Return to the small mountain village in 1986

Chapter 487

When Gao Mingcheng came in with bones and pork, both Gao Yuan and Luo Xiaohua had smiles on their faces. Even Huang Su'e, who brought her baby over to eat, was also full of joy.

Huang Su'e's eldest son is three years old and is playing with a stick. Because he is naughty and often runs outside, he has tanned his skin.Look at Huang Su'e's belly bulging slightly, as if she is pregnant again.

Gao Mingcheng was stunned, and then he counted the days and remembered that his eldest brother's daughter would be born next spring, which meant that he was already pregnant.

I see, no wonder that when Huang Su'e and Zhang Jinling quarreled before, his mother always sided with Huang Su'e. In addition to liking Huang Su'e more, it was also related to Huang Su'e's pregnancy.

Gao Mingcheng put down the meat, briefly explained his intention, and prepared to leave, so as not to get into an argument again.

Even so, after he left, his mother still had something to complain about.

"What the second child is carrying is for the family at the back, right? Oh, there are only a few people in his family, but he is given so much meat! The second child, a son with an arm bent outwards, was really born in vain!"

Gao Yuanyuan felt unhappy, because the meat Gao Mingcheng gave to Grandma Xi's family was obviously more meat than the meat he gave to himself.

But what they didn't know was that because Gao Mingcheng was going to have lunch at Xinai's house, he deliberately brought more meat. He had a big appetite, and a lot of the meat he brought would fall into his belly. .

Gao Mingcheng walked into the yard of Grandma Xi's house carrying a basket of meat and bones, and immediately heard Xiao Yuanyuan's soft and cute voice.

"Uncle!~"

"Hey, little Yuanyuan is great. Uncle brought you meat to eat!" Gao Mingcheng reached out and touched Xiao Yuanyuan's face. The child's skin was as tender as a peeled egg.

"Brother Mingcheng, grandma is asking me to call you over to Niuweiling for dinner. Have you gone into the mountains to hunt wild boars?" Gao Zhuang took off the straw hat on his head and took the basket in Gao Mingcheng's hand.

He looked at the basket of meat and bones and looked at Gao Mingcheng with eyes full of admiration.

He knew that Brother Cheng was really awesome!The wild boar was hunted down from the mountains so quickly and packed away!
"I didn't hit him, it was Black Tiger and Elf who hit him." Gao Mingcheng smiled and briefly told what happened, and then saw He Xiuman carrying the basket into the kitchen.

Grandma Xi was cooking in the kitchen. When she saw that Gao Mingcheng had brought so much meat, she immediately said to Gao Zhuang: "Zhuang Zhuang, there is not much water in the tank. Go and get two buckets of water from the well!"

"Hey." Gao Zhuang responded, walked into the kitchen, picked up the bucket and pole on the ground, and skillfully carried the empty bucket out.

Gao Mingcheng looked at Gao Zhuang's back and found that in just a few years, Gao Zhuang's shoulders had become thicker, which was caused by carrying too many burdens.

As for my grandma, as she gets older, she looks more and more old, because one of her shoulders has been completely deformed because she has been carrying burdens all year round.

These are the traces of hard times imprinted on farmers.

He Xiuman decided to cook the meal herself and asked Grandma Xi to go out and talk to Gao Mingcheng.

Grandma Xi smiled and said: "Ming Cheng is not an outsider. After Zhuang Zhuang comes back from fetching water, the two brothers can just talk. I will light the fire for you, and you wash the other pot, and the bones will be stewed in the next pot." Stir-fry in a pot. The ribs Ming Cheng brought have been stewed, and the meat will be marinated in salt to be eaten tomorrow."

Gao Mingcheng sent here ten pounds of ribs, two pounds of front leg meat, and half a side of suet, which was definitely enough for everyone to enjoy.

An hour later, the ribs were cooked and emitted a rich meaty aroma that spread all over the yard. The neighbors who lived near Grandma Xixia’s house smelled the meaty aroma and felt that the vegetarian dishes in the bowl were becoming more and more boring.

