farmhouse ditty

Chapter 125 The Little Sweetness of Chinese New Year Matters
Earlier, Xiu Niang added a few ladles of water to the pot, and when the fire was heated up, it boiled in no time. Mrs. Liu watched as she added some cold water into it, tried to warm it with her hands, and scooped it out from a soup pot. Go to the yard and start kneading.

She put the warm water on the table, picked up the cloth bag and weighed it. The bag weighed at least four catties. She was thinking about what Gangxiu Niang said to serve a dozen people, and that was Lian Chuge. Parents' house is also counted.

After pondering for a while, Mrs. Liu poured all the flour into the wooden basin. To be honest, she wasn't sure how much flour was appropriate for the dozen or so people, so she simply mixed the bag of noodles with water. The big deal is to use the leftover dough from the bag to make a vegetable box to eat.

She scooped up warm water with a wooden ladle in one hand and slowly poured it in, and stirred slowly in one direction with the other hand. When the water and flour were combined, she started kneading the dough with both hands.

Using a kitchen knife, Xiu Niang chopped the cabbage leaves into fine pieces, pulled them into the wooden basin containing the diced meat, and stirred them back and forth evenly. She looked up at Mrs. Liu who was still pounding the dough. up.

As she spoke, she handed the kitchen knife to Mrs. Liu, and asked her to cut half of the dough for herself, and she helped to knead it vigorously.

Mrs. Liu wanted to make it by herself, but her hands turned sore after a while when facing the big dough. She had no choice but to listen to Xiu Niang, took the kitchen knife in his hand, and cut it in half. To Xiu Niang.

Xiu Niang had wiped the table clean earlier. She scooped out a small bowl of flour from the stove (Ms. Liu just told her to mix it into the flour, and there was nothing left), grabbed a small handful and sprinkled it on the table. Then start kneading.

Liu pushed the dough away, rolled it to her side, and kneaded it with the palm of her hand again. Although there was less weight in her hands, it was also laborious to knead repeatedly like this. She took a breath and raised her hand to wipe the sweat.

She glanced at Xiuniang. The way she kneads dough is different from her own. Xiuniang flattened the dough, then folded it together, and then pushed it away with her palm. This is your mother-in-law and the others who have divided the house, why are you still thinking about taking their share?"

Xiu Niang didn't raise her head and said, "Sister-in-law Liu, didn't my parents-in-law and the others just move in? The yard needs to be restored and the house needs to be tidied up. There's no time for other things. We have everything ready-made. Isn't it easy?"

In fact, she did this mostly because of Chu Ge. Although Father Chu moved with Shen Shi and Chu Fu, Chu Ge still misses them in his heart. Go over to help out from time to time.

Besides, Chu Ge is right to do this, at least we are still a family, if Father Chu and the others have moved house, and Chu Ge doesn't help, then the whole village will definitely complain about it.

Moreover, for the sake of the Chinese New Year and the festival, if Xiu Niang didn't care about it, Chu Ge probably would be a little dissatisfied.

After all, this year's Chinese New Year, Chu Ge and his parents, brother, sister-in-law and younger siblings finally got together.

Thinking of this, Xiu Niang suddenly felt a little lost. In fact, she still wanted to be more selfish. She thought that it would be just herself and Chu Ge, living a quiet new year in her own hut.After all, this is also her first year in Xiayang Village in this era.

Mrs. Liu didn't notice Xiu Niang's expression, and said, "Oh, but that's right, then Chu An and Xiao Xiang'er are living with your father-in-law and mother-in-law now, so these two little devils are difficult to take care of. For Chinese New Year, you should also eat meat dumplings."

Xiu Niang listened, looked up at Mrs. Liu, pursed her lips and smiled, and continued to work with her hands.

The two of them kept kneading for a short while, kneading the dough until smooth, then piled it together and put it in the big wooden basin, covered it with a damp cloth, so as to wake up the dough.

In their free time, the two of them were busy chopping minced meat, which was easy, and Mrs. Liu could still chat with Xiuniang when she was free, so she didn't complain.

She looked at Xiuniang's room, "Hey, sister, your main room and the back room are bright and majestic. It's a good thing to look at this New Year's Eve."

Xiuniang smiled, "Sister-in-law Liu, it's good for you to look at this house. I look at my white and white two taels of silver, which is better. A few days ago, I called Sister-in-law Zhang and his wife to come to my house." It’s been repaired, so let’s see if it’s okay.”

Mrs. Liu pointed at Xiuniang with one hand, and complained again, "Oh, you asked me to tell you what's good about you, you are expensive to buy meat, and expensive to repair houses, why are you rushing to (New Year's Eve) ) This juncture is critical, don’t you know that everything is expensive and on fire at this time!”

Xiu Niang didn't say anything, just smiled, "Sister-in-law Liu, fortunately, there are a lot of people repairing houses in the village this year, so I'll catch a ride and repair the house. It's rare to spend a lot of money this New Year's Eve, you It’s okay if you don’t look at it.”

Mrs. Liu replied lightly. She looked at the newly built shed and wall of Xiu's mother's house, and murmured in her heart. Although the husband and wife Zhang asked for a high price, they did a good job of craftsmanship. Look at the house of his sister, Just like the new big house.

