I saw Chen Ze driving towards the bridge and finally disappeared at the mountain pass on the opposite side.
Only then did Zhang An's family turn around and return to the house.
"Xiao An, why is there so much money here?"
Returning to the inner room where the stove was set, Wang Fang found a stack of money on the stool. She counted it and found that there were more than a thousand yuan.
Zhang An took a look and saw that this was where Chen Ze was sitting just now.
This must belong to Chen Zeliu, this man is real.
Just before they left, Chen Ze took out the money and handed it to Zhang An.
But Zhang An did not accept it, and Chen Ze was not polite afterward and took the money back.
It turns out that if this person is healed early in the morning, Zhang An will definitely not accept his money.
So when I went out, I had already put the money on the stool in advance.
It turned out that he was waiting for him here, so no wonder he wasn't as polite as usual just now.
"Mom, take it, this should be left by Chen Ze."
As it was, Zhang An didn't even think about sending it back.
Chen Ze just wanted to show his attitude by doing this. It would be pointless for Zhang An to push and push him again.
In the evening, Wang Fang casually heated up some leftovers. After the family of three finished dinner, Zhang Jianguo and Zhang An started to marinate the meat.
This bacon cannot be smoked directly with fresh pork, otherwise it will rot.
It needs to be marinated in bacon water so that the meat will not rot during the bacon process.
And the formula of the marinated meat water is also very important. If the formula is good, the cured bacon will be more delicious.
Many people just use salt and Sichuan peppercorns to pickle them directly, which is also possible.
But if you use salt water all the time, the bacon will be very salty in the end.
While Zhang An and his son were marinating meat, Wang Fang was not idle either.
Just in the evening, the tofu seller in the town visited the village.
Now that the road has been repaired, those selling tofu and soy sauce like to go to the village.
Wang Fang bought two large pieces of Banlao Tofu from him and was about to start making blood tofu.
Originally, Zhang An's family planned to sell tofu in-house, and the beans were already soaked.
But it would definitely be too late to sell it today, so Wang Fang chose to buy it from outside.
"Mom, why don't you chop some meat and put it in it? The steamed blood tofu will be more delicious."
In previous years, when Wang Fang made blood tofu, she just used pig blood and old tofu kneaded together.
There is nothing else in it except seasonings, not even some fat.
But this year was different. There was a lot of meat left at home, so as soon as Zhang An said it, she agreed.
Find a suitable piece of pork belly to put inside, chop it into pieces and put it in together with the tofu.
Just like that, a basin of pink blood tofu is ready.
The next step is to start shaping this basin of blood-red tofu residue into small bowl-sized tofu balls.
Then wrap it with green cabbage leaves. When the time comes to smoke the bacon, just put it on top and smoke it together.
In previous years, Zhang An's family would not have made so much blood tofu, but Wang Fang thought that the family would often have guests coming to eat.
Many people like local home-cooked dishes like blood tofu.
Moreover, Zhang An's family killed three pigs this year and produced more pig blood, so Wang Fang simply made more.
The entire twelfth lunar month is no easier than usual. Everyone has made too many preparations for the New Year.
Soak beans and push tofu, soak glutinous rice and make rice cakes, and smoke bacon and sausages.
But while they were busy, everyone had happy smiles on their faces.
When I woke up the next day, the work at home was not finished yet.
Zhang An's meat has been marinated, and now he has to go up the mountain to cut firewood and smoke it.
Originally, Zhang An had a pile of dry firewood at home, but these were not the best choice for bacon.
Many years later, it was no longer allowed to cut firewood in the mountains, and there was no good firewood for bacon.
So while he still had a choice, Zhang An thought about trying to get some good wood for fumigation.
Zhang Jianguo saw Zhang An going to chop down arborvitae branches, and he also picked up a hatchet and wanted to follow.
But Zhang An still persuaded him to stay at home, because his mother was chopping meat at home today and preparing to stuff it with sausages.
This year Zhang An's family killed three pigs, and all three small intestines were left behind.
