Good farming at the foot of Changbai Mountain

Chapter 22

On the fourth day of September, the old man took all the boys in the family to the mountain to visit their ancestors' graves and told them the good news.On the fifth day of September, the villagers held a banquet in the ancestral hall.This kind of feast is that each family brings out something, and everyone gathers together to make some wine and dishes.Of course, there is public silver taels in the village, and the village head will take out some of them to fill up some for the banquet.

On this day, all the children who had been studying in the ancestral hall had a holiday, and then some women in the village came back to help.Let's work together to celebrate the happy event in the village.The Xu family naturally took out the most things. This was a happy event for their Xu family, so how could they not take more?

Mrs. Chen asked someone to send letters to the town and the county, and Zhide came back with Mrs. Han and the child.Zhiming came back late and led Zhu Shi. The two of them walked very hurriedly along the way, and they were sweating when they got home.Seeing the two of them like that, Mrs. Chen felt distressed, so she hurriedly let them rest for a while.

"Mom, we're not tired. The village is so busy, so I'll go and help with the work." Mrs. Zhu was still the same, with work in mind, and hurried to work as soon as she arrived.Walking to the row of pots and stoves that had been set up over there, I happened to see Mrs. Xue busy cooking there. "Sister-in-law, if there is anything else to do, I'll come."

As soon as Mrs. Xue heard that the third daughter-in-law had come, she didn't turn her head back, "You can help me cut up all the vegetables, as well as the meat. Your knife skills are good, and the slices of meat you cut out are thin and even. Let's There are not many people in the village who can have your craft?"

This Zhu family's natal family used to run a restaurant.Zhu's mother died early, and later his father married another daughter-in-law. This Zhu's stepmother treated Zhu badly and made her do a lot of work every day.There are never any waiters in the restaurant, and Mrs. Zhu has to be busy all by himself, and he also has to help chop vegetables and so on. It is because of this that he has practiced a good job.Zhu's habit developed in her natal family is that her eyes are very lively, and she has never been lazy.

Mrs. Zhu went to the chopping board, picked up the kitchen knife, and slashed through the vegetables. After a while, they were all cut.Then I cut the meat again, and saw that the slices of meat she cut out were so thin that they were almost transparent, and they were very even, making people admire her craftsmanship.

"Oh, Mrs. Xu San, your craftsmanship is really amazing. If there is a wedding or wedding event here, you can help out. With the same material, you can cut out half a plate more than others, which will really save things for the owner." A young daughter-in-law saw it and was very impressed.

"I just rely on this craftsmanship to eat. This is a skilled thing. If you also help others, your craftsmanship will be good." Zhu smiled and continued to cut things with her head down.She works as a helper in a restaurant in the county town, and she does this every day. How can she not do it well?

Many daughters-in-law in the village are here to help, and everyone is busy with their own tasks.At the pot and stove, there are three daughters-in-law cooking there, and there is a large pile of plates next to them. Once a dish is fried, it is often served on the plate, and then those who specialize in serving the dishes will serve the dishes to each table.

There are less than [-] families in the village, and a total of [-] tables of banquets are held. The children are all accompanied by their mothers, and there is no separate banquet for them.Of course, the table was borrowed from various houses, as were the bowls and plates, all of which were written on the back with a red pen, and when the time comes, just return them according to the name on the back.This is how weddings are held here, otherwise, who has so many belongings?Those who serve the dishes are all half-grown children or young daughters-in-law, coming and going, very lively.

The village chief took a look and saw that almost all the dishes were fried, and the rice was stewed in the pot over there, and he nodded, "Zhixin's daughter-in-law, I think the work is almost done, you take all the big guys over to eat Well, I'll just wait for you." The village chief said.

Xue wiped the sweat from her brow, although it was already September, it was still hot enough to stay on the stove. "Okay, Uncle Zhou, let's go there now. You can lead the people to the banquet first, and I'll add fire to these pots. Otherwise, the rice won't be cooked."

After hearing this, the village chief walked towards the banquet, came to the middle place, and looked at the villagers, "Fellow folks, today is Xu Zhixiang, the fifth son of the Xu family in our village, who passed the exam. Congratulations, congratulations. In our village, we haven’t got a juren in the exam for some years. After we go out, everyone’s face is bright, but there is only one juren in our village. Come on, everyone will eat and drink happily today , have a good time."

After the village chief finished speaking, he naturally wanted to invite Zhixiang to come over and say a few words.Zhixiang walked out from the crowd, "Fathers and folks, Zhixiang is just a junior, and I never expected to be admitted to Juren. Thank you for your kindness, and I even held a celebration banquet for Zhixiang here. I, Xu Zhixiang, thank you here Fellow folks, if you are useful to me in the future, you will definitely not refuse." Zhixiang bowed to everyone.

