This bamboo forest is neither big nor small. It covers about one or two acres of land, with some long and some short.
As we entered the bamboo forest, the air suddenly became humid. There was a smell of fermented bamboo leaves in the forest, and it felt soft when we stepped on it.
It is now early April, and many of the spring bamboo shoots have grown more than one meter tall. My aunt skillfully avoids these and only picks the small and tender ones.
He took aim and with one hoe, a plump bamboo shoot was pried out.
For Qiao Qiao, this was like a treasure hunt game. He also took a hoe and dug up whatever was fat.
The eldest aunt saw it and laughed: "Our Qiao Qiao is becoming more and more capable now!"
"That's right," Song Tan said proudly, "I taught you all that."
She taught me most of it.
Since Qiao Qiao is like this, you should let him do some cleaning chores when Wulan and Song Sancheng are at home, otherwise he will inevitably be spoiled.
What's more, they have a lot of work to do every day and rarely have the spare time to teach their son step by step.
If they couldn't teach each other a few words, they would both collapse.
But Song Tan is different. Apart from anything else, her patience is extremely good now. If she can't do it once, she will try twice. If she can't do it twice, she will try four times... As for farm work, you still have to do more.
I took him with me in everything I did, and over time, Qiao Qiao himself became much more flexible.
While digging bamboo shoots, my aunt sighed: "When I was a child, I hated this bamboo forest."
"Why?" Song Tan was puzzled.
Her memory of this bamboo forest was probably when she was a child, Song Sancheng tied two hemp ropes to the bamboo and put a wooden board in the middle to make a simple swing for her to play on.
When it was a little bigger, he could pull out a hammock inside for the summer. The hammock was bought for two dollars and accompanied Song Tan for many summers.
If I hadn't once shaken a fat green worm off the bamboo leaves and landed on my face while I was swaying on it... I'm afraid this beautiful memory would have lasted for a few more years.
The eldest aunt sighed and said, "Your life was better when you were a child, and you had many ways to make money. But before you were born, people wanted bamboo like ours, and they sold it for eight cents a piece."
"Your grandfather was responsible for cutting bamboo in the bamboo forest, and your grandmother was responsible for chopping off all the branches and twigs on the bamboo branches."
"As for me, I don't have to do any hard work, but I have to drag this long bamboo all the way to where people collect the goods."
"Although the bamboos here are not as thick as those 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."
This is real rural life.
Song Tan was silent for a while and then asked, "What about my dad and the others?"
Song Hongmei laughed: "Can your father and his family still run? They are responsible for loading bamboo onto trucks for others. It is really strenuous work. They can't even straighten their backs after working all day."
"Tan Tan, don't think your aunt is annoying. She also went through hardships with your uncle in his early years."
Song Tan said "hmm".
She has seen a lot, and everyone plays different roles in the eyes of different people. There is no need to force it, just do what makes you happy.
She originally thought that her aunt was going to say something sentimental, but she didn't expect her aunt to change her tone:
"It's just that your great aunt is getting old now, and her brain is getting worse!"
"Your grandma planted three rows of lettuce, there must be 50 or 60 lettuces in total. From the look of her attitude, I think she might even pull them all out - how is she going to eat them?"
"I'm telling you, you can't stay home every day to take care of the kids and do housework when you're old. If you have nothing to do, go out and do some square dancing, or if that doesn't work, set up a stall. It's better than just staying at home. You don't have any talent at all..."
The eldest aunt was obviously also very resentful, and kept muttering: "Is it easy for your grandma to grow some vegetables?"
Song Tan laughed:
"Yes, my aunt is really good at cooking. If we blanch and dry the bamboo shoots at home, we can still eat them for a long time!"
"Yes." The eldest aunt looked at the bamboo forest with nostalgia: "No one has bought bamboo in the past twenty years. Look at how densely packed the bamboo forest is. Too many is not good. If you see spring bamboo shoots, dig some more to make room for them."
At the same time, he was thinking: "I'll go home and cut the tender bamboo shoots diagonally, blanch them in water, and then stir-fry them with pickled peppers and beef. Oh, this will go really well with rice!"
Then I thought: there are also lettuce leaves!
"Let's eat this pickled pepper bamboo shoots and stir-fried lettuce leaves tonight. Let's steam an egg with locust flowers and make locust flower pancakes tomorrow..."
When I think about it this way, it seems like I’ll have enough food to eat for nearly half a month, and I’ll save a few hundred dollars on food expenses!
Once the eldest aunt had figured out the accounts in her mind, she swung the hoe even more carefully!
Song Tan originally had no thoughts about the spring bamboo shoots. It was difficult to cultivate them, and she was not willing to spend too much of her spiritual energy this year on them. But after hearing what her aunt said, she couldn't help but feel a little greedy.
Just when I was thinking about asking Qiao Qiao to dig a few more to take home, I saw this silly kid coming out of the bamboo forest, holding a handful of rape flowers:
"Sister, here's what you eat."
At the same time, he broke off a piece of vegetable sprout and ate it.
Song Tan also laughed: "When I was a child, my mother always fried rapeseed flower buns and vegetable moss, but I didn't like them."
The eldest aunt laughed and said, "When you were a kid, you had to think twice before eating meat at home. We were still farming, so how could we have the time to cook it carefully? It must not taste good."
"Eating is different now. What's that saying? Keep healthy!"
My aunt has been able to set up a stall in the city for decades, and her skill in making egg pancakes is unknown to what extent, but her cooking skills have obviously been honed to perfection by her stingy spirit.
Now looking at the rape flowers, I came up with a few dishes:
"I'm telling you, pick a handful of rapeseed flowers, then go to the mountains to see if there are any wild onions, and dig one up. Blanch the rapeseed flowers, chop the onions, mince the ginger and garlic, add some chili powder, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, MSG, etc., mix well, then add the onions, add some sesame oil... It's delicious!"
This describes...
Song Tan's mouth was watering just thinking about it, but...
"Aunt, your way of mixing vegetables is so delicious that even the soles of shoes are delicious."
The aunt laughed and said, "You can also use this to make fried eggs. Chop the rape flowers into small pieces and mix them with the eggs..."
"If that doesn't work, boil the rice soup at home and add the rape flowers, sprinkle some chopped green onions, pepper powder, etc..."
When it comes to being thrifty, my aunt is really an expert. None of the ingredients she uses are expensive, and she manages to make delicious food.
Song Tan sighed: "Aunt, you know so much..."
The eldest aunt laughed and said, "What I am doing is nothing. You haven't seen the big banquets in our village before. The chefs there were amazing!"
"Whatever you have at hand, you can make a delicious dish. One spring banquet served rapeseed flowers stewed with fish tail. Oh, it was praised by everyone!"
“I’ve remembered it for decades.”