Wheat straw is a good thing and lasts longer than reed poles.

Without the wheat straw stacks outside the village, there would be a lot of flavor and fun missing.

For them, wheat straw is the first of the four things called firewood, rice, oil, and salt. For hundreds of years, almost half of the cooking smoke in local villages and towns has been made from wheat straw.

It is very common for the head of the family or the peasant woman who is the cook to go to the wheat straw pile to pull grass in the morning, dusk and rainy evening.

The thinly ground wheat straw is torn off in handfuls and carried to the house in baskets. It is used to cook porridge and steamed buns, and it is also used to make beds and warm the kang. It is a major matter related to the livelihood of the people.

Not only people love it, but animals also love it.

It is also the favorite place for the dolls.

Moreover, stacked wheat straw stacks are also very attractive to wild animals. On cold days in winter, especially after dark, if you use a flashlight to reach in and touch them, it is often like pulling out radishes. Pheasants and hares will be caught one after another.

Yes, it's perfect if it's snowing heavily, and it can often block a whole nest.

"Why did you cut so many reeds, Rich?"

Chen Ling was driving an ox cart on the dirt road in the fields. When the peasant woman with a blue headscarf saw him, she straightened up from the vegetable garden and greeted him.

"I need to make some straw mats. I'm still busy, Third Aunt. The sun is going to set. Go back early."

Chen Ling stopped the bullock cart and replied.

This is Wang Lihui's mother. She is sister-in-law to Wang Lixian's mother. She also helped a lot when the family was building a house. Now that they have met, they are much closer than before. She often catches Chen Ling and praises her fiercely.

She is a clever woman.

"I'll be back soon. I have to pull out the weeds in the vegetable garden. If I don't leave them alone for three or four days, they will grow like this. If I don't pull them out, they will compete with the vegetables for fertilizer. How is that okay?"

"You can pluck some cabbage and go back. Susu's sister happens to be there too, so she can cook some more good meals for Xiao Nizi. Look, the cabbage is so tender. Go back and fry it with lard. It will be delicious."

The third aunt said with a smile.

And he was not slow with his work either. He was already picking vegetables for Chen Ling while he was talking.

Chen Ling couldn't stop him even if he wanted to, so he had to ask his third aunt to pull out a few fewer reeds. In the end, he pulled out five or six reeds and helped him throw them onto the high pile of reeds piled on the oxcart with his feet.

"Niuniu also wants to go to school, right?"

"Come on, your brother Lihui and his wife go to the market all day long. The corn in the fields also looks the same every day. You can't control her. It's better to go to school and worry less."

"Then let Niu Niu and Pig Boy get up early, and I will send them there together tomorrow."

"Oh, that's nice, but I'm troubling you."

"It's okay, third aunt, what's the trouble?"

Chen Ling waved her hand, replied with a smile, and continued to drive home.

The baby cabbages in early autumn are really good, crisp and tender, but they were planted too late. Chen Ling didn't pay special attention to them after they were planted. Recently, he has been too lazy to clean them up and just let them grow naturally, so it takes ten days and a half before they can be eaten.

.

But it doesn’t matter. There is always a shortage of vegetables at home, so this dish is good.

After returning home, I unloaded the reeds from the car, spread them in the yard, and waited for them to dry before using them. Recently, the temperature has been slightly lower at night, and the autumn season has not passed yet, so the sun is still quite fierce during the day.

After simply working for a while, at Wang Susu's urging, she got a neat short haircut. As for her daughter-in-law's own big braid, she refused to cut it no matter what. Not only did she cherish it, but Chen Ling also liked it very much.

Especially when the young daughter-in-law braided her thick black hair into braids, there was always an indescribable charm that made his heart flutter every time.

…

A night of silence.

The next day, because they had to send Wang Zhenzhen to school, the young couple got up very early.

Under my sister-in-law's strong request, I only need to cook instant noodles for her for breakfast. There is no other way. Nowadays, little babies are greedy for this, especially boiled instant noodles. They really can't get tired of eating them. If they add two poached eggs,

In their opinion, it is even more delicious.

"Brother-in-law, why are your chickens so diligent in laying eggs?"

"I counted, your old hen has almost laid ten eggs in the past few days."

Wang Zhenzhen took a few fresh eggs from the chicken coop, ran to the kitchen, and handed them to Chen Ling.

"There's nothing strange about this. It's just like people. Eat more, grow stronger, and work more. My chickens are well fed and lay eggs more diligently than other people's chickens. Isn't this normal?"

Chen Ling replied with a smile.

Wang Susu was quite strange before, but he was fooled by this statement.

At that time, Liu Nier and the others came every day to catch bugs and dig up earthworms, including tadpoles and grasshoppers, so Wang Susu believed it.

But that's not the case.

Free-range native chickens usually lay an egg in about two days. Even those who feed them well cannot guarantee that they will lay eggs every day. In a year, each hen can lay no more than 170 eggs.

