Civilian Edition Traveling Farming Diary

It started to snow early in the morning, but that didn't stop me from grinding the rice milk!

The rice has been soaked very soft, and the grains are crystal clear and plump, white and fat. It was half a pot at the beginning, but now it has swelled to half a pot.

There is only one mill in the village, and there are two millstones, one large and one small, and anyone who needs them can grind them by themselves.

Half a basin of rice is rare, so I can use a small millstone to grind it. People in the village cherish the stone mill very much, and it is always kept clean and well maintained.

I don't know how to grind rice milk, but Chen Xiang can, so I took Chen Xiang with me. Chen Xiang was a little panicked. This was his first time walking in the village, and it's normal to be a little timid.

I met a few villagers along the road, and I was a little surprised when I saw Chen Xiang, but they didn’t say anything, ah, I didn’t say anything in front of my face, but it’s not necessarily behind my back. Speak.

I will not ask Chen Xiang to work hard, he just needs to be a technical guide. I put the rice into the small hole of the stone mill bit by bit according to his instructions, and then push the stone mill, and soon the rice milk will flow into the concave hole. In the trough, it flows into the keg we prepared in advance.

The small stone mill is not heavy, and it grinds quickly after I get started. Chen Xiang asked me to grind it twice, so that the rice milk produced by grinding is more delicate, and the steamed rice cake tastes better.

I grind it three times, hahaha.

The thick white rice milk is very delicate, and even a spoonful of rice dregs can’t be seen. Chen Xiang also said that this kind of rice milk is very good, and can make particularly good rice cakes. Well, what he said to me Quite proud.

We didn't waste a single drop of rice milk, so we collected all of it, and then used the clean water we prepared in advance to scrub the stone mill, and wiped all the grooves, so that the next person can use it directly.

After returning home, Chen Xiang added sugar to the rice milk, and took the primer left over from making steamed buns last time, which has the same effect as yeast, ground it into powder and stirred it in, and then put it on the kang to ferment. It's been fermenting for more than half an hour, well, I have to wait.

Chen Xiang started to sew clothes for himself. I especially love watching him work. I stared at him for a while with great interest, and found that the clothes he made were different from those worn by the villagers. To be honest, the clothes of the villagers were really very different. It's simple, just cut it and tie it together to tie the straps tightly. But the clothes made by Chen Xiang have tailoring. I don't know much about it. I feel that it looks a little more refined than the rough clothes of the villagers.

I suddenly felt that Chen Xiang didn't look like a little brother from the village. When I thought about it, I only knew that he was sold by his own father, so I naturally felt that his father was a rough village man, but in fact Chen Xiang never said his family what's going on.

I want to ask, but I don't know what capacity I should ask in. If the person is only living in my house for a short period of time, why should I go to the bottom of the question and bring up his sad things?

I choose not to ask, no matter what his background is, he is a gentle and good-looking little brother, and I like him.

After the rice milk was fermented, Chen Xiang poured the rice milk into a deep basin covered with coarse cloth, even scraping off the rice milk from the wall of the cylinder, without any waste.

Then put the rice milk in the pot to steam, and I just waited while the fire was burning.

When Chen Xiang agreed, I almost jumped up, I could already smell the smell, I was so hungry!

Chen Xiang quickly grabbed me and shouted that it was very hot.

The steam that just opened the lid of the pot is really super hot, and blisters will form immediately after being burned, Chen Xiang pulled my hand in a moment of urgency...

His hands are so soft, a little cold.

It could also be that my hands are too hot.

He pulled my hand and hurriedly separated, lowered his head and whispered, "Why are you in such a hurry, what should you do if you get burned?"

His face was glowing beautifully in the steam. I don't know if it was hot or shy. I wanted to sing Little Apple for no reason.

I also want to touch his little hand again.

I squeezed my hands and waited for the steam to dissipate before taking out the rice cake with a coarse cloth.

The white and crystal-clear rice cake has a smooth and flat surface. It's really appetizing. It's so fragrant. Fuck it.

Chen Xiang asked me to put the rice cakes on the shelf to cool. Taking advantage of this time, he fried a scrambled egg with green onions and had rice cakes for lunch. I strongly demanded two more salted eggs. Chen Xiang went to pick them up with a smile. Cut open in a small bowl.

The rice cake was warm, Chen Xiang turned the basin upside down, knocked on the bottom of the basin, and the whole rice cake came out of the mold. He took off the coarse cloth and cut the rice cake into triangles with a knife, just like cutting a cake.

Such a lunch is complete. I can’t wait to pinch a piece of rice cake and take a bite. It’s really sweet and soft, with a little sourness from fermented rice. It’s super delicious, and it’s really soft and melts in your mouth. I swallowed a piece in a few mouthfuls, as if I had eaten a cloud. I didn't feel full at all, but I was even more hungry.

Chen Xiang looked at me and smiled while eating. I think this kind of life is really wonderful. I light the fire and he cooks. After cooking, we taste it together. How wonderful it is.

So I half-jokingly said: "It's so delicious, Ah Xiang, if you can be my husband, then I can eat such delicious cakes every day."

Chen Xiang paused for a moment with his chopsticks, blushed, and muttered softly, "Don't talk nonsense."

