Return to the small mountain village in 1986

In the afternoon, the wind began to blow, and snowflakes began to fall from the cloudy sky.

The old village has a large population and a lot of naughty children. The east family is making trouble and the west family is laughing, which is full of New Year atmosphere.

But when we return to Niuweiling, it is inevitably deserted.

When Gao Mingcheng returned home, Xiao Xuxu had woken up and was eating candy.

Duo Meizi found a fruit plate, grabbed a handful of melon seeds, a handful of peanuts, and a handful of candies and placed them on it. Then he grabbed a handful of oranges and a few apples, and the arrangement was full, which looked festive.

The oranges are grown on our own trees. When we first sold the oranges, some were left over. Those oranges were put into wooden boxes filled with rice husks for preservation.

It's just that after such a long time, it is inevitable that some of them will become moldy and rotten. Many beauties throw away the rotten ones and take out the remaining intact ones.

Looking at the oranges with some wrinkled skin, Gao Mingcheng suddenly remembered that he should plant some oranges. Oranges have thicker skins and are easier to preserve than oranges. They also mature later than oranges. If you plant oranges, you can keep them intact. Save the oranges for the Chinese New Year.

Otherwise, without special refrigerated warehouses, it would be difficult for ordinary people to keep fruits fresh.

When talking about oranges, most people in Jiangxi will think of Gannan navel oranges.

Gannan navel oranges are not native varieties, but introduced. As early as 1971, a man named Yuan Shougen went to Shaoyang, Hunan to introduce citrus. As a result, he heard that a group of local people had introduced a new variety of "Washington navel oranges" from the beautiful country. ", but the results were not good, but Yuan Shougen, who dared to try, brought back 156 navel orange seedlings for trial planting.

After groping planting and careful management, these navel oranges bore fruit. After continuous improvement, the quality of the navel oranges became better and better. In 77, he sold a ton of navel oranges to Hong Kong. As a result, the whole of Hong Kong was stirred up. , and each kilogram of Gannan navel oranges sold for 36 Hong Kong dollars, which was much higher than the oranges imported from the beautiful country, and they were all sold out in a short time.

It is now the 90s, so the varieties of Gannan navel oranges should be improved now, right?

Gao Mingcheng blinked his eyes, because he didn't pay much attention to this in his previous life, so he didn't know the specific situation very well. However, he often eats Gannan navel oranges and knows that Gannan navel oranges are really delicious. If they are transplanted to Come here, even if the taste is a little lacking, it's still good.

With this in mind, Gao Mingcheng wrote down the task of introducing Gannan navel oranges in his notebook, planning to make time for a trip to Ganzhou after spring.

While thinking about these things, Gao Mingcheng suddenly saw Chen Dasong walking towards the chicken coop wearing a heavy cotton coat.

He was wondering, it was not the time to feed the chickens, and it was not yet the time to watch the night, what was Chen Dasong doing in the chicken coop?

He picked up an orange and peeled it while walking towards the chicken coop.

The orange peel was discarded casually on the ground, and a piece of orange was stuffed into his mouth. He suddenly felt cold. It was very cold to eat fruit in this weather!

He ate the orange in a few mouthfuls, and when he was finished, he spat out the seeds.

Striding to catch up with Chen Dasong, Gao Mingcheng asked him what he was doing in the chicken coop now.

Because of the cold weather, Chen Dasong bowed his waist and shrank his hands. The cotton hat he wore on his head was already covered with a thin layer of snow.

Seeing Gao Mingcheng, Chen Dasong pointed to the floor of the chicken coop and said, "It's too cold, so we need to light a fire. Let's light the fire now. We will light another fire before going to bed at night. Otherwise, the chickens When you get cold, you won’t like to lay eggs.”

When building the chicken coop, Gao Mingcheng dug a pit in the ground to make a fire to keep warm, so that the chickens he bought would not freeze to death.

It was not used much after that, but after Chen Dasong thought about it, he started lighting the fire pit of the chicken coop every night when it snowed for the second time.

Ever since he started lighting the fire, there started to be more eggs.

In fact, chickens are not very afraid of cold, but in order to resist the severe cold, they will not lay eggs. If farmers want chickens to still lay eggs in winter, they must provide comfortable temperatures and nutritious feed.

Gao Mingcheng's chickens were not fed much. In spring, summer and autumn, most of the chickens foraged for food on their own in the mountains and were only fed one meal a day as supplementary food.

But in winter, there is less food in the mountains, and the bugs in the fields hide in the thick soil to hibernate. The chickens can find less food, so they need to be fed frequently by hand.

Gao Mingcheng stayed in the county most of the time, so he gave Chen Dasong a lot of autonomy. If the chicken coop needed things that were not available at home, Chen Dasong would buy them, and then keep the accounts and ask Gao Mingcheng to reimburse them. .

