Wang family small peasant girl

Chapter 35

Zhang Yun took a comfortable bath in the big wooden barrel. This was the first time she had such a pleasant bath after wearing it. In the mist, it seemed that a layer of skin had been rubbed off her body, and she felt relaxed.

The hot water in the barrel was added several times, and when no matter how much hot water was scooped into the barrel, the water could not be heated up, Zhang Yun reluctantly left the barrel, dried himself quickly, put on his underwear, and put on a I put on a cotton jacket and cotton trousers, took out the cloth towel in the bucket and wrung it dry, wiped my dripping wet hair, opened the kitchen door and went out.

"Ah, this child, why is your hair still wet? Come on, come on, sit down and wipe it for you." Mrs. Zhou, who was resting in the hall and waiting to take a bath, went out when she heard the kitchen door open. , I happened to see Zhang Yun wiping her hair, and immediately went up and pulled her into the main room, sat her down on the bench, and took the cloth towel to help her wipe her hair.

Zhou's act of caring made Zhang Yun smile, and he refused to excuse her. He just raised his head slightly and let her hands be busy in her hair. It shows the rare tranquility at this moment.

Zhang Yun narrowed his eyes slightly, his cheeks were flushed by the heat, "Mom, you are the only one who hasn't washed at home, you go wash it earlier, I will wipe it myself." Leaning on Mrs. Zhou, I really enjoy the comfort of this meeting.

"It's not too bad. Why don't you dry your hair before you take a shower? In such a cold day, be careful not to freeze." Thinking of this, Zhou muttered, and Zhang Yun realized that he was used to washing his hair and taking a bath in modern times. At the same time, I still can't change it here for a while. Thinking about it, this habit is really not suitable. Hearing Zhou's words, he nodded slightly, "Well, mother, I understand, I won't do it next time."

Mrs. Zhou didn't stop with her hands, and continued to wipe her wet hair. Hearing what she said, she smiled and said: "Your body is not strong in the first place. If you are not careful, you will easily get sick. Next time, remember to take care of yourself. point."

Zhang Yun responded softly, and then the mother and daughter chatted casually. Mrs. Zhou wrung the cloth towel a few times and wiped Zhang Yun's hair until there was no more water dripping down. At that time, he also ordered: "Don't sit in the hall, go to the house quickly, there is a brazier inside, and it will be warmer by warming up."

"Hey." Zhang Yun answered, stood up and followed Mrs. Zhou out of the main room, just in time to see Zhang Youqing moving the big wooden bucket out and pouring Zhang Yun's bath water.

"Father, let me pour it." Zhang Yun remembered the matter of bath water after realizing it, and rushed to grab it. He was really used to modern automatic showers, so he couldn't remember it for a while, but let him Dad's hands are down, this is ancient times, how to make it.

Zhang Youqing turned his head to look, and hurriedly said: "I'm almost done, so don't come here, it's cold outside, go inside and warm up." Mrs. Zhou quickly stepped up to take over, and waved to Zhang Yun, urging her Go inside quickly.

Both father and mother pushed her into the house, Zhang Yun had no choice but to walk into the house, and when he walked outside the door, he stopped and turned his head to look. Father and mother were carrying a bucket to pour water together, and this image was inadvertently burned on In her heart, she just felt warm.

After taking a shower, she was comfortable. Lying under the quilt that night, the hard coarse quilt rubbed against her cheeks. Instead of feeling rough, she felt extra warm.

Waking up from the kang the next morning, Zhang Yun felt a little acid all over his body, and he didn't know if he was tired from eating so much non-stop for the past two days.

After a few squeezes on the shoulders, neck, and back, Zhang Yun left the house. Although the main meals have been prepared for the past two days, there are still many things to be busy today.

The family was busy early in the morning, posting door gods, hanging thousands, peach charms, window grilles, and Spring Festival couplets, all of which should be pasted during the Chinese New Year. The three animals and ingot candles must be fully prepared.

From the first day of the new year to the third day of the new year, people are not happy to work, so everything that needs to be tidied up and prepared at home has to be done early, and everything has to be done before the end of the year. There are many and complicated.

