Chapter 371 Chapter 372: Almost Finished

When Zhou Huaian got home, he saw that the concrete at the gate had been paved, but the road surface had not yet hardened, so he turned from the south to the back mountain. He saw bamboo and sticks piled up on the edge of the field at a glance, looked around and saw no one, so he went down the steps and entered the yard.

There was a gutter under the last step that led to the pond outside, so that when it rained, there would be no water in the yard.

"Woof woof!" Lai Fu, who was tied at the backyard gate, saw him come in and greeted him, wagging his tail.

He squatted down and touched its head. "Take good care of it. We will move here in a few days."

"Woof woof!" Lai Fu barked twice as if he understood.

Zhou Huaian looked around the backyard, entered from the back door of the kitchen and came to the steps of the front yard, where he saw Carpenter Li painting the steel bars on the doors and windows with a brush.

"Master Li, will it be finished tomorrow?"

"Install the doors and windows upstairs, and then install the courtyard door and you'll be done." Master Li said with a smile, "Your house is well decorated, I like it when I see it."

"I like it, too." Zhou Huaian looked at the spacious yard and suddenly remembered that Yang Chunyan said she wanted to make two more beds. "I'll move the wood out tomorrow. Please help me make two bunk beds, a bunk bed, two bunk cabinets, a desk, and a few chairs."

Master Li smiled and said, "Yes, do you want a bed frame with carvings or without?"

"No need for carving, just keep it simple."

"Then I'll move my tools to the backyard and do it. The backyard doesn't take up much space and is spacious."

"Okay, do it wherever you think is convenient!"

Zhou Huaian went out to the back mountain and saw Zhou's father, Zhou Datian and Zhou Daqing carrying bamboos and coming over. "Old man, isn't the bamboo enough?"

Father Zhou put it down and wiped his sweat, "There are still ten or so bundles!"

Zhou Huaian took a look and said tentatively: "It's so tiring to walk back and forth. How about I drive a tractor to pull it? It will be done in one trip?"

Father Zhou's eyes widened when he heard this, and he suddenly remembered what the old man said, so he changed his mind and said, "Okay, I can relax a little if you go."

Zhou Huaian didn't hear the expected scolding, he was stunned for a moment, nodded quickly, "Oh, I'll go get it right away."

Zhou Datian watched him run away, and looked at Zhou's father with envy, "Second brother, your family is really good at educating children. Not only are they all capable, but they are also filial."

Zhou Daqing said with a smile: "Second brother is filial to Second Father, how can the youngest brothers not be filial!"

Father Zhou said embarrassedly: "How can we be filial? It's more like my old man is the one who worries about us."

Zhou Huaian pulled all the bamboo poles to the back mountain and went to help Zhou Yiding dig manure for the whole afternoon.

The manure that was brought back piled up into a mountain under the wall in his backyard.

…

When Yang Chunyan returned home, she saw a large basin of moldy bean curd drying in the yard, and the chili peppers still hanging in a dustpan. She walked to the kitchen door and said, "Mom, I'll put the chili peppers away and pick the stems."

"Yes!" Zhou's mother came out and said, "Thanks to my panic, I went to take a look. Your cousin was killed by that conscienceless old woman of the Yan family..."

Yang Chunyan comforted her, "Don't be angry, your cousin has taken Qiaoling away from the Yan family, and your life will only get better and better in the future."

"Well! The youngest one beat up that bastard, and your aunt and I also gave Granny Yan a good beating, so we got rid of our anger."

"It's good to vent your anger."

Yang Chunyan carried the wooden basin for chopping peppers to the eaves of the stairs, took all the peppers in the winnowing basket and put them aside, then pulled a straw stool and sat down to start picking the pepper stems.

Zhou Xiaowen and his friends ran back from the backyard with Zhou Xiaolin, "Auntie, eat sugar cane."

Yang Chunyan saw several people carrying a piece of sugar cane and asked with a smile, "Where did you get it from?"

