Pastoral Daily Life

The next days breakfast Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi ate at Uncle Lis house.

The two of them were still asleep when Uncle Li came to the plant nursery to start watering the plants. Lu Lingxi was a little embarrassed to get up and see that the time was only six oclock. Uncle Li had a smile on his face, “Go back to sleep. I dont get much sleep in my old age, but youre still growing up.”

Lu Lingxi was still sleepy after going to bed late last night. But in front of Uncle Li, he was too embarrassed to go back to sleep. Yan Yue followed closely, and the two of them simply helped Uncle Li with the work.

When it was seven oclock, Auntie Li came over to call them to eat. Yesterday, knowing that Lu Lingxi and Yan Yue were coming over, she had purposely prepared oat flour. The first thing she did when she got up early in the morning was to pour water and make oat noodles, rolling them into rolls to steam. Next Auntie Li soaked some sun-dried mushrooms, chopped them and fried them with diced meat, and made a portion of diced mushroom braised meat. When she steamed the oat noodles, she also steamed some potatoes, peeled and mashed them, and mixed them with chilli, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar to make a cold dish. Now all this was ready, just waiting for them to eat.

Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi didnt refuse and followed Uncle Li back home. As soon as they sat down at the dining table, Auntie Li brought up the hot noodles. As Auntie Li uncovered the pot, a strange aroma filled their noses. Lu Lingxi had never heard of oat noodles before, so he looked inside the pot with some curiosity and saw rows and rows of small rolls packed side by side, a bit like the honeycombs he had seen in a book.

The oat noodle rolls that Auntie Li made were very beautiful, each one a fingers length long and as thin as a willow leaf, light yellow in colour. Pour a spoonful of diced mushroom meat and mix it together and a bite will be simply unforgettable. Lu Lingxi couldnt resist eating two bowls, and almost couldnt put the chopsticks down.

Uncle Li was very happy to see him eat and was still persuading him, “Eat more, child. Your Auntie has been in good health lately, her arms are strong, and the noodles she makes are finer than her usual ones.”

Lu Lingxi smiled and nodded, but didnt move his chopsticks; he really couldnt eat any more. But Lu Lingxi listened to what Uncle Li said and asked with concern, “Aunties legs havent been hurting lately, have they?”

“No.” Uncle Li was even happier to talk about it. “Its been almost a month, right? Your Auntie hasnt had any pain once. Even the last time it rained it was fine, nothing hurt at all.”