Yuanyang Farming Story

Chapter 10

After finally calming down the turmoil in her heart, Xiaoxiu poured herself two big bowls of boiled water, and then slowly came out of the room.Feeling guilty, he looked for Xiao Su everywhere, but found that Xiao Su was not in the house.Subconsciously, Xiaoxiu went to the river to find Xiaosu.The newly harvested water chestnut needs some simple cleaning to wash off the duckweed on the surface of the water chestnut, and then it can be bought in the market.

Xiaoxiu stood on the bank watching Xiaosu carefully clean the water chestnut.A big bamboo basket was filled eighty percent full, and then Xiao Su carried the basket into the water and shook it left and right, first to wash away the duckweed on the water chestnut surface, and then lifted the basket and shook it vigorously, trying to press the duckweed on the water chestnut. The duckweed under the basket also shakes out, so that it can be washed clean, and when it looks good, people will come to buy it.

Xiao Su's movements looked very powerful, especially the halo refracted by the sun shining on the sweat on Xiao Su's forehead, which made Xiao Xiu very fascinated.Xiaoxiu just watched in a daze as Xiaosu cleaned up all the water chestnuts in a sack.Then when Xiao Su raised her head to wipe her sweat, she saw Xiao Xiu looking at her with fiery eyes, she couldn't help but grinned at Xiao Xiu, and then continued to lower her head to clean the water chestnut in embarrassment.

And Xiaoxiu couldn't keep staring at Xiaosu like this, so she stepped forward and patted Xiaosu, motioning him to watch her seriously: "I'll borrow a small cart. You continue to wash water chestnuts." Xiaosu nodded .The fresher the water chestnuts, the more popular they are. The fresh water chestnuts are the most delicious. After a long time, the water chestnuts will become bitter, so Xiaoxiu has to borrow a small cart, and then get these water chestnuts as soon as possible. All sold.

Borrowing the trolley back, and loading more than a sack of water chestnuts into the cart, Xiaoxiu and Xiaosu hurried to the market in the town.Although Xiaoxiu got up early in the morning to turn water chestnuts, there was so much work to be done and so many roads to rush, so by the time Xiaoxiu and the others arrived at the market, more than half of the market had passed.

I found an open space to move down the sacks of water chestnuts, and Xiaoxiu began to sell them: "Fresh big red water chestnuts, don't miss them when you pass by. Whether you buy them raw or cook them, the taste is delicious. It’s very good.” I don’t know if it’s Xiaoxiu who sells it well, or the Hongling in the courtyard is really good.Anyway, as soon as the stall was set up, many people gathered around to watch it.

"Girl, how much is this red water chestnut?"

Xiaoxiu also came out to sell water chestnut for the first time, and it was not easy to open, so she was afraid that no one would want it, so she hesitated and said, "My red water chestnut has been on the market early, and the taste is good. It costs ten cents a catty?" Then he gave each of the onlookers a water chestnut and asked them to taste it.As a result, everyone said it tasted good after eating it, so you started selling one catty, and I started selling two catties.Still the same as before, Xiaoxiu said, Xiaosu collected the money, and after the two of them had been busy for a long time, they sold all the water chestnuts.

It's past dinner time after all the water chestnuts are sold out. Xiaoxiu took Xiaosu to eat after touching the thick pile of money in her pocket. The restaurant ordered a bowl of Caotou, a bowl of cucumber scrambled eggs, and a bowl of clear soup.There are not many dishes, but the quantity is large. The two of them got up early in the morning and were already very hungry. As soon as the dishes came, they only saved their chopsticks to eat.By the time the two of them put down their chopsticks, they had already eaten all the two dishes and one soup.

After paying the money, Xiaoxiu habitually took Xiaosu's hand and went out to get the cart.When passing by the stall of an old Chinese doctor where Xiaosu saw a doctor, Xiaoxiu turned in.Xiaosu has been taking the medicine at home. After careful calculation, it has been almost a month. Although the prescription has been changed twice, there has been no improvement.There is still a piece of medicine left at home, even if I don't come to sell water chestnut today, I will come to change the prescription tomorrow.

