This bamboo forest is large or small, long or short, and it occupies about one or two acres of land.
Entering the bamboo forest, the air suddenly became humid, and there was a smell of fermented bamboo leaves in the forest. It felt soft when you stepped on it.
It is now early April, and many of the spring bamboo shoots have grown more than one meter tall. My aunt is very familiar with these and avoids them, choosing only the small and tender ones.
After taking aim, he went down with the hoe and a plump bamboo shoot was pried out.
For Qiaoqiao, this is like a treasure hunt. He also holds a hoe and digs out the fat ones.
My aunt was still laughing when she saw it: "Our Qiaoqiao is becoming more and more capable now!"
"That's right," Song Tan said proudly, "I taught them all."
Indeed, she taught most of them.
With Qiao Qiao like this, Wu Lan and Song Sancheng asked him to do some washing and washing at home, so as not to be a little spoiled.
What's more, they also have a lot of work to do every day, and they rarely have free time to teach their sons bit by bit.
If we can't teach each other a few words, each other will collapse.
But Song Tan is different. If nothing else, she has very good patience now. She won't do it twice once, and she won't do it four times... Farm work actually needs to be done more.
I carry him with me in everything I do. As time goes by, Qiao Qiao himself becomes much more flexible.
While digging bamboo shoots, my aunt lamented: "I hated this bamboo forest when I was little."
"Why?" Song Tan was puzzled.
Her memory of this bamboo forest is that when she was a child, Song Sancheng tied two pieces of hemp rope to the bamboo, and put a wooden board in the middle to make a simple swing for her to play here.
If it's a little older, you can even pull a hammock inside in the summer. That hammock was bought for two yuan and stayed with Song Tan for many summers.
If it hadn't been for the one time when I was swaying above, a chubby caterpillar shook out from among the bamboo leaves and landed on my face... I'm afraid this wonderful memory would have lasted for a few more years.
The aunt lamented: "Life was better when you were a child, and there were many ways to make money, but before you were born, people wanted bamboo like ours, and it cost eight cents a piece."
"Your grandpa is responsible for cutting bamboo in the bamboo forest, and your grandma chops off all the branches on the bamboo branches."
"As for me, I don't have to do any strenuous work, but I have to drag this long bamboo all the way to the place where people receive the goods."
"Even though the bamboos here are not as strong as the bamboos in the south, they are still heavy. I can only drag two or three at a time... At the end of the day, my legs are so swollen that I can't lift them up."
This is real rural life.
Song Tan was silent for a while and then asked: "What about my dad and the others?"
Song Hongmei burst out laughing: "Can your dad and the others still run away? They have to be responsible for loading bamboo onto the truck for others. It's really strenuous work. At the end of the day, they can't even straighten their backs."
"Tantan, don't look at how annoying your aunt is. She also suffered hardships with your uncle in the early years."
Song Tan said "hmm".
She has seen a lot, and everyone has a different role in the eyes of different people. There is no need to force it, just do what you want.
She originally thought that her aunt was going to say some more sensational words, but she didn't expect her aunt's attitude to change:
"It's just that your eldest aunt is getting older now and her brain is getting worse!"
"You have planted three fields of lettuce. There must be fifty or sixty lettuces in total. Looking at her attitude, I even thought about pulling them out - how is she going to eat them?"
"Let me just say that when you get older, you can't take care of your children and do housework at home every day. If you have nothing to do, go out to dance in the square or set up a stall. It's better than squatting at home. There's no quality at all..."
The aunt was obviously very resentful and muttered: "Is it easy for your grandma to grow some vegetables?"
Song Tan laughed:
"Yes, my aunt knows how to handle it. If you blanch these spring bamboo shoots at home and dry them in the sun, you can still eat them for a long time!"
"Yes." The aunt looked at the bamboo forest with nostalgia: "No one has bought bamboo in the past twenty years. You see, the bamboo forest is densely grown. Too many are not good. When you see the spring bamboo shoots, dig more.
Also make room for them."
At the same time, he was still thinking: "I cut the tender bamboo shoot hearts diagonally and blanched them, then stir-fried them with pickled peppers and some beef. Oops, this is ready for dinner!"
On second thought: there are lettuce leaves too!
"Let's eat these pickled pepper bamboo shoots tonight, add stir-fried lettuce leaves, and steam the Sophora japonica eggs first, and make Sophora japonica cakes tomorrow..."
After thinking about it this way, it seems that I will have food for half a month and save hundreds of dollars in food expenses!
Once the aunt figured out the calculation in her mind, she wielded the hoe with more and more heart!
Song Tan originally didn't think much about the spring bamboo shoots. It was difficult to practice and she was not willing to give too much of her spiritual energy this year. But when her aunt said this, she couldn't help but feel a little greedy.
Just when I was thinking about asking Qiao Qiao to dig two more and go home, I saw that this silly boy had already emerged from the other end of the bamboo forest and came over with a handful of rape flowers:
"Sister, I'll give it to you."
On the other hand, he broke off a piece of vegetable greens and ate it.
Song Tan also laughed: "When I was a child, my mother always fried the buds and moss of rapeseed flowers, and I didn't like eating them."
The aunt laughed: "When you were a child, you had to think twice about eating meat at home. You were still farming, how could you have the time to cook it carefully? It will definitely not taste good."
"Eating is different now. What do you mean? Keep healthy!"
My aunt has been setting up a stall in the city for decades. I don’t know how perfect she is at making egg pancakes, but her cooking skills have obviously been honed by her stingy spirit.
Now looking at the handful of rapeseed flowers, I thought of several dishes:
"Let me tell you, pull a handful of rapeseed flowers, then go to the mountain to see if there are any wild onions, dig one back. Boil the rapeseed flowers and cook them, then cut the onions, mince the ginger and garlic, and take
Add some chili noodles, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, MSG, etc., and when it’s cooked, add the green onions, pour some sesame oil...it’s delicious!”
This describes...
Song Tan was drooling just thinking about it, but...
"Auntie, the way you mix vegetables is as delicious as the soles of your shoes."
The aunt burst out laughing: "Then it's delicious if you use this to make poached eggs. Cut the rape flowers into small pieces and mix them with the eggs..."
"If that doesn't work, boil the rice soup you cook at home, then put the rapeseed flowers in it, sprinkle some chopped green onion, pepper noodles, etc..."
When it comes to budgeting carefully, my aunt is really an expert. None of the ingredients used here are expensive, but she can make the food delicious.
Song Tan sighed: "Auntie, you know so much..."
The aunt laughed and said, "What am I talking about? You have never seen the person who cooked banquets in our village before. That master was amazing!"
"I can make good dishes with whatever I have on hand. One spring, we cooked fish tail stewed with rapeseed flowers for the banquet. Oops, I was full of praise!"