Siheyuan: There are three little cats at home

Chapter 323 Iron Roller

Xu Fengming hugged his little nephew and spent a while in the silly pillar's house.

Silly Zhu stood in the kitchen, holding an iron spoon in his hand, listening casually to Xu Fengming's nonsense, and asked with a frown, "Boy, who did you learn to run the train with your mouth?"

"Come on, brother Yuzhu, I call it red when you are close to red, black when you are close to ink."

"What pig? What black? Boy, don't talk about words like me. Don't bully brother. I don't study as much as you. If you have the ability, talk to the third master."

Xu Fengming chuckled, turned to look at Xiao Hongzhi in his arms, and said:

"Brother Yu Zhu, how dare I show off in front of the third master. The third master is a talent in our academy, and my ink is far behind."

Silly Zhu glanced at Xu Fengming, put down the iron spoon in his hand, bent down and grabbed the fire hook, and turned the fire on the stove:
"Feng Ming, brother, let me ask you something. You went to the countryside to join the queue, was it hard?"

Xu Fengming didn't answer Silly Zhu in a hurry, looked through the kitchen window at Jia's house in the yard, and said:

"It's bitter, it's so bitter, brother Yu Zhu, look at the sun drying I went to the countryside before, and it's been half a year since I returned to the city, and it's only turned white."

Hearing this, Silly Zhu suddenly froze, twisted his body, looked up at Xu Fengming, pondered for a moment and said, "Can I usually eat meat and fish?"

"Okay," Xu Fengming hugged his nephew and said, "In the first half of this year, when I was going to the countryside, I took the group of educated youths who lived in the commune compound and caught hares for several nights. My eldest brother went to see me. At that time, I just caught up and had a few meals.”

"Really? Qingzi is very lucky. I went to the countryside to see you and had a good meal by the way."

After Shazhu finished speaking, he put down the fire hook in his hand, and wanted to ask Xu Fengming something about going to the countryside to jump in the queue.

But Xu Fengming was the first to ask: "Brother Yu Zhu, are you 32 this year?"

"Hey, why do you ask me this all of a sudden? You know how to care about your brother. It seems that your love for you has not been in vain all these years."

Silly Zhu showed joy on his face, "Brother, I am four years older than your elder brother. Qingzi is 25 this year, and I am 29 this year. Boy, remember, don't just talk nonsense when you see my elder brother and I look old."

Silly Zhu said it easily, but a trace of melancholy sprouted in his heart. Seeing that the year is coming to an end soon, it will be [-] after the new year.

Thirty, among the peers in the courtyard, as far as I am concerned, I am considered the biggest.

Of course, it used to be Jia Dongxu, but he is gone.

Silly Zhu secretly sighed in his heart, he was about to be married, he hadn't married yet, and he hadn't even touched a woman's hand a few times, it was really unlucky.

As for Xu Qing, who is younger than him, even if he is married, his children can almost call him uncle now.

Xu Damao got married quite early and had no children, but he had two women.

Yan Jiecheng in the front yard is not older than me. He got married before Xu Qing, and now he also has a daughter. However, he only had a one-night talk with Lou Xiao'e.

How is she now?

Sha Zhu's face showed a dignified expression, his mind was in a mess, and he let his thoughts pull him, thinking wildly.

Thinking of Lou Xiaoe, Sha Zhu couldn't help thinking of Qin Huairu in the courtyard.

But what does Sister Qin mean?

Silly Zhu was in some pain, straightened his waist, patted his hands, interrupted his thoughts, and said to Xu Fengming:

"Okay, you kid, hurry back to your backyard. Brother, I have something to do today, so I won't keep you here."

Seeing that Sha Zhu was about to see off the guests, Xu Fengming said nothing, and walked out of Sha Zhu's house with his little nephew in his arms.

Seeing Feng Ming left, Silly Zhu stayed in the kitchen alone, staring blankly at the steam rising from the pot, his whole body was like a frost-beaten eggplant, and instantly became wilted.

At this time, Xu Qing and his second brother Aiguo came back to buy coal ash.

