Chapter 151. It’s all for the sake of the children
There is a thick rubber band tied to the door of Zhao's house to serve as a door bow.
As soon as Wang Meilan left the house, the door slammed shut.
Zhao Youcai, who was standing in the door, took a deep breath, turned around and walked towards the east room.
The children were all in the Li family in the west courtyard, managed by the old lady and Li Tongyun. The other women were led by Wang Meilan to grind the leather, and Jie Chen drove Li Dayong, Li Dazhi and Lin Xiangshun to grind the rice.
Then there are Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu is visiting his father-in-law, Wang Qiang carries a gun and goes up the mountain to fight, and Li Ruhai is chatting in the small shop, leaving Zhao Youcai alone in the family.
Zhao Youcai entered the east room angrily, and as soon as he sat on the edge of the kang, he heard the howling of a dog outside the room.
Zhao Youcai stood up and looked out the window, only to see two people standing at the door of the courtyard.
Zhao Youcai suppressed the anger in his heart, stood up and went out to greet him.
About forty minutes later, Zhao Youcai sent the two of them out of the house with a smile. Looking at the two people leaving, the smile on Zhao Youcai's face gradually solidified.
Back in the house, Zhao Youcai took out potatoes one by one from the basket made of tree strips in front of the dish rack.
It's almost eleven o'clock. No one else is eating, but Zhao Youcai is still hungry.
There were more than 20 people in the family eating, but there was not enough food to eat. So Zhao Youcai picked up eight potatoes and carried them to the stove with one arm.
As soon as he put the potatoes on the ground and pulled Ma Zha over to peel the potatoes, there was another dog barking outside the house.
Zhao Youcai jumped up from the bench, stretched his neck and looked out the window.
At the same time, in the east room of the Ma family, Zhao Jun, Ma Dafu, and Ma Sheng were eating melon seeds and chatting.
In the outhouse, there was a sound of oil, and Wang Cuihua poured the chopped chicken into the pot.
A big rooster that has been free-range for two years has red chicken meat.
Wang Cuihua used a spatula to stir-fry the chicken pieces. At this time, Ma Ling came over with a small helmet and said to Wang Cuihua: "Mom, I've finished cleaning this fish."
"Take it to your eldest brother's house." Wang Cuihua said: "Let your sister-in-law add oil and simmer it for a while."
"Yeah." Ma Ling responded, holding the little helmet in her hands and about to leave, but was stopped by Wang Cuihua.
"Don't forget to tell your sister-in-law." Wang Cuihua warned: "Let her take the child and come here to eat."
When my uncle comes to visit, the little chicken has no soul.
A chicken stewed with mushrooms, a braised crucian carp, and some dishes to go with the wine. Although it is not as good as the Zhao family's banquet, Wang Cuihua can arrange so many dishes in a hurry, which is already very good in itself.
…
As the chicken stewed with mushrooms was finished, Wang Cuihua put three pieces of chicken into a small bowl and set them aside. The remaining chicken and mushrooms in the pot were put into a small helmet by Wang Cuihua and asked Ma Ling to carry them.
Go to the table in the east room.
Sitting around the Kang table in the east room were Zhao Jun, Ma Dafu and Ma Sheng.
At this time, all three of them were eating and drinking. On the table were braised crucian carp, canned luncheon meat sliced and plated, and fried peanuts.
Zhao Jun usually doesn't drink, but today Ma Dafu forced him to pour a drink, and Zhao Jun drank with his father-in-law and uncle.
In the west room, there is also a Kang table placed on the Kang.
There were three people surrounding the Kang table, one was Ma Yang, the other was Ma Sheng's son Ma Tianshi, and the other was Xu Xiaoqing.
Logically speaking, Xu Xiaoqing should not sit here when her mother-in-law and sister-in-law are cooking in the outer room. But Ma Tianshi is only three years old, so Xu Xiaoqing has to take care of the food.
