Eating melons and raising children in the period literature

The next day, Yang Qingqing took a bus to the county town with a large backpack on her back. There were several people on the bus, and Yang Qingqing didn't know them and didn't know if they were from Majiawan Village. She had planned to get off the bus halfway. But she thought about the driver and the other passengers and couldn't just get off the bus. It would be bad if she got caught. So she really went to the county town and went to the supply and marketing cooperative to see if there was anything to buy.

After a round, I found that Yue Mei was not at the counter. But the supply and marketing cooperative actually had two bottles of Moutai. This is a good thing that has appreciated in value.

"Hello, comrade. How much is this Moutai?"

"Hello, comrade, this wine requires 6 yuan and a wine ticket."

Yang Qingqing thought to herself, "What a bargain! This will be very valuable in a few decades. I must get it."

"Okay, I want two bottles of Moutai, this is 12 yuan, and two wine tickets"

Yang Qingqing was enjoying the Moutai liquor.

Yang Qingqing found a place where no one was around. She thought that if she filled the backpack with everything, she would be exposed if she went home to get it like last time. She filled the backpack with everything now, went to the station to wait for the bus, and went home directly.

Yang Qingqing first took 20 jin of flour and 10 jin of rice as a base, and then took two pieces of defective cloth from the supermarket, one with yellow and blue plaid and the other with blue floral patterns on a white background. They can be used to make clothes or quilt covers and sheets. She also took 5 jin of pork belly, a large piece of pork liver, two chickens, 3 jin of bacon, 3 jin of eggs, and 2 jin of white sugar, brown sugar and salt. Thinking that there were many children, she also took jin of glutinous rice sticks, honey three knives, and mung bean cakes. Thinking that the Harbin red sausage, which was famous in the Northeast in later generations, should also have sausages here, she also took two strings of sausages. It would be great to have some melon seeds and peanuts when there are many people chatting. She took jin of melon seeds and jin of peanuts. The backpack was full. The wine ticket was used up, so she couldn't not buy wine. But there was really no room, and Yang Qingqing couldn't carry it anymore. She took two bottles of Erguotou from the supermarket, which were fine, and carried them in her hands.

Yang Qingqing walked to the roadside step by step, and did not go to the station, but waited for the bus on the roadside. Yang Qingqing was even luckier to find a place where cars passed by, and now they would stop when they waved, and there was no bus stop sign. In fact, she did not expect to take so many things, but she felt that none of them could be left behind. Otherwise, it would be hard work, and the key is that it is easy to get into trouble.

Yang Qingqing saw a lot of people at the entrance of the village from a distance and thought something had happened. But when she got closer, she saw that it was her second sister-in-law and Yang Wenjing's children.

"Second sister-in-law, why are you guys here?" Yang Qingqing put the backpack on the ground.

"I was afraid you might have bought too many things, so I wanted to come and meet you. When the children found out, they started clamoring to come. So they all came, and Wenjie also clamored to come, but he was too young so I didn't bring him along."

"Luckily you are here, sister-in-law, otherwise I would be exhausted to death!"

"Put your things in this basket and I'll help you get some. No one is around now. Maybe a bullock cart or something will pass by soon."

(Everyone got off the bus and left. The bus also left. It only runs once a day. So there is no one there now.)

"Okay." Yang Qingqing filled the basket and handed it to her second sister-in-law.

The second sister-in-law hesitated to speak, and finally said nothing

"Thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law. Wenjing, please help aunt carry these two bottles of wine. We will look at other things when we get home."

The basket was half empty, but Yang Qingqing was still able to carry it.

"Qingqing, why did you buy so many things? Even the employees of the supply and marketing cooperative and the state-owned restaurant can't buy so many things! Are you going to places you shouldn't go again?" The second sister-in-law asked when she got home

"Don't worry, sister-in-law. I didn't go to that place. It was only today that I found out that Sister Wang's boyfriend worked at the meat processing factory. She asked her boyfriend to get me some meat. I also bought two chickens from the restaurant, so it seemed like more."

Yang Qingqing now talks nonsense without stopping, and sometimes she even forgets what she said.

"Okay, I'll trust you for now."

Yang Qingqing took out everything in the backpack and put it away.

The second sister-in-law's eyes were not right. "Qingqing, where did you get so many fine grains and eggs? Don't say that they were left for you. Who would sell grain for money now?"

"Second sister-in-law, please believe me. This is what happened... that is... I exchanged this with someone else." Yang Qingqing's brain was working so fast that she was almost smoking.

"It's hard to get vegetables in the city now, and people can't live without vegetables. I thought of exchanging the vegetables from our garden with other families. This is the money they gave me."

