Outside the courtyard gate was Chen Shun, with a few younger brothers and sisters, dragging bamboo. The bamboo went to the branches and leaves, and tied them together with straw ropes, and there were more than a dozen of them, and the sacks they carried were also full of dead grass and leaves.

"It smells so good."

Beside Chen Shun, a younger boy, two or three years older than Chen An, sniffed, looked at the courtyard, and his eyes fell on the hall.

At the entrance of the hall, Xiaohua is dealing with a bone, and her unhardened teeth are rubbing against the rabbit bone, and she can only taste it. Lai Lian tore off a piece of rabbit meat, threw it over, looked up, saw Chen Ping, and proudly raised the rabbit meat in his hand.

"Come in, and put the bamboo by the side of the rice heap." Chen Ping said, "Give me the sack, and I'll go to the house to get you another one." ”

After taking two steps, Chen Ping turned back to Chen Shun and said, "Shunzi, you come in with me." ”

Chen Shun is older than Chen Ping, but Chen Ping's voice is very natural, Chen Shun put the bamboo, and followed obediently, I don't know what is going on.

took a bowl from the hall, Chen Ping sandwiched more than a dozen pieces of rabbit meat, deliberately picked a few pieces of meat on the rabbit's thighs, and gave them to Chen Shun: "Remember to send the bowl back after eating." ”

The meat was bubbling with oil and fragrance, Chen Shun didn't take it, just looked at Chen Ping strangely and swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva. His two younger brothers and a younger sister had already run over, beside Chen Shun, tilting their heads and their eyes wide.

"Thanks to you, you did a good job today." Chen Ping knew why Chen Shun didn't want to, and explained, "From tomorrow, you get bamboo from the mountain, and I will pay you." ”

It turned out to be this, Chen Shun relieved himself at this time, took Chen Ping's pottery bowl, opened the sack, and poured all the rabbit meat in the bowl.

"Leaked, leaked." The third brother of Chen Shun's family, the fourth brother of eight or nine years old, saw the oil dripping out of the sack, hurriedly held it with his hand, and did not forget to put his fingers into his mouth, "It's really fragrant." ”

"Don't grab it, go back and divide the food, and leave a few pieces for Grandpa and Mother." Chen Shun gave a piece of it and wrapped the rabbit meat, but he didn't hurry to leave, was silent for a moment, and said, "Is it really a penny of bamboo tomorrow?" ”

Thinking that it was something, this was naturally true, Chen Ping nodded, and said with certainty: "That's right, a piece of bamboo costs a penny, but it should be as thick as the one you just dragged in, the bamboo is too small, even if you bring it to the yard, I don't want it." ”

After getting a definite answer, Chen Shun led his younger brothers and sisters away happily.

After dinner, Chen Xiaoyi continued to chop the bamboo piece in the courtyard, Lai Lian took the little lady Chen Zhen to run all over the yard, and Chen Ping pulled Chen An to the courtyard.

Splitting bamboo Chen Ping can't help much, Chen Ping can still take a hand in this sawing bamboo, and together with Chen An, the bamboo sent by Chen Shun was sawed into the same length as before.

"Brother, what are you going to eat tomorrow morning? Is it still noodles? Chen An stepped on the bamboo and suggested, "Then there is some pork meat, you can put it in." ”

Lean noodles? This is not bad, but Chen Ping wants to get something else.

"Don't eat noodles tomorrow, make steamed cakes and eat them." Chen Pingdao.

"Steamed cakes?"

"Well, it's steamed cakes." Chen Ping nodded, steamed buns, Chen Ping will make this thing, there is ready-made flour, and good noodles, ferment overnight, knead it into a ball tomorrow, and put it in the steamer.

However, there doesn't seem to be a steamer at home.

"Great, brother, you're so nice." Chen An jumped up, ran to Chen Ping's side, followed Chen Zhen's example, and hugged Chen Ping's legs.

"While you go, you can go to Wangcai's house and ask if there is any caramel and buy some." Chen Ping said, "Wen Qian asked Grandpa for it." ”

"Are you really good at making that steamed cake?" Chen Xiaoyi had already heard, "What do you want that candy for?" ”

The steamer can use this ready-made bamboo, and although this steamed bun is only made of flour, it really doesn't taste good, and it is even more delicious to add some starch sugar to it.

"That will taste better, grandpa, you will go to the field tomorrow, steamed cakes can also be brought, add some starch sugar, you can replenish some physical strength, and you won't be so tired when you work." If it is only the taste, Chen Ping knows that Grandpa will definitely not agree, so he can only start from other aspects, "Grandpa, you are a strong laborer in the family, this nutrition is the most important, you must not be left behind, if you are cold, it is not good." ”

Nutrition Chen Ping has always been mentioning, Chen Xiaoyi can barely understand a little, isn't it just to eat better?

"You can find so many reasons for your greed, and when the money runs out, I'll see what else you can eat." Chen Xiaoyi glanced at Chen An in front of him, "Go to your mother, I don't have any money here." ”

This is agreed, Chen An hurriedly ran to the hall, looked for Liu's, took the money, and Chen An ran out of the courtyard.

"Grandpa, will you make that steamer?" Chen Ping asked.

In fact, the utensils for steaming steamed buns can be very simple, just use a piece of bamboo, fix it with wood chips below, make it the size of an iron pot, spread a layer of clean linen cloth on top when steaming, and put the dough on it.

But after all, it is necessary to use a cauldron, and the use of firewood is a bit large, which is not cost-effective.

"Okay." Chen Xiaoyi nodded lightly, and continued to chop the bamboo chips, it will take twenty days to dig the field ditch, and there will be no time to get these during the day, so the latrine must be built earlier.

"If it's like this, the middle is a layer of bamboo strips woven together, not so dense, surrounded on both sides, also with bamboo chips, to weave denser." Chen Ping said, gesturing in his hand, "It's as big as the small pot in the hall." ”

"Grandpa, do you know?"

"Yes." Chen Xiaoyi nodded.

"It can't be too big, it can't be too small, there is water in the pot." Chen Ping felt the need to make it clearer, don't do it but can't use it.

Chen Xiaoyi suddenly picked up the bamboo slice in his hand and raised it: "With so many words, your grandfather is not so stupid, what is so difficult about this steamer." ”

Chen Ping escaped, this temper is also a little bigger, right?

"You kid, the reed top was woven by your grandfather by himself. Don't worry, your grandfather's weaving skills are also famous in the village. Liu smiled, "When the family didn't have much land, I also knitted some items to sell in the county and city. ”

So that's the case, now Chen Ping is relieved, but now there is more land at home, just now this more than ten acres of land, it really can't be considered much, and the location is not good.

After washing the clay pot in the hall and mixing it with water, Chen Ping began to mix noodles. In later generations, Chen Ping's family was also not wealthy, and he bought some noodles during the New Year's holidays, in addition to making dumplings, that is, steaming some steamed buns.

If you want this bun to be soft and delicious, you have to use yeast, and there is no ready-made yeast to sell at this time, so you can only use natural fermentation.

One night is also sufficient.

After making good noodles, Chen Ping took two clean linen cloths, covered them with the dough in the pottery jar, sprinkled some flour on them, and moved the pottery jar to a cool place.