Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Soon it was evening, and a table of delicious dishes was served. Even though it was winter, I still made a cold bracken root vermicelli dish with black fungus, which had a sour and spicy taste.

After working for half a month, when everyone ate the fern root powder, their faces were filled with satisfaction.

"It's delicious. This fern root vermicelli salad is even better than sweet potato vermicelli!" Father Lin nodded affirmatively.

"It tastes good when cooked. I've eaten it before." Lin's mother also nodded.

Xiulan took a bite and said, "It tastes best with more cilantro."

The combination of wood ear fern root powder and a large amount of coriander gives it a complete flavor and texture.

Lin Heng and the children didn't say anything because they were busy eating. He used onions and sesame oil to prevent the children from eating too spicy food. They ate happily and when they finished they held out their small bowls and acted coquettishly to ask for more.

"Have some more vermicelli and fish." Lin Heng was afraid that the children would eat too much cold food, so he gave them some vermicelli and fish. This was pickled fish made from slices of grass carp that had been raised in stream water for a month.

This dish is also very popular. The vermicelli that has absorbed the soup has both the freshness of the fish and the sourness of the sauerkraut. With a small amount of chili, it tastes very good.

"Also eat more yams and chestnuts." Lin Heng picked up some yams, chestnuts and pheasant meat for the children.

I’m making fewer dishes tonight, just six, but they’re all staples and you don’t need to eat more after you finish them.

The children ate happily, and the adults also ate with big mouthfuls after drinking a glass of wine. The delicious food was the best reward for their hard work these days.

"It's so delicious!" Xiaoxia cheered after she was a little full.

"I still want my daddy!" Lu Ming extended the small bowl to Lin Heng.

"Grandma will pick some for you!" Mother Lin took the small bowl and picked up some yam and chicken for her grandson.

Here, the way grandma is addressed by grandson is a local term, while grandmother is a term introduced from outside. The daughter-in-law addresses her parents-in-law as mother and the father-in-law as father.

"Wife, your cooking skills are getting better and better." Lin Heng praised Xiulan as he picked up a few large slices of fish for her.

Good ingredients and good cooking skills are needed. Xiulan often studies her cooking skills and her cooking skills are getting better and better. Although good ingredients can be delicious with simple cooking, good techniques will undoubtedly make the ingredients more delicious.

For example, his aunt Zhang Gaolian’s cooking skills are average, and the food made with good ingredients tastes average too.

"Yes, this fish doesn't have any fishy smell at all, it's very fragrant." Lin's mother also praised.

Xiulan smiled and said, "The fish were good to begin with, and they are even better after being raised in the mountain spring water for a month. There is no fishy smell at all without any preparation."

"Don't be so modest, your craftsmanship is just great." Father Lin said with a smile.

Lin Heng picked up another chicken leg for her and ate a lot of chestnuts himself. After being stewed, the chestnuts became sweeter and more glutinous and tasted very good.

It was already past seven o'clock when the family finished their happy meal. The parents drove their sidecar back to Hongfeng Mountain. Lin Heng and Xiulan cleaned up the dishes and took the children to bed early.

Lin Heng retold the fairy tale to the children tonight, and by the time he coaxed them to sleep, Xiulan had already warmed the bed.

"Ouch, your feet are so cold, don't move."

Xiulan felt cold from Lin Heng's feet, so she covered them with her own feet to stop him from moving.

"I feel fine." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Just don't move." Xiulan snuggled into his arms and said, "Are you going into the city these two days?"

Lin Heng hugged her warm body and nodded: "Yes, it's the end of the year, the workers' wages have been settled, and then the factory can basically stop this year and resume work next year."

"Then remember to buy some cloth and soy sauce. There is not much soy sauce left in the house." Xiulan said in a low voice.

"Tell me tomorrow morning and I'll write it down in my notebook." Lin Heng said.

Xiulan nodded, changed to a comfortable sleeping position and rested close to Lin Heng. Although the fireplace could make the room very warm, it was still warmer to sleep together without clothes.

Lin Heng likes winter because he can sleep close to others without worrying about being too hot, which is not possible in summer.

When I woke up in the morning, I felt peaceful and relieved when I saw Xiulan sleeping beside me.

The next morning, after getting up and having breakfast, Lin Heng wrote down in a notebook the things Xiulan said she needed, then called his eldest brother and set off.

These days at home, when he has free time, he has taught his elder brother driving skills. He can initially start the car and drive it normally, but he is still far from mastering it.

