The medicine of rebirth

Chapter 232 Lotus leaf rice porridge, fried lotus
On the way back, Su Banxi and Ning Chen ran into Fang Tian. When he saw Su Banxi and Ning Chen walking down the path talking and laughing, their chests heaved sharply and their hands hanging by their sides were involuntarily clenched into fists. , the veins on the forehead burst out, and the eyes were red, staring at Su Banxi and Ning Chen.

It's really thanks to Su Banxi's trick that they now make their family look like rats crossing the street. Although not everyone is shouting and beating them, Fang Tian can't help but want to beat them up because of the sight that falls on him, but Sun Zhongfu said that if their family is causing trouble If something happens, they will be expelled from Tunjiawan, so now they swallow their breath and watch the life of the Su family get better and better. At this time, seeing Su Banxi, the culprit, Fang Tian wondered if he could bear it. He was so obedient and cowardly before. Now that he is so aggressive, Fang Tian hates him to the core.

When Ning Chen saw Fang Tian blocking their way, he unobtrusively put out a hand to protect Su Banxi behind him, frowned and looked at Fang Tian, ​​who was burning with anger, Fang Tian didn't seem to take Ning Chen seriously at all. , looked through Ning Chen at Su Banxi who was holding a bunch of pink lotus flowers, her pretty face was set off by the pink lotus flowers, which made people's breathing stagnate, and the slightly drawn eyelashes fluttered gently, giving people a sense of shyness It was an illusion, but in fact there was a deep coolness in Su Banxi's eyes.

"Su Banxi, I thought you didn't dare to come back?" Fang Tian snorted coldly, his fists were clenched and creaked again, making Ning Chen look at him defensively, with deep hatred appearing in his eyes He was so angry, but when Fang Tian swept over, he restrained very well, his fair and handsome face was slightly lowered, but his limbs were tense, not daring to relax.

Su Banxi sneered and raised her eyebrows: "I didn't do anything wrong, why didn't I dare to come back, but you, I thought you had moved away, but I didn't expect it." You are so thick-skinned that you still live in Tunjiawan It's true that the tree needs a skin and a face, and the Fang family simply threw their face on the ground collectively.

"You," Fang Tian became more angry when he was stabbed in the wound, but he couldn't move Su Banxi's finger, making Fang Tiantian tremble all over: "Su Banxi, don't go too far, if it wasn't for Ning Chen, the little bastard, How could our family become like this, he should die with his short-lived parents, otherwise so many things will not happen later. "

The aura on Ning Chen's body suddenly changed, and the hand covered by the emerald green lotus leaves clenched into a fist. If Su Banxi behind him grabbed the other hand in time, he would have rushed to punch Fang Tian long ago. Ning Chen doesn't seem to have any bottom line, but only Su Banxi knows that his parents who lost because of Wang Cui and Fang Sheng are the bottom line that no one else can touch. What's more, Fang Tian is the son of Wang Cui and Fang Sheng. The things of the previous generation should not be borne by the next generation, but what Fang Tian said was too much, even Su Banxi couldn't help but want to throw all the lotus in his arms onto his ugly face.

"It's true that evil bamboos produce evil bamboo shoots. It's not that the family doesn't enter the house. If Fang Tian doesn't want to be driven out of Tunjiawan, he'd better speak up quickly and go back and tell your parents. Because, sometimes it’s not that they don’t repay, but that the time has not come yet, and the bad results they planted will come back to them one day, morning and morning, let’s go!”

Su Banxi really didn't want to talk to Fang Tian anymore. She wasn't afraid that Ning Chen would do something, what she was afraid of was that Fang Tian would hurt Ning Chen. As for Ning Chen's parents, she had no idea what to do now. A day is a day.

Ning Chen let Su Banxi drag him away without struggling, but when he passed by Fang Tian, ​​Ning Chen tilted his head slightly and smiled evilly, with angry redness and light evil in the corners of his eyes, looking at Fang Tian. When Fang Tian smiled treacherously, Fang Tian couldn't spit out the curse stuck in his throat. He could only watch Su Banxi and Ning Chen quickly leave his sight.

"Damn it!" When the figures of the two of them completely disappeared from Fang Tian's sight, Fang Tian realized that he seemed to be startled by Ning Chen's eyes just now, and kicked the stone on the side of the road. Kicked to the side but it didn't seem to be enough to vent his anger. After trampling the poor wild flowers, weeds and stones by the roadside, he angrily raised his feet and went home.

