The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 112 Mountain Village - Home

The countryside in July is beautiful.

Mountains of green.

The corn is tall and tall, with long leaves swaying in the wind, and there is a sound of rushing, like singing.A delightful corn cob was pulled out from the waist, and the pink corn whiskers on the ears were shy.

The millet is half the height of a person, showing green ears of grain, half-hanging, undulating waves from time to time.

The green and yellow soybean fields are the most conspicuous, and the cheerful cries of grasshoppers are heard inside, attracting children to stop.Standing quietly in the bean field, looking for the sound, he walked over quietly, holding a stalk of horsetail grass in his hand, and slowly stretched it out to the general with a big belly, teasing slightly and cautiously——
The general couldn't resist the temptation of the horsetail grass, and jumped on it, followed by the cheerful and excited laughter of the children.

The small cabbage in the garden has become second cabbage, the cucumbers are covered with melon stands, and the pepper seedlings are full of red, green, half-red and half-yellow peppers, which are pleasing to the eye.

Tomatoes are buzzing, and there are still morning dewdrops on them——
Shallots, leeks, eggplant, beans, squash, coriander, lettuce——
The garden is full, and you can pick whatever you want to eat when you enter the garden. It is pure green and pollution-free, and it is your own small yard.

Lao Tan brewed a pot of tea and sat in front of the steps in the yard of the Fifth Sister’s house. While drinking tea, he watched his son continue to play basketball with the children of the Fifth Sister’s family.

The fifth sister's family is already seventeen, and she is in high school.The boy is tall, 1.9 meters, and loves to play basketball. The fifth sister and fifth brother-in-law took the basketball hoop that was removed from the elementary school home and put it on the edge of the courtyard wall. He played for a while when he was free.

At this time, the two brothers were having a great time playing.

Old Tan's son, Jiaheng, is a little chubby. He is just nine years old, and sometimes he can't even touch the basket when he shoots.

Old Tan's mother came out of the house, holding a cotton cloth mat in her hand, spread the cloth mat in front of the steps, and sat on it smilingly watching her two grandsons play basketball.After watching for a while, he said: "Okay, don't play, it's hot, just play for a while, take a rest."

Jiaheng said: "Grandma, let's play for a while, you won't be tired."

"I'm not tired, my head is sweating." The old lady felt sorry for her eldest grandson.

Jiaxu caught the basketball and didn't shoot again. He said to Jiaheng: "I won't play anymore, take a break, and grandma will be angry if I play again."

The two children took a temporary truce and ran outside the gate to cool off under the jujube tree.

Fifth Sister picked up an armful of cabbage from the garden and put it on the steps, and said, "Let's eat dumplings stuffed with cabbage at noon, it's so bright."

Old Tan said: "Well, I am willing to eat."

At this time, my mother asked: "Do you want to put meat?"

Fifth Sister said: "Leave it alone. It won't taste good if you don't put meat in it. Do you want to eat it? If you don't eat it, I will wrap it with vegetarian stuffing for you."

Mother said: "No, just cook it for me for a while alone, and I will bite."

The fifth sister smiled and said to Lao Tan: "Mom eats everything now. She has no teeth and can't bite. When picking ribs, give her a little longer. She loves ribs. She has no teeth and is good at eating pork ribs." Tear and eat."

"We have to be like that when we get old. My teeth are not good now." Old Tan said.

"My teeth are not good, so follow our mother." Fifth Sister said, "But our mother is not sick at heart, she is not confused at all, and her physique is better than ours. We are not as good as our mother when we are old."

Sitting outside the gate, Jia continued: "My grandma is a centenarian!"

Old Tan and Fifth Sister laughed.

The old lady didn't hear clearly, so she asked, "What old man?"

Jia Xu said loudly: "Old man, you can live to be a hundred years old!"

"Live a hundred years? Then you won't be a monster anymore. You don't need to live a hundred years, just ninety, and you'll be content with ninety—" the old lady muttered with a smile, then narrowed her eyes, basking in the sun enjoying herself.

The 79-year-old man is fine except for some eye problems. He is cheerful and optimistic.

The old lady suffered all her life, and when she was young, she supported her six children by begging. 60 years old hadn't had a good day before.

Speaking of the old lady, there is no one in Sanliwutun who does not give a thumbs up. A woman widow is unemployed and leads six children. The life is as dilapidated as the bottom of a sieve.

Everyone said that it was impossible to live in those days. There was not even a male labor force in the family. A group of girls, whether they have a family to carry on the family, or they are still cubs, it doesn't matter.

But it is such a family, a thin and dry old lady, just like an old hen, protects six children under the warm wings, raises them up one by one, and all of them start a family and start a business.

And also offered a college student.

The fifth sister is now the principal of the village primary school, an excellent teacher in the city, and an excellent teacher in the province.

The hardships that ordinary people have put in are unimaginable, so they are respected by the villagers.

When it was almost noon, the fifth sister and father-in-law came back from driving the sheep with a woven bag in their hand.

Jia Heng ran over to help drive the sheep into the pen, and asked, "Second Grandpa, are you picking mushrooms again?"

Fifth Sister's father-in-law said with a smile: "I picked it up, not many today."

Jia Heng happily took the woven bag from Second Grandpa, and dumped the mushrooms on the steps.

They are all pine mushrooms, a small piece of red.

Hearing the bleating of the sheep, the fifth sister and mother-in-law came from the west courtyard, holding the shallots that had just been plucked from the garden.Said to my wife: "Wash your hands, eat dumplings today, stuffed with cabbage."

