Reborn farmhouse busy farming

Chapter 70 Dragon Boat Festival

Naturally, Luo Tian would not want to tie the newly acquired little scalper outside the yard, not to mention thieves, but ordinary people passing by, saw a scalper outside and no one was watching, but thought about it, untied the rope and took the sheep, No one knows.

Old man Luo knew how important a farm ox was to farmers, so he immediately yelled at Luo Baihan: "You go to the town to study every day, and how many hours can you stay at home every day? I don't even think about it because the cowshed is dirty. Where did you get your food and clothes from?"

Luo Baihan was slapped in the face by Luo Baining last night, so he didn't go to school today and stayed at home to rest. Hearing this, he said: "I also want to read when I come back every day. I smell bad smell every day, how can I read?"

Luo Tiandu smiled and said, "Second Uncle, don't worry, from now on, Eldest Sister and I will clean the cowshed every day, and there will be no bad smell that will affect Second Uncle's study."

As for Yao's objection, Luo Tiandu also made concessions. After harvesting the grain, Yao's yard gave priority to drying the grain. After the grain in Yao's house was dried, the yard was no longer used, so her family continued to dry. , will not delay Yao shi.

In this way, Yao Shi and Luo Baihan finally agreed that Luo Bai would set up the cowshed in the yard.

That night, Luo Baisu tied the little ox to the big millstone in the yard. The next day, he dug a deep hole in the yard, buried a thick tree pole, and went to the mountain to cut a lot of thick branches and trim off the thin ones. , Only keep the main branch, paste it with mud, and build a simple cowshed.

Old man Luo was afraid that the cowshed would not be strong, so he wove a lot of straw ropes as thick as a child's arm, and tied them around the cowshed inside and out.

Since then, Luo Mingdu and Luo Tiandu have added another job every day, taking their own little cattle to find a place with lush vegetation to feed the cattle, which is commonly known as "herding cattle".

Luo Mingdu loves this job very much. After eating breakfast and washing clothes every day, he always unties the ox rope early and leads the little ox out.

Luo Tian was afraid that she would delay her studies because of her playfulness, so she always followed her. When herding cattle, she would pull Luo Mingdu to sit by the side to read and write.

Therefore, the villagers of Luojia Village will always see a small yellow cow grazing leisurely on the hillside, and the scene of two little girls not far away concentrating on studying has become a special scenery in Luojia Village.

In a few days, the Dragon Boat Festival will come. Luo Ming was born in the middle of May, because it is not a good time to celebrate the daughter's birthday, and the birth date of the daughter is also kept secret. It is not easy to let outsiders know, so Fang plans to buy it. Some delicious dishes, not only for the festival, but also for Luo Mingdu's birthday.

In hot weather, there are fewer butchers, but the fish is cheap. On the first day of the festival, Fang bought two crucian carps, and two catties of small fish and shrimps that were one inch long, and kept them in the water basin. Eat it during the festival the next day.

Of course, the Dragon Boat Festival is to make zongzi.There are few bamboos here, and reed leaves are mostly used to make rice dumplings.

Fang had already soaked the reed leaves and glutinous rice for making zongzi, and the taro and maqiang were also prepared on the plate.There are few taros and hemp in the north, and most of them are wild on the roadside. The skin is peeled off, and the thin layer of skin covering the outside is scraped off with the back of a knife. The remaining fiber layer is dried and used to bind things and make them firmer. However, even if it is a very thin one, it is not easy to tear off.

Before the separation, Yao was in charge of the housework. During festivals, at most, he would make a few rice dumplings and add some sugar to eat.This year the family separated, Luo Tian wanted to pack more tricks, mung beans, red beans, red dates, the seeds of the green beans harvested last year, etc., soaked some of each.

As usual, on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, we had to take a bath with mugwort water to repel insects, so Luo Tiandu went to the yard to pull out some mugwort, tied them into small bundles, put a small bundle on the door and window lattice, and picked them again. The clean mugwort, remove the roots and pick off the rotten leaves, wash it clean, put it in a pot and boil it with water, wait until the water boils, then mix it with cold water, take a quick bath with this mugwort water .

Fearing that Luo Tiandu was small, Fang was too busy playing in the water and refused to take a good bath, so he rolled up his sleeves and asked for help, but Luo Tiandu flatly refused.

After the whole family took a bath, the soaked glutinous rice and beans were just enough to make zongzi.

Making zongzi is a technical job, Luo Tian doesn't even know it, and the adults didn't expect her to help, so they sent her to the side to play.

She remembered that during the Dragon Boat Festival in the past, the children in the family would wear a circle of blue thread around their wrists and necks. It is said that it is to ward off evil spirits and ensure safety.

Thinking that there was still a child named Luo Mingdu at home, she touched a few copper coins, went to the grocery store and bought some strands of blue thread, wrapped it several times, and put it on for her when Luo Mingdu raised his hand. go up.

When the zongzi was cooked, the zongzi filled with beans really tasted better, because a little salt was put in to season the zongzi when making the zongzi, now it tastes salty and fragrant, and the taste is better without sugar.

Every family has beans, which are not very expensive, but sugar is an expensive thing. Seeing that everyone in the family likes the salty rice dumplings wrapped in beans this year, Fang decided to make them like this next year, saving money on sugar.

