Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Chapter 200: Your hair is messed up, and mugwort tofu

Lin Heng lost it for a while, and Xiaoxia also picked up the small stones and threw them into the river.

As soon as she saw the water splashing, she burst into laughter.

The child is full of curiosity about the world. She is learning about water and stones by throwing stones.

Lin Heng pulled her to Xiulan's side, and then lay on the big bluestone next to Xiulan to bask in the sun.

It's still early, so I don't want to delay getting some sun.

Life does not have so many purposes. The beautiful and clean bluestone, the warm sun, and the gurgling water all make people want to lie down and bask in the sun.

Xiulan looked at Lin Heng, who was basking in the sun with his eyes closed, and reached out to pick off a fine leaf residue on his head. Her hand stayed on his head for a while.

Xiaoxia played for more than ten minutes before she got tired and went to lie down on the bluestone to bask in the sun.

Xiulan also took the opportunity to lie down. The bluestone had been heated by the sun, and her body was warm on both sides of her body when she lay on it.

Close your eyes and hear the gentle river breeze, the crisp chirping of birds and the gurgling water.

After basking in the sun for a while, the river wind suddenly became stronger, which made the sun no longer warm. Lin Heng got up, stretched, and said with a smile: "Let's go."

After saying that, she extended her hand to Xiulan.

"it is good!"

Xiulan took his hand and sat up, then pulled Xiaoxia up too.

Later, Xiulan carried a bamboo basket and Lin Heng came to the bamboo forest together with a hoe.

As soon as you look in, there are bamboo forests on both sides of the ditch. The smallest ones are as thick as an adult's forearm, and most of them are as thick as an adult's arms and thighs.

There are not many people digging winter bamboo shoots here, and almost no one visits the Lin family's bamboo forest.

Digging winter bamboo shoots is different from breaking off spring bamboo shoots. The spring bamboo shoots have grown out and can be seen at a glance.

Winter bamboo shoots are all underground. If you don’t know a certain method, finding them is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Lin Heng is naturally very experienced in this. When looking for bamboo shoots, he mainly looks at bamboo.

Generally, the kind that likes to produce bamboo shoots is the kind of green new bamboo that is just one or two years old. It is almost impossible for gray-green bamboo that is more than three years old to have bamboo shoots.

After determining the type of bamboo, you need to look at the bamboo leaves.

Bamboo leaves are dense, and bamboos with some burnt yellow leaves among the emerald green will most likely have bamboo shoots.

Because growing winter bamboo shoots requires nutrients, the bamboo leaves will be in short supply and some yellow leaves will appear.

Lin Heng took a look and quickly found a bamboo that met the requirements.

After making sure, he looked at the ground around the bamboo, but at the first glance he saw a small protruding earth bag.

I dug lightly with a hoe and immediately saw the tips of winter bamboo shoots emerging from the soil.

"Sure enough, there is one."

Lin Heng grinned, picked up the hoe and dug, and within a few minutes he dug out a brilliant bamboo shoot.

"really not bad."

Xiulan smiled and picked it up and put it into a bamboo basket. The winter bamboo shoots were brown in color and the shells were tightly wrapped without any gaps. They were a top quality product.

"There should be more." Lin Heng looked at the bamboo whip and dug down along the bamboo whip.

A bamboo will usually branch into two bamboo whips. If you find them along the bamboo whips, you will often get a good harvest, but this method will damage the bamboo a little.

But Lin Heng doesn't care, because a lot of new bamboo grows every year.

"Then I'll look elsewhere." Xiulan was not idle either, pulling Xiaoxia to search everywhere.

While she was looking for bamboo shoots, Lin Heng dug up two more small bamboo shoots.

Then he looked for another bamboo that fit the target, and soon found two bamboo shoots on its bamboo whip.

"These two are quite big."

After digging them out, Lin Heng was a little happy. One of them weighed more than a kilogram, and the other one weighed half a kilogram more.

"Husband, there's one here too, and it's not too small."

Xiulan shouted to him and pointed to the place she said.

Lin Heng came over with bamboo shoots and a hoe and saw a big bulge on the ground.

"There is water here. Look at the many bamboo shoots."

Xiulan pointed to the flat land in front of her and said with a smile.

"They are quite big."

Lin Heng smiled and nodded. There was no stream in this ditch, but water still seeped in. The stone skin was always wet.

The area in the middle has plenty of water, and the bamboos are thicker than those on the slopes on both sides.

Lin Heng dug out a tree with a hoe in a few clicks. Xiulan weighed it in her hand and smiled immediately: "This must be a pound and a half."

Lin Heng nodded: "Now that they are developed, I estimate that the remaining few trees can weigh about a kilogram."

Xiaoxia danced and praised: "Dad, dig it quickly!"

Lin Heng smiled and agreed: "Okay!"

With his wife and daughter by his side, he was very motivated and dug hard.

After a while, I dug out all the five remaining bamboo shoots in this area. Because there was enough water, they weighed about a pound.

"There are some here too."

Soon Xiulan and Xiaoxia found two more bamboo shoots. There were so many bamboo shoots in this humid winter that they didn't need any skills to find them.

