Two generations of military wives compete for time

Chapter 251: Ancestor worship, mountain climbing, and digging Chinese medicinal herbs.

"Sister Xiuzhi, for noon today, we will have pancakes wrapped with green onions, corn cakes, pickled radish, Chinese cabbage stewed with tofu, stir-fried celery with meat, and plenty of mung bean soup, hehe." Qian Yizheng said as he got up and went out to buy tofu and pork at the village store.

Qian Yizheng walked alone on the small path of his childhood village. The houses were still the same mud houses, and the roads were still the same winding dirt roads. Twenty years had passed, and nothing had changed.

"Hey, hey, isn't this the eldest girl from the Qian family? You're back? I heard that you were admitted to university, went out to study, and made a fortune. The clothes you wear are not that good. They are not as good as those girls in our village who work in the textile factory." said Aunt Zhang.

Qian Yizhen smiled and said, "Aunt Zhang, how can I make a fortune? I just make a little money to support my family. I hope you are in good health."

"I'm in good health. This is a new Dacron flowered jacket my granddaughter just bought for me. She works in a textile factory and earns a lot of money, even more than a strong male laborer. Hahahaha." Aunt Zhang boasted.

"Auntie Zhang, is there anyone selling tofu and pork in the village?" Qian Yizheng asked.

"Yes, I'm just going to buy some tofu. I'll take you there." Aunt Zhang said as she walked in front of Qian Yizheng and pointed to the right.

"The eldest daughter of the Qian family is almost 40 years old. I remember you are about the same age as the second daughter of my family. She will be able to hold her grandson this year." said Aunt Zhang.

"Really? She became a grandmother at the age of 40. That's amazing. I can't compare with your second daughter in terms of being such a young grandmother, hehe." Qian Yizheng said modestly.

"Daughter of the Qian family, what happened to your eldest brother Qian Zuhui? He got involved with that widow Zhao Xiuzhi. People in the village say that how could your brother, with such good conditions, get involved with her?" Aunt Zhang said while shaking her head.

"How can you say that? My brother is lazy and has a lot of diseases. It's good enough for him to be liked by women, hehe." Qian Yizheng said.

"You just can't see through this. Qian Zuhui lives in a big tiled house. Just for this reason, many women want to marry him. Every year, someone sends coal to his house so he doesn't freeze in the winter.

Although he is sick and his eldest son is in jail, you have money to buy medicine for him and give him pocket money from time to time. Qian Zuhui lives a comfortable life. It's all thanks to you, my rich sister. Why don't I have this blessing, hehe." said Aunt Zhang.

Qian Yizhen carried the tofu and pork back to Qian Zuhui's house. Qian's father took the tofu and pork and said, "Daniel, I'll cook the dishes. You go prepare the dishes and the dining area."

Qian Yizhen handed the tofu and pork to Qian's father, turned around and looked at the yard. She chose a shady spot at the foot of the south wall and said to Sanjun, "You three, go find Uncle Sun and get the picnic tablecloth and bowls and chopsticks. Spread them out in this shady place. We'll have lunch here later."

Gao Weizhe said: "Fortunately we cleaned the yard, otherwise, we wouldn't be able to have lunch in such a smelly and dirty place."

Everyone sat on the picnic mat and ate the farm meal. Dad Qian said, "Junhua children, your mothers and aunts grew up eating steamed bread, pickles, and sweet potatoes, and sometimes they were not full.

They could only eat a little bit of tofu and pork during the Chinese New Year. The family was poor and had no money to send the girls to school. Yizhen and Yiyun wanted to go to junior high school and high school.

After school, I went to the mountains to dig wild vegetables and Chinese medicinal herbs, and sold them to save money for tuition. It was hard for my two daughters. Yizhen, Yiyun, Daddy favors boys over girls, and I’m sorry for you. "After Qian's father finished speaking, he glared at Qian Zuhui fiercely.

