Five-finger peach has the same origin in medicine and food; it can strengthen the spleen and nourish the lungs, relieve swelling, and is heavy with dampness. It has a sweet taste and a fragrant aroma.
Adding white radish and potato, stewed chicken is the best medicinal meal, perfectly suited for consumption in the local climate.
Tan Xiuping's mouth may not be the best, but she is truly skilled at cooking.
The chicken soup she stewed was both fresh and fragrant.
The white radish was sweet, the potato was soft, and the chicken was also very flavorful.
After being taken out of the pot, it was served in a large enamel basin, sprinkled with vibrant green chopped scallions, looking particularly appetizing.
He Xiaoshan's mouth watered as he gazed longingly at Shen Zhao.
He knew the chicken belonged to the Educated Youth sister.
Shen Zhao saw that he wasn't like some spoiled children who thought the world revolved around them and lacked any upbringing, so she first tore off a chicken leg for him.
Seeing this, Tan Xiuping felt a little better.
It wasn't in vain that she went to such trouble to stew it.
Shen Zhao placed the other chicken leg in her own bowl, then tore off a chicken wing, scooped two pieces of radish and two pieces of potato, and filled the remaining space with soup before stopping.
"This is enough for me."
According to their agreement, her food had to be served separately.
She had already divided the chicken meat, which meant the rest belonged to the He family.
This chicken wasn't large, and there were so many people in the He family; Shen Zhao didn't care how they divided the rest. She got up, took her own food, and entered the house.
Seeing that the person was gone.
Old Mrs. He then scoffed softly, "Such airs!"
"Grandma, eat meat." He Xiaoshan tore off a piece of meat from the chicken leg and put it into her bowl.
The old woman immediately smiled so wide her teeth showed, and put the meat back, "Oh, Xiaoshan is so good. You eat it, Grandma's teeth can't chew it, I'll just eat radish."
Being old, she only had two front teeth left. The wild chicken meat was quite tough, and the elderly woman truly couldn't eat it.
He Xiaoshan tore off another piece of meat and put it into his brother's bowl, "Brother, eat too."
He Dashan was extremely envious of his younger brother. Their entire family only had He Xiaoshan who could get special attention from that Educated Youth sister.
Unfortunately, he was already 15 years old and not suitable to get close to her.
In the countryside, a boy this age could already be considered for marriage, and he understood what he needed to.
Shen Zhao hid alone in the room, took out a lunchbox of fried cabbage from her space, and began to eat.
The original owner, due to prolonged starvation, actually had a very small stomach. But to recover her health as quickly as possible, she ate all the chicken soup and chicken with all her might, then ate a large bowl of rice, and half of the fried cabbage.
Finally. She was completely full.
She rubbed her stomach, took her bowls and chopsticks out to the kitchen, then held a bowl of hawthorn water and sat by the fire in the main hall to warm herself.
He Xiaoshan, with his bottom sticking out, squatted beside her, smashing walnuts with a hammer. He called her "Sister" with every bite, his voice so sweet. He picked out the smashed walnuts, placed them on a coarse porcelain plate, and presented them to Shen Zhao.
"Sister, eat. Thank you for giving me chicken meat."
"Thank you, I really can't eat anymore. You eat it yourself." Shen Zhao was quite pleased but disliked his walnuts.
Firstly, she couldn't eat anymore. Secondly, those walnuts were smashed on the ground.
The ground in houses like these in the countryside was dirt. He Xiaoshan's grandfather would spit directly on the ground, and his grandmother would wipe her nose and flick it onto the ground.
She could tolerate the disgust and walk on this ground, but eat walnuts that had rolled on it?
That would be the death of her.
He Xiaoshan was a little disappointed, but quickly became happy again.
Because Shen Zhao gave him a handful of fruit candy, over ten pieces, enough for everyone in the family to have one.
He took the candy and went to share it.
Shen Zhao finished her hawthorn water and, before it got completely dark, got up to get her toothbrush and wash up.