Hey, why didn't they establish a good relationship with Gao Mingcheng early?
Everyone had a great time eating this ribs dinner. Even Xiao Yuanyuan ate three pieces of ribs, and her face and hands were covered with oil.

At the dinner table, Grandma Xi said that she had planted a lot of sweet potatoes this year. After digging the sweet potatoes, she planned to make some sweet potato flour.

Grandma Xi said: "Mingcheng, you like to eat sweet potato noodles, I will give you a few kilograms when the time comes."

Gao Mingcheng immediately remembered that that year when the weather was dry, Grandma Xi also planted a lot of sweet potatoes and prepared to make sweet potato flour. As a result, there was no water in the wells in the old village, so he took the sweet potatoes and tools to Niuweiling and used the Gao Mingcheng family's That well made sweet potato flour.

Although Gao Mingcheng doesn't like sweet potatoes very much, every household in Gaojia Village grows sweet potatoes, and he is no exception. It's just that he doesn't plant much. He only plants three-thirds of the land. He can eat sweet potato leaves in summer and autumn. Dig up some sweet potatoes.

Gao Mingcheng asked Grandma Xi how many sweet potatoes the family had planted this year.

Gao Zhuang answered quickly: "I planted two acres of mountain land!"

Gao Zhuang dislikes eating sweet potatoes the most, because when he was a child, he ate them every day, every time, and it hurt him!
But Grandma Xi was very insistent. Her reason was to grow more sweet potatoes so that she could make sweet potato powder. Xiu Man loved to eat it!
Gao Zhuang recognized the fact that Xiu Man loved to eat, and managed the two acres of sweet potato fields with his nose pinched.

Although sweet potatoes are easy to grow, they don’t require much fertilization.

But sweet potatoes need to be pruned. If the sweet potato vines spread out over time, they will grow roots and penetrate into the soil, and then small sweet potatoes will grow.

But in this way, the main root will not be able to grow big sweet potatoes, and overall it will be a loss.

Therefore, the sweet potato vines need to be pruned every once in a while to prevent the sweet potato vines from growing roots.

During the process of turning the vines, it is inevitable that the vines will be broken, and those broken vines will become the rations of the pigs.

Gao Mingcheng was also a little stunned. There were a lot of sweet potatoes in the two acres of land. If you wanted to make all of them into sweet potato flour, it would be a big project.

But when it comes to land, Gao Mingcheng has to remind you: "Grandma, next year you will all go to live in the county, and the land in this village cannot be planted. Are you going to leave it uncultivated, or lend it to others for planting?"

When she mentioned this, Grandma Xixi's face was filled with distress and confusion.She really couldn't bear to part with these lands in the village!
If it weren't for the future of her grandson and great-granddaughter, Grandma Xi would have refused to leave Gaojia Village even to death.

Having lived in the village all her life, she knows people's hearts well. Whether it is borrowed or rented to others to grow, over time, it will become someone else's!
Even if it is deserted, it will be occupied by others today and tomorrow. Over time, it will still belong to others.

Even if you want to quarrel at that time, you won't be able to win the quarrel because your family has a small population.

Every time I think of this, Grandma Xi is so distressed that she tosses and turns unable to sleep.

Gao Zhuang looked at his grandmother's distressed look and couldn't help but say that he didn't want to live in the county anymore.

He thought for a while and said: "I plan to throw rice seedlings into the fields. As for the fields close to home, I will plant them, and forget about the ones too far away."

"You can't do it without planting, and you still have to pay the public grain. The yield of throwing rice is lower, but it's better than nothing, and it's much easier. Just plant crops that are drought-resistant and easy to care for, such as sweet potatoes, soybeans, peanuts, winter melons, and pumpkins. Whatever, as long as it’s rewarding.”

"I will ride my bicycle back every few days, or I can come back to work with you, Brother Mingcheng."

