Chapter 645: Killing the New Year Pig on the third day of the Lunar New Year [Second update]
In the dark room, the sound of the alarm clock suddenly rang, and then, a furry little head struggled to get out of the thick quilt. It's Shen Xingdu. The eight-pound quilt is warm enough to cover me, but it is also a bit heavy.
Feeling the person in his arms leave, Zhen Shuai closed his eyes and explored the bed, touched the position of Shen Xingdu, hugged the person into his arms, tucked the quilt back, and said in a daze: "Brother Dudu ...The alarm clock is off...just sleep a little longer..."
Shen Xingdu tried his best to pull himself out of his arms, stretched out his arm to turn off the alarm clock, and pinched his nose, "Baby, we can't kill pigs today. Let others wait."
"Well..." Zhen Shuai remembered and slowly opened his sleepy eyes. He was going to kill a pig today, so he set an alarm specifically for fear of oversleeping.
Hearing the north wind whistling like a whimper outside, and feeling the cool wind swirling above his head, he really didn't want to think about it, but his reason told him that he had to get up. His eyes quickly became clear, and he opened his mouth and let out a lazy yawn.
"Alas..."
Shen Xingdu touched his face and looked for their clothes under the quilt. When I went to bed last night, I stuffed all my clothes under the quilt to keep warm, so that it would not be so cold when I got dressed in the morning.
Zhen Shuai held him down to prevent the wind from getting in. He found his clothes, put them on and got up. He lit up the charcoal basin and two earthenware oven baskets, and turned on the stove to boil water.
Then he went back to the room to dress Shen Xingdu. After dressing, he took him out directly, placed him on the chair next to the charcoal basin, and then put on his cotton shoes.
After baking for a while, Shen Xingdu went to brush his teeth after his body felt warm. Zhen Shuai also squatted next to him. Swish left, brush right, brush up, brush down...the movements are consistent as if they have been trained uniformly.
After brushing his teeth and the water on the stove was heating up, Zhen Shuai poured water for the two of them to wash their faces. Because Shen Xingdu was wearing a lot of clothes, it was inconvenient to wash himself. Zhen Shuai wringed the hot towel half dry, applied it to his face, and rubbed it gently twice. Shen Xingdu's face immediately turned red. Then, he rubbed the towel twice in the water and wrung it out, wiped away the remaining water on Shen Xingdu's face, and it was done. Next, he washes himself. After both of them have washed, apply clam oil on their faces.
Since the beginning of winter, viewers have watched this morning routine many times, but they never tire of it.
【Defense broken! I lived like this in the winter when I was a child. Every time my parents pressed me to wash my face, I would cry. ]
[Is it clam oil? Is it clam oil? Hahaha, different world, same 1980s, my grandma still uses this to wipe her face! 】
【Crying with laughter, I also want to wash Brother Dudu’s face. ]
[I'm different from you. I want the anchor to wash my face. Hee hee hee...]
Don't pour the water to wash your face first. The two of them went to the toilet together to drain the water from their bodies. When they came back, they washed their hands with the still warm wash water, and then rubbed clam oil on their hands. This is considered completed.
The three Zhenxiang sisters heard the noise and got up one after another.
Wash, clean the house, make breakfast, boil water... there is a lot of work in the morning. We can't wait for the butcher to come, the house is still in a mess. Especially, prepare more hot water.
Only Zhen Cheng continued to sleep. He usually wakes up more than an hour later than everyone else. However, he was going to kill a pig today, and when there were more people in the yard, it became noisy, and he couldn't sleep for long.
The sky was overcast and the wind was getting stronger. After standing in the yard for a while, my face hurt from the wind.
Zhen Xiang closed the door of the main room, and the family ate breakfast by the brazier in the main room with the lights on.
Just after finishing the meal, the helper came.
Killing a pig requires help, and after killing the pig, you also need to eat pig-killing vegetables.
In addition to Zhen Aimin, Zhen Shuai also invited Ma Jiaming, Wang Xing's family, Qian Zhenguo, the male host of the neighbor's house to the east, his wife is the somewhat fussy Aunt Wei, and Lu Jianguo, the male host of the neighbor's house to the west.
The village chief and village party secretary also came together. Zhen Shuai planned to wait for the butchered pork dishes to be prepared before inviting these two people. I didn't expect them to take the initiative to come so early, of course they were here to help.
