Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Chapter 247 Is the smelly mandarin fish delicious?

"Don't worry, let's take a rest. It's been tiring to plant trees these days."

Lin Heng waved his hand, looked at the sky and said.

Judging from the weather, it might rain in the next two days, which would make it difficult to start work.

"Yes, let's wait until we see better days before starting work and seek a good fortune." Lin Yue said with a smile.

"Yeah, take a good rest, my waist has been hurting for the past two days."

Father Lin also nodded and said.

Back in the house, Xiulan was wiping shredded radish. These radishes were dried in a semi-dry state and then pickled in jars to become shredded sour radish, which was used to stir-fry bacon and go well with rice.

Xiaoxia was playing with her ball in the house, while two puppies were chasing her.

"Meow~"

"Just keep it, I'll go and raise the seedlings."

"Okay, I thought it was edible. If it tastes good, I'll go fishing for some in a few days."

"Is the cattle pen finished?" Xiulan asked while working.

"How are you going to grow the Chinese medicinal materials?" Xiulan asked again.

There is no shortage of charcoal at home, and the earthenware stove is always burning, which can make a fire and heat some things.

Xiulan happily counted the money, reached out and patted Lin Heng's shoulder and said with a smile: "You are the best, you are the best at everything. But I will just take the money. You don't like this anyway."

"Yes, it's done." Lin Heng nodded.

It is worth mentioning that the flowers of forsythia, a small shrub, are beautiful golden and very beautiful, and are often used as ornamental plants. Its vitality is also very tenacious. It can take root in cracks in rocks and piles of rocks, and it does not have many requirements on the environment.

He didn't sell all of them, he just gave away some of the ones he had a good relationship with.

Lin Heng sat down and took a sip of milk tea and said, "There are a lot of cows left in the morning. Lin Heng taught Xiulan how to make milk tea. There are still a lot of them."

There are not many other apricot and peach trees.

Lin Heng drank tea slowly and watched Xiaoxia playing there.

In fact, it doesn't matter if you give them all away, but that would make the seedlings seem worthless.

Lin Heng didn't expect Xiaoxia to understand the game, so he just let her go around for a while, and he would demonstrate it to her from time to time.

In this way, there is a gap. Those who are given seedlings by him will be grateful to him, while those who buy seedlings only want to have a good relationship with him in case he gives them away next time.

The total adds up to more than two hundred.

After a while, the wind started blowing outside, and the three of them went back to the bedroom.

Lin Heng reached out and petted the big cat Jinbao. This guy's voice now sounded more and more like a house cat.

The wonderful day passed like this, which was very fulfilling for Lin Heng.

After chatting for a few words, Lin Heng didn't want to talk anymore and sat on the bench in a daze. Xiaoxia was tired of playing ball and asked Xiulan to play paper-cutting with her.

"Am I good at making money?" Lin Heng said after selling the seedlings and looking at Xiulan who was counting the money.

"Can that smelly mandarin fish be eaten?" Lin Heng asked.

The weather is still very gloomy, the cold wind is blowing, and there is a feeling that a mountain rain is coming.

There are still a lot of sugar orange and pear saplings left, thirty or forty of each type.

"Let's wait until March in the Gregorian calendar and plant around the time of the Waking of Insects. These seeds need to be cultivated to have a high germination rate and cannot be sown directly in the ground."

Even Xiulan couldn't figure out the second-level Rubik's Cube, so she could only play paper-cut painting with Xiaoxia.

"You can rest assured that I will do it." Xiulan said firmly.

"Are you going to plant it in your father's field?" Xiulan finished wiping the last radish and raised her head and asked.

Lin Heng went to Hongfeng Mountain and planted a dozen of them, and then he didn't waste the rest. He directly spread the news in the village that it was only 50 cents a piece, and he would be compensated if the seeds died.

Lin Heng shook his head: "That's definitely not possible. You can grow some yellow turmeric and astragalus in the ground. Forsythia is a shrub, and the medicinal materials are its seeds. They can only be planted on slopes. Ginseng is a shade-loving plant and must be planted under the forest. I think Hongfeng Mountain is good, with forsythia planted on the edge of the forest and ginseng planted in the forest.”

The next day, I sorted out the machines and saplings at home.

Lin Heng smiled and took out the watermelon and cantaloupe seeds he bought.

Although the price is relatively expensive, after all, the ones bought from the Provincial Agricultural Science Institute are very valuable. With so many households in the village coming to buy two per person, they are all sold out.

Plant it in Red Maple Mountain, where the scenery will be beautiful in spring. There are more golden forsythia flowers in spring, and you can see red leaves in autumn.

"You just have to make a plan." Xiulan nodded.

Xiulan hung the shredded radish to dry under the eaves, walked over and said.

"It will be cold in winter, and it will take another five or six days."

Lin Heng nodded and said that he had only heard of smelly mandarin fish but had never eaten it in his previous life, but he was very willing to try it.

Two hundred pills were sold for 100 yuan, and Lin Heng made more than 70 yuan.

