Return to the small mountain village in 1986

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the temperature was relatively low, and Gao Mingcheng was ready to send everyone back to the county.

Before going back, he took some bags and asked Gao Yue and the others to get fruits from the bamboo baskets. They took some peaches, pears, bayberries and cantaloupes each.

As for watermelons, since watermelons are not an early-maturing variety, although there are ripe ones now, there are not many, and we cannot share one per person. So we decided to share half of the watermelon per person after arriving in the county seat and take them back.

Lin Ye and others declined one after another. He felt that he was already embarrassed to even eat and take the watermelon, so he refused to ask for any more watermelon.

Gao Mingcheng said grandly: "If you can take it, take it. I have plenty in the field, a lot of big and small watermelons, enough to last until August."

Gao Mingcheng made the final decision, and everyone else could only express their thanks.

Everyone loaded the fruits, eggs, and vegetables into the car together, and then prepared to drive back to the county town. Several boys were sitting in the back of the car as usual. They were wearing thin long sleeves and straw hats. When the car started, the wind blew freely. The breeze blows on your body, blowing your hair and clothes, and you no longer feel stuffy.

Gao Mingcheng drove all the way back to the county seat. After sending Gao Yue and others home, he also returned to the clothing store.

He unloaded all the fruits, vegetables and eggs from the carriage, and saw many beauties. He hurried forward to greet them. When he saw a lot of eggplants and cowpeas, he immediately said: "There are so many, I can't eat them all." It has to be made into dried vegetables.”

Gao Mingcheng said: "Okay, look at the arrangement, should you chop it up and dry it directly, or boil it and dry it in the sun?"

Duo Mei said: "Blanch it and then dry it. It tastes good. It can be used to stew meat in winter. It will be delicious with rice."

With that said, she immediately prepared to wash the pot and boil water, and quickly finished the dishes before the sun set.

In fact, when making dried vegetables, it’s best to do them in the morning and let them dry for a day during the day. By evening, they will be semi-dried.

But Gao Mingcheng had just returned home at this time. If he didn't cook it immediately and put it in the sun, the food would not be so fresh by tomorrow, and it might be stale.

While Duomei was busy lighting the fire, Gao Shufang focused on watermelons. She soaked a large watermelon in cold water and prepared to eat it later.

The last time she returned to Gaojia Village, she wanted to eat watermelon, but unfortunately she picked one and it was not ripe.

Xiao Xuxu, who woke up from his nap, also came to the edge of the watermelon. Following his aunt's example, he stretched out his little hand and patted the green watermelon rind.

The watermelon is oval in shape, with green patterns on the skin, giving it a symmetrical beauty.

Gao Shufang teased Xiao Xuxu and said, "Do you know what this is?"

I know this question, Xiao Xuxu said loudly: "Watermelon!"

Gao Shufang continued: "Can you hold me up? Give me a try!"

Little Xuxu didn't know the dangers of the world, so he bent down to pick up the watermelon. As a result, the watermelon didn't move at all, and he accidentally fell on his butt.

Seeing him fall down in embarrassment, Gao Shufang reached out to pick him up and couldn't help laughing.

But the wrestling didn't stop Xiao Xuxu. After standing up, he seemed to be competing with Watermelon and continued to hug Watermelon.

But the heavy watermelon weighs more than ten kilograms. A little kid like Xiao Xuxu, who is less than three years old, can't hold it up even if he tries his best to suck the milk.

But during the hug, Xiao Xuxu discovered that the watermelon could roll, so he changed his strategy and started pushing the watermelon hard to make it roll on the ground.

When the watermelon was pushed by him, Xiao Xuxu immediately let out a crisp laugh, and his laughter was full of pride.

Duo Mei heard his laughter and followed it, and couldn't help but smile. At this time, a clean peach was handed to her.

"The peaches in the mountains have been picked. This is the last batch. Eat a few more." Gao Mingcheng knew that many beauties love to eat peaches, so he specially washed some of the best peaches for her.

Dumei has eaten peaches from her own orchard several times. Knowing that peaches taste good, her heart starts to feel sweet even before she eats them.

However, she did not reach out to take it in a hurry, but said: "You can leave it alone for now. I am lighting the fire and my hands are already dirty."

Gao Mingcheng immediately said: "You come out and wash your hands and eat the peaches, and I'll light the fire!"

He stretched out his hand and pulled out many beauties from the stove, and he sat down.

The fire in the stove is already burning, and you just need to add some firewood from time to time.

Gao Mingcheng glanced at the firewood piled in the corner of the yard and found that there was not much firewood left and he had to go to the village to get it again.