I don't know if it's because the interaction between Su Banxi and Ning Chen made him feel uncomfortable. After all, after returning home, there were all kinds of unpleasant noises. There is still a lot of guilt and anger in my heart, now seeing Fang Tian smashing things at home like this, I immediately feel distressed: "Oh, I said you child suddenly got some evil wind and smashed things randomly, ouch, hurry up! Don't mess it up, the family doesn't have any spare money to buy things now, my little ancestor!"

Fang Tian was still short of breath, suddenly thinking about Su Banxi's words, then looked at Wang Cui's distressed expression, his eyes flickered for some reason, and then told Wang Cui all the words Su Banxi said, just in time for Fang Sheng to finish her delivery When he came out of the latrine, he was about to hear everything, and his eyes were a little gloomy and frightening.

At the beginning, Wang Cui hadn't recovered yet, she was still cursing Su Banxi, she kept cursing over and over again, and just when Fang Tian wanted to roll his eyes and go back to sleep, he suddenly saw Wang Cui's face. His complexion seemed to have changed a bit, even the words that scolded Su Banxi in his mouth suddenly seemed to be stuck in his throat as if someone had strangled him, and he couldn't speak. A look of fear and guilt flashed across his fat face. Seeing her feeling guilty, she waved at Fang Tian to tell him not to listen to the nonsense of that little bastard Su Banxi, and went back to the room with Fang Sheng.

Wang Cui almost fell down because of her left foot and right foot, but Fang Sheng helped her, Wang Cui saved her from falling, her face was full of anxiety and fear, a pair of big fat hands tightly grasped Fang Sheng's arm and did not let go If it wasn't for Fang Tian outside who was still concerned, her voice might blow the roof over: "What should I do? Could it be that little bastard Su Banxi knew what happened before?"

Fang Sheng looked at Wang Cui with dark eyes and said, "Okay, okay, that happened almost ten years ago, who would know what happened before, that kid Ning Chen won't remember it if he doesn't have a clear mind, you Just don't scare yourself, if Su Banxi just said something casually, we would get into a mess and let the people in Tunjiawan make it up, and we will be beheaded." The principle of killing people pays for their lives is easy to understand .

Wang Cui was still worried, but she swallowed all those words back into her stomach with her sinister eyes, not daring to say another word to provoke Fang Sheng.

Ning Chen didn't say a word along the way, Su Banxi saw the lingering anger in his eyes and didn't say a word, so he went back to Su's house in silence all the way, Su Wen just came back from the mountain, and the bamboo basket behind his back was full of green tender Grass, just as Su Wen was about to enter the house, he squinted at Su Banxi and Ning Chen, and he was not in a hurry to enter the door. He took a few steps forward with the bamboo basket on his back and took the pink lotus in Su Banxi's arms, "Why did you two pick so many?" The lotus and lotus leaves come back? There is no pond at home! Could it be for the sheep to eat?"

Su Wen felt that he really didn't understand the thoughts of Su Banxi and Ning Chen. Even if lotus leaves are available every year, even if they are useful, there is no need to pick so many back!

"Brother, don't ask now, you'll find out after a while." Su Banxi smiled and flirted with Su Wen, then opened the door and let Ning Chen and Su Wen in, while she walked behind Close the door.

Afraid that Su Banxi and Ning Chen might come back later, Mrs. Zhao postponed the time to cook, and put the soles of her shoes in the courtyard. The wound on her palm had healed long ago, and now there is no trace of it. Sun Huai removed the gauze on Su Banxi after she entered the town. The wound healed very well, and the traces left behind were also faint and hard to see, but the surrounding skin became better and better. It's tender and smooth to the touch, so Aunt Zhu asked her if she had applied some rouge and powder one day, which made her dumbfounded.

They are all farmers' children, and it's good enough to fill their stomachs. How can they have the spare money to buy Naoshizi's rouge gouache? Although the quality of life at home has improved a lot now, Zhao and Su Shi can also save money. If you save money, you will not show off or spend money lavishly, but live as you want, but you will not treat your children badly.