Yan Jiecheng in the front yard saw Xu Qing, grinned and said:
"Hey, Qingzi, you can roll briquettes by yourself. If I were you, a cadre, I would just buy them ready-made."

Xu Qing looked at Yan Jiecheng, heard that there was something in the words, looked over, and said:

"Brother Xie Cheng, what you said is reasonable. How about if I hire you to clean my house, the price will definitely be higher than that of others?"

Yan Xiecheng took a drag on his cigarette, thought about it, and wanted to ask how much a briquette could pay, but then he gave up, thinking that if he earned the money, he would not look good, so he shook his head and said:
"Forget it, Qingzi, brother, I can't make that kind of money, so you should hire someone else."

Xu Qing knew that Yan Jiecheng didn't think much of rubbing coal balls to make money at all, and he was only a few bucks, how could he bear to be ashamed.

So Xu Qing stopped chatting with him, and Diao Diao and Aiguo went back to the backyard.

After lunch, after Jinghong coaxed her son to sleep soundly, she and the little girl sat in front of the sewing machine in the room, making new clothes with the new cloth she bought in the morning.

The Chinese New Year is coming soon, so the clothes will naturally have to be replaced with new ones.

Xu Qing and his second and third younger brothers rubbed coal balls outside the house together.

At this moment in the courtyard, the second uncle Liu Haizhong was urged by Liu Guangtian to go to his lover's house to propose marriage.

Liu Guangtian talked about someone, and he was anxious to get engaged and get married.

Liu Haizhong didn't want to go, he would have to pay for the bride price if he went, he had already figured it out.

However, Liu Guangtian refused to let him go and dragged his eldest brother out to talk things over, forcing him to go with a dark face in his bangs.

In the middle courtyard, Mrs. Jia Zhang had a sad look on her face. The Chinese New Year was about to come, and Bangge had gone to the countryside to join the queue and could not come back, which made her feel uncomfortable.

Qin Huairu felt relieved for several days. She didn't even say a word to her, and was even complained that she didn't even feel sorry for her own son.

The front yard was very peaceful. The third uncle went out early in the morning and was not at home. Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang took Yan Jiedi. The three of them went to Shichahai for skating in the morning and have not come back yet.

There are only three mothers and Yan Jiecheng in the front yard.

The next morning, Xu Qing got up, ate breakfast made by the little girl, pushed the bicycle out of the compound with his wife Jinghong, and went to work separately.

It was so cold, there was a wind all night last night, and it was chilly early in the morning, and people's ears were red from the cold.

At the entrance of the alley, Xu Qing and Jing Hong spoke separately, rode their bicycles, and walked towards the factory along the street.

Pedestrians on the street also looked in a hurry, wearing thick padded jackets, and all hurriedly walked towards their units.

The hawkers who bought breakfast on the street kept shouting loudly to win business.

Soybean juice, fried liver, stewed, steamed stuffed bun. All kinds of aromas are mixed together, drifting with the wind along with the white heat, constantly piercing into people's noses.

However, Xu Qing ate the breakfast cooked by his sister at home, so he didn't look at it much. He looked ahead and pressed the car bell twice to ask the people in front to move out of the way.

The slogans on the walls on both sides of the street were blown by the wind and rattled.

As for the bare trees, they have fallen into hibernation. Their leaves have fallen off at some point, and they were blown away in the cold wind last night.

Xu Qing pedaled his bicycle, holding the shiny handlebars with his hands wearing woolen gloves, and controlled the direction toward the factory.

Yesterday, he talked to Silly Zhu about the mill. As soon as he entered the factory, he walked directly into the office and took out the drawing that he had already drawn, preparing for the workers in the factory to look at it and make it.

Under the wise leadership of Director Li, the production in the factory was almost at a standstill.

The workers were idle and couldn't read the newspaper, so they just smoked and chatted, or when they came to the factory, they found a corner in the workshop and fell asleep.

Coupled with the upcoming Chinese New Year, not many people are interested in work.

