Chapter 44: Picking up firewood and wild chestnuts in winter
In winter mornings, it is always extremely quiet.
Everyone who had a good night's sleep was reluctant to come out of the bed.
Yun Xiaotang turned over in the quilt, approached Zhao Xueer, and snuggled up to her sister to continue falling asleep.
He was clearly awake, but he didn't want to open his eyes. He gently rubbed his head against his sister's shoulder and fell asleep again.
When Zhao Xueer was half asleep and half awake, she felt something rolling into her arms, warm and like a small stove.
She reached out to hug the small stove in a daze.
When I woke up completely, I saw that my sister was huddling in her arms and sleeping.
A small face shrank in the quilt, red, and curly eyelashes were like small feathers.
Zhao Xueer smiled, let go of her sister gently, and was ready to get up with a very light movement.
Unexpectedly, my sister woke up after this movement.
As soon as Yun Xiaotang opened her eyes, she met her sister's smile as she stared at her, and couldn't help but rub her eyes.
Seeing her cute appearance, Zhao Xueer reached out and pinched her face.
But this face is not very meaty, and my sister is too thin, just like a bean sprout.
Withdrawing his hand, Zhao Xueer lifted the quilt and prepared to get up. She tucked the corners of her sister in the quilt. "If you feel cold and don't want to get up, just sleep a little longer, and there is nothing to do."
Yun Xiaotang's whole body was under the quilt, with only a small head exposed, and nodded.
Zhao Xueer put on her clothes and walked to the main hall.
The main hall was cold. When I pushed open the door, the door creaked and a thin layer of ice formed on the edge of the door.
When she walked into the kitchen, she boiled the earthen stove and first boiled a pot of hot water to wash.
Afterwards, she found the brazier, and there was still some dust deposited on it.
I took the brazier and knocked on the ground in the yard. The dust rose and drifted away in a short while.
She went back to the kitchen, used tongs tongs to pull out a few pieces of burning firewood from the stove and threw it into the brazier, adding some new firewood.
I returned to the main hall with a brazier, and the cold main hall gradually became warmer.
When Yun Xiaotang and the others got up, they felt a warmth as soon as they left the room.
"Wow, it's so warm."
Yun Xiaotang walked to the brazier and reached out to bake the fire. Zhao Tianer also came over and warmed her slightly cold hands.
Zhao Xueer glanced at them and reminded her, "Be careful when cooking fires, don't get too close."
"Sister, we know." The two of them answered in unison.
Zhao Xueer was still worried. Ping An was going to get to the brazier now, but Dou Hongxia was pulled by him.
Finally, Zhao Xueer placed the brazier under the table, which was both warm and safer.
The hot water in the pot had already boiled, and everyone washed it with hot water.
I ate the sweet potato buns left yesterday for breakfast, and a cup of hot water was poured in front of everyone.
I was already late to get up, so I had breakfast. I sat in the main hall for a while and started preparing lunch again.
Zhao Xueer got up and went back to the kitchen. She wanted to roll out noodles and cook noodles for everyone at noon.
After scooping a few spoonfuls of cornmeal and elm bark noodles, she began to knead the dough.
If you want to make hand-rolled noodles and make the noodles taste vigorous, kneading the dough is an extremely important part.
She rubbed her arms for a while and her arms became a little sore.
At this moment, Dou Hongxia came to help and said while kneading the dough.
"I can do this rolling noodles. I have learned it from my breasts before."
She lowered her eyebrows and a trace of memories flashed in her eyes.
Not only is my skillful hand-made tailor, but my cooking skills are also very good. When I was a child, I often made food for my sisters in different ways to improve the food for my family.
However, my grandmother passed away later.
......
After kneading the dough, Dou Hongxia took a rolling pin and rolled the dough into a piece of dough, rolled it up, and cut it into long strips of consistency in thickness, thinness, length and length with a knife.
This hand-rolled noodles can be considered a made.
Zhao Xueer watched from the side, thinking that Aunt Dou was really capable.
Heat the water in the pot, pick up the rolling noodles with both hands, gently put them into the boiling water, and then stir them with quicks.
Just wait for them to be cooked.
After a while, Zhao Xueer went to the yard to cut a handful of leeks, washed them and cut them into strips, and threw them into the pot.
After the noodles are cooked, they are taken up and put into a bowl, mixed with green leeks, which makes people feel full of appetite.
Bowls of steaming hand-rolled noodles were served on the table, and everyone was sweating on their foreheads when they ate.
Baking a brazier and eating warm hand-rolled noodles is the taste of winter.
After eating the noodles, Zhao Xueer looked at the sky. The sun was shining brightly, and it was a good time to go to the back mountain to pick up firewood.
"Chun'er, Tian'er, you go with me to the back mountain to collect firewood."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Xueer looked at Dou Hongxia as if she was getting up and going together, and added another sentence.
"Aunt Dou stayed at home and took Xiao Ping'an with him. This brazier also needs someone to watch."
It doesn’t take so many people to pick up firewood, their home is close to the back mountain.
Dou Hongxia had to give up. Every time she saw the three children working, she was idle and couldn't sit still and felt uncomfortable all over.
With tools on his back, the three of them went out to pick up firewood.
In winter, the bushes are bare and full of dead branches. The ground of the pine forest is also covered with pine needles, which facilitates the firewood pickers.
Yun Xiaotang and Zhao Tianer squatted on the ground to grab pine needles, and then put them into the basket they carried.
Zhao Xueer took a sickle and cut off the dead branches of the bushes beside her, cut them down, and then cut them into the bamboo basket.
Looking at the pine cones on the ground, she suddenly thought of the chestnut tree she found on this mountain last year.
It’s just a pity that the chestnut tree was gone at that time. It was too late when she went there, and she didn’t get a single chestnut, only seeing the empty shells on the ground.
Now, it is the season when chestnuts are ripe. She wants to go over and take a look, and maybe she can still gain something.
So, she looked at her younger brother and sister who were still cheering on the pine needles.
"Chun'er, Tian'er, don't be busy picking up pine needles, go to a place with your sister."
Holding the pine needles and paused, Yun Xiaotang and Zhao Tianer put down the pine needles in their hands.
The group walked into the back mountain.
After walking for a while, I saw a tree with burrs and fruits hanging in front of me.
That's the chestnut tree.
When the three of them walked in, there was a squirrel on the treetops, with its tail wrapped around the trunk and holding the fruit in its hands and eating.
When I saw them, I didn't feel afraid at all and still hung on the tree.
Under the tree, many ripe chestnuts fell, and the burrs were broken, and the fruits inside could be seen.
The three of them squatted down and began to pick up chestnuts.
This feeling of picking fruits happily on the ground is really exciting.
Even though the burrs were thorny, the chestnuts were picked up constantly, and they quickly finished picking up the chestnuts.
Standing up, Zhao Xueer looked up at the tree, inserted the sickle to her waist, and began to climb up the tree.
At this moment, the squirrel was finally alarmed and jumped to another tree and disappeared.
Zhao Xueer picked chestnuts on the tree, and Yun Xiaotang and Zhao Tianer picked them down below.
When it was almost done, Zhao Xueer stopped.
Chapter completed!