Chapter 95 Picking up stones and building the courtyard wall
Author: Han Ming
Chapter 95 Picking up stones and building a courtyard wall
Zhang An came back for a long time and didn't see his father at home. He immediately went to dinner and saw no one.
"Mom, where's my dad? It's time for dinner, why hasn't he come back?"
"He, your uncle Jianzhong invited you over this morning after you left. Their family is going to build a dam today, so they asked your dad to come over and help."
Wang Fang has been preparing meals for a long time and has been waiting for her son to come back for dinner.
The meals are kept warm on the coal stove so they don't get cold easily.
"Then do you want me to help?"
"Their family's courtyard is only a small area, and your second uncle is here too. Their family invited a lot of people today, so you don't need to go there. Your father can do it alone."
"That's okay, I won't go."
Today Wang Fang made fried crispy eggplant and fried potatoes with green peppers, which are Zhang An’s favorite recipes.
Cut the eggplant and potatoes into cubes, fry them in vegetable oil, chop the green peppers and stir-fry them together. Zhang An likes to eat this kind of stir-fry, it is delicious and goes well with rice.
We raise fish at home. Not long ago, we ate fish every day, but now we are tired of it, so Wang Fang has stopped cooking fish recently.
"Mom, I saw that the meat on the stall was pretty good today. I cut it off several kilograms. You can fry some crispy meat for me tonight. I haven't eaten it for a long time."
Zhang An held the rice bowl, put a small piece of moldy tofu into the small bowl with his chopsticks, and happily mixed it with the rice and ate it.
"Okay, if you want to eat it tonight, I'll fry some."
Crispy pork is a local meat recipe that can be used as a main dish or fried as a snack for children. It is a very popular meat dish.
Zhang An liked to eat it very much when he was a child, but at that time it could only be eaten during the Chinese New Year. Wang Fang usually didn't cut the meat and cook it at all.
Now that life is getting better, Wang Fang is also very particular about her food. She will cook whatever her son likes to eat.
For more than half a year, she has been eating and drinking the space spring water filled by Zhang An, and her health is much better than before. Even when she was young, she may not have had such a good physique.
It's just that she always thought it was because her family's food standard had improved. She felt better and more energetic in doing anything, so she became more generous with food.
After lunch, Zhang An took a nap and started working when he woke up.
"Mom, I'm going to borrow a carriage from my uncle's house. Later I'll go to Shibanpo to pick up some stones and come back to build the wall of the yard by the river."
Zhang An told his mother that he would go out to work later so that his mother would not find him when he went out.
"I'll go with you. It's faster for two of us to pick it up."
Wang Fang put down her sewing and planned to go with Zhang An.
"No, you stay at home, in case people come to buy eggs and no one is home. Besides, the quilt is drying in the sun at home. What if it rains? Just stay home and watch."
I came to the yard of the village elder's uncle's house. The old uncle was sitting in the yard and coiling sorghum ears. These were the sorghum that was cut last year and the bare stalks left after the grains were removed.
"Hey, I'm looking for a pot, a brush, or a broom."
Nowadays, the pot brushes and brooms used in rural areas are all made from sorghum spikes. They are environmentally friendly, durable and save money. Most people in the village know this craft.
"Prick them all. I have nothing to do anyway. The pot brushes and brooms at home are all bald. Prick them into new ones. Why do you want to see me?"
The old uncle was talking to Zhang An, but his hands showed no intention of stopping.
"I came to see if the old uncle's carriage is empty. I want to borrow the old uncle's carriage for use. I plan to go to Shibanpo to pick up some stones and come back to build the courtyard wall by the river."
Zhang An didn't make small talk, and when the old uncle asked, he told him what happened.
"The carriage is idle. You can just lead the horse and drive it." Zhang Jianwen did not ask Zhang An if he wanted to lead the horse.
Because Dahei of the Zhang An family is more obedient than anyone else, not to mention strong.
At this time, Zhang Ping came out of the house, "Zhang An, do you want to go to Shibanpo to pick up stones? I'll go with you."
"No need, Brother Ping, I'll pick up this piece of work in a moment, why bother you?" Zhang An was a little dumbfounded.
"Okay, you go lead the horse and drive, and I'll change clothes and wait for you. There's nothing going on at home, so I might as well go out for a walk just sitting around. Go quickly, I'll wait for you to come over and we can go together."