Wang Fang thought about drinking it all, otherwise it would be a waste.
So there was a lot of meat chopped today. If Wang Fang was left alone at home to chop meat and stuff it into sausages.
I'm afraid Zhang An will have to cook in the next few days.
Besides, it doesn’t take much effort to go to the mountains to see some arborvitae trees.
It would be a waste of manpower for two people to go up the mountain.
Time flies, the days pass by day by day, and it’s New Year’s Eve.
When Zhang An got up, his second uncle and his third uncle's family had already arrived.
Because a few days ago, Zhang An and his son went to the second uncle and third uncle's house in advance to talk.
This year, let both families go to Zhang An's house to celebrate the New Year together, which will make it more lively.
So early this morning, the second aunt and the third aunt came over early to work with Wang Fang in the kitchen.
The activity of making rice cakes has been unchanged for thousands of years and is an indispensable activity on New Year's Eve.
After Zhang An's protest last year, this year Zhang An's rice cakes were only half as much as last year.
This year, Zhang An's family moved from their old house to a new house. Many people are far away, so there are fewer people coming to help make rice cakes.
After beating the three members of your family, you can call it a day and get off work.
Compared with previous years, there are more people working this year.
In previous years, when the three of Zhang An's family had New Year's Eve dinner, they would have to make a big table.
Whether it's killing chickens or geese, both father and son have to do it.
This year is better. With the addition of Uncle Zhang and Uncle Zhang, Zhang An is finally liberated.
"Brother Anzi, are you going to dig mushrooms in the fields?"
Zhang An just thought that he would be happy to have some free time this year, but he didn't expect Huang Ming to come to his door to dig mushrooms in the rice fields.
However, Zhang An had nothing to do with him, so he followed Huang Ming with a hoe and basket in hand.
Zhang An's family has not planted mushrooms for a long time, but Huang Ming's family has planted a lot of them in their rice field.
Although I dug some for sale before, there is still some left in the field.
Here at Zhang An's place, mushrooms are mostly eaten deep-fried.
It's just like fried potato cubes, but the mushrooms taste slightly sweet and pink.
Arriving at the field, Huang Ming started digging with a hoe.
"Look at your posture. You've been digging a lot in the past few days. This action is very precise."
Zhang An looked at Huang Ming with some dignity. You must know that this man did not do farm work in the past.
"That's not true. When I was digging mushrooms a few days ago, I worked the hardest."
Zhang An did not stand on the field ridge and watch Huang Ming dig. He found a place with mushrooms and started to move.
"Hey, you still have Bodhisattva in your fields."
Zhang An dug two hoes, and not only dug out a few mushrooms from the field, but also dug out three or four black water chestnuts.
"No, our family hasn't even sown any seeds."
Huang Ming ran over and looked at the Bodhisattva in Zhang An's hand, and then said to Zhang An: "I guess it was mixed with the mushrooms when I planted it before."
Zhang An probably didn't plant it on purpose, otherwise there wouldn't be so many of them.
This thing tastes okay, but Zhang An doesn't like it very much.
The main reason is that you have to peel it before eating it, which is too troublesome and makes you not satisfied with it.
It takes a while to peel a Bodhisattva, but I end up eating it in one bite.
The two of them dug for about twenty minutes and finally dug a basket.
There are about four or five kilograms here, which is enough for several meals, and Zhang An also dug a lot of water chestnuts on his hands.
Zhang An originally wanted to take it back to Xiaoyanzi to eat.
But then I thought about it, why not try planting it in space, just in case this thing can grow very big in space.
If it really grows very big, I can plant it in time.
So Zhang An quietly put the dug water chestnuts into the space and tried it at night.
When they reached the fork in the village, Zhang An called to Huang Ming to stop him.
"Da Ming, you and I will go over there and catch two fish to eat."
Changqing is close to a big river, so there will definitely be no shortage of fish to eat.
But Zhang An had no intention of getting ordinary grass carp and carp for Huang Ming.