She had been busy on the mountain all afternoon and was a bit tired. After soaking her feet, she didn't even wipe herself dry before locking the door and sleeping under the covers.
Ever since she arrived here, she slept earlier than a dog and woke up earlier than a chicken. She clearly felt her complexion had improved a lot.
Her cheeks had gained some flesh, and especially her skin was as moist as if it had drunk its fill of water.
The next morning, it was another day of continuous drizzle.
They still had to go to work.
Shen Zhao sighed, reluctantly got out of bed, and reluctantly washed up.
She mixed a bowl of malted milk for herself, brought it into the room, ate her daily egg, and gnawed on a large meat bun.
She began to put on her gear piece by piece.
First, she put on her rain boots, then her straw raincoat, put on her bamboo hat, and her work gloves...
Tan Xiuping watched, twitching.
"That's enough, Educated Youth Shen. What's a little rain?"
Shen Zhao seriously replied, "Getting rained on too much can easily lead to rheumatism, and lice can easily grow on your head."
That's right!
She discovered that most people here had lice on their heads!
Fortunately, the He family was relatively clean. Except for Old Mrs. He, everyone else had short hair and no lice.
He Xiaolan's hair was long enough to braid, so it wasn't really short.
Heaven knows, when she saw bugs crawling on Old Mrs. He's head that morning, she almost threw up.
Tan Xiuping patted her clothes and said impatiently, "If you're afraid of lice, just cut your hair short. It's a waste of time."
Shen Zhao couldn't be bothered to argue with her and turned to walk outside.
She walked to the side, couldn't help herself, turned back, and said, "I like it. Women of the new era should treat themselves better."
Tan Xiuping rolled her eyes.
A lot of twisted logic, not diligent in work.
Today's work, besides weeding the rapeseed field,
also included turning the soil and fertilizing the paddy fields.
This involved using a plow that was wide at one end and pointed at the other to turn the field before spreading manure.
If conditions allowed, a cow would usually pull it from the front, and someone would guide the plow from behind, ensuring it dug deep enough with each pass.
But the production brigade only had one water buffalo, which was far from enough.
This task had to be done by people pulling it. One person would pull, and another would guide, then they would switch after a couple of rounds.
This was tiring work, usually done by strong, experienced farmers.
The educated youths... a group of inexperienced, unreliable people who caused a lot of trouble. They should just do some light work.
Unfortunately, Shen Zhao was assigned to carry dung.
She had to carry it to the plowed fields and spread it evenly, preparing for sowing after spring.
She had a shoulder pole on her shoulders, a bamboo hat on her head, and two dung buckets on either side. Her face was so sour it could drip water.
If it weren't for the dung buckets, reflecting the lush green mountains, it would have had a bit of the flavor of a Suzhou fisherman in a straw raincoat.
Shen Zhao was indignant, "Why should I carry dung? Do I look like someone who carries dung? I report this!"
"You are targeting me, isolating me, and undermining collective unity."
Village Party Secretary Tan stood on the field ridge, smoking his pipe and rolling his eyes.
"If you want to go, then go. I'm not targeting you.
Everyone knows you're strong. Besides, you're not the only one carrying dung. Carrying dung earns more work points. I'm doing this for your own good."
Aunt Gui Xiang, who was in the same group as Shen Zhao, was adjusting the ropes on her shoulder pole. She turned and spat at the village party secretary, "What does that have to do with me! Why do I have to carry dung too?"
"You are in the same group."
Aunt Gui Xiang squinted at Shen Zhao, "The thing I regret most is snatching you away."
If others are unhappy, she is happy. She smiled and replied, "The luckiest thing for me is being in the same group as Auntie."
Aunt Gui Xiang: .....
To avoid being angered to death, hurry up and go!
She picked up the two dung buckets and left.
Shen Zhao also followed, carrying the dung buckets with her shoulder pole.
On the way, they encountered Gu Qiu, Ji Bai, Wen Yixun, and Wang Nan, who were also carrying shoulder poles.
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