My village can't be like this

Chapter 201 Picking a Popsicle Pick

As the opening title flashed, the familiar plot music sounded on the TV.

The story started to get to the point, and the Piwazi in the main room were engrossed in staring at the TV.

Looking at them without blinking their eyes, Zhang An thought that if they were so serious about their studies in the future.

Not to mention that they can be admitted to Qingbei, at least there is no problem at all in the provincial university.

They were fascinated by it, but Zhang An lacked interest.

After Zhang An watched the disc bought back a few days ago, he had no interest in watching it again.

The main reason is that Zhang An's memory is so good now that the plot and the scene are all imprinted in his mind.

So while they were watching TV, Zhang An picked up a book at random.

It is very pleasant to read a book and blow some air in the yard outside.

However, the children at home hadn't seen it for long before a sad news came.

There was a sudden power outage in the village, and the movie on TV was just halfway through, and it happened to be going to a wonderful place.

At this moment, their hearts were just seduced by Shi Xiaolong's handsome movements.

With a click, the TV went black and turned off, and now they felt as if they had been scratched by ants.

Seeing the impatient and frustrated expressions on the monkeys' faces, Zhang An was very happy.

You know what it feels like to be woken up just now, it's so satisfying.

Unable to put on TV, although Zhang Tie and the others were very disappointed, they could only accept this result.

It is impossible to have a fight with Zhang An and then get a call. This is impossible.

Although when the power went out, everyone felt itchy.

This symptom is what adults say, watching TV is addictive.

But after a few minutes, the symptoms eased, and they started playing other things, too.

After all, there is no TV to watch, and this day has to go on.

So the children who surrounded Zhang An's house just now dispersed slowly, leaving only Zhang Tie and the others in the yard.

They didn't play glass beads, or slap cardboard.

Instead, he took out a popsicle stick from his pocket, and several people began to play tricks in Zhang's yard.

The last time Zhang An played this kind of game was when he was in primary school.

At that time, children of the same age in the village had more popsicle sticks than anyone else.

Why is it a popsicle stick? Because this time is for children.

Popsicles are a commodity in circulation, and they are all bought for a dime apiece.

After they finished eating, the bamboo stick was reluctant to throw away, so it was kept.

At that time, no one played with ice cream sticks, because ice cream was too expensive, and few people were willing to buy it.

It's not the bamboo sticks I peeled from bamboo, because the ones I peeled are not as good-looking as popsicle sticks.

After all, the popsicles used in the popsicle factory are all cut by machines, and they are square and square.

However, there are burrs everywhere that I cut by myself, and the length and thickness are different, and everyone can see it at a glance.

And if you cut it yourself, you can have as much as you want, so it doesn't make much sense to win.

This is the reason why things are rare.

In addition to glass beads, similar games include playing apricot cores.

It is also because there are not many apricots in the village, and there are not many apricot pits left after everyone eats the apricots.

So for them, it's not the gameplay, but the feeling of winning or losing.

Especially when you have won a lot, don't be too arrogant when looking at other people's envious eyes.

At that time, Zhang An, a group of friends often compared who had the most popsicle sticks.

Some people take out a lot of them at every turn, dozens of them, making the friends around them envious.

Of course, so many popsicles are not bought by myself.

It would be nice to have a few of them bought by yourself, after all, at that time, adults would not easily give pocket money to children.

Most of them were picked up on the way to and from school, or squatted at the entrance of the canteen.

When you see who buys popsicles, you just follow behind, and ask for the bamboo sticks when they finish eating.

Until now, in Zhang Tie's area, this habit has been passed down from generation to generation, and it hasn't changed much.

Now everyone's conditions are much better than when Zhang An was a child.

Just look at Zhang Tie and the others, who are holding a lot of bamboo sticks.

In the past, Zhang An and the others had more than a dozen or twenty, but now Zhang Tie and the others hold at least forty or fifty.

Seeing how vigorously they were playing, Zhang An felt a little excited.

Suddenly, my hands were itchy, and I wanted to play with them for a while.

"Zhang Tie, share some with me, and I'll play with you."

Hearing what Zhang An said, although Zhang Tie was very reluctant.

But only a dozen of them can be given to Zhang An, after all, this is his elder brother.

In the future, if you want to eat and drink well, you have to hug An's tight thighs.

With Zhang An joining in, everyone quickly restarted a new game.

First guess the winner and loser, playing rock-paper-scissors.