The old doctor took Xiao Su's pulse again carefully, and asked some specific information, but his face was a bit unhappy.Although it is said that this disease is ugly from the very beginning, people who practice medicine always hope to see that difficult and miscellaneous diseases can be cured in their own hands.In the past, no matter how complicated the disease was, after three or five doses of prescriptions, even if it could not be completely cured, there was improvement.But this patient has taken so many medicines, but there is no improvement at all.It seems that I still haven't learned my homework.

"Girl, I won't prescribe the prescription this time. I will follow the previous prescription and let him go home and eat for another half a month. If there is still no improvement, I will take him to my master to have a look. You see Okay?" Xiaoxiu also hoped that Xiaosu could hear, and she agreed to whatever the old doctor said.

"Okay, then I'll buy some medicine later." Xiaoxiu nodded, took the previous prescription and put it away, ready to buy medicine again.Then I thought of the herbs in my courtyard. "Master, I have planted some herbs at home. What should I do with the herbs after they are picked?" Xiaoxiu is the first time to plant herbs, so she only knows how to plant them with seeds. Anyway, there are no weeds and no diseases and insects in the courtyard. It's incredibly simple.But Xiaoxiu really didn't know what to do with the herb when it was ripe.

When Xiaoxiu said this, the master was very interested. He asked Xiaoxiu carefully which herbs were planted, and then he talked about how to pick them and how to dry them.After talking about it, he gave Xiaoxiu a book, which talked about the growth characteristics of various herbs, how to pick them when they are ripe, and how to deal with them after picking.The most important thing is that this is actually a handwritten copy. Xiaoxiu quickly waved her hand: "Master, I will copy a copy and return it to you when I get home. Alright."

The old Chinese doctor was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Well, then you can make a copy."

After redeeming the medicine, Xiao Sula went to Xiaoxiu and said face to face: "Xiaoxiu, I want to go to the bookstore." Xiaoxiu also wanted to go to the bookstore, so the two went to the bookstore one after the other.It's just that this is a small town, where is there any bookstore?On the contrary, I found several orders in the post office.Xiaoxiu has been sizing up Xiaosu's expression. Since Xiaosu came back from the army, he has never made any request. In terms of food, what is there to eat, and the clothes are still those issued by the army. Xiaoxiu I saw that those few pieces were already worn out a bit.

Seeing Xiaosu's disappointment in not being able to find the book now, Xiaoxiu felt reluctant to part with it. She touched the water chestnut banknotes in her pocket, and after asking Xiaosu what book she wanted, she ruthlessly searched for it in the order list of the post office. Several books with similar content were ordered for him.Xiao Su looked at it and naturally stopped Xiao Xiu from paying her, and Xiao Su accidentally touched Xiao Xiu's chest. But she didn't dare to touch Xiaoxiu's body again. Xiaoxiu was also heartbroken at that time, but she was thick-skinned and didn't let others see that she was embarrassed, so Xiaoxiu pretended not to care and filled out the order form, and then just waited. The monthly book has arrived.

After leaving the gate of the post office, Xiao Su's face was still red.But Xiaoxiu was secretly happy, touching her pointed chin, Xiaoxiu smiled a little unscrupulously, does this mean that she was molested by him?Or did she tease Xiao Su?However, Xiao Su's blushing look is really pretty, especially those black eyes are more energetic, they look particularly dazzling.It's so bright you can't take your eyes off it!
According to the old habit, Xiao Su pushes the cart, and Xiao Xiu goes shopping.After leaving the post office, Xiaoxiu pushed Xiaosu straight to the butcher's stall.I really want to eat meat and my eyes are green.Standing in front of the meat stall, Xiaoxiu ordered two catties of suet, three catties of pork belly, three catties of hind legs, and a piece of pork offal.With just such a little thing, the money earned from selling water chestnuts this morning was almost spent, but Xiao Xiuhua was very happy.It's cool to pay.It's rare that someone buys so much meat all at once, and the stall owner even gave Xiaoxiu a few big pig bones at the end.Of course, Xiaoxiu will give as much as she wants, this thing is good to make soup!
He piled all the meat on the trolley, and Xiaoxiu got on the trolley unceremoniously, and then patted Xiaosu on the shoulder: "My waist is sore from turning water chestnuts in the morning, so I want to be lazy and don't want to walk, okay?" Okay?" Xiao Su looked at Xiao Xiu's smiling face, was there anyone who refused?Xiaoxiu is not fat, so it is very easy for Xiaosu to carry the goods with others.Along the way, Xiaoxiu was already very hungry.

