My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 138 Strange Interests
When the young couple heard Liang Hongyu's voice, they went outside. Once outside, they discovered that the two elders had been brought by their son, but only Liang Yuemin was there; his daughter-in-law and grandson were not.

Since it wasn't the first time Liang Yuemin had met Chen Ling, he wasn't shy at all. When he saw Chen Ling and Wang Susu come out, he greeted them warmly. After chatting for a few minutes at the door, he and Liang Hongyu started carrying boxes of things downstairs.

"Uncle, Aunt, we have everything we need at home, why bring so much stuff? It's not like it's the first time you've come here."

"Haha, my parents are regulars. This is my first time visiting their home, how could I come empty-handed!"

“I heard from my parents that not many people grow rice here, so I brought some rice with me. We’ll carry it down in a bit.”

Liang Yuemin nodded towards the pile of rice behind the truck and smiled.

Chen Ling glanced at it and saw that there were indeed quite a few. He sighed inwardly, but it wouldn't be appropriate to be polite anymore, otherwise it would seem too distant.

So he invited the three of them into his home, saying, "Come in first, it's almost dinnertime, let's eat first, I'm just about to go to the reservoir to catch a couple of fish."

Liang Hongyu quickly pulled him back: "No need, we ate when we came, we were just afraid you'd go through all that trouble again."

"Auntie, what are you saying? You've come to my house, shouldn't you have a meal? How can you call it making a fuss?"

Chen Ling frowned slightly upon hearing this.

Not to mention that the two elders never come empty-handed, they also get along very well and get along quite well together. If they start being overly polite, it makes him feel a little uncomfortable.

Upon seeing this, Liang Hongyu immediately laughed: "Susu, look at him, he's still unhappy."

"I really didn't mean anything by it. Your uncle and I just came back from the city and ate on the way. We were originally going to the countryside, but we were just passing by here, so we thought we'd bring Yuemin to get acquainted with the place."

As they walked into the courtyard, they began to talk about what had happened in the past few days.

It turns out that Liu Yinhuan's father injured his back and was hospitalized in the city.

It wasn't originally this serious, but unfortunately, someone died at the township health center, and it's been closed for a while, which delayed treatment. I managed to hold on for a few days, but I couldn't take it anymore and couldn't even get out of bed.

It was Liang Hongyu and Qin Rong who first found someone to take her to the city hospital.

Both Liang Yuemin and his wife had work to do and shouldn't have been able to come back this year, but they rushed back because of this incident.

"No wonder Susu and I saw the house was locked when we went to the city last time! How is Uncle Liu doing? Is he doing any better?"

"I'm almost fully recovered. It's really nothing serious, just that the treatment wasn't timely and I caught a chill at night. I don't even need surgery, just some medicine and about six months of rest and recuperation will do the trick."

"That's good. You have to be careful as you get older."

"You're absolutely right, Huanhuan was terrified too. She was just about to quit her job when she got back. It's been such a hassle to take leave every year, and the end of the year is always busy. She hasn't been able to go back to her hometown for several years in a row. If something bad were to happen like this, where would she go to regret it?"

"Ahem, Hongyu, why are you saying this to the child..."

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. You and Susu should eat quickly. We'll take Yuemin for a walk. Don't worry about us."

Liang Hongyu smiled and waved her hand.

"It's okay, we're not in a hurry to eat."

Chen Ling brewed tea, and Wang Susu washed the fruit she had left at home and brought it over.

As soon as everything was ready, they sat down and hadn't even exchanged two words when Qin Rongxian led Liang Yuemin to the millstone and began looking around with great interest.

"Fugui, are you grinding flour at home? I see the wheat is already drying in the sun."

"Yes, we're almost out of flour at home, so we're planning to grind some more."

"Haha, that's perfect. It's been years since I've touched this thing. Let the two of us try it out and grind it for a bit."

"Okay."

Chen Ling agreed, but he wasn't very optimistic about them.

Their own millstone was quite large, with the millstone about 80 centimeters in diameter and 30 centimeters thick. The base was even larger, at least 120 or 130 centimeters in diameter and 15 centimeters thick. Neither the father nor the son were the type to do heavy physical labor, and it seemed quite strenuous for them to push it together.

However, the father and son were in high spirits and clearly hadn't expected this.

Seeing this, Liang Hongyu also joined in. The whole family looked at the millstone, then the rabbit, and then the pigeons. Liang Yuemin, in particular, found everything fascinating and couldn't get enough of it.

"This kind of life is wonderful; it's exactly what I've always longed for."

Liang Yuemin stood in front of the rabbit hutch and kept praising it; deep down, he had the spirit of an artistic youth.

Soon, their faces were filled with anticipation and longing.

"It just so happens that Huanhuan is planning to quit her job at the TV station. Next year, I'll open a branch office in the city, set up a small yard, grow some crops, and raise some things..."

"Also enjoy the life of picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence and leisurely gazing at the southern mountains."

Then came another round of praise.

……

Listening in the kitchen, Chen Ling and Wang Susu exchanged a glance and both saw the smile in each other's eyes.