Forget about the fine-scaled fish, the villagers don't like to eat it because it has a lot of fish.
This time Zhang An planned to give mandarin fish, the mandarin fish that "egrets fly in front of Xisai Mountain, and mandarin fish are fat by peach blossoms and flowing water".
This mandarin fish was from when Chen Zhijie came to fish before.
He brought a few small mandarin fish that he caught to Zhang An.
Many of these people who come to the river to fish are familiar with Zhang Anchu.
Usually when they send fish to Zhang An, Zhang An usually won't accept it.
But sometimes when he encounters fish species that are not available in the space, Zhang An just accepts them.
As time went by, everyone knew that Zhang An liked some exotic fish species, even small fish noodles.
So every time they caught some unusual fish, they would bring it to Zhang An.
After all, every time I come here, I drink tea and pour water into the toilet at Zhang An’s house.
Sometimes when I meet Zhang An's family, I will get them a piece of whatever they want to eat. It would be unreasonable not to get something in return.
Anyway, they are just small fry, and they are not worth anything if they cannot be sold.
Moreover, these people who often come to fish are not those who are short of money.
When Huang Ming heard Zhang An calling him to go get the fish, Huang Ming was not polite and followed Zhang An over.
Everyone in the village knows that the fish raised by Zhang An's family are more delicious than those in the big river.
Even the fish Zhou Yang later used for cooking was bought at Zhang An's house.
"Anzi is back, wash your hands quickly, I'm waiting for you to write a couplet."
Seeing Zhang An coming back with a hoe, Uncle Zhang shouted.
At this time, the old pairs posted at home last year have been disposed of by several people at home.
I will post a new one before worshiping God later. The couplets in Zhang An’s home are all written by Zhang An himself.
"Second uncle, don't be in a hurry, wait until I get two fish for Da Mingzi."
Putting down the basket and walking to the edge of the fish pond, Zhang An stretched out his hand and put it in the fish pond.
Not long after, I caught a mandarin fish weighing over a pound.
When Huang Ming saw Zhang An catching fish like this, he also imitated Zhang An and stretched out his hand into the pond.
As a result, half a day passed and no hair swam past my hand.
"Brother, what did you do?"
"It's not that I don't tell you, you can't learn it, because this fish knows how to live, you understand."
Then he caught another carp weighing four to five kilograms. Zhang An pulled out a few straws and strung the two fish together and handed them to Huang Ming.
"Da Ming, this little one is a good fish. If your mother doesn't know how to cook it, you can ask Zhou Yang how to cook it."
Zhang An still told Huang Ming to save them from cooking the fish badly.
"Yeah, I understand, Brother Anzi."
After Huang Ming left, Zhang An washed his hands and found some pen and ink at home that he had not used for a long time.
After cleaning his pen, Zhang An began to write pairs.
After writing couplets for many years, Zhang An had already memorized those couplets by heart. He picked up the brush and picked them up at will.
The other door pairs are not a big problem, mainly the four door pairs are a bit difficult.
Because the red paper cut opposite the door is the widest, the fonts written on it must also be large, otherwise it will not match.
After writing for about an hour, Zhang An finished writing all the pairs at home.
Zhang An’s new house, old house, second uncle Zhang’s house, and third uncle Zhang’s house.
The sieve on the ground is now filled with all the pairs written by Zhang An.
This is not over yet, I know that Zhang An has started writing pairs.
Some people with good connections in the village came after smelling the smell.
Anyway, Zhang An is used to it, it has been like this in previous years.
Originally, Zhang An was writing in the main room, but when he saw someone coming, he simply took the table to the courtyard to write.
I have been writing for more than an hour now, and I can finally finish.
There are many old people in the village who can write calligraphy, but of Zhang An's generation, there are very few who can.
Even if you can write a few words, you can still understand it when you write it.
Zhang An must have been forced by Mr. Zhang to write it, otherwise it would be the same.
After Zhang An finished writing the door pairs for everyone, all the pairs at home were also posted.
At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang An's family began to light incense and set off firecrackers to worship the gods.