These things are all busy with the men at home. Zhou and Zhang Yun are still busy in the kitchen. Apart from pasta such as steamed buns and dumplings, some dishes have to be cooked and put on the table on New Year's Eve. I will prepare everything today These are the dishes. When the grandparents of the Zhang family came back yesterday, they bought a crucian carp that was a foot long and brought back some chestnuts. Mrs. Zhou made a calculation and decided on the dishes for New Year's Eve.

Braised crucian carp in soy sauce, stir-fried chicken with chestnuts, and meat slices, stewed radish and pork vermicelli. There are many radishes in the house, so I wrapped radish rolls with minced pork and winter bamboo shoots. Vermicelli, fried peanuts mixed with a coriander, plus their own stinky tofu, fried into a plate, and pickled potherb mustard and chopped peppers were spread on the stinky tofu, and a dish was steamed. In this way, it was a full ten A New Year's Eve dish that combines meat and vegetables, plus the fried rice cakes, steamed buns, and dumplings that must be served on the table, this table is not insignificant.

Thinking of Zhou's cost-effective dishes, Zhang Yun had to admire his mother. They were basically the dishes at home, and they tried to change the patterns with their minds to come up with a table of delicious dishes, which was economical and rich. Well, the ability of ordinary people to live a life is really not to be underestimated.

The dishes were all set, and the mother and daughter started to work, washing, cutting, and mixing. They were very busy. After noon, they had basically cut the vegetables and ingredients, put them in bowls, and waited until the next night , It’s easy to put it on the table when it’s cooked, and when the dishes are done, there’s only one thing left, which is to make dumplings.

Mrs. Zhou has already kneaded the dumpling dough, and now she is kneading long strips, cutting them into sections, rolling them out with a rolling pin, Zhang Yun sat down on the side with a small bench, and started wrapping them up.

As soon as one was made, Mrs. Zhou called out, "Yun'er, why do you make this kind of dumpling? It's not the Yuanbao dumplings that are made every year. You forgot."

When Mrs. Zhou mentioned this, Zhang Yun remembered that in the past years, he had helped make dumplings in front of Mrs. Zhou. The dumplings were made in the shape of ingots. After wrapping them up and putting them on the cutting board, it looked like a pile of ingots. It sounds like the same taste, but it's just for auspiciousness.

"Just now, I made the usual look quickly, and I will make Yuanbao dumplings next time." Zhang Yun said hurriedly, thought for a while, and wrapped the filling into the rolling skin according to the method in memory, folding the two corners in half , squeeze out a decent ingot shape.

Mrs. Zhou quickly rolled out dozens of rolls, put down the rolling pin, and sat down on the bench together. The mother and daughter wrapped the Yuanbao dumplings without delay in talking, chatting and laughing, and the time passed quickly. , Not long after, rows of Yuanbao dumplings were placed on the cutting board.

Before the Yuanbao dumpling was completely wrapped, Zhang Liangen outside was already urging, "Daughter-in-law of Daqing, get ready to cook soon, don't miss the time to worship the gods and ancestors, and prepare the dishes for the grave as well."

When Mrs. Zhou heard this, she hurriedly got up and looked outside. It was indeed getting late, so she took a break and let Zhang Yun make Yuanbao dumplings by herself, while she started to cook the vegetables.

Zhang Yun's hands also got up quickly, and after quickly wrapping the Yuanbao dumplings, he helped Mrs Zhou, and the two of them cooperated, and it was much faster.

"Mother, I'll serve the dishes." Zhang Zhang came in from the outside, washed the handles, and helped serve the dishes to the main room and put them on the table. One after another, the fragrant dishes were brought out of the kitchen one after another, and soon the whole table was covered with smoke. It's full.

After almost all the vegetables in the pot were fried, Mrs. Zhou put the steamer on the stove again, reheated the cold steamed buns, and fried the cold rice cakes again. After everything was done, only Ingot dumpling.

After the Yuanbao dumplings were put into the pot one by one, Mrs. Zhou called out, "Yun'er, wash your face and hands, so you can go to the hall. My place is almost ready, and I will go there later."