The new quilts at home, the high-quality materials sent by Mr. Jiang, Mrs. Zhao all made clothes for Su Wen, Su Banxi and Ning Chen, while she and Su Shi were still wearing clothes with puddings on top of each other. Su Banxi It seemed that he didn't speak, but when he came back, he still brought back two pieces of cloth with a darker color, and asked Zhao Shi and Su Shi to make two better clothes.

"You guys are back, yo, why did you pick so many lotus flowers and leaves?" Mrs. Zhao also asked the same question as Su asked, but Su Banxi still just smiled and didn't tell Mrs. Zhao, so Mrs. Zhao poked her with a smile She didn't ask any more questions, turned around and was about to go to the kitchen to cook, Su Banxi also walked around behind her,

Mrs. Zhao was about to wash japonica rice for cooking when she was stopped by Su Banxi, and she took a ladle to scoop water into the basin and asked Ning Chen to pick out a few bright green lotus leaves and clean them in the basin, "Mother, what are you doing?" Help me light the fire, let's eat something different today." As for what is different, Su Banxi refused to go on.

Mrs. Zhao couldn't resist Su Banxi, so she went to the corner outside to bring in some dry firewood. When the flint rubbed the little sparks, they fell on the dry straw. After a while, the sparks turned into a big fire. When I got to the bottom of the stove, I picked up some thinner firewood and put it under the stove.

Su Banxi poured water into the cauldron and waited for it to boil, then went to cut the lean pork she bought into small pieces and piled them on the cutting board. If there were no shrimps, she would use sun-dried mushrooms instead, and cut them into pieces one by one after cleaning. Put them into a sea bowl, take out seven or eight eggs from the basket, beat them thoroughly and put them aside for later use. After the water is heated up, Su Banxi asks Ning Chen to be careful not to scald the lotus leaves. After Ye was scalded in boiling water, he turned around and boiled the water in the pot dry. He poured the well-mixed eggs into the pot, spread them into egg skins, and then cut them into small pieces with a spatula.

Put lard in the pot, after the lard boils, pour the diced lean meat into the lard, stir-fry for a few times with a spatula, cook with cooking wine, add mushroom granules, soy sauce, and appropriate amount of sucrose, and stir-fry to make meat stuffing. After the meat filling is out of the pan, add sesame oil to the egg skin that was cut into small pieces before and mix well to form the heart of lotus leaf filling.

Su Banxi was busy washing the round-grained rice and putting it into a basin, adding water and diced lean meat, steaming it over high heat, taking it out while it was hot, loosening the rice, letting it cool, and adding the remaining soy sauce, coarse salt, a little sesame oil, etc. Pour in and mix well, stir the rice, stuffing, and diced lean meat evenly, put it on the washed and cut fresh lotus leaves, fold it into a bag and put it in the cage, and steam it on high heat for 6 to 7 minutes Left and right, quickly lower the drawer and take it out.

Su Banxi also knows that if the steaming time is too long, the lotus leaf will turn yellow and lose the unique fragrance of the lotus leaf; if the firepower is not strong, the lotus leaf will become bruised and the rice and stuffing will lose their fragrance Therefore, mastering the heat is the key to steaming lotus leaf rice.

Thinking of Su Banxi taking out the lotus leaf rice from the cage and putting it on the large porcelain plate that Ning Chen handed over, she looked at Mrs. Zhao. In the past, it was either Su Wen or Su Shi who cooked for her, and she didn't either. It was found that Mrs. Zhao is also good at lighting the fire and controlling the heat. At least today, she made lotus leaf rice for the first time and it was very successful. It is also thanks to Mrs. Zhao.

However, Su Banxi still has work to do. When I asked Ning Chen to wash the lotus leaves just now, he also asked him to wash a few fresh and light pink lotus flowers. To make them more delicate and sweet, Su Banxi quickly broke up the eggs, using only the egg whites, while the egg yolks were stored in another bowl. Now that there is no need for fire, she asked Zhao to find flour for her.

Beat the egg whites into egg batter, add a small amount of flour and stir well.

He also removed the outer petals of the lotus, and chose the middle petals of uniform size. Ning Chen also followed Su Banxi's example to pick and choose, making Su Banxi look at Ning Chen more and said: "Don't use the outermost petals, try to choose the middle petals." The petals of the lotus are about the same size, and then wash the petals with clean water, mother, can you find a piece of clean white cloth to dry the water drops on the petals?" After Zhao agreed, she got up and found it in a small cabinet in the kitchen. A piece of clean white cloth, Ning Chen and Su Banxi peel off the outer layer of petals, the other is responsible for cleaning, and Zhao is responsible for drying the water on the petals and putting them into the large porcelain plate next to them.

