Chapter 51

Ruan Shuangjiang went to the kitchen to work, Ruan Xiaoxue also went to help, Ruan Qiqi went to the fire pit to warm herself up, and baked some glutinous rice cakes.

She took out five glutinous rice cakes from the jar, put them on the fire with tongs, and arranged them in order, turning them over from time to time. After baking for a while, a big bubble bulged on the surface of the glutinous rice cake, like blowing bubble gum, getting bigger and bigger.

With a “pop”.

The bubble gun exploded, and snow-white glutinous rice like paste flowed out, and the air was filled with a rich rice aroma.

Baked glutinous rice cakes are super delicious

. There are many ways to eat glutinous rice cakes, fried, deep-fried, baked, boiled, and steamed, but Ruan Qiqi likes to eat baked ones the most, especially those baked golden on both sides, which make a crackling sound when bitten, but are soft, sticky, sweet, and delicious in the middle.

“Niannian, Panpan, eat glutinous rice cakes!”

Ruan Qiqi waved at the two children and quickly took two baked glutinous rice cakes from the fire tongs. However, they were too hot and she did not hold them firmly. The glutinous rice cakes fell to the ground, and her fingertips were almost burned.

She put her hands on her earlobes to cool them down. She had used this method since she was a child and it worked.

“Auntie, eat it.”

Ruan Nian picked up the glutinous rice cake from the ground, puffed up her cheeks to blow off the dust on the surface, and handed it to Ruan Qiqi with both hands.

“Give it to your mother and auntie, there are more!”

Ruan Qiqi continued to turn over the remaining three glutinous rice cakes. There were not many glutinous rice cakes in the jar, so she turned back and asked a few strong laborers to beat more.

Although Ruan Nian was only four years old, she was very steady. She carried two glutinous rice cakes and trotted to the kitchen, then ran back and squatted by the fire pit to watch Ruan Qiqi turn them over.

Two-year-old Ruan Pan also squatted, staring at the glutinous rice cake with his big eyes, swallowing his saliva.

“Eat it.”

The three glutinous rice cakes were all baked. Ruan Qiqi first gave them to the children and ate them herself.

The baked glutinous rice cakes were burnt, fragrant and soft. Except for the fact that they would cause internal heat and indigestion, there were no other problems.

After eating a baked glutinous rice cake, Ruan Qiqi was still not satisfied and wanted to bake a few more to eat, but she also wanted to save her stomach for snowflake meatballs and steamed chicken with rice cakes. These two dishes were famous dishes in her original hometown. She had eaten them in her previous life and they tasted really good.

The meat and chicken now are more authentic, and the dishes made will taste better. Ruan Qiqi swallowed her saliva and ran to the kitchen to see.

Ruan Xiaoxue was chopping the meat filling. The snowflake meatballs are actually meatballs wrapped in a layer of glutinous rice. After steaming, the glutinous rice is crystal clear, and the meatballs are fresh and delicious. They are not only beautiful but also delicious. This dish will be served at banquets.

Snowflake Meatballs

Ruan Shuangjiang is making millet cakes. There is millet from last year at home. She just ground it into powder. The millet powder tastes very coarse. There is a local saying that goes like this: You don’t know the flat land until you have walked through the mountains, and you don’t know the coarseness until you have eaten millet cakes. It means that millet tastes particularly coarse.

So the locals will mix glutinous rice flour into it to neutralize the coarseness of millet powder and make millet cakes to eat.

Millet, I don’t know what its scientific name is

“Are you hungry?”

Ruan Shuangjiang turned around and asked with a smile.

“Fortunately, I just ate a glutinous rice cake.”

Ruan Qiqi touched her stomach. She was not hungry, but her teeth were a little itchy and she wanted to chew something.

“Second sister, there are sweet potato scrapers in the cabinet in my room.”

Ruan Xiaoxue said with a smile.

Ruan Qiqi’s eyes lit up and she ran to look through the cabinet. She soon found a bag of scrapers, about one pound, which Ruan Xiaoxue had dried.

She took a piece and ran to the fire to roast it. The scraped slices were especially sweet after being roasted soft, and they were not hard on the teeth.

Ruan Qiqi did not eat alone. She gave half to her niece and ate the other half herself. After eating the scraped slices, she still felt itchy and sat in a chair in a daze thinking about Lu Ye. She

had a dream again last night. She tore Lu Ye’s clothes and did many things that were not suitable for children.