This year, not only did Wang Fang cook alone in the kitchen, but Zhang An's two aunts also helped.
Moreover, the stove in Zhang An’s new house has three fires.
So I quickly prepared all the dishes prepared at home.
Although the New Year’s Eve dinner in Changqing Village is called New Year’s Eve dinner, it is not eaten only in the evening.
Usually at three o'clock in the afternoon, people start eating.
This year, with the addition of the second uncle and third uncle's family, it was rare for Zhang An's family to bring out their big round table.
In previous years, there was only a small table for a family of three.
The dishes on the table this year are not just hot dishes, Zhang An also braised braised pork a few days ago.
Today, I cut a big plate and mixed it with chives, coriander, and cut into pieces, which made Zhang Tie cry with greed.
There was originally roast duck, but Zhang An messed up the first time he made it.
The roasted duck is burnt on the outside but still raw on the inside.
So I have to make it a few times before I can master how to make this roast duck.
"Brother, I want to eat that meat."
Today, Little Yanzi was sitting next to Zhang An. When she couldn't get some food, she asked Zhang An to pick it up for her.
What she asked Zhang An to pick up the most today was braised pork.
"Okay, I'll clip it for you."
But Zhang An discovered that she actually didn't like braised pork.
It's the pig tongue and ears that Zhang An uses to braise the pork.
These two parts are particularly delicious when braised.
Finally, Zhang An simply put it in front of her.
There is another delicious dish today, which is pig tail stewed with bamboo fungus.
The tails of the three pigs killed by Zhang An's family had long been eaten.
Zhang An specially bought this from the meat stall.
Although this pig tail is very fragrant when stewed, some people here cannot eat it.
I'm talking about Zhang An's younger brothers and sisters. The adults in the family will not let them eat this stuff.
There is a saying among Zhang An and his colleagues that children cannot eat pig tails.
Otherwise, when I was studying and going to school, I would always be ranked first from the bottom in the exam.
That is to say, Zhang An is not in school now, otherwise he would not be given food.
In the past, Zhang An had a bad temper. In order to prevent him from eating it, Wang Fang also lied to him that pig tails were poisonous and should not be eaten.
Although there are some dishes that the children cannot eat.
But you are still allowed to drink some of this wine.
The wine in Zhang An’s family is rice wine brewed by Wang Fang himself.
Both adults and children were given a small bowl.
Of course, Xiao Yanzi, who was still young, didn't give her a drink.
Not to mention Zhang An and his brothers, all the boys in the village have been trained to drink alcohol since childhood.
When girls reach a certain age, they must also start learning to drink.
Therefore, the people in Chang Qing's area all have a good drinking capacity.
This is mainly because in the past, when people got married in the mountains, many people got married to people of the Miao ethnic group.
According to the custom of their Miao village, if you want to enter, you have to drink.
People who are drunk from the door to the main room and have a poor drinking tolerance cannot get a wife.
A New Year's Eve dinner took more than an hour to finish.
There were a lot of dishes on the table today, but everyone didn't eat much rice. They all ate more vegetables.
While the adults were eating, they began to reminisce about the past.
He said that life is getting better now, and there is a large table of meat and vegetables on the New Year table.
A few years ago, when my family's conditions were not good, the dishes on the table that had a little bit of meat in them were considered meat dishes.
At that time, let alone meat, put more lard, and it tasted delicious.
Zhang An's father, Zhang Jianguo, is still exposing Uncle Zhang's background.
It is said that when Uncle Zhang was young, he once secretly mixed rice with lard during dinner.
Finally, Zhang An's grandfather discovered him and was beaten.
Because at that time, not only pork was expensive, but lard was also expensive.
And buying things requires tickets, and you may not be able to buy them if you have money.
Usually everyone uses rapeseed oil mixed with lard for cooking.
If they only eat rapeseed oil, those who have been working hard will not be hungry and have no energy when working.
And that time Uncle Zhang used more lard to mix rice than the whole family used to cook a meal, so he was beaten.