I smiled and said, "That's right, you're leaving in Kaichun, it's a pity, I don't know if I can find a good-looking, capable and gentle husband like you."

Chen Xiang's ears were red, and he bit the tip of his chopsticks and said, "It would be great if you could find a wife."

I said, "No, I just like the little brother."

Chen Xiang ate food silently with eyes lowered, and stopped talking. I suddenly felt that the cake in my mouth was neither fragrant nor sweet.

All that remains is the acid from the fermented rice.

I feel that I will regret some things if I don’t say them, and I won’t find a chance to say them in the future.

I put down my chopsticks and asked him seriously: "Ah Xiang, let me tell you seriously, have you considered staying with me?"

Chen Xiang bit her lip, lowered her head, and asked for a long time: "What kind of time will you spend together?"

I mustered up the courage: "Marry me, be my husband, and live with me for the rest of my life."

Chen Xiang twisted his fingers, his eyes were flustered, as if he was conflicting and struggling.

I said, "Ah Xiang, I'm only asking you this time. If you don't want to, I really won't ask in the future, and I don't want to think about it."

He groaned, and his fingers twisted even more. I waited patiently until the rice cakes became cold, before he said incoherently, "I've thought about it."

I felt that a fire was rising in my heart, one was excited and the other was burning, but I knew there must be a "but" behind it, so I suppressed the small flame a little, so as not to burn too much, and I couldn't accept it when I heard the "but" later Push over.

Sure enough, his eyes misted, and he whispered, "But I can't."

"Why?" I asked.

He took a deep breath, covered his face, and said sullenly: "Brother Zhang Cheng, you are a good person, I can't hurt you."

QAQ I received a good person card.

Then he continued: "I didn't tell you before, I'm not a farmer's brother, my father is Chen Shili from the county seat, he has a bad temper, if he knows that I'm here with you, he will definitely come to trouble you."

It turned out to be the young master of Yuanwai's family?

that……

Chen Xiang seemed to have opened his heart, and sat there and told me his story completely.

His mother, that is, his mother, was originally a girl from a brothel in the county. His father, Yuanwai Chen, was very flamboyant. He kissed his mother for a long time, and then his mother became pregnant.

His father didn't like having children with brothel women, but his father had been married to a third wife and concubine for six or seven years and had no children, so he was a little concerned about this child, what if it was a son.

So his father redeemed his mother back. The main house in the house was very aggressive and could not tolerate Chen Xiang's mother, so his father placed his mother in a small courtyard on the outskirts of the city. He often came to see her at first, but when his mother After giving birth to Chen Xiang, his father didn't come often.

Because Chen Xiang is a little brother, his status here is not as good as that of a girl.

His father never gave the mother and son any living allowances, but he didn't drive them away either. After all, Chen Xiang was his father's only flesh and blood.

During this period, Chen Xiang and his mother lived by planting some land, making small things like pickled vegetables and salted eggs, and doing chores such as sewing clothes for rich families.

When Chen Xiang was 14 years old, his mother died, and he lived alone in a small courtyard, struggling to survive.

The turning point of fate happened when Chen Xiang was 16 years old. His father took the first concubine home and the concubine became pregnant.

And a boy was born the following year.

The Chen family was so happy that they immediately abandoned Chen Xiang, the illegitimate brother of the brothel girl. The child was about to be kicked out of the courtyard two days after the child was born. Chen Xiang went to his father to beg, he was a helpless little boy How can my brother live without a place to live?

His father thought it was unlucky for him to come to the door, and he said angrily that since he wanted a place to stay, he would go back and forth from wherever he came from, and someone sold him to a brothel in the town—because the county town was close to his home, he was afraid that everyone would be exhausted. Everyone knows it's embarrassing.

Then it was Chen Xiang who refused to obey and jumped out of the car.

What a bloody bitch.

Only then did I realize that there was so much bitterness hidden behind Chen Xiang, and that the life of a little brother with no social status in ancient times was so sad.

But he has always smiled so softly and been so obedient, and I have never heard him complain.

After he finished speaking, he sat there and shed tears silently, suppressing himself and not even crying, probably because he was afraid that the neighbors would hear it and cause me trouble.

Just like he didn't want me, a country storyteller, to meet his uncle's father.

I walked up to him, took his little hand, wrapped it tightly with both hands, and said to him: "I'm not afraid at all, as long as you want, I dare to keep you, and I will stand by you no matter what happens in the future." in front of you."

He looked at me with tears streaming down his face, and I smiled and told him: "At worst, your father will beat me to death, so you can stay with me."

He chuckled, wiped his tears with his other hand and said, "I won't let him hit you, can't we run together?"

When he said that, I felt a lot more relaxed, I hugged him boldly, and said, "Ah Xiang, stay here."

He nestled in my arms and trembled slightly, but he didn't struggle. In the end, he asked if he could give him a few days to give me the answer slowly.

I said yes.

The day passed like this, without any further episodes, Chen Xiang's eyes were swollen, like two small peaches, I soaked a cloth towel in snow water and gave him a cold compress, and he felt better.

It's just that when he looked at me again, he became more shy when talking to me.

Happiness, touching little hands, hugging people, and gaining a little heart.

I hope he won't give me a slap in the face answer when he recovers.