Xu's mother's family came from Shanlizhai, a village even more isolated than Qianjin Village. In the early years, they were so poor that they were as poor as a jingle.
The mountain road has 18 bends and is inconvenient to get in and out. On the way back, we have to change several buses. The key point is that we can't reach the village entrance. It takes two hours to walk from where we get off to the village, and taking a taxi is too expensive.
So I usually don't go back to my parents' home when I have nothing to do. I only go back once a year on the day of the second grade of junior high school.
After finally going, Xu’s mother certainly hoped to stay a few more days to spend time with her parents.
But my daughter hates walking on mountain roads. She thinks the rocky roads there are covered with moss and can easily slip on her feet. Every time I take her back to my grandma's house, I have to coax her for a long time. It wasn't until my daughter went to college that the transportation at her parents' place finally got better, but her daughter was reluctant to go there no matter how much she was coaxed.
But she was worried about leaving her daughter alone at home, so she stayed there for one night at most and came back in a hurry the next day. My parents' side had to find a reason to avoid making my parents sad.
This year, my daughter said that she bought a minivan and drove there by herself until she was near her grandma’s house. She was able to save a lot of walking and was able to bring a lot of groceries with her.
Thinking of the changes in her family this year, Xu's mother beamed. She wished that tomorrow would be the second day of the Lunar New Year, so she could sit in a minivan driven by her daughter, hauling New Year's goods back to her parents' house, and tell them about her happy life.
Mother Xu babbled while digging bamboo shoots: "Actually, there are a lot of bamboo shoots on the mountain near your grandmother's house. The big bamboo shoots dug before the Qingming Festival were as big as Haohao. But those bamboo shoots are a bit astringent when eaten directly. , the best way to eat it is to steam it with vegetable stew that your grandma pickled herself. It has no astringent taste and is very fresh. There are also pickled bamboo shoots made from bacon, which you liked to eat when you were a child. This time when you go back, your grandma will make it. Do."
"Mom, are my grandma and grandpa okay?"
"It's okay. Don't look at me. I'm over seventy. I'm not deaf or blind. I go up and down the mountain every day. I'm still in good health. I just haven't seen you in several years. I miss you very much."
Xu Yin took advantage of the situation and said: "Then go back this time and stay with them for a few more days."
"That's a good feeling!"
Xu's mother laughed happily: "Let's go! Change a place! Mom will take you to dig spring bamboo shoots! The spring bamboo shoots in that place are particularly white and tender, and no one else knows!"
Before today, Xu Yin really didn't expect that her mother was an expert at peeling bamboo shoots. Everywhere she went, not only were there bamboo shoots, but they were also big, plump and white and tender.
Together they dug two baskets full of winter bamboo shoots, plus three snakeskin bags of spring bamboo shoots.
I didn't expect to dig so much.
It’s still early to dry the dried bamboo shoots. Just dig them out when you want to eat them when you get back in the first month. I haven’t finished the dried bamboo shoots I dried last year.
I just heard my daughter mention it: winter bamboo shoots are very expensive in Anshi, especially spring bamboo shoots, and she wanted to give some to Chen Jiao.
Xu's mother knew that Chen Jiao was the owner of the barbecue restaurant who paid dividends to her daughter and helped his family a lot during the construction of the house.
It is only through her that we can get such favorable prices for home appliances and furniture. If we go to the mall to buy them, they will be at least tens of thousands more expensive. Not to mention, I also gave several paintings as gifts.
I heard from my daughter that those paintings together cost 100,000 yuan. Especially the landscape painting, which costs 50,000 yuan per painting, so she was so scared that she didn't dare hang it in the living room on the first floor for fear of being visited by thieves.
Such a good partner, not only did my daughter say it, but Xu's mother also wanted to give him something.
When I heard that the bamboo shoots in Anshi were selling so expensively, I immediately said I would dig out more and pick the best ones to give to Chen Jiao.
