The mother and son went to two pawn shops, pawning a living pawn for one and a half yuan for one year, and a dead pawn for two and a half yuan.
The same goes for other jewelry shops. The prices were not as high as the first one. Li Yunlan went to the first shop and sold them for four taels of silver.
Then he walked to the street near the city gate and found a noodle stall to sit down. Qiu Degui refused to go home to eat, so Li Yunlan said: "After all, I went to the county town with my mother. The good ones can't afford it. After eating the noodles, Mom still has money."
After sitting down, Li Yunlan asked the price, which was 2 cents for a bowl of plain noodles, 4 cents for a bowl of braised pork noodles, and 6 cents for a bowl of braised pork noodles. Qiu Degui said he would just like a bowl of plain noodles.
Li Yunlan told the boss that she wanted two bowls of braised pork noodles.
"Mom, where's six cents for a bowl?"
Li Yunlan didn't say anything. She didn't like eating pig offal, and she didn't want to eat vegetarian noodles. The braised pork noodles were so delicious!
Soon the boss brought two bowls of noodles and a small plate of pickled vegetables. The aroma of braised pork penetrated his nose, and his mouth secreted saliva quickly. Li Yunlan took the chopsticks and took a bite. The long-lost aroma of the meat was gentle. The slippery noodles made Li Yunlan feel like crying.
At first, Li Yunlan thought he couldn't finish the large bowl of noodles, but he underestimated the body's thirst for meat and thin noodles.
Qiu Degui had already finished eating and started to add more bowls. Even though it was delicious, he couldn't add more bowls! Li Yunlan really couldn't bear to reprimand him, so she asked the boss to cook him a bowl of pork noodles.
"Mom, no need. I'm full, but there's still some soup in the bowl that I don't want to waste."
"You are my son. Mother doesn't know whether you have eaten enough or not. After finally entering the city, I opened my mouth to eat. Mother bought it for you." After speaking, Li Yunlan lowered her head and continued eating noodles.
Qiu Degui looked at the mother in front of him, and slowly he became the same as his mother when he was a child. Her mother was like this when she was a child. It's not that her mother has changed, she has never changed. She is still the same mother who loves him.
The boss quickly served another bowl of noodles, and Qiu Degui wiped his tears and ate it.
Li Yunlan also had mixed feelings in her heart, so she asked for an extra bowl of noodles for him, and was so moved. She also thought of her parents, who always felt that they didn't give enough to their children, and her eyes got wet.
After the mother and son finished eating and paid for the noodles, they got up and prepared to go back. They passed by the steamed bun shop and asked the price. The steamed buns were one cent each and the meat buns were two cents each. They made a dozen of them and took them home to eat.
After walking for a while out of the city gate, Qiu Degui walked up to Li Yunlan, knelt down and said, "Mother, I'll carry you."
Li Yunlan said sheepishly: "No, it's really hot. Let's go. Your mother is not old enough to ask you to carry her on your back. Let's go."
On the way, Li Yunlan and Qiu Degui talked about collecting herbs to sell, and she didn't need his brothers. She went to collect them by herself every day, on the fields and on the nearby mountains.
"Mom, it's too hard for you. Let me go with you."
"You two know herbal medicine, but the farmer in the field doesn't want it anymore."
Qiu Degui scratched his head and asked, "Mom, how do you know about herbal medicine?"
"Your grandpa taught me a few kinds. They are all common in the fields. They are not worth much, only three cents a pound."
Qiu Degui had never met his grandfather. It was said that he died when his mother was very young, so he had no doubts about Li Yunlan's words.
The scorching sun was in the sky, and Zhi Zhi screamed desperately. Li Yunlan avoided the sun and walked under the shade of the trees.
Unknown small wild flowers are blooming in full bloom, and clusters of small wild fruits not far away are brightly red.
When I got closer, I saw that it was a strawberry. I picked one and put it in my mouth. It tasted sweet and sour.
They pulled out dogtail grass stalks and tied them up, and ate the broken ones directly. Soon the two of them had worn more than a dozen strands, and walked home talking and laughing.