Then Su Banxi cut off the stalk of the lotus flower, cut it into two pieces, and made mung bean paste with freshly steamed mung beans without the bean paste filling. Spread a layer of mung bean paste evenly on the middle of each lotus petal, and then take a piece of equal size Spread the lotus petals on top of the mung bean paste and wrap them in pairs.

Su Banxi was too busy alone, and Ning Chen helped her. After a while, all the lotus petals were evenly coated with a layer of mung bean paste, and then the lotus petals of the same size were spread on the mung bean paste and wrapped in pairs. The fragrance combined with the strong fragrance of mung beans made this small kitchen overflow with fragrance.

Heat up the frying pan, add oil and heat until three minutes hot, Su Banxi asked Zhao to change the heat to a low heat, dip the lotus slices in a layer of flour, then hang the egg batter and put it in the oil, stir it with chopsticks while frying, the outside The weather was hot, and Su Banxi had been standing by the stove without leaving. After a while, a thin layer of sweat appeared on that delicate and beautiful face, and Ning Chen carefully wiped it off. Zhao, who was burning the fire, included this scene in Fundus, did not speak!
When the lotus petals are fried until they float up, take them out. Su Banxi divides the lotus petals into three parts to fry, eight pieces can be fried each time. The movement of turning the lotus slices is neither too fast nor too slow. When the oil is heated to [-]% heat, put the fried lotus slices into the deep fryer, stir the lotus slices with a small spoon while deep frying, and take out when the lotus slices are light yellow, and there is no sweet-scented osmanthus at this time There is no sweet-scented osmanthus in full bloom, so Su Banxi simply sprinkles it with powdered sugar.

The powdered sugar here is very strange, and the price is too expensive, but the taste is surprisingly good. Su Banxi tasted it once when he was in Yuning Town and remembered this taste. He thought that he would buy several times when he came back this time , but it came in handy.

The deep-fried lotus leaf slices were sprinkled with powdered sugar like modern icing, which looked pretty good. Let Ning Chen wash his hands and set the table. The lotus leaf rice from before was neither hot nor cold. The lotus slices have a surprising beauty that saturates the senses of sight and taste. After Su Wen washed his hands after feeding the sheep, Su Banxi just arrived. Su Banxi used a bunch of seemingly useless lotus leaves to make a series of delicacies for Su Wen. Smack your lips.

"Xiao Xi's hand is a coincidence! Usually when summer comes, the lotus leaves in the lotus pond wither away every time. I have never seen lotus except for some naughty children picking them to cover the sun and play. The food made with lotus leaves smells delicious." Su Shi smiled, and the shallow crow's feet at the corners of his eyes seemed to be stained with a smile, exuding a warm tenderness.

Su Wen ran out without eating much today. When he saw the lotus leaf rice and fried lotus flower, he rubbed his hands first and put a piece of fried lotus flower in his mouth eagerly. After one bite, it was crispy and thick with mung bean paste. taste, but then there is the taste of the layer of powdered sugar sprinkled on the lotus slices. The combination of the three flavors stimulates the taste buds and makes Su Wen want to eat another slice after eating one slice.

Su Banxi asked the three of them to eat first, while she washed some round-grained rice and boiled it in a pot. After washing a lotus leaf or two, she sat down and started eating. Although it was simple, the meal was delicious. Especially the lotus leaf rice, the lotus leaf wrapped with the rice filling pork inside is bright green and fragrant, the rice filling inside is smooth and soft, bright in color, and the fragrance of the lotus leaf is revealed on the outside, which makes people just look at it Then I feel a lot hungry.

The tempting lotus fragrance and refreshing taste made Su Wen lose his image after eating.

Lotus leaf rice, the rice grains are soft and delicious, accompanied by the fragrance of lotus leaves, it can be said to add fragrance to the fragrance, bringing another fresh experience to the tongue buds, and the sweetness and deliciousness of fried lotus just neutralize it The slightly greasy lotus leaf rice makes people want to swallow it with their tongues.

