Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Chapter 354 Things are different now
"father!"

In the room, Lin Heng had just put his things down when Xiaoxia hugged his thighs.

When Xiulan saw Lin Heng return safely, she felt relieved.

"Don't bother your father. Look, he's tired and sweating all over." Xiulan said to Xiaoxia.

Xiaoxia shook her head, unwilling to let go: "No, I want Daddy."

"It's okay." Lin Heng shook his head and pulled her to sit on the official hat chair next to him. He had been in the mountains for four days and was as dirty as a mud man.

Next to them, Lin's mother poured water for everyone and said, "Hurry up and sit down and take a rest."

"It's really tiring." Father Lin sat down and sighed.

Lin Xutao said with a smile: "Just be happy that you can carry so much meat."

"Yes, other people can't carry it even if they want to." Lin's mother also laughed.

After resting for a while, Lin Heng took out the big lilies he had dug for Xiaoxia.

"It's so big." Xiaoxia was very happy holding the big lily in both hands.

Sandie even said: "This lily is the biggest lily I have ever seen."

Everyone nodded. They had never seen such a big lily before. It was a rare thing.

Lin's mother took it and weighed it on the scale. This big lily weighed a full 1.4 jin, while most of the ones dug weighed only 3.4 jin.

"Let's take a look at the meat." After a good rest, Lin Heng said.

Mother Lin smiled and said, "I have prepared the wooden basin and the rack."

Lin Heng brought the wooden frame over and laid some film paper on the ground in the yard.

He first separated the yellow muntjac and roe deer and put them in two places respectively. These were hunted by him and his elder brother separately, so there was no need to separate them. His elder brother would just take the yellow muntjac back later.

Mother Lin looked at the strips of roe deer meat and said with emotion: "This roe deer meat is really delicious, all lean meat, just like beef."

Xiulan came over, pinched the rosy roe deer meat and said, "This meat should be very suitable for hot pot. Beef and mutton are both delicious in hot pot."

Lin Heng smiled and said, "Then let's have hotpot tomorrow."

"Okay."

Xiulan and Lin's mother nodded and went to look at the black bear meat. This was the first time for them to see a black bear.

"Dad, its head is so big!" Xiaoxia bravely poked the black bear's head with her finger.

Lin Heng ignored his daughter and let her play as she pleased. He weighed the black bear meat and, excluding the bear paws, internal organs and bear skin, there were about 200 kilograms of bear meat, most of which was fat.

This black bear hasn't been hibernating for long, and the fat stored in the summer and autumn has not been consumed much.

Lin Heng looked at his elder brother and asked, "Brother, take 50 kilograms of bear meat back home, and we can sell the rest of the bear skin and gallbladder in the city together. I'll give you the money, how about that?"

Lin Yue grinned and said, "No problem, whatever you say, beating the black bear is all up to you, I didn't even have to put in any effort."

“That’s it.” Lin Heng decided on this and divided the things. He gave some roe deer meat and black bear meat to his mother and asked her to help with the cooking.

He went back to the house and took a shower before coming out. His clothes already smelled of sweat, and he couldn't stand it for a moment when he got home.

Xiulan went into the house with him to get his clothes, and whispered something to him before leaving. When Lin Heng came out of the shower, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon.

Father Lin and his friends had packed up the roe deer meat and other things again. When he saw him coming out, Father Lin asked, "Do you want to put all this in the freezer? I have packed it all."

Lin Heng thought for a moment and said, "Freeze half of the roe deer meat, and I'll make the rest into air-dried jerky."

A portion of fresh meat is enough, otherwise the taste will go bad if it is not finished in half a year. The venison jerky I made last time tasted delicious, so I can make some more this time.

Xiaoxia eats dried meat and grinds her teeth, which is good for the growth of her teeth. Grinding teeth more often will prevent them from growing crooked.

"Yes, it's best to make it into jerky." Xiulan also agreed with Lin Heng's approach.

Lin Heng sorted out the roe deer meat, put the fat and lean parts into the freezer, and took out the pure lean meat to make jerky.

Father Lin asked again: "What about the bear meat?"

"As for the bear meat, I plan to sell some, and use the rest of the fat to boil into bear oil, and some of the lean meat to make bear meat jerky to try." Lin Heng said after thinking for a while.

He took out a new roll of plastic wrap and separated the meat frozen in the freezer to prevent them from sticking to each other and being unable to be taken out.

For the time being, all the bear meat was put into the freezer. The one and a half meter long freezer was filled three quarters at once, and the refrigerant started to run quickly.

Bear paws and other things were also packed in. It would take some time to sell them in the city. Although it was winter, there was no guarantee of a constant temperature freezer to keep them outside.