Once they started digging, they couldn't stop digging. However, the mother and daughter brought two bamboo baskets with them when they went up the mountain. The snakeskin bags were borrowed from women in the same village.
If Xu Yin hadn't said that the car would be parked at the foot of the mountain and they could return the snakeskin bag by dumping the bamboo shoots into the car, they would have been reluctant to borrow it and would still use it themselves.
The mother-in-law carried the bamboo basket and dragged the snakeskin bag down the mountain and put it on the truck.
Fortunately again, it is so convenient to have a car!
"When your father and I came here before, we didn't dare to dig too much, otherwise we wouldn't be able to carry it back."
"I will drive here from now on."
"It's just burning gasoline." Mother Xu calculated the gasoline money and twitched the corner of her mouth in distress. Over and over again, the gasoline money could buy a lot of bamboo shoots.
Xu Yin smiled and said: "How can the ones bought from outside be as tender as the ones you dig yourself?"
"That's true. Mom has no other skills, but she is good at keeping track of the age of bamboo shoots." Xu's mother puffed up her chest proudly, "The bamboo shoots I dug must be the whitest and tenderest."
The mother and daughter chatted, emptied the baskets and bags of bamboo shoots into the car, went up the mountain again, returned the snakeskin bag, and brought down two more baskets of bamboo shoots.
This time I didn’t fill the basket because there weren’t that many bamboo shoots that fit Xu’s mother’s taste.
Even so, Xu's father was quite surprised when the two of them dug back so many bamboo shoots: "If I had known that we would dig so many bamboo shoots, I would have gone with you."
He thought that his daughter was busy at home, so she went hiking with her mother and brought back a few bamboo shoots, but he didn't expect to bring back a cart.
When he learned that half of it was going to be given away, Father Xu breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good to give it away, it's good to give it away, otherwise how can you eat so much."
Xu Yin couldn't help but feel happy. People in the city couldn't afford the bamboo shoots during the Chinese New Year, but her family couldn't eat them all.
The next day, she went to Anshi. In addition to delivering bamboo shoots to Chen Jiao, she also wanted to buy some gifts for her grandmother's relatives. Of course, I only bought a small part, the bulk was taken from the system warehouse.
Put in a bag of fresh spring bamboo shoots and take out a few gifts for others.
Anshi.
Chen Jiao was so happy when she received the bamboo shoots:
"Oops! Xu Yin, your place still produces bamboo shoots? Such fresh winter bamboo shoots and spring bamboo shoots! Did you just dig them yesterday? Let me tell you! The mud is still wet. No! You gave too many! Those New Year's goods I prepared Not enough! Let’s go, let’s go! I’ll take you to the cold storage and you can pick some beef and mutton back!”
She gave Xu Yin a lot of beef and mutton gift bags.
They are all killed and frozen on the grassland.
But Xu Yin’s double-door refrigerator can’t hold so much.
On the way back, she stocked up half of it in the system warehouse.
Leave half of it still filling the refrigerator freezer.
But I’m going to my grandma’s house on the second day of the Lunar New Year. I’ll pick up more then to free up some space in the refrigerator.
Seeing the beef and mutton brought home by his daughter, Father Xu remembered something he forgot to mention yesterday.
After he finished speaking, Xu Yin thought for a moment and said: "Dad, as a junior, I help the villagers roast some mutton and charge processing fees. Isn't it bad?"
"But it won't work if you don't accept it. What if everyone brings meat for you to roast?" Xu's mother said from the side, "Besides, charcoal also costs money, and there are seasonings. I think the seasonings Yinyin bought are better than The barbecue powder sold in the supermarket in town is more fragrant and salty just right."
Xu Yinxin said that was not the case. She even used this condiment to pay off her debt.
"Otherwise, dad, I'll teach you how to bake, marinate, and sprinkle ingredients. It's actually quite simple. Once you control the heat, just turn it over regularly. When the people in the village want us to process it for them, you can bake it for them. You have the final say on how much you charge. I won't get involved in this matter."
(End of chapter)
