Chapter 11 Killing Sheep
Yue Baohua followed behind. The granddaughter he saw yesterday was smart and kind, but he was only worried that she didn't study enough. This scene this morning made him understand that his granddaughter grew up in the wilderness of the northwest, was free and unrestrained, and even had a wild temperament. He was afraid that she would not be able to adapt to the port city.
When they arrived at the door, Yue Ning put down his shoulder pole, went into the house, scooped water from the water tank into the wash basin, poured in the newly drawn water, and turned to ask Yue Baohua: "Grandpa, have you brushed your teeth and washed your face?"
"not yet!"
Yue Ning carried the wash basin out of the house, placed it on the bottom of an upside-down vat outside, and said, "You brush your teeth and wash your face, I'll make some rice dumplings, and we'll have breakfast."
Yue Baohua brushed his teeth and washed his face outside, while Yue Ning went in to mix the dough. They usually made noodles with rice water or fish with rice water, but Yue Ning thought it was too much trouble, so he just made noodles with rice water and used the rice water to make noodle soup.
"Uncle Hua, good morning." A voice in Cantonese came in. Yue Ning heard his grandfather respond: "Second Young Master, how did you sleep last night?"
Outside the house, Qiao Junxian leaned against a crooked tree at the door and said, "I slept for two or three hours. Their primary school building... You can see the stars when you lie down at night. A row of bats hang upside down on the beams, making constant noises at night. I waited for the sky to light up, and then got up. I gained something, but I also took a few photos of the sunrise, which were very good."
Yue Baohua felt a little embarrassed and said, "I'm sorry for the trouble. I'll be fine when I return to the city tomorrow."
"Uncle Hua, that's not what I meant. I'm just talking about the situation here. I like to go to these places. I've been to Africa and India for a month. Some places are not much better than here. Let's see the different customs and folkways. Let's keep to the normal pace and don't push Mr. Chen too hard. They must have tried their best. After all, we are following a special procedure this time, right?"
"Yes, I have already troubled Mr. Chen."
Yue Ning walked to the door and asked, "Mr. Qiao, have you had breakfast?"
"I got up too early and haven't eaten yet," said Qiao Junxian.
"I'm making some jiangshui noodles. If you don't mind, would you like to have some together?" Yue Ning added, "My taste is relatively light."
Qiao Junxian nodded: "Excuse me."
"I'll be right there, you can come in."
Yue Ning entered the house first. The lid of the pot had been opened, and a sour and fragrant smell wafted out. The amount was originally made for two people, but now it was divided into three portions, filling a shallow half bowl.
Yue Baohua also came over, carrying the noodles with soy sauce and placing them on the wooden table on the kang: "Second Young Master, sit on the kang."
"Miss Yue, please have the seat." Qiao Junxian discovered that the only place in her house where people could sit was the kang.
"Please sit down, don't push it. If you push it like that, the noodles will get clumped up." Yue Ning said.
Qiao Junxian sat down. Yue Ning turned around and fetched the bowl of chili peppers. He scooped a small spoonful into his own bowl and asked, "Mr. Qiao, would you like some more chili? Jiangshui noodles are sour and spicy."
"Yes." Qiao Junxian also scooped a spoonful.
"Is it too much?" Yue Ning asked.
He put the chili oil into the noodle soup and said, "No, my grandmother's family is in Singapore, they also eat sour and spicy food there. My mother can make assam laksa, a kind of rice noodles that is sour and spicy, and the taste is also very strong."
Singaporean cuisine combines the characteristics of Southeast Asian and Indian cuisines. The taste is sour, spicy and salty, and there are even some strange sauces. Yue Ning suddenly realized: "No wonder you didn't think the fried potato pancakes were too strong yesterday!"
"The fried potato pancakes we had yesterday were not only strong in flavor, but also very dry." Qiao Junxian smiled helplessly and lowered his head to eat the noodles. The noodle soup was sour, refreshing and fragrant, with a unique taste, but not strong, and very delicious.
He said: "It tastes good and has a very refreshing aroma."
Yue Baohua also nodded in agreement, saying that the child did have a talent for being a chef.
"Have you already eaten?" Li Qiaomei appeared at the door. "Secretary Fugen asked me to invite you to have breakfast!"
When Qiao Junxian saw Li Qiaomei, he quickly said, "Thank you, I won't go. Miss Yue's jiangshui noodles are delicious, I'm full."
