As the opening title flashed, their familiar plot music sounded on the TV.
The story began to get to the point, and the children in the main room were all staring at the TV.
Looking at them without blinking, Zhang An thought if they would study so seriously in the future.
Not to mention that they can get into Qingbei University, at least they have no problem at all in getting into provincial university.
They were fascinated, but Zhang An showed no interest.
After Zhang An watched the disc he bought a few days ago, he had no interest in watching it again.
The main reason is that Zhang An's memory is so good now that every scene of the plot is imprinted in his mind.
So while they were watching TV, Zhang An picked up a book.
It is very pleasant to read a book in the yard outside and enjoy the breeze.
But before the children at home could see it for long, some sad news came.
There was a sudden power outage in the village, and the movie on TV was just halfway through, and it was about to get to the exciting part.
At this moment, their hearts were aroused by Shi Xiaolong's handsome movements.
With a click, the TV screen went black and turned off. Now, they felt as if their hearts were being scratched by ants.
Zhang An was very happy to see the impatient and frustrated expressions on the monkeys' faces.
You know what it felt like to be woken up just now, it was so satisfying.
Although Zhang Tie and the others were disappointed that they could not show the TV, they could only accept this result.
It's impossible to get into trouble with Zhang An and then get phone calls. This is impossible.
Although when the power went out, everyone felt itchy in their hearts.
This symptom is what adults call addiction to watching TV.
But after a few minutes, the symptoms subsided and they started to play other games.
After all, there is no TV to watch, so life has to go on.
So the gang of children who had just surrounded Zhang An's house slowly dispersed, leaving only Zhang Tie and the others in the yard.
They didn't play glass beads or use cardboard.
Instead, he took out a handful of popsicle sticks from his pocket, and a few people started playing pick-up in the yard of the Zhang family.
The last time Zhang An played this kind of game was when he was in elementary school.
At that time, children of the same age in the village competed with each other to see who had more popsicle sticks.
Why is it a popsicle sign? Because for children at this time.
Popsicles are a popular commodity, and they can be bought for just a dime each.
After they finished eating, they were reluctant to throw away the bamboo stick and kept it.
At that time, no one played with ice cream sticks because ice cream was too expensive and few people were willing to buy it.
It’s not the bamboo sticks you cut yourself from bamboo, because the ones you cut yourself are not as good-looking as the popsicle sticks.
After all, the popsicles used in the popsicle factory are all machine-cut, and each stick is square.
And there are burrs everywhere that I cut myself, and they are different in length and thickness, and everyone can see it at a glance.
And if you cut it yourself, you can get as much as you want, so there is no point in winning.
This is why rare things are valuable.
Similar games include playing with apricot kernels in addition to glass beads.
It is also because there are not many apricots in the village, so there are not many apricot stones left after everyone eats the apricots.
So for them, it's not the gameplay that's special, but the feeling of winning or losing.
Especially when you win a lot, don't be too proud when you look at other people's envious eyes.
At Zhang An's time, a group of friends often competed with each other to see who had more popsicle sticks.
Some people readily take out a handful, dozens of them, making the friends around them envious.
Of course, not all of them are popsicles that I bought myself.
It would be nice to have a few of them that I bought myself. After all, at that time, adults would not easily give pocket money to children.
Most of them are picked up on the way to and from school, or squatting in front of the canteen.
When I see someone buying popsicles, I follow them and ask for the bamboo sticks after they finish eating.
Until now, in Zhang Tie's area, this habit has been passed down from generation to generation and has not changed much.
Now everyone's conditions are much better than when Zhang An was a child.
You can tell this just by looking at Zhang Tie and the others, each holding a large handful of bamboo sticks.
In the past, Zhang An and the others only took a dozen or twenty ounces, which was a lot, but now Zhang Tie and the others only had forty or fifty ounces at least.
Seeing how enthusiastic they were playing, Zhang An felt a little excited.
Suddenly my hands felt itchy and I wanted to play with them for a while.
"Zhang Tie, give me a few and I'll play with you."
After hearing what Zhang An said, Zhang Tie was reluctant to part with him.
But he could only give out a dozen to Zhang An, after all, he was his eldest brother.
If you want to eat and drink well from now on, you have to hug Jian An's thigh.
With Zhang An joining in, everyone quickly started a new game again.
First guess the game to determine the winner or lose, playing rock, paper, scissors.
First, decide the order in which everyone will appear.