After about fifteen or six winter bamboo shoots, Lin Heng sat on the hoe handle to rest.

Xiulan took out a handkerchief and wiped Lin Heng's sweat. After wiping it for a few times, Xiaoxia shouted and snatched the handkerchief away: "I want to wipe dad's sweat too."

"Okay, okay." Lin Heng smiled and lowered his head, asking his daughter to wipe her sweat.

Xiaoxia's wiping technique was definitely not as good as Xiulan's, but Lin Heng couldn't interrupt her enthusiasm and endured it patiently.

After resting for a while, Lin Heng looked at the bamboo shoots in the basket, which weighed about ten kilograms.

However, after peeling the bamboo shoots, it is estimated that there are only four or five kilograms, which is far from enough for Lin Heng.

Then he continued to dig. There were many bamboo shoots on both sides of this relatively humid ravine. Lin Heng spent two hours digging more than 30 bamboo shoots.

All the bamboo shoots add up to thirty kilograms.

However, Lin Heng was not satisfied yet and started searching on the hillsides on both sides.

There is little water on the hillside and the bamboo shoots are all in the ground, making them difficult to find.

Xiulan found that Lin Heng could always be found, and couldn't help but curiously asked: "How did you find it? Do you have any tips?"

"of course."

Lin Heng smiled mysteriously. There were not many bamboo shoot diggers here, and most people really didn't know this trick.

"Say it quickly."

Xiulan looked at him and urged.

Lin Heng didn't show off too much and told her with a smile: "It's actually not difficult..."

After hearing this, Xiulan's face had a look of realization: "So that's it."

She couldn't wait to practice it, and soon found a bamboo shoot.

"How did you know?" Xiulan became more and more curious. Why did she feel that Lin Heng knew everything.

Lin Heng smiled slightly: "My husband, I have a pair of eyes that are good at observation."

"It's so pretty, so forget it." Xiulan pouted and took her daughter to look for bamboo shoots nearby.

In the blink of an eye, it was already one o'clock, and the three of them had been digging bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest for three or four hours.

"Let's walk back, I'm a little hungry." Lin Heng stopped and said with a smile.

Today's harvest was good. The bamboo basket was not full, but there was also a snakeskin bag that was half full. In total, there were sixty or seventy kilograms of winter bamboo shoots.

But none of them were shelled.

"I'm hungry too!" Xiaoxia patted her belly and said crisply.

Xiulan pulled her and said, "Then I'll make delicious food for Xiaoxia when I get home."

"it is good!"

……

Lin Heng walked in front, listening to the conversation between mother and daughter in the gentle breeze. After carrying the bamboo shoots across the river, Lin Heng turned back to pull Xiaoxia and Xiulan.

There was no sun by the river now, and it was a bit cold when the wind blew. After crossing the river, the three of them walked quickly towards home.

Father Lin and the others are still roasting wine, and it will probably take two days to finish.

Lin Heng brought some bamboo shoots and placed them in the yard: "Dad, I'll give you some bamboo shoots to eat. I dug a lot."

Father Lin smiled and nodded: "Okay, let your mother fry some meat tonight, and you can shovel some charcoal to grill it."

Lin Heng was not polite and shoveled some wood and burned it over the charcoal and went home.

Xiulan also brought a few bamboo shoots to her sister-in-law Liu Juan, and kept the rest for herself.

Xiaoxia ate the kudzu powder prepared by Xiulan, with a happy expression on her face.

Without their daughter causing trouble, Xiulan and Lin Heng peeled bamboo shoots while warming themselves over the fire.

Bamboo shoots are not difficult to cut. Use a knife to cut them vertically and you can easily remove the shells with your hands.

The shells of winter bamboo shoots are smaller than those of spring bamboo shoots, but only four or five taels of meat can be peeled out of a pound of winter bamboo shoots, and the best ones can have six or seven taels.

The two chatted while peeling.

Xiulan looked at Lin Heng and said: "The Chinese New Year is coming soon, let's soak some soybeans to make dried tofu. We don't have any tofu at home, so we can make some to eat in the coming year."

"Okay, make more tofu." Lin Heng nodded. Tofu is one of his favorite foods.

Xiulan smiled and nodded: "I'll get thirty pounds of soybeans to soak in a while and make tofu tomorrow and the day after."

Lin Heng thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, you can also make some mugwort tofu. I'll get the mugwort tomorrow morning."

The so-called mugwort tofu is made from the young leaves of mugwort. In winter, the grass wilts, but some delicate mugwort seeds will still grow near the muddy ground.

Here they like to pick and chop it and put it into tofu to make mugwort tofu.

In fact, this is vegetable tofu, but instead of using cabbage, it uses mugwort.

But the taste is really memorable every time I eat it. I usually only make it in winter.

Because the mugwort grown in winter does not have such a strong flavor and is still very tender.

Coupled with the spicy spicy food, the taste makes Lin Heng drool just thinking about it.

Xiulan blinked and said, "Okay, let's go together tomorrow morning. I actually want to eat mugwort tofu."

"it is good."

Lin Heng nodded and peeled the bamboo shoots faster because he was a little hungry.

