Chapter 199 Someone is coming
"After harvesting the millet, there's no need to turn the fields over!" Old man Lin sat on the edge of the field to rest, pointing to the fields that had been turned over by his grandchildren, and said with a smile.
Lin Youfu: "There are no buckets or basins at home."
"What's the matter? You think there's too much meat?" Old Mrs. Wang glanced at her son.
Lin Youxiang smacked his lips and said, "Don't mention it, Lao Si's cooking is delicious! The chili loach is spicy and fresh, and the meat is tender."
"Eat, eat, eat. That's all I know how to do. After a good rest, I quickly go to work. The harvest is finally almost done." Old man Lin took a puff of his pipe and puffed out clouds of smoke.
Lin Youcai drank enough water, wiped his face with a towel, and stood up with a wrinkled face, "Dad, Mom, let's finish this in one go and then go home for lunch! We don't need to come in the afternoon, we can have a good rest at home for the whole afternoon."
"I think it's okay. I'll be sunburned after running around." Lin Youxiang looked up, but the sunlight was so bright that he couldn't open his eyes.
"Okay, let's do it! Let's finish it in one go and save trouble." Old Man Lin exhaled a puff of smoke and nodded.
At this time, Shen Xianglan and her sister-in-law were cooking lunch in the kitchen, while Lin Zisu, Lin Cuihe, Lin Xiatao and Lin Qiuyue were processing loaches and eels at home.
Boil a large pot of water, one person pours it into the loach basin, and another person immediately covers it with a bamboo dustpan to prevent the loach from jumping out. Count to five for 5 seconds, then take away the bamboo dustpan, quickly take the loach out of the hot water, and put it in the cold water basin next to it. Using boiling water will scald the loach to death, and only scalding for 5 seconds is to prevent the loach from being cooked if it is too long.
Wash the slime off the loach in a basin of cold water, then change the basin to cold water, then cut the head and cut open the belly of the fish. You can also use salt and flour to wash the slime off the loach. In this era, this bucket of loach is not as valuable as the flour and salt. Some people prefer not to cut the head or remove the fish's internal organs, just rinse it with water, drain the water and put it in the oil pan.
Every family has different habits. Lin Zisu's family likes to prepare things cleanly so that it is convenient and saves trouble when eating.
The four of them sat on small stools. Lin Zisu and Lin Xiatao took scissors and cut the loach's head, cut open its abdomen and threw it into the wooden barrel beside them. Lin Cuihe and Lin Qiuyue took small bamboo sticks in their hands, took the loach out of the barrel, inserted the small bamboo sticks into the cut abdomen and scratched it, and the internal organs fell onto the large lotus leaf on the ground to collect the internal organs.
The cleaned loaches are put into another bucket. The four people work together like a factory assembly line, and the process is very fast.
Lin Cuihe stood up, rinsed a bucket of processed loaches with water, and took it to the bamboo dustpan outside. She stretched out her hands and arranged the loaches one by one so that they could all get some sun.
During the autumn harvest, every household is digging loaches and eels. Local people all do this, and most of them only have time to dig loaches and eels after harvesting grain. These new people from the north do not have the habit of digging loaches and eels during the harvest. The north is all dry land, where wheat and sorghum are grown, and loaches and eels can only be caught in ponds and rivers.
It was the Lin family who told everyone that families with many children could go digging loaches, and of course they could go digging after the rice was harvested. Everyone could dig in their own fields, and digging in other people's fields required the other person's consent to avoid quarrels.
Although loaches are small, they are good for nourishing the body. Lin Zisu and her friends worked hard for 4 days and turned over 15 mu of land, which shocked the adults in the Lin family. The adults asked the children to thresh the grain, but they complained about being tired, exposed to the sun, and bitten by insects. Let the children dig loaches, eels, frogs, and snails, and they will have endless energy.
