Pastoral Valley Fragrance

Chapter 75 June Sixth (Pink!)

June [-]th is a holiday.

This day is a day when many festivals are mixed together, such as June Festival, Girls' Day, Clothes Drying Festival, and Field Sacrifice Festival. Just listen to what the old people say.

All the households in Zhuangzi are very lively at this time, because the girls who are married will go back to their natal homes on this day. Will not be idle, most of the time help the parents in the family unpack and wash the bedding and curtains, and take out all the things that need to be washed and dried.The Qingsha River in front of Taozhuang also became extremely lively on this day.

The girls married in Taozhuang are naturally familiar with the place where they grew up. They wash clothes there, and their mouths are not idle, talking to each other about festive things or difficulties in life. This rare day is spent according to their own temperament, they seem to have returned to the days when they were girls, they have no parents-in-law to wait on, and they don’t have to think about the barefoot children running around at home, let alone the whole world. The sky revolves around chickens, pigs, and stoves, and I can't even straighten my waist...

Beside the Qingsha River, there are girls of different ages. Yes, they can all be called girls. Even if they are 50 or [-] years old, when they return to Taozhuang, they can still regard themselves as girls beside the Qingsha River. Washing clothes is like going back to the time when I was not married, and those who have just married are thinking about the days of the girls who have just passed away. Although I am a little shy at this time, I also listen to the old girls saying How to serve parents-in-law and how to get along with sister-in-law.

Under such circumstances, these young and old girls, even if they washed all the things at home, were a little reluctant to leave.Because they all understand that if they want to live such a relaxed life again, it will be next year and today. Who knows what the next year will be like?So I often see these people standing by the river, the barrels are already full of washed clothes, but they don't want to leave, and some of them even talk to acquaintances for a while, saying that they want to leave. Gone, but still standing there talking loudly.What's more, he has already held the wooden barrel in his hand, but it still stays there for a long time.

The yards of every household are full of these coarse clothes to dry in the sun. After a day of exposure, they can be put back into wooden boxes. Some people have a lot of family members, and those who don’t have so many bamboo poles to dry in the yard simply hang out together. I went to the peach grove to dry clothes, and the peach grove seemed to be festive when I put on clothes. If there was a girl who was lucky, she could find a few peaches that were left on the tree.

Because the first day is the [-]th day of the summer solstice, the Chen family agreed to come and celebrate the festival together today. Besides, Chen Yongyu only has a few brothers and no sisters, so there are no girls who go back to her natal family, so there is no need to keep greetings , and the old man has passed away, so the Jiang family came to Gu Yu's yard. Anyway, Gu Yu has three aunts, but one is not married, and the other two are bound to help Li He's work, and the situation of the two families is not good. Not too many, it's just right to spend the holidays together.

In the early morning, Mrs. Xu couldn't help there, so she still came over, and Mrs. Xu Qin, who was used to living here, didn't want to go to the yard over there, so as not to choke with Mrs. Li He again because of a trivial matter. Well, it won't be good for the juniors to watch at home.

Mrs. Wang sorted out all the things in the house. They only lived in Taozhuang for more than half a year. They didn't have many things, just a few mattresses. She washed it well and put it away, so she just took it to the yard to dry, and she didn't need to worry about it.

On the other hand, An Jinxuan and Jing Zhe still need to take care of them. Their mattresses have also been changed and haven't been washed. Although they don't have many clothes, Mrs. Wang can't let An Jinxuan and Jing Zhe go out in dirty clothes. It's just that An Jinxuan repeatedly waved his hands and said that he didn't need to bother them, which made Wang a little embarrassed.

An Jinxuan's child, it's pitiful to hear what his second uncle said, but he is capable and sensible, and he won't begrudge his family's things like other children, and he can help with whatever he has. Busy, he never said anything.For example, when Mrs. Wang gave birth to the summer solstice, he managed to get a pheasant, but it was also used as a confinement for Mrs. Wang. Such a big child, I can't help being distressed, but he is not used to it. All the sewing and mending have been pushed back and forth, and at this time, I don't want to get mixed up with them.

Jing Zhe also persuaded, Xu Qinshi also said a few words, he still insisted after all, Gu Yu saw that he was more stubborn and shy than usual, and she was not used to it, when the adults went to help each other, she slipped away. Enter An Jinxuan and Jing Zhe's room.

I saw An Jinxuan sitting in the room stupidly, holding his old cotton-padded jacket in his hands, and he didn't look like he needed to wash it. Gu Yu entered the door with a smile, "Brother Jinxuan, wouldn't it be good to dry the cotton-padded jacket today?" , is it possible that there is still silver in it? See how precious you are."

Although An Jinxuan shook his head, he was a little surprised in his heart. Although there was no silver in the ragged padded jacket, there were two bank notes, which he and his second uncle had saved over the years. It's useful, he knows that Gu Yu doesn't know this secret, not even Jing Zhe, but she said so, so it's inevitable that others won't think so, so he smiled, "Okay, I'll take this out to show off, and Second Uncle's things, but I don't need to ask my aunts to wash them, Second Uncle likes to wash his own things."