But I could only learn from him slowly, because there were no driving schools in those days, and one had to find a job to affiliate with to learn how to drive. There were only a few places available each year, and one had to pay to get one.

He planned to wait until his elder brother had learned how to drive thoroughly, then he would spend money to find him a place in the company so that he could get a driver's license. Even in this era, money can still solve most problems.

However, it is now the late 1980s, and various driving schools that charge fees have appeared one after another, so it is not so difficult to get a driver's license.

After entering the city, Lin Heng went directly to Hengxiu Feed Factory. This was his second time here this month. Everything was going smoothly here. The selected workers were all hardworking and there were no unexpected problems.

He first looked at the factory's accounts. The factory's production efficiency had not been high since it started operating. So far, it had only produced 23 tons of shrimp feed, 10 tons of pig feed concentrate, and 20 tons of fish feed.

The reason for choosing these types is to make employees familiar with the specific operating procedures and how to produce, so as to expand production efficiency next year. This year, the machines are running at the lowest efficiency. If they are running at full capacity, they can produce more than ten tons of feed a day.

After checking the accounts, he went to look at the produced feed and then praised Wang Zhou: "You are very rigorous in your work, not bad."

These days, Lin Hai and Wang Zhou are mainly looking after the factory. Wang Zhou spends more time looking after it because Lin Hai is busy taking his driver's license test.

Unlike what he did at the beginning, where he paid a thousand yuan and skipped all the processes to get his driver's license, Lin Hai only paid two hundred yuan, so he needed to follow the master to the mountains to pull wood to complete his internship task.

It’s not that Lin Heng is unwilling to pay, but they are novices, and practicing with a master can improve their skills, otherwise there will be problems when driving later.

Wang Zhou smiled innocently and said, "I strictly follow what you said, Brother Lin."

"So it's true, I was not wrong about you." Lin Heng said with a smile.

After talking to Wang Zhou, Lin Heng called all the workers to hold a year-end summary meeting. He didn't say much nonsense at the meeting. He simply summarized the problems that occurred at work, and then announced that Factory No. 31 would be closed for the year.

At the same time, he also praised the workers' hard work and diligence, and said that the factory will expand production next year. By then, these veterans will at least be small supervisors, and the good ones will be qualified to be deputy managers.

Naturally, his words made everyone feel like they were injected with chicken blood. Promotion and salary increase were more inspiring than any slogan. He also said that in view of everyone's good performance this year, everyone would receive a year-end bonus of half a month's salary.

And even if you take a holiday, you can still get a basic salary of ten yuan every month.

These words made the employees even more excited. They did not expect that Lin Heng would treat them so well. They all supported the factory from the bottom of their hearts and thought that it must grow bigger, otherwise they would never find such good jobs again.

After the meeting, Lin Heng dismissed everyone, and then found Wang Zhou, saying that he could now take a half-month vacation, and after the vacation he would help look after the factory, and he would be given double salary during the New Year period.

The factory cannot be left without someone to look after it, and Lin Heng thinks the most suitable candidate is Wang Zhou. He is not afraid that Wang Zhou will sell all his things and run away without telling him. Because this is impossible, there is not even a 0.1% probability. He knows very well that his character has been set long ago, and unless he encounters a major change, he will never do anything beyond his character.

Once a person's character is formed, it is often like a transparent net that traps the person, and it is difficult to escape without experiencing unexpected changes.

After hearing this, Wang Zhou shook his head again and again: "No need, Brother Lin, just the normal salary is fine. Double is too much and I can't take it. It's just a job of watching the place, it's not hard work."

He felt that Lin Heng's treatment was too good, and he felt uneasy about taking it.

"It's decided. Just take it and pack it up. I'll take you back this afternoon." Lin Heng waved his hand.

Wang Zhou had no choice but to nod, knowing that Lin Heng hated the constant politeness.

After things here were initially dealt with, Lin Heng went to buy what Xiulan needed, left his eldest brother here, and then drove a truck full of shrimp feed and sent Wang Zhou home.

He stayed at home for one night and went into the city again the next day. He stayed in the factory until the 31st, settled the employees' wages, and cleaned and maintained all the machines before he finished his work.

Lin Hai also came back that day. Lin Heng looked at him and asked, "How long are you going to stay down there?"

Lin Hai smiled and said, "I'll wait until the 10th when Tian Yan gets her holiday and go back with her. I'll be able to get my driver's license after a few more days of internship."

Lin Heng nodded and said, "That's it. You can take time to come to the factory every day. Wang Zhou has gone back, so he will come when you leave. I will pick you up then. Caiyun will also be out of school at that time."