At this time, Wang Cuihua took the time to come in with the small bowl containing three pieces of chicken, placed it in front of Xu Xiaoqing, and said with a smile: "This is for my eldest grandson to eat."
Free-range chickens don’t have much meat. After the feathers of a big rooster are shed and the body is eviscerated, there is less than three kilograms left.
These days, if guests come to the house, whatever delicious food is served must be served to the guests. This is why Wang Cuihua loves her grandson, so she serves Ma Tianshi three pieces of chicken.
As for Ma Yang, even if he got first place in the exam, he wouldn't get this kind of treatment.
But as soon as Wang Cuihua left, Xu Xiaoqing turned to look at the door, then took out a piece of chicken thigh from the small bowl and put it directly into Ma Yang's bowl.
…
"Jun, you eat this meat." In the east room, Ma Dafu gave Zhao Jun three pieces of meat in a row. But he and Ma Sheng both had a mouthful of chicken and only picked a few mushrooms.
Again, this is the way to treat guests.
As for Zhao Jun, he must eat. The more he eats, the richer Ma will be, and the happier Ma will be. On the contrary, if Zhao Jun eats less, the Ma family will think more.
Farm food must be made by farmers. This chicken stewed with mushrooms is delicious made by Wang Cuihua.
While Zhao Jun was eating chicken, Wang Meilan and a group of people came back in a liberation vehicle.
When they were walking back after cooking the leather at Lin Xiangshun's house, they met Li Dayong and his party who were returning from grinding rice.
When she entered the house and saw a steaming pot coming out of the house, Wang Meilan took off her headscarf and asked Zhao Youcai, "What kind of dish are you cooking?"
"Stew three slices." Zhao Youcai stewed potato slices, carrot slices and dried tofu slices together. After stewing these three things, they were all doughy and very delicious. They can be served with rice.
"Mom." At this time, Zhao Hong came out of the west room and shouted to Wang Meilan, "I'm hungry."
"Dad, why are you cooking?" Wang Meilan asked Zhao Youcai with a hint of complaint. It was already past twelve o'clock. Not only were the children hungry, adults like them were also hungry.
"Why do you want me to cook?" Zhao Youcai raised his hands angrily outside the room and said, "There haven't been many visitors this morning, what do you want me to do?"
After hearing what Zhao Youcai said, Wang Meilan quickly said: "Oh, thank you for your hard work, thank you for your hard work."
Zhao Youcai rolled his eyes at Wang Meilan. On ordinary days, he would definitely not treat Wang Meilan like this. But today I have to work. I have been busy all morning and have to cook for you. Which of you dares to beep?
There was only one dish for lunch, and everyone was hungry, so they mixed the dishes with rice one by one, picked up their bowls and slurped it into their mouths.
After dinner, the men sat in the east room and smoked, the children played in the west room, and the women cleaned up in the outhouse.
After cleaning up, Wang Meilan started to leave again. Zhao Youcai, who heard the noise, hurried out of the house and asked Wang Meilan: "Lan, are you still leaving?"
"Ah." Wang Meilan said to Zhao Youcai while tying her headscarf: "The work is not finished yet. How can we fix it if we don't leave?"
"Woof woof woof..." As soon as Wang Meilan finished speaking, there was another dog barking outside the house.
"Come on!" Wang Meilan greeted, and the women came out of the house huffing and puffing.
The old lady and Li Tongyun greeted the children to leave, while Li Dayong, Li Dazhi, and Lin Xiangshun hid in the west room.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Youcai was left alone in the room.
He took a deep breath and walked out of the house.
At this time, Wang Meilan was talking to someone in front of the courtyard. Seeing Zhao Youcai coming out, Wang Meilan smiled and said: "Uncle Xiao, Youcai has come out, you can chat."
The person who came was an old man. He was dressed in rags and exuded an unpleasant smell. He looked like an old mountain dog building a shack in the mountains.
Just as Zhao Youcai welcomed Xiao Wanshan into the house, Zhao Jun was wandering out of Ma's house.