What's more, there were no large-scale pollution sources in ancient times. The lotus leaves here are all natural, and they are full of fragrance, which is perfect for steaming lotus leaf rice.

Su Banxi didn't eat much, so she went to stir the pot and when it was almost boiled, she added an appropriate amount of sucrose and stirred well. Ning Chen wanted to help, but Su Banxi refused, "Go and eat yours, I'm not very hungry, besides This porridge will be ready soon." Ning Chen nuzui was pulled over by Su Shi and sat down to eat.

While the porridge was hot, Su Banxi tore off the lotus leaves and covered the porridge with her hands. When the porridge turned light green, she used chopsticks to take out the lotus leaves covered on the porridge. Su Banxi filled a bowl and took a sip. The temperature is very hot, but the fragrance of the lotus leaves and the softness of the rice porridge rushed into the mouth together, making Su Banxi narrow her eyes slightly, so she might as well pick more lotus leaves while they are still in bloom!

The lotus leaf can be made into lotus leaf tea, and the lotus flower can be ground into powder and put into porridge water to enhance the fragrance. Besides, both lotus flower and lotus leaf tea have a great effect on the beauty of the human body. Maybe you can take some back as a gift Mo Yan, but she came back to Tunjiawan not only to collect lotus flowers and leaves, the most important thing is to find a little more food, rare medicinal materials and honey that can be stored in large quantities, and to ask Su Shi if their house is torn down and rebuilt. How many blue bricks and gray tiles are needed, so she can go back and tell old man Liu.

They also served a bowl of lotus leaf porridge for the three of them respectively. Mrs. Zhao couldn't put it down because of the elegant, fragrant and soft lotus leaf porridge. I also saw how Su Banxi cooked the lotus leaf porridge just now. If you want to eat it in the future, you can do it yourself.

Seeing the very pale scars on Zhao Shi's face, Su Banxi said to Zhao Shi while drinking the lotus leaf porridge: "Mother, we have to go out to pick more lotus leaves and flowers later, and when I dry the lotus flowers When it is made into powder, you can sprinkle some of it into the lotus leaf porridge when you cook it and drink it after a little cooking to achieve the effect of beautifying your face, and the scars on your face will disappear naturally.”

Mrs. Zhao didn't take the scar on her face to heart. She heard that adding lotus powder to lotus leaf porridge can have a beautifying effect. A bold idea gradually formed in Mrs. Zhao's mind, so she put down the bowl in her hand and looked at Su Banxi and asked Said: "Xiaoxi, you said that this lotus leaf porridge and the lotus powder you mentioned can beautify the face?" Mrs. Zhao was taught to marry her husband and obey her husband, and to teach her husband and children. She never planned anything for herself, but now It's different, and it's impossible for her to watch her daughter work hard to earn money to support the family alone, but she, as a mother, can't do anything.

Nowadays, everyone's life is better than ten years ago. Many families with daughters in Tunjiawan are rich and support their daughters, and those girls are more beautiful than each other. Mrs. Zhao often hears about them We gathered together and talked about which rouge and gouache in the town is better, which lip gloss color is better, etc. At that time, Zhao had an idea in his heart, but it didn't take shape. After Su Banxi said this today , Mrs. Zhao finally knew what she should do and what she could do, and she was a little excited about it.

Su Banxi looked at the inexplicably excited Zhao. Although she couldn't understand why Zhao was so excited all of a sudden, she still told Zhao what she knew: "That's true, but mother, what do you want to do? Although the lotus flower is now There are still lotus leaves, but they will all wither in a few days, so I can only take advantage of this time to harvest more and go home."

Mrs. Zhao didn't refuse and nodded in agreement, but she hesitated when she looked at Su Shishi. Picking lotus flowers and leaves must have gone into the water, but Su Shi's legs had just recovered a little, so he definitely couldn't go into the water to catch the cold, but let him be alone Staying at home and avoiding making Su Shi think too much.

Su Banxi, who knew Zhao's worries, smiled lightly and said: "Mother, lock the door and let's all go as a family, and dad will be responsible for tying the lotus flowers we picked together with straw ropes on the bank so that we can carry them home, and take the lotus leaves together." It’s enough to stack them together, and going out to get more air will be more conducive to the recovery of Dad’s legs.”

