The sluggish mood didn't last long, and Youlan and Ji Fengyao trotted back and forth into the kitchen.

I don't know where the two little guys went, with muddy faces and mud balls in their hands.

"Where's it going? It's like a little flower cat. ”

Wei Lan's white fingers curled, flicked on each of the two of them, hurriedly mixed hot water, and beckoned the two little guys to wash their hands.

You Lan and Ji Fengyao pinched the mud dumplings and didn't let go, Wei Lan scolded with a low smile: "Why don't you lose it soon?" ”

You Lan and Ji Fengyao glanced at each other, and they both showed mysterious smiles.

The mud dumplings were thrown into the basin, and Youlan's little hand pinched the mud dumplings and swung them back and forth twice, only to see that they were pitch black just now, and gradually revealed a little white and tender.

There was too much mud, and it was difficult to wash it off once, seeing that it was almost revealing its original appearance, Youlan took the things out of the basin and handed them to Wei Lan like a treasure, "Sister Lan, look!" ”

It is a palm-sized lotus root.

Ji Fengyao didn't say a word, learned Youlan's movements to wash the lotus root, and handed it to Wei Lan.

"You've gone to Little Port?"

Wei Lan remembered that Xiaogang was digging lotus root today.

"Well, this was secretly thrown to us by Brother Jiandang, saying that it is tender at the tip of the lotus root, which tastes sweet and gives us snacks." Youlan nodded, remembered something important, and hurriedly turned around and ran to the backyard, "Brother asked me to come back and get the basket!" ”

"I'll take the basket, you two take the bowl by yourself, and each person drinks a bowl of ginger soup on the small stove."

The backyard basket was hung under the eaves, and it was filled with sundries, afraid that Youlan would accidentally hit herself, Wei Lan hurriedly got up and broke the two little guys apart.

The miscellaneous items were temporarily placed on the firewood, and the basket was turned upside down and knocked twice on the wall, and suddenly dust flew all over the sky.

Wei Lan hurriedly covered her nose and ran into the house.

Youlan was burned by the ginger soup, grinning in pain, and tears came out of her dark eyes.

Ji Fengyao sat sideways in the chair, his hands raised at a loss, not knowing how to comfort her.

As soon as she saw Wei Lan coming in, Youlan's eyes lit up, and she sniffed and collected her tears, "Sister Lan, one is not enough, my brother said, I want two." ”

"Then I'll look for it." Wei Lan nodded.

There is a pair of baskets at home, because they have been knitting for some years, and one of them broke down when they were harvesting pumpkins in their own plots.

The bamboo strips were broken, and two pumpkins were broken at that time, and Grandma Gu felt distressed for a while.

Wei Lan estimated that Xiaogang needed something to hold lotus roots, so he simply took out a bucket.

She cleaned it up, just as Ji Fengyao and Youlan finished drinking the ginger soup, the two little guys were hot, and their little faces were flushed and cute.

Wei Lan couldn't help but touch her head one by one, "Wait for me, let's go together." ”

Wei Lan went back to the room and took a scarf to wrap it tightly, and the three of them went to Xiaogang together.

The basket woven by the bamboo strip is very light, and Youlan takes the initiative to take it and walk forward.

Ji Fengyao did the same and wanted to help Wei Lan carry the bucket, but Wei Lan hurriedly said no.

The bucket is made of solid wood, and unlike the basket, it is heavy when it is not loaded.

Ji Fengyao wore a round and rolling bucket, if he wanted to hold such a heavy bucket, if his feet slipped for a while, he would not have to go directly to the shore.

Winter is desolate and gray, covered with snow everywhere.

The leaves on the tree had already fallen off, and when he walked to the Zhiqing Point, through the gap in the branches, Wei Lan saw that the water in the small harbor had almost been released, and only the depression in the center had some water.

The people digging lotus root are scattered in the exposed mud, hunched over or bowed their heads, all busy.

Wei Lan couldn't help but shudder at herself.

The mud is a wetland, and people will immediately sink when they stand on it, which is no different from soaking in ice water.

"Brother! I've got the basket! ”

Approaching Xiaogang, Youlan screamed excitedly and ran to the shore where Gu Chao was.

There are a lot of people digging lotus roots, twenty or thirty strong laborers with the lower half of their bodies all trapped in the mud, and they are all busy digging lotus roots, if it weren't for Youlan running to Gu Chao first, for a while, Wei Lan really couldn't tell which one was Gu Chao.

There is water hidden in the mud, and some small fish and shrimp hide in it.

Gu Chao used a shovel to shovel mud and often encountered the situation of shoveling loaches and yellow eels in two.

Although there wasn't much meat, it was meaty, and he remembered that Wei Lan loved to eat river shrimp, Gu Chao saw Youlan playing nearby and watching the excitement, so he waved his hand and asked Youlan to go back and get something.

While digging lotus roots, he saw that he could easily put them up.

Not patronizing the court, many people in the brigade did this, and the educated youths who dug lotus root also had a small bucket next to them.