For those who have never drank alcohol, after drinking more than two taels of white wine today, they feel a little overwhelmed.
Ma Ling went out to see off Zhao Jun. The two chatted and walked slowly in the village.
Zhao Youcai invited people into the house, Xiao Wanshan sat down on the Kang, Zhao Youcai poured him tea, and Xiao Wanshan rolled a cigarette and smoked it himself.
"Uncle Xiao." Zhao Youcai said to Xiao Wanshan, "Why did you come back?"
"I arrived at the house last night." Xiao Wanshan stared at Zhao Youcai and asked, "Youcai, why did your family collect these things before?"
"Oh!" Zhao Youcai couldn't hide his exhaustion and said, "My son is getting older now. My mother and I are thinking about making more money for him."
"Alas!" Xiao Wanshan sighed, shook his head and said, "It's all for the sake of the children."
With that said, Xiao Wanshan picked up the triangular bag on his lap, took out each leather roll and placed it on the Kang table.
Zhao Youcai unfolded them one by one, inspected the yellow leaves in front of him, and then separated the male and female leaves on both sides.
"You Cai, are you ready to fight the big siege now?" Xiao Wanshan asked, Zhao Youcai said: "Let's fight, Uncle Xiao."
After saying this, Zhao Youcai looked up at Xiao Wanshan and asked, "Uncle Xiao, what are you looking at in the mountains?"
"Looking at a bunch of pigs." Xiao Wanshan said: "There are twenty-five or six pigs."
"Where is it?" Zhao Youcai asked, and Xiao Wanshan said: "On the red pine hill on No. 62, when I came down yesterday afternoon, I saw a bunch of pigs feeding on the opposite hill."
"Ah..." Zhao Youcai's little eyes clicked twice, and then he said to Xiao Wanshan: "Uncle Xiao, you have ten males and thirteen females. I will give you thirty-eight males and twenty-eight females.
.”
"Okay, I have money." Xiao Wanshan was straightforward, because his family lived in Yong'an, and he didn't feel cold after walking for three or four minutes. So, he took the money Zhao Youcai gave him and went home.
Before leaving, Xiao Wanshan said to Zhao Youcai: "Youcai, I will get up early and go back to the shack tomorrow. If you want to go up the mountain, you can come to me."
"Uncle Xiao, I can't go these two days." Zhao Youcai said: "My family cannot live without people now. I have to be able to go in a few days."
Zhao Youcai was very self-aware. He wondered why he had to stay at home for three days and then think about going up the mountain.
After sending Xiao Wanshan away, when Zhao Youcai entered the house, he heard snoring one after another in the west room with the door closed.
Zhao Youcai returned to the east room, sat down on the edge of the kang, and then leaned back. After lying on the kang with his upper body, Zhao Youcai raised his feet and stepped on the edge of the kang to use his strength to get on the kang.
He had gotten up at 4:30 in the morning, and now it was two in the afternoon. Zhao Youcai wanted to lie down on the kang and squint for a while while no one was around.
As soon as Zhao Youcai lay down and closed his eyes, he heard a dog barking from outside the house.
Zhao Youcai sat up in an instant, stretched his neck and looked outside, and immediately frowned.
The visitor is Tao Sansheng, Qin Qiang’s brother-in-law.
Zhao Youcai did not go out immediately, but the dogs in the courtyard kept barking. Zhao Youcai was afraid of disturbing the people sleeping in the west room, so he got up and went out.
"Uncle Zhao." Seeing Zhao Youcai coming out, Tao Sansheng greeted him with a smile and said, "Are you having a rest today?"
Zhao Youcai looked Tao Sansheng up and down with his little eyes. Seeing that Tao Sansheng was carrying a triangular bag, Zhao Youcai asked, "Why don't you, Uncle Qin, come out today? What are you waiting for? Isn't his eldest son back?"
Normally, a funeral takes place three days after death.
For people like Qin Dajiang, the funeral should be counted from the day the Tao brothers found out that he was dead, and the funeral should be the day before yesterday.