After entering the house, Zhen Aimin actively greeted the others, instructing Commander Zhen to get them cigarettes, and instructing the three sisters Zhen Xiang to move chairs, pour tea, and get melon seeds for everyone, as if he was the master of the house.
The four of them, Zhen Shuai, kept smiling and did whatever he said.
Sitting around the charcoal basin, Zhen Aimin asked Zhen Shuai again: "By the way, Zhen Shuai, you haven't forgotten to invite your grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt and others? Your grandma and grandpa are old and it is inconvenient to go out. If necessary, I can find someone to pick them up on a bicycle."
The village chief and others all lowered their heads, drinking tea seriously or eating melon seeds intently, as if they didn't hear what he said.
The three sisters couldn't control their expressions.
Zhen Shuai remained calm and frowned, looking very embarrassed, "The day after my mother left, we went to my grandma's house. Two uncles, an aunt and a little aunt also visited their homes respectively, but They haven't been here even once. I guess they don't want to walk around with us anymore, so I can't come rashly to kill pigs today." The
village chief and others were secretly surprised. It has been half a year since Xu Xiuli's disappearance, and no one from Xu Xiuli's family has even come to the door once! All interactions between relatives are mutual. Today I went to your house to be a guest and brought half a catty of candy. Tomorrow when you came to my house to be a guest, you might bring back 2 taels of pork. This is called what comes and goes. If one day I don't want to walk around with you anymore, but after you come to visit my house and bring gifts, but I don't come to your door for a long time, you will understand what I mean. You don’t have to come to my house again. But this usually happens between old relatives. As the relationship between the younger generations becomes more and more distant, and the old relatives don't want to move around anymore, but they don't want to offend others, this method is most suitable.
Therefore, the village chief and others did not find it strange that Commander Zhen would think so, and no one thought he was going too far. Besides, he is only fifteen years old, so he can understand even if he is not thoughtful enough.
Zhen Aimin still wanted to speak, but the village chief and the others made a tacit agreement to chat about whose family killed how many pounds of pigs and other topics, not giving him a chance to get entangled.
Zhen Aimin couldn't say anything else and could only participate in their chat.
After sitting for a few minutes, the tall and strong Butcher Zhang arrived. The butcher's knife hanging on his waist was shiny.
Zhen Aimin asked Zhen Shuai to get cigarettes for Butcher Zhang, and then asked some men to catch the pigs.
The pig seemed to have anticipated its tragic fate. As soon as it saw them approaching, it screamed miserably and ran around in the pig pen, frightening the two pigs raised by Zhen Shuai's family and dodging left and right.
The children nearby were attracted by the commotion here and came to watch the fun. The yard was packed with people.
At this time, Ma Xiaolian, Cai Chunmei, Aunt Wei, Aunt Xi, Wu Guixiang, and Lu Jianguo's daughter-in-law Aunt Ding arrived, greeted Zhen Shuai and Zhen Xiang, and all went into the kitchen to work. Today's pig-killing dish is made by a few of them together. Aunt Xi and Cai Chunmei are the chefs, and their butchered pig dishes are the best in the village. Others helped them both.
Butcher Zhang calmly set up two benches in the yard, stepped on them with one foot, and smoked while waiting leisurely for others to catch the pigs.
"Children, get out!" Zhen Aimin shouted loudly, then turned to Zhen Shuai and said, "You can also go outside and play with Dudu in your arms. I'm afraid of scaring him, so he won't have nightmares at night." "I'll take him in
. House."
Commander Zhen carried Shen Xingdu in his arms and looked through the window.
Although the pig ran away desperately, it still could not escape the roundup of Ma Jiaming and others. It was quickly caught, tied up and put on a bench, howling all the time.
He didn't dare to look at the next scene, and only heard a long and miserable cry.
The pig screamed for less than twenty seconds and became silent. It must have gone to see the Buddha.
When Zhen Shuai went out half an hour later, Butcher Zhang was breaking down the pork. Pig heads, legs, trotters, ribs, pork belly, suet...all should be separated.
Several children used the inflated pig pee to play as a ball and ran all over the yard. Their laughter and screams made people have headaches. Zhen Cheng had already gotten up, running and jumping after him. Zhen Zhi is also there, I don’t know when he came. Zhen Zhu stood aside and watched their madness with disgust.
