Chapter 148 These two rabbits don't get along well, let's eat at noon
Chapter 148 These two rabbits don’t get along, let’s have them for lunch
Author: Han Ming
Chapter 148 These two rabbits don’t get along, let’s have them for lunch
The breeding sheep of Wang Mingqian's family are of good quality. The three lambs were born with black wool all over their bodies.
Su Ying looked at the lamb Zhang An was holding, staring at them with two big eyes.
"Mom, look at this little lamb's eyes."
Su Ying wanted to reach out and touch it, but she was a little timid.
"Just touch it, it'll be okay."
Zhang An brought the little lamb in front of her and asked her to pet it.
Although Wu Qiuping had been an educated youth in the countryside before, all she saw at that time were pigs, chickens and ducks.
Cows are rare, and sheep are even rarer.
At that time, the brigade did not give them cattle to raise. It would not be a trivial matter if they had problems raising the cattle.
At that time, a cow was more important to a production team than a person.
Now, like Su Ying, she came over to take a look.
Finally, Zhang An put the lambs into the pen. All three lambs had eaten and drank enough.
Now they will crawl onto the ewe's belly to sleep.
"Let's go, they don't need us now"
Zhang An held the brazier and said to Su Ying's family.
"With this brazier removed, aren't they afraid of the cold?"
"The brazier is no longer used. Their wool is now dry, and they will curl up next to the ewe to sleep. It has been too cold in the past two days, but you need to be careful when they are just born."
If it's winter, Zhang An might have to use old quilts to give them a place to sleep.
But now that the weather has warmed up, the lambs are particularly fragile when they are just born, so they need to light a fire to keep them warm.
Then Zhang An took Su Ying and her family around the circle.
There were very few zoos at this time, and Zhang An's house was just a small zoo.
When Wu Qiuping and his wife came in just now, they followed Su Ying and walked straight towards the sheepfold.
Now on the way back, I noticed other animals.
"Are these two sika deer pregnant with such big bellies?"
Seeing that Erhua and Sanhua also had a big belly, Wu Qiuping asked.
"Yes, Auntie, the fawn will be born in three or four months."
By that time, Zhang An's family will have more sika deer.
Zhang An has now begun to worry that with so many deer at home, he will have to build a separate deer shed.
"I haven't seen this Huang Zizi for many years."
When Su Shaowen talked about it, he still looked nostalgic.
Judging from his expression, you can tell that he must also like yellow muntjac, the kind that won't tire of him after several meals.
"At that time, when we went south to become educated youths, the old men in the team got caught a few times, and one meal would be remembered for a year."
When he heard what he said, Zhang An had a real expression.
Zhang An took them around the pen house and finally came to the rabbit pen at the door.
"Zhang An, are there more rabbits in your house? There weren't so many rabbits last time."
It had been more than twenty days since Su Ying last came, and it had only been a few days since they left.
The female rabbits in the rabbit pen gave birth to a bunch of rabbit cubs, so Zhang An's house now has a lot of rabbits.
"After you left that day, another little rabbit was born. This rabbit can give birth to a litter in a month, very quickly."
Zhang An opened the door and walked into the rabbit pen. The rabbits felt very scared of Zhang An.
As soon as they saw Zhang An entering, they all huddled in the corner, but there were two little cuties who refused to leave.
"Teacher Su, look at the difference between these two rabbits and the other rabbits."
Zhang An pointed to the rabbit pen and there were two rabbits squatting there eating vegetables.
"Nothing different. They seem to be bigger than other rabbits."
Su Ying looked at it for a long time and still didn't see it.
"No, no, look at the other rabbits who saw people coming, and they all crowded into the corner. These two are not gregarious, and they are still greedy here."
As soon as Zhang An finished speaking, he reached out and grabbed two plump rabbits in his hands.
He kept nodding his head, this rabbit was a good portion.
"Since they don't get along, let's just eat them for lunch."
"Xiao Zhang, you are so funny. You have to find a reason to eat your own rabbit, hahaha."
Zhang An's words amused Wu Qiuping and his wife.
"Auntie, this is not an excuse. Such rabbits are really hesitant when they are caught. No matter what, I have to give them a suitable explanation."
Even though he was discovered, Zhang An still kept talking nonsense with his eyes open.
Su Ying thought Zhang An was going to say something to her, but she didn't expect that this man was just looking for an excuse to eat rabbit.
She looked at the two shivering rabbits and wanted to tell Zhang An not to eat them.
But when she thought of the spicy hot pot rabbit made by Zhang An's mother, she actually felt that what Zhang An said made sense.
At this time, Zhang Jianguo, who had gone out to throw out garbage, also came back.
At the moment, I was chatting with Su Shaowen in the yard.
Especially when it comes to the past period, the two middle-aged men have something in common.
