Scholars in the courtyard.

Chapter 130
The shaved mutton is rapidly denatured under the stimulation of boiling water.

The unique smell of mutton quickly occupies the room, dispelling the cold in winter.

Yang Xiaotao stirred the mutton in the pot with a spoon, and the rich mutton soup exuded a seductive aroma, which made everyone in the room fidget.

Yang Dazhuang even stood in front of the pot, holding a big bowl himself, just waiting for Yang Xiaotao to come out of the pot.

"All right."

After taking a sip of the saltiness, Yang Xiaotao nodded in satisfaction, then filled the bowl in Yang Dazhuang's hand, then threw the chopped green onion into it, and personally delivered it to Mrs. Yang.

"Master, try it!"

A circle of people cast their gazes over.

Under the oil lamp, the meat in the bowl is white and tender, and the soup is also milky white. The meat slices look full of temptation.

"Yes, and this one."

Yang Xiaotao pretended to rummage through his backpack, and then got a small bottle in his hand.

Put it on the table under everyone's suspicious eyes, and slowly twist it away.

"Chili noodles?"

Grandpa Yang suddenly yelled happily, and before Yang Xiaotao could nod, he grabbed the bottle, twisted it open, and picked out a large piece with his chopsticks.

The red-yellow chili oil was immediately poured into the bowl, the original milky white soup turned bright red, and Mr. Yang impatiently sucked it down.

"Cough cough! This taste is strong enough! Cough..."

"Before liberation, I went to Taiyuan with the team, and I drank such a bowl on the street."

"It's been so many years, many people can't drink it anymore!"

Recalling the memories, Mr. Yang looked depressed.

For a moment, there was a feeling of sadness in the room, and people who walked out of the flames of war always had some hard-to-let go stories in their hearts.

As a time traveler, Yang Xiaotao can't understand this kind of thing. Maybe the genes left in his body in this round record the memories of his growing up, but at this time he can't understand that kind of sadness.

After a moment of silence, Yang Dazhuang on the side said, "Master, since it tastes good, drink more, and drink more for them."

"Yes, drink more, drink more for the brothers below."

The old brothers at the table began to persuade, Mr. Yang regained his composure, and then laughed, "Then you should drink more, or I'll keep it for you."

"Isn't that cheap for you?"

"Hahaha"

Everyone laughed, Yang Xiaotao handed the spoon to Shitou's daughter-in-law, and sat next to Mrs. Yang with a bowl.

Then he took out a bottle of Xifeng wine, filled it up for the grandfather himself, then poured a glass for several other people, and finally poured it for himself.

After a circle, there is only the bottom of the wine bottle left.

The wine is sweet and clear.

"Grandpa, I wish you good health and all the best."

"Everything goes well."

Yang Xiaotao raised his wine glass to bless Mr. Yang, and everyone also raised their glasses to accompany him.

"Okay, all of us are happy."

Everyone took a sip, Grandpa Yang pouted, "That's right, it tastes better than soju."

Everyone nodded in unison, savoring the aroma of the wine.

As soon as the wine is drunk, the atmosphere rises.

Everyone, you ask a question and I say a word, and soon they talked about life, work, the past, and the future.

Yang Xiaotao spends most of his time answering questions, from the factory to the courtyard, the people around him, his future plans, his salary, etc., as long as someone asks him, he will answer, there is nothing to hide.

When everyone heard that Yang Xiaotao had earned so much, it was more of a kind of pride.

The pride of their children's future.

Grandpa Yang felt relieved when he heard this, and kept nodding to the people around him, "Our Yang Family Village is a top-notch man, and he is a hero wherever he goes."

Everyone continued to drink, and the atmosphere became more enthusiastic as the cup went down.

Yang Xiaotao wanted to drink another bottle, but was stopped by Yang Dazhuang at the side, not because he couldn't drink it, but because he wanted to keep it flowing.

Yang Xiaotao also knew how precious this wine was.

After drinking, Stone's daughter-in-law served corn cakes for one person, which were baked out of the pot, golden on one side and black on the other.

Yang Xiaotao reached out and took a corn tortilla, broke it into a bowl, soaked it in mutton soup, and it was fragrant.

Seeing this, the people at the table also picked up the pancakes and ate them cozily, each of them guarding their bowls without looking up.

Even the few women who were helping stood at the door with bowls in their hands and pulled them up.

They have never eaten such a lot of meat and such a good soup in their life.

It was already midnight when everyone finished eating, this meal not only announced the return of Yang Xiaotao's identity, but also made the people of Yangjiazhuang regard him as one of their own.

After everyone dispersed, Yang Xiaotao had a conversation with Mr. Yang, and then sorted out the things he had brought back. Among them, he told about the wine that Aunt Wang entrusted him to bring. Mr. Yang just sighed with emotion, and then told him to move around more in the future.

