Transmigrated as My Aunt in the 70s
Chapter 66 - 065 Prepare gift packages

Chapter 66: 065 Prepare gift packages

The next day was Sunday, and Tian Sisi slept in until the sun was high in the sky before she slowly got out of bed. By the time she dressed and went downstairs, the Tian Family had all gone to work, leaving only the very old and the very young at home. Granny Zhao was washing Qingming grass by the well in the front yard. Upon seeing the disheveled Tian Sisi, Granny Zhao quickly stood up, wiped her hands on her apron, and picked up a wooden comb to do her granddaughter’s hair.

"Granny, are you going to make Qingming Cakes later?"

"Mm, Granny will make some extra to give to your friends from yesterday. They all helped out, so we need to thank them."

"Then Granny has to make both the savory and sweet ones. I promised them yesterday that I would give them both types of cakes."

"Alright, we’ll make both, and some for our Ah Nan too." Granny Zhao quickly tied up her granddaughter’s hair, today giving Tian Sisi two round buns and adorning them with a pink silk flower, which made the little girl look incredibly cute and lively. Granny Zhao planted a loving kiss on Tian Sisi’s chubby face. Every time she finished combing Ah Nan’s hair, Granny Zhao would look at her granddaughter’s cute little face and feel the urge to kiss her again and again, never getting enough.

Tian Sisi fetched the egg fried rice Granny Zhao had kept warm in the kitchen. There was a bit too much, as Granny always prepared a large bowl for her granddaughter’s breakfast, always hoping that one day her granddaughter’s appetite would suddenly increase, turning from a kitten’s stomach to an elephant’s.

Tian Sisi took a few golden bites of the scrambled eggs and fed them to Granny Zhao, who was so delighted that her eyes squinted into slits. At that moment, Jianguo brought a basket of Qingming grass in from outside. Having heard his grandma mention that she would be making a lot of Qingming Cakes, Jianguo had thoughtfully finished breakfast early and dragged Weiguo with him to pick Qingming grass from the mountain. In no time, he had gathered a basketful.

"Jianguo is such a good boy, knowing grandma still needed Qingming grass." Granny Zhao was very pleased; her grandson was indeed very considerate.

Tian Sisi hurriedly took a bowl from the kitchen and scooped up more than half of the egg fried rice for Jianguo, urging him to eat quickly. Jianguo initially tried to decline, but couldn’t resist Tian Sisi’s gentle persuasion, and with Granny Zhao also telling him to eat, he started gobbling down the egg fried rice. Ever since arriving at the Tian family home, he and his brothers had eaten egg fried rice several times, but no matter how many times, he never tired of such delicious egg fried rice.

The nine-year-old boy had a bottomless stomach, and Tian Sisi had given Jianguo a tall bowl from the countryside, which even an adult man in future times could only manage to eat one bowl of rice with, but after breakfast, Jianguo was able to quickly finish a large bowl of egg fried rice. Tian Sisi, on the other hand, was still sipping her rice slowly, with more than half the bowl remaining.

"Sisi, you eat so slowly. I’ve already finished a lot." Jianguo teased Tian Sisi.

"If you eat fast then eat a bit more." Tian Sisi scooped another half bowl of rice for Jianguo, then quickly shoveled the last few bites from her bowl into her mouth, dashed into the kitchen, and placed her bowl in the washbasin, leaving Jianguo holding his bowl in surprise.

"If you can eat it, Jianguo, go ahead and finish the rice. Getting your sister Sisi to eat is harder than administering medicine," Granny Zhao said to her grandson with a chuckle.

Jianguo patted his stomach, feeling like he could still eat. After spending time together, Jianguo had become much more relaxed and gradually revealed his childlike innocence and playfulness. He smiled sheepishly and lowered his head to finish the rice in his bowl.

"Jianguo is such a good boy, much more so than your sister Sisi. Children need to eat a lot to grow quickly. Look, you’re already half a head taller than your sister Sisi. She’s going to be a little shortie for sure," Granny Zhao said teasingly, casting a sidelong glance at Tian Sisi as she came out of the kitchen.

"Granny, I’m not a little shortie. I’m going to be a little beauty," Tian Sisi pouted, wrapping her arms around Granny Zhao’s neck and acting coquettishly.

"That’s right, our Ah Nan is already a little beauty," chimed the Old Man, who came out from turning the soil in the backyard to stretch his muscles, laughing as he played along with his granddaughter’s words.

"Yes, yes, Ah Nan is a little beauty. Now let go of Granny, you’re going to make me dizzy with all that shaking."

"Hehe!" Tian Sisi giggled as she let go, helping Granny wash the Qingming grass. Since Qingming grass grows close to the ground, it doesn’t look dirty on the surface, but once soaked in water, lots of dirt emerges, and it has to be washed many times before it’s clean.

