Return to the small mountain village in 1983

"It's no use telling me, I'll listen to him." Xiulan smiled and spread her hands, then said, "But it's not a big deal, he should agree."

"If your family wants to do it, that's no problem. Just prepare the materials and I'll go and help you sometime. I'm not very busy lately." Lin Heng also said.

Tian Yan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go back and talk to my parents and find a time to ask you for help."

Lin Heng put out the fire, grabbed the mixed clay with his hands and smeared it on all the places that needed to be burned.

This clay was dug out from the pond at Hongfeng Mountain. He piled it all together and people can take it directly when they want to use it.

There is no need to say much about the refractory ability of clay, it is the best refractory material.

Use clay to evenly coat the burning area inside the Yantai and you are done.

Then Lin Heng cleaned the ceiling above his head which was blackened by oil smoke.

The last step was to dig a hole in the wall next to the Yantai and install the ventilation fan he bought in the city.

This took some effort because the wall was very thick and strong.

By the time all the work was finished, it was already past one o'clock in the afternoon.

"Okay, okay. There won't be any wood smoke when cooking from now on." Lin Heng said with satisfaction after finishing.

Although the pot has been installed in Yantai, we have to wait at least three more days before we can officially start cooking.

This is not unacceptable to his family because they have an electric stove and can cook with a small iron pot on the electric donkey or the fireplace.

"Come to my house for dinner when you're done. Your sister-in-law has prepared the meal." Lin Yue said with a smile.

When his family built the house, Lin Heng made a simple smokeless wood-burning stove out of mud. It has not broken down until now, so he is too lazy to tear it down and rebuild it.

Because he decided that after a few years when he made more money, he would demolish his house and build a building.

"Let's go and have dinner!" Lin Heng came out, washed his hands and nodded.

The meal had been arranged long ago, and everyone went together, including Tian Yan.

After lunch, Lin Heng went to Tian Yan's house in the afternoon to check out his stove and told him what materials they needed. He still had some tiles left that he could give to them.

After he finished, he went home. He didn't want to do anything, so he just stayed at home and rested.

Sitting in front of the fireplace, I roasted two sweet potatoes for the children and roasted two skewers of meat for myself.

When I’m bored, I read a book; when I’m free, I play with Xiulan or help her with work.

The village has been slaughtering pigs these past two days, and the screams of pigs can be heard several times every day.

Three days passed in a blink of an eye. On the morning of the 19th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xiulan woke up and said, "Hurry up and get up. We are going to braise the food today. We are busy now."

"Yes, I am busy!" Lin Heng kissed Xiulan's face, and they both got out of bed.

Now that Caiyun helps take care of the children during the day, they feel a lot more relaxed.

After exercising and making breakfast, Lin Heng drove to Hongfeng Mountain with milk, gave the milk to his parents, and picked up Caiyun.

"Sister-in-law, the honey milk tea you make is getting more and more delicious." Caiyun said in surprise after drinking the milk tea.

"I figured it out bit by bit through trial and error." Xiulan said with a smile.

As they chatted, Lin Heng finished his food in a few bites, then looked at Xiulan and said, "I'll go light a fire and boil some water first."

"Okay." Xiulan nodded in agreement.

Lin Heng got some firewood, lit a fire in the fireplace, and soon ignited the wood stove. The cement had already solidified, but the clay was still a little damp. After being calcined, steam quickly came out and some cracks gradually appeared.

This is unavoidable, but it won't have any impact.

Lin Heng was very satisfied looking at the new stove. Even when the fire was big, no smoke came out of the stove mouth. All the smoke was discharged from the flue after secondary gasification and combustion.

After the firewood is set up, cover the stove mouth with iron sheet, leaving only the square smoke outlet for air to enter. This is where the fire is the strongest, because the oxygen entering here can directly and fully contact the burning firewood.

"Xiu Lan, how long do you think it takes to boil a pot of water now?"

Seeing Xiulan come in, Lin Heng asked with a smile.

"Ten minutes?" Xiulan asked tentatively. The pot was very big and it used to take nearly twenty minutes to boil a pot of water.

"More. I looked at my watch. It only takes seven or eight minutes." Lin Heng said with a smile.

Xiulan couldn't help but open her mouth: "So fast?"

"This time it's made entirely of cement, so it's naturally much better than before." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"I'll try!"

Xiu'an scooped up the water out of curiosity, then began to stir-fry sugar color and prepare the marinade.

After using it for a while, she nodded with satisfaction: "It works well. Not only does it not produce any wood smoke, but the oil smoke is also quickly sucked away by the fan."

"As long as you are satisfied." Lin Heng was very happy. Now it was much more comfortable for his wife to cook.

Xiulan quickly prepared the marinade and took out some old marinade from the freezer and poured it together.