This is very important in everyone's eyes, after all, if you are lucky.
The first person can pick up half of it, or even more.
Sometimes the last one doesn't even get picked, but I don't blame anyone, after all, I lost by punching myself.
Zhang An hadn't boxed for a long time, but Jiang was still good at it, so he still came in second place.
Wang Baosheng came first. He straightened it out with a bamboo stick and aligned the head and tail.
Then he loosened his grip on the bamboo sticks, and a large handful of bamboo sticks fell to the ground.
"Baosheng, it seems you are out of luck."
This time, all the scattered bamboo sticks were stacked on top of each other. This situation was really not easy to choose.
The rules of this game are very simple, just hold the bamboo sticks that everyone has gathered together.
Then spread it out all at once, then pull out a bamboo stick and start lifting the beams one by one.
During the whole process, except for the one you picked, nothing else can be touched, then the one you pick belongs to you.
But if other bamboo sticks move, sorry, it's the next person's turn.
So when you first place the bamboo sticks, the more scattered they are, the easier it will be to pick them out.
Wang Baosheng's luck was obviously not good enough this time, and basically all the bamboo sticks were piled together.
"Uncle An, you look down on others."
Wang Baosheng shrugged his nose, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.
I vowed to pick out some sticks and show them to Zhang An.
This little guy wasn't boasting. He actually picked seven or eight lottery tickets from such a messy pile.
This is already quite difficult, and it can be regarded as getting half of the book back.
When it was time to pick the last stick, all the numbers below were moved, and it was Zhang An's turn.
However, Zhang An was a bit of a bully, relying on his big hands and the loose bamboo sticks in his hands.
When he let go of his hand, the remaining bamboo sticks spread out like flowers blooming.
"The next one, the next one, this one is gone."
Seeing the bamboo sticks scattered like this, Zhang Tie and the two little kids behind him started howling.
Zhang An threw the sticks like this. If it were them, there would be no chance left, and they would all be picked away.
However, things took a turn for the worse. They had given up, but now they had hope again.
"It's moving, it's moving, it's my turn."
After Zhang An picked half of them, he picked two at once.
Zhang Tie quickly shouted loudly, fearing that others might not see him.
In fact, Zhang An did it on purpose. He picked 20 or 30 pieces at once and already doubled his profit.
If he picks them all and plays with him a few times at most, these brats won't play with him anymore.
So Zhang An just gave up when he was good. After all, he was also bullying others.
Unknowingly, Zhang An, a man who was decades old at heart, was having a great time playing with a group of teenagers.
Soon it was four or five o'clock, and Zhang Jianguo and Wang Fang, who had gone to the rice fields, came back.
"You are still young, why are you lying on the ground playing with Tiewazi and the others?"
I saw that my son was so big, lying on the ground like several dolls.
From time to time, my head would move this way and look that way.
He looked like an old child who had not grown up. Wang Fang also shook his head.
"Hahaha, I just have nothing to do in the afternoon. I will play with them for a while to see how much they are playing."
After Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo came back, Zhang An did not continue to play with Zhang Tie and the others.
However, Zhang An was also very moral and gave them all the popsicle sticks he had just won.
When the kids saw Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo coming back, they didn't stay in Zhang An's yard.
He ran towards the drying ground in a hurry.
At this point, all the little kids in the village gathered there.
When the food is not being dried in that place, it is regarded as the village's children's playground.
The main thing is that the place is wide enough and you can play anything.
Seeing that his parents were back, Zhang An was also ready to start cooking.
"Why are you cooking so early today?"
It's only five o'clock now, it's still bright, and we usually don't start cooking until after six o'clock.
"Mom, there's a power outage today. Let's eat early while it's dawn to save yourself from the dark."
When Wang Fang heard Zhang An say there was a power outage, she walked to the side and turned on the lights.
Fortunately, with the stoves currently used at home, you can cook directly by just picking up the pot.
If it were like later generations, all the homes would be equipped with rice cookers and induction cookers.
This dinner may not be easy for many people to eat.
After washing the pot, Zhang An was thinking about what to eat tonight.
Then he remembered that it had been a long time since he had bacon and potato stewed rice, and Zhang An also felt a little nostalgic.
Eating stir-fried dishes every day is a bit boring, so today I’m going to cook it myself and make a pot of braised rice.
Two bowls of rice for three people. After washing, put it in the pot and start cooking.