When I feel tired from reading, it’s almost time to have dinner. After dinner, I read a book for a while and then go to bed.

The toy rubber ball that Lin Heng bought for him was the simplest, followed by paper-cut paintings, and finally the second-order Rubik's Cube.

"Isn't it too early for lunch now?"

Xiulan looked at him and said.

Lin Heng shook his head: "It's not too early, not too early. I will plant it in a small greenhouse now. When the weather warms up around the time of the Jingzhe, the seedlings will grow. By then, we will be able to eat watermelon and cantaloupe by transplanting in June or July."

"Would you like me to plant some early pepper, cucumber and other seedlings for you?" Lin Heng said after taking a breath.

Generally, local seeds in rural areas will not grow seedlings. Anyway, they can be scattered in large quantities. The main purpose is natural selection, and all that can come out are strong seedlings.

He bought the seedlings, so naturally he still needs to cultivate them carefully.

"Then let's relax a bit." Xiulan thought for a while and nodded.

Lin Heng went back to the house and took another pack of green pepper seeds and a pack of cucumber seeds.

Don’t rush to plant them yet, just pour them all into a bowl and soak them in water. This can quickly transform the seeds from dormant state to growing state.

After soaking, he took a hoe to dig up the remaining half of the land where the strawberries were planted until it was soft.

When the seeds are almost soaked in the afternoon, they can be planted in the ground.

The pepper seedlings are sown directly and lightly covered with soil. For watermelons, cucumbers, cantaloupes, etc., you use a small stick to poke small holes and then drop the seeds in one by one.

After sprinkling a stream of water, take a piece of bamboo and bend it up, cover the surface with film paper and cover it with soil around it, and a small breeding shed is formed.

In the afternoon, Lin's father came over, looked at Lin Heng and said, "Son, can the crusher you bought can crush corn? Our corn flour is gone and we don't have enough to feed the cattle."

"It's ok. Let's take the machine over tomorrow morning and I'll teach you how to beat corn."

Lin Heng nodded and said, as the name suggests, the crusher can crush all grains.

"That's fine."

Father Lin nodded, sat down and drank two cups of tea before going back.

However, Lin Heng opened his eyes early the next morning and heard sparse sounds outside the window.

"It's raining?"

He lifted up the quilt and opened the window. Sure enough, it was raining lightly outside.

The wintersweet that was still in full bloom in the small courtyard swayed slightly in the rain, like a girl who got wet.

The buzzing sound of the bees was very faint, and occasionally I saw two flying out.

"It's raining!"

The wind outside woke up Xiulan on the bed, and she said sleepily as she listened to the first drizzle of the year. "Yes, it's raining, so he can only wait a few days to beat corn."

Lin Heng replied with emotion, but the rain came in time, and the survival probability of the planted saplings was greatly increased.

It wasn't raining heavily, and it didn't rain much when the two of them were milking the cows.

Now Lin Heng can only milk the three of himself when milking, and his parents or eldest brother can milk as much as they need.

When they finished drinking milk and were preparing to make breakfast, the rain suddenly became heavier again, and then became lighter in the afternoon.

The weather has been like this for two or three days in a row, jumping back and forth between good and bad.

There was nothing to do during this time. Lin Heng spent the whole room at home drinking tea, reading, and staring at the rain outside in a daze.

When I get really bored, I play some in-and-out games at night to increase our feelings for each other.

Lin Heng took out all the two sacks of books he bought in Ancheng and put them in the study cabinet.

I just take what I want to read and put it in my bedroom, and read it to pass the time when I'm bored at night.

When school starts, Tian Yan will come once a day to teach Xiaoxia and fulfill her promise while playing with Xiulan.

However, Xiaoxia was not in good health these days. First she had diarrhea after drinking too much milk, and then she had a runny nose and coughed non-stop.

Lin Heng bought a thermometer and measured it and found no fever, which was not serious.

Lin Heng picked some loquat leaves, boiled them in water, and put some brown sugar on them for Xiaoxia to drink. The cough symptoms were significantly relieved the next day, and there was no need to go to the hospital.

On the 22nd of the first lunar month, the sun came out again.

After breakfast, Lin Heng went to peel off the film and took a look, and immediately shouted: "Xiulan, come and see, I am very successful in raising seedlings this time."

He ran over and pulled his wife and daughter over to see his results. The vegetables and fruits under the shed all had cotyledons.

"Very good." Xiulan smiled and nodded, reaching out to tie Lin Heng's dropped shoelaces.

"Dad is so awesome~"

Xiaoxia jumped up and praised her. Anyway, her father was very good at what he did.

Lin Heng was satisfied after sharing the results with his wife and children.

Xiulan looked at the strawberry next to her. There was not much change. It seemed that only some leaves had grown.

After seeing the seedlings, Lin Heng went over to ask his father and elder brother to help carry the crusher.

The three of them worked together to carry the grinder to the old house. Lin Heng connected the wires and turned on the switch to try.

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound. Lin Heng made sure that the machine was okay and turned it off first.