After drying the clothes, Gu Yu and An Jinxuan sat in the shadow cast by the clothes, watching the adults busy preparing to steam the mille-feuille.

He also said that after steaming these cakes, they were to be taken to the fields to sacrifice to the fields, and then they would be eaten by their own family members.

Gu Yu didn't understand, "Brother Jinxuan, if you can't really steam it to a thousand layers, why is it called a thousand-layer cake?"

When An Jinxuan saw Gu Yu looking at her like that, his heart moved, and he said, "Thousand-layer cake is just a name. There are steamed six-layer cakes and some steamed nine-layer cakes. After grinding the rice milk and adding sugar, put the steamer on the cake. Spread a layer of good cotton gauze. It is the first time to steam rice milk. After steaming, open the lid and put another thin layer. I have eaten at that time. The first layer is such sweet rice milk. Put red bean paste on the second layer, add almonds on the third layer, and put candied fruit on the fourth layer, you don’t know that you can tear it apart layer by layer when eating..."

Gu Yu was stunned when he heard this, let alone eat it, she had never even seen it before, it was amazing to be able to eat rice cakes in Zhuangzi, as for those candied almonds on top, I heard An Jinxuan talking about it There was a smile on the corner of her mouth, which was very warm, and her heart moved, could that be An Jinxuan's previous life?She didn't think much about it, she just hoped that An Jinxuan could keep laughing like this.

After An Jinxuan finished speaking, he was stunned. Before he knew it, he felt as if he had returned to the old days, but it was like a distant dream. When he woke up, he was the only one.His expression was a little gloomy, and he couldn't help uttering a sentence, "I can't bear to look back on the past."

Gu Yu didn't dare to ask him anything, just went to pull him and said, "Brother Jinxuan, it doesn't matter if you can't eat those things, I will make them for you when I grow up."

An Jinxuan glanced at Gu Yu and shook his head.

Gu Yu thought he didn't believe it, so she hurriedly said, "Really, once I think of a way to make money, everything will be easy for me when I have money at home."

An Jinxuan was a little stunned, although in this place, the Wang family and the others treated him very well, but he always felt that there was a layer of separation between them, and their excitement seemed to have nothing to do with him, only Gu Yu seemed to be very close to him. But even if it was close, he still had a feeling that he couldn't tell.

Seeing the two of them sitting in the shadows, Xu Qinshi was a little amused, "Two silly children, even if there is a shadow, they are still hot, go and help grandma pick some grapefruit leaves and banana leaves, and come back to make dumplings."

As soon as Gu Yu heard about the food, she became excited, "Grandma, why isn't it mille-feuille cake, and what kind of dumplings are there?"

"Originally I wanted lotus leaves, but we don't have so many of them in Zhuangzi. It's better to have these plantain leaves, one big one, and you can get two back."

An Jinxuan came back to his senses, "The plantain leaves are big enough, but they don't have the sweetness of the lotus leaves. Besides, the lotus leaves are the best choice in this season. You wait for Gu Yu and I to make the lotus leaves come back."

Gu Yu still has no confidence, she didn't see lotus leaves in Taozhuang.

An Jinxuan went out with her, bypassed the village road, and entered Taolinzi again.

The peach grove was full of colorful things in the sun. An Jinxuan walked in a hurry, and Gu Yu panted while trotting: "Why did you come into the peach grove? There are no lotus leaves here. I'm afraid grandma and the others will have to wait." Anxious."

But An Jinxuan didn't stop. He passed the peach forest and walked up the river. Gu Yu was a little strange. The weeds in this place were already very long, and it was a little far away from the peach forest. what?
Gu Yu didn't say anything about the question, because a tributary of the Qingsha River flows into a place surrounded by a few trees. Inside is a small mud pond, which is only as big as the main room of the house on the left, but there are lotus ponds on it. There are not only lotus leaves, but also a few lotus flowers, and dragonflies parked on them, which is different from the lotus ponds that I saw that day.

Gu Yu was a little tired from walking just now, sitting at the foot of the tree watching An Jinxuan picking lotus leaves, she couldn't help asking: "Brother Jinxuan, how do you know this place, it looks like there is a human race, so you won't be treated as a thief Grab it."

With a smile on the corner of An Jinxuan's mouth, he said nonchalantly, "It's indeed human, but I can pick it whenever I want."

Gu Yu was shocked again when he heard his voice, this An Jinxuan would always do those unexpected things.It seems that this lotus pond is also his.

When they washed these fresh lotus leaves and took them home, they saw some plantain leaves lying on the ground.

Xu Qinshi was a little surprised to see them both holding the lotus leaf, "You two little ancestors, where did you go? I thought the lotus leaf was not easy. If I can't wait here, I will use this banana leaf to make do with you. Did you really go to the Qingshui River to pick lotus leaves?"

Qingshui River is the river on the other side of Liubazi, Gu Yu and the others went there that day.Seeing that he was surprised, Gu Yu couldn't reveal An Jinxuan's secret, so he could only say, "Grandma, we've already washed the lotus leaves and used them to make dumplings."

Xu Qinshi was still muttering: "Even if you walk through the waterway, you can't go so fast..."

Gu Yu and An Jinxuan looked at each other and smiled.

(End of this chapter)