Li Min washed her hands and came out, asking Tian Jing what they would eat for lunch.
Tian Jing wanted to ask if there were options. It was either pumpkin or sweet potato. Catching sight of the drying kudzu powder, she smiled and waved Li Min over, "Come here, I'll tell you what to eat for lunch."
Tian Jing's smile inexplicably made Li Min look forward to it. "Sister-in-law?"
Tian Jing pointed to the sieve, "Mix the kudzu powder into a paste, heat a plate, grease it, ladle some paste onto the shallow plate and swirl it around, leaving only a thin layer on the plate. Steam it on the rack until it's transparent and brown, and it's cooked."
"Peel it off, quickly rinse it in cold water, and then take it out. Make about ten pieces per person."
"After all the powder skins are steamed, stir-fry soy sauce in a pan, scoop out a piece of meat broth jelly, add a little water and salt, pick out some meat and chop it into fine pieces to put in, then wash two spinach plants, chop them finely, and put them into the soup. As soon as the spinach is cooked, take it out. This is the topping."
"Cut the powder skins into strips, pour the topping over them, sizzle... Li Min, hurry up and make it, I'm starting to drool."
Not only Tian Jing was drooling, but the three people listening to her were also drooling. Li Zhenguo almost miscalculated the size of the wheel spokes.
Li Min turned and went into the kitchen, "I'll make it now. Hearing you describe it, it's a bit like steaming thin pancakes."
"Yes, remember not to make it too thick. It won't cook well if it's too thick, and it won't taste good either."
"Got it. Pull two spinach plants in for me."
"Okay, I'll cut them too."
The sisters-in-law busied themselves. Li mother looked at the kitchen and then at her son working on the roadside, and once again felt the beauty of life.
Not long after, words like "Sister-in-law, this isn't right," and "That wasn't done correctly," came from the kitchen. Then, the daughter-in-law, with a huff, said that the next one would definitely be done well. Li mother chuckled.
An hour later, the two people outside, stimulated by the aroma and drooling, finally heard the call to eat.
Li Zhenguo came back with his tools, intending to help his mother get off the cool bed.
Tian Jing came out with bowls and stopped him, "Don't bother, just eat like this. Uh, Mother-in-law, can you manage to hold a bowl?"
Tian Jing couldn't bring herself to call her "Mother," nor could she call her "Aunt" or "Auntie," so she directly called her "Mother-in-law."
Li mother, however, was very happy, her eyes crinkling with a smile. "I can manage, I can manage. I have strength."
Li Zhenguo went to the east room and brought out the kang table, placing it beside his mother. "If you can't hold it, put it here."
"Okay," Li mother agreed.
Tian Jing placed the kudzu powder skins mixed with the topping on the kang table, along with the leftover pork liver from yesterday. "This pork liver has been steamed. The powder skins are warm. Is that okay?"
"It's fine, as long as it's not cold. You guys eat quickly, don't worry about me." Li mother picked up her bowl and started eating.
Li Zhenguo had already brought out two bowls and handed one to Tian Jing. "Eat."
Li Min also brought out a bowl. The family of four sat in the sun, eating the warm and sticky kudzu powder skins.
After eating half a bowl with slurping sounds, Li Min finally had time to complain, "Didn't sister-in-law say that kudzu powder isn't a staple food?"
"It's not, it's a snack. It makes you hungry quickly."
Tian Jing would never admit that she had forgotten and used the method for making cold noodles to make kudzu powder.
"Hmph!" Li Min finished the powder skins in her bowl with a few more slurps and returned to the kitchen to mix a second bowl.
Seeing that Tian Jing had only eaten half a bowl, Li Zhenguo went to the kitchen to find his sister to mix him a second bowl.
Li mother had finished eating. Tian Jing asked if she wanted more.
Li mother shook her head. "I'll just eat the pork liver. Didn't you say this has a sticky texture? I'll eat a little first."