Wu Qiuping, on the other hand, talked to Wang Fang in everyday conversation and asked Zhang An questions from time to time.
Zhang An was confused. Why did Aunt Wu look like she was checking household registration? She almost didn't ask Zhang An's birth date.
There were few people in the village today, and Su Ying's family happened to be here, so Wang Fang did not open the door for business.
But from time to time, people come to buy something.
Most of them are bought by people from the neighboring farms. They hear customers say that Zhang An's products are good.
So I bought some and tried them, and after trying them I realized they were really good.
So now Zhang An’s house is regarded as a place to purchase goods.
Zhang An's family sells a lot of eggs. They also sell some local chickens and geese. In the past two days, they have also sold fish.
From the moment Wu Qiuping walked in, Wang Fang was basically collecting money.
It wasn't long ago, and she estimated that Wang Fang had collected more than a hundred yuan.
Wu Qiuping couldn't imagine how much money he could earn in one day. Is this country really so profitable?
My husband and I, working hard for a month, may not be as much as someone else would pay for a few days at home.
But what she didn't know was that there were actually more people in Zhang An's house in the past few days, and there were more sales.
Usually when there are no people around, the most they sell is chickens, ducks and goose eggs.
It is estimated that I can earn tens of yuan a day.
But coupled with the fact that people come here to play from time to time, you can make a lot of money in one day.
Finally, Wang Fang looked at the time and saw that it was almost time to make lunch.
So she started working in the kitchen, and Wu Qiuping thought about helping.
But you are a customer when you come to your door, so there is no reason to ask customers to help you with things.
Wang Fang cooked this meal with more care than usual.
Wang Fang was worried that people would be bored sitting at home, so she asked Zhang An to take their family out for a walk.
Originally, Zhang An was going to take them to the sunbathing area, but Su Ying said that they went to the sunbathing area to watch the dragon dance as soon as they arrived.
Finally, Su Shaowen looked at the cherry tree with young leaves growing on the mountain behind Zhang An's house, and proposed to go for a walk on the mountain.
Zhang An naturally would not refuse and took everyone up the loess slope.
Huangtupo originally only had a small dirt road going up the mountain, but Zhang An had nothing to do before the Chinese New Year.
I bought some cement and sand, built hundreds of cement slabs, and paved a path up the mountain.
Originally, Zhang An planned to use bluestone slabs, but it would take him and his father at least more than a month to lay them on the top of the mountain.
So in the end it was easier to choose cement cover, as long as it was thicker.
"Xiao Zhang, I heard from Yingying that you contracted a piece of mountainous land, so this is it."
Wu Qiuping talked to Zhang An in a gentle voice. The more she looked at Zhang An, the more satisfied she became.
"That's right here, auntie, from here all the way to the mountain, and so is the nest below, but I'm keeping it now to use it for other things in the future."
This loess slope is completely different now than before.
In the past, it was naked with loess, which made people feel very dry, and it looked very barren at first glance.
But it was covered with clover and plantain, and the ground was covered with a thick layer.
Looking from the stone pass, you can feel the emerald green here.
"Xiao Zhang, there are so many grasses growing in your fruit forest, why don't you hoe them down?"
Su Shaowen was a little curious when he saw so much grass.
Although he doesn't farm much, he also knows the principle of competition for fertilizer when there is too much grass.
"Uncle, we can't hoe this grass, we have to pray for it to grow."
After hearing this, Su Ying's family of three were a little confused.
They say weeds are useless, so why did Zhang An go out of his way to plant them?
"It's like this. This land used to be a barren yellow soil. Nothing could grow, let alone this cherry tree."
Zhang An smiled and said to them: "And the biggest problem with this loess slope is that it cannot retain water, and the soil is dry and hard."
"So these green grasses on the ground have the effect of improving the soil quality, consolidating the soil and retaining water. The better they grow, the more successful the improvement of the land is."
"And plantain and clover are not useless weeds. Plantain is a kind of medicinal material, and clover is also called alfalfa, which is a preferred fodder for livestock."
After listening to Zhang An's explanation for a long time, the three of them realized that there was another way to farm.
At first they thought that Zhang An was just too lazy to hoe the grass.
This method of improving soil quality was often used by everyone in later generations, but in this era, there is no such term.
So it's completely normal that they don't know.
When I came to plant trees, there was an old man in the village who was quite upright.
Seeing that there was so much grass on the ground, Zhang An planted saplings, so he thought of helping Zhang An with the weeding.
After all, the salary he paid was high, so I never thought that this was a good intention that turned into a bad thing.
Fortunately, Zhang An discovered it early, otherwise he would have to plant it again.
When you reach the top of the slope, the view here is really broad. From here, you can have an unobstructed view of the entire Changqing.
"Why are there so many people going to the mountains over there?"
Su Ying turned her head and saw many people coming and going behind the village.