Take two catties of lard suet back to make oil, and use lard cakes to make wontons. That is the most fragrant, so people want to eat it!Pork belly is used to cook braised pork. It is cut into large pieces with essence and fat. It is fat but not greasy when you bite into it. You can eat more than half a bowl in one sitting.Take the hind leg meat back and marinate it with salt, and save it to eat slowly!The more Xiaoxiu thought about it, the hungrier she became, and she wished that the distance of three to five miles would shrink to an inch, so that she could reach home in one step.

All the way home, Xiaoxiu picked up suet and ran in at the door. She was so tired that Xiaosu brought home all the miscellaneous things she bought at the market, and then had to return the car.When he came back, Xiaoxiu was ready to start cooking lard.Wash the pig suet first, then cut it into small pieces and drain the water.When the water dries up, Xiaoxiu puts water in a pot inside the stove, throws the whole piece of pork belly into it, then covers it and burns it.

Xiaoxiu's skill of roasting pork belly was learned from her mother before, and she learned it very well.Xiaoxiu still remembers how her mother burned it.First put the whole piece of pork belly to boil in cold water, after a little boiling, take out the meat piece, wash it in cold water, and then cut it into small pieces for later use.At this time, it is time to fry the syrup. This step is the most critical, whether the meat is good or not depends on this step.

The fire must be low, otherwise the sugar will be burnt and it will not taste good.After the syrup is fried, throw the meat and stir-fry until the color of the meat is uniform, then add cooking wine, water, and then boil the water over low heat.Just add some salt just before serving.In the past, Xiaoxiu liked to eat this braised pork dish the most, so it was also the dish she learned best.

After the pork belly is processed, it is necessary to boil pork suet.Pork suet is easy to boil, as long as the fire is not too high.Put a small amount of oil in the oil pan first, and when the oil is hot, put a few pieces of lard suet in the pan, the white and fat lard suet will soon become dry and thin, and the oil will run away It came out, and then fished out the fried lard cakes, and continued to put down a batch.When there is a lot of lard, scoop a little into the bowl first, and put a little salt flower in the bowl, so as to prolong the storage time of lard.

Originally, the good woman wanted her to cook the oil, but Xiaoxiu was not willing to work for her.So Xiaosu lit the fire and Xiaoxiu went to the stove. If there is a big fire, there will be a big fire, and if there is a small fire, there will be a small fire. The two of them cooperated very well.It didn't take long for two catties of lard suet to become lard cakes and two large bowls of lard.And when the oil was cooking, Xiaoxiu's braised pork was already ready, and the three of them ate it to their comfort that night.It’s been a long time since I ate meat so happily!

After dinner, Xiaoxiu sat on the chair and touched her round belly, "Xiaosu, after all, the meat is delicious!" Will you have a stomachache?I hope I don’t need it, it’s rare to have a good meal, don’t waste it!
The good woman smiled while clearing the table: "Xiaoxiu's meat is really delicious, and the good woman can eat it even if she has bad teeth."

"Then good woman, Xiaoxiu will cook you every day from now on!"

"It's possible to eat it every day, even the former landlord's house didn't have any meat every day!" Hearing what the good woman said, Xiaoxiu couldn't help turning her eyes, patted Xiaosu's hand and said, "Let's raise some pigs ourselves." Let's raise it! It has ten or eight heads, and you can kill it whenever you want to eat it! Do you think it's okay?" Xiao Su laughed when she heard it, and the good woman ran over to take a picture of Xiao Xiu.

"It's hard enough to raise a pig at home, and you have to raise another ten or eight. What do you feed the pig? How about raising a pig by yourself just to eat a few bites of meat? Besides, this pig can't be raised in a day or two." Big one. Xiaoxiu, you really want to come out as soon as you come out!"

(End of this chapter)