Small fish and small shrimp are not worth anything, the real big fish are in the middle of the big pool of water, and when the lotus root is dug up, the captain will catch the fish materially, and then go door to door.

"Lost ...... How did you get here? ”

Gu Chao asked Youlan to throw the basket over, and when he turned around and saw the girl who followed Tian Ridge, his voice suddenly stopped.

Wei Lan has a cold and wants to sweat, so she usually wears a small coat, sweater and padded jacket, and today she has an extra coat on the outside of the sweater, and she wears a sheepskin jacket outside, which looks a little bloated.

She put a skirt on her lower body, and while she was bloated, a calf exposed under the skirt was well-proportioned and slender.

Someone nearby who heard Youlan's voice looked over, and saw Wei Lan wearing a scarf around his neck.

The red scarf shows the complexion, and the exposed half of Wei Lan's small face is as bright and moving as the moonlight, and a pair of peach blossom eyes are even more black and smart.

The group of young men who watched it were full of spring, and they couldn't help but take a few more looks.

I heard Wei Lan boldly reveal that Gu Chao was her object on the creek before, and when she saw Wei Lan at this time, she couldn't help but ridicule: "Yo, Brother Chao, are you here?" ”

"Brother Chao is blessed, how many people fall in love with Wei Zhiqing, look, but you can get it!"

Wei Lan walked to the shore closest to Gu Chao and squatted down, not feeling embarrassed because of the ridicule and probing glances of the people around him.

And these good-natured ridicules are not imaginary evil words.

Gu Chao's heart was slightly relieved, he inserted the shovel into the mud, twitched his legs that were stuck in the mud, and approached the shore.

The suction force on the mud floor is very strong, Gu Chao moves slowly, and every time he steps in, he will make a "zizi" water sound, and when his legs are pulled out of it, a small stream of water quickly gathers from all directions, filling the pit he just stepped out of with water.

I finally got close to the shore, but because of the height, it was difficult to go up.

Gu Chao lay on the shore, his deep eyes looked at Wei Lan, "Are you still uncomfortable?" ”

Wei Lan shook her head with a pout, hooked her head to look at Gu Chao's muddy and wet trouser legs, and couldn't hide her distress, "I'm all cured of my cold...... How long will it take you to do this? It was so cold that my legs were frozen. ”

"I'm not cold." A smile appeared in Gu Chao's eyes, his gaze gently stroked Wei Lan's little face, and his head rubbed against Wei Lan's leg, "Look, I'm sweating." ”

"So many people watching!" Wei Lan pursed her lips and smiled to dodge and help him wipe the sweat off his forehead.

Knowing that this was a group activity and could not be avoided, Wei Lan turned around and asked, "If there is no basket at home, I will take a bucket, okay?" ”

"Hmm." Gu Chao took the bucket and basket, and looked at Wei Lan with burning eyes, "Go back." ”

Wei Lan nodded, "Then I'll go back and cook something delicious, and wait for you to go back and eat." ”

"Okay." Gu Chao bowed.

"Home!"

Wei Lan waved his hand and beckoned You Lan and Ji Fengyao to go home together, Gu Chao paused, and his eyes swept to You Lan: "Lan Ya stayed to help." ”

"How can she help?" Wei Lan stopped in confusion.

Could it be that such a small girl as Youlan has to go down to dig lotus roots?

Wei Lan's brows were knotted, and she just wanted to refuse, but Youlan raised her head and waved at her: "Sister Lan, you go back!" I'm going to do it with my brother! ”

Wei Lan didn't move, Youlan blushed, and muttered, "I, I want to play here!" ”

On the side, Ji Fengyao followed the chicken pecking rice and nodded.

Wei Lan smiled with relief, glanced at Gu Chao, and rubbed his two hands on Youlan and Ji Fengyao's heads respectively, "Stand far away, be careful not to fall, you know?" ”

The two little ones nodded obediently.

Wei Lan straightened up and waved his hand at Gu Chao, "Then I'll go back?" ”

"Hmm." Gu Chao nodded.

When Wei Lan was gone, someone around him urged, Gu Chao moved back to his position just now and continued to dig lotus roots.

In the incident just now, ridicule is ridicule, and I don't know how many people around me have hidden envy in their hearts.

Why is Gu Chaoming so good? The subject is so beautiful, and he is still from the city.

They don't know what it's like in the city, let alone being in the city, what they don't even dare to think about, Gu Chao did it, and they did it.

Who said that the old Gu family collapsed?

Feng Shui takes turns, and after being depressed for a while, isn't this a sign of rising again?

……

After Wei Lan went home, she took the basket and went to the Gu family's private land.

There have been a lot of things going on in the brigade in the past two days, and Wei Lan is sick again, except for Gu Chao who went to the county in the dark last night, he didn't have time to go out to buy supplies in the past two days.

The Gu family's palm-sized plot is planted with spinach, small rape and white radish.

These dishes should be eaten until the beginning of spring and February of the next year.