She suddenly felt a little regretful, and chopped the minced meat vigorously with her hands, as if she was about to vent her anger.

Xiu Niang raised her eyes and smiled, "Sister-in-law Liu, I didn't provoke you with this chopping board in my house, you jingle, people who don't know would think that my family hired a carpenter to repair the house again today. .”

Mrs. Liu said "Hey", put the kitchen knife on the chopping board, looked at Xiu Niang and boasted, "Hey, sister, don't think I have grown up with you for many years, but there are some things I just don't let you care about them." Tou, take a look, if I called Lao Zhang and his wife to my yard a few days ago to have a look, it’s Chinese New Year today, wouldn’t my house be regarded as living in a new house!”

Xiu Niang put the chopped minced meat into a basin, went back to the stove and brought out some seasonings for seasoning. After thinking about it, she told Mrs. Liu something else. In this countryside, it's better not to be too conspicuous as a woman.

"Hey, Sister-in-law Six, look at what you said, it was a coincidence that my daughter-in-law saw Zhang's sister-in-law knocking on my door, and called her in with a ticklish mouth. She saw that my yard was much worse, Just talking around and asking me to repair the house, I heard what Mrs. Zhang said was good, so I let her do it."

Mrs. Liu made sense when she heard this. When the old Zhang's family came to Xiuniang's courtyard, didn't they tell her to repair the house? This is also a business, right? Thinking of this, she felt a lot more relieved. The family asked her to call her to come to her house, so she might be persuaded by the old Zhang's family to build the big house.

Xiu Niang watched from the side, seeing that Mrs. Liu had listened, she smiled secretly, what she said just now was actually half true, she wanted to do this when Father Chu moved away earlier, but Think about it later, it's better to delay doing it for a while, or let outsiders watch, saying that as soon as Father Chu and his wife moved away, she would start repairing the house anxiously, wouldn't that just tell outsiders that it was her Did you drive away your in-laws, Bom...

The two of them made the stuffing and put it in a cool place to marinate for a while, so that it tasted good. Mrs. Liu remembered that there was something else going on in her room, so she talked to Xiu Niang and went back to the room.

Mrs. Liu happened to run into Chu Ge when she went out, "Hey, Chu Ge, here comes the water carrier. Are there many people in the mountain stream right now?"

Chu Ge shouldered the burden and said, "Sister-in-law six, almost three or four are waiting."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Liu hurriedly said that she would go back and ask Ji Laoliu to fetch water, but she greeted Chu Ge and Xiu Niang and left.

Xiu Niang was idle, watching Chu Ge come in, she stepped forward to help him carry the bucket, and poured it into the newly vacated water tank. Originally, she and Chu Ge lived in the courtyard. That's enough, but now that it's New Year's Eve, everyone stays at home during the first two days of the first day of the new year, and no one comes out to work, so some commonly used firewood and draft water should be prepared more.

She glanced at Chu Ge, put the pole and barrel together, and said, "Chu Ge, what's going on with your parents-in-law? Would you like to use it to help?"

Chu Ge was pulling his clothes to wipe his sweat, and after listening to Xiu Niang's speech, he finally said dumbly, "Dad, Mom and Dad just tidied it up yesterday, and I'm busy cleaning the big house today. Prepare water and firewood..."

Xiu Niang looked at Chu Ge's expression, thinking that if she walked from his house to the creek, she must pass by Hanchizi, and she would reach Shen's place as soon as she turned the corner, so it's no wonder Chu Ge didn't go.

Although she was a little dissatisfied, she still said, "There is nothing wrong with the house. You fill up the water and go to help your mother-in-law and the others. In that big house, there are old and small, There is also a big belly woman who has to guard, and I see that the eldest brother is busy alone."

Chu Ge was taken aback for a moment, and then broke into a smile, he knew that Xiu Niang would do this.

Seeing Chu Ge's happy smile, Xiu Niang sighed helplessly. She pulled her sleeves and wiped Chu Ge's sweat, "Go quickly, and tell your parents-in-law later to let her second elder come to our house." Eat dumplings, huh?"

Hearing what Xiu Niang said, Chu Ge felt so warm in his heart. He looked at Xiu Niang's delicate face, a little angry, but also a little unbearable, his big watery eyes blinked, like A wronged little daughter-in-law, that little show of compromise makes people feel distressed at first glance, and at first glance it is not enough.

His heart tightened suddenly, he couldn't help holding Xiu Niang's hand, and pulled it into his arms with a little effort, his hands were tightly circled.

Xiu Niang was stunned, she put her little hand on Chu Ge's strong chest, and heard his deep voice ringing in her ears, "Daughter-in-law, thank you."

After Chu Ge finished speaking, he hugged Xiu Niang tightly, then let go of his hand, and turned around to get the pole and bucket without looking back.

Xiu Niang came back to her senses, raised her eyes to watch Chu Ge go out, if she looked carefully, she could still see his red ears.

She touched her burning ears in a daze, her heart was very sweet, she bit her lip and smiled, she was so stupid, it's time to get the hang of it...

This time, Xiu Niang suddenly heard a teasing, "Oh, oh, it's so sweet."

(End of this chapter)