Mrs. Zhou urged, and Zhang Yun saw that he was almost busy, so he stood up, roughly tidied up what could be done in the kitchen, washed his face and hands with water, wiped off the water, and then relieved himself. He took off his apron and walked out of the kitchen.

As soon as she stepped out of the kitchen, there was a gust of cold wind, which blew into her collar, and she couldn't help itching her nose. She sneezed a few times in a row, and her nose felt blocked, so she rubbed it immediately. Nose a few times, walked to the main room.

When I walked into the main room, I saw that only Zhang Liangen was in the main room. Zhang Youqing, Zhang Zhang, and Zhang Xing had already gone to the grave with the prepared dishes and ingots and incense candles. In ancient times, women were not allowed to participate in these things, only men could do them.

When the father and son of Zhang's family came back, Mrs. Zhou also left the kitchen holding a large bowl, which was full of ingot dumplings.

"Daughter-in-law of Daqing, I'll wait for you. Wash it up as soon as it's cooked. It's time to worship the gods and ancestors." After all, Zhang Liangen is old, and he is most concerned about the sacrifice, and he can't help but urge him.

"Hey, I see. Just mix some sauce and vinegar for dipping the dumplings, and just cook the rice." Zhou put the Yuanbao dumplings on the table, smiled and agreed, turned around and walked out of the main room, and ran to the kitchen quickly. , mix the chopped green onions, ginger, and garlic into the vinegar, and then pick some chopped peppers into it, mix well and put it on the table.

Mrs. Zhou then poured the washed polished rice into the pot with water, added firewood, let the rice cook in the pot, washed her face and hands, took off her apron and drove out of the kitchen.

As soon as Mrs. Zhou came out of the kitchen, she saw everyone in the family gathered at the altar in the yard, and she was the only one waiting, so she hurried over and took the incense sticks that Zhang Youqing had lit. , stood beside him, Zhang Liangen took the lead and stood in front of him, Zhang Yun, Zhang Zhang, and Zhang Xing stood behind him, and the whole family solemnly and devoutly bowed to heaven and earth, praying for disaster relief and a good harvest.

After kowtowing, put the incense sticks into the incense bowl in turn, and the worship is complete. Afterwards, burn the incense and kowtow again to worship the ancestors.

After the most important sacrifice in ancient times was completed, Zhang Zhang rushed to the door and lit the firecrackers. The sound of crackling firecrackers rang out lively and lively. Zhang's family changed their solemnity just now, and all of them burst into smiles. Zhang Liangen yelled loudly: " Cheng Zi, come, come back quickly, let's have a New Year's Eve dinner." Zhang Zhang rushed over and entered the main room together.

Mrs. Zhou turned around to the kitchen, took all the bowls and chopsticks, and put them on the table. Everyone sat down on the table together. When the rice was cooked, Mrs. Zhou placed three bowls of food and three pairs of chopsticks on the old table. And burned three sticks of incense, which are dedicated to the deceased grandma, as well as grandpa and grandma.

According to the custom, the New Year's Eve dinner must be used by the ancestors first, and then the younger generations will have their turn, so everyone gathered around the table, waiting for Mrs. Zhou to offer everything, and then sat quietly for a while, Mrs. Zhou took off the chopsticks to watch.

"Grandpa, grandma, and mother have all been here. Let's have a New Year's Eve dinner." Zhou said with a smile as he showed the three pairs of chopsticks to everyone.

Zhang Yun was a little puzzled. After pondering for a while, he recalled that this is a custom every year. There is water vapor on the chopsticks, which means that the ancestors have returned and have eaten food. If there is no water vapor, then The rep didn't come back.

Although Zhang Yun didn't believe it in her heart, she still respected the ancient customs, so she didn't say much. After Mrs. Zhou sat down at the table, the whole family started eating. The two fathers and sons drank together, while the others let go of their stomachs and feasted on the sumptuous dishes they had never enjoyed in previous years. Everyone in the house talked and laughed to spend a warm New Year's Eve.

(End of this chapter)