Zhen Xiang grabbed a handful of melon seeds for each of the children and coaxed them to go out to play. She also joined in and watched over Zhen Cheng.
Zhen Aimin hurriedly asked Zhen Zhu to follow Zhen Zhi and looked at Shen Xingdu, "Dudu, why don't you go play with them?" Zhen Shuai replied for Shen Xingdu: "It's too cold outside, I won't let him go out
. ."
Zhen Aimin looked disapproving, "Children still need to run and jump often to grow fast. You can't keep them at home all the time." "
I don't like to go out to play." Shen Xingdu said.
Zhen Aimin didn't say anything else. He blew out a puff of smoke and watched the butcher decomposing the pork in the diffuse smoke.
After the pork was decomposed, Zhen Shuai handed the master another cigarette.
"Thank you for your hard work, Master."
Butcher Zhang smiled heartily, "Hahaha, you're welcome, it's all due."
Zhen Shuai invited him to sit in the room.
It is also customary to leave the butcher for a meal.
Butcher Zhang readily agreed. This young boss was a good person, and he was eager to have the opportunity to establish a good relationship with him. He had specially set aside time this morning. There were several companies that originally invited him to kill pigs in the morning, but they also postponed it to the afternoon.
Zhen Shuai invited everyone into the house to warm themselves by the fire, laid out melon seeds and tea, and gave them playing cards to play with.
Zhen Duo and Zhen Guo quickly moved the meat into the house and cleaned up the yard.
Ma Xiaolian, Aunt Wei and Cai Chunmei were not needed in the kitchen for the time being. Cai Chunmei went home without saying a word and took a knife to chop the meat, preparing to help Zhen Shuai's family fill the sausages; Ma Xiaolian took the pig intestines and pulled Aunt Wei to the river. While cleaning.
Zhen Shuai saw this and decided to make the New Year's gift even richer.
After more than an hour, the smell of meat began to waft out of the kitchen. It was a coincidence that snowflakes also began to drift downwards. The north wind carried snowflakes smaller than a small fingernail into the house. The snowflakes fell on the clothes and disappeared in a moment.
Zhen Guo raised her head and looked at the sky happily, "It's snowing!"
Chapter 646: Incident in the Grain Farm [First update]
This is the first snowfall this winter, and the people in the house are no longer in the mood to play cards. They throw away the playing cards, put their hands in their pockets, and go to the yard with their necks hunched to look, stamping their feet from time to time to keep warm.
"It's snowing. I was worried that there would be no snow this year."
"I hope it will rain more heavily!" "
I heard that your family planted five acres of land compared to last year? You don't have to worry about it next year."
"I hope it does. , then you can come home to eat steamed buns! Haha!"
As the saying goes, if you have a three-layer wheat quilt in winter, you will sleep with steamed buns on your pillow next year. If there are three good snowfalls in winter, there will definitely be a bumper wheat harvest next year.
Several women in the kitchen were talking and laughing louder, and deep joy flowed out.
The happy cheers of children could be heard in the distance. They must be the ones who like the snow the most. Because when it snows, you can not only build snowmen and have snowball fights, but you can also build snow houses and play sledding.
The snow is falling harder and harder, and the snowflakes are gradually becoming the size of goose feathers, falling in large numbers, like one after another. A thin layer was first deposited on the roof and walls, like snow-white cream.
Zhen Shuai watched quietly and was in a good mood.
"Brother, we want to go out and play for a while!" Zhen Guo pulled Zhen Duo and ran to Zhen Shuai.
"Go."
The two little girls ran out quickly, their backs showing a sense of joy.
The cheers and screams of the children outside were louder and lively to listen to.
"My nephew is good at everything, but he is a bit lonely! He doesn't play with his peers in the village. As a boy, it's better to be more lively." Zhen Aimin said this to the village chief and party secretary, with a look It was a sentimental expression of concern for his nephew.
The village chief smiled and said: "Zhenshuai, if you want to go out to play, you can go. We are not outsiders. You don't need to entertain us specially. We will entertain ourselves." Among these people, Butcher Zhang was the only one from another village. He was busy. He said
: "Yes, we are all acquaintances. If you, the master, were not here, maybe we would be more comfortable!"
