Chapter 51 Wild Vegetables Flourish in Spring

After that, Xiao Jiu followed their family's group by herself. When she got tired, she would sit on the ground to rest, and when she was hungry, she would eat the steamed potatoes in her hand.

Although the soft potatoes were cold, they were still filling. I brought two for her and Xiao An when we came. Now that one had been taken, Grandpa and Grandma were too lazy to argue with them. They broke the remaining potato in half and planned to give half to Xiao An. Unexpectedly, Xiao An was very generous.

"Grandma, I don't want it, give it to my sister!" It's true that comparisons are odious. Some people are just born bad, while the Tao family has a good family tradition and is kind to the core.

Xiao Jiu is very fortunate to have grown up in such a family environment, instead of being like Gou Dan's mother, who made Gou Dan's older and younger sisters do chores while Gou Dan, this precious little rascal, sat in the ditch playing. And while he was playing, he even stole food from others, showing how domineering he was used to.

In the following days, Xiao Jiu stayed with her family and didn't play with other children. She was initially teased for being selfish, but when she saw the children fighting and fighting over food and drinks in the fields every day, she realized how wise her family was.

As the old saying goes, wherever there are people, there will be conflict. This applies to all ages. Don't think that children are too young to understand anything. In fact, they are quite clever. Why do some children like to get physical while others are quiet and just cry? Nature plays a big part, but the environment has a second part of the influence.

Now the three Tang sisters have officially integrated into the Tao family. Whenever anyone asks, they say they are relatives of Zhao Lingli and came here to seek refuge after fleeing famine.

It was the busy farming season, and everyone was busy working in their own fields, so no one had the time to worry about what other people were doing.

They were busy and hadn't had time to inquire about the Tang family in Taoyuan Village. But by sheer coincidence, when Grandma was selling small baskets and straw hats woven from wheat straw at her stall at the door, she actually heard about the Tang family. Well, what can you do when they're so famous!

She gave birth to nine daughters in a row. Some of them were lost, some were given away, and some ran away. Not a single one was left. She became famous in the surrounding villages.

So when people mention the Tang family of Taoyuan Village, they will know the name of Tang Youtian.

The reason he became famous this time is because Tang Youtian actually did some work. Isn't that rare? Even a lazy person has a day when he has to work?

He not only beat Cao Amei so she had to work in the fields, but also threatened to send her back to her parents' home if she didn't work.

Cao Amei initially thought he was joking, but Tang Youtian said it in front of the entire village.

"This woman is not only lazy, she doesn't cook, doesn't farm, doesn't raise children, and can't even have a son. If I continue to live with someone like this, who knows how lazy she'll become. So I'm going to change and become diligent again. Starting today, I'm divorcing Cao A-mei. I'm not going to live with her anymore!"

In those days, getting a divorce was a very shameful thing. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, people would say "divorce" their wives, but as soon as the new society was mentioned, they would quickly change their tune and say "divorce".

In reality, most rural people don't even have a marriage certificate, so what's the point of talking about divorce?

So many people took it as a joke. Even Cao Amei didn't believe that Tang Youtian would treat her like that. So the couple acted like they were performing a play every day, jumping around in the village, disturbing the neighbors and spreading the story as a joke.

When these words reached Zhao Di and Pan Di's ears, the two of them couldn't help but think of their sister's words.

"No wonder my older sister said Dad wants to divorce Mom and plans to remarry and have more children. Otherwise, why would Dad suddenly become so diligent? If he weren't diligent, no one would want to be with him. It's really unbelievable, so shameful."

"Luckily we escaped, otherwise our father might have sold us to pay for his bride price!"

"You know what, they're actually capable of doing something like this. We'll have to be more discreet when we go out next time, so no one recognizes us."

After the spring planting was finished, Grandma made chive boxes at home. The combination of vermicelli, eggs, and spring chives was absolutely delicious.

Although the dough for the chive boxes was made of whole grain flour and looked a bit dark, the filling inside was delicious. She's not very big, but she ate almost half of one!

If you add some dried shrimp from the warehouse, it would probably be even more delicious.

There were also the paper mulberry spikes that the older brothers climbed up and down to pick and bring home. They would mix the small spikes with rapeseed oil and a little flour, steam them, and then mix them with garlic sauce or stir-fry them directly. It felt even more satisfying than eating meat.

It was only after arriving here that Xiaojiu discovered how many delicious things there are in the countryside in spring. From elm seeds, toon leaves, and shepherd's purse to the mulberry buds growing on the trees, Grandma said that there will be locust flowers next month. Every year when the locust flowers bloom, the whole street is filled with their fragrance. There is a locust tree in the back of her house. Washing and drying the locust flowers is an essential delicacy for making dumplings in winter, at least locking in the taste of spring.

The locust tree in their backyard has been there for many years, and it bears a lot of fruit every spring. My father used to eat them often when he was a child.

This year, her family opened a snack shop and also sells steamed buns, so her father and grandfather, along with her brothers, spent from the end of April to the beginning of May searching for all the locust flowers. Only after they brought all the flowers home, dried and preserved them did they start looking for wild locust trees elsewhere.

Most of the dried locust flowers were preserved, because it wasn't just their family who had this idea; other families who made steamed buns would add a little locust flowers to enhance the aroma, and at the same time, they could sell them as a new product.

When there are too many, they become less precious, so when Father saw this, he put away the dried locust flowers, planning to sell them again when no one else was selling them.

They then turned their attention to wild amaranth, lamb's quarters, broom sprouts, and pumpkin and winter melon tips. Wild amaranth is particularly good at sprouting and can be used to make steamed buns and dumplings. Lamb's quarters can be used in cold dishes. Broom sprouts, pumpkin tips, and goji berry tips can all be used to make noodles or steamed dishes.

In short, if you want to eat some wild game by the roadside in the spring, there is plenty. During difficult times, we even ate grass roots and tree bark, so what is this?

Everyone was busy all spring. Just when they finally wanted to take a break, the purslane sprouted, and it was time to harvest the wheat...

As the weather gets warmer, there's more food than they can eat. Last year's cabbage, radishes, sweet potatoes, and potatoes were all gone just as they were going through the lean season. Before cucumbers, green beans, and eggplants were available, they relied on wild vegetables to supplement their vitamin intake.

Chives grow very quickly, but you can't cut them too much, otherwise they won't grow back the following year.

So they ate their few bunches of chives from mid-March to early May, cutting them bunch by bunch. Even after cutting the newly sprouted ones, they would wait a month or two before eating them to ensure their stable growth.

Once the most difficult months of January, February, and March are over, life will be much easier after Qingming Festival. Not only will there be wild vegetables, but also occasional surprises disguised as wild fruits of spring, secretly bringing sweet happiness to the Tao family.