"It's okay, Brother Lin, leave it to me." Lin Hai said, patting his chest.

Lin Heng nodded, said a few more words to him, and then closed the factory gate, leaving only a small door for entry and exit.

Afterwards, he bought some daily necessities needed for the New Year, such as cigarettes, alcohol, red paper, etc. Then he went to a fireworks factory and bought a truckload of fireworks and firecrackers and went back.

Most of these things were unloaded into stores in the town and sold, and a small portion was unloaded into his eldest brother's store.

This store is the only store in Hongfeng Village and Shimen Village. Business is pretty good on weekdays. Even people from Baima Village often come here to buy things.

After unloading the things, he parked the car at Hongfeng Mountain, told his parents that he would go there for hotpot in the evening, and then went home.

When Lin Heng returned home, Xiulan was drying lettuce in the yard. Last time, Lin Heng made dried lettuce for hot pot, which was very delicious, so she took advantage of the time to dry more. When she saw Lin Heng, she smoothed her hair and smiled, "Is everything done? Is everything going well?"

"It went smoothly. I brought you new chocolates. Try them." Lin Heng took out a box of chocolates and handed it to her.

This thing was a novelty in that era, and Xiulan liked it very much. He would buy it for her whenever he went to the city.

"Why does it look like a bird's egg?"

Xiulan looked at it curiously, then opened one and took a bite. With a snap, the wine in the center flowed out. She quickly caught it with her hands and said in surprise, "Why is there still wine in it? You didn't even tell me in advance, and it all flowed out."

"How is it? It tastes good, right?" Lin Heng said with a smile.

"This is delicious." Xiulan nodded.

"Dad, I want it too!"

"I want I want!"

"I want it!"

The three children in the room saw the mouth moving and rushed out quickly.

Lin Heng gave them three bags of shrimp crackers and sent them away. He then talked to Xiulan for a while before going into the house.

Sit around the fireplace, make a pot of tea, and rest quietly for a while.

"We're going to have hotpot tonight, let's go prepare the ingredients." Lin Heng said.

"Who did you invite?" Xiulan asked. She had wanted to eat hotpot for a long time but never had the chance.

"It's lively and lively with so many people including my parents and my eldest brother's family." Lin Heng said.

Xiulan said, "The mutton is not enough. There are only two pounds of meat left."

Lin Heng said: "Then eat less mutton, and kill a white goat in two days. I remember there is a lot of tripe, plus the ingredients I bought, it will be enough."

He has four white goats at home, and he can kill them anytime he wants to eat them. The taste of white goats is also very good.

"Okay then, let's prepare the dipping sauce first, and then prepare the vegetables and everything."

Xiulan nodded and took Lin Heng to prepare the dipping sauce. They had to make the sesame paste and peanut butter themselves, little by little, and it was almost dark when they finally prepared all the ingredients.

Lin Heng washed the copper pot and placed it on the table, then added burning charcoal and waited for his parents to come. His eldest brother and his family had already arrived in advance.

After a while, the parents came over and looked at them and said, "A musk deer escaped. Your mother and I spent half an hour catching it. It took us a lot of effort."

"It's okay, come and eat quickly." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Okay." Father and Mother Lin nodded and quickly sat down.

We didn't have rice wine tonight, so Xiulan cooked some sweet wine as a drink, and everyone sat down to eat the hotpot.

Needless to say, the taste is absolutely perfect. There are pork, beef, mutton, small strips of yellow thorn bones, beef tripe, chicken intestines and various green vegetables.

Everyone chatted and laughed around the hot pot for more than two hours, then drank tea for half an hour to get rid of the greasiness before the party ended.

"What a delicious meal!" Lin Heng couldn't help but sigh as he went to bed to rest. It was really perfect to have such a hotpot in winter.

"Life like this is so nice." Xiulan also sighed, this is the life she dreams of.

"Go to sleep, go to sleep. When you wake up, it will be eighty-seven years later."

Lin Heng smiled slightly, took off his clothes and lay down with his arms around her.

The two of them whispered to each other, and when their love reached a deep level, they communicated with each other for a while before falling asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning, Xiulan woke up first and found herself lying on Lin Heng's back. Looking at his profile, she smiled.

Xiulan reached out and took his arm under the quilt, sat up and put on her clothes, then used a rubber band to tie up her long hair.

"You're awake so early? Sleep a little longer!" Lin Heng opened his eyes and said while holding her hand.

Xiulan looked at him and said, "It seems to be snowing outside. Let's go out and take a look." (End of this chapter)