Hu Tu noodles, as the name suggests, are noodles cooked until soft and mushy, served with sesame leaves, crushed peanuts, chili oil, and chopped green onions and noodle oil…
At this moment, the bowl is full of sticky soup, and everyone who eats it is sweating and feels comfortable all over.
The high starch and high calorie contentment is unimaginable to those who have never tried it! Even a picky person like Song Tan finished a big bowl today.
It's been more than two months since she came back, and her picky eating problem has gradually improved.
Of course, compared with the other members of the Song family who always start with two big bowls of rice, this appetite is still not worth mentioning, but it is already a lot of improvement.
But dinner was over, and at 7:30, the newly installed light bulbs in the yard came on again, and the aunts from the village came here one after another.
There was no way. I collected too much Tremella fuciformis in the afternoon and it took a while to process it all.
Naturally, this thing needs to be dried early. Anyway, no one can go to bed so early, so we might as well work two hours of night shift to earn some money so that we can finish it earlier.
So the yard of my grandfather's house is now full of things.
A layer of clean plastic film was spread on the ground, and large baskets of Tremella were poured on it. The aunts moved a small stool to sit in a line next to the plastic film, each of them picked the Tremella in front of them, and took a sharp knife to quickly scrape off the dry and hard mushroom blocks and sawdust, as well as the yellow and old corners on it.
Everyone was used to doing farm work, and although they were not very skilled at it at the beginning, they could do it very quickly after working for about 10 minutes.
Soon, there were fewer and fewer white fungi on the film, while there were more and more in the basket in front of them.
After collecting the white fungus, they have to be washed and selected, and then spread out on the bamboo curtain to dry.
Now it was late at night, and I was afraid of dew, so I specially packed it up and brought it into the house. Even so, the whole yard already had a tense and cramped feeling.
As for the scraps that everyone picked up, Uncle Seven and Aunt Seven had a lot of tasks to do every day and they didn't have the energy to pick them carefully at the moment.
Aunt Lianhua is busy all day but refuses to stop.
Even though Song Tan tried to persuade her to go back several times, she refused to listen. She simply pushed the paralyzed old lady at home over, and then put a large basin in front of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, which was filled with the crumbs and scraps that everyone had shaved.
The old lady was old and her eyes were a little dizzy, but with so many people in the yard at the moment, everyone was talking and laughing, she didn't feel lonely at all, and her whole mental state improved a lot.
At this moment, together with Aunt Lianhua, they slowly picked out the crumbs in the basin in front of them again, put aside the slightly presentable scraps, washed them a little, and spread them out to dry.
Aunt Lianhua was reluctant to discard those that were really unsightly, so when Song Tan went out of the yard alone, she quietly asked if she could take a bowl home.
Logically speaking, this thing can neither be sold for money nor eaten, so it is not worth giving it to Aunt Lianhua for free.
But Song Tan was afraid that this would set a precedent and easily arouse other people's thoughts, so he decided on a number: "Okay, then Aunt Lianhua, you can take two kilograms back!"
The leftovers are heavy, and actually have no strong taste, but they are still nutritious. Aunt Lianhua has tasted them and is very happy.
She whispered to her mother-in-law about it, and as they savored the taste of the Tremella soup, their confidence grew, and they sat there picking more carefully.
It was past 10 o'clock in the evening, when everyone finished their work and got their wages and went home. Only then did Aunt Lianhua push her mother-in-law and say goodbye to Song Tan.
She opened the plastic bag she was carrying and showed it to Song Tan: "I just showed it to Qiao Qiao, it's exactly two kilograms."
Song Tan was a little stunned
There was no other reason, it was because Aunt Lianhua was too honest. There was not even a piece of crystal white Tremella in the bag. All of them were those yellowed and hard scraps.
Logically speaking, we have cut off the roots, but there are also a lot of broken ears on the edges! But how come...
She reached out and pulled the bag off, then went back to the small warehouse to take a look—
really!
I saw that on the bamboo curtains stacked up on the shelves in the room, in addition to some complete white fungus of uneven sizes, the top layer was clearly covered with an extra layer of gauze. Those white fungus that could not be broken any further were like a layer of broken snowflakes, all spread out on top to dry.
This made Song Tan feel uncomfortable again.
It is true that I increased Aunt Lianhua's salary, but it is only 2,500 yuan a month, which is not much.
Although she brought her mother-in-law to dinner, which would not be allowed at a normal workplace, her mother-in-law did not stay there in vain and did everything she could.
Now, without saying a word, she took out a plastic bag from the side and directly put handfuls of the chopped white fungus that were hanging on the gauze into it.
He estimated that it weighed about two or three kilograms, and then handed it to Aunt Lianhua:
"Aunt, you have worked so hard to help us, and we all remember it. I feel bad that you treated such a small amount of Tremella fuciformis crumbs so awkwardly."
"Here, you and grandma have worked hard in this life. My Tremella is very nutritious. Stew a bowl of it at home every day to keep healthy. It will also help us for a long time."
She laughed and said, "I've been running this farm for decades, and it's not easy to find an employee like you."
The words were so soothing and warm that Aunt Lianhua felt happy and indescribably warm.
Even my paralyzed mother-in-law felt a chill in her heart.
For decades, this old woman has been paralyzed for decades. She has always felt that she is a burden to her daughter-in-law, but she is timid and has not dared to die...
Now, even if I just lend a hand, I can actually help!
She eats Song Tan's food every day. Now her complexion is very good and her hands are strong. She knows that the food at home is really nourishing.
Now I feel even more embarrassed: "What are you going to do with the good ones? Save them to sell... Don't we eat enough at home every day? Just take the leftovers and soak them in water to drink."
The scraps were so broken that they couldn't be broken any further. Even the ones in her hands were only as big as a fingernail.
They were picked out little by little using scissors, knives and tweezers.
Even my seventh cousin was too impatient to clean up the soup he was making, but this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law could sit for two or three hours and pick them all out.
People in ancient times didn’t have this much meticulousness when carving bird’s nests!
They deserve these things.
The solar street lights in the village are still on at this moment. The road back is flat and stable. The lonely and desolate sound of the wheelchair is particularly clear in this quiet night.
Aunt Lianhua took a deep breath and said, "Mom, we eat and drink every day... I think we still have to work hard. The house will be built tomorrow. I don't want a raise. I'll just clean up the house."
They are grateful for the work they do at home and know what is good.