Escape from the desert

Several children sat around Jiang Yan obediently. Everyone was so tired that they were panting. Their red lips were slightly open, their hot red and soft tongues kept breathing, and their sweaty black hair was softly pressed against their foreheads. superior.

"Mother, drink some water." Wang Jinhua came over with a large jug of water, two bowls in total, and everyone took turns drinking.

Liu Xiaomeng is holding two oil-paper umbrellas. The field at home is on the flat land, and there are no mountains or trees around. He can only sit on the field ridge when he rests, so Jiang Yan asked Lin Dong to buy two oil-paper umbrellas early, otherwise he would rest. Also rest in the sun.

"Fortunately, there is an umbrella, otherwise, if you don't get tired of cutting rice, you'll have to let the sun burn to death." Jiang Yan sighed comfortably after drinking a few sips of sweet and sour water.

"Mother, Xiaomeng and I will replace you in a while, and you can rest for a while." Wang Jinhua said distressedly. In the past, she thought it was natural for her mother-in-law not to work. After all, there were many family members. Now that her mother-in-law is working, she is not only panicked, More distressed.

"Okay, you and Xiaomeng will exchange for me and Erbi in a while." Jiang Yan nodded.

Looking at the small blisters that had been rubbed out from the palm of her hand, she didn't dare to touch them. Fortunately, the calluses were still thick, otherwise they should have been worn out.

"I don't need to change my aunt, I can still continue."

Erbi has a serious face, and his face is red like a freshly steamed crayfish. He can't do much at home. His little aunt still sends him to school. The only thing he can do is to cut more rice, as long as he The more you do, the less auntie can do!
Jiang Yan pushed the hair that was sticking to his face with sweat to the back of his head, and took a look at his small palm. There were three blood blisters, and one was broken. It was dripping with blood. Much scarier.

But the little guy seemed to be unconscious, and he tore off the skin of the broken blood blister very calmly, and the scarlet soft flesh underneath was exposed to the sun. shrink.

"Look at your hand, it's all broken and you still need to work, take a good rest, I didn't want you to cut rice at first, the children are from the family, just follow Xiao Wu and the others. If you hurt your hand, what will you do? Read and write."

Jiang Yan was fierce at him, but she carefully wiped her hands clean for Erbi, took out the ointment and applied it to him. The weather was hot, so she didn't wrap it up, so as not to cover it up and get inflamed.

I checked the other people and found that none of them were broken, so I rested for a while: "Let's move it later. Let's move the rice to the edge of the field, tie it up first, and transport it to the threshing field later."

There are five buckets in the threshing ground, which are used by the whole village. There are three ways to take off the rice from the ear poles in the village. The first is to use buckets. It takes time to wait.

Jiang Yan had seen it a few times when he was a child. It was square and upright, and the cut rice could be slapped around the bucket by simply bundling it. The inner wall of the bucket was beaten vigorously by hand to make the grain fall off in the bucket, which could be more efficient. Quick release of grains.

The second is to use flails, which are available in almost every household. They are the most commonly used agricultural tools in this era, but they are more time-consuming and labor-intensive than scooping buckets. It is necessary to pile the rice together and beat it hard, and the effect of threshing the grains is also less. , but the flail is easy to make, and the carpenters in the village can do it, and the price is much cheaper. The simpler one is that two sticks are tied with a rope in the middle, and it is easier for people to hold one end and beat them.

The third method is to find an open space or a wooden basin, and beat the rice ears with wooden sticks in a small amount and many times until the grains fall off. Their poor family didn't have flails, and they were basically out of the village's fights.

"I went to the threshing farm just now, and the village chief said that our family can use a bucket to thresh the grains today." Wang Jinhua said happily.

Jiang Yan nodded her head. The buckets started from the big households in the village in turn. The buckets belonged to the village and belonged to the public property. In theory, everyone in the village could use them. The grains are all shed, and the system of rotation is unreasonable. Every year, there are a few ancestral temples in the village that come and go.

"As long as it can be used, after this acre of land is cut, let's go back to eat first. We won't cut the rice in the afternoon. We will go to the threshing farm to thresh the rice that was cut in the morning."

The brothers of the Lin family are all good at work, and the two daughters-in-law are even more powerful. The speed and posture of cutting rice are faster than Jiang Yan's. By noon, the whole family has cut an acre and a half of rice.

Jiang Yan took her two daughters-in-law home to make lunch first, and the rest transported the cut rice to the threshing floor.

Because of the autumn harvest in the past few days, the family's food is also well prepared. At least the braised pork is enough. Jiang Yan also bought two large hens, which are specially eaten during the autumn harvest. Since the shop opened in the town, the family has Eating brown rice has also changed to eating white rice.

The two daughters-in-law slaughtered the chicken and scalded the feathers quickly. Jiang Yan went to the backyard to look at the potatoes she had planted. She found that the sprouts had grown before returning to the stove with satisfaction. Her cooking skills were average, but she was busy this morning. , she plans to cook and treat the children well by cooking a braised pork.

There is also a dish of braised pork in this era. She ate it at Chang'an Restaurant last time. The taste is not bad, but the seasoning is a little worse than later generations, and there is more soy sauce, the fat part is good, and the lean meat is good. There is some wood in the parts, and the size is very delicate and small, and it is completely unable to achieve the refreshing feeling of Jiang Yan's full mouthful of meat. Of course, you have to eat a big mouthful of meat!
Jiang Yan has a refined version of the recipe bought in the mall, so she is confident that she can cook better than the restaurant.

After the pork belly has been boiled for a while, it is cut into large square pieces, so that the shape of the meat can remain unchanged. Otherwise, if the raw meat is directly cut into pieces, the size will shrink by at least half after cooking.

"Mother, the meat is too big? Do you want me to cut it?" Wang Jinhua said carefully, she knew that her mother-in-law was not good at cooking, and a piece of meat was half the size of her fist.

Jiang Yan cut the meat with one hand and the knife with the other: "It's okay, I just cut it so big on purpose. This is braised pork. I ate it at Chang'an Restaurant last time. I want to try it."

Wang Jinhua nodded and carefully rolled up her unrolled sleeves for her mother-in-law. She knew about her mother-in-law's meal at Chang'an Restaurant before.

There were ten people in the family eating, plus the old Wu family and Lin Yousheng's family, Jiang Yan simply cut up all the meat that was originally two days, and divided the family into two pieces, and the rest was enough for them.

"Jinhua, go get some straw, just cut it from the field, wash it and give it to me."

Wang Jinhua nodded and didn't ask any further questions. She turned around and went to the field to mow a handful. She carefully picked up the rice and put it in a cloth pocket, then washed the straw with green stems and handed it to Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan wanted to learn the practice of Dongpo Pork. Although it was said that the straw was only used to prevent the stewing time for too long, which would cause the meat to boil, the actual effect on the taste was not great, but Jiang Yan still planned to give it a try. Anyway, the straw is ready and fresh.