After arriving at home and entering the yard, Qiu Degui began to call the children, and several children poked their furry heads out. It was obvious that they had just woken up.
One child shared two bunches of strawberries, and Li Yunlan took the buns to the basket in the main room. Then he filled the room with water and took a bath, changed into clean clothes, and went to bed. Only then did he feel his legs were a little sore. It seems that I still need to exercise more.
Qiu Degui didn't rest and went directly to the ground with his hoe.
In the second room, Baoyu sat on the futon and ate some fruit. He glanced into the upper room from the window and saw that her mother-in-law didn't come out. She muttered in her heart: I don't know why this damn old woman went to the city today. What's in the paper bag? what is it then?
I lowered my head and saw my son sleeping soundly in his little pocket, and couldn't help but laugh. When I saw my daughter sitting under the bed eating fruit, I turned around impatiently and continued to fan my son.
As the sun set, Ms. Liu took Chengcai to the vegetable field to water the vegetables. After Ms. Chen was successfully fed, she went out to the kitchen to cook. Li Yunlan came out from her sleep and asked Ms. Chen to cook porridge at night. That's it, Mrs. Chen agreed, went to the kitchen to cook the porridge, and then went to the backyard to feed the chickens and pigs.
When the porridge was ready, Li Yunlan put the bamboo grate into the porridge, put the steamed buns on top, and covered the pot to boil.
Another plate of pickled beans was fried, and another plate of soy beans was picked out from the sauce vat.
When the brothers came back with hoes on their shoulders, Mrs. Liu also came back with a basket of vegetables, and Chengcai carried a basket of tender grass.
"Everyone went to wash their hands and faces and eat, but mosquitoes came up."
After listening to Li Yunlan's words, several people lined up to wash their faces at the washstand outside the kitchen.
Mrs. Chen went to open the pot to serve porridge and was stunned for a moment when she saw a dozen buns on the bamboo grate.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up." Li Yunlan shouted towards the kitchen.
Qiu Defu went into the kitchen to help. When he saw Mrs. Chen holding a big soup bowl to fill the buns, he asked, "Where did the buns come from?"
Mrs. Chen glanced outside and said, "How could I know."
Qiu Defu reluctantly took the buns and bowls and chopsticks and left the kitchen.
As soon as the buns were placed on the table, the children's eyes lit up and they all shouted happily: "Wow, there are buns here, let's eat the buns."
Mrs. Chen brought the porridge basin to the table from behind, filled a bowl for everyone and sat down. Li Yunlan stood up and divided the buns. She gave them two each, then sat down and started eating.
"Mom, you eat." Qiu Degui saw that I didn't get a share, so he gave his to me.
Qiu Defu also gave the buns to Li Yunlan and said, "Mom, you eat."
Li Yunlan took the buns back to them: "Mom is old and can't digest it after eating too much at night. You guys should eat it yourself."
"Not hungry? Hurry up and eat."
Seeing that my mother was angry, they all started to eat. The children ate with gusto. Qiu Degui felt that they had eaten meat in the city, so he gave one bun to Chengcai and another to Mingyue.
"Daddy, eat it. Two Mingyues are enough." After saying that, he immersed himself in eating.
Qiu Degui smiled and touched Mingyue's head. Mrs. Liu asked him to eat by himself. She gave two of her own to her husband and son. Qiu Degui took them back to her. The couple looked at each other, lowered their heads and ate with a smile. .
In the second room, Qiu Defu also gave one to Baoyu, and Chen took it back to his bowl angrily.
Baoyu was so scared that he shrank his neck and did not dare to eat the buns.
Li Yunlan saw all this and called Baoyu: "Baoyu, come to grandma's side to eat, don't squeeze your parents."
"Mom, it's not crowded." Qiu Defu replied.
"If it's not crowded, eat quickly. Success is still in the house."
After Li Yunlan finished speaking, Mrs. Chen choked her throat, sniffed, and ate quickly.