After hearing Gao Zhuang's plan, Gao Mingcheng nodded in approval.

He always has to go back to Gaojiacun every three to five, so it's okay to bring Gao Zhuang back to work together.

Otherwise, it would be hard for Grandma Xiao to accept that she would no longer be able to farm.

He said: "Very good, so be it! The village is our root, and we really cannot do without it."

After receiving Gao Mingcheng's approval, Gao Zhuang's face was filled with a smile and he hummed happily.

This method really takes care of everyone's emotions, and both Grandma Xi and He Xiuman accept it. If they don't give up the land at all, let alone Grandma Xi, He Xiuman won't accept it either.

She yearns for life in the county, but she also has a deep love for the land.

Farmers without land are like fish without water, both of which are unacceptable.

After eating and chatting for a while, Gao Mingcheng slowly returned to Niuweiling.

The cut meat is placed in the main room, and the meat is covered with a layer of cotton cloth, which can effectively prevent fly bites.

Next to the meat, three dogs sat cross-legged one after another, as if half asleep and half awake. After hearing Gao Mingcheng's footsteps, the three dogs got up one after another and came forward with wagging tails.

"Yes, they are all good employees who stick to their posts!" Gao Mingcheng praised him and decided to leave a little more meat for Sangou to eat.

The situation at home was normal, so he walked to the chicken coop. At this time, the sun was shining brightly and the temperature was high. The lime water in the chicken coop had dried completely. The ground was white, and there were still some footprints of individual chickens left there.

Next to the chicken coop, there was a basket of camphor leaves and mugwort, which was obviously planned to be spread on the ground after it was completely dry.

Gao Mingcheng laid it and picked up a few eggs from the chicken coop.

Eggs also have a shelf life. If the temperature is high, they will break easily, so any eggs you pick up must be taken back to the county to be sold.

Yesterday, Duomei said that there was no more firewood in the county, so he planned to pack some firewood back. Maybe he is used to it. Everyone always thinks that the food cooked with firewood is more delicious.

But Gao Mingcheng thinks this is because burning firewood is easier to control than burning briquettes. If you want a small fire, just remove some firewood. If you want a big fire, just add more firewood.

As for the briquettes, the fire is weak at first, but when they are completely burned, the fire is too strong and the heat cannot be changed according to different dishes.

Gao Mingcheng came to the place where the firewood was piled and chopped the whole log with an axe. Each log was about thirty centimeters. As for the fine branches, it was not convenient to stack them and they were not burned, so they were left in the village for use.

After stacking the chopped firewood in the truck compartment, Gao Mingcheng took the bamboo basket to pick vegetables in the vegetable field.

At this time, peppers and eggplants are still on most people's plates, and lentils, edamame, Chinese cabbage, shepherd's purse, loofah, pumpkin, water spinach, etc. are also frequent guests on the dinner table.

Lentils were planted next to the chicken coop. The vines were wrapped around the branches, with flowers on one side and pods on the other.

Plant five or six lentil vines and you will be able to keep eating them for a long time.

However, the cowpeas and cucumbers planted in early spring are already old, and the vines have withered.

Gao Mingcheng picked a whole basket of vegetables and put them on the cart, then put the eggs he picked up from the chicken coop today, and finally the wild boar meat.

The wild boar's head and feet were burned and washed by Zhang Chengyuan. Gao Mingcheng gave Zhang Chengyuan a pig's foot, a pair of water and oil, several kilograms of keel bones and a kilogram of hind leg meat.

The rest was put in a clean bamboo basket, and the offal was placed in a separate bamboo basket. The fishy smell of the fish spoiled the meat. On top of the meat, there were two pieces of meat, both of which were covered with palm leaves. After they were dressed, one piece was given to Gao Shouwang, who was a partner, and the other piece was given to Huang Dazhi's parents' house.

It is said that those who see it have a share, so naturally they cannot be left behind.

(End of this chapter)