Chapter 119: Sending Food

  Elm seeds are named for their thin shape like coins, and because they are a homophone of "remaining money", rural families have the saying that eating elm seeds can bring remaining money. So every year when it's time to pick elm seeds, adults would remind children not to pick too many, inadvertently putting pressure on them, causing them to start competing with each other.

  The elm seeds that were picked, only in the first two days would the children think they are fresh and eat some more, afterwards they wouldn't like to eat them raw anymore. The adults didn't want to waste them, so they thought of ways to cook the elm seeds, wanting the kids to eat some.

  Add sugar to eat, adjust cold dishes to eat, cook porridge to eat, steam to eat, wrap dumplings, steam buns, all kinds of eating methods are varied, just to let family members eat more and leave some leftover money.

  Zhen'er didn't believe in these things, she originally only planned to pick some for her own family to eat and send a basket to Ye Jia's house and another basket to Ye Qi Shu's house. As a result of Ye Bai Zhi mentioning this custom, she also didn't dare be too casual, so she had to follow the local customs, waiting until others started leaving before climbing down from the tree.

  After delivering the silver to Ye's family and Seventh Uncle, Zhen'er returned home and her first task was to boil water for a bath.

  It's so hot today, she has been waiting under the tree for a long time, her body is both hot and itchy, but she doesn't dare to leave first. Since she bought land and cattle, rumors about her in the village have never stopped, and various speculations have made her admire people's imagination.

  The villagers always have a hint of vigilance and guard against unfamiliar strangers, after all, the law stipulates that if one person commits an error, relatives and friends will also be implicated, although the punishment is not severe. Zhen'er understands this sentiment, she is not someone who easily trusts others either, so she always gets along with the villagers with kindness.

  However, there were also those who were cunning and ill-intentioned, instructing their children to follow her and Tiger to gather information, paying attention to their every move. When they found nothing, they began to make malicious speculations. They spread rumors in the village, causing trouble for her and the Ye family. Only then did she understand the true meaning of "the bird that sticks its head out gets shot", so she had no choice but to restrain herself, slowly integrating into the village, occasionally visiting families with good reputations and sending them gifts.

  Hutou didn't like to eat raw elm seeds either. Although he wasn't picky, he also knew what was delicious and what wasn't. Especially after coming to Elm Tree Village, whether it was the Ye family's food or their own, none of it was bad, and his taste buds were slowly being nurtured.

  I took a bath. Zhen'er stared at the full basket of elm seeds, somewhat dazed. If I put them off until tomorrow afternoon, they won't be fresh anymore and definitely can't be eaten raw. I'd better steam them to eat.

  The task of washing the elm seeds was handed over to Hu Zi, Zhen Er scooped a large ladle of fine white flour, mixed it well, and waited for Hu Zi to finish washing the elm seeds before pouring them into the flour mixture. After kneading and rubbing, they were shaped into small nests and steamed in a pot. This method was taught by Mao Shi, but she only knew the production steps and didn't know if it tasted good or not.

  The steamed buns are done, and the fragrance is overflowing. The tiger cub smells the aroma and refuses to leave, even when Zhen'er gets up from the pot, she doesn't care about getting burned. Using chopsticks to pick one up, she blows air non-stop, waiting for it to cool down a bit before starting to eat.

  Zhen'er looked at him and burst out laughing.

  The five big bowls were all picked up. Zhen'er and Hu'zi started delivering food from house to house.

  Ye's family and Seventh Uncle's family must be treated with gifts. Old Master Ye took a bowl, ate a few bites, and couldn't help but praise her. He had long known that Zhen'er was skilled in cooking and generous, only wanting to let Hu Zi eat well, unlike ordinary farming families who were stingy about everything, even reluctant to add a drop of oil or a grain of salt.

  Ye Qiuniang received the Wontons, feeling quite embarrassed. This year Ye Luyuan was not at home, and their family didn't even have a child to pick up the Elm money, they originally planned to spend a few days picking from their own tree to get some comfort, who knew Zhen'er and Bai Zhi thought so thoroughly, two little girls climbed trees and picked a basket for them, this sent the Elm money without saying, now also sent Wontons, still white flour Wontons. Their family is considered a small rich household in the village, but these white flour Wontons are not something they can eat every day, it was only when she was injured a few days ago that her husband was given white noodles to eat, after he recovered and became more sober, he refused to eat white noodles anymore, every time she made them with a mixture of white and coarse flour. Zhen'er is smart but still a child, too wasteful, can't hold onto money.

  "Zhen'er, why do you make such good noodles and then give them away? Wowa makes some plain noodles, corn noodles are fine. You eat white noodles and even give some to others, what's the point of that? You and Huzi are still young, there will be many places where you'll have to spend money in the future, so save more." Ye Qiuniang said with concern to Zhen'er.

  Zhen'er blushed slightly, and at the same time, her heart was warmed by Ye Qiuniang's caring words. She had lost her parents since childhood, and although Qiao Fu treated her well, what they taught her more was how to survive in that ruthless household where every step required calculation and every word required careful consideration. No one had ever taught her how to live a life or find hope in poverty and hardship. Only people like Mao Shi, Sun Shi, and Ye Qiuniang, who truly treated her as their niece or younger sister, would tell her what she did wrong, what she didn't do well, and what country folk should do.