But the Chen Ling family is different. Not only do they lay eggs every day, they are larger than ordinary local eggs and have a harder shell. An experienced person can tell they are good eggs by just touching them.

For example, the little girl brought some native chickens and raised them together with her own chickens and ducks.

But they are obviously not as diligent in laying eggs as their own chickens, and the quality of the eggs is not as good. And the difference can be clearly seen from the appearance. The feathers of our own native chickens are bright and shiny, and their legs and claws are extremely thick and powerful.

During the first feeding, Wang Susu stood at the door and squawked before running home. The chickens the little girl brought could not outrun them, let alone compete with them for food.

This is just a native chicken, it is even more different when ducks lay eggs.

However, since Chen Ling only poured two ladles of stream water into the pool in the courtyard every few days to dilute it, and then added water to the stone trough in the chicken coop, the effect was not obvious and would not be too exaggerated.

We raise a lot of chickens and ducks at home, and no one would count the eggs they lay.

Most people are just surprised that Wang Susu is fatter and stronger than others, but after being surprised, they usually praise Wang Susu for being a virtuous housekeeper and raising chickens and ducks so well, and don't think much about it.

No, Chen Ling said this. After hearing this, Wang Zhenzhen just blinked and thought for a moment before agreeing with his statement. Then he said with a smile that he would catch more bugs when he came back from school and bring the chickens he had brought with him.

Give it a good feed too.

"Okay, once it's fattened up, I'll make hot pot chicken for you in the winter."

As Chen Ling said, he and Wang Susu's rice had been cooked and taken down from the stove.

Then he refilled the wok with water and waited to cook noodles for Wang Zhenzhen.

Instant noodles cook quickly.

The water is boiling quickly, put the dough in, sprinkle with the ingredients, and beat two eggs.

When it's about to come out of the pot, cut the green onion into sections, sprinkle it on top, pour half a spoonful of sesame oil, and the fragrant instant noodles are ready.

Wang Zhenzhen was greedy for a long time. He was holding a bowl and eating slurpingly. From time to time, he would take out two noodles and share them with Hei Wa and Xiao Jin. For two big eaters, this little food was not enough.

The instant noodles were fragrant and they loved eating them, so they ran back to the kennel to grab the food bowl, wagging their tails and waiting for her to feed them.

Chen Ling and Wang Susu's breakfast was also very simple. They heated up some leftover dishes from last night and cooked a pot of millet and pumpkin porridge with some pickles. In addition to these, they also had egg pancakes with cabbage.

In addition to the egg pancakes eaten in the morning, it was also brought to Wang Zhenzhen for lunch.

"Zhenzhen, stop playing with the dog, finish eating quickly, put on your schoolbag and leave."

Before seven o'clock, after breakfast, Chen Ling caught up with the bullock cart and drove his wife and sister-in-law to the entrance of the village. At this time, Liu Nier and a group of little kids were already waiting. When they saw the bullock cart approaching, they hurried over one by one.

Climb into the car.

Then he sat down with Wang Zhenzhen and talked about interesting things between them.

"Okay, sit tight and let's go."

I greeted the little white ox and the ox-cart moved forward steadily. This morning there was heavy dew and fog in the mountains. The sun didn't show its head until we reached the county town.

"Slow down, everyone."

These boys jumped out of the bullock cart before it even stopped.

"It's okay, our rich uncles are gone."

"Remember to ask the cafeteria to heat up a meal for you at noon."

"Know it!"

This primary school is not far from Laoling Middle School.

It is separated from the old hospital by a wall, but it is a newly built elementary school in the past two years. The highest grade is fifth grade. Of course, the current elementary school only has grade five. It was changed back to a six-year system around 2002.

Nowadays, elementary schools also have canteens. If you bring food from home, you can heat it up and eat it. Usually, there is no charge.

After sending Wang Zhenzhen away, the young couple went to sell the dates and pears they brought, but the price was not too expensive, so they didn't care much. After selling the money, they went to the north of the city to buy cotton.

Wang Susu planned to make cotton-padded clothes and two quilts when she had nothing to do at home.

After buying cotton, Chen Ling took his wife to the post and telecommunications office and subscribed to a year's newspaper. A postman would deliver it to the village every week. When he had nothing to do, he took his daughter-in-law to read and read newspapers.

It's also very pleasant.

Since Chen Ling paid the money happily, he also gave him the newspapers from the previous two weeks.

There was a thick stack, and each newspaper contained not only news, but also various short stories. On the way home, Wang Susu leaned on Chen Ling and read with relish.

Susu is a traditional woman. Although she has a high school education like Chen Ling, she knows little about the outside world and receives very little information. Some jokes in newspapers that have been told in later generations can also make her laugh.

She lay on Chen Ling's shoulder and giggled for a long time.
To be continued...