First, determine the order in which everyone will appear on the stage.

This is very important in everyone's eyes, after all, if you are lucky.

The first person can pick away more than half, or even more.

Sometimes there is no lottery for the last one, but I don't blame anyone, after all, I lost with punching.

Zhang An hadn't punched for a long time, but Jiang was still hot, so he still punched No.2.

Wang Baosheng No.1, straightened out with a bamboo stick, and aligned the head and tail.

Then the hand that held the bamboo sticks loosened, and a large number of bamboo sticks were scattered on the ground.

"Baosheng, it looks like you're out of luck."

This time, the scattered bamboo sticks were all stacked together, which is really not a good choice.

The rules of this game are very simple, that is, hold the bamboo sticks that everyone gathered together.

Then let it spread out all at once, and then took out a bamboo stick, and began to pick the beams one by one.

During the whole process, except for the one you picked out, the rest cannot be moved, so the one you pick out belongs to you.

But if the other bamboo sticks move, I'm sorry, it's the next person's turn.

So when you put bamboo sticks in the beginning, the more scattered you put them, the easier it is to pick them out.

This time Wang Baosheng's luck was obviously not good enough, basically all the bamboo sticks were piled up together.

"Uncle An, you don't look down on people."

Wang Baosheng shrugged his nose, and his tone contained a little dissatisfaction.

I vowed to pick out some sticks and show them to Zhang An.

This little guy didn't talk big, he picked seven or eight of such a messy pile of lots.

This is already quite difficult, and it can be regarded as returning half of the book.

When the last stick was picked, all the sticks below moved, and it was Zhang An's turn.

However, Zhang An was a bit of a bully, relying on his big hands, the bamboo sticks in his palms were loose.

When he let go, the remaining bamboo sticks in his hand spread out like flowers blooming.

"The next one, the next one, this one is gone."

Seeing the bamboo sticks scattered like this, Zhang Tie and the two kids behind him were already howling.

Zhang An threw the sticks like this, and they would be sure that none of them would be left, and they would pick them all away.

However, there was a turn of events, and they who had already given up, now had hope again.

"It's moving, it's moving, it's my turn."

After Zhang An picked half of the picks, he picked two at once.

Zhang Tie yelled out quickly, for fear that other people would not see it.

In fact, Zhang An did it on purpose. He picked twenty or thirty at once, which already doubled his profit.

If they were all picked out, they would play a few times at most, and these brats wouldn't play with him anymore.

So Zhang An accepts it when he sees it good, after all, he is also bullying others.

Before he knew it, Zhang An, who was a man of several decades at heart, had a great time playing with a group of children in their teens.

Soon it was four or five o'clock, and Zhang Jianguo and Wang Fang, who had gone to the seedling field, came back.

"You're still young, why are you lying on the ground playing with Tie Wazi and the others?"

Seeing that my son is so big, he is lying on the ground like a few dolls.

From time to time, I move my head to this side and look there.

Looking like an old child who can't grow up, Wang Fang also shook her head.

"Hahaha, I just have nothing to do in the afternoon, so I'll play with them for a while when I see them playing hard."

After Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo came back, Zhang An did not continue to play with Zhang Tie and the others.

But Zhang An was also very moral, and gave them all the popsicle sticks he had just won.

When the children saw Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo coming back, they didn't stay in Zhang An's yard.

He hurriedly ran towards the drying yard.

At this point, all the children in the village gathered there.

When the food is not being exposed to the sun, it is considered a children's playground in the village.

The main reason is that the place is wide enough to play anything.

Seeing his parents come back, Zhang An is also ready to start cooking.

"Why are you cooking so early today?"

It's only five o'clock now, the sky is still bright, and the usual time is to start cooking after six o'clock.

"Mom, there was a power outage today, so I ate early to save myself from the dark."

Wang Fang heard Zhang An say that there was a power outage, and went to the side to turn on the lights.

Fortunately, the fire stove used at home can be made directly by picking up the pot.

If it is the same as later generations, the house is full of rice cookers and induction cookers.

This dinner may not be so easy for many people.

After washing the pot, Zhang An thought about what to eat tonight.

Then he remembered that he hadn't eaten bacon and potato stewed rice for a long time, and Zhang An also missed it a little.

Eating stir-fried vegetables every day is also a bit boring. Today, I am the chef, so I just make a pot of stewed rice.

Two bowls of rice for three people. After washing, they put it into the pot and boiled it.