Yang Xiaotao naturally understood the reason, and nodded happily.

The night passed, and the day dawned.

The most important festival of the year is approaching quietly.

New Year's Eve, everyone celebrates the New Year.

It was almost nine o'clock when Yang Xiaotao got up, he shook his head, looked at the strange room and the furnishings in the house, but there was no sense of strangeness in his heart.

I ran around all day yesterday, drank some wine in the evening, and fell asleep in bed not long after.

Xiaowei saw Yang Xiaotao get up and come out of the window, Yang Xiaotao knew what he was thinking and let her play by herself.

In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

But Yang Xiaotao knew that this little guy was in the yard.

When he opened the door, he heard a crackling sound, and when he looked up, he saw Yang Shitou wearing a gray sweater, with his cuffs rolled up and chopping down tree roots with an axe.

Yang Xiaotao ran over in surprise, "Shitou, what are you doing here?"

"Xiaotao, you're up!"

"Why don't you chop some wood and use it as firewood? You haven't eaten it yet, so I'll ask someone to heat it up for you?"

"No, I ate late last night. I'm not very hungry. Let's wait for lunch."

"Where is the grandfather?"

Yang Xiaotao looked around but didn't find anyone, so he opened his mouth and came too.

"It's just a new year, ready to welcome the family hall."

"Family Hall?"

Yang Xiaotao is somewhat different, feudal superstition is not popular in this era.

"It's just to hang up the ancestors and let future generations know the name of the ancestors, which is meaningless."

Yang Xiaotao nodded, then walked up to him, motioning for himself to try it.

"This is not good, you have never done this job, it is not easy to do."

"It's okay, I'm strong."

Yang Xiaotao grabbed the axe, and aimed at the waist-thick tree roots below.

"Hey, that's not right, you have to follow the fold, so that..."

patter
A tree root was chopped off, and Yang Shitou opened his mouth wide.

"Let me tell you, I have great strength."

Yang Xiaotao said proudly, and then slashed at the roots of the tree.

Broken logs and tree roots were scattered all over the place, and a big tree root was quickly dismembered.

Yang Shitou was dumbfounded, and finally could only admit that Yang Xiaotao was really energetic.

After chopping the firewood, Yang Xiaotao wandered around the village following the stone.

The entire Yangjiazhuang is located on a plain, the land is flat, there is no difficult place to walk, the house construction is regular and well-organized, there are few livestock in the house, and there is not much garbage and excrement on the road.

The two wandered around the village, and many women went to Nanshan to gather leaves on their backs with sacks on their backs, and came back to light fire.

Many children also ran and laughed beside them, even though their faces were red from the cold, they did not lose their interest.

Along the way, basically every family said a few words and said hello to make their faces familiar.

The first place they went to was Yang Dazhuang's house, which was also the closest.

When he came here, Yang Dazhuang was busy all day as the village head, but his lover led the three children to pick up the house at home.

There are two boys and one girl. The oldest boy is eight years old, the youngest is six years old, and the youngest daughter is only three years old.

The three children were all raised as boys, and they ran around in the yard in fairly clean clothes.

Yang Xiaotao brought some candies with him when he went out, and after seeing the three children, he immediately gave some to them.

Although the three children panicked, seeing Yang Xiaotao giving birth, they turned their eyes to the mother who was packing the corn husks.

Yang Dazhuang's daughter-in-law, Wang Fang, is also from the Gaojiazhuang next door. She was married a few years ago. She is not tall but has a stout figure, a big face, short hair around her ears, and she is equally forthright.

He hurriedly greeted Yang Xiaotao to enter the room, and took out a small bag of melon seeds to greet him.

The three children took the candy and ran outside to play excitedly.

Yang Xiaotao sat at Yang Dazhuang's house for a while, then left and went to other people's houses.

Perhaps the circle of children is too wide, the three children ran around outside and immediately spread the word about candy.

Now, Yang Xiaotao followed a group of children wherever he went, there was no way he couldn't treat one better than another, a bowl of water was equal.

Fortunately, there are still a lot of this kind of candy in the space, so Yang Xiaotao gave two yuan to each child, which was regarded as a New Year's meeting gift.

In this way, the children in the whole village finally found the happiness of Chinese New Year.

Many people also knew about Yang Xiaotao, and with the meeting last night, the situation of Yang Xiaotao was also spread by the people who ate. This kind of outstanding young man was quickly remembered by the villagers.

Before noon, some aunts from the next village who heard the news started to talk about matchmaking, all of them were enthusiastic, and Yang Xiaotao hurried home.

However, he still underestimated the enthusiasm of women in this era for the pursuit of 'love', or the enthusiasm for pursuit of life in the city.