"Oh my, dear child, the water is cold, be careful not to freeze your hands. Ah Nan and Jianguo can go play outside, Granny will have it washed in no time," Granny Zhao hurriedly waved her hand, not wanting her granddaughter to touch the cold water, and told Tian Sisi to go play outside.

"The water is warm, not cold at all." The well water in winter is indeed not cold and even feels slightly warm. Seeing that Tian Sisi insisted on helping with the washing, Granny Zhao let her be. Now that it’s spring and it’s time to wear one less layer, the temperature really isn’t as low as before.

"Grandpa, where did Uncle He and Brother He go?" Tian Sisi had not seen He Xuewen and He Chengsi early in the morning and had been wanting to ask.

"They’ve gone to the town to buy things, riding on the tractor with your Uncle Fugao. They’ll be back tonight," the Old Man replied while smoking his water pipe.

"Oh." Hearing they would return, Tian Sisi felt relieved. As long as they weren’t leaving, it was fine. Although it was her first meeting with He Xuewen, maybe it was the kinship by blood, but she felt an innate fondness for He Xuewen, her biological father. Of course, she felt equally close to Tian Manjin, her Daddy; being cherished by two fathers, what a beautiful thing in the world!

Jianguo saw that there was no room for him to help, so he ran outside to gather firewood on the hill with Donghua and the others. The Tian Family, having many members and needing to cook three meals a day, went through a lot of firewood. Jianguo and Donghua would always go up the mountain to gather firewood whenever they had the chance.

After Granny Zhao washed the Qingming grass thoroughly, she put it into a large winnowing basket. She then went to the stove to stoke the remaining embers, adding a handful of pine needles before pulling the bellows. Very quickly, the fire blazed up. She added a few more bundles of firewood, and the stove became lively with red flames.

A large pot of water had been prepared early to boil for blanching the Qingming grass. The Qingming grass needed to be blanched with alkaline to remove the oxalic acid it contains, leaving behind the unique fragrant aroma of the Qingming grass. However, getting the proportion of alkaline right was crucial; otherwise, the resulting Qingming Cake wouldn’t taste good.

As soon as the water boiled, Granny Zhao poured the washed Qingming grass into the pot and added a piece of alkaline, continuously stirring with a long wooden chopstick to ensure the alkali water fully mixed with the Qingming grass. Granny Zhao kept busy, turning her head to Tian Sisi and said, "Ah Nan, go call your Brother Shouhua and Brother Xinhua to knead the dough. They’re strong and can knead it evenly. Also, call your Second Lady over to help wrap the cakes."

Tian Sisi responded and ran to call Tian Liu Jin’s family. Tian Xinhua and Tian Shouhua were hoeing in the family’s private plot, while Li Yuedi was washing Qingming grass too. Seeing her, Tian Sisi said, "Second Lady, stop washing and go to our house to wrap cakes. Granny has prepared lots of ingredients. Brother Xinhua, Brother Shouhua, you two hurry and wash up to knead the dough."

Li Yuedi was very straightforward. She gathered her prepared ingredients like meat, tofu, and rice and simply decided to bring everything to her sister-in-law’s house to wrap cakes. Tian Xinhua and Tian Shouhua also changed into clean clothes and washed their faces and hands with warm water.

"Ah, Brother Shouhua, why aren’t you using soap? Brother Xinhua, you too. You have to scrub three times with soap to get your hands really clean," Tian Sisi chattered like a little housekeeper beside Tian Xinhua and Tian Shouhua.

Tian Xinhua was annoyed and flicked the hot water in the basin onto Tian Sisi’s head, making the little girl jump up, puffing her cheeks and glaring at him fiercely. That’s when Tian Xinhua finally felt much better, smiling as he soaped up and washed his hands clean. Tian Shouhua couldn’t be bothered with the little girl Tian Sisi, lest he gets irritated again by her in just a few words.

Li Yuedi didn’t wait for the children and had already taken her ingredients and left. Tian Sisi followed behind Tian Xinhua, hopping and skipping. When Tian Xinhua saw the two round buns on her head, he couldn’t resist the urge, reaching out and giving a pull. Not satisfied with just once, he tugged again, one after another, until Tian Sisi finally got angry.

"Tian Xinhua, are your paws itchy? Look how you’ve messed up my hair," Tian Sisi yelled, looking up.

Tian Xinhua just smiled faintly and tugged firmly at Tian Sisi’s hair again before quickly catching up with Tian Shouhua, leaving the furious Tian Sisi behind.

PS: Thanks to friends like Doudou Mouth, anna0626, I Love Myself XX, Mimoca, 123 Listening, Qibu Zhi, and Maple Frost Yuan for their support and encouragement!

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