While Xiaomi was telling herself she was out of luck, she also promised to check Uncle Liu's field later in the afternoon!
Uncle Liu had invited her so warmly, and for those couple of pounds of eels, it was only polite to accept, right?
For lunch, her second aunt steamed mantou, a mix of buckwheat and white flour, giving it both the chewiness of buckwheat and the softness of white flour.
They cooked two to three pounds of big eels, filling a large pot. Jiang Hu found two clean jars, divided the eels into three portions, and while they were still hot, took them to the Liu family and the village chief's household.
The eel soup was thick and aromatic, perfectly paired with the uniquely flavored mantou. Everyone ate until their stomachs were round and left the table burping.
The fields had been prepped beforehand, and the time had come to plant corn. Now that the kids were a bit older, Jiang Hu's second aunt didn't need to keep them by her side all the time anymore.