Those who are shy ask someone to ask, boasting that it is rare in the sky, and it is stunning in the world.

Those who are daring will come to Yang's house to visit, with their eyes hooked on Yang Xiaotao, wishing to eat him directly.

As a human being in two lifetimes, it was the first time Yang Xiaotao had foreseen this, so he couldn't help but panic.

Grandpa Yang on the side was also very happy to see Yang Xiaotao flustered.

Fortunately, Yang Xiaotao knew what he was after, and pure beauty was not what he was after.

What he pursues is, ahem, beauty and connotation.

After seeing off the people who came to visit, the father and father hung the family tree in the living room. It was a long yellow piece of cardboard with many blank spaces on it, but those with names were all those who left.

Yang Xiaotao saw his father's name and his mother's name next to a branch. He was inexplicably sad, but he was soon washed away by the New Year's atmosphere.

When he told Mr. Yang what happened, the old man also laughed, but he didn't interfere with Yang Xiaotao's marriage.

He knew in his heart that Yang Xiaotao's conditions made it impossible to find a child from the countryside.

It's not that he looks down on rural people, it's just that he wants Yang Xiaotao to have a better family.

This is not partiality, it is purely an old man's love for his offspring.

At noon, Mr. Yang and Mrs. Yang started pasting Spring Festival couplets. The red paper was cut into long strips, and the old people in the village began to write Spring Festival couplets.

Yang Xiaotao watched from the side. Compared with the writing of the third master in the courtyard, he was a little less literary, but it was more realistic and wrote people's aspirations.

"Love the country, love the party, love the people, work hard to ensure production!"

"Building a home!"

Yang Xiaotao looked at it with a pair of Spring Festival couplets. Mr. Yang also used a broom to spread the paste on the gate, and then the two of them pasted it together.

"New year, new atmosphere, everything starts from scratch!"

"Happy family."

The two pasted Spring Festival couplets on the door of the main room, and then began to prepare for dinner.

At noon, Yang Xiaotao and Mrs. Yang came to the brigade headquarters next door with a rice bowl. At this moment, a row of pots was pouring hot water, a group of women were busy, and children kept wandering around the pot table, getting some food from their mothers and aunts from time to time. Yes, and continue to play around when satisfied.

This appearance made Yang Xiaotao fully understand what a big pot of rice is.

Speaking of eating in the factory is also a kind of big pot meal, but one needs a ticket and the other pays for food.

Of course, tickets are also issued!
But it's not easy to get this meal.

When Yang Xiaotao stepped forward, several women and aunts all smiled.

Say hello, and then look at the pimple being rubbed.

The surface on the wooden board is just some flour mixed with wheat bran, which looks gray, and raised particles can be vaguely seen.

This is not as good as two-sided noodles.

Yang Xiaotao looked around, it was such a meal, and the eyes of the people around were still full of joy.

Several people also recognized Yang Xiaotao, and even the meat in this meal was brought back by Yang Xiaotao.

During the Chinese New Year, there is not much time to eat meat.

This year, they also benefited from Yang Xiaotao's glory.

"Don't you know?"

The nearby aunt explained without looking at Yang Xiaotao staring at her face.

"It's made from wheat with its skins. Except for festivals and hard work, you can't usually eat this stuff."

Yang Xiaotao heard the words and asked, "Is there anything to eat in the village?"

The aunt said with a sneer, "If you say yes, in fact there are."

"But you have to save your food."

"Not enough to eat?"

"Oh, it's been like this for the past few years. Those harvested in autumn will be gone before spring."

"Big guys have to tighten their belts, and it's just the Chinese New Year, so you can have a good meal."

The aunt opened the topic, and everyone around her came together to talk.

From time to time, someone would ask, "Surely you won't be hungry in the city?"

"I heard that the city specially distributes grain, and people in the factory can have food without farming. It's really good in your city."

Yang Xiaotao listened on the sidelines, not happy because of the 'city people'.

On the contrary, after knowing the current situation in the village, he couldn't be happy.

At noon, when the food was out of the pot, Yang Xiaotao queued up to order noodle soup, took two steamed buns, and went home with Mr. Yang.

After the two of them finished their meal, Yang Xiaotao asked about the situation in the village. Mr. Yang sighed, and what Yang Xiaotao said was similar to what Yang Xiaotao heard.

Thinking of the life in the village after the next year, Yang Xiaotao also felt heavy in his heart.

What can he do?

Most of the things bought back have been handed over, and the rest is just taken out, which is just a drop in the bucket.

How difficult is it to make changes in the general environment?
Even if all the credits are used to exchange things, it can satisfy the Yang family village for a while, but what about after that?

What about other villages?
Yang Xiaotao was a little confused, looking at the bare poplar trees outside the window, he finally lowered his head.

"The courtyard house is too small."

(End of this chapter)