If you want to make stewed rice, the rice does not need to be boiled directly, it should be about six or seven minutes.

After cooking, take the pot out, take out the half-cooked rice inside, filter the rice, and set it aside later.

"Why did you think of asking for rice?"

Usually when cooking, the rice is cooked directly, and then steamed in a steamer.

Today Wang Fang watched Zhang An start cooking rice, so she asked a few questions curiously.

"It's been a long time since I ate stewed potato rice, so I'll cook a pot tonight."

When Wang Fang heard that Zhang An wanted to eat stewed rice, she took out the bacon and cut it after washing her hands.

Zhang An went to the yard and peeled some potatoes first.

Then I went to the vegetable garden in the backyard and picked a handful of green beans to choose.

Fortunately, I grow it myself, so I can eat whatever I want.

After Wang Fang cut the bacon into cubes, she took the potatoes and green beans that Zhang An had peeled and cut them.

Zhang An originally wanted to do it himself, but when he saw his mother doing it, he stood aside and watched.

Although Zhang An can eat the ones made by himself, they are not as delicious as those made by his old mother.

Cut the potatoes into cubes, neither too big nor too small.

If it is too big, it will not be cooked well, and the rice will become mushy after a long time.

It doesn't work if it's too small, it will turn powder after a little stewing, which is not very tasty.

After handling the potatoes and green beans, Wang Fang started to fry the bacon in the pot.

The bacon does not need to be fried for too long, it has to be cooked when the oil comes out, otherwise it will taste too dry.

Then fry the potatoes and green beans with a spoonful of lard until they are half-cooked.

Stir the fried bacon with the cooked rice evenly.

Then pour into the pot, covering the potatoes and green beans at the bottom of the pot.

There is no need to pour out the rice soup left over from the rice just now, as it will be poured directly into the pot.

At this time, the fire in the stove should not be too large, so a pot ring needs to be placed on the stove.

Then cover the lid and simmer on low heat for ten to 15 minutes, it's almost done.

Taking advantage of this time, Zhang An pulled some chives and fish coriander.

Wash and chop, wait until the rice in the pot is cooked, and pour it directly.

In fact, at this time, use a spatula to stir all the rice and potatoes underneath evenly, and then you can get out of the pot.

But Zhang An felt that something was missing, and then he brought over the chili oil made by his old mother.

I added two tablespoons of oil and chili to it, and then started to mix the rice with a spatula.

Now a pot of stewed rice with potatoes in red oil is ready. The fresh shallots and fish coriander are scalded by the boiling rice.

The savory aroma combined with the aroma of bacon can make people drool when it wafts out.

Coupled with the crisp whistle made at home, the children next door were crying.

"Godfather, what delicious food did grandma cook, I smell so fragrant?"

No, Li Yao already smelled it and ran over from home.

"Your grandma made braised pot rice, do you want to eat it?"

"I think, look at my saliva, it has already flowed out."

The child spoke bluntly, which made Wang Fang laugh.

Before everyone could do anything, Wang Fang brought out a bowl first, and made a bowl for Li Yao to eat first.

"Yaoyao, the bowl is very hot, grandma put it on the stool for you, can you sit and eat?"

A high stool and a low stool have always been the standard equipment for children to eat in rural areas.

"Okay, thank you grandma."

Li Yao sat on a small bench, put the potatoes that had already formed a layer of crackling into his mouth while he was holding them between his chopsticks and stewed until golden.

While eating, I gasped, not knowing whether it was hot or spicy.

Wang Fang was going to give Zhang Jianjian a meal, but Zhang An said no, and came by himself.

He didn't use the small bowl that he usually eats at home. That bowl can't hold a few mouthfuls of rice, and it's not satisfying to eat.

So I simply took out a large bowl from the cupboard, and directly filled a bowl full of stewed rice.

"Godfather, why can you eat with such a big bowl, but I can't."

Little Li Yao looked at Zhang An using the big sea bowl, and was very puzzled.

"Because you are still young, when you grow up, you will be able to eat with a big bowl."

After watching Zhang An use a big bowl last time, he told Zhou Lan that he also used a big bowl when he went home for dinner.

But the big bowl was useless, instead Zhou Lan beat him up.

When children in rural areas eat, adults generally don't give them big bowls.

Because in their opinion, if you give children a big bowl to eat, the children will grow up with big mouths.

A big mouth is not a good word, it means that he likes to talk big, likes to brag, and can't keep his mouth shut.

(End of this chapter)