hand that had just touched the quilt to pull Yang Ruoqing's hand again.

"Aunt Si, why don't you put these quilts away and air them? If you leave them like this, they will probably get damp again."

"No hurry, wait a few days until your fourth uncle stops coming to sniff, then I'll collect it."

"Huh? Sniff? What does that mean?"

"Hi!" Liu stopped, patted her thigh, and said with a smile: "Your fourth uncle is like a woman. Didn't Ju'er and the third girl leave with their children a few days ago?"

"Yeah, why, he's sentimental?"

"That's right. He seems to be hollowed out. Every night when he comes back from the Taoist temple, he comes to sit on the bunk bed in this room for a while, touching here and looking there."

Liu pointed to one of the quilts and said, "Look, that quilt was slept on by several little grandchildren. He stopped me from taking it apart, washing it, or drying it in the sun, saying that it still smelled like the kids. Listen, it smells like a man, sticky, even stickier than the glutinous rice balls I made today!" (End of this chapter)