A pleasant life in a courtyard

Chapter 222 The twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month

There are still five days left before the Chinese New Year.

In winter, it gets bright very late.

But the sky was not too dark against the backdrop of a patch of white snow.

In the early years, when people went out early, some families had to light a torch to light the way.

Nowadays, not all households have one, but anyone who can afford it will have a flashlight.

Although this kind of metal flashlight has many disadvantages, such as it cannot be exposed to water and is easy to rust, it consumes power quickly, and it cannot be used in thunderstorms and may be struck by lightning.

But compared to the primitive lighting mode like torch, it is already much more convenient.

Before the rooster crows, Mother Li got up.

I picked up the watch that my eldest sister put on the table and looked at it. It was not yet four o'clock.

I got the news yesterday that a batch of hairtail came to the market.

She made an appointment with all the women in the courtyard to line up together today.

After a simple wash, she scooped up a bowl of millet, washed it, scooped out water, put it on the stove and simmered over low heat. When the children got up, there was a pot of millet porridge.

Mother Li, on the other hand, made a bowl of sesame paste to satisfy her stomach.

After eating, I didn't even have time to clear away the bowls when I heard the second aunt shouting outside.

Mother Li hurriedly put on her scarf and gloves, carried the vegetable basket, and went to join them.

Aunt Wang walked at the front, lighting the road with a flashlight.

Occasionally I meet acquaintances on the road, and when I see Mother Li among them, I always say hello with a smile.

Those few simply joined their team, chatted and laughed with them, and headed to the vegetable market together.

The eldest sister is the second person in the Li family to wake up.

At this time, the clock on the watch showed just after half past six.

When she passed by the middle room, she glanced at her sleeping brother and younger brother.

Seeing that most of the quilt was rolled up by the elder brother, Li Xiaodi could only curl up and put up a corner of the quilt, that's it, he was still sleeping soundly.

She also admired it from the bottom of her heart.

There is also a disadvantage to being tall. The clothes and quilts you wear are more expensive than others.

Especially in the past two years, Li Xiaodi has also begun to grow taller.

The two brothers, who had been able to coexist peacefully under the covers, began to fight over the covers.

If it hadn't been for the year before last, when the house was a little tidied up and the temperature in the room wasn't too low, otherwise I would have caught a cold.

The eldest sister went back to the back room, shook off her newly folded quilt, and covered Little Brother Li's body.

She planned to wait for her mother to come back and discuss with her how to make a new quilt.

Let the elder brother and younger brother each have a quilt from now on.

Then the eldest sister came to the kitchen again.

Lifting the lid of the pot, she found that the porridge was almost ready, so she began to work on the side dishes of the porridge.

First, I picked up two pickled salted duck eggs from the vegetable jar.

After washing it in water, it was boiled in millet porridge.

Then he took out half a mustard from another vegetable jar.

After cutting it into small pieces, she went to wash up.

After it was done, remove the pot from the stove, put the wok on, heat it, pour the oil, and stir-fry.

Because the eldest brother was naughty, the eldest sister deliberately put in more oil.

Otherwise, during breakfast later, the eldest brother would have to nag her for being stingy.

After the vegetables are fried, they are taken back to the house over there.

The kitchen shed was only a temporary building and was not sturdy, and it still leaked in the winter.

If the fried vegetables are placed here, they will lose their heat after a while.

He put the porridge pot back on the stove to heat it up, took out the salted duck eggs, picked up three more steamed buns from the cupboard, and placed them on top of the porridge for a while.

It is so inconvenient to cook with a coal stove.

Now that this is done, that one will come back again.

That is to say, every household now only has one or two dishes per meal, mostly pickles and stir-fried vegetables. The staple food is also a meal that lasts for several days.

Otherwise, Dundun would be in trouble if he did this.

A salted duck egg turned into eight petals in an instant with the skillful hands of the elder sister, and two made it into sixteen petals.

Arranged in a circle on the plate, regardless of whether they taste good or not, they look quite elegant.

Once the salted duck eggs are on the table, the two brothers will stop staying in bed.

After all, it was already half past seven.

If it's a little later, Mother Li will be back. By then, not only those who stay in bed will be punished, but also those who are awake will be punished.

For Li Xiaodi, the world is big and eating is the biggest thing.

As long as there is food, he will be the most active.

As soon as I heard that there were freshly pickled salted duck eggs today, I jumped out of bed without even having to ask for help from my sister.

Dealing with Li Xiang is even easier, as long as Little Brother Li gets up.

Just lift the quilt and take it away.

This trick doesn't work except in summer, but it works in the other three seasons.

However, the rest of the Li family is not always used to it. When there is nothing important, they try to let him catch up on his sleep.

Li Xiang first huddled up and wanted to pretend to be dead.

But he found that the warmth gathered on his body was quickly exhausted, so he could only sigh and get up obediently.

By the end of the year, materials from all over the country were constantly being deployed from other places.

The government is also trying its best to make everyone have a good New Year.

Yesterday, while everyone was watching TV at Li's house, the uncle read the notice from the grain and oil station to everyone.

This year, every household can buy an extra bag of sweet potatoes with their grain and oil book.

Although it is still coarse grain, it is enough for the people to express their gratitude to the country and the party.

The reason why Li Xiang was arrested this morning was because of this bag of sweet potatoes.

One bag weighs twenty kilograms, but he is not allowed to help carry it back.

A pound of sweet potatoes costs three cents a pound, and twenty pounds only costs sixty cents.

It's money that every household can afford. Even if poor people don't have enough food to eat during the New Year, it's good to be able to have enough to eat.

When the three brothers and sisters arrived home carrying the grain they bought from the grain and oil store, Li's mother also came back from the vegetable market.

She smiled and showed off today's battle examples to the children.

"Not only are there hairtails, but there are also prawns. Look at them, they are bigger than a palm."

"It must have been shipped from Tianjin. The shrimps in the river can't grow this big." Li Xiang put the grain bag away, took a look and said.

"I guess so. I was so busy grabbing it that I didn't have time to ask." Mother Li replied.

My eldest sister likes to eat shrimps the most. Just by looking at them, my mind is already choosing the appropriate cooking method.

"Mom, these shrimps are big enough. Let's boil them plain," she suggested.

Mother Li looked at the four shrimps in the basket plus her hands, shook her head, and refused.

"You forgot, this year we are not the only family of four. We are going to spend time with your brother's teacher and his wife. How will we divide the time? It won't look good."

The eldest sister patted her head and she really forgot about this. She shouldn't just think about herself.

"It's okay, Mom, you can buy it, and the teacher's house will have plenty of it. We'll see when the time comes. If there's more, just follow what my sister wants to eat." Li Xiang consoled her.

Mother Li agreed as it made sense.

The conditions of the eldest son’s teacher are not that bad compared to theirs.

At first, she felt embarrassed that her son always brought home things given by others. She always felt that it was not good for him to always take advantage of others.

She often tries to find ways to return gifts, but compared to what Professor Hao and his wife gave them, she still gets more gifts than they receive in return.

It was the eldest son who said that the old man treated him as one of his own, and that was why he loved his family so much.

If we have to distinguish everything and repay a gift for the sake of repaying a gift, the old man will be sad.

After hearing what her son said, Mother Li no longer insisted on keeping things in order as before.

(End of this chapter)