After packing all the things, only a piece of bear meat and a bear head were left outside. The internal organs were also temporarily packed in. They left the internal organs and head of the roe deer outside and dealt with these first.

"The meal is ready." Lin's mother also came out of the kitchen and said.

Lin Heng immediately said: "Let's eat first."

Lin's mother's cooking skills are average, and even with Xiulan's guidance, the cooking is also average. The coriander roe deer meat relies entirely on the flavor of the roe deer and coriander themselves.

Bear meat was more ordinary, but its delicate taste was well received by everyone. Lin Heng had eaten a lot of roe deer and bear meat in the past two days, and his body felt warm and he felt much stronger than eating pork.

"No wonder this thing is so hard to beat, it really tastes unusual." Third father Lin Xutao said with a smile after eating.

Lin Hai stretched himself and said with satisfaction: "Yes, I have been following Brother Lin Heng for the past two years and have tasted a lot of meat that I have never eaten before."

"You guys have helped me a lot, just like today, without you we would still be on the top of the mountain." Lin Heng said.

"That's also because of us. If you want to call people, you can call a lot of people at will." Lin Hai said with a smile.

"Haha, it's not that exaggerated." Lin Heng laughed and changed the subject, "Let's not talk about this. How is your pond digging going?"

"We didn't hire anyone, but we have only dug a small pond of 100 square meters, which is 1.5 meters deep," said Lin Xutao.

Lin Heng nodded: "That's fine, I'll give you shrimp fry in the spring."

He didn't give them any further advice; it was up to them to make their own choices.

After a few more words, the father and son were about to leave. Lin Heng did not stop them. He handed over the five catties of roe deer meat and five catties of black bear meat that he had prepared long ago: "Third father, take this little bit of meat back and eat it."

"This won't work. How can we take so much meat after having already eaten a meal?" Lin Hengsan's father shook his head repeatedly.

Even if Lin Heng and his father repeatedly pushed it to him, he would not take it because it was too much.

Ten kilograms of meat can be sold for more than ten yuan, but they get nothing of equal value in return.

Although Lin Xutao is not educated, he knows that blindly taking advantage will only make the relationship more and more distant.

In the end, it was Lin's mother who took action and cut the roe deer meat and bear meat in half, totaling almost six pounds, and stuffed them into Lin Hengsan's father.

Lin Hengsan's father was helpless. He put the meat into a red bag with a silly smile, put it at the bottom of the backpack and carried it out.

Lin Heng sent them to the door. By then, the villagers had already left, but the news that he had caught the mysterious prey had spread throughout the village. Not long after Lin Xutao walked out, he met his elder brother Lin Xuping who was coming towards him. He smiled and greeted him: "Hello, elder brother."

He has an ordinary relationship with his eldest brother, but he will still greet him politely when they meet to express his kindness.

"Did you just come out of the second brother's room?" Lin Xuping asked expressionlessly.

He also heard the news that Lin Heng had caught a big prey. Looking at the bag in the third brother's backpack, it was obvious that he had received some meat, which made him extremely envious.

If it was before, he would have tried to take advantage of them, but now he didn't dare to do anything. Because he and Lin Heng didn't get along, many people in the village began to isolate their family to varying degrees.

If he dared to make trouble again, he would definitely be drowned by the villagers' spit.

Lin Heng is no longer the same as before. Most of the villagers will support him when he says something, and even the village party secretary will ask for his opinion before doing anything.

The two men exchanged a few words and then parted ways. When Lin Xutao and his son passed by the center of the village, a group of people curiously asked him what kind of prey Lin Heng had hunted.

"Nothing, just a roe deer and a big wild boar." Lin Xutao said with a smile. This was the excuse given by Lin Heng, not to mention that a black bear was killed.

The main point is that there is no benefit other than making the villagers envious and jealous, and it may also cause some people to do something small. Black bears are much more valuable than other prey.

"Roe deer and wild boar! Damn, no wonder it takes so many of you to help."

"Where did you get it? How come you got so much all at once?"

"How much does the roe deer weigh?"

A group of people asked at once, even the roe deer was enough to make them envious,

No one thought about the black bear. The last time a black bear was killed in the village was five or six years ago.

"It's not much, mainly because it's a big wild boar."

Lin Xutao and his son exchanged a few words and then found an excuse to run away.

On the other side, Lin Heng sent Sandie away and went home, and gave his parents the roe deer meat and black bear meat he had just cut. "Mom and Dad, take these back and eat them. Xiulan and I will braise the rest and bring some back to you."

"Okay, thank you, son." Lin's mother was not polite at all and took it back with a smile on her face.

"I heard that bear oil can cure rheumatism and arthritis. I'll take some back to try. I've been having back pain lately." said Lin's father.

"Sure, I'll cut it for you." Lin Heng cut another pound of bear fat for his father.