Su Shi also breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, if something happened at home and he, the head of the family, could only watch from the sidelines because of his leg disease, maybe he would really think about something more. , but Su Banxi didn't exclude him, which made Su Shi very relieved.

Ning Chen said to Su Banxi in his head: "Xixi, just the three of us can't pick much, so we might as well find more people to pick some, it's not for nothing, a lotus leaf costs one penny, and a lotus flower costs two pennies." What do you think about the money?" The four of them only had three laborers, and Ning Chen didn't want Su Banxi to take off his shoes and socks and enter the lotus pond, so he thought of this method.

Su Banxi was stunned for a moment, then smiled and pinched Ning Chen's fleshy face, because she had been working in the town for a while, she still looked thin, but she wasn't that weak anymore, and there was a lot more on her face The meat, and the immaturity between the eyebrows have receded a lot, and it seems that the mind has matured a lot.

Zhao's eyes were smiling, but she coughed to remind Su Banxi and Ning Chen to pay attention. After all, they are still there. When Ning Chen was in the town, he was often teased by Jin Zhou and others, but Su Banxi didn't know what shyness was. The faces of both of them did not change. After discussing with Zhao Shi and Su Shi, Zhao Shi and Su Shi also agreed with Ning Chen's idea. As for why he was suddenly not stupid, Zhao Shi and Su Shi didn't go at all. Ask, sometimes it is a kind of respect for people not to get to the bottom of it.

When it comes to doing it, Ning Chen and Su Wen will do it. Su Banxi will follow Su Shi to twist more than ten straw ropes in a short period of time. When the straw ropes are finished, Su Banxi The palms of her hands were blushing, as if blood would flow out of them in the next moment, and Zhao Shi held her hands in distress and blew her breath to make her feel better, but she still didn't forget to stare at Su Shi, Su Shi scratched his head feeling wronged.

Obviously it was the girl who didn't want to listen to his words and stayed to twist the straw rope, so why was she stared at!
Seeing this scene, Su Banxi couldn't laugh or cry and said, "Mother, it's none of Dad's business, I'm going to rub the straw rope together with Dad." It's just that she is not as difficult as rubbing the straw rope, and the palms of her hands are almost torn. Only now did she see a thick layer of calluses in the palm of Su Shi's hand, and at first glance, the person who had been doing farm work all year round suddenly fell silent.

"Xizi, when did you come back? If I hadn't seen Ning Chen just now, I wouldn't have known you were back. How are you feeling better?" First of all, Zhang Dongmei and Mrs. Zhang came in first. Zhang Ruishu is still working hard in the town, and Tunjiawan and Yuning Town will have to walk for more than two hours, and most of the time will be gone, so unless there is a long vacation or something urgent, Zhang Ruishu will not be as good. Neither will come home.

"Hello, auntie, hello auntie, we just came back this morning, thank you auntie and auntie for your concern, I'm fine now, I can eat, drink, run and dance now." After finishing speaking, she shrugged her shoulders, delicate and beautiful His face has soft lines, a pair of bright apricot eyes with a soft and warm smile, a straight nose stained with a little sweat, and a bright red mouth that is the size of a cherry. It made Zhang Dongmei and Mrs. Zhang laugh out loud before saying something in the future:
"I heard from Wenzi that you want to buy lotus and lotus leaves? Why do you want these things?" Every year, the lotus and lotus leaves in the lotus pond are ignored, and they are allowed to wither. Buying lotus flowers and leaves, I don't know if she has too much money and nowhere to spend it.

"Of course it is useful, and you will know about it by then, aunts and aunts, so this is..." Su Banxi said with a smile, her slightly raised apricot eyes turned away.

Zhang Dongmei took a step forward, straightened her chest and said, "Of course I'm here to help you. Your aunt and I don't want your money, as long as you take care of our dinner." Zhang Dongmei and the Su family have a good relationship. Besides, she also likes the child Xizi very much. If she hadn't known that Zhang Ruishu had no other feelings for Xizi other than brother and sister, she would have wanted to bring these two children together. Ruishu has not had any signs of pregnancy in the past few years, but now she has seen it through, children and grandchildren have their own blessings, and things that cannot be forced are better to let nature take its course.

