Chapter 66 Gift Watch

When Gao Mingcheng returned to his grandmother's house, there was only a slanting glow of afterglow in the western sky.

There is blue smoke rising from the kitchen chimneys of every household. When walking between two adjacent households, you can smell the aroma of food coming from inside.

Nowadays everyone's life is better than before. In the past few years, people ate less white rice, and most of them ate sweet potato rice, bean rice, etc. In recent years, more people eat white rice, and only a few families are still living a hard life.

There was a light on in the main room of my grandmother's house, and light was also spilling out from the kitchen. At the same time, there was the sound of the spatula hitting the iron pan when frying the dishes.

"Grandma, is there any hot water?" Gao Mingcheng leaned half of his body in and asked.

"Yes, it's in the kettle." The grandmother replied, and at the same time glanced at him, and immediately saw that Gao Mingcheng was holding a pheasant in his hand.

Gao Mingcheng took the kettle and knife from the kitchen, went to the yard, cut the pheasant's neck to let the blood flow, and then threw it into a basin.

At this time Gao Zhuang also came to help. Gao Mingcheng used hot water to scald the feathers, then picked it up and put it on the ground. Then the two of them plucked the feathers together and quickly took off the pheasant's beautiful feathers.

"Brother Mingcheng, grandma has already cooked two dishes. I'm afraid she won't have time to cook this pheasant." Gao Zhuang said.

"It's okay, let's eat first. Let the pheasant stew slowly and eat it later." Gao Mingcheng was not in a hurry to eat. He picked up the knife and started to cut open the belly.

The light in the yard was dim, so Gao Zhuang came over with a kerosene lamp to illuminate the area.

In just two minutes, Gao Mingcheng's knife skills were as smooth as flowing water, and he quickly processed the pheasant's internal organs. He only took the heart, liver and gizzards, and discarded the intestines.

In fact, chicken intestines are also delicious, but it is rather troublesome to clean them cleanly. Gao Mingcheng somewhat adopted the behavioral habits of later generations and simply discarded the chicken intestines.

But Gao Zhuang refused, so he picked up the chicken intestines aside, processed them quickly, then washed them with wood ash, and finally scalded them with boiling water.

"Brother Mingcheng, chicken intestines are delicious, why throw them away! If you don't want to make them, I'll do it, so that grandma won't see you and get scolded!"

Gao Mingcheng smiled awkwardly, put the washed pheasant on the chopping board, and chopped it up neatly.

At this time, grandma had already cooked the vegetables, washed the pot again and put water in it. After chopping the pheasant, she put it directly into the big iron pot, covered the pot and simmered it slowly.

Gao Mingcheng lowered his head to glance at the stove, which contained two thicker firewoods, enough to burn for a while, so he went to the dining table to eat.

Today's dishes are relatively simple, one is fried peppers and the other is loofah and egg soup.

"Growing sugarcane is so troublesome! If it weren't a task assigned by the county, I really wouldn't want to plant it!" At the dinner table, Gao Zhuang complained to Gao Mingcheng.

He worked in the sugarcane field with his grandmother all day today.

There was a sugar factory in their county town, so the county assigned tasks to the countryside, requiring every household to grow sugarcane. In late autumn and early winter, people from the sugar factory would drive over to buy it.

It is said that it is to seek development for the people, but in reality it is not really the case!

One ton of sugarcane only sells for more than 200 yuan, and sometimes the purchase is not timely, so the sugarcane is left in the hands of the villagers. In addition, growing sugarcane is troublesome and the price is low, so the villagers are not willing to grow it at all.

"Look, my hands are cut by sugarcane leaves!" Gao Zhuang stretched out his hands, his tone very aggrieved.

Sugarcane leaves are very sharp. When they cut people, they feel stinging and itchy, which is very uncomfortable.

The grandmother was distressed and angry, and said, "I asked you to wear a long-sleeved coat, but you refused!"

"It's hot!" Gao Zhuang defended himself. Young people are afraid of heat and don't have as much experience as the elderly, so they naturally wear short sleeves.

“Well, let’s put it this way. Next spring, I will tell the village committee that I am not feeling well and there are not many people at home. Let’s see if we can stop growing sugarcane. Even if not, we can just plant on one mu of land.” In the end, the grandmother still felt sorry for her only grandson.

When Gao Zhuang heard this, he smiled happily and flattered her: "Grandma is so nice."

Gao Mingcheng watched the interaction between the grandparents and grandchildren with a smile on his face.

After dinner, Gao Mingcheng went into his room and soon took out a half-new watch.

He handed the watch to Gao Zhuang and said, "Here, this is for you."

Gao Zhuang was surprised at first, and then he was delighted.

He took the watch and looked at it carefully under the light. The watch was a Lushan brand. Although it was not brand new, it did not look old either.

"Brother Mingcheng, where did you get the watch?" Gao Zhuang asked in surprise, and Xi Nainai also looked over here.

Gao Mingcheng got this watch by cheating others - no, it was given to him by the bald man!

But there is no need to tell the truth. Gao Mingcheng said: "When I was selling honey, I happened to see someone selling a second-hand watch. He said his family needed money urgently and wanted to sell it for only ten yuan. I thought the quality was okay, so I bought it."

If a brand new watch costs sixty dollars and a used one only costs ten dollars, that is really a good deal.

Gao Zhuang was very happy. He put the watch on his wrist and then swung it proudly. He felt that his whole temperament was different after putting on the watch.

Handsome!

But the grandmother disagreed and said, "Mingcheng, you can buy it, but just use it yourself, you don't have to give it to Gao Zhuang!"

Ten dollars is cheap, but it’s still money!

At this time, Gao Mingcheng took out another watch from his trouser pocket. It was a brand new one.

"I bought one too. This one is newer, so it's more expensive."

He bought the watch before, but kept it hidden and didn't let anyone know. Now he finally knows the truth.

“Let me see.” Gao Zhuang was so happy that he looked like a fool. He took Gao Mingcheng’s watch and put the two watches together for comparison.

Both watches were Lushan brand, one was brand new and the other was half-worn, but if you didn't look closely, you couldn't tell which was which.

"You young people...is money so hot to handle? Why can't you save it?" The grandmother looked at Gao Mingcheng helplessly, feeling very disappointed with him.

Afterwards, she went to her room and took out ten yuan, handed it to Gao Mingcheng, and said, "It's not easy for you to earn some money. Take this money and count it as our purchase."

Gao Mingcheng naturally refused to take it and said, "Grandma, I came to your house to eat and stay, but you didn't ask me for money. I gave Gao Zhuang something, so why did you ask me for money? I don't want this money!"

One wanted to give, the other refused to accept, and the two sides were in a stalemate for a while.

So Gao Mingcheng used the Bathing Escape Technique, took some clean clothes, and dragged Gao Zhuang outside. "Grandma, Gao Zhuang and I are going to take a shower. You watch over the fire!"

Grandma Xi had no choice but to watch them leave.

On the bamboo chair, there are two watches, one new and half old.

Watches cannot come into contact with water, so the two of them naturally would not take watches with them. The grandmother touched this watch, then that watch, with a smile on her lips, but tears in her eyes.

These days are getting better and better!

(End of this chapter)