Everyone laughed.
"Yeah, hahahaha..."
Zhen Shuai also wanted to go out and have a look, so he said, "Then let's go out for a walk and be back soon. Elders, do whatever you want." "Go, go."
Zhen
Shuai and Shen The governors came hand in hand to the grain drying field.
This is the largest venue and is the liveliest place in the village all year round.
At this time, a large group of children of all ages were running around on the grain drying field. They were all children from the village. The youngest was two or three years old and the oldest was ten years old. There were large and small footprints everywhere on the snow. Because the snow is not thick enough, the black ground is exposed, which actually doesn’t look good. But on the stacks of straw piled around the drying field, the snow has not been damaged too much, looking like white hats, which is very interesting.
Some children couldn't wait to have a snowball fight, screaming and running, their faces flushed.
"Dudu, come and play with us!" A little girl who looked six or seven years old appeared from behind, grabbed Shen Xingdu's hand and ran away.
"Hey!"
It was so sudden that Zhen Shuai didn't stop him.
There was no time to react. A little girl about ten years old ran over and took Shen Xingdu's other hand. She bent down and stared at his face. Her voice was soft, "Dudu, come with us." Let's play together. You are really cute!"
The little girl from before said expectantly: "Sister Doudou, can we play house with Dudu together?"
Zhen Shuai stretched out his hand, "Hey, you can't just because I made him so cute, so why don't you fight with me!"
The audience in the live broadcast room didn't expect to see this, and they burst into laughter.
[Commander, just let Brother Dudu play for a while! ]
[That is, after you leave, Dudu will also need friends. 】
【Anchor, just feel free to let Brother Shen play. Brother Shen is just a little friend now, so you won't have more love rivals because of this! ]
[Commander, give Brother Dudu some space, please. No matter how strong the love is, it needs distance, really! ]
[Anchor, don't tell me you don't want to watch Brother Dudu play house with the children. You definitely want to see it too, right? 】
Zhen Shuai crossed his arms and crossed his chest, frowning. These guys are just watching the excitement and don’t take it too seriously!
Seeing Shen Xingdu trying hard to free his hands, he quickly ran over to prepare for rescue.
"You two little sisters, Dudu doesn't like playing house, so I still..."
"Zhen Shuai!"
Zhen Aimin's shout came from the distance.
Zhen Shuai looked back and saw Zhen Aimin standing in the distance waving to him repeatedly, seemingly in a hurry.
He thought something had happened at home, so he quickly said to Shen Xingdu, "Brother Dudu, please play by yourself for a while. I'll go back and take a look?" Shen Xingdu nodded, "I'm fine." Zhen Shuai went to Zhen Aimin's
side
. While running, he called Zhen Duo, "Zhen Duo, you and Zhen Guo look at Brother Dudu!" "
I got it-"
Before Zhen Shuai could reach Zhen Aimin, Zhen Aimin actually turned around and walked away.
A strange feeling flashed through his heart, and it was fleeting. Without stopping, he ran all the way home before catching up with Zhen Aimin.
"Uncle, what's wrong? I just left for a while and you asked me to come back?"
The village chief and others looked at Zhen Aimin curiously. Zhen Aimin went out to ask Zhen Shuai to come back, but they didn't know.
Zhen Aimin smiled honestly, "It's rare for us people to get together and have fun together, why don't we have a good drink? I saw the wine you prepared, and I was a little worried that it wasn't enough, so I asked you to come back and ask." Hou Mingyao said hurriedly
. : "I can't finish these bottles! I feel uncomfortable after drinking too much." No matter what, you can't say that the wine or food prepared by the host is not enough. Isn't that equivalent to swearing? What's more, there are six bottles on the table.
Zhen Shuai glanced at Zhen Aimin and was too lazy to argue with him.
"There is plenty of wine. I'm afraid that the kids will break it when they come in, so I put the rest in my room. I'll get it." He went to the room and took out six or seven
bottles of wine and put them on the table. The six bottles on the shelf, more than ten bottles in total, are all good wines, including Moutai, Guishi Laojiao, Jingcheng Tequ... and the Daqu from Shan Province sent by Huang San.
The village chief and others felt that they had learned a lot. There are many brands they have never heard of.