"Yes, people with poor digestion shouldn't eat too much." Tian Jing herself didn't have a second bowl and picked up a piece of pork liver to gnaw on.
She said to the brother and sister who were eating heartily, "Finish the pork liver. You can eat the remaining powder skins tonight, or when you get hungry in the afternoon. They are meant to be eaten cold anyway."
Thinking of the more than ten pieces of powder skins left in the kitchen, Li Min asked her sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, can I mix a bowl and send it to Sister Niu? Let her know that kudzu powder can also be eaten this way."
"Okay," Tian Jing nodded. It was good that this silly older sister-like sister-in-law could think of social courtesies, and Sister Niu was a decent person. "Leave six pieces for your elder brother. Mix the rest and send them over. Her family has many mouths to feed."
Li Min happily went to prepare, even specifically leaving the minced meat from the topping for her elder brother. She was now scooping up only minced spinach.
Li Zhenguo helped his mother get off the bed to walk around. Tian Jing thought of the reclining chair again and explained its principle to Li Zhenguo. "Comrade Li Zhenguo, you have a heavy task. Both Mother-in-law and I need reclining chairs."
"Okay," Li Zhenguo looked dotingly at the girl with a radiant smile. "I'll make them after I get back from the county town."
Li mother smiled subtly, watching the interaction between her son and daughter-in-law.
Li Min carried a large bowl and shouted for Sister Niu loudly outside the Niu family's fence.
Sister Niu pouted, "Who visits someone else's house during meal times?"
"Oldest one, quickly open the door, ignore her. If she keeps stirring up trouble, we'll send her back to her mother's family for a few days. She's pregnant, and she's already getting too big for her boots."
Niu mother said this, and also glared at her younger son. He's too indulgent.
Younger brother Niu secretly tugged at his wife's sleeve, signaling her to stop talking nonsense.
Sister Niu opened the courtyard gate and asked Li Min to come in.
"I won't come in," Li Min refused. "Sister Niu, go and get a bowl and pour this kudzu powder skin into it. My sister-in-law looks smart, but sometimes she's muddled."
"See, at noon, forced by the sweet potatoes and pumpkins, she suddenly remembered to make this dish. It's delicious. I brought it for you to try."
"So you won't be discouraged if my sister-in-law says it's not a staple food. I want to go to the foot of the mountain to dig for kudzu this afternoon. Are you going?"
Sister Niu had already smelled the tempting aroma. She hadn't expected it to be for their family. She didn't stand on ceremony with Li Min. "Of course I'm going! I'll find you after I'm done."
After saying that, she ran into the kitchen, got a large bowl, and poured the brown, shiny food from Li Min's bowl into it. "I won't wash your bowl for you, okay?"
"Don't be so polite. I haven't washed my bowls at home yet. I'll wash them together when I get back. Hurry and take it inside to eat. It's been mixed with the topping, so it can't be left for long. If it gets mushy, it won't taste good. When you've made your own powder, I'll teach you how to make it."
Li Min, having learned the skill, wanted to brag to Sister Niu, who was also actively looking for food.
"Alright then, I won't see you off."
"No need to see me off." Li Min took her bowl and left.
Sister Niu placed the bowl in front of her mother-in-law. "Mother, this is a new dish Li Min brought. It's from the root of that plant I told you about yesterday. I'll go to the mountain with Li Min to dig for it after lunch."
Sister Niu kept a little secret, not mentioning the plant at home, but whispering it in her mother-in-law's ear.
Niu mother only agreed to let Sister Niu go and learn after hearing that the roots of the vines all over the mountains could be made into powder. Her younger daughter-in-law had been too troublesome lately. It was also the younger daughter-in-law who had provoked her last night, causing her to wait at the courtyard gate for the elder daughter-in-law.
Now, the elder daughter-in-law was right to be wary of the younger daughter-in-law. If they dug up the vine roots all over the mountains themselves and then told others, they would have a head start.