After taking the things, my parents didn't leave. They helped to burn the hair off the roe deer and bear heads, and cleaned the other internal organs with edible alkali.

They knew that Xiulan couldn't work recently, so they helped her do everything they could.

It was almost dusk when they finished and they took their things back.

After his parents left, Lin Heng locked the door and fed Xiongba and Lai Fu. Lai Fu's belly was bulging and it was estimated that she would give birth in the next two days.

The room finally quieted down. Lin Heng leaned against the sofa and put his hand on Xiulan's shoulder, smiling and asking, "You have nothing to do these two days, right?"

Xiulan smiled and shook her head: "I don't feel uncomfortable at all, but I can feel the two little guys kicking me from time to time."

"That's good. Next time I kick you, let me feel it." Lin Heng said.

"Okay." Xiulan blinked and said, "Let's go back to the house and rest. You must be tired."

"Yes." Lin Heng nodded, helped Xiulan up, and took her and Xiaoxia into the bedroom.

There was a faint fragrance in the bedroom, which was even stronger on the quilt. Lin Heng got two pillows for Xiulan to lean on on the bed, and then went to light the fire in the fireplace.

After adding some pine wood, bright yellow flames could be seen dancing after a while, and the heat quickly raised the temperature of the entire room, which meant they didn't have to cover themselves with thick and heavy quilts in winter.

Lin Heng poured himself a cup of tea and placed it on the bedside table. He half leaned on the pillow and silently felt the soft and fragrant quilt.

When a woman is around, the bed feels different. Xiulan often uses some scented laundry detergent and shampoo, so the quilt also has a scent and the pillow can smell a faint chrysanthemum fragrance, which has a calming effect.

Lin Heng leaned back for a while and picked up a book from the bedside table to read. Xiaoxia sat on Lin Heng's legs and asked him to tell a story.

"Okay, then let's tell a longer story." Lin Heng told her myths and legends. He would rest early when she fell asleep. He hadn't slept well in the past two days in the mountains.

Before going to bed, Lin Heng used an iron cover to cover the fire in the fireplace. Last year he liked watching the fire, but this year he preferred a dark sleeping environment.

Relying on Xiulan, he slept until nine o'clock the next morning, except for getting up once in the middle of the night to add more fire.

"It's still more comfortable inside." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"If you felt comfortable, then you would have gone out every day." Xiulan said with a blink.

"Haha, the past is the past." Lin Heng laughed, got dressed and got up.

They burned some charcoal in the fireplace and took it to the main room to heat milk and warm the fire. After exercise and a simple breakfast, the two began to cook the stewed dishes.

"Dad, can I plant this lily?" Xiaoxia said, holding the big lily that Lin Heng gave her.

"That's fine." Lin Heng followed her wishes and took her to the wall in the backyard to plant lilies. He estimated that such large lilies would produce more than a dozen flowers next year.

After planting lilies, Lin Heng came back and followed Xiulan's instructions step by step to fry the sugar color, put the seasoning packets away, and began to braise the dishes.

The one-meter-diameter pot in the house was filled with stew. As soon as it boiled, the fragrance wafted out of the yard.

While braising the meat, Lin Heng used a ceramic furnace to refine some bear oil, preparing to try out its effectiveness. He had never used this thing before.

The meat was braised from morning to afternoon. When it was taken out, the fragrance filled the house and could be smelled by people outside the yard.

When it comes to food preparation, China, with its 5,000-year history, has a huge advantage. Even the offal that foreigners find disgusting can be turned into delicious food after special processing.

"Let's take a roe deer head and eat it first." Lin Heng said with a smile. He took out the roe deer head and split it in half, peeled off the skin, and took out a lot of lean meat.

The horns of the roe deer had been taken off long ago and hung on the wall of the main room as decoration. There were larger sika deer antlers in the study.

Last year, all the sika deer antlers were eaten up. Sometimes I used them to make tea, and sometimes I put them in stewed hazel grouse and old turtles. Xiulan had these good things to supplement her nutrition during her pregnancy and she didn't have any problems.

"Delicious!"

Xiaoxia washed her hands and grabbed one to eat directly. It was very delicious even without dipping in any sauce.

"Try it and see how good my cooking is."

Lin Heng fed Xiulan a piece of skin. She loved eating braised pig skin and other things the most.

Xiulan chewed it and blinked, "Not bad, you have half the skills as me now."

Lin Heng laughed: "Haha, then I still have to work hard."

Then he mixed the roe deer skin and lean meat into a cold dish, and the three of them ate it with rice.

After finishing his meal, Lin Heng wanted to give some braised meat to his parents and elder brother, but he was surprised to find that Lai Fu had started giving birth.

(End of this chapter)