"Can't expel." Mr. Tang, who had been silent all this time, put down his cigarette stick and said solemnly.
The village chief was puzzled, "Dad, why can't we be expelled? You have said before that we will not return to our ancestral land, but will live in Songshan Village from generation to generation. This reputation has been ruined, who would want to
Marry your daughter to our village and are you willing to ask a girl from our village to be your wife?"
Mr. Tang shook his head, with a calculating look on his face, "In short, we cannot evict unless it is absolutely necessary. Not one of the twenty-five households in Songshan Village can be left behind."
The village chief was startled and wanted to ask a few more questions, but looking at his father's expression, he knew that even if he asked, he wouldn't be able to ask anything.
For example, the village ancestral hall, what is on Songshan Mountain, and why every household in Songshan Village should be protected.
These things, as the village chief, cannot be known to me until the moment my father closes his eyes.
"Okay, let's take a look again."
…
Once the radish pieces are cut out, they are pressed with something heavy, but not so quickly. It takes at least three or four days to press them until the water is almost squeezed out.
Song Qiu didn't plan to continue making it. He would wait until this batch was finished and then take his time.
In the next two days, the village was also busy making glutinous rice cakes and glutinous rice balls.
There is a big nest and a big mill in the village, which are placed at the village chief's house.
In the past few years, it has been rarely used. Just like last year, there were only three families in the whole village making glutinous rice cakes. They finished making glutinous rice cakes in less than one morning.
There are even no people making glutinous rice balls and noodles.
Because the glutinous rice balls do not contain brown rice, they must all be made with glutinous rice. Glutinous rice is half as expensive and cannot withstand beatings.
It would be nice to have some glutinous rice cakes mixed with brown rice.
But this year is different. The villagers have already registered with the village chief. Every household has to make glutinous rice cakes and glutinous rice balls. The least one has soaked two or three kilograms of glutinous rice to make glutinous rice balls and noodles.
So the village chief arranged for two days to carry out the attack, and the 24 households were divided into two groups, and it took two days to do it.
Both glutinous rice cakes and glutinous rice balls are the same.
Those who beat more came first. Old Yuan's man who soaked fifty kilograms of rice and made glutinous rice cakes came first in line.
So early on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Song Qiu helped Old Yuan carry the drained rice to the village chief's house.
Others who didn't have their turn to fight today also came to join in the fun and help. People from the village gathered around the big yard of the village chief's house, which was bustling and noisy.
In the kitchen house of the village chief's house, two large iron pots were put on fire, water was poured in, and wooden barrels were placed for a while, waiting for the rice to be steamed.
In addition to the Song family, there are several other families in the village who give quite a lot of food. The village chief's family gives 20 pounds, Butcher Wang's family gives 15 pounds, Liu Caigui's family gives 15 pounds, and Wu Jin's family gives 10 pounds.
When Lao Yuan and Song Qiu arrived, Mrs. Wang and Huang Caihua came earlier, and their rice had already been steamed.
He waited in line behind him.
People were busy lighting the fire in the kitchen, and outside the yard, a large pair of washed nests and two large wooden hammers were waiting in the hands of Wang Dali and Liu Caigui's eldest son.
On the other side of the yard, two tables were set up. They were washed clean, covered with a layer of oil paper, and brushed with a layer of soybean oil to prevent the hot glutinous rice cake from hitting the table.
Soon, the rice was steamed for a while, and two people carried it out. Mrs. Wang skillfully pulled the gauze handkerchief on the side, and moved the rice in the rice dumpling into the big nest. The rice was stained on the handkerchief.
The rice grains also need to be shaken clean, so don’t waste any of them.
As soon as the rice was put into the opposite nest, the two people responsible for hammering the rice started to work. You hammered and I hammered into the opposite nest. Ouch! Ouch!
The rice needs to be pounded into pieces to make the glutinous rice cake more fragrant, glutinous and firm, so it requires strength.
He was hammering hard and soon he was sweating. Wang Dali went to the side and took off his outer clothes, and continued to beat him.
The pair of nests were beaten to a solid state, and Mrs. Wang squatted down to pick up the beaten rice balls. Using two large wooden hammers, she moved them to the side and placed them on the table.
The cabbage flowers that had been waiting in front of the table for a long time had their hands smeared with oil, and they used both hands to pull the rice balls clean, leaving no trace left on the wooden hammer.
The big lump was divided into two halves, and one half was placed on a table. Old Yuan rolled up his sleeves and was responsible for picking up the potion. When he pulled out a lump, a woman took it and pressed it under the palm of her hand.
Press them into circles and spread them out starting from the corner of the table. If they are hot and close to each other, they will all stick to each other, which is not possible.
Another time here, the cage was also released, and the man responsible for beating him never stopped. Oops, ouch, when one got tired, he would be replaced by another. In short, all the men in the village were available, so there was no need to worry about lack of manpower.
As for the women, they are responsible for pressing the glutinous rice cakes.
The yard is full and busy with work.
The Song family's fifty kilograms of rice couldn't be steamed in a while, and it took several times to steam it all.
Song Qiu was watching the steaming of his own rice, and when he put the first basket of porcelain rice on the table for Mr. Yuan to knead and extract the ingredients, he couldn't help but grab a bunch and eat it.
I still remember that when I was a child in my previous life, these little kids liked to take advantage of the freshly made glutinous rice cakes when the adults were making them, just grab a lump and eat it without pressing it. It was so hot that it tasted better than anything else.
.
And in those days, rice was not so rare. No matter whose family it was, no one would tell you if you grabbed a piece of it and ate it. It was different from now.
It's not easy for everyone these days. It's hard to let go of such a small amount of food. If you try to grab a piece of it and eat it, it will be very distressing.
So Song Qiu had been holding back until now, waiting for his own to come out, and then he grabbed a piece of it and ate it.
As soon as you take it into your mouth, it’s soft and glutinous. It’s really delicious and delicious!
Looking back, he saw a bunch of children looking at him eagerly as he swallowed his saliva. Song Qiu was also secretly amused. He waved his hand and called all the children over, asking Old Yuan to grab the potion first and taste each child.
Seeing Song Qiu's generosity, the children all gathered around him happily, and the adults also knew it and would not follow the Song family's generosity to ask for it.
Children just have a taste, how can adults compete with children?
Fortunately, the little ones in the village didn't have many children in total, and the older ones were too embarrassed to raise them. They all got it, and it only took a ball of glutinous rice cake.
After Song Qiu tasted enough, she rolled up her sleeves to help press the glutinous rice cakes. She had a lot of glutinous rice cakes, so she had to press them one round.
After pressing the glutinous rice cakes that are almost spread out in front, they will be piled up one by one, five in a pile, and put into the dustpan that they brought home.
Once it was pressed, someone took it home first.
When all the glutinous rice cakes in the Song family were pressed out, they were piled up in piles of ten, enough to fill two large dustpans with the largest dustpan.
Old Mrs. Deng only soaked seven kilograms of rice to make glutinous rice cakes, so she planned to make rice cakes tomorrow. She also came to help today. Seeing that the Song family couldn't move the rice with so many people, she also helped the Song family move it back.
The whole morning has passed, and everyone has to go home to eat first, eat well and have a good afternoon before continuing to play.
The Song family's work was done in the morning, and Old Yuan was going to help in the afternoon. There was no reason to leave it alone after the work was done.
This kind of helping means helping each other. If you come and I don't go, that won't work.
Song Qiu left in the afternoon. Just after dinner, Du Chuanfu from the inn came over and called, saying that someone was looking for Song Qiu.