"You are fooling me! People are exchanging fine grains for your free vegetables?"

"Really, I swear. One pound of fine grain can exchange for ten pounds of vegetables. Starting tomorrow, I will deliver vegetables to Sister Yue Mei every day! Not only are they old or young, but they must also ensure they are fresh. It is difficult for city people to buy vegetables. Many vegetables are about to rot, but they still have to buy them. Otherwise, there will be no vegetables. There is no land in the city, let alone vegetables. Believe me. I exchanged fine grains for eggs with an old lady. She couldn't bear to eat the eggs, so she exchanged them for grains. I wanted to exchange for coarse grains, but no one was willing to do so. Now I met you! I didn't have coarse grains either, so I exchanged for fine grains."

"What you said makes sense. The vegetables in our vegetable garden are not enough. Aren't they afraid that you will run away and not give you vegetables? And how come you are so lucky? And we raise our own chickens, so we don't have to buy eggs."

"No, I want to take over for Sister Yue Mei. With Sister Yue Mei around, people will trust me. I think if our family doesn't have enough, don't we still have Auntie's family? This should be enough, and we don't have to send it all at once. Send a little a day, a little a day. It should be enough for our two families. What do you think? Let's give the rice and flour to Auntie in exchange for vegetables at her house. I think it should work. Our chickens lay few eggs, and we can't raise too many. Buying some eggs can be eaten by everyone. To supplement? Anyway, it's exchanged with vegetables, and I don't know if I can meet them in the future!"

"You have to be telling the truth. It doesn't feel right to trade grain for vegetables."

"There's nothing wrong with it. This is all thought up by my clever little brain. We can barter, it's not considered speculation, and we can eat fine grains, how great! But it's only for these two months in summer. We don't have vegetables, so people won't exchange. Isn't this a win-win situation? You see, I have to deliver vegetables every day, how can I cheat you?"

"Okay. That's great. Why hasn't anyone done this before?"

"I don't know! Maybe I'm a good person and trustworthy. It's also the right time, right place and right people. Anyway, we won't suffer any loss. It's just that I still have to go to the county town every day, so I'll have to trouble you in the future."

"What's the big deal? My mom said that if you drive one sheep, you have to let two sheep go. It's easier to manage more children. It won't affect her work for a day, she just has to cook more meals."

"I see. Auntie is so nice. I don't know how to thank her!"

"I don't know how to thank me. I haven't seen you come to see me these two days!" Aunt Ma joked as she stood at the door.

"Hey, Auntie, you're here. We are sorry to bother you with our visit. You'll have to eat more. I have some good news to tell you later!"

"Well, you haven't forgotten me, little girl! Oh, so much meat! And some fine grains!"

"Auntie, this is the good news I was talking about! ..."

Yang Qingqing repeated what she had just said. She thought to herself, "It's really not easy for me! Now I'm always trapped in a trap just to get something to eat. I have to think carefully in the future, don't let it slip, and don't dig a hole for myself. There is no such thing as the right time, the right place, and the right people. It's all Qingqing who is carrying the burden forward. Ah, I'm so awesome."

Yang Qingqing felt annoyed at herself for telling so many lies, but at the same time she was very happy about her cleverness.

"Look, Auntie, we need to cook something. Let's prepare it quickly. You must show off your cooking skills when the time comes! Let me learn from you. I can't even cook well, so I'll have to trouble you!"

"It's not hard. I'll show you my skills today."

"Mom, what are you going to do?"

"I think there's a lot of meat. Let's make a big stew. This way, the meat looks more abundant. We can also make three fresh dishes: chicken stewed with mushrooms, persimmons mixed with sugar, cucumbers, and pickled vegetables. That should be enough. The main dish is steamed buns in a pot. What do you think?"

"Mom, I have no objection! These are two solid dishes. They are quite impressive."

"My second sister-in-law and my eldest sister-in-law both think it's good, so I have no problem with it. Just don't fry eggs anymore? I bought a lot of eggs!"

"No, I'll make an egg soup. Six dishes and one soup should be enough. If you hadn't bought so much meat, I wouldn't be able to make two main dishes. Usually, one meat dish is pretty good. Nowadays, no one is rich, so how can we have so much meat for others to eat? If I don't cook this meat, I'm afraid it will go bad."

"Oh, by the way! Auntie has two strings of sausages. Do you want to have them as a dish?"

"What's wrong with you, kid? Why are you buying so much? You can't have it. The sausages won't go bad in a day or two. Put them in the well and eat them later. Don't take out all the good things. You have good intentions, but you are afraid of people with bad intentions. Remember, only those who keep quiet can make a fortune."

"Okay, thank you, Auntie. I understand. We will eat by ourselves."

