The first installnt, asking for your likes.
×××......×××
Lian Manman whispered sothing to Lady Zhang with a smile, and a smile appeared on Lady Zhang’s face as well.
"It’s really worth a try, I say, my Manman always knows what she’s doing." Lady Zhang nodded.
However, to sun-dry clam at, one must first excavate the at from the clam shells. This nearly hundred pounds of hemp clams was no small amount of labor.
At noon, seizing a break from their work, Lian Manman, Lian Yeye, and Lian Zhizhi managed to dig out almost one pound of clam at. The clams had spat out mud and sand for half a day and all through the night, with the water changed twice, so the at was very clean. Lian Manman then went to the vegetable garden and brought back half a basket of chives.
By the ti Wu Lang and Xiao Qi returned from their private school at noon, there was an extra dish on the dining table—a fragrant stir-fry of hemp clams with chives.
At the end of spring and beginning of sumr, when all things burgeon, hemp clams stir-fried with chives were not only delicious but also a seasonal dish conducive to good health.
Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye also stayed for lunch. Although the Upper Room had also bought clams, that half basin full of clams, once the clam at was dug out, didn’t go far for such a large family. When it ca to Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye, they could only taste it. At Lian Manman’s family, however, she and her mother could eat as much as they wanted.
"Those hemp clams, Sister-in-law Xiu E was the one who proposed to buy them. She even contributed her own money," Lian Yeye told Lian Manman while eating the clams.
"Sister-in-law Xiu E contributed money? Then how is it divided when eating?" Lian Manman asked.
"Probably the sa as before, it’s just that Sister-in-law Xiu E can eat a bit more, since she’s not pregnant right now," replied Lian Yeye.
"The Old Lian Family’s customs are changing," Lady Zhang said, "When Lady Zhou and I were with child, everything was the sa as usual. We were foolish, not knowing to arrange for our own food. Her grandmother later told that she regretted marrying off so far away—if I were closer to ho, I could talk to her if there was sothing I wanted to eat."
"Mom, you took your own experience to heart, that’s why you set my sister’s marriage so close, right?" Lian Manman laughed.
"That’s right," Lady Zhang replied, with no reservations talking to her own family.
"Zhizhi’s in-laws seem like good people; she definitely won’t be wronged in the future," Lady Zhao said.
"Yes, Jiaxing’s mother isn’t bad," Lady Zhang nodded, noticing that Lady Zhao was not serving herself much food, so she busied herself, "Lady Zhou, eat more vegetables. We bought plenty of clams this ti, you can eat your fill... Yeye, you eat more too, don’t be reserved."
"Auntie, I am eating," Lian Yeye said, "My mother and I can only enjoy clams at your place. We can’t have them at ho. My grandmother’s family is definitely having clams for lunch today."
Tenant farrs, who rarely enjoyed delicacies, generally chose to have them when everyone was present.
"If it’s for lunch, you and Lady Zhou wouldn’t be able to have any, but wouldn’t Brother Erlang, Brother Sanlang, and the others miss out as well?" Lian Manman pointed out.
Ever since Lady Zhao started working in the shop and having her als there, the share of food Lady Zhou allotted to her at ho beca even less.
"The grain at ho isn’t enough, and besides, we don’t have delicacies at ho. If you eat more at the shop, you have everything," Lady Zhou had once said to Lady Zhao.
Later on, when Lian Yeye also started having als in the shop more often, Lady Zhou treated her the sa way. She almost wished the two of them would have one al there that could count as three, so they wouldn’t eat at ho.
According to the usual excuses made by the Lian Family for Lady Zhou, it wasn’t that she was unkind—she was just thrifty, wanting to save on the household’s food expenses.
Lady Zhou was reluctant to let her daughter-in-law and granddaughter eat, yet she wouldn’t go so far as to deprive her sons and grandsons, especially when Lian Shouyi and Erlang were still working in the mountains to earn money for the family.
"Isn’t it simple? Grandma would definitely save so food for them. When it cos to dinner in the evening, they’ll just leave that one basin, and it’s bound to be placed at our lord’s table. My mother and I won’t get a share," Lian Yeye said, "It’s not the first ti."
Lian Manman uttered an acknowledgnt, understanding the situation.
After lunch, Lian Shouxin transported buckets of hemp clams to a large tree outside the shop. Lady Zhang, Lian Manman, Lian Zhizhi, Wu Lang, Xiao Qi—all brought stools, basins, and bowls, and sat under the tree starting to dig out the clam at. Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye didn’t leave either; they stayed to help.
The clam at that was extracted was laid by Lian Manman on mats of grass to dry in the sun.
As evening neared, just as Wu Lang and Xiao Qi ca back from private school again, behind the family, the clam shells had piled into a small mound. Lian Manman then took a small bowl to Xiao Qi and counted out a few Copper Coins to give to him.
User Comments
0 comments from readers