When Xu Qing asked a few well-connected old masters to help them make an iron roller according to the drawings, these masters lowered their heads and stared at the drawings for a while, then stared at Xu Qing and said:
"I've never done this before. Just follow this drawing?"

Xu Qing cleared the cigarettes for them, nodded and said: "Just follow the drawing, but if you think something is unreasonable and needs to be changed, we can discuss it."

"It's okay to do it. Does the factory allow it?"

Seeing that the person speaking was Master Feng Mingde, Xu Qing said, "It's okay. I'll tell the factory about this. Just do it. If anything happens, I'll take care of it."

When will anything happen?

There is no serious work in the factory, and the superiors are busy intrigue, who cares about these.

But Xu Qing still said hello to the factory.

Feng Mingde and others felt at ease now, and helped Xu Qing make the iron roller according to the drawings.

As for the inside of the roller, Xu Qing wrote a letter of introduction and asked someone to buy a motor from outside and put it in.

Although Xu Qing doesn't know much about this thing, and there is no machine that can directly make tofu in China these days, but in the early stage, it is no problem to grind the beans into soy milk.

Three days later, when the things were ready and the motor was powered on, it could run normally. Feng Mingde and several other masters gathered around the iron roller, smoking cigarettes, and said to Xu Qing:

"Officer Xu, what do you want to use this thing for?"

"Grind beans and make tofu"

"Is this possible?" Feng Mingde frowned, "Is this possible?"

"Try it, if it doesn't work, let's change it again." Xu Qing said with a smile and asked people to move the iron roller to the kitchen in the cafeteria.

At this time, Shazhu had already soaked a large pot of soybeans in the kitchen under Xu Qing's advance arrangement.

When the iron roller was placed behind the back kitchen of the cafeteria, there was a clap, and the director of the cafeteria surrounded Liu Lan, Ma Hua and others.

This thing had never been seen in the factory before. It was considered a rarity, so naturally it aroused everyone's curiosity.

Xu Qing powered on the iron roller, and the motor inside started to rotate instantly. Silly Zhu held the soaked soybeans and asked:
"Qingzi, pour it in?"

"fall!"

After Xu Qing finished speaking, Sha Zhu immediately poured a pot of soybeans into it slowly.

Immediately afterwards, a stream of soy milk with a beany smell flowed out from the hole left on the side.

Liu Lan's eyes almost popped out of his sockets when he looked at it, and his face showed joy, "Oh, everyone, look, this thing is so easy to use, no one needs to push it, the beans will turn into pulp by themselves."

Ma Hua put his head in front of him, reached out and dipped his finger in it, and tasted it in his mouth: "Hey, this stuff is so good, it's much better than using a stone grinder."

Silly Zhu took a tin bucket, put it under the stone mill, poured soybean milk, grinned and said, "That's right, I don't even know who made it."

Ma Hua looked at Xu Qing with a smile, straightened the white hat on his head with his hand, raised his thumb and said:

"Secretary Xu, you are still amazing! You who have studied are different. You can figure out this thing. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to figure it out."

The director of the cafeteria looked at the iron noodle carefully and saw that in just a short time, all the soybeans in a large pot had been turned into soy milk. He couldn't help but said: "This is really a good thing. From now on, when we eat tofu in our factory, we don't have to buy it from outside." Okay, just buy the soybeans and we can make them ourselves."

Liu Lan smiled and said: "That's right. The iron roller saves trouble, but it's a bit small. There are only so many people in our factory. I'm afraid it will be too difficult to eat tofu for all of them."

Feng Mingde, who followed Xu Qing, said: "What's the matter, the small ones can be done, and the big ones can also be done."

Xu Qing smiled and shook his head, "Small ones are fine, but big ones are difficult."

Everyone was puzzled, "Why?"

"Motor."

Xu Qing pointed to the iron roller and said, "We don't have big electric motors in our country now."

Ma Hua looked confused, and neither Silly Zhu nor he understood the connection.

Feng Mingde became thoughtful.

The director of the cafeteria didn't think much of it at all. When he saw the soy milk being ground, he immediately asked someone to carry a tin bucket and pour it into the pot to make tofu.

