Chapter 19 nineteen

After that, she still asked me to go to her house every day when she finished work.If she doesn't go, she will come to our "home" and call.I was afraid that she would come to "home" to look for me every day, which would arouse the suspicion of the "director of the sales department", so I went there every day as scheduled.I went, as usual, I ate a meal first in coyness, and I was very full.She has miscellaneous grains: flour, rice, yellow rice, corn, sorghum, soybeans, peas...all the grains produced in the Loess Plateau, the house is like a field mouse barn.She often uses rice, yellow rice, and soybeans to stew dry rice.This kind of mixed rice is very fragrant, and even people who have a full meal will find it more delicious than pure rice.At this time, "coarse grains and careful cooking" were vigorously advocated in newspapers and radio broadcasts.In the reform-through-labor farm, I heard the "advanced deeds" of a cook who used one catty of rice to make seven catties of dry rice. The loudspeaker also said that he attended the "ancestor meeting" for this, which made me salivate.She never cooks this kind of "dried rice", which is actually called "supersaturated solution" in physics, but real dried rice, one grain at a time, round and translucent.Of course, I also ate her stewed barnyard rice.Braised barnyard rice and dry rice showed that she was more skilled than the cooks who attended the "Predecessors Meeting".

Weeds have not been used as food since ancient times, and weeds are not included in the "five grains".In 1958, when the rice tillers were tillering, a movement of "all-people smelting iron and steel" was launched, and farmers and agricultural workers all went to the mountains to open mines and build furnaces.The fire was raging on the mountain, and the rice fields seemed to be burned, and there was not a drop of water.In autumn, the rice grains are not harvested, but the weeds are as lush as a virgin forest.The stalks are so densely packed that even grasshoppers can't fly in, and the ears are so big.Agricultural leaders in the region had an idea: just eat the weeds!And allow tares to be public food.It should be fair to say that his move was an emergency.As a result, weeds stepped into the ranks of food supply in a grand manner, and even came from behind to take the top spot.The most common way to eat it is to grind the weeds together with their husks. This is the weed weed noodles that we eat every day.It is not sticky, and the steamed momo is nothing but particles held together by gravity.To be more particular, the skin is removed like rice, and processed into millet-sized barnyards.It is true that barnyard rice can only be eaten as porridge, as those women smashing manure said, but she stewed this little-known grain into grains of dry rice in an unprecedented way!

My shyness is not pretending, I really feel sorry for her and feel ashamed of myself for eating and drinking for free.However, I really want to go.In her house, there is always a kind of hazy happiness, joy, comfort and freedom that attract me.I told her several times that I don't eat food, just boil a bowl of potatoes and cabbage for me.But she said: "Why not! You put your heart in your stomach, I have food, or people say I open an 'American restaurant'? Didn't you see that Ershe is very strong?" Yes, Ersher is indeed very strong, energetic, innocent and lovely.She is not like a malnourished or starving child who gets greedy when she sees other people eating.When I was eating, if she didn't sleep, she would play obediently on the kang by herself, using the small earthen stove and earthen bowl that Hai Xixi made for her to "play house".A child over two years old will not put on airs, let alone be polite. She is not interested in other people's food, which is the proof that she is full.I had no choice but to "put my heart in my stomach".

After a long time, I also learned from the farmer what it means to say that lantana blooms in the "American Hotel".This concept is very imprecise and cannot be interpreted literally.It is necessary to be familiar with the level of understanding of the world by the farmers and workers here, so that they can gain insight into its subtle content through the words. "American restaurant" does not mean that anyone can eat at her place, but that any man can drop by and chat to relieve boredom. To be more precise, it should be called a "teahouse".The reason why it is associated with the word "rice" is to imply that lantana flowers can obtain food beyond the ration by providing this kind of convenience to people.The trick is to put the word "America" ​​before "restaurant".In the view of farmers and workers, the United States is an absurd, filthy place full of ambiguous feelings between men and women, but it is also a rich country where there is no need to worry about food and clothing.There is absolutely no malice in adding this country to Lantana, at best it is just a mockery.Captain Xie's attitude towards her was very typical.Once, when our cart returned to the front of the horse to put on fat, we ran into Lan Yinghua and Captain Xie who were scolding each other.

"You said that I run the 'American Hotel', so come too!" Lana Hua stood on the compost pile, leaning on a shovel and smiling innocently. "Ball!" Captain Xie scolded while turning fat, "You treat me as if I care about your nada..." "Hee hee!" Lana pointed at him, "I'm afraid you're so greedy that your saliva drools, and your beard is covered with hair." You're getting wet!" At this moment, Captain Xie scolded so much that he spattered, and his beard was stained with saliva.The male and female agricultural workers around looked at Captain Xie and burst out laughing.

Lanta got the upper hand, and Captain Xie took a big slap in the face.But I know that Captain Xie has never been to her house, and, as long as Lana is working with a group of women, Captain Xie will always send a strong male labor to help them; Captain Xie has never been serious about her. I have been criticized all over the place, let alone "revenge". A single woman with no husband and a child whose father is unknown, and now there are men coming and going in the house, is the most likely to attract criticism in the countryside.But the farmers seem to think that only lantana can do this.I gradually understood that she was able to win the favor of the farmers and workers, not by virtue of her beauty or the methods she adopted; only those who have kindness and sympathy for everyone can naturally win the kindness of everyone for her and sympathy.Sincerity and kindness can sometimes make things that violate customs extremely attractive and glorious.

From the words of the farmers and workers, I also know that in recent months, it seems that Hai Xixi has "monopolized the oiran", and few others go there. "American Hotel" became a historical concept, a Babylonian.But I firmly believe in my intuition, Hai Xixi does not possess her, let alone "independence".He also had a rival in love--the crippled custodian, if one could call it that.Once, when I went to her house, the crippled custodian sat on the adobe stool I used to sit on with his legs crossed, and she rolled the noodles in front of the kang with her back to him.Seeing me coming in, the crippled custodian seemed a little bored and left. Before leaving, he picked up an empty noodle bag on the platform and put it in his arms. It seemed that he had brought something with him.Another time, when I was chatting with her after eating, there was the sound of light and heavy footsteps outside, and Lana Hua hurriedly jumped off the kang, grabbed the door handle and pushed the door against it.The cripple called the door outside, but she yelled: "Sleep, everyone is asleep!" I was very embarrassed, I held my breath, and my heartbeat kept beating.After a while, the sound of the custodian's light and heavy footsteps disappeared, and she smiled at me mischievously, and asked me to continue telling the story without mentioning what the lame man was doing here.

I have been in contact with her for a long time, and I feel more and more that she is not the kind of woman who has an affair with everyone in the impression of farmers and workers; Somewhere I don't know.