When the village chief saw it, he hurriedly said, "Okay, let's open the table. Let's open up to eat today. Our village has grown well this year, and it's another bumper harvest year. Let's celebrate together."

As soon as these villagers heard that the banquet was about to start, they all picked up their chopsticks and started eating.There is still wine on the men's table, and everyone is so busy and tired this autumn, it's rare to have such an opportunity today to take a break and eat and drink, who doesn't let go of eating?For a while, the entire ancestral hall was buzzing.

Mrs. Xue led the daughters-in-law who helped out and sat down, "I have to thank you all sisters today. If it weren't for your help, this feast would really be impossible." Mrs. Xue is the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xu family. She said what she had to say.

A lot of daughters-in-law next to me smiled and said, "Why is my sister-in-law so polite? The Xu family is very popular. No matter who has something in the village, my sister-in-law will go to help. It's too late for us to thank you. In the future, if there is anything to do with the sister-in-law's family, just do it." Find us."

The meal was finished in such a lively manner, and the old man of the Xu family also drank a lot of wine today, his face was flushed, and he laughed whenever he saw anyone.None of the Zhixin brothers drank less, especially Zhixiang, everyone came to toast him, how could he not drink?So if you drink one cup to the left and one cup to the right, you drink too much.

Seeing that her husband and son drank a little too much, Mrs. Chen asked Wen Han and Wen Cheng to support the old man and send him all the way back.Then Mrs. Chen took these daughters-in-law to clean up the table. There was nothing left on the table, and the plates were all empty.Meat is added to today's dishes, where can you see the smell of oil on weekdays?With such a delicious dish, even if you are full, you have to eat it.Farmers can't see anything wasted.

Stack up all the dishes and carry them to the well, and then many daughter-in-laws wash the dishes there.While brushing, a few literate children next to them separated the dishes and plates according to the words below, and sent them back to each family in a while.

Wen Han and Wen Cheng helped the old man back home, and led a group of young and old to send things back together.Lin Zixuan and Wenhan are good friends, so naturally he is indispensable for this job. In addition, Er Gouzi, Tieniu and other children are about the same age as them, and we get along very well on weekdays, so we work together.

After finally getting busy with everything, everyone left the ancestral hall and went back to their respective homes.

Jinghan also helped pick vegetables and wash dishes today, which was exhausting enough for an eight-year-old girl.So when she got home, Jinghan lay down on the kang and didn't want to move. "Jinghan, don't sleep. It's already afternoon. If you sleep at this time, you won't be able to sleep at night. Come, come and let's talk for a while." She fell asleep, and quickly got Jinghan up.

Jing Wan and Jing Xian next to her came up and pulled Jing Han up, "Sister, don't go to sleep, let's go to the garden outside to see if there are any good things you haven't brought back?"

Jinghan got up from the kang helplessly, "Okay, let's go to the garden."

When I came to the garden, there were not many things in the field now, only cabbage and radishes were left.Every cabbage has a big heart. This year's rain is good, and the cabbage grows very well.Jinghan led the two younger sisters to pull out two radishes. This kind of radish is quite special, with red inside. "Come on, let's go back and eat radishes. The radishes are already delicious at this time." He said, carrying the radish leaves and walking home.

Back in the house, cut off all the leaves of the radish with a knife, then washed the radish with some water, and cut it into pieces. "Come on, Jingwan, Jingxian, come and taste it, this is a new seed from this year, I have never seen it before." In fact, this radish is the kind that later generations call Xinmei, it tastes very sweet, not so spicy , tastes good.

Farm children don't have any snacks on weekdays, and eating a piece of radish feels very delicious.Jing Wan and Jing Xian grew up in the county town, and they had never eaten such fresh radishes, which were crisp and juicy, and the more they ate, the more they craved it. "Sister, give me another piece, it's delicious." Jing Wan said.

Jing Han then cut another piece and handed it to Jing Wan, "Eat it, we have a lot of these things, you can eat whatever you want."

Jing Wan took the radish and finished it within a few strokes. She was quite full from lunch, but now she ate the radish again, and she really couldn't eat any more.Touching her belly, "Sister, look at my belly, it's bulging. It's so fun."

Jinghan laughed when she saw it, and without saying anything, she cut up a lot of radishes and sent them to Chen Shi and Xue Shi. "Grandma, Third Aunt, Fourth Aunt, Mother, let's go and get some radishes. It's quite sweet, everyone should try it."

Mrs. Chen hurriedly took it over, "This is a newly harvested seed this year. It is said that it is best to eat it raw. Try it all. If it is good, I will bring back some more for you." There are not many fruits here, and people are willing to plant them. There are a lot of radishes. In winter, if you have nothing to do, take them out and eat them raw, which can be regarded as a snack.So if any family has that kind of non-spicy radish, they will leave a lot of seeds and share them with everyone.

(End of this chapter)