But don’t worry if you don’t have firewood. In addition to the firewood stove, there is also a briquettes stove at home. As for the briquettes, there are fifty or sixty piled in the corner.

Because briquettes were often piled up in the corner, the wall was completely black. People didn't look into it at the moment and just thought it was the briquettes that were stained. However, Gao Mingcheng watched a popular science video in later generations and realized that the coal molecules in the briquettes were It is movable. The reason why the wall is black is not necessarily because it is touched by the coal briquettes, but because the coal molecules are adsorbed on the wall when they are moving.

When his eyes glanced at the briquettes, the relevant knowledge came directly to his mind, but Gao Mingcheng didn't pay attention. He looked down at the stove and then added a piece of firewood.

After Gao Mingcheng helped light the fire, Duomei washed his hands and ate the peaches happily.

The peaches at this time were riper and sweeter than before, making people more and more addicted to them. Duomei ate three peaches in a row and felt full, so she stopped.

"Xuxu, do you want to eat a peach?" Duoduo Mei saw that little Xuxu was still competing with the watermelon, and they were having a lot of fun.

So he hurriedly waved to Xiao Xuxu, then led him to the faucet to wash his hands, and then handed him the biggest and reddest peach.

Little Xuxu, who is almost two years old, has all his teeth. He starts eating peaches, takes a small bite, sits on a small stool, and eats peaches quietly.

"How beautiful, the water is boiling!" Gao Mingcheng shouted immediately when he heard the sound of the water in the pot.

"Okay." Duo Mei responded, then took the cowpeas and eggplants and put them on the shelf next to her. She opened the lid of the pot, and a burst of hot steam came out. The fruits in the pot had already boiled away.

It's best to use this kind of big iron pot to boil vegetables. If you use that kind of small pot, it won't be so convenient and fast.

Many Mei put the cowpeas into the pot first. When the cowpeas are blanched by hot water, the color becomes darker. Although this dish needs to be blanched, it should not be blanched too well. When it is about half cooked, take it out immediately. Come, then put it in a basin and marinate it with salt for a while.

Because the pot is big and the vegetables can be blanched quickly, the cowpeas are blanched first, and then the eggplants. The eggplants take a little longer to be able to be cut open with chopsticks.

Blanched eggplants, like cowpeas, need to be marinated with salt for a while. Spread the eggplants flat and sprinkle them evenly with salt. After a while, they can be placed in a breathable dustpan to dry in the sun. The backyard of the clothing store was not big and was full of things, so Gao Shufang took it to the balcony on the second floor to dry in the sun.

At this time, the heat of the sun is far less than that at noon, but after the vegetables are placed on the balcony to dry, the water on the surface will dry out quickly. After another two days of drying, the excess salt will precipitate from the vegetables.

The Gao Mingcheng family cooks blanched vegetables with salt, but some people don't add salt, or even blanche them. They just chop the vegetables into small pieces and put them in the sun to dry.

But the dried vegetables made in this way have an average taste.

Just after finishing these tasks, Gao Mingli came back from get off work. The factory was not busy recently, so he would get off work on time. He rode his bicycle quickly across the street and entered the backyard from the alley at the back.

As soon as he entered the door, he said loudly: "Second brother, have you brought the watermelon back?"

Gao Mingli knew that his second brother had returned to Gaojiacun today, so he kept thinking about that mouthful of watermelon.

I haven’t eaten watermelon for a year, so naturally I miss it especially in this hot weather.

Gao Mingcheng was holding Xiao Xuxu and teaching him to count. When he heard Gao Mingli's words, he said: "Bring it! The watermelon is soaked in water and should be edible. Shufang, go get a knife and cut it!" "

After saying this, he looked down at Xiao Xuxu and said, "You count to twenty, and I will give you watermelon!"

Little Xuxu obediently began to count. Since he often learned counting and some simple poems from adults, he also learned more or less.

When counting from one to ten, Xiao Xuxu's voice was loud and confident, but after counting to 11, it stumbled a bit and Gao Mingcheng needed timely reminders.

When Xiao Xuxu finally succeeded in counting to 20, Gao Shufang had already cut the watermelon.

The light red watermelon juice flows on the table, exuding the fragrance of watermelon, which is particularly attractive.

Gao Mingli came back from the factory all the way. He was tired and thirsty. Looking at the red watermelon, he couldn't help but reach out and take a piece to eat.

As soon as he took the first bite, Gao Mingli couldn't help but said: "It's delicious!"