Su Banxi rolled her eyes with a smile, nodded and agreed, and then a few waves of people came, but few stayed because Su Banxi gave them less money, but it was impossible for Su Banxi to increase money just because they thought it was too little, after all The lotus leaves and lotus flowers are starting to turn yellow now, and there must be very few that can be used in the end. One penny and one lotus leaf is already very good, so the last people left are Zhang Dongmei, the Zhang family, and the Liu family brothers. There are Aunt Zhu's family, and two tall and strong men who are not at odds with each other, namely Shanming and Qiuming.

Or maybe it's because the last two words are the same, which caused the two big men to bicker and stare childishly like children. The surnames of the two are rare, so Su Banxi looked at it twice, and Su Wen said in her ear : "Shanming came to help us pick lotus leaves because his wife was going to give birth and couldn't leave him to go to the town to find work. Qiuming was not married but because he often brought some children abandoned by his family from outside. He came back to raise him, but he didn’t have much money, but he never threw the child away. In a short time, money was tight, and now the child he brought back seemed to be suffering from some kind of disease and needed a lot of money for medicine. The oldest child in the family was only ten years old. Zuo Zuo couldn’t do without him, so he came to help.”

Su Banxi nodded and said nothing, "I am very grateful that you can stay and help, but I need a lot of lotus leaves and lotus flowers. The lotus flowers should be as good as possible, and the edges are beginning to rot and turn yellow. The lotus leaves should also be as bright green as possible, and the edges will be damaged and turn yellow. No, a lotus leaf costs one penny, a lotus flower costs two pennies, plus tonight’s dinner.”

Just as the Liu brothers were about to say that they don't want money, they were stopped by Su Shi, who shook their heads at the Liu brothers, "Just take it, as long as you don't dislike the lack of money. During this time, you brothers The two have also helped our family a lot, and the money was earned by the two of you through labor, so you should keep it, otherwise Xiao Xi will be angry at that time."

So the two Liu brothers closed their mouths and carried bamboo baskets on their backs and walked towards the back of the mountain. Along the way, many people asked them what they were doing. At the beginning, some people replied that they were going to pick lotus leaves and flowers. In the end, even the very patient Liu brothers were annoyed, so they said something happened and left quickly.

The lotus leaves with better margins had already been picked by Ning Chen earlier, so everyone except Su Shi who couldn't enter the water and Su Banxi who was pulled aside by Ning Chen to talk, everyone entered the water, even Mrs. Zhang also entered the water. , she is a married woman, and her own mother-in-law is by her side, so it is no problem to take off her shoes and socks, so is Zhao Shi, but Su Banxi, an unmarried girl, is somewhat inconvenient to take off her shoes and socks in front of all the men That's why she was pulled aside by Ning Chen.

"What's the matter? Chenchen." Although she didn't know what Ning Chen wanted to do by pulling her aside, Su Banxi didn't shake off his hand and let him pull her aside.

Ning Chen stared at Su Banxi with complicated eyes for a long time, and saw that the men over there had all entered the water, and the wide lotus leaves covered their exposed calves, so Ning Chen let out a little breath and then said seriously to Su Banxi: " Xixi, stay on the shore with your uncle and stay out of the water."

Just as Su Banxi wanted to ask why, she suddenly looked at Ning Chen's earlobe as if she had discovered a new continent, and it turned slightly blood-like red under her gaze. Then she rolled her eyes and approached Ning Chen with a smile, "Are you worried about me?" Go into the water to catch the cold? Or do you not want me to be in front of others..."

Ning Chen twitched his brows and eyes slightly, and a slight evil smile appeared at the corners of his eyes, causing Su Banxi to suddenly stop what he hadn't finished saying, and pursed his lips to swallow the smile that was about to burst out of his throat, "Okay, I won't go into the water, but you have to worry about yourself, don't go in the middle, you little man."

Ning Chen, who had just turned around and was about to go into the water, suddenly turned his head when he heard these words. Su Banxi couldn't help laughing at the sharp light and embarrassment that slid from the corner of his eyes. Ning Chen took off his shoes and socks angrily and got off. Shui, pretending nothing happened, ignoring everyone's gazes towards him, but when he was picking the lotus and thinking about what Su Banxi said, he touched his chin with his wet hand.

Well, it seems a little short.

Only a little bit taller than Xixi!