If you want to make braised rice, you don't need to boil the rice directly until it's cooked, it should be about 60 to 70% cooked.
After cooking, remove the half-cooked rice from the pot, drain the water and cook it for later use.
"Why do you think of kong rice?"
When I usually cook, I cook the rice directly and then steam it in a steamer.
Today Wang Fang saw Zhang An starting to cook, so she asked a few questions out of curiosity.
"It's been a long time since I've had potato stewed rice. I'm going to make a pot of it tonight."
When Wang Fang heard that Zhang An wanted to eat stewed rice, she washed her hands and took out the bacon and cut it.
Zhang An went to the yard and peeled some potatoes.
Then I went to the vegetable garden in the backyard and picked a handful of green beans to choose.
Fortunately, I grow it at home, so I can eat whatever I want.
After Wang Fang cut the bacon into cubes, he took Zhang An's peeled potatoes and green beans and cut them into pieces.
Zhang An originally wanted to do it himself, but when he saw his mother taking action, he stood aside and watched.
Although Zhang An's own cooking can be eaten, it is not as delicious as his mother's cooking.
Cut the potatoes into cubes, neither too big nor too small.
If it's too big, it won't be cooked properly, and if it takes a long time, the rice will become mushy.
It won't work if it's too small. It will become powdery after a little simmering, which is not very delicious.
After processing the potatoes and green beans, Wang Fang began to fry the bacon in the pot.
You don't need to fry the bacon for too long as the oil will come out of the pan, otherwise it will taste too dry.
Then fry the potatoes and green beans with a spoonful of lard until they are about half cooked.
Stir the fried bacon and the freshly cooked rice evenly together.
Then pour it into the pot, covering the potatoes and green beans at the bottom of the pot.
There is no need to throw away the remaining rice soup from the rice bowl, it will be poured directly into the pot.
At this time, the fire in the stove should not be too big, so a pot ring needs to be placed on the stove.
Then cover the lid and simmer over low heat for ten to fifteen minutes, and it's almost done.
Taking advantage of this time, Zhang An pulled some chives and fish coriander.
Wash and chop, wait until the rice in the pot is simmered, then pour it in directly.
In fact, at this time, use a spatula to stir all the rice and potatoes underneath evenly, and then you can get it out of the pot.
But Zhang An felt that something was missing, so he brought over the oily chili peppers made by his old mother.
I added two tablespoons of oily chili pepper and started mixing the rice with a spatula.
Now a pot of red oil potato stewed rice is ready. The fresh chives and fish coriander are blanched by the boiling hot rice.
The fresh aroma combined with the aroma of bacon will make people drool.
Coupled with the crispy whistle made at home, the children next door were so greedy that they cried.
"Daddy, what delicious food did grandma make? It smells so good."
No, Li Yao had already smelled it and ran over from home.
"Your grandma made braised rice. Do you want to eat it?"
"I think, look at my saliva, it's already flowing out."
The child spoke straightforwardly, which made Wang Fang laugh.
Before anyone could do anything, Wang Fang took out a bowl first and made Li Yao a bowl to eat first.
"Yaoyao, the bowl is very hot. Grandma will put it on the stool for you. Can you sit and eat it?"
A high stool and a low stool have always been standard for children in rural areas.
"Okay, thank you grandma."
Li Yao sat on a small bench, holding the potatoes that had been stewed until golden brown with a layer of crust between his chopsticks and put them into his mouth.
While eating, I was breathing heavily, and I didn't know whether it was hot or spicy.
Wang Fang prepared to feed Zhang An, but Zhang An said no, he would do it himself.
He didn't use the small bowl he usually used to eat at home. That bowl couldn't hold more than a few mouthfuls of rice, and he couldn't eat enough.
So I simply took out a large bowl from the cupboard and filled it with a full bowl of stewed rice.
"Daddy, why can you eat from such a big bowl, but I can't."
Little Li Yao was very puzzled when he saw Zhang An using the big bowl.
"Because you are still young. When you grow up, you will be able to eat from a big bowl."
After watching Zhang An use a big bowl last time, I told Zhou Lan when I went home to eat that I also use a big bowl.
But the big bowl was not used, and Zhou Lan was beaten up instead.
When rural children eat, adults usually don't give them big bowls.
Because in their opinion, if a child is fed from a big bowl, the child will grow up to have a big mouth.
Big mouth is not a good word, it means that you like to talk big, brag, and can't keep your mouth shut.