Except for the first day when we didn’t have time to prepare loaches, we ate loaches for the next three days. We dried loaches, not because we were tired of eating them, but because there were too many loaches, so we just dried them and fried them when we wanted to eat them.
No matter how good something is, you won't want to eat it if you eat too much. Eating too much will make it taste bad, but eating less will make it taste good. Dried loaches can be stored or given as gifts.
After the four of them finished processing two buckets of loaches, Shen Xianglan called for lunch. The four of them washed their hands and went into the kitchen to eat lunch. Spicy frog, spicy loach, white melon and yellow eel soup, and cucumber strips were added to the spicy frog as a side dish.
Lin Zisu likes to eat these vegetables as side dishes the most. The cucumber strips absorb the meaty and spicy flavors, and the cucumbers are crispy and delicious.
Shen Xianglan: "After you finish lunch, drive a car to get a basin of frogs, a basin of loaches, and a bowl of yellow eels, and send them to the sentry post for Teacher Su to taste."
"Okay. Hiss~ha~spicy~spicy~" Lin Zisu agreed and turned around to get some water to drink.
Every night, my brothers and sisters would go catch frogs with sackcloth bags. These past few nights, the house was filled with the sound of frogs. They removed the heads, skins, and internal organs overnight, and because there were so many people in the family, the process was quick. Otherwise, after a tiring day, who would have the energy to process frogs?
After lunch, Lin Hongmei, Shen Xianglan, Lin Cuihe, Lin Xiatao, and Lin Qiuyue continued to process the loaches. Shen Anda and Shi Tao played in the yard, and from time to time went to the backyard to look at the loaches exposed to the sun.
Lin Zisu put the dishes into the car, started the car and headed towards the East Gate.
Lin Youcai and his colleagues braved the scorching sun and handed the harvested grains to the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture for weighing and registration. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, as the autumn harvest was finally over.
The straw was piled up in the fields, and the Ministry of Agriculture took away most of it, leaving a small half for the people. A small half of straw left over from one acre was not a small amount. The Lin family had 15 acres of land, and a small half of straw was left over from each acre, so Lin Youcai's backyard would be filled with straw.
At 13:47, the Lin family finally arrived home, tired, hungry and hot. After washing their hands, everyone started eating and talking after they were full.
Lin Youcai looked around, "Where's Zisu? The car isn't in the yard either."
Lin Xianwen, who wanted to bury his face in the bowl, raised his head, puffed his cheeks, and chewed. "I was wondering why I felt like something was missing..."
Shen Xianglan: "I asked her to send some food to Teacher Su. Loaches, frogs, and eels are not expensive, but they taste good and are fresh. I just fried them and sent them over for Teacher Su to taste."
When Lin Zisu arrived at the gate of the sentry post, the soldiers on guard recognized her and let her in directly. It would not work for her to drive to look for someone, so she parked the car and got out to look for Su Ling.
The outpost was so big, she was worried whether Su Ling was in the dormitory, the training ground, the office, or the bathhouse.
Finally, I decided to go to the cafeteria first. At this time, I should eat in the cafeteria, right? ? ? If I were doing a mission outside...
As Lin Zisu just walked to the cafeteria door, she heard someone calling her.
"Lin Zisu! Lin Zisu, why are you here?"
Hearing the familiar voice, she immediately turned her head, "...Teacher, is that you? I haven't seen you for a few days. How come you have become so dark!!!" Her teeth were the whitest part of her body.
She saw that Su Ling looked refreshed, as if she had just taken a shower and came to have lunch.
"Hi~Lin Zisu!"
“Hehe, Lin Zisu, you’re still laughing at Su Ling, you’ve become a lot darker too!”
Only then did Lin Zisu notice that there were quite a few people next to Su Ling's tall body. She thought they were Su Ling's comrades-in-arms so she didn't pay much attention.
Hearing the familiar voice, she looked over and widened her eyes, "Ah~ You guys are in Xinghai City!" Why are you in Xinghai City? Is it official business?