With guests arriving, Chen Ling felt it inappropriate to go out to fish, so he simply stir-fried some vegetables and ate a bite with rice.

Liang Yuemin, having clearly been instructed by Liang Hongyu and Qin Rongxian, treated it purely as his first meeting with Chen Ling, not mentioning a word about Chen Ling's affairs in the countryside, and simply lingered among the pigeons, quails, and rabbits in the yard.

Soon, Chen Ling finished eating and followed Liang Yuemin's truck to carry the rice to the yard, where they began preparing to grind it into flour.

After a midday break, the wheat on the mat had dried. Originally, Chen Ling wanted to use the white ox to pull the millstone, but since Qin Rongxian and Liang Yuemin both wanted to try it, they decided to push the millstone first.

Chen Ling and Wang Susu prepared a winnowing basket, a winnowing sieve, a sieve tray, a flour sieve, and a broom.

Then, after securing the lever to the two millstones of the millstone, Wang Susu brought over a winnowing basket of dried wheat.

"Are you done? Can we push it now?"

Liang Yuemin couldn't wait any longer, rubbing his hands together, looking eagerly anticipating what was happening.

People in their thirties, like children, stand by and watch eagerly, just waiting to be the ones to do the work.

Seeing this, Liang Hongyu glared at him: "What's the rush? Wait until Fugui is ready."

You can't just pour grain directly into the millstone; you have to spread it out before grinding. That is, you pry open the top millstone and sprinkle two handfuls of grain into the middle.

The reason for this is to prevent the upper and lower millstones from grinding empty when the grinding begins.

Then came distributing the grain and grinding it.

When wheat is placed on the millstone, it will flow through the mill hole on the upper millstone and be sent between the two millstones. Then, the already spread base is pushed to rotate the millstone, and the wheat is ground between the two millstones. The ground wheat then flows down the lower millstone onto the large base.

Then the grains on the millstone are sieved and placed on the top of the millstone, and this process is repeated again and again. It needs to be done slowly, and it takes more than 100 kilograms of wheat to grind in a half-day (4 hours).

"Alright, Yuemin, you can push the millstone now."

Chen Ling pried open the millstone, had his wife spread the bottom out, and then sprinkled wheat on the millstone before speaking to Liang Yuemin.

"Okay, okay, I'll give it a try."

Liang Yuemin rolled up his sleeves, gripped the large wooden bar, and grinned at Qin Rongxian, "Dad, I'll go first then."

Then he began to push the millstone with force.

But as soon as he started to exert himself, Liang Yuemin's expression changed.

He was pushing with all his might, but the large millstone barely moved.

“Fugui, look! Why isn’t it moving?” Before Chen Ling could speak, Qin Rong couldn’t help but say, “This millstone is too big and too heavy. I’ll help you push it.”

As they spoke, they stepped forward, and the father and son together pulled on the large wooden pole.

result……

It's still not ideal.

"This millstone is so heavy."

Liang Yuemin gritted his teeth, pushed with all his might, but the millstone only turned very slowly.

After finally managing to push two laps, he couldn't hold on any longer. He looked completely exhausted and stood there, holding his back and panting heavily.

In just a short while, I was already covered in sweat.

Qin Rongxian was in no better shape, waving his hand at Chen Ling with a wry smile.

There's no way around it; people who don't do manual labor regularly simply can't push a millstone.

"How about I add another bar? Yuemin, you go on the outer circle, and Uncle Qin, you go on the inner circle. Otherwise, you can't get any leverage with just one bar."

Chen Ling said.

"Forget it, let's not bother. This thing is too heavy and is completely different from what I imagined."

Liang Yuemin wiped his sweat: "I actually wanted to push it a little longer, but I still have to drive, and I'm worried that if I lose my strength, I won't be able to hold the steering wheel later."

"Fugui, will your family still grind flour in the future? I'll bring Huanhuan and Xiaoming over in a couple of days to play at your house. Can we grind flour again then?"

"You've become addicted?"

Liang Hongyu laughed and said, "But this millstone is indeed quite heavy. It's hard to find such a large millstone nowadays. What's even more rare is that the grooves and other markings on the millstone are still quite clear. I guess it was used to grind the food for an entire village..."

"Yes, but we rarely use them now that the village has electric mills. If you want to grind grain, you can get a smaller stone mill, but grinding grain is a slow process. No matter how big or small the millstone is, you'll get the hang of it after a few tries."

Chen Ling smiled and was about to fetch water for them so they could wash up.

Liang Yuemin said, "It's alright, let's wash our hands first. Even if we can't push the millstone, we can still help with other things."

Then, Qin Rong and he each took a tool and stood next to Liang Hongyu, ready to assist her.

“Alright, I’ll go and bring the ox over. This millstone is big and it’s quite strenuous; it’s better to have livestock pull it.”

……

After a while, Liang Yuemin saw Chen Ling leading a large white water buffalo into the yard, and he couldn't help but widen his eyes: "It's actually a white buffalo, so beautiful."

Looking at the white water buffalo, which was pure white without a single blemish and had incredibly beautiful lines, he was immediately delighted. He put down the sieve in his hand and prepared to go forward and reach out to touch it.