There are too many things to braise at home, including the head and internal organs of the antelope, as well as some antelope meat and deer meat. They cannot be braised in one pot, so we have to braise another pot in the afternoon.

In addition, there are two free-range chickens that Lin Heng killed yesterday, and he is also going to braise some lotus roots and other vegetables later.

Lin Heng has four pheasants and three golden roosters that he shot in the mountains this year, but these cannot be braised. They are best stewed or fried.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon, the first pot of braised dishes was ready. Xiulan used a bamboo strainer to scoop them out one by one and set them aside to dry.

After putting the second pot of braised dishes in, she made a dipping sauce and cut a little of each of the braised dishes that had been recorded.

"How about you try it first?" Xiulan fed Lin Heng a piece of antelope lips.

"Delicious, very fragrant." Lin Heng gave a thumbs up. His lips were full of gelatinous texture and had a strong aroma of braised food.

Then he tasted the recorded antelope intestines and stomach, which tasted even better than the mouth skin. Not only was the marinade rich and fragrant, but the taste was also top-notch.

Braised food is truly one of the greatest inventions of the working people. The offal with a strong fishy smell becomes a supreme delicacy after being braised in this way.

"Try it, the marinating is successful." Xiulan brought the dipping sauce to the main room and placed it on the coffee table.

Just as the children were about to run over to eat, Xiulan took a look and then washed her hands obediently before coming over. They just grabbed the food and ate it without even dipping it in water and were very happy eating it.

"Mom, I want more chicken. Chicken is the most delicious!" Xiaoxia rubbed her mother's shoulder and said coquettishly.

"I want my mom too!"

"Mom, I want a cock!"

Lu Ming and Du Heng also surrounded Xiulan and begged for food. They didn't like the braised antelope beef and antelope tripe very much, but they couldn't let go of the braised chicken.

"It seems that two chickens are not enough for braised chickens. How about I kill two more chickens and braise them specifically for them." Lin Heng said to Xiulan.

The braised chicken has bones and meat that can be easily torn apart. It tastes soft and full of the flavor of the braised chicken, and is deeply loved by children.

Xiulan shook her head: "We will have to braise the pig's head in two days, we will do it then."

Then she got up and got some braised chicken for the children, but didn't give them any more after they finished eating.

"I think the meat you cook, sister-in-law, is better than the meat in the restaurant." Caiyun said with a smile.

"No way, it's just something we can eat by ourselves." Xiulan said modestly.

"It's really delicious. Let's ask our parents to come over for dinner in the evening." Lin Heng nodded.

In their area, even in the middle of winter, there would be several cold dishes for dinner, at least four or five, and at most eight or nine. Xiulan naturally had no objection to this, and after the second pot of braised meat was ready, she asked Lin Heng to go over and call his parents to come for dinner.

In addition to the braised dishes, Lin Heng also stewed a set of antelope beef ribs, and Xiulan also fried four hot dishes.

The family had a simple meal and enjoyed the delicious food from the mountains.

"We'll kill the pig tomorrow morning. We'll braise the pig's head and internal organs over the next two days." Mother Lin said when they had almost finished eating.

"Sure, we'll braise two more chickens then. Xiaoxia and Luming are their favorites." Xiulan nodded.

"There are a few pieces of oxtail left. Eat them all." Lin Heng picked up three pieces of oxtail on the plate and gave them to Xiulan's mother and sister. They were all very interested in the braised oxtail.

His favorite food is the head of the takin. The gelatinous scalp tastes so delicious.

I finished my meal quickly, coaxed the children to sleep as usual, and slept with my wife in my arms.

The next morning, the two woke up at dawn because they were going to slaughter a pig.

"I'll go help you, you can get some sleep, I'll come get you and the child once the pig is killed."

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Lin Heng touched her face with one hand and said, if you wake the child up now because he hasn't slept enough, he will definitely cry, and that will be very troublesome.

"Okay then, be careful." Xiulan nodded in agreement.

Lin Heng nodded, let go of her hand, got dressed and got up.

He added a few more logs to the bedroom fireplace, then went out to wash up and exercise before heading toward Red Maple Mountain.

At this time, the ground was covered with thick white frost, the eaves were covered with cone-shaped ice cubes, and everything looked as if everything was withered.

But the village was not deserted. He could hear many people talking and the screams of pigs as he walked on the road.

There were a lot of people slaughtering pigs today, far more than just his family.

When he arrived at Hongfeng Mountain, everyone was already there and my parents had already boiled the water.

Lin Heng simply said hello and went over to help.

The process of slaughtering pigs is the same every year and there will be no changes this year.

After the killing, he went home to pick up his wife and children.

"How big the pig is today."

While walking on the road, Xiulan asked curiously.

"The gross weight is 300 kilograms. After they are killed, I estimate that each side will be about 120 to 130 kilograms. They have eaten a lot of acorns and have not been fattened well." Lin Heng replied.