"Those people went to Guanyin Cave. We have a Guanyin Cave here. According to the old people in the village, making wishes is particularly effective, so they all went there to make wishes."
Zhang An didn't even need to look at it. People coming from the village during this period were either at the river or going to Guanyin Cave.
"Is it far there? If it's not far, we'll have a look in the afternoon. I haven't been to your mountains yet."
Su Ying came here several times but never went out for a walk.
It was my first time here. It was a good time and I went to the river to play all afternoon.
"Okay, after dinner, we will go to the mountains to play. There are several places in our mountains with beautiful original ecological scenery."
When Wu Qiuping and his wife heard their daughter's suggestion, they naturally had no objections.
They don't go out often in the county town, although they usually go to the park to climb mountains.
But those mountains are not that big, so it’s not a bad idea to go out once and take a walk in the mountains.
A few people walked around the mountain. Zhang An saw that the time was almost up, so he took them down the mountain and went home for dinner.
At this time, Zhang An's mother, Wang Fang, had already prepared a table of dishes, all using her special skills.
"Are you doing too much, big sister?"
Wu Qiuping looked at the large table of dishes, which smelled particularly fragrant.
My daughter was right, Zhang An’s mother was very good at cooking.
But with just a few people and so many dishes, it’s impossible to finish them all, but isn’t this too rich?
Their family has never cooked so many dishes, mainly because they can’t finish them all.
"It's not much at all. I just made it casually. Let's try it and see if it suits your taste."
Wang Fang set out the dishes and chopsticks for everyone, and Zhang An also took out the Huangjing wine he had brewed.
This is the Huangjing wine he made after soaking Gastrodia elata wine.
After being stored in space, the Huangjing wine in this jar has now become golden and translucent.
Su Shaowen is also a good drinker. As soon as Zhang An opened the jar, he smelled the aroma of wine.
Zhang An poured some for his father and Su Shaowen.
Wu Qiuping and Su Ying didn't drink, so Wang Fang stayed with them.
"Today is worth it. The food is delicious and the wine is also very good. What is in Xiao Zhang's wine?"
"Uncle, this altar is made of Polygonatum spp., which I dug myself in the mountains for decades."
Hearing this, Su Shaowen took a few more sips and tasted it carefully.
After he finished drinking, Zhang An poured wine from a jar for him, but he refused.
"It's almost done, Xiao Zhang. Don't be greedy for a good drink. This glass is enough."
You're not at home today. You can't drink too much when you're at someone else's house, and there are people watching.
When drinking, Su Shaowen had to pay attention to the face of Su Ying's mother next to him.
"Then I won't pour more. If uncle likes it, I will pour some for you when I get back."
Zhang An was not polite either. Anyway, a good guest should be treated hospitably, but he could not persuade him to drink.
"Okay, then I'm not welcome."
Zhang An said that he would get some for him to take back when the time came, but he couldn't refuse at all.
After he drank the wine just now, he felt that it was not an ordinary medicinal wine.
He also knew that Huang Jing was sold in the county's traditional Chinese medicine hall as a leftover food for immortals.
But Zhang An has been talking about the wild Polygonatum sibiricum for decades, which is already a rare treasure.
"Look at you now, are you embarrassed to even eat and take the food?"
Seeing her man like this, Wu Qiuping was a little embarrassed.
"It's nothing, Sister Wu. This wine is just for people to drink. Drinking some every day will help your body. Come and eat some food."
Wang Fang said as she stood up to pick up food for Su Ying.
"Thank you, auntie"
Su Ying was used to this, and she was not polite when Wang Fang served her food.
Wang Fang put a lot of thought into this meal.
Su Ying's family was a little polite at first, but in the end, with Wang Fang's persuasion, everyone started to eat more freely.
Wu Qiuping had eaten in those restaurants, but this time they came to Zhang An's house.
Only then did I know what it means to eat comfortably.
After eating the meal for about an hour, the four adults of the two families were now much more familiar with each other than before.
After the meal, Wang Fang cleared away the dishes and prepared food for Xiaohu and the three of them.
Zhang An took out tea and made a pot of tea for everyone.
"I've had this tea before. Is it the one Xiaoying brought back last time?"
Last year, Zhang An gave some to Chen Ze and his party, and Su Ying was no exception.
After Su Ying brought it back, she gave the tea given by Zhang An to Su Shaowen.
"The jar I brought back last time was given by Zhang An." Su Ying nodded and said.
Su Shaowen didn't dare to tell his daughter that he only drank it twice and then it was gone.
Su Shaowen thought at first that this was just ordinary Spring Mountain tea, so he didn't pay much attention to it when he got it to the office.
Only after he brewed it once did he realize that this was a rare and good tea.
But at that time, there wasn't much tea left in the tea basket because other colleagues had poured it out.
Even if he regrets, it's useless. Who told him not to try it first?