Bianshanhan [farming]

Those who were disappointed at first saw the two pots of juice, and immediately felt that something was going on, and they didn't even bother to have a bite for dinner, and stayed in the yard of Li's house, waiting to see how to make sugar.

The fire started to burn in the stove, and slowly the juice began to emit heat, and the unremoved sorghum dregs floated up, and Mrs. Chen quickly skimmed off the dregs.

There are three pots of sorghum juice in total, the pot with the most sorghum is boiled like malt sugar, and the remaining two pots need to be purified.

The lime bought from the county was mixed with water to make it milky. Li Qingwen couldn't remember exactly how much to use. He had a vague impression that it was about a ratio of two hundred to one. According to what they had discussed before, add half first and try. If there is less, continue to add, but if there is too much, it will not come out.

When Li Maoxian sprinkled lime water into the pot, many people saw it and asked what it was, and they couldn't help frowning after getting a response.

Someone couldn't help asking: "Uncle, isn't this thing used to kill insects? If you accidentally get it in your eyes, you will be blinded. Can you still eat it with sorghum juice?"

In the past, Liushan County was plagued by insects, and the government yamen distributed this kind of lime and sprinkled it to kill insects.

"It's not a problem. I bought this lime at the pharmacy, and it can be used as medicine in a small amount. Don't look at putting a bowl in it, it's actually water, and there's only a handful of lime." Li Maoxian said.

An elderly man next to him nodded his head and said, "The brine is poisonous, and it will be fine to eat tofu after cooking for many years. This is probably the reason for adding this lime."

"It would be great if it could be made like tofu. My uncle said that this sorghum juice can't be boiled into lumps, it's just like syrup..."

These people were exhausted after working in the field all day. When they heard the noise, they ran to Li's house. A group of people were standing or sitting in the yard, talking about harvesting crops, and looking at the steaming house.

The people outside were gossiping, the pot with lime was boiled and then ceased to fire, and after standing still for a while, a thick and dense layer of floating blocks formed on the top of the pot, and when the floating blocks were taken out with a spoon, you could see that there were sticks attached to the pot. The odds and ends.

Remove all the floating blocks in the pot, and it can be clearly seen that the sorghum juice in this pot is clearer than the pot without lime water.

Then put lime water into the pot, repeat the heating and let it stand.

After tossing until midnight, the three pots of sorghum juice were almost boiled, Chen and Jiang scooped them into basins and brought them to the yard.

The room is small, not enough for so many people to stand, and there is a big moon hanging outside, which is much brighter than the adobe house.

Put a pair of chopsticks in each basin, not only for viewing, but also for dipping a little with the chopsticks to taste.

The difference between these three pots is actually quite obvious. The largest pot has no lime added, and the color is the lightest, reflecting the luster of water under the moonlight.The sugar juice with half of the lime water added is more viscous and slightly darker in color. The last pot is filled with a normal amount of lime water, and the sugar juice is yellowish brown, translucent and fragrant, and the smell is stronger than the other two pots.

In fact, it also tastes the sweetest in the third pot of sugar. The sweetness of sorghum syrup is not as pure as that of white sugar, but it is sweeter than maltose. When you dip your fingers in your mouth, the sweetness is very obvious.

"This, this is really done!"

At this time, everyone in the village should have gone to sleep, but at this moment, the courtyard of the Li family was boiling.

"In the morning, I looked at the ones that were not as good as cat urine, and thought it was a waste of time. Hey, I really did it, nephew Maoxian, you are really good!"

"It's terrible, it's terrible, three pots can be produced from half an acre of land, if all the sweet stalk sorghum is planted, it will have to cook hundreds of catties... If so much sugar is produced every year, we will never have to worry about being hungry again. Stomach"

Because of the excitement, the voices of the big guys were not low. The commotion of so many people woke up all the dogs in the village, barking non-stop.

Li Benshan and Guo Daquan blushed even more excitedly, they patted Li Maoxian on the shoulder vigorously, and kept saying hello.

This is not a good thing for one family, but a good thing for the whole village!

Even if the sorghum syrup can’t be made into shape, it is still sugar after all. Sugar is expensive, even if it sells half of white sugar, you can get a lot of money.

Standing under the eaves, Li Qingwen looked at the joy on those simple faces, and his mood became lightened by the infection.

Like these people, he just wants to live a good life, and he is full of energy when he sees a little bit of hope.

It got colder after late at night, and the people in the yard were not affected at all. They were talking in full swing, and Li Qingwen was driven to sleep by his mother.

After working for two consecutive days, Li Qingwen's whole body was sore, and he fell asleep without even turning over when he lay down.

When he woke up again, the other two pots of sugar syrup were prepared by his parents last night with lime water respectively, and they did not become thicker after a night of storage, because some ingredients in them prevented crystallization, this problem Li Qingwen couldn't solve .

Half an acre of land got more than 100 catties of syrup, and Li Qingwen didn't know whether it was more or less.

Li Maoxian didn't eat breakfast at home, and was called by the patriarch, probably to discuss the syrup.

Li Qingwen followed his brother to the backyard to turn over the tassels that were drying, and when he came back, he saw his mother brought back the pots.

"What's the matter, mother, didn't you say you want to send it back to Grandpa Six?" Li Qinghong asked as he put the fork aside.