Soon, Zhang An brought his own Dahei over. He had to use his own saddle, otherwise other saddles would not fit and the horse's back would be uncomfortable.
After setting up the carriage, the two men sat on it and waved the reins to make Dahei move.
Shibanpo is a nearby place. It is actually a big hill, but the hill is full of rocks and not much soil.
So when people need stones, they often go there to dig them, especially those who build houses. If they need stones, they can dig them themselves without spending money to buy them.
It's just that now private individuals are not allowed to use explosives to dig into the mountain. They can only use steel drills and sledgehammers to dig.
But in a few years, there will be bosses here who will spend money to contract, and stone quarries and sand fields will be opened here. At that time, everyone who wants stones will have to spend their own money.
"Zhang An, why didn't you ask people to build it with stones at that time? Now you are picking up stones to pile them up again."
When most people build a house, they have their courtyard walls built by the way. I have never seen someone like Zhang An pick up the stones and build them again by himself.
"The walls are all made of red bricks. It's a bit wasteful to use them to build the courtyard wall. Besides, I picked up some stones and piled them up myself. Not only does it look good, it doesn't cost anything."
The courtyard dam of their new house is on the road sill in the village. Zhang Andou planned to build these sills with stones, although when they dug the foundation, they had already built a low wall with stones.
But Zhang An thinks it doesn’t look very good like this, with the sand and other things on the wall exposed.
It looks much better if it is built with shale, and there is no need to re-pave the wall with cement and sand.
Zhang An's house is very large, probably the largest in the nearby village. It must have cost a lot of money.
So Zhang Ping thought what Zhang An said was quite reasonable. It would be nice to save some money, but he didn't think it would look good if he picked up these pieces of stone and piled them up.
But Zhang An said he would pick these up, so he helped pick them up too.
These pieces of stone are actually thick pieces of shale. In the past, many people in the village used large pieces of shale to replace tiles to build slate houses.
This place is called Shibanpo, and it got its name because people came here to open slates. There are still many slate houses in the village.
Zhang An came to pick up the stones, which was different from others who came to cut the stone slabs. The stone slabs must be of appropriate thickness and thickness, too thin or too thick would not work. But it didn't matter if Zhang An used it to build the courtyard wall, the thicker the better.
Soon the two of them picked up a lot, and finally the carriage was full.
"Zhang An, there are so many loads, and I'm afraid the carriage will slip away when we go uphill." Zhang Ping looked at the carriage filled with stones, and was a little worried that it would slip away when it went uphill, and their horses would not pull it.
After so many, this is a stone, too heavy.
"It's not a big problem. This thing is nothing to Dahei."
Soon, Dahei surprised Zhang Ping. It was so easy to pull up the car. When he went up the slope of the stone pass, he didn't even stop, and he pulled up in one breath.
The big black horse only panted a little, and he was convinced. People often said that the big black horse of Zhang An's family was very strong and very strong, but after seeing it today, he was deeply impressed.
It’s been a long time since I’ve heard about this.
"Is this big black horse of yours really so awesome? No wonder I keep hearing people say it is very powerful. When can it be bred? I will bring my horse over to breed it."
"It's not bad, otherwise such a big height would be in vain, but other horses in the village dare not approach it, and the breeding matter is a bit difficult. My uncle also brought your horse over to try it before, but Dahei just doesn't want it.
Cooperate."
Hearing this, Zhang Ping felt a little pity. It would be a pity that such a good horse breed cannot be matched.
The two of them went back and forth to pick up several carts. When there was a lot of stones piled up in the yard, Zhang An stopped picking them up.
Instead, build a brick with what you picked up first, and then pick it up again if there is not enough.
The entire sill of the front yard is already covered with low walls, so it is easier to stack them. However, some stones need to be polished and carved into roughly the same size by hand.
Zhang Ping watched Zhang An pile up for a while and found that it was quite simple, so he also took a hammer and started working with Zhang An.
As the sun was about to set in the afternoon, the two of them finished filling the low wall on the roadside in the front yard and the exposed ridge in the backyard with shale. Now it seemed to be more pleasing to the eye than before.
"Hey Zhang An, don't tell me, it really looks better when done this way than before. I have an indescribable feeling that it looks very pleasing to the eye."
"That's it, how about I waste time here?"
The shop was finished and today's work was done. Zhang An looked at his mother who was coming from the village. She probably had prepared some food at home and came to call people for dinner.
Zhang An and Zhang Ping went to his house first and returned the carriage.