But Qin Dajiang's eldest son was out of town, and after learning the news, he rushed back to the village last night.
"Uncle Zhao, I really don't understand this." Tao Sansheng smiled bitterly and said, "Who knows how those three brothers studied it."
Zhao Youcai stared at Tao Sansheng without saying anything. He didn't believe that Tao Sansheng didn't know.
The Zhao and Qin families have been very close friends since Zhao Jun.
After Zhao Jun was reborn the year before last, he had some unpleasantness with Qin Qiang because of Hua Xiao's incident, but that did not affect the relationship between the two elderly people.
Even though the Tao brothers later brought Qin Qiang to Zhao's house to cause trouble, Qin Dajiang also made things right.
From then on, regardless of the relationship between Qin Qiang and the Zhao family, Qin Dajiang and Zhao Youcai were still on good terms.
Now that Qin Dajiang is gone, there are still disputes between his sons, which makes Zhao Youcai feel a little uncomfortable.
Moreover, before Qin Dajiang was buried, Qin Qiang was eager to sell the yellow leaves that his father worked so hard to harvest, which made Zhao Youcai feel that it was not worth it for Qin Dajiang.
"Then what are you doing here?" Zhao Youcai asked. Tao Sansheng lifted the triangular pocket in his hand slightly and said with a smile: "Uncle Zhao, I have a few yellow leaves. I was wondering..."
"My family collects the yellow leaves." Zhao Youcai narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Thirty-six for the male and twenty-six for the female."
"Ah?" Tao Sansheng was stunned, looked at Zhao Youcai with some disbelief, and asked: "Uncle Zhao, didn't you say the male's is thirty-eight and the female's is twenty-eight? Who was that yesterday... the one we went to the pole with?
, Wei Tie and his uncle came to sell it, why don’t they pay back the price?”
"The price has dropped today." Zhao Youcai lowered his head and picked at his fingernails and said, "The manager of the Daohua County Supply and Marketing Cooperative is my wife's nephew. He called us specifically this morning to tell us that the price of Huang Yezi has dropped."
"Uncle Zhao, this can't be done!" Tao Sansheng heard this and said anxiously: "It's only been one day, how can we get rid of these old people? What...Uncle Zhao, you still press thirty-eight, twenty
Let us take eight, okay?"
"Is that okay? Okay?" Zhao Youcai said angrily: "My family has collected everything, how can I calculate the loss?"
With that said, Zhao Youcai waved his hand at Tao Sansheng and said: "If you are willing to sell, then sell it. If you are not willing to sell, then I will pull it down."
After saying that, Zhao Youcai turned around and walked into the courtyard.
"Uncle Zhao, Uncle Zhao!" Tao Sansheng chased into the yard, grabbed Zhao Youcai and said, "Can't I sell it to you?"
Zhao Youcai paused. He originally wanted to use the excuse of lowering the price to refuse to accept the yellow leaves that Tao Sansheng brought. But the man chased after him. Zhao Youcai glanced at him and said, "Let's go into the house."
When the two of them went into the house, Zhao Youcai didn't pour water for Tao Sansheng, nor did he let him roll a cigarette. Tao Sansheng didn't care about that, he just took out the yellow leaves from his triangular pocket one by one.
Zhao Youcai checked and found that these yellow leaves were fifteen male and eighteen female.
Looking at these yellow leaves, Zhao Youcai felt even more uncomfortable. Thinking about Qin Dajiang, he was already over sixty years old, still crawling in the mountains, unable to eat or drink for a day, and ended up supporting such a son.
Zhao Youcai threw out a wad of unity and gave Tao Sansheng eight yuan in change, a total of one thousand and eight.
When Tao Sansheng was counting the money, the corner of his mouth almost reached his ears. The money was left by Qin Dajiang for Qin Qiang, but he couldn't stop Qin Qiang from listening to his wife. In Zhao Jun's previous life, Tao Hehua was the No. 1 of Yong'an Forest Farm.