In more than half an hour, the two of them finished peeling the bamboo shoots. Lin Heng took a scale from the cabinet and weighed it.

Looking at the scale, Lin Heng grinned: "Not bad, just 21 kilograms and six taels of simple bamboo shoots."

If he didn't give it to his parents and eldest brother, he should have nearly 30 kilograms of bamboo shoots.

Xiulan looked at him and said, "Then let's keep five pounds and soak the rest into sour bamboo shoots?"

"Just ten pounds. Winter bamboo shoots are delicious. When the time comes to soak the bamboo shoots, just break off the spring bamboo shoots." Lin Heng thought for a while and said.

Xiulan nodded and took the bamboo shoots to the kitchen to cook.

Winter bamboo shoots have no bitter taste and can be eaten directly without blanching.

Xiulan made fried pork with bamboo shoots and vegetable and egg drop soup.

After a while, the two of them put the food on the table.

The meat is bacon, and the beautiful cured pork belly is deep red in color, and it complements the stir-fried bamboo shoots and pickled radish slices.

It tastes not only meaty, but also has the sweetness of bamboo shoots and the sourness of sour radish slices. It has a rich texture in your mouth and goes very well with rice.

"good to eat."

Lin Heng finished his meal in big gulps, drank another bowl of soup, and burped comfortably.

He eats quickly and is responsible for feeding Xiaoxia after eating.

They have now begun to teach Xiaoxia how to use chopsticks and spoons. They don't have to feed her all the time, just watch her eat.

After dinner, Lin Heng washed the bowl and soaked the soybeans, while Xiulan was making soaked bamboo shoots.

After taking out the soybeans, Lin Heng asked: "I feel that thirty pounds is a bit too little. How about just soaking fifty pounds?"

Xiulan took one look and said, "Okay, but it may take a long time tomorrow."

"That's okay." Lin Heng waved his hand and didn't care.

Because it was the ox that pulled the grinder, not him.

After she finished, she took Xiaoxia to her parents' place to wash the sheets.

Lin Hengze washed the stone mill in the yard thoroughly.

"You guys want to make tofu? Your sister-in-law is also planning to make tofu to eat these days." Lin Yue asked with a smile.

Lin Heng smiled and said, "That's just right. I washed the stone and we can all use it."

His family does not have a small stone mill. This stone mill is very large, weighing nearly a thousand kilograms, and a single millstone weighs two hundred kilograms.

It would take two big men to pull it by humans, or you could use oxen to pull it.

After Lin Heng washed the millstone, but before Xiulan's sheets were washed, he said something and took Xiaoxia to the village to look for mugwort.

These things are everywhere in the countryside. Lin Heng took a bamboo basket and picked wormwood and shepherd's purse.

Even with Xiaoxia at his side, it only took Lin Heng an hour to prepare half a basket of mugwort and half a basket of shepherd's purses.

Shepherd's purse is one of the few delicious wild vegetables, and it also tastes great when eaten simply as a salad.

Xiulan finished washing the clothes and cooked for him when she got home in the evening.

Early the next morning, the two stayed in bed for a while and didn't get up until nine o'clock.

After exercising, it was already half past ten after breakfast, and then the two of them carried soaked soybeans to their parents' yard.

Seeing Lin Heng coming over, Lin Yue asked with a smile: "Brother, are you going to be pushed or not?"

Lin Heng shook his head: "Of course we use cows. Why waste human energy when we have cows?"

After saying that, he went out to fetch the cow.

The cows were fed with straw today. When Lin Heng came over and took a look, he felt a little helpless.

Because the cow was so dirty, there was no cow dung in the pen, and it was covered in dirt.

If it shakes itself out while working, then the tofu will be gone.

"It's okay, I'll wash it for you!"

Lin Heng went back to get the laundry and brushes, and asked his eldest brother to go to the river with him.

In half an hour, his big scalper looked brand new.

"Moo!!"

It seemed that he felt comfortable after washing. This guy raised his head and screamed, which was unusually loud.

"Go home and grind it for me, and I'll give you the dregs later." Lin Heng patted its head and took it back with a smile.

Although it is already noon after the delay, sharpening the knife will not delay the work of chopping wood.

But what Lin Heng didn't expect was that both Lin's mother and Xiulan had already started grinding.

This made him a little speechless: "Didn't I say we would wait until the cow came before we started?"

Mother Lin said nonchalantly: "It's the same with people. We've already lost ten pounds by the time the cow comes."

Lin Heng looked at his mother helplessly: "You have to do it yourself if you have the strength of a cow. What can I say?"

His mother's concept was not good, and she wanted to take the lead in everything.

Not to mention how tired she was, Xiulan was also sweating profusely from exhaustion, and she could have avoided being so tired.

After spreading his hands, he hitched the cow and let his mother rest aside.

He drove the cattle, and Xiulan added soybeans and water.

It was a very easy job after they had oxen. It took them half an hour to grind ten kilograms with manpower, and only half an hour to grind the remaining forty kilograms with cows.

Lin Heng couldn't figure out why his mother always liked to do such tiring work and couldn't take a rest.

(End of this chapter)