The word "Maodong" actually comes from Northeast China.
The term "Maodong" (literally "hibernating the winter") refers to the practice of staying indoors during the cold winter months. This is primarily due to the long, cold winters in Northeast China, making them unsuitable for outdoor activities. People spend their days enjoying the warm kangs (kangs), stockpiling food, cleaning heating equipment, and engaging in activities like blind dates.
But at this time, Liang Shengdi was also staying in the south for the winter.
When the village's self-built houses were demolished and rebuilt during the unified planning of the new rural construction, the first floor was uniformly planned as a garage, which was also considered a basement. The living room, dining room, kitchen and other living areas were located on the second floor.
Liang Shengdi's current room is on the second floor, facing south and featuring a balcony with floor-to-ceiling windows. Although an elevator was installed to make it easier for her to go up and down the stairs, she's almost 90 and doesn't particularly enjoy going out for a walk anymore.
She was alone at home during the day, in her room with the air conditioner on 24 hours a day. She sat on the patched-up recliner on the balcony, watching the TV series that Lin Shuchao had downloaded for her every day on her tablet, and eating snacks sent back by her son and daughter-in-law from all over the country.
Life is so comfortable that I don’t even want to go out.
Except going downstairs to open the door and pick up the express.
It was only when the courier unloaded the huge sheep from the cold chain truck that she really felt a little numb.
What the hell is this? It needs to be frozen! How can it fit in my fridge?
When Chen Chunhua and the others had told her about roasted whole lamb, the image that popped into her mind was the little lambs on TV, happily jumping on the green grass.
It doesn’t look that big! How come this frozen sheep looks so big? How do I eat it?
She quickly called Lin Shuchao, "Third Brother! Come back soon! Something big has happened!"
Lin Shuchao was checking a batch of goods that were about to be shipped in the hardware factory when he was shocked when he received a call from his grandmother.
An old lady who will be celebrating her 90th birthday next year is alone at home and calls you to say something happened. Do you think you would be panicked?
Lin Shuchao was so panicked that he dropped the goods and hurried home. He also called Lin Shumei, who lived closest to home besides him, and asked her to come back quickly. After calling Lin Shumei, he also dialed Lin Shuying's number, and when the call was connected, he arrived home.
"Shuchao? What's wrong?" Lin Shuying's gentle voice came from the phone, but Lin Shuchao on the other end didn't react for a moment and didn't reply. "Hello? Shuchao? Shuchao?"
Lin Shuchao: "...Ah, it's okay, sister, I accidentally pressed the wrong button."
The sheep was slaughtered, cleaned, cut in half, and frozen into flat pancakes in the form of cross-sections, but it still weighed the same.
Lin Shuchao was sitting in the car and could see through the window the old lady in the yard trying to lift the sheep that was over one meter tall to test its weight. He then realized that he was thinking too much.
"Grandma, is this the sheep my parents sent back?" Lin Shuchao got out of the car and walked into the yard. He wanted to carry the sheep on his shoulders and carry it in, but he failed suddenly.
"Holy crap! Is it so heavy?!"
Liang Shengdi nodded vigorously, her eyes gleaming brightly. "Yeah! I just tried to lift it, and it felt like it weighed at least 30 kilograms! What a big sheep it must be!"
"A lamb this big won't fit in the refrigerator! How about we just cook it and eat it? Hey, third brother! Your mom was talking about roasting a whole lamb last time! How do you make it?"
Lin Shuchao: ...How would he know? His cooking skills are limited to steaming and boiling. Qin Hong probably doesn't know either, she doesn't really like lamb.
"First, we have to buy a rack for roasting a whole lamb, otherwise we can't roast it."
I have to buy it, I definitely can't do it today. Liang Shengdi smacked her lips with a bit of regret,
"So when will it arrive? We'll roast it when it arrives? But what about the lamb? It won't fit in the fridge!"
So when Lin Shumei was rushing to the village frantically, she received a call from her brother, asking her to help buy a freezer, and the biggest one.
"Why do you need such a big freezer?"
"Frozen sheep!"
The freezer was ready for immediate use, but he hadn't placed an order for the shelves yet. He and Lin Shumei had discussed it and decided that no one knew how to do it, so why not wait until Mom and Dad came back? By then, there would be plenty of people around, so they could roast one in the yard and still have enough to eat.
They were browsing the Weibo of [Lao Lin and Lao Shen's Happy Life] and found that the two had just finished eating roasted whole lamb a few days ago and praised it for being delicious. The photo also showed Shen Chunhua standing next to the chef and taking notes. It is estimated that their mother has already memorized the recipe of roasted whole lamb.
What else is there to say? They have absolute confidence in Chen Chunhua's cooking skills. Instead of fooling around now, it would be better to wait for someone to come back and enjoy it together.
It was not until a week later that Lin Shuying came back on the weekend to have dinner with Liang Shengdi. She told Lin Shuchao that she saw her parents eating roasted whole beef on Weibo and it seemed that they were very happy every day.
Lin Shuchao: What are you roasting? A whole cow?
He opened his Weibo and saw that just yesterday, the two of them had gone to a whole-beef banquet there, and he immediately felt something was wrong.
Sure enough, a week later, Liang Shengdi called him again and asked him to go home. When he saw the whole cow, he completely lost control.
When he got home, the cold chain courier was still waiting there. He opened the car door only after seeing him. The cow lying there looked a head taller than him.
"Why are your things getting heavier each time you send them?... This big ox weighs almost 400 kilograms, and it took seven or eight of our colleagues to lift it onto the cart... Why don't you call a few more people over? We can help carry it down together?"
Lin Shuchao: ...
"Shu Chao! This cow is taller than your father! How can we freeze it? It won't fit in the freezer!" Liang Shengdi was worried about meat for the first time in her life.
Lin Shuchao: ...Why would we need a freezer?! We need to borrow some cold storage!
Lin Shuchao didn't call anyone else and called Chen Chunhua directly, "Mom...you guys are such a bitch..."
"Did you get the beef?" Chen Chunhua's voice on the line was so loud that it couldn't cover the whistling wind. "Let me tell you! The beef here is really delicious! Roast the whole beef! Marinate it for a day, then roast it for another day, and you'll be ready to eat! I'll send you the marinade recipe later!"
Lin Shuchao: ...
"When will you two be back?"
"Huh? What did you say?"
"I say! When are you coming back? We haven't eaten the sheep yet! We can't finish this cow! We'll wait for you to come home and eat together!"
"What! Louder your voice!"
"Hello, you're back! It's Chinese New Year! Grandma has been waiting for you to eat meat for a long time!!!"
"Oops! If you have anything, tell me on QQ! We're riding horses! I can't hear you!"
Lin Shuchao: ...Riding horses in the middle of winter...You two still think you are twenty years old!
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