Gao Mingcheng also picked the middle piece for Xiao Xuxu, which had the fewest watermelon seeds and was also the sweetest part.

Last year, when Xiao Xuxu was still young, I fed him some watermelon, but I guess he no longer remembers the taste. Now that he is eating watermelon again, the little guy is very happy, eating it one bite at a time, just the watermelon juice. There were so many, each bite he took was huge, but he couldn't swallow it completely, so the juice flowed all over his face.

Not long after, Xiao Xuxu's neck and chest were stained with watermelon juice, making everything wet.

Duo Mei saw that Xiao Xuxu's clothes were so dirty, and couldn't help but recall the past.

She smiled and said, "I remember when I was a child, every time we ate watermelon, some boys in the village would take off their clothes to eat watermelon to avoid getting their clothes dirty!"

"Sister-in-law, you are talking about the second brother!" Gao Mingli joked rudely.

Gao Mingcheng gently patted his forehead and said with a smile: "It sounds like you haven't taken off your clothes yet!"

When I was a child, there were five children in the family, and the four boys above were all very naughty. Among them, Gao Mingcheng was the most naughty and would get dirty every day.

Luo Xiaohua had to wash the family's clothes every day, and she felt very tired, so she asked them to try not to stain their clothes. For example, if they eat watermelon in the summer, they should take off their clothes before eating so that the watermelon juice will not be stained. clothes.

What should I do if my child is dirty? It doesn't matter, just go wash it in the reservoir and it will be clean!
This method worked to a certain extent, so during that period, when a family ate watermelon, the children of that family had to take off their clothes before eating, otherwise the clothes would be stained with watermelon juice and would be difficult to clean.

This is not a dark history. When I recall what happened when I was a child, the atmosphere suddenly becomes warm.

Gao Shufang sighed: "It's better now! Although I could eat watermelon when I was a child, I only ate it once or twice a year! I remember that my mother was reluctant to throw away the watermelon rind and wanted to keep it for cooking! But I don't I like to eat fresh watermelon rinds, and I still like to eat dried ones, but my mother feels that there is just a little bit of watermelon rind and I am too lazy to dry it.”

"Then it must be good now!" Gao Mingli said with certainty.

Not to mention the past, even now, Gao Mingli is not willing to go back to live in the village.

It's great to be in the county. I can get a stable salary and don't have to do farm work in the bright sun. Counting the days, the village is about to be robbed.

When I think about the double snatching every year, the whole family is so busy that everyone can lose several pounds after the double snatching is over!

Every day I open my eyes and work, and I can't even eat well, so I eat in the fields. For the sake of convenience, the food is mediocre.

The only thing that makes people happy is that when they go to the market, the family will buy a pound of pork to replenish everyone's health.

When talking about previous topics, everyone was very expressive. Even Zhang Jinling and Luo Li talked about their childhood.

Fortunately, Zhang Jinling's family is not too bad, but Luo Li's family is really poor!
Before Luo Li married Huang Dazhi, their family was the poorest in the village. They had many children and a small labor force, so their life was very tight.

Luo Li couldn't help but feel dazed when she thought of the past. It had only been two years, but she suddenly felt like she was in a different world.

Recalling the past, Luo Li said with emotion: "It's better now!"

The most important thing is that fortunately she met Huang Dazhi! Sure enough, marriage is a woman's second reincarnation. Because marrying Huang Dazhi, not only Luo Li's own circumstances have changed, but her natal family has also changed.

Now, her younger brother can go to school, and her younger sisters can use the sewing machine at home to make clothes for others and earn a small amount of money.

When the kindergarten starts, her two younger sisters will also be able to work in the county!
Thinking of this, Luo Li's spirit was shaken. She felt that her days in the future would definitely get better and better!

Luo Li's heart was very hot, so that night, she also expressed her friendship and gratitude to Huang Dazhi. That night, Huang Dazhi felt a dreamlike pleasure.

Just, very happy.

After finishing, Huang Dazhi lay on the bed, grinning.

The electric fan dutifully blows out the wind and takes away the heat from the body. Huang Dazhi, who has not had a good time to relax for a long time, feels that the days are getting more and more promising now!

As for the past? Huang Dazhi doesn't want to think about those bad things in the past anymore!
Just think about now and the future!

In the future, he will get a promotion and a salary increase, and he will train his son well!
From now on, his younger brother Huang Xiaoan can learn a trade, and Xiaoguai can go to school to study normally!
In the future, since his parents no longer have to do farm work, their health seems to be getting better. I hope they can live to old age without any illness or disaster! (End of chapter)