Now that he was back, Zhen Shuai couldn't go out anymore. He personally refilled the hot tea for the guests, filled the almost empty food box with melon seeds, peanuts and candies, and then sat down by the brazier to chat with the guests.
A faint smile appeared on the corner of Zhen Aimin's mouth and disappeared in a flash. He picked up the hot water kettle and poured Zhen Shuai a cup of hot tea.
"Here, warm your hands."
"Thank you, uncle." Zhen Shuai looked at him, not hiding the weirdness in his eyes. What medicine is sold in the gourd?
The village chief and others didn't think much about it. They all regard Zhen Shuai as an adult, and they can be said to interact as equals. Besides, he's an uncle, so it's okay to pour a glass of water for his nephew.
In the kitchen, the aroma is getting stronger and stronger, and the use of barbecue powder stimulates the aroma of the meat to the fullest. Several grown men couldn't help but swallow secretly.
Aunt Wei wiped her hands on her apron and walked in, "Can you smell the fragrance? We are all in for a treat today! Zhen Shuai, dinner will be ready in about ten minutes."
"Okay."
Seeing Zhen Shuai stand up, everyone else followed suit and helped him place the table and chairs in the middle of the hall, and turned on the lights above their heads.
This large round tabletop was made by Zhen Shuai from a carpenter in the village. Usually, the family uses a square table for meals. When entertaining guests, the round table top is placed on the square table to accommodate more dishes.
Zhen Shuai moved a brand new square table from his parents' room.
"What is this?" The branch secretary was puzzled.
Zhen Shuai smiled and said: "Put two tables! The adults sit at one table, and the children sit at another table. I will call all the children of the elders in a while." The
village chief and others were surprised. It is normal for adults to bring one or two children with them to have a meal with relatives, but this is indeed the first time that a table is set up specifically for children.
Hou Mingyao stopped Zhen Shuai, "Zhen Shuai, you are too polite, just let them eat whatever they want. Besides, they don't have long butts, so they can't sit still." Zhen Shuai pretended to be tough, "It's such a nice weather
. You should eat lively to enjoy it. Just leave it alone! However, we have to borrow some chairs from Uncle Qian and Uncle Lu's family. There are not enough chairs at home." As he said that, he pushed Qian Zhenguo out
.
"You kid is really..." Qian Zhenguo rubbed his head, "Then I'll go back and move."
Qian Zhenguo and Lu Jiefang went back to move the chairs, and the others helped move the round table inside to make some space. The brazier was also moved to a corner to prevent the children from hurting them later.
Zhen Shuai moved the brazier to his room, closed the door, and then went to the kitchen to get wine glasses, bowls and chopsticks, and placed them on the table.
At this moment, a series of panicked shouts suddenly sounded outside, as well as Marshmallow's angry barking.
"Did something happen?" Ma Jiaming looked at the others uncertainly.
"Something must have happened! It's Marshmallow screaming!"
Just as Hou Mingyao was about to say something, Commander Zhen had already rushed out like a gust of wind, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"This kid is so fast!" Butcher Zhang muttered, and the cigarette in his mouth dropped in shock.
"Hurry up and have a look! Don't let the children hurt anyone while playing wildly!" The party secretary said nothing and ran out.
The children of everyone present were probably playing on the grain drying ground. Several people's expressions changed and they ran out one after another.
Butcher Zhang chased after him without hesitation, ready to lend his hand if anything happened.
Several women heard something was wrong and ran out, standing uneasily at the entrance of the courtyard and looking around.
Aunt Ding clutched her chest, her face a little pale, "It should be okay! My son knows I'm here, and if anything happens, he will come and report!"
"Yes, yes!" Aunt Xi agreed absentmindedly.
That's what he said, but how could he not be worried?
Only Wu Guixiang was leaning against the door frame of the kitchen relaxedly, holding a big bone and chewing on it. The corners of her mouth were oily, "Don't worry, everything will be fine." Ma Xiaolian took off her apron, "I run fast, let me go and take a look , Come back soon."
Aunt Xi said hurriedly: "Then you must come back and say something, don't be like those men, who went away for a long time and didn't come back!" In fact, there is no half day, only a minute or two passed.
"Hey!" Ma Xiaolian didn't argue with her, and ran away on the snow with nimble legs and feet.