After the separation, I took my whole family to eat delicious food and drink spicy

When Aunt Chen returned home, she saw her husband feeding chickens in the yard. She walked over and snatched the corn from Uncle Li's hand, saying, "Master, don't feed them yet. Go to the mountain and pick some bamboo shoots. We'll stir-fry them for lunch."

"Old woman, why do you want to eat that stuff? It tastes bitter and astringent. No, no, no." Uncle Li waved his hand and wanted to take the corn to continue feeding the chickens.

"Just go when I tell you to. Why are you talking so much nonsense?" Aunt Chen glared at him. Seeing this, Uncle Li had no choice but to put down the corn and walked up the mountain reluctantly.

Not long after, Uncle Li returned with a basket of bamboo shoots on his back. Aunt Chen took the basket and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, old man."

"I think you are just looking for trouble." Uncle Li couldn't help complaining when he recalled how he was laughed at by villagers he met on the road when he was carrying bamboo shoots down the mountain.

Aunt Chen ignored him and started peeling the bamboo shoots. Then she started blanching the bamboo shoots according to Li Xiaoxiao's instructions and then soaking them in clean water.

At noon, Aunt Li specially fried a plate of bamboo shoots while cooking, and added some garlic leaves that she grew herself. After a while, a plate of fragrant bamboo shoots and meat was served on the table.

"Well, this tastes pretty good." Uncle Li took a bite and nodded with satisfaction. "I told you, this bamboo shoot fried pork is delicious," Aunt Chen said proudly.

Aunt Chen's daughter-in-law Wang Guihua looked at the stir-fried bamboo shoots on the table and asked curiously, "Mom, how did you cook these bamboo shoots? They don't taste bitter at all, unlike the ones we made before, which we couldn't eat after one bite."

Aunt Chen smiled and said, "Xiaoxiao told me this method. All you have to do is blanch the bamboo shoots and then soak them in clean water. Change the water several times before cooking. But I must warn you, this method is only known to Xiaoxiao and my family. You are not allowed to tell anyone else. Xiaoxiao and my family are still relying on this to make a living."

Wang Guihua listened to Aunt Chen's words and nodded repeatedly, saying that she would never tell anyone. Aunt Chen's son Li Tiezhu and Uncle Li, who were sitting nearby, also nodded quickly to say that they would not tell anyone.

"Head of the household, when you're free this afternoon, go to the mountains with Tiezhu to pick more bamboo shoots. We can dry them into dried bamboo shoots like Xiaoxiao and the others did. Xiaoxiao said that dried bamboo shoots are like dried vegetables and can be kept for a long time. We can dry more and keep them for winter consumption or sell them in town.

Li Tiezhu was still tucking into his bowl of rice. The bamboo shoots were truly delicious. Hearing his mother's instructions, Li Tiezhu agreed without even looking up. The family finished their lunch happily.

In the afternoon, Uncle Li and Li Tiezhu went up the mountain to pick bamboo shoots. On the way, they met Li Xiaoxiao and her family, who were also going up the mountain to pick bamboo shoots. Uncle Li took the initiative to greet them: "Xiaoxiao, thanks to the method you taught us, we can eat such delicious bamboo shoots. Are you also going up the mountain to pick bamboo shoots?" "Yes, Uncle," Li Xiaoxiao replied with a smile, "I plan to dry more bamboo shoots and sell them in town."

"What a coincidence, we thought so too," Li Tiezhu interrupted.

"Then let's go together so we can take care of each other." Uncle Li said enthusiastically.

"Then I'll trouble you, Uncle Li." Li Xiaoxiao said gratefully.

So the two families walked up the mountain together. Along the way, they talked and laughed, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

Once we got to the mountain, everyone got busy. Uncle Li and Li Tiezhu expertly pulled up bamboo shoots one by one, while Li Xiaoxiao, Mrs. Bai, Li Fang, and Li Linlin packed them into baskets.

Before they knew it, the sun had set. Both families returned home with their loads full, and they agreed to go back up the mountain together tomorrow. Li Xiaoxiao wanted to get as many bamboo shoots as she could while they were still fresh and tender.

The villagers watched them pull so many bamboo shoots and laughed at them. Li Fang and Li Lin, in particular, saw how close Aunt Chen's family was to Li Xiaoxiao and her family and wanted to cause trouble for them.

Just then, Mrs. Li Fang, who was chatting with a group of people under the old locust tree in the village, saw Uncle Li and the other man and laughed at him, "Tiezhu, why are you taking so many bamboo shoots back home? Your family is not so poor that you have to rely on eating these bamboo shoots to survive." Hearing what Li Fang said, several women nearby who were on good terms with her laughed.

Li Tiezhu was very angry, but he didn't intend to pay attention to them. He continued to follow his father home with the basket on his back.

Uncle Li and Li Tiezhu returned home carrying two full baskets of bamboo shoots. Before he put down the baskets, Li Tiezhu said, "Dad, I think some villagers are just bored. We are picking our own bamboo shoots, what does it have to do with them? Do they need to laugh at us like that?" After saying that, he put the baskets heavily on the open space in the yard.

"Zhu Zi, we are just doing our own thing, why do you care about them?" Uncle Li said indifferently.

Aunt Chen heard the voices of the father and son and walked out of the house. "Okay, stop complaining and quickly deal with the bamboo shoots." Wang Guihua next to them also came to help.

"Row."

Li Tiezhu nodded. "I understand, Mom. By the way, Mom, what are we having for dinner?"

Aunt Chen smiled and said, "Of course it's stir-fried bamboo shoots. Don't you like them? I even went to the vegetable garden to pick some chili peppers. I'll stir-fry them with the bamboo shoots later."

Li Tiezhu cheered happily, "Great! I can't wait."

The four of them worked together and quickly peeled and sliced the two baskets of bamboo shoots. Aunt Chen and Wang Guihua blanched all the bamboo shoots for two days and then placed them in the yard to dry.

In the evening, the family sat around the dinner table and enjoyed delicious stir-fried bamboo shoots with chili peppers. Although some people in the village did not understand why they went to such great lengths to pick bamboo shoots, they did not care, because they knew that through their own efforts, their lives would definitely get better and better.