Grinding, winnowing, and bagging grain are also very tiring tasks, and they are no easier than cutting wheat. As for the wheat straw left after the grinding, it is all ready-made firewood, which has been bundled and transported without stopping.

Gone home.

The weather was good these days, and even the last sorghum stalks and soybean stalks were dried in the sun. After harvesting these crops, all the stalks were hauled home on carts and placed under the shed in the yard, where they could be burned throughout the winter.

These days, all the work is hard work, so the food at home is naturally based on the principle of eating well.

"There is still some black flour left. Let's buy some white flour, pork, some oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar. By the way, buy a few more kilograms of tofu. Your aunt and second aunt are busy grinding the fields these days and have no time to grind the tofu.

Already."

As a matter of course, Tao arranged the things she wanted to buy for Guoer.

Guo'er nodded good-naturedly and said he had remembered everything, then followed Zao'er and Ji'er out to go shopping at Shibalipu Market.

Shibalipu is not far from Shangyao Village, and the round trip only takes a pack of cigarettes.

When we arrived at the market, Guoer realized that the so-called market was just a main street in this village. Because today was not a market day, this street seemed a little deserted. There were not many people, but there were a few shops along the street.

All doors are open.

Guoer and the others walked along and took a look. There were several grocery stores, a butcher shop, a blacksmith shop, and even a shop selling snacks. It looked like a small town.

Although Sparrow is small and well-equipped, the daily needs of country people can basically be met in this small town.

Mrs. Tao was waiting at home, and the sisters did not dare to waste any more time. They quickly bought the necessary things and put them one by one into the bamboo baskets carried by Zao'er and Jia'er.

When selling meat at the butcher shop, Guoer saw that the pork was very fresh, so she bought a few more kilograms, and even specially bought a few kilograms of ribs.

The butcher who sold the meat was named Wang, and he was from Shibalipu village. When he saw that the people buying meat were a few young girls, he enthusiastically helped them wrap the meat and put it in a bamboo basket.

Guoer looked around at the small butcher shop. On the chopping board in front of him were neatly stacked large pieces of pork, and on the chopping boards on both sides were piles of unprocessed pig trotters, pig heads, pig livers and other debris.

.

Guo'er remembered the braised pig's trotters that she liked to chew in her previous life, so she pointed at these things and asked, "Uncle, how do you sell these pig's trotters and pig ears?"

Butcher Wang is a cheerful man. He glanced at Guoer's hand and said cheerfully: "Are you asking this? These things are not valuable, and it takes a lot of effort to handle them. If you want pig trotters and pig tails, they cost two cents a pound.

Three pennies for ears.”

After hearing this, Guoer felt that it was much cheaper than the price of pork. It would be a good deal to buy some and make braised pig trotters by yourself.

At a glance, she saw a pile of bloody things under the chopping board, which were pig intestines. She had never liked eating this fruit before, so she didn't plan to buy it, but that didn't stop her from asking about the market price of pig intestines here.

"Uncle, how do you sell these intestines?"

Butcher Wang looked back at the things on the ground, turned around and reminded kindly:

"Little girl, these things are inedible and are never sold. Do you want to take them back to feed the cats and dogs? If you want, I will give them to you."

Selling meat all year round, Butcher Wang sees a lot of people. Some families whose families are too poor to afford good meat sometimes buy some pig trotters, pig tails and the like to go back and have them cut into their teeth as a sacrifice. At least there is still a little meat on them.

Pig intestines are usually the last thing thrown away. Occasionally, some people pick them up and feed them to cats and dogs.

Guo'er understood as soon as she heard that no one would eat this kind of food now, and she never liked eating it anyway, so she should just do as the Romans do.

Guo'er shook his head: "No, I just asked the uncle casually. I want these pig trotters, pig tails and ears!"

Butcher Wang sells meat in his shop all year round. He is enthusiastic and straightforward. Several nearby villages usually buy their meat from him, and he never engages in those tricks that deceive others.

Seeing that they were a few little girls, he was afraid that they were ignorant or that their family members had not explained clearly, so he kindly asked again:

"Little girl, which village are you from? Do your family members know that you buy these things?"

Hearing this, Zaoer shook her head unconsciously at her uncle. She watched for a long time and felt strange that Guoer wanted to buy these things. She wanted to remind her sister not to spend money frivolously, so she pulled Guoer's sleeve.

Guoer calmly pulled Yao Yao out to talk about the matter: "When I came out, my grandma told me to buy some back. My grandpa likes to eat roasted pig's trotters."

The uncle was relieved when Guoer said this and weighed them readily.

Because the smell of the things he bought was too strong to be carried in a bamboo basket, Butcher Wang kindly took out a broken bamboo basket and put the weighed pig's trotters and ears into it.

"Five kilograms of pork, four kilograms of ribs, fifteen kilograms of pig's trotters, and two kilograms of pig ears, a total of one hundred and thirty-six cents."

The uncle reported the account quickly.

After paying off the meat money and buying all the things, the three sisters were ready to go home.

Zao'er was used to doing rough work, and felt sorry for Guo'er who couldn't carry a bamboo basket at a young age, so he and Ji'er carried the bamboo basket on their backs, and each of them lifted the basket containing the pig's trotters. Guo'er felt very sad that there was nothing in his hands.