"Your Sixth Grandpa doesn't want it." Chen shi came back in a feather, and couldn't help but say a few more words.

"The old man used your second grandfather as a shield, saying that the village has discussed it. As long as it grows sweet sorghum to make sugar in the future, it will give our family an acre of straw sugar. He said that our family is still half an acre away." As for the land, next year..."

Li Qingfeng was very protective of the food, and said after hearing the words: "Then keep it, mother, if you feel sorry, just make some hawthorn rolls and send them to Grandpa Six, I don't believe he won't accept it."

This is the Sixth Grandpa who always pampers children. If it were anyone else, he would not say such a thing.

The candy was sold twice, and the autumn harvest and the production of sorghum candy, it can be said that there were many happy events. Finally, Mrs. Chen was willing to make a good meal. Not only did she take out the rice that others sent yesterday, but she also prepared to kill a chicken.

While Li Qingfeng was happy, he did not forget to remind: "Mother, put more rice, or it won't be enough."

"After the rice is cooked today, remember to eat it first, and we will serve it when you are full!" Chen said with a smile, and put half a bowl more when washing the rice.

With such an improvement in the family life, even if she had a good meal once in a while, she wouldn't search for it.

Li Zhengliang volunteered to catch the chicken, and went straight for the biggest rooster, but was chased by the rooster and ran all over the yard, and even broke his knee, so he didn't want to give up the meat to his mouth, and shouted three times Uncle Si Shu came to help.

Li Qingfeng has been staring at this rooster for a long time. He has eaten too much and can't lay eggs. No matter how he looks at it, he should put it in a pot to stew. His mother protected him before. There is no other way. Today is the day of his death!

With the concerted efforts of the two uncles and nephews, the rooster finally lay down in the basin. After being scalded by boiling water, the bright feathers were plucked out.

Looking at the chicken nuggets on the chopping board, Li Qingwen swallowed involuntarily. He had never eaten meat since he came here, and he was really hungry.

Mrs. Chen rolled up her sleeves to prepare the chicken stew, but Li Qingwen couldn't help but say, "Mother, is this chicken all stewed?"

Mrs. Chen misunderstood, "These are not enough to eat."

After finally killing a chicken, it would be a waste to stew it with only salt and soy sauce. In order to eat delicious meat, Li Qingwen persuaded his mother to keep a bowl of chicken nuggets.

"Boy, you can cook?!" Mrs. Chen was really surprised, and then thought that the youngest son made so many delicious dishes before, compared to stewing meat, it's not that difficult.

Li Qingwen nodded, "Mother, don't worry, I will never spoil anything."

He used to be spoiled by his grandma, but he would do all the housework by himself, especially cooking, which was taught by his grandma. Grandma said that a man who can cook is more likely to find a wife.

I have been studying all the time, and I have never even talked about love. Finding a wife is even more out of reach.The reason why he learned it was because he saw the worry in grandma's eyes. He understood that grandma was just worried that after she left, he wouldn't even be able to eat a bite of hot food.

Bowing his head and splashing the blood foam with cold water, what Li Qingwen thought was whether grandma would be more at ease if she knew her current situation.

The rice had already boiled and bloomed, so Jiang got up and scooped up all the soup and rice, and poured it on the curved curtain. The swelled crystal rice grains remained on it, and the rice soup flowed along the gap in the curtain to the next basin below.

When the pot was clean, Mrs. Chen put the chicken pieces into it, added water and salt and started to simmer, drained the lid of the rice soup and put it back into the pot, so that the stewed chicken underneath could also steam the rice on top.

Before the rice was cooked, Li Qingfeng took the bowl to the pot to scoop the rice soup. The rice soup was pure white and somewhat sticky, soaked in the aroma of rice, and looked very attractive.

In fact, it was very delicious. Li Qingwen drank it all in one gulp while holding the bowl, and his stomach bulged instantly.

There is a pot full of rice soup, one bowl for each person, and there is only the bottom left.

The last ones were placed in a bowl, ready to be left to Li Maoxian.

It's really delicious. Li Qingwen relished the taste of rice soup. In the past, he cooked it directly in a rice cooker, and there was no rice soup at all.

After drinking, Li Qingwen started to get down to business - put oil in another pot, heat it up and put a spoonful of sorghum molasses into it, soon you will see a beautiful caramel color, pour the chicken nuggets into it and fry.

Stir fry almost put some soy sauce, then add water and start to simmer.

It was the first time I saw sugar in stir-fried vegetables. Li Qingwen moved too fast. Before Jiang Shi could ask, the chicken was already stewed.

When the braised chicken nuggets were served on the table, the bright color and salty-sweet taste immediately caught everyone's eyes. Jiang didn't care about adding sugar, but asked how it was made.

Chicken soup and rice, the more delicious it is, Li Qingwen also added half a bowl, as Li Qingfeng said, the whole meal was eaten up.

Finally, I ate a full meal, and it was still white rice. The whole family was very satisfied, and the fragrance of rice was full of belching.

After eating and drinking enough to turn the scene, facing the envious eyes of a bunch of children, Li Qingwen felt in his heart that people could smell everything he ate, and there was really no privacy at all.

Of course, this is all about poverty. If every household has enough food and clothing, no one will stare at the scent wafting from other people's homes and ponder for a long time.