Wei Lan gave up the idea of plucking the whole one, picked up the big rape and pinched a circle of vegetable leaves, kept the cabbage heart, and turned back to go up the mountain to decorate the deciduous humus and come back to top dressing, which can continue to grow.

Loaded with a small half basket of vegetable leaves, Wei Lan went home.

Except for the basket, there were no other dishes at home, Wei Lan searched and searched, and turned out a heavy bag where Grandma Gu's room was where the grain was placed.

When I opened it, it was a granular starch, which should be sweet potato flour.

Wei Lan said hello to Grandma Gu, and then carried the bag of sweet potato flour to the kitchen and started to work.

Gu Chao likes to eat spicy, Wei Lan thought about it, sweet potato noodles can just be used to make hot and sour noodles.

Just do it, Wei Lan brought a large porcelain bowl to mix the paste, and the paste was filled, and the water in the pot was also boiled.

"This is really ......" Wei Lan stood by the stove, watching the water in the pot boil and bubbling, so he could only withdraw part of the firewood in the stove first.

Gu Chao cut bamboo before, and there were a lot of bamboo tubes piled up in the corner of the backyard, Wei Lan moved his mind and wanted to try to drill holes in the bamboo tubes, but he couldn't find the set of tools that Gu Chao usually used.

Tossing and turning, tossing and tossing to the end, Wei Lan had to give up the plan to make vermicelli

Still like before making cold skin, swing the paste on the plate, steam it and then take it out and put it away, and wait for Gu Chao to come back and cook it while seasoning.

I worked for nearly three hours one after another, and the steamed noodles were more than half a basin.

If you can't finish eating, you can soak it in a basin, and you can leave it for about a week on such a cold day.

If the sun is good, cut it into strips and take it out to dry, so that it can be stored for a longer time.

Wei Lan added two scoops of water to the basin, soaked the powder, wiped the sweat from his forehead and went back to the room.

Although it was hot, she didn't dare to take off her clothes for fear of aggravating the cold.

I had a fever last night for most of the night, and I was really uncomfortable.

Today is the twenty-fifth day of the lunar month, Lin Qing and Fan Xiao got married on the 28th, and most of the clothes promised before have not been made, and they have to be sent over on the 27th at the latest.

Wei Lan sat by the window for a while, took out the half-finished clothes from the cabinet, and was afraid that her hair would get in the way, so she loosely tied a low ponytail before sitting down in front of the sewing machine and bowing her head to get busy.

At the end of the year, all the families were busy, the strong laborers in the brigade were called to go to Xiaogang to dig lotus root and fish, and the little daughters-in-law stood near the acquaintance's house and shouted, said hello, and went to the town to buy New Year's goods together.

The east family shouted the west family, the west family called the south family, and everyone was almost all shouting, and they all went to the captain's house.

The policy is relaxed, and there is no need to open a letter of introduction to go to the town, but everyone is deeply rooted and thinks it is better to talk to the captain.

The small villages that are behind the ashes are rarely lively.

Near evening, Youlan ran back and said that Xiaogang was going to draw lots, and Gu Chao called her over.

"Lottery? What lottery? ”

Youlan raised her head and replied, her little face was serious and happy: "Draw fish!" In previous years, the captain said that his brother had made a lot of efforts to dig lotus roots, and he could share the fish together this year! ”

If it is calculated according to the division of work, the Gu family still can't divide the fish, but this year, various new policies are implemented, and there is no division of work, which can be made up with money.

Wei Lan spent the New Year in Gu's house for the first time, Gu Chao wanted to be more lively, and he wanted to have more food at home and more New Year's flavor, so he discussed it with Gu Sande in private and used money to make up for it.

Wei Lan's dark and delicate eyebrows raised slightly, and his heart was slightly clear.

But I was still very curious about the so-called lottery to divide the fish, and I couldn't help but hurry up.

There was a commotion in the small port, and the people who dug the lotus root came to see it at noon, but only the lower half of the body was stuck in the mud, and the upper body was still clean.

Looking at it again at this time, they all became real mud monkeys, not knowing what it was, rolling and tumbling in the shallow water in the middle.

On the side of the slate bridge, Gu Sande shouted loudly, "If you have a share of work, you will get the work share, and if you don't have a job and want to eat fish, you will take the money to get the point!" ”

The lotus root in the area around the small port has been almost dug up, and now the fish are fishing, and only when the fish are cleaned can we continue to dig a ditch to divert the water in the middle area, so that we can continue to dig the lotus root.

The fish caught before have been delivered, and they are arranged at one time according to their size on the side of the stone bridge.

The strong laborers are busy, and most of the people around are the elderly, women and children.

At this time, they are looking at each other with their heads hooked.

People with a large population base and a lot of strong labor secretly calculate in their hearts how many jobs they have left over this year and how many fish they can share.

If you have a small labor force at home, you can only secretly say that it is a pity when you see a silver carp and black fish that are fat and jumping around, but because there is no work and no money to make up.

(End of chapter)