  "I know, Seventh Aunt. This is also the white flour we bought at home last time, I saw that it was a bit yellowish, and I was afraid it would go bad, so I thought of making wowo instead, to avoid wasting it." Zhen'er explained. This was still the noodles they had bought for the house banquet that year, which had been stored for a long time. Although it wouldn't go bad that quickly, it was after all last year's old flour, and its flavor wasn't as good as fresh flour. Moreover, it was easy to grow worms, so she thought of eating it up and then going to the market to buy this year's new noodles.

  After leaving Ye Qi's house, Zhu'er and Hu Zi went to Er Niu's house. Si Niu was playing at the door, saw Hu Zi coming over, ran quickly, pulled Hu Zi's sleeve, sweetly said: "Hu Zi brother, are you here to find me?"

  Hutou was stunned for a moment, looked at his sister, handed over the bowl and said: "My sister made some wowo, bring it to let you taste."

  The four girls took the bowl and saw the white noodles inside, they were so excited that they jumped up and ran quickly back home, shouting: "Dad, mom, sister, come and see! My brother Tiger has brought us food!"

  Two sisters were changing their little brother's diaper, heard a noise and shook hands, touched her brother, the little guy cried out, she shook the little guy while shouting at the window: "What are you running for, what are you calling for, yelling ghost."

  Her mother raised her hand and knocked her, scolding: "What nonsense are you talking about, don't scare your brother." Er Niu's eyes sank. Si Niu heard the sound in the house, lowered her head and stuck out her tongue.

  The two girls came out of the house, and Zhen'er had already left. Er'niu pulled Si'niu and asked: "What did you just call?"

  The Second Sister still looked very intimidating, the Fourth Sister shrank her neck and muttered: "Jen-er Jie and Hu-zi Gege brought us a plate of Wontons, I'm telling you, it's white noodles."

  The second sister listened, stunned for a moment, and asked: "Where's the wotou?" The fourth sister pointed to their house, and following her direction, they found the big bowl of wotou in the box. After hesitating for a while, seeing the fourth sister salivating at the sight of the wotou, she picked one up, thought for a moment, broke it in half and handed it over to her. She immediately happily accepted it and started eating.

  "Did anyone see you picking up the nest?"

  Fourth sister ate while saying: "Father went to the ground, you and mother and brother are in the house, big sister is working in the city, third sister went to dig pig grass, only you and mother heard me speak, no one saw."

  Er Niu listened, put down her heart, squatted down, looked into Si Niu's eyes, and reminded: "This Wuo, you go out and tell us four, they are all miscellaneous noodles Wuo, do you know?"

  The four girls looked puzzled, "Brother Hu Zi gave us a lot, not four, and they were all white noodles, why did I say they were mixed noodles?"

  The girl also couldn't explain well, she just said: "Just remember my words and that's it. If I hear you talking nonsense outside, be careful or I'll hit you." As she spoke, she even shook her fist.

  Fourth sister looked at Second sister's fist with fear, nodded and repeated, "Brother Tiger sent us a nest of Wawa, mixed noodles." Only then did Second sister feel satisfied and let go of Fourth sister, letting her go out to play.

  The last two bowls were sent to the village chief's house and Da Zhuang's house by Zhen'er. Due to the relationship between the household registration documents and Ye Chunshui's family, Zhen'er was also relatively close to the village chief's house. Moreover, the village chief was a person with more authority in the village, and it would not be wrong to have a good relationship with them.

  As for the Dazhuang family, there was some opportunity. She had just moved into a new house, and Yelufar said he wanted to send a dog over to feed them, after all, two young children were still living in the village at the foot of the mountain, which was very unsafe. Who knew that during this time, things kept happening, they all forgot about it. Until Dazhuang's dog was fed and had grown so big that it couldn't be left behind, he carried the dog to Qiushu's house and finally sent it over.

  Seventh Uncle and Seventh Aunt didn't know that Ye Luyuan was going to give this dog away, they already had two dogs of their own at home, which were enough for guarding the house, why would they need a big wolf-like dog from Dazhuang's family? However, Seventh Aunt was more thoughtful, she thought about it and understood that this dog was meant for Zhen'er's family. She planned to take it there herself, but didn't expect that Dazhuang heard it was for Zhen'er and wanted to bring it himself.

  Zhen'er hugged the dog, looking at its body and tail, very suspicious that it wasn't a wolf. Da Zhuang probably often faced such suspicions, his face didn't change color, he shook the dog's tail and said: "You see, it will wag its tail, definitely a dog not a wolf, don't worry."

  Zhen'er stared at Da Zhuang's hand grasping the dog's tail, nodded hard, and took in the dog that was much larger than the system. Who knew that the dog not only had a large body but also a picky mouth? Zhen'er fed it for two days, trying everything, but it just wouldn't eat. Having no other choice, Zhen'er went to find Da Zhuang. Da Zhuang taught Zhen'er how to feed the dog hand in hand, and after feeding it for several days, the dog became familiar with them. He proudly said to Zhen'er, "How's that? My dog is easy to feed, right? I'm telling you, this is a wolf dog, born from a wolf and a dog, very fierce. In the future, it will guard your house and yard, and you won't have any worries."

  Zhen'er stared at the wolf dog, unable to utter a single word.

  However, through this dog, Zhen'er gradually became familiar with Da Zhuang and the others. Da Zhuang was not very old, but he was as strong as his name suggested, and in the village, he was also a leader among the children. With him acting as a bridge, Zhen'er and Hu Zi also gradually became familiar with the other children in the village, and Hu Zi even made a few friends.