"I'll go back and tell Secretary Fugen." Li Qiaomei turned to leave, and when she saw someone coming over, she greeted, "Afa, have you had breakfast?"
"I ate it. Secretary Fugen asked me to catch the sheep."
Catching sheep? Yue Ning poured the noodle soup into his mouth and ran out.
"Secretary Fugen asked us to catch some sheep and kill them to entertain our distinguished guests." Ah Fa came over and said, "Yuening, help me pick a sheep."
Yue Ning went with him to the sheepfold. The fat and strong lambs, five or six months old, had the most tender meat. Yue Ning bent down to touch the sheep. Under the wool, the subtle differences between the sheep could not be seen, so he could only feel them with his hands. When he touched the third one, Yue Ning said, "This is it."
Ah Fa came over to drag the sheep out, but he used too much force, and the lamb was frightened and fled back. Ah Fa rushed over to catch it, and the lamb bleated, and Da Hei also bleated.
When Yue Ning saw that the situation was not good, he went over, grabbed the lamb, picked it up, and stuffed it into Afa's hands.
Ah Fa's face wrinkled up: "You won't let me carry you to the primary school, will you? I can't carry you!"
"It's useless." Yue Ning walked out of the sheepfold and took a rope from the windowsill, "Come here."
Ah Fa carried the sheep over, and Yue Ning tied a rope around the lamb: "Go!"
Afa led the sheep away, and Yue Ning patted his body and picked off the wool that was stuck to him.
Qiao Junxian went out and said to the house, "Uncle Hua, I'm going back to the elementary school first. Mr. Chen and the others should be up by now."
Yue Baohua came out with his sleeves rolled up: "Okay, I'll be right over too."
"Ms. Yue, thank you for your hospitality. I'll be over first." Qiao Junxian smiled and waved to Yue Ning.
"Okay. We'll be there soon." Yue Ning also waved his hand in response.
After Qiao Junxian took a few steps, Yue Ning looked at his own hands and thought: Why is it that his waving of hands is so charming, while my own waving of hands is so lacking in charm?
Yue Ning thought about it and realized that even though he had achieved success and fame in his previous life and had a great character, his behavior... well! He was a straightforward person.
She entered the house and saw her grandfather cleaning the stove. In her previous life, her parents instilled in her the idea that housework was done by women. In this life, it was still the same in the northwest. Only her father in this life never said that. One of them washed the dishes while the other washed the clothes. After her father passed away, she recovered her memories of her previous life. In this life, she was poor and had a hard life, but as long as her father was there, it didn't matter. But why did God give her such a good father, and then took him away from her?
Now, seeing his grandfather, who looked very much like his father, cleaning the stove, Yue Ning's eyes became warm.
Yue Baohua saw his granddaughter, who had just been so strong holding the sheep, with tears on her face, and put down the rag: "Ningning, what's wrong?"
When grandpa asked, Yue Ning smiled and said, "Nothing. Seeing grandpa reminded me of when dad was around, he also washed dishes like this."
When the child mentioned Zhirong, Yue Baohua felt a pang of sadness in his heart. He reached out and hugged Yue Ning: "Ningning, don't cry, don't cry."
Yue Ning raised her hand and wiped the tears from her face: "Grandpa, I'm going to wash the clothes."
"I swept the floor."
One of the grandparents was washing clothes, while the other was sweeping the floor. Due to the water shortage in the northwest, Yue Ning usually collected the water for washing hands, vegetables, and clothes in the water tank outside. After settling overnight, she scooped out the clear water on the top, which was just enough for washing clothes. Before going to fetch water, she had already put alkali flour in the water to soak the clothes, so now she just had to scrub them a few times.
Yue Ning hung up the clothes, and Yue Baohua took out the dustpan. Yue Ning pointed to a worn-out rattan frame and said, "Pour the garbage into the basket. I'll take it out later."
At this time, a middle-aged man came over, and Yue Ning greeted him: "Uncle Youcai, have you finished your breakfast?"
"I'm done eating. Thanks to you, it's my turn to herd the sheep today." Yang Youcai walked over and said.
Yue Ning helped Yang Youcai to herd the sheep, but Yang Youcai was still disgusted: "I don't know how to herd sheep?"
After he drove the sheep away, Yue Ning went over, tidied up the sheep pen a little, and closed the fence gate.
The grandparents and grandchildren walked towards the primary school. When they arrived at the gate of the village school, they saw a group of people gathered at the gate. Some were holding bowls, some were just standing there, and all of them were sticking their heads to look inside.