Normally in rural areas, it is easy for a pig to weigh more than 300 kilograms during the New Year. Sweet potatoes would be used to fatten the pig a lot in the months before the New Year, but they didn’t do that because pigs that are too fat are not tasty.

"That's fine too!" Xiulan nodded.

"That's right. Let's make more bacon this year. There are takin and muntjac in the freezer, and we can't put them away for the time being." Lin Heng said as he walked.

Make a part of it into bacon and put it aside first, and then put the bacon back in after the antelope and muntjac meat in the freezer is eaten.

Soon they arrived at Red Maple Mountain. Lin Heng looked after the children while Xiulan went into the house to help her mother cook.

With the braised dishes that Xiulan made yesterday and the New Year pig that was just slaughtered today, the dish is very simple to prepare.

The pork fed with acorn powder by Lin Heng's family was as delicious as ever, and everyone praised it highly.

"This year, our two families also got some acorns to feed them. Let's see if they taste good." Lin Xutao said with a smile at the dinner table.

"We'll know at noon. We'll kill him right away!" Li Baiquan said with a smile.

After finishing their meal, everyone went to Sandie's house to continue slaughtering pigs without stopping for a moment.

Lin Heng and Xiulan didn't want to go at first, but they couldn't resist being dragged over by Third Mother.

But there was no need for his help if they went there. He and Xiulan could just take the children for a walk and play nearby while waiting for dinner.

Because there were so many people coming to help from Sandie's family, it was difficult to divide the work.

Lin Heng took firecrackers to the river to fry fish. He clamped the firecrackers between bamboo sticks, lit them, and inserted them under a stone, which could kill the stream grouper.

Xiaoxia was fine. Luming and Du Heng were dancing with joy and even playing with firecrackers, but they often got themselves covered in water.

"Are you cold? Why don't you go back? I think the food is ready."

After playing for a while, Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said.

"I'm not cold. Your hands are frozen red and you've only fried seven or eight fish. You should go back." Xiulan touched his hand and said with a smile.

She was wearing a down jacket and a high ponytail. She had clear eyes and bright red lips. She looked pretty and fresh. Even if she went to a strange place, you wouldn't feel like she was already a mother of three children.

"Let's go back!" Lin Heng nodded, picked up one of his sons in each arm, and quickly took them to the road and returned to Sandie's house to warm themselves by the fire.

After having lunch here, they went to his uncle's house in the afternoon to eat a pig-killing dinner. Originally, they said it was too far and inconvenient to go, but he Li Shiwei and his uncle each carried a child upstairs, so Lin Heng had no reason to refuse.

"Brother Lin, if it really doesn't work, I will help you send your son down then." Li Shiwei said with a smile.

"Yes, you haven't been there many times this year, so today is just the right time." Li Baiquan also said.

Their whole family was determined to invite Lin Heng, their great benefactor, to come up for dinner. Without Lin Heng, his family would still be the poorest in the village.

But in the past two years, I have become a household with an income of over 1,000 yuan by growing medicinal herbs with Lin Heng.

I planted kiwi trees again this year, and my life is getting better and better.

"Okay, okay, let's go." Lin Heng smiled helplessly.

In the end, the whole family went up the mountain together. It was windy and cold on the mountain, but the scenery was also very good. You could see the continuous mountains. If you reached the top of the mountain, you could see Taibai city in the distance.

Lin Heng didn't do any work when he came up, just strolled around. His aunt took out the persimmon cakes she had made and gave them to him and the children.

Xiulan originally wanted to go around with Lin Heng, but was pulled aside by the wives of Li Shiwei and Li Shilei to chat and reminisce about the past.

After killing the pig and eating the meal, the family said goodbye and went home early.

"After we go home and marinate the pig's head, everything we'll be ready for this year's New Year will be complete." Lin Heng asked on the way back.

"Almost. I'm going to grind some more tofu. The rest is gone." Xiulan nodded.

"We are getting richer every year," said Lin's mother with emotion.

"Of course, we will be even richer in the future." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"After all, my second brother is so awesome!" Caiyun said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, my dad is the best!" Xiaoxia echoed her aunt.

The group of people went home talking and laughing, and the next day Lin Heng went to Tian Yan's house to help build a smokeless wood-burning stove.

In the evening, he invited Tian Yan and Lin Hai to his house to eat hotpot and chat about the past, but this time he did not invite anyone from the older generation.

Tian Yan and Lin Hai's parents have also met, and the wedding has been tentatively scheduled.

Both parties decided to get married after the Chinese New Year next year. The date has not yet been discussed, and Lin Hai's family is also working on renovating the house.

In the next two days, Lin Heng and Xiulan braised the pig's head and internal organs and made tofu together.

As the Chinese New Year approaches, more and more people ask Lin Heng to help write couplets. (End of this chapter)