"Brother Ping, after you finish washing, remember to come over for dinner."
Before Zhang An led Dahei away, he told Zhang Ping, who was washing his face in the courtyard, that after working, he would definitely call for dinner.
"Okay, I'll come right after I've washed and changed my clothes. You don't have to call me."
After returning home, Zhang An drove Dahei into the pen, and then he started running water next to the water pipe to wash. After washing, he felt relaxed and comfortable all over.
"Here comes Zhang Ping."
When Zhang Ping came over, Wang Fang started to bring out the prepared dishes.
"Come here, auntie, wow, I made crispy pork today, it smells delicious."
People of Zhang An's generation like to eat crispy pork, no one doesn't like it.
"If you like it, eat more later. Zhang An bought some meat today and said he wanted to eat crispy meat, so I fried some."
Zhang Ping was not polite. Everyone knew that Zhang An was a good eater, so he sat down at the table and took a piece of it to eat.
"Hmm~ Auntie, your fried crispy pork is much more delicious than my mother's."
Zhang Ping's words made Wang Fang laugh.
"You kid, you don't want to say this, not if your mother hears it."
"Auntie, I didn't say anything. Besides, my dad usually cooks in our family."
The old village chief Zhang Jianwen is really true. Although this man was just a mixed bag when he was young, he was not afraid of anything. After he retired from the army and got married, he was so controlled by his wife that he didn't dare to jump at all.
Speaking of which, he and Zhang Jianguo were on the same page in this regard, and both were afraid of their own wives.
"Come on, brother Ping, try the gastrodia wine I brewed."
Zhang An brought out the gastrodia wine he had brewed before and poured some for Zhang Ping, and also poured some for his mother.
You can drink a small amount of this wine regularly, and it is still good for your body.
No need to drink too much, just drink a small cup every day.
The wine in this jar has been soaking for less than half a year now, and the wine poured out has become golden and golden, and smells fragrant.
Zhang An now has a jar of Gastrodia wine and a large jar of deer antler wine at his home. Mr. Zhang had cut the deer antlers before, prepared them, soaked them in wine, and asked Zhang An to bring them over.
He also told Zhang An that the wine should be stored for more than three to five months before being opened, and that he should not drink it before getting married, otherwise he would suffer.
So now the jar of deer antler wine is still in Zhang An's space, and Zhang An would not take it out under normal circumstances.
After having enough wine and food, after tea and dinner.
Zhang Ping sat for a while and then got up and went home. Before leaving, he told Zhang An that if he had any work to do during this period, he could call him. He was bored at home.
The old village chief originally asked someone to find him a job, but he found him as a ranger at the county forest farm.
This person usually stays in the old forest of the deep mountains, not close to home. The old aunt felt that her son had not been at home for several years, and now he had to go to such a far place again.
Moreover, it seemed that the place he was going to was a place that would be difficult to come back to without being home, so in the end we decided not to let him go.
Moreover, they saw that Zhang An did not go out to look for a job at home and lived a pleasant life. Recently, they heard that Zhang An gave Zhou Shuanglin's family an idea. He now earns dozens of yuan every day selling food.
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Others don't know, but Zhang Jianwen and his wife know that it is Zhang An who advises Zhou Shuanglin's family.
Although they are a little envious of the Zhou family, they are not jealous. They just feel that if they get along well with Zhang An, they will think of you if anything good happens. What they didn't notice is that Zhou Yang, the eldest son of the Zhou Shuanglin family, has been with Zhang An since he was a child.
A pair of pants grows out of it.
When they were young, the two of them would fight together, go to school together, you would be at my house and I would be at yours for meals, they would be late together, and they would only sleep in the same bed together.
So the old aunt wanted her son to get along better with Zhang An, so that they would be familiar with each other, and Zhang An would be more diligent when something happened. This was not just the old aunt's idea.
Everyone in the village thinks so, but there is only one person who doesn't think so, and that is the old woman Li Jinbiao's family diagonally opposite Zhang An's house, because she knows in her heart that her family and Zhang An's family have never had any contact with each other, although now
I regret it very much, but there is no point in regretting it.
What happened between their family and Zhang An's family over the years is not something that can be ignored just by bowing one's head and pretending that nothing happened.
In the evening, Zhang Jianguo, who went to help Zhang Jianzhong's house build a courtyard dam, came back.
Zhang An thought that the yard over there was empty, so he immediately discussed with his parents and planned to plant something.