"Yueh Ning is here." Someone saw her and shouted.
A group of people turned their heads, and the two walked forward. Yue Ning looked at a boy holding a bowl and said, "The chopsticks are almost stuck in his nostrils."
The boy came to his senses and lowered his head to eat soba noodles.
The two walked through the crowd and entered the elementary school playground. Six-fingered Agen, who was slaughtering a sheep, saw Yue Ning and shouted, "Girl, come and help me. Afa is causing trouble. He is almost peeling the sheep's skin."
Li Qiaomei immediately said, "Agen, why are you killing sheep today? It's because Yue Ning's grandfather came to look for her, so we killed the sheep. Your analogy is that the young lady is getting married and is going to ride in a sedan chair, and you asked the bride to kill the sheep with you."
"Or, you can take a rest!" said Uncle Agen.
Yue Ning rolled up his sleeves, took out a leather and plastic apron and sleeves from the bag next to Six Fingers Agen, put on the apron and sleeves, and picked up the sharp knife: "We have always been partners."
Yue Ning bent down and patted Ah Fa's shoulder: "Let me do it."
Uncle Agen was born with six fingers and his family was poor, so he naturally couldn't get married. About six or seven years ago, his parents bought him a wife, but the girl was abducted, and he secretly sent her away without telling his parents.
It is difficult to change bad habits in remote mountain villages. Secretary Fugen took this opportunity to hold a member meeting, praising Agen for respecting women's wishes, and told all members that only in the old society would women be bought and sold, and there would be tragedies like the White-haired Girl. He was also rated as an advanced worker. However, behind the scenes, his nickname became Six-fingered Silly Gen.
There happened to be an opportunity to study veterinary medicine in the county. Six-fingered Agen was disabled and a bachelor, his family was poor, and he had been rated as an advanced worker. This meant that he had a good family background, so Secretary Fugen sent him to study veterinary medicine. He was responsible for the prevention of livestock and poultry diseases in the brigade, treating poultry and livestock, and going to the city to get feed for livestock and handing over livestock to the government.
After Yue Ning's father passed away, Secretary Fugen arranged a sheep-herding job for her, so she naturally had more contact with Uncle Agen, a veterinarian. Uncle Agen also had the skill of slaughtering cattle and sheep, so the team would call him whenever they needed to slaughter cattle and sheep. He knew that Yue Ning was strong, and he felt sorry for her because she was an orphan, so he would call her whenever he had the chance. When they killed cattle and sheep together, they would get some offal, and he would give Yue Ning half of her intestines, a piece of liver, a piece of lung...
As time went by, there were inevitably some gossipers who said that he was a bachelor and coveted Yue Ning, a young girl, and wanted to deceive her. Uncle Agen rushed to the family's house with a butcher knife and said that he was a bachelor and would cut off the tongue of anyone who dared to gossip about him. In the future, he would still call her and share his experiences with her when he had the chance.
Yue Ning felt a little sad when he thought that this might be the last time he and Uncle Agen would partner to kill sheep.
The sheep had been bled, and Yue Ning took over from Afa and skinned the sheep together with Liuzhi Agen.
Zhang Lifen looked at Yue Ning, and saw Yue Ning skillfully cut the fur on the lamb leg, circled the sharp knife around the joint bone, and then dropped the lamb's foot, cutting the fascia and separating the skin and flesh.
Zhang Lifen thought Yue Ning was just a country girl who grew up in the countryside, but she didn't expect that this girl was so wild and strong. Fortunately, her son didn't marry her. If her son went to Hong Kong with her, they would have conflicts. Her son was tongue-tied and couldn't scold or beat her. How could he live like that?
She turned her head to look at Yue Baohua. That girl must have told Yue Baohua everything last night. She wondered if he was still willing to take Guoqiang to Gangcheng?
When Yue Baohua saw the shabby house and the clothes Yue Ning was wearing yesterday, he realized that the child was much poorer than he had imagined. But this morning, when he saw her running with a strong man on her shoulders, picking up a sheep weighing more than 100 kilograms and skinning it without changing her expression, he felt that her life was much better than he had imagined.
The entire sheepskin was peeled off, and Yue Ning stood up to show off to Yue Baohua.
Behind the bloody sheepskin was the granddaughter's bright smiling face. Yue Baohua smiled and shook his head slightly, this child!
Qiao Junxian raised his camera and took a picture of this scene.
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