Ning Chen was depressed, and wanted to go back and ask Jin Zhou to see if there was a way to grow taller quickly, determined not to let Xixi mock him like this, and to have enough strength to protect Xixi.

Everyone moved very quickly, and because the lotus pond wasn't very big, so when the sunset left behind a scene of burning clouds in the sky, Su Banxi was delighted with what everyone had harvested, but it was because the lotus and lotus leaves they picked were too much , I couldn’t take it all at once, so I had to divide it into two groups of people to take it back, and when the people behind came back, they would just be able to take it all.

As soon as I got back, Su Banxi was busy cooking, because there was still a lot of lotus leaf porridge left at noon, and it was completely cooled now, and the taste would be better, so Su Banxi asked Mrs. Zhao to take a bowl and distribute it to everyone who couldn't fill up It’s good to taste the stomach, there are not many dishes at home, so Su Banxi still plans to make lotus leaf rice and fried lotus flowers for lunch, because she is proficient after doing it once, and with the help of Zhang Shi and Ning Chen, the movements are faster than others. It was almost noon.

Because there are so many people and most of them are men, Su Banxi thought about it and kneaded the noodles and made two baskets of steamed buns. When Su Banxi was not in Tunjiawan, he would ask Su Wen to pick fungus and pick out the bad ones. Don’t just wash the rotten ones and put them in the sun to dry. Su Wen occasionally picks fungus and comes back to dry when he has nothing to do, so that last time he sent a bag of dried fungus to Yuning Town, there was still a bag and a half left at home. Every time Mrs. Zhao said Su Wen, but when Su asked her sister to use it, she choked Mrs. Zhao back.

Stir-fried fungus with green chili, lotus leaf rice, fried lotus flower, meatballs wrapped in a layer of flour and fried until golden and crispy, big and white steamed buns served on the table, and finally Su Banxi made a bowl of three delicacies soup, soaked and scattered Strong-flavored mushrooms, Chinese cabbage grown in their own fields, and the tofu bought for her by the big and small brothers rolled together in the boiling soup. out of the kitchen.

Now the family conditions have improved a lot, and Mrs. Zhao brought back a lot of white wine for Su Shi. In the past, Su Shi just sipped a little and was unhappy. Now that there are many people in the family, Su Shi asked Mrs. Zhao to take out the wine. Mrs. Zhao didn't say anything and poured some into everyone's bowls. Ning Chen didn't drink, so she ran to the kitchen to eat with Su Banxi and the others with her rice bowl in her arms. With a thick skin, he continued to eat as if he didn't feel anything.

And Ning Chen eats very fast, because he knows Su Banxi's food intake, and she usually eats very little at night, and there are so many lotus leaves waiting for her to wash, so he has to eat quickly Completely working with Su Banxi, you can't let her do it alone!
Sure enough, Su Banxi soon put down the bowl and chopsticks. At the same time, Ning Chen also swallowed the last mouthful of rice in the bowl, then hurriedly put down the chopsticks and followed Su Banxi out of the kitchen. Zhang Dongmei, Mrs. Zhang, and Aunt Zhu all shook their heads and laughed when they saw it. The two children, big and small, were eating slowly, Mrs. Zhang didn't eat much, so she put down the bowls and chopsticks to let them eat slowly, and then went to help Su Banxi and Ningchen clean the lotus leaves.

Su Banxi silently calculated in her mind how much money she should give to those who came to help them. Unexpectedly, Ning Chen said casually: "Auntie Zhang picked a total of 48 lotus flowers, 88 ​​lotus leaves, a total of 94 coins, Liu Brothers Eleven lotus flowers with 110 lotus leaves totaled 44 and eight Wen coins, Shanming seven lotus flowers with thirty lotus leaves totaled 29 Wen coins, and Qiuming had fewer five lotus flowers with 39 lotus leaves and a total of 29 Wen coins. There are 61 lotus flowers and 110 lotus leaves, a total of [-] nine coins, Xixi, you have to take out a total of [-] copper coins."

Su Banxi looked at Ning Chen's side face in silence. She always knew that Ning Chen was more sensitive to numbers, and in order to distinguish the lotus flowers and leaves picked by everyone, she and Su Shi separated them, even if Su Banxi I roughly recorded the number of lotus leaves and lotus flowers picked by everyone, but I couldn't say all of them with my mouth like Ning Chen.

(End of this chapter)