"Xiao Zhuang, listen to your brothers and sisters, and don't cause them any trouble. When you arrive in town tomorrow, Dad will buy you a white sugar cake to eat!" Gu Qiao was afraid that his younger son would say something that would make Gu Ming and his sister angry, so he hurriedly used nice words to coax them. on.
Gu Ming's eyes darkened a bit again: his father's love was only revealed to his young son alone. Did you and your sister pick it up
Perhaps it was because of the unfamiliar environment that his parents were not around, or perhaps it was Gu Qiao's promise that played a role, and Xiao Zhuang obediently took his brother's hand into the house. Gu Li'er held Gu Ye's hand and walked behind them.
As soon as you enter the door, there is a large kang that runs across the entire room. There are already seven or eight people on the kang, either lying or sitting, chatting with familiar people in low voices. Seeing the door opened, they just raised their eyelids and glanced, then turned their eyes away. Most of the people in the mountains are poor, they are reluctant to sleep on the big kang, and they save money to let their children come in. Most of them are not surprised.
Gu Ming chose the side of the kang tail against the wall. Don't look at Gu Ming's young age, it is more thoughtful to think about it. After all, Gu Lier was a 13-year-old girl, Gu Ming let her sleep against the wall at the end of the kang, Gu Ye was next to her, and Xiao Zhuang slept between the siblings.
Next door to Gu Ming was an old woman with gray hair. Seeing that he was doing things in an orderly manner, arranging his sister and sister properly, he opened his mouth with a missing tooth and praised: "What a thoughtful and good young man, said Have you kissed? If not, my mother-in-law will help you find a good marriage."
Gu Lier and Gu Ye listened, covered their mouths and shook their shoulders and laughed non-stop. Gu Ming blushed. Since arriving at Gu Xiao's house, the food has been able to keep up, and most of them are refined grains, and they also come to stew meat from time to time. This 12-year-old boy has grown a lot taller, and by practicing kung fu every morning, he has also grown a lot stronger. He looks a year or two older than his actual age. People in the mountains say that the marriage is earlier, and there are many people who get married at the age of fifteen or sixteen. No wonder the old woman wanted to kiss him!
After learning about Gu Ming's real age, the old woman seemed a little regretful, and quickly changed her words: "It doesn't matter, I will be able to talk about kissing in two years. Which village do you live in, my mother-in-law will pay attention to you first."
Gu Ye saw that his brother was so embarrassed that the roots of his neck were red, and he estimated that the heat on his face was about to fry an egg, so he hurriedly helped him out: "Mother-in-law, you are really a good person! We are from Qingshan Village, and we have three thatched huts at home. just covered”
As soon as she heard the three words of Qingshan Village, the old woman stopped talking about her family to Gu Ming. You must know that Qingshan Village is in the deepest part of Cangmang Mountain. The land is barren and the mountains are dangerous. The people are so poor that the whole family only has a set of ragged cotton-padded clothes to keep out the cold in winter. Many people are too poor to eat! I heard that some people are the eldest from birth to their children, and they haven't been to town a few times. In such an environment, who would want to marry a daughter to Qingshan Village to endure hardship!
The old woman was afraid that Gu Ye would ask her about her relatives, so she yawned and pretended to sleep with her back. Gu Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief, took out a few stacks of scallion pancakes from the basket, and walked towards the kang head: "I'll go and warm the pancakes, and then I'll find some hot water from the store."
The scallion pancakes are baked with lard. Although Gu Ye’s skill is average, the scallion pancakes are golden on both sides, and the aroma that emerges makes people drool. Fortunately, except for them, they were all adults in the room, smelling the aroma, secretly swallowing, and pretending to fall asleep with their eyes closed.
Lying on the warm kang, Xiao Zhuang, who was already drowsy, smelled the aroma of the fragrant scallion pancakes, and immediately got refreshed and shouted for pancakes.
Gu Ming tore a piece and stuffed it into his small hand, and gave a piece of cake to his sister and Gu Lier each. Gu Lier was reluctant to ask for it, she said that she brought dry food. Knowing that Ninth Uncle's family brought dry coarse grain cakes, Gu Ming said:
"Eat ours first! Tomorrow's noon, there will be no place to make hot cakes, and cold ones will cause stomach upsets. You eat ours tonight, and tomorrow we'll eat the dry food you brought. Sister Li'er, what's the relationship between our family? What to do outside."
When Gu Lier heard this, she remembered what good things were in Gu Ming's family, and she never forgot to give them a copy: wild pork, pastries, and tiger meat from the previous two days because when the brothers and sisters had a difficult time, she Parents couldn't bear to help. However, her family can't always take advantage of them!
While hesitating, a pancake was already stuffed in his hand. As soon as she looked up, she saw Xiao Ye'er's bulging face and her round eyes threatening: "Sister Li, if you don't eat this cake, you won't treat me as a younger sister!!"
Seeing that Gu Lier couldn't help it, and the smell of the pancake was so tempting, she finally took the scallion pancake and ate it in small bites. The scallion pancakes are layered, fragrant, salty, and crispy. She feels that it is better than the sesame cakes bought in the town.
The cakes that Gu Ye baked were so big that one person would be full after eating one. Xiao Zhuang ate half of it, his stomach was bulging, he lay on the kang and slept soundly, with his legs curled and his arms stretched upward like a big toad. Although he fell asleep, he still held a corner of the scallion pancake in his oily little hands.