It was already past one o'clock, and it would be noon later. The tofu was ready, and he had to let Director Li try it quickly.

As for whether other people eat or not, I don't care.

To curry favor with this top leader and keep the black hat on his head is his top priority.

After get off work at noon, Director Li brought Xu Damao and others into the cafeteria. The director of the cafeteria immediately stepped forward and said with a smile, "Director, I specially made a tofu feast for you today. Try it."

Director Li suddenly raised his eyebrows, "Tofu Banquet, what's so delicious about this?"

The canteen director hurriedly said: "This tofu is just made by our factory. It's very fresh. Director Xu made an iron roller. When the electricity is turned on, the beans turn into pulp. Shazhu is good at mixing tofu with green onions. It's a masterpiece. , you will know after you try it.”

When Director Li heard this, he was dubious until he ate the dish that Shazhu made with the freshly made tofu.

Hungry.

Of course, Shazhu's unique skill is not in vain.

And the most important thing is that the iron roller made by Xu Qing can make fresh tofu immediately.

Otherwise, how could he, Director Li, have such a blessing.

In the blink of an eye, it was the day when the factory was on holiday. Xu Qing told the director of the cafeteria, and then he and Sha Zhu moved the iron roller out of the factory and prepared to take it back to the compound.

The director of the cafeteria also planned to take it back to his own home during the holiday, but Xu Qing made this iron roller, how could he not let it go.

Besides, Xu Qing made it very clear, borrow it back for use, and send it back after the New Year and the factory starts working.

Moreover, Xu Qing gave him the approval slip from the factory, and the canteen director had to watch Xu Qing take it away.

And when Tie Nianzi moved back to the compound, the courtyard exploded instantly.

The third uncle, the third mother, several children and his daughter-in-law Yu Li, all ran out of the house and stood in the yard watching.

Mrs. Jia Zhang and Auntie from the middle courtyard also ran over to take a look.

As for the second uncle and his wife who live in the backyard, they are naturally among them.

Yan Bugui touched the iron roller, smashed it and said, "Is this thing really useful?"

Silly Zhu curled his lips and said: "Third uncle, you think it's inconspicuous, right? Let me tell you, even though it looks like an iron lump, it doesn't need anyone to push it, so it saves a lot of trouble."

Yan Bugui stretched out his hand to adjust the glasses on the bridge of his nose and started walking around the iron roller.

Xu Damao said: "Third Master, if you don't believe me, hurry up to make beans with Third Mama tonight, and wait and see tomorrow."

Qin Jingru put her hands in the sleeves of her cotton-padded jacket, poked Xu Damao with her elbow, and asked in a low voice:

"Is it really that magical?"

"You stinky bitch, do you have a share in talking? Just stay there, what, go back to the house to soak the beans."

Qin Jingru rolled her eyes at Xu Damao with a look of reluctance.

However, Yan Bugui looked up at Xu Qing and secretly felt that since it was Xu Qing who did it, there should be no problem. He immediately turned around and took the third aunt back to the house to soak the soybeans.

When Jia Zhang and Da Ma saw that Yan Bugui had left, they immediately turned around and went back to their own house, ready to soak the soybeans they bought in advance.

Liu Haizhong pouted at the second aunt, and the couple hurried home to soak the beans.

As for Silly Zhu, he had no intention of buying soybeans to make tofu.

He is the only one in his family. Buying soybeans to make tofu is not troublesome enough. The plan is to buy a few ready-made ones from outside.

However, Xu Qing stayed in Shazhu's house for more than a week, so he asked Shazhu not to go out to buy tofu, Ming'er made it himself, and asked him to take a few yuan back to eat.

Silly Zhu was a little embarrassed at first.

But Xu Fengming said: "Brother Yuzhu, don't show up. If you feel sorry for yourself, the tofu is ready. Remember to let me eat a few more bowls of your specialty. I haven't had it in the past two years. It's weird."

Sha Zhu gritted his teeth and laughed, "Hey, Brother Minger, I'll let you have a good time!"

(End of this chapter)