Luo Tiandu cooked the dinner.

Two crucian carp, one braised in soy sauce, one stewed in soup, as for the two catties of small fish and shrimp, they were marinated with salt, then wrapped in flour and deep-fried in an oil pan until golden.She pity Luo Mingdu is eight years old, and she has never had a serious birthday. She intends to make some fresh food for her to make up for her, but because the conditions do not allow it, there is really nothing to do. After thinking about it Back, I only peeled the potatoes at home, asked Fang to cut them into long strips of uniform thickness, boiled them in boiling water first, then drained them, threw them into the oil pan and fried them until they were cooked. When they came out of the pan, mixed with some salt , made into cottage potato chips.

As expected, Luo Mingdu liked this plate of fried potato chips very much, and almost ate half of it by himself.

Fang also expressed his appreciation for this fresh dish.

Luo Tiandu took the opportunity to talk about her little plan, she planned to make some fried snacks and sell them in the town.

She mentioned the idea of ​​selling snacks, and the three members of the family didn't have any objections, even Fang's just said: "You sell snacks, what do you want, I can buy it after you clarify."

Luo Tiandu was very surprised, and asked Fang: "You have no objection?"

Luo Baisu has always supported her ideas, and Luo Mingdu is also a 24-year-old filial sister, so she won't pour cold water on her. It was expected that the two would nod and agree, but she didn't expect Fang to be the same.

Mrs. Fang glared at her, and said: "It's useless even if I object to what you want to do. If you want to sell fried snacks, you will sell them anyway. You're disgusting."

Luo Tian was laughed at by her, and said: "I'm really not sure this time, I was thinking that if my mother objected, I would stop thinking about it."

Fang thought about it, and smiled to herself: "Okay, what do you want?"

Luo Tian thought about it seriously, this is just a small business, she has no plans to run a tenant shop, so naturally she can save as much as she can, but no matter how much she can save, she always needs a stove and a pot, The cart is readily available at home.She plans to fry some side dishes such as tofu, potato chips, and leeks. One is easy to cook, and the other is cheap. In this way, there will be a lot of bamboo sticks for stringing vegetables, and sauces and seasonings are also required.

No matter what you fry, you need a pot. Everyone understands this. Luo Tian explained the bamboo sticks for skewers, and everyone in the family can understand, except for the stove she mentioned that can be carried around. She couldn't imagine what it was, even though she described it for a long time, she only imagined the stove in her mouth as a movable clay stove.

Fang's first thought was how much iron and how much would it cost to build such a large stove?A blacksmith's shop costs [-] renminbi a pound, and an iron stove weighing [-] jin costs [-] renminbi.

Luo Tian talked for a long time, and his mouth was dry. Seeing that Fang still didn't understand, he took a quill pen, dipped it in ink, and drew a sketch on the paper. Only then did the family understand.

What she drew is actually a very common coal stove in later generations. It is a medium-sized cylinder surrounded by a thin iron sheet, with a thick layer of clay pasted on the outside, and another layer of iron sheet around the periphery. Iron rods are used to separate the grate. Firewood can be placed on the top of the grate. The ashes of the burned firewood just leak through the grate to the bottom. A hole for ash discharge and ventilation is opened on the side. The thick wire is bent into a semicircle, and the top end is covered with a wooden handle for carrying.

Sure enough, it is much simpler to explain it with a picture.

The family looked at it carefully and felt that if the stove could really burn fire, it would be much more convenient than an earthen stove.

Fang glanced at Luo Tiandu, and said rather curiously: "I really don't know what you've been thinking about all day long, let alone, the things you think about are really useful."

The next day, Fang really took Luo Tiandu to the blacksmith's shop to start a stove.

"Uncle, I want to build a stove and a pot. The pot should not be too big, but it should be deep. I also need to make an iron net that can hang on the side of the pot. I need it urgently. Uncle will help to catch up with the work. I Extra money would do the trick.”

The master craftsman in the blacksmith shop smacked his lips when he heard that she only needed a small pot, and said: "There is no stove for such a small pot, what use is it for you to make it?"

Luo Tiandu said casually: "That's why I need to ask the uncle to make another stove that is suitable for use."

The old master was the same as Fang's at the beginning, he imagined an earthen stove that could be carried around in his mind, and when Luo Tian took out the sketches, he only took a second look and figured it out, he couldn't help laughing. : "I don't know which lazy person came up with this idea, but it's a good thing."

Luo Tian agrees with his words quite a bit. Aren't many inventions and creations in history created by lazy people for the sake of convenience and trouble?
The old master took the drawing again and looked at it carefully. The more he looked at it, the more he felt that although this thing was a bit complicated to make, it was really easy to use.

There are also quite a few vendors selling snacks in the town. Since the tenants could not afford a shop, they built a thatched hut on the side of the road and built an earthen stove to sell some tea.Sometimes there are too many people doing business, and it is not always possible to grab the place the day before. It is really troublesome to change the place and build a new earthen stove.If you have this stove, it couldn't be more convenient. As long as you bring enough firewood, you can burn it for a day.

(End of this chapter)