Gu Ming dipped his handkerchief in water, wiped the little guy's hands, woke him up again, fed him some water, and then put the little guy back to sleep after urinating. The old woman next door saw that he took care of his younger brother so carefully, and at the same time she admired him and felt sorry for this young man, if it weren't for Qingshan Village, it would be great!
Silent all night. The next morning, Gu Ye was woken up by his brother. Carrying dozens of pounds of medicine, I walked all day, so I slept very deeply at night. After gargling with warm water and eating a piece of scallion pancake, the brothers and sisters followed their uncle from the same village on the road again.
This is another whole day. In the twilight, when they saw the outline of the town, everyone heaved a sigh of relief and accelerated their tired steps.
Into the town, the sky is completely dark. The villagers of Qingshan Village walked towards the familiar big car shop. After rushing for two days, it is time to take a good rest.
Gu Ye grabbed his brother who wanted to go with him, and said to Gu Mo, "Ninth Uncle, let's go to deliver medicine to Ding staff first, and we won't go to the cart shop with you."
The condition of the big car shop was similar to last night. Gu Ye didn't want to squeeze a kang with a group of people and listen to a group of old men snoring. The last time I came to town with my grandfather, the inn where I stayed was not bad, clean and comfortable.
Gu Mo knew that the two children had an idea, so he warned: "Then you have to be careful. When a stranger is talking to you, don't talk to each other. As the new year is approaching, there are many people who are shooting flowers. Especially Xiao Ye'er, Those who photograph Hanako like to photograph beautiful little girls like you."
In Gu Mo's impression, Gu Ye, a little girl, was more courageous than an adult. One person dares to go to Wild Boar Ridge, and one person dares to carry the big tiger back. And last time, I also climbed a high cliff. If it wasn't for the help of noble people, I would definitely fall out of it! Afraid that this girl would make trouble again in the town, that's why he deliberately reminded her!
"Got it, Uncle Ninth! I will follow my brother obediently and not run around!" Pai Hanako? It is said that the child was comatose and taken away with the drug. Hey! When it comes to medicine, she is a veteran of the old hands. At that time, I don't know who is shooting who!
Saying goodbye to Uncle Ninth, the two brothers and sisters walked side by side on the lonely and dim street, carrying a basket full of medicinal herbs. Gu Ming asked, "Sister, in which direction is Ding's family?"
"Uh? I forgot to ask, what should I do?" Gu Ye had a dull expression on his face.
It is rare to see a capable sister with a confused side, Gu Ming patted her little head and smiled: "It's okay! That Ding Yuanwai is a famous big family in the town, and he should be able to find out where their family lives."
Then, he looked around for a while, held his sister's hand, and said, "Are you hungry? There are wonton sellers over there. Fill your stomach first."
"Uncle, two bowls of wontons!" Gu Ming first helped his sister unload the bamboo basket on her back and put it on the ground, and then it was her own. Sitting on rough wooden benches, the siblings waited for their belated dinner.
The seller of wontons is a married couple in their thirties. The couple wrapped one by one, and the wontons were out of the pot soon.
"Two bowls of ravioli with fresh meat are here!" The uncle who bought the ravioli held a thick porcelain bowl in one hand that was bigger than Gu Ye's head and placed it on the table in front of the brothers and sisters, "We have some pickled dishes from my mother-in-law here. The stall is about to close, and I will give you a free taste."
"Thank you, uncle!" Gu Ming politely thanked him with a sincere smile on his face.
The round-faced aunt next to her brought a small plate of pickled radishes and placed it in front of Gu Ye. It was getting late, and there were not many people on the dark street, so the round-faced aunt sat down at the table and chatted with her brother and sister. She glanced at the bamboo basket covered with a layer of straw, and said with a smile, "You guys came from the mountains, right? Are there still mountain goods for sale at this time?"
Although Gu Ming is not big, he always keeps a bit of vigilance. Hearing this, he swallowed the wontons in his mouth, nodded and said, "The wild vegetables collected in autumn are dried into dried vegetables. Before the Chinese New Year, I can exchange a few kilograms of white noodles and save them for making dumplings in the New Year's Eve."
"Oh, if you have dried vegetables, you can sell them to big families in the town. In winter, except for radishes, cabbage and potatoes, there are too few types of vegetables to eat. The dried wild vegetables in the mountains are always fresh." The round-faced aunt continued to ask, "Why You two children, what about the adults in the family?"
"My adults are looking for a place to live. It's my sister's first time out of the mountains, and she has never eaten wontons. My father asked me to bring my sister over to taste the craftsmanship of my uncle and aunt." Gu Ming said, and put his wontons to the The younger sister put a few in the bowl, looking like a model good brother.
Gu Ye was listening to his brother's gossip with a lot of fun, and when he lowered his head, he saw a few more wontons in his bowl, and hurriedly covered the mouth of the bowl with his small hands, and repeatedly said: "Enough, I'm enough! The amount of wontons is too much. , I can't eat that much!"
The uncle who bought the wontons heard the words and showed a simple and honest smile: "The wontons in our family are a strong worker, and they can also fill their stomachs. Brother, your sister is still young, don't support her!"
Indeed, the wontons in the uncle's house were big and meaty, and there were more than 30 in a bowl. Gu Ye insisted that he only ate 20, and he couldn't eat any more. After Gu Ming finished eating his own, he also ate all the rest of his sister's bowl.