, he just took out a bag of white flour from Zaoer's basket and carried it on his back, and then the sisters walked back.

"Guo'er, are these pig trotters really bought by our grandma? There isn't much meat on them, they're hard to clean, and they're not very tasty when made."

On the way, Zaoer asked in confusion.

Guo'er tilted her head and thought, that's right, the next step is how to deal with it cleanly, but this is simple and requires some effort.

"Don't worry, I have a solution."

When we walked to the entrance of the village, we saw Sisters Da Ya and Er Ya walking home from a distance carrying wooden basins. It looked like they had just returned from washing clothes by the river. When they saw the two sisters, they turned around and came over.

"Zao'er, Ji'er, Guo'er, have you gone to market?"

Seeing them carrying so many things, Da Ya guessed what they were doing.

"Well, I just came back, Da Ya Er Ya, have you finished harvesting the wheat for Grandpa's family?" Zao'er asked.

"Now that the cutting is over, we can't help in the grinding field these days. We can't find any work for the time being, so we're just idle at home.

Grandpa is such a nice person. Originally, it was agreed that only my mother and I would be paid, and Erya and Three Ya would only take care of the food, but when we paid the bill, Grandpa even gave Erya half of the wages!" Da Ya said.

There was a look of gratitude on his face when he said this.

"Really? That's good."

After hearing this, Zao'er was also happy for the little sisters. When they were kicked out, they were penniless, which was equivalent to leaving home with nothing. Even the houses they lived in were abandoned houses that other families in the village didn't want.

It's not easy to make a few bucks from work.

"Zao'er, we have some free time anyway. If you have anything to do, just call us. You're welcome."

Da Ya said, and gave the wooden basin in his hand to Er Ya, and naturally took the basket carried by Zao'er and Bo'er. The Zao'er sisters did not show politeness to them, so they let go of their hands and let them hold it.

Zao'er: "I know, I won't be polite to you. It just so happens that we can still talk together."

Guo'er was happy to hear them chatting, and said with a thought:

"Sister Zao'er, why don't you and Sister Ji'er go back first? Nai is still at home waiting for the things we bought.

If you take these pig trotters and ears back in the basket, you will definitely be scolded. Why don't you ask Sister Da Ya and Sister Ya to help wash these things in the river, and I will wash them with Sister Da Ya."

Zaoer was about to shake his head when he heard this, but Daya said: "No problem, just leave this little thing to us. Just listen to Guoer and go back first. We will take care of these things and then send them back to you."

Erya also nodded beside him.

The little sisters discussed it for a while, and Zao'er agreed unceremoniously, asking Daya to take good care of Guo'er and take Jia'er home first, carrying a bamboo basket full of goods. Tao was still at home waiting for them to work.

"Sister Da Ya, do you have plant ash at home? Let's get some more plant ash, take it to the river and wash it with the plant ash, and it will be clean."

"Plant ashes? Of course there are plenty of them, but can they be used to wash things?"

Plant ashes are available in every household. The plant ashes taken out of the stove for daily use are usually piled next to the vegetable plot of the house for use as fertilizer. Da Ya has never seen anyone wash pig's trotters with plant ashes in her memory, but she still decided to make it easy.

Listen to the fruit.

Several little girls carried a basket of plant ashes and found a spot downstream by the river. Guoer carefully taught the two sisters how to use plant ashes to clean these things.

They took out the pig's trotters and ears from the basket and soaked them in shallow water. After cleaning them thoroughly, they picked them up and rubbed them repeatedly with plant ash until the grease on them was removed.

Of course, this is only the first step in treating pig's trotters, removing the greasiness; after cleaning the surface, take it home and boil it in water for a while before proceeding to the second step, plucking the hair.

Da Ya and Er Ya washed it carefully according to the method taught by Guo'er. After all the cleaning was completed, they found that the original fishy smell was no longer smellable, and they were naturally very happy.

After an afternoon of contact, Guoer developed a good impression of the two sisters and took the initiative to invite them to her home:

"Sister Da Ya and Sister Ya, come with me to my house. These things are delicious when they are cooked. I guarantee you have never eaten them."

Da Ya raised her head and looked at the sky and said, "We won't go today. We should go home and help mother cook. I will definitely come and play with you when we have time in the future."

Guo'er didn't force anything, thanked the two sisters, and went home with a much cleaner basket.

Sure enough, when Tao saw the contents of the fruit basket, his first reaction was to curse.

"Milk, don't worry. I know how to make these things delicious. If you don't believe me, just watch. If they don't taste good, you can just scold me."

Guo'er said hurriedly without waiting for her to curse.

Mrs. Tao: "You know how to cook? Look at what you can do. This is not just a trick. When did your mother teach you how to cook? Even your stupid mother can't cook a good meal."

Tao put one hand on her waist and almost poked Guo'er's forehead with her other finger. Guo'er endured Tao's spit that almost hit her face and Xingzi continued to lie:

"Nai, last time we were in the county town, we saw someone eating this at the next table when we were eating. They thought it was delicious and invited the cook to ask a few questions. I took note of it. I will make these things, Sister Zao'er.

Help me with this, and you can just wait for the milk to be eaten."
Chapter completed!