"You kid"

"Sister-in-law, let me put the melon seeds, peanuts and snacks on the table in the living room. People will come and eat them later."

"Don't take it all out, just put it on a plate. Too much is not good."

"I understand, ma'am. I'll listen to you."

Yang Qingqing put a plate of snacks and peanuts and melon seeds on the table. She also gave some snacks and peanuts to the children. Then she went to the vegetable garden to help her second sister-in-law and her family pick vegetables.

After washing up, the busy second brother is back.

"Mom, Liyue, Qingqing, I'm back. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, go see when my dad and the others will be here. The meal will be ready soon. Go and call them, and go to my house to get some stools and bowls. Our house is not as big as Qingqing's."

"Okay, I'll go see Dad. Do you want to go to my eldest brother's house to borrow a stool and bowls and chopsticks?"

"That's fine. There are a lot of people here today, so you can borrow more."

"Second brother, when you go to eldest brother's house, you must remember to invite eldest sister-in-law and the children to come! We have done a lot here, and it's all counted for them. They can't not come."

"Okay, I'll definitely call them all over."

After Yang Qinghe left, Yang Qingqing suddenly responded, "Auntie, is one pot of steamed buns enough?"

"What do you think? We thought you were just calling your eldest brother and the other men? Why are you calling them all family? There are a lot of people, one pot is definitely not enough."

"I told Brother Changgen and the others that the whole family should come. Am I..." Yang Qingqing felt that she was being careless.

"It's okay. They definitely won't bring their entire family. At most, two people from each family will come. If you hadn't asked Qinghe to call them, your eldest brother would have come alone. Your eldest sister-in-law and her children wouldn't come. Everyone in the village knows it, and everyone knows it in their hearts."

"So that's how it is! I really didn't know. Then let's steam another pot of steamed buns. Will that be enough food?"

"The dishes are easy to make. Just add some side dishes to the hotpot and chicken stewed with mushrooms. We still need to make some cold dishes. We haven't made the three fresh vegetables yet. We'll make them when people arrive. Then we can go pick some vegetables. We still have time."

"Okay, I get it. That's why they say that having an old person in the family is like having a treasure! Hehehehe"

"You're just a sweet-talker, always saying what I like to hear"

"Mom, I'm not sweet anymore. I'm sweet too, sweeter than honey."

"Okay, okay, my daughter is sweet too, sweeter than honey. You are so grown up and still care about these things. You..." Aunt Ma nodded Ma Liyue's head and said with a smile

In fact, Yang Qingqing was really envious of the way her second sister-in-law and Aunt Ma got along. She herself had never felt maternal love, and the original owner also lost her parents when she was very young, so many of her memories were vague. Maternal love was a luxury for Yang Qingqing in both her lifetimes.

My second brother came back with my eldest uncle and eldest brother, as well as my eldest sister-in-law and four children, the accountant Gen, and the village chief Wang Dabo.

"Mom, Liyue, Qingqing, we are back."

Yang Qingqing followed Ma and her second sister-in-law out to greet them. They greeted each other warmly and came in lively. Yang Qingqing quickly followed Ma back to the kitchen.

"Qingqing, why are you here? Go out and talk to someone. Get acquainted."

"Ah, Auntie, please forgive me. I don't know how to do it. If I go, there will be nothing to say. Just leave it to my second sister-in-law. I will follow you."

"You must learn how to deal with these human relations, because there will be a lot of such things in the future. Go out and keep an eye on it. I don't have anything to do here. I just need to cook the three fresh vegetables, which will be ready soon. You should go quickly, as the host will be gone without you!"

Yang Qingqing was really scared, so she just followed the second sister-in-law. She nodded when the second sister-in-law spoke, and passed the bowl when the second sister-in-law poured water. In short, she was no more than two steps away from the second sister-in-law, just to keep her company.

My second sister-in-law is a little social expert. The whole house is lively and there is no awkwardness at all. It is very harmonious.

There was a table on the kang in the main room and the inner room. The table on the kang was smaller, so the men who liked to drink were seated there. The table in the main room was bigger, so Ma let the children and women who didn't like drinking eat there.

When the dishes were served, I don’t know what the adults were thinking. Anyway, the children couldn’t wait. They just wanted to eat quickly. But no one started eating first. They were all waiting for Auntie Ma to come to the table. The table drinking had already started eating, and no one in the main room wanted to eat first. Finally, when Auntie Ma sat down, everyone started to eat.

Everyone was very satisfied with the meal, and everyone was smiling. Yang Qingqing also felt that this meal was the most satisfying she had eaten in recent times. There was meat and vegetables, and it was delicious.

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