"Third grandma gave it to him. His family has a lot." Zhou Jiakang threw the sugar cane on the steps. "Aunt, can we plant sugar cane next year?"

"Okay, we'll plant a lot next year." Yang Chunyan touched Zhou Xiaolin's little face, "Just like a cat, let sister take it to wash."

Zhou Xiaoru reached out and took her hand, "Aunt, are we moving to a new house?"

"Yes!" Yang Chunyan said with a smile, "Don't you all want to live in the new house? Then you can have your own room."

Zhou Jiakang pulled a straw stool and sat next to her, "Are grandpa, grandma, and the ancestors going too?"

Yang Chunyan: "They don't go, they live in the old house."

Zhou Jiakang: "Why not go?"

"Ha!" Zhou Xiaowen looked at him with disdain, "If we leave, we're worried that thieves will come and steal our things!"

"You are the one!" Zhou Jiakang glared at her, "Just move all the things into the new house!"

Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Ieyasu is right. Go and tell grandma to move their things to the new house."

"Oh!" Zhou Jiakang stood up and walked towards the kitchen, and Zhou Xiaowen followed him.

From the kitchen came the voices of grandparents and grandchildren, as well as Zhou's mother's happy laughter.

Yang Chunyan finished picking the stems of the chili peppers, and Zhou's mother came out with a chopping board in one hand and a spatula and a kitchen knife in the other. "I bought a spatula for your family last time. It will be convenient for chopping chili peppers and making bean paste in the future."

Yang Chunyan smiled and nodded, "Then I have to learn from you this year."

"It's very simple. First, mix the fermented bean paste with white wine, rapeseed oil and salt and dry it for two days. Then pour it into the chopped chili peppers, mix well and add salt and white wine.

If you don’t mind the trouble, add some ground five-spice powder made from pepper, star anise, bay leaves, etc., mix well, put it in an open jar, put it in a cool place to ferment for ten days or half a month, and then take it out to dry in the sun for a month or so.

Yang Chunyan nodded after hearing this. In her previous life, she also made bean paste according to the method she taught. Xiaoqian and the others liked to eat it and would take some away every time they came back.

Zhou's mother put the chopping board on the bench and the large wooden basin under the bench. She grabbed a handful of chili peppers and cut them into short sections. Soon the bucket was filled with a lot of chili peppers.

Yang Chunyan thinks that it is more convenient to chop the chili peppers in a large wooden basin like this and use a spatula to chop them. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law take turns chopping the chili peppers into small pieces in no time.

Before dark, Zhao Huifang and her friends arrived home, carrying baskets filled with the tuberous root of Amomum villosum, which is similar to ginger.

Zhang Xiuxiang said, "Chunyan, the Amomum villosum is about the same size as ginger when dug up. It should be easy to grow."

Yang Chunyan nodded, "Then we will plant it the same way as we plant ginger."

After dinner, everyone selected the Amomum villosum tubers that were plump, had full buds, were uniform in size, bright in color, free of disease and insect pests, rot, and damage, and prepared to plant them tomorrow.

The next day, Zhou Huaian handed the Amomum villosum seeds to Zhou Yiding. After planting them, the two went up the mountain to look for wild beehives. When they came down the mountain, they brought back three or four kilograms of honey.

After going there twice more, Zhou Yiding sowed the rapeseed seeds and went to the forest farm.

The three Zhou Huairong brothers also cleaned up all the garbage in the yard and began to pave the cement road outside the house.

The four brothers of the Zhou family, together with the two brothers Xu Erchun, the Lin Wu couple, the two brothers of the Ye family and the four helpers hired by the Zhou family, a dozen or so men cleaned the road in front of the door spotlessly.

Until there is no grass clippings, bark or tree roots left, then under the old man's guidance, mix the quicklime, clay and fine sand in proportion and stir them into mortar.

(End of this chapter)