Such as feed.

In winter, chop up the old leaves from the vegetable field and mix them with feed to feed the chickens so that the chickens have enough nutrition.

Chen Dasong jumped down into the pit where the fire was made, and started to light the fire and pile firewood.

Gao Mingcheng walked around the chicken house and found that the entire chicken house was covered with plastic sheeting, which could maximize heat preservation and prevent the heat in the chicken house from spreading.

Not only the chicken coop was like this, but the small room where Chen Dasong lived was also covered with plastic sheeting, leaving only a small ventilation hole.

There is an iron stove in the small room, which Chen Dasong obviously brought from home. This iron stove can be used for heating and hot water. When people want to drink water, they can have hot water.

After a short time, Chen Dasong lit the fire. After the fire was burned, he could pile up firewood. There is a skill in stacking firewood. Large and small wood should be staggered and stacked so that they can burn slowly without any need. People are always there.

As the fire on the floor burned, green smoke began to curl up from the chimney above the chicken coop, gaining a sense of presence in the sky full of white snow.

Chen Dasong stuffed a complete dead wood, used pliers to push it forward until it reached the top, and then stacked other firewood.

After stacking all the firewood, Chen Dasong said to Gao Mingcheng: "Mingcheng, because we have to burn the kang in winter, firewood is used up quickly. I think that by early summer at most, all the firewood collected before will be used up." ."

Gao Mingcheng nodded and looked at the firewood pile not far away.

At first, the pile of firewood was like a high mountain, but now it has become a small hill.

It seems that after spring, he has to go into the mountains to get some firewood and come back. He cut down some masson pine trees in the mountains before, and the trunks are going to be used to plant Poria cocos. The branches have been cut off and left to dry in place, waiting for some time. You can go into the mountains and bring back the dry firewood.

The snow was falling even harder, and Gao Mingcheng said, "Uncle Chen, the fire is already on. You'd better go home quickly. It's time for the New Year's Eve dinner!"

Chen Dasong took another look at the fire and felt that it was OK. Then he straightened up and said with a smile on his face: "Yes, it's time for the New Year's Eve dinner! Another year has passed!"

The two returned home together. This time, Gao Mingcheng arrived home first, while Chen Dasong had to walk a while longer.

After returning home, Gao Mingcheng smelled the aroma of meat coming from the kitchen.

For a whole afternoon, the two brothers Mao Zi were not idle. They first cleaned the cow's internal organs, then cleaned the cow's feet and head, and then put them into a large iron pot to stew.

At this time, the soup in the iron pot made a gurgling sound, and white mist rose and filled the entire kitchen.

In the basin placed on the wooden stand, there was already a cleaned native chicken.

In addition to the native chicken, there was also a carp that was cleaned up. These are the main dishes tonight. Fish is indispensable for New Year’s Eve dinner, and if the carp is the right size, it’s a good omen, the carp will leap over the dragon’s gate!

"Maozi, Yangyang, thank you for your hard work. Let's take a break and eat some melon seeds and peanuts!" Gao Mingcheng enthusiastically greeted them to come over and eat.

But Maozi did not go over to eat. Instead, he used a spatula to stir up the stewed meat in the pot, and then started to chop the chicken into pieces.

It's getting late now, it's time to stew the chicken.

What we are going to make today is ginseng stewed chicken. In addition to ginseng, we will also add a handful of red dates. When it is about to come out of the pot, we will add a small handful of wolfberries. This pot of chicken soup is guaranteed to be fresh and nourishing.

"We just ate before, and I'm not tired. My sister-in-law said, she'll take the spoon later!" Maozi said with a smile.

He was willing to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner, but Duomei didn't want to take advantage of others. It was just inconvenient to take care of the children, so the early preparations were done by Brother Maozi.

While they were talking, Duomei came over holding Xiao Xuxu's hand.

Maybe it's because he's wearing too many clothes, so little Xuxu is still walking unsteadily, but if an adult holds him, he can walk steadily.

Duo Mei handed Xiao Xuxu over to Gao Mingcheng, and she put on her apron, rolled up her sleeves, and was ready to show off her skills.

Maozi didn't go down to rest, but stood by to help Duomei. As for Yangyang, he contracted the task of lighting the fire!

Seeing the three of them busy in full swing, Gao Mingcheng looked down at Xiao Xuxu who was grabbing his feet. Come on, he should take care of the baby!

With the concerted efforts of the three of them, the New Year’s Eve dinner was ready in an hour and a half!

It was already dark by now, the wind was howling outside, but the house was filled with joy.

"Mingcheng, it's time to set off the firecrackers!" Duo Mei reminded.