"No, Yuemin, stay away from Xiaobai. Fugui's white ox is really beautiful, but it has quite a temper. No one is allowed to get close except for the two of them. Your dad and I rode it once last time, and it won't let us touch it again. We can't even walk near it, and it even got angry at us."

When Liang Hongyu saw her son's appearance, she immediately stopped him.

"Huh? Aren't cows supposed to be the most docile animals?"

Upon hearing this, Liang Yuemin looked embarrassed and blinked before asking a question.

Such a beautiful white cow, anyone who sees it would be unable to resist liking it.

Qin Rong glanced at his son and said, "Most cows are like that, but no matter what kind of cow it is, when it gets angry, it can be quite frightening. 'Bull's temper,' you think it's just a casual remark?"

"Moo."

The little white calf, being intelligent, bellowed in dissatisfaction upon hearing the people's comments about it.

Then it lowered its big head and rubbed against Chen Ling's arm, its tail swishing back and forth, its big black eyes looking a little aggrieved, like a child complaining to its parents.

"It's okay, it's okay. Everyone is praising you, saying you're beautiful and very likable."

Chen Ling reached out and scratched its cheek, offering a comforting word. It then let out a long breath through its nose and slowly followed Chen Ling to the stone mill.

Even though Liang Hongyu and the other two had seen it before, they couldn't help but marvel. Liang Yuemin was even more amazed; judging from the expression on his face and the shining eyes, he was probably already thinking about raising a cow.

"Susu, blindfold Xiaobai, and I'll put a gag on it."

"Okay, come here, little white one."

In fact, in rural areas, most of the time, donkeys are used to grind flour.

Grinding a millstone is a slow job, and mules and horses don't like doing it. When they pull the millstone, they don't walk properly. If you hit them, they get angry and go crazy, even pulling the millstone to the ground.

Oxen are slow-moving; even if you beat them, they won't go fast.

Donkeys are the most suitable; they walk at a moderate pace and pull the millstone in circles without getting tired. Of course, before harnessing a donkey to the millstone, it must be fed well; a hungry donkey cannot work.

Otherwise, it will also throw a tantrum. Donkeys have a very strong temper; that's why they say "stubborn donkey" or "unyielding donkey"!

However, our own ox doesn't have these problems, and it's better than a donkey at working, so it's definitely not bad. The reasons are self-evident.

However, no matter what kind of livestock is used, they must be blindfolded with a black cloth, and the little white calf is no exception.

Otherwise, it's easy to get dizzy from grinding the millstone in circles for a long time.

"The golden wheat is milled, ready to be rolled into flour and steamed buns."

The blindfolded white calf started pulling the millstone, and it was indeed much easier and faster than a person could do.

So the group of people and the ox worked around the stone mill for a while, until nearly four o'clock in the afternoon. They had ground three and a half dou of flour. From lunchtime to the start of grinding the flour, it took a full two and a half hours, and more than thirty jin of flour was not a small amount.

"A flat measure of wheat, a pointed measure of flour, the extra bran isn't counted. Grough is like panting rice, it's milled; raw rice cooked is rice..."

For food made at home, the flour needs to be ground very finely.

The fineness of flour milling is entirely determined by the amount of bran. More bran indicates that the wheat was milled well and thoroughly. Less bran results in a coarser texture in the flour.

In the past, when food was scarce, people would try to mill as little bran as possible. A hundred or so pounds of wheat would yield about ten pounds of bran, which would make it seem like there was more flour and that it would last longer.

People usually call this "90 flour," which, as the name suggests, means that 90 pounds of flour are produced from 100 pounds of wheat.

Now that we don't lack food, there's no need for that. We usually just focus on getting 70% flour, and if we get 75% flour in the end, that's considered pretty good.

For example, the well-known "Fuqiang" flour is 70% flour, meaning that only 70% of the flour is extracted from 100 kilograms of wheat, making it an extremely refined white flour. However, for everyday use, 75% to 80% flour is sufficient for making steamed buns and noodles.

The flour is ready.

The first batch of flour is white, and the second batch is black. After the flour is ground, it needs to be stirred evenly.

If you don't mix it well, the white parts will be white and the black parts will be black. It's fine for steamed buns, but if you're making noodles, it'll be a disaster.

So once this is done, it takes quite a bit of time, but luckily there were many people helping out today.

Qin Rongxian and Liang Hongyu had experienced hardship in the countryside and had done a lot of farm work, so they naturally had no problem with it. Liang Yuemin, on the other hand, relied entirely on his enthusiasm and worked very hard. With his parents teaching him, he went from being unfamiliar to being proficient, which also helped him a lot. He usually mingled in the circles of upper-class people and had no contact with these kinds of things, so it was all very new and enjoyable for him.

As he left, he kept telling Chen Ling that he would bring his wife and children over in a while. He felt it was a pity that he couldn't eat freshly ground noodles today because he had only a short time to spare. After all, he had been a part of it.

Chen Ling welcomed them and told them to come anytime. He then waved goodbye to him and Liang Hongyu.

(End of this chapter)