Gao Weizhe said: "Just eat this, pancakes, corn cakes, hard, too bad to eat. There is no oil or water at all, how can I bear it."

Qian Baogui said: "Gao Weizhe, you should be content. When I was a child, my mother was sick. I would cook for myself every day after school. I would eat corn cakes, pickled radish, and boiled sweet potatoes. As long as I could eat a hot meal, I was satisfied.

The Chinese cabbage stewed with tofu and pork fried with celery in front of you were not always available for me to eat during the Chinese New Year when I was a child, because my father never cooked and my mother couldn’t cook after she became paralyzed. When I was seven or eight years old, I started cooking for a family of four. I was burned by fire and scalded by boiling water, etc. ”

Listening to Qian Baogui's story, Qian Zuhui ate the meaty food as if nothing had happened. Qian Yizhen patted Qian Baogui on the back and said, "Now that you've said it, you'll feel better. After all the hardships, there is happiness. Everything is the best arrangement."

Qian Yiyun said: "Qian Baogui, everything is over. Your two aunts also went through hard times. Study hard in college, be a good person, and be a useful person to society."

Jun Ge said, "Mom, it's good to eat farm food occasionally. I'm full. Let's go hiking and dig Chinese medicinal herbs. I promised my great grandfather that I would bring the Chinese medicinal herbs back to the Chen Mansion to use when treating people."

"Junge, don't worry. After everyone finishes lunch and packs up, we will go climb the mountain and dig Chinese medicinal herbs." Qian Yizhen said.

"Dad, is there any particular time for visiting the graves and worshipping our ancestors? What time do you think we should go to worship our ancestors?" Qian Yizheng continued.

"To pay homage to ancestors, you can usually do so during the time period between sunrise and sunset. In other words, it's better to visit the graves during the day when there's sunlight," Qian's father explained.

"Why are you going to visit the grave all of a sudden? Whose grave is it?" Qian Zuhui interrupted.

"Qian Baogui, you have been admitted to Tsinghua University. Come back to worship your ancestors and tell them that our Qian family has another college student. You don't have this ability." Qian Yiyun said.

Dad Qian sorted out the offerings for the ancestors. Qian Baogui and Qian Yiyun carried the baskets containing the offerings. Dad Qian, Qian Yizhen, Wang Min, Qian Zuhui and a group of six went to the Qian family's ancestral tomb at the foot of the hillside on the east side of the village to offer sacrifices to their ancestors.

"My daughter went to her parents' grave and there was no one there. Dad, do you believe it?" Qian Yizheng asked weakly.

"Yizhen, I've suffered from the practice of favoring sons over daughters, so I don't believe it. The customs of the older generation are becoming less and less effective," said Qian's father.

Qian Zuhui limped and said, "Dad is blaming me, Zuhua and Goudan for not living up to expectations. Anyway, I am like this, so blame me if you want."

Li Peishui held Maomao in his arms, Xiaosun on his back, and Ganggang on his back, and led Junhua, Gao Weizhe, Yongjun, Aijun, Qiangjun, Junyan, Junge, and Xiangxiang, and began to climb the mountain along the hillside on the east side of the village.

As they climbed the mountain, they searched for Chinese medicinal herbs. Junhua found a small, red jujube hanging on a thorny jujube tree. Li Peishui reminded them, "Be careful when picking it, don't get pricked by the thorns."

Jun Ge and Xiang Xiang saw a jujube tree with many jujubes growing on it, and they shouted anxiously, "It's too high, we can't reach it, come and help us."

The higher we climbed on the mountain, the more Chinese medicinal herbs we found. The children would make new discoveries from time to time: Vitex rotundifolia, Adenophora australis, Plantago, Acanthus columnaria, Cat's whiskers, Aralia oleifera, Buddaria officinalis, etc.

By the time Qian Yizhen, Qian Yiyun and Wang Min finished visiting the graves and caught up with them, the collected Chinese medicinal herbs had already filled two large sacks.