"Dad, do you want more corn or more cornmeal?" Lin Heng looked at his father and asked.

"There is more cornmeal, mainly used to feed cattle and forest musk deer." Father Lin thought for a while and said.

Lin Heng nodded, went over to open the machine and replaced it with a finer sieve.

"Now just pay attention to the cornmeal."

Lin Heng pointed to the location of the unloading port, turned around and turned on the electricity. The motor drove the belt to rotate rumblingly, and as Lin Heng poured shovelfuls of corn into the lower hopper, the sound became louder.

Everyone used toilet paper to plug their ears, otherwise their ears would keep ringing when the cornmeal was finished, which would cause serious hearing damage.

After a while, the crushed cornmeal came out from the feeding opening, along with a lot of dust.

Many people in the village heard the roar of the machine and ran over to watch the excitement. They didn't seem to mind the noise even if they weren't at the entrance of the yard.

The crusher is very fast and can crush two hundred kilograms of corn in one hour.

Father Lin only prepared more than 200 kilograms of corn and finished it in less than half an hour.

"Is there nothing else?"

Lin Heng stopped the machine to remove the toilet paper from his ears and asked.

"It's so fast. Let's beat the remaining two hundred pounds in the house."

Father Lin said, mainly because he didn't expect such a small machine to be so fast.

The villagers standing at the door of the yard saw the machine stopped. Someone asked curiously: "Lin Heng, how much did you buy this machine for?"

"I bought it for 100 yuan from Ancheng Machinery City. We probably don't sell it here." Lin Heng said with a smile. The surrounding areas of Ancheng are relatively developed, and this machine was sold to nearby farmers.

In small cities like Changbai, there are no markets. Farmers go to grain stations where there are large machines.

"It's so expensive. It's better to go to the grain station to buy it."

Upon hearing the price, most people were dissuaded and sighed to themselves that it was great to have money. The Lin family was getting richer day by day.

"I bought it to raise shrimps." Lin Heng smiled. In this era, ordinary families can actually make a lot of money by buying one to feed the people in the village.

But he wasn't interested. It wasn't worth the small amount of money. When someone asked, he also said that he used it himself and did not provide food for others.

Soon, Lin's father brought two more bags of corn. Lin Heng stuffed them with toilet paper and continued working, beating the remaining cornmeal in one go.

During this period, his dad and eldest brother were also given a try. The machine was very easy to use. Once they learned how to use it, they could do it by themselves next time, and he could also be lazy.

After finishing the machine, he put it at his father's house for the time being, and then moved it there when the warehouse in Hongfeng Mountain was built.

"Dad, brother, go over and eat stinky mandarin fish tonight, a famous Anhui dish made by Xiulan." Lin Heng patted the corn flour on his head and said.

"okay!"

Lin Heng cleaned himself up and returned to the house. Xiulan had already taken out the stinky mandarin fish. It smelled different from the stench of stinky tofu and felt strange.

"Very successful." Xiulan looked at it, cleaned it and put it aside for later use.

She didn't start until night. The method of making stinky mandarin fish is simple. Fry both sides in oil until golden, take it out, then stir-fry the pork belly to get out the fat and aroma. Add dried chili pepper, ginger and garlic, stir-fry for a while. Add the mandarin fish, add white wine soy sauce and boiling water, use medium Cook for half an hour.

After cooking, reduce the juice over high heat, thicken the fish with starch and pour it on the fish, then add a little coriander and it's done.

In addition to mandarin fish, Xiulan also fried five or six other dishes. After they were served, Lin Heng was the first to use his chopsticks.

Although this stinky mandarin fish has been fermented for more than ten days, the fish meat is still very firm and has the shape of garlic cloves.

When you put it in your mouth, the texture is very firm and the saltiness is the strongest. The taste itself feels fragrant and smelly, which is very strange, but it tastes very good and you want to continue after taking one bite.

"Yes, I think it's quite delicious. It's different from fermented bean curd. Try it for yourselves."

Lin Heng took two bites and said that it felt more delicious if eaten with coriander.

Father Lin ate a chopstick and said in surprise: "Hey, it doesn't smell bad when you put it in your mouth. It's quite delicious."

"It's not bad." Caiyun also nodded, feeling very novel.

Everyone nodded. Only Mother Lin and Liu Juan stopped eating after one bite, as if they were not used to it.

This is just like snail noodles. Some people find it delicious, while others feel nauseated.

"Next time, you can do it again to catch two more Xiulans." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Okay." Xiulan nodded and ate two pieces herself.

Lin Heng went to scoop out a bowl of rice. It felt very satisfying, but he had to finish it like snail noodles and brush his teeth. He opened the window because the smell was too great.

"Son, the best day for you is the day after tomorrow. Do you want to start work on Hongfeng Mountain?"

Father Lin asked after dinner.

"It's time to get started."

Lin Heng nodded and started construction now. It is estimated that it will be completed by the end of March in the Gregorian calendar.

At that time, you can go to the depths of Taibai Mountain to hunt black bears. During that time, they will catch fish after hibernation.

(End of this chapter)