She suspected that she had been in the mental hospital for too long in her previous life. She had abstained from desire for ten years. It was her hard work that she did not get sick. Now she finally met a handsome and pleasing man. It was normal for her to be dissatisfied. She

had to speed up. After solving the mess in Ruanjiawan, she would go to the city to find Lu Ye to marry.

Ruan Qiqi yawned and remembered something. Why hadn’t the military documents been sent yet?

She had been back for several days. The efficiency of the post office was too slow. She thought about it and got up and walked out.

“Let’s go out and play!”

Ruan Qiqi went to pull the two children. The little ones had to play happily. It was definitely not okay to stay at home all day.

Ruan Nian shook her head. She went to find a backpack and put it on her back skillfully. She also found a sickle and said like a little adult: “Second aunt, I’m going to the mountain to pick grass for pigs and pick up a bundle of firewood.”

She and her sister ate so much, so they had to work hard, otherwise the family would be ruined by them.

“Sister, I…I’ll go too.”

Ruan Pan said in a baby voice. She was her sister’s little follower, following her from morning to night.

Ruan Qiqi blinked, feeling inexplicably ashamed. Even the children were so diligent, and she, as an aunt, seemed to lack diligence.

But it was impossible for her to change. If she had to endure hardships all her life, it would be absolutely impossible for her to work.

“Second aunt will teach you a trick today, come on!”

Ruan Qiqi took the two children out and soon met a few children playing. She took out a handful of fruit candies from her pocket. The children were so greedy that they couldn’t help swallowing their saliva and stared at the candies in her hand eagerly.

“There is no firewood at home, and the pigs have nothing to eat.”

As soon as Ruan Qiqi finished speaking, a clever child took the initiative to say, “Sister Qiqi, I will go get you some firewood and pig grass!”

“Good boy!”

Ruan Qiqi smiled in praise and stuffed three fruit candies into the boy’s hand.

“I’ll go get them right away!”

The boy ran away happily. Three candies, Sister Qiqi is so generous!

The other children followed suit and actively said that they would also collect firewood and pig grass. Ruan Qiqi also gave each of them three candies and warned them, “Don’t cut corners, otherwise there will be no candies next time!”

“No, Sister Qiqi, don’t worry!”

Several children said in unison and ran away like the wind. Three candies in exchange for a bundle of firewood and a basket of pig grass was a great deal. They were not fools, and they knew that they should have enough food every day.

Ruan Qiqi lowered her head and said to the dumbfounded Ruan Nian, “You will be responsible for checking the quality of firewood and pig feed to see if they have cut corners.”

“Got it.”

Ruan Nian nodded. She hesitated for a few seconds, then mustered up the courage to say, “Second Aunt, three candies are too many. One is enough.”

She felt that Second Aunt was losing out and it was not cost-effective.

Ruan Qiqi smiled and touched her head, “Wait until Second Aunt goes to the city, you can set the rules later. Now Second Aunt will only give three candies.”

After all, she is an adult, so she won’t argue with a child about one or two candies.

Ruan Nian’s eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously.

Ruan Qiqi didn’t preach to her. No matter how much she said, it would be better to show her. The little girl was very smart and would definitely learn it.

The roadside was full of wild roses with fat stems. Ruan Qiqi broke off a tender stem, peeled off the skin, revealing the tender and juicy meat. It was a snack for rural children. Ruan Qiqi also loved to eat it when she was a child. She took a bite and it was a little sweet and tasted good.

The tip of the wild rose stem is called prickly moss.

Ruan Qiqi put the prickly moss into her mouth and chewed it. She walked slowly towards the village entrance. There were many villagers working in the farmland on the roadside. When they saw Ruan Qiqi, they took the initiative to greet her and were very polite.

He Jianjun’s parents were also there. They looked angry, but they were nervous. They went to the commune to make a phone call yesterday, but they couldn’t find their son. They wasted a few dimes and were heartbroken.

They were even more worried that their son was really expelled from the army. They were in a state of anxiety and planned to go to Tanzhou City to find their son and ask him face to face.

“Captain Ruan, there is a letter!”

A green figure appeared at the entrance of the village. He was a postman who would deliver letters once a week.

The captain walked out of the field, ran over barefoot, took the letter, and saw the words of Tanzhou Military Region on the envelope. His heart skipped a beat and he couldn’t help but think of what Ruan Qiqi said. Could He Jianjun really have been expelled from the army?

He excitedly opened the envelope, revealing a red-headed document. The captain was so excited that he quickly took out the document.