The fifth sister and father-in-law said: "You just pick up the shallots and pick a few peppers."

The fifth sister and mother-in-law turned back to the garden to pick peppers.

Lao Tan handed the fifth sister and father-in-law a cigarette, and lit it with a lighter.

"Second Uncle, what do you want for lunch?" Old Tan asked.

"Drink some, take a nap after drinking, and scatter the sheep in the afternoon, it's too hot, and it's not proper to eat the sheep on the mountain." The fifth sister-in-law said.

"You are always restless." Old Tan said.

"Hey, you can't eat when you're old. I have a good physique. I can move as much as I can. If I don't move, it's over. Herding sheep is a job, and I also exercise. Although you are younger than me, you are not as good as me when it comes to physique." Two Uncle said.

"Well, I'm not as physically fit as you."

"Your fifth sister and your fifth brother-in-law have long since stopped asking me to raise sheep. They said they would buy a house in the city and tell me to go and enjoy life with your second aunt. I said that would not work, as long as the old farmer can move, he has to do something, go Living in a building in the city is not called enjoying happiness, it means quitting work, and after two years, your physique will be gone.

Did you see, my flock of sheep is not many, about fifty sheep, they are inconspicuous, and they cannot be taken away without giving 50,000 yuan.Besides, a dozen or so lambs are caught every year, so that's not all money.If you want to eat mutton, you don't need to buy it, just kill it now.

You didn't come back on May Day, and my family said that they wanted to eat haggis, so I killed one that day.Eat, my eldest grandson will kill if he wants to eat, and eat the whole thing.Herding sheep is a little tiring, but seeing the grandson happy, I don't know that I am tired.How is my eldest grandson, just like her mother, sensible, good at studying, and always comes first in the exam.

I'm preparing to take the university entrance exam, so tell me that I'm going to take the exam in Beijing.Hehe, I told him that as long as he is admitted, his grandfather will confess. The old Song family has never had a college student. "

The second uncle smiled happily after speaking.

At this time, the fifth sister called the two of them into the house to eat dumplings, and they followed each other into the house.

After lunch, Lao Tan didn't have the habit of taking a nap, so he sat alone under the jujube tree outside the gate to enjoy the shade.

It has been half a month since I got home, and I have lived quite comfortably for the past half month.Except for the big sister, second sister, third sister, and fourth sister who came to have fun in the first two days, Lao Tan and his son stayed quietly at the fifth sister's house.

This is the most comfortable and comfortable time he has stayed at home for 18 years since he went out to work.

I chat with my mother every day.

He remembered that when he was at home, his mother felt annoyed whenever she talked about family affairs, and he didn't like to listen to it, and he would always tell his mother to stop talking.But now he never tires of listening to it. Sometimes his mother said something yesterday, which is easy to forget, and he still listens to it when he says it again today.While listening to it, I regretted annoying my mother before, and blamed myself in my heart.

People, how far away is a home, how old is a mother.

Mom is at home.

Mom is calling home, and when mom is gone, she is calling back to her hometown.

The fifth sister's parents-in-law are very good, and the three old people are very harmonious together.In terms of age, Lao Tan's mother is more than ten years older than her in-laws, and she is their elder sister.

There is nothing wrong with the three old people, and being able to live in peace is the blessing of the children.

Mother is very good, Lao Tan is also relieved a lot.In this world, the only thing he can worry about is his mother, who has been away for a long time, and as a son, he can't be filial to the old man, and he feels very guilty.

In the past, in order not to drag him and Lin Yan down, my mother didn't go to him and told them to work hard outside with their hands and feet.As the old man gets older, he becomes more and more inseparable from the countryside. In addition, the conditions of the five daughters' families are quite good, so it is not a problem to support an old man, so he will not go to the city.

Lao Tan has always been worried about not being able to support his mother.When I came back this time, due to the change in my mood after being ill, I was relieved to see my mother enjoying her old age peacefully at Fifth Sister's house.

Filial piety does not necessarily mean bringing the elderly to take care of them for the elderly. It is better to obey the elderly in everything, and to follow the elderly's mind.

Those who obey are filial piety.

Someone asked Confucius what filial piety is, and Confucius said the word "sex is difficult".

That's right.Among other things, even if you have money, you can meet all your parents’ requirements, and you eat rich and delicious food every day, but you always show embarrassment to the old man and make the old man feel uncomfortable. That is not filial piety, but immorality.

What is filial piety?
Both dogs and horses can be raised, what's the difference in disrespect?
Disrespect is not filial, filial piety——

Seeing that my mother is living a good life, her body is very good, and my heart is much more spacious, I feel a lot more relaxed.

This is also the reason why he chose to go home instead of traveling. When he returned home, he stayed by his mother's side and had peace of mind.

A mother is always the warm baby, the affectionate attachment, and the strong pillar of the children.

Staying away from the hustle and bustle of the city, staying in a quiet mountain village full of earthy atmosphere, the heart is quiet and pure.The purity of the mind is washed in the morning dew, removing the superfluous impurities in the world, the soul is purified, and those messy things are completely far away——
A person's life is a practice.

Suffering and joy, love and sorrow, success and failure, possession and loss, flowers, applause and eclipse, everything is nothing more than the experience of a living person.If you value it, you will move forward with a heavy burden; if you look away, it will be a new beginning.

(End of this chapter)