On New Year's Eve, firecrackers are set off before the meal. After setting off the firecrackers, the door can be closed and the family can enjoy the New Year's Eve dinner.

"Okay." Gao Mingcheng stood up, put Xiao Xuxu on the chair, and told him to sit still.

Then picked up the prepared firecrackers and lighters and came to the yard.

The firecrackers were wrapped in bright red paper, which looked festive. Gao Mingcheng first put the firecrackers on the ground and unfolded them, then lit the fuse. The sparks instantly followed the fuse and burned towards each small firecracker. When the small firecrackers were ignited, , the small firecracker will explode immediately and make a noise.

One small firecracker was set off one after another, and the crackling sound of firecrackers was endless.

After Gao Mingcheng lit the fuse, he immediately took a few steps back. When he heard the first sound of firecrackers, he went into the house with confidence. He had to close the door tightly, otherwise the cold wind from outside would blow in and make people feel cold. Shiver, the smoke caused by the explosion of firecrackers will also drift in with the wind.

Listening to the sound of firecrackers, everyone sat at the dinner table.

Gao Mingcheng took out a bottle of ginseng wine he brewed and filled it for everyone.

A toast and congratulations.

"Happy New Year!"

Everyone raised their glasses and said with a smile: "Happy New Year!"

After the auspicious words were finished, it was time to enjoy the food. Although there were not many people eating, the food was quite rich.

Stewed chicken with ginseng, braised carp, stewed kelp with ribs, pan-fried hairtail, stir-fried beef, stewed ox feet, stir-fried beef tongue, and cabbage dressing, these eight dishes symbolize the new year!

This ginseng wine has been soaked for a long time, so the wine has a strong flavor. After Duomei took a sip, he felt a heat in his body, which warmed his body.

Yangyang was young. After toasting to celebrate, Maozi took away the wine in his glass and replaced it with a cola drink.

Yangyang didn't like the spicy taste of the wine either. He drank the sweet Coke with his eyebrows curled up in a smile, like a carefree child.

They sat at the table, eating various dishes, and several of the family dogs also gathered here, eating the bones they discarded from time to time.

During the Chinese New Year last year, there were only Gao Mingcheng and his wife in the family. Xiao Xuxu was still young at that time, so they didn't bother much. This year, there are more Mao Zi brothers in the family, and they are more popular, which makes it a lot more lively.

People are very greedy. When a large family lives together, they find it too noisy and noisy, but when they go out independently, they occasionally feel lonely.

After the meal, Duo Mei removed the dishes, wiped the table clean, and placed melon seeds, snacks and tea on the table.

It’s just that everyone’s stomachs are full now, so we can only look at those things.

Maozi drank a few glasses of ginseng wine and was already feeling drunk. He talked enthusiastically about what he saw and heard in Junshan Lake with Duo Mei.

He and Monkey were responsible for delivering goods, but they had also seen local people catching cygnets and white cranes, so they described them vividly.

He also talked about how he went fishing with local fishermen.

"... Such a big lake, stretching as far as the eye can see! The largest reservoir in our county, compared with it, is just a small sesame seed! Not worth mentioning!"

"The fishermen's boats are not big, and there is a water tank in the cabin. The caught fish can be put into the water tank to keep them, so that they will not die. Some people keep the fish in the water tank all the time and wait for them at home. When we run out of food and want fish, we go to the water tank and get them.”

"They moored their boats together, and the boats of each family were similar. I couldn't tell them apart at all, but they could tell at a glance. But because the boats were moored together, some people would steal other people's fish!"

"It's okay if you steal ordinary fish. If you steal expensive fish, then once the thief is found, he will be beaten severely!"

"Their pork ribs and stewed lotus root are so delicious! The lotus root needs to be cut into large pieces and stewed for a long time. When cooked, the color of the lotus root will turn pink. Once you take a bite, it will be very soft and glutinous!"

"There is also a little girl. She seems to have taken a liking to me and has given me food a few times..."

At this point, Mao Zi laughed foolishly, but seeing that his eyes were blurred, he was obviously drunk.

Duo Mei didn't know whether what Maozi said was true or not, but she thought it sounded interesting. Everyone has different life experiences, and listening to other people's stories has broadened her understanding of the world.

After listening to the story, Duo Mei saw that it was getting late, so he went to get hot water to wash Xiao Xuxu's face and butt, and then took the child to bed.

Gao Mingcheng was left here to take care of the drunk Mao Zi, and coaxed Yangyang to go to the toilet to pee, then wash his face and go to bed.

Brother Maozi slept on an old bed, but the bedding was quite thick. There were two beds, one bed belonged to Gao Mingcheng's family, and the other bed was brought by Maozi himself. The two brothers slept together, so they didn't feel cold. (End of chapter)