057, hourglass timer
057, hourglass timer
In the evening, they cooked a small pot of mushroom and meat sauce at home, and also cooked a pot of noodles. They first added a little lard to the cooked noodles and mixed them, then added a large spoonful of mushroom and meat sauce and mixed evenly, so that every noodle was coated with the sauce, and finally sprinkled with a handful of chopped green onions.
"It smells so good!" Lu Youtian picked up his chopsticks and put a handful of noodles into his mouth. He widened his eyes at the first bite, looking at the noodles in the bowl in disbelief. He looked up at his wife and eldest son and said, "This meat sauce noodles is delicious, really delicious!"
"You guys, eat too." Liu Sanniang called the three children to eat, and picked up her chopsticks, picked up a mouthful of noodles and put it into her mouth. She nodded and said, "It's not bad. The meat sauce would be a bit salty if eaten plain, but it's just right when mixed with noodles."
"This sauce would be delicious with steamed buns and sesame cakes. Let's go back and ask Yue Niang and her family if they want it. We can make more for them next time."
Lu Mingfei took the first bite and showed a little surprise on his face. The noodles wrapped in meat sauce had a salty and meaty aroma. It was so delicious! "Mother, take a bowl to your adoptive parents tomorrow to try. If they think it tastes good, ask them if they want some."
The two little guys never raised their heads after taking the first bite of noodles. Their little hands grabbed their own chopsticks and scooped the noodles in the bowl into their mouths.
Even if the noodles or sugar cakes fell out of the bowl, they would pick them up with their little hands and put them into their mouths to eat.
"Once they taste it, they will definitely chase you for the meat sauce even if you don't ask." After Lu Youtian finished speaking, he made the sound of slurping noodles again.
"That's true." Liu Sanniang laughed.
The big pot of noodles cooked for dinner was not enough. Seeing that the two adults and two children in the family all had unsatisfied expressions, fortunately there were some sesame cakes brought back from home, so Liu Sanniang baked a few sesame cakes. Several people in the family dipped the sesame cakes in meat sauce and ate them all up.
The consequence of overeating at night was that the three brothers collapsed in their chairs after dinner and didn't want to move.
Liu Sanniang felt a little worried as she touched the two little ones' bellies. They were very round and plump. She glanced at her eldest son who was sitting beside her and said, "Next time, you must not eat so much. No matter how delicious the food is, it's not good to eat so much."
"It's okay, I'll read a book and digest it later." Lu Mingfei said.
"Mom, touch it." Doubao took Mom's hand and let her touch her belly.
Tanggao, who was standing next to him, saw this and pulled his aunt's hand to let her touch his belly.
Liu Sanniang had only two hands, so she had to use one hand to rub the stomachs of the two boys who were full.
Lu Youtian, on the other hand, had a very satisfied expression on his face. Looking at his wife and children, he felt that his life was very happy now. Before they had separated from the Lu family's old house and lived on their own, they had never known what it was like to have a full stomach. But now, they could eat a full meal every day.
Now, their family of four lived their own simple life behind closed doors, with no parents to supervise them, no brothers or sisters-in-law to scheme against them, and no nephew to support. Although life was not easy, he was willing to endure any hardship and fatigue for the sake of his wife and children.
Anyway, he didn't want to go back to the way he used to live, and he couldn't bear to take his wife and children back to live that kind of life.
So, even after hearing about his parents and brothers' situation, Lu Youtian never considered going back to help them, because he knew that if he went back, he would be stuck. It didn't matter if he couldn't escape, but he would also drag his wife and children into the quagmire of the Lu family's old house, unable to get out. He couldn't bear it, and he didn't want to implicate his wife and children. After all, when they split up, they had already agreed with them that after the split, the two sides would have nothing to do with each other and would not go to the other side if anything happened.
Thinking of this, he was quite glad that his eldest son reminded him, so he thought of signing the document of separation. Otherwise, if there was no document as evidence, the other party would probably refuse to recognize it.
"Mother, please rub them. I'll go wash the dishes." Lu Mingfei stood up, stacked the dishes on the table, and carried them out.
"Hey, leave it for mother to wash." Liu Sanniang stood up and said.
"No need, please sit for a while, Mom." Lu Mingfei had already gone out with the dishes and chopsticks.
***
The sun sets early in winter, and by the time they finished dinner, it was almost dark outside.
By the time they took in the clothes that were hanging outside, tidied up the things in the yard, and everyone finished washing up, it was completely dark outside.
Back in the house, Lu Mingfei lit the fire in the fireplace and sat on the recliner in front of it to read. This way he could save some lamp oil, still have some light, and still have some warmth.
It has been winter for a long time now. Although it has not snowed yet, the weather is getting colder day by day, especially the temperature difference between morning and night is particularly low.
They recently started using the fireplace in the house, which will burn until February of next year. So they have to prepare a lot of firewood before winter every year, because they need a lot of firewood to cook the braised meat, and they also need to burn firewood in the two fireplaces, so they have to keep them burning all the time.
If the braised meat hadn't smelled so good, he would have asked the craftsmen to build a stove outside his bedroom to heat it. However, the landlord wouldn't allow them to make holes in the wall, so those ideas had to be abandoned.
It's just a matter of burning a little more firewood. Buying two more trucks of firewood doesn't actually cost much.
"Mingfei, mother has gone to bed. Don't read too late. Go to bed early, okay?" Liu Sanniang came over and knocked on the window of the eldest son's room and said to the child in the room.
"Okay, mother, then you should go to bed early." Lu Mingfei put down the book in his hand, stood up, opened the window, and said to his mother outside.
"No need to open it, put it down quickly." Seeing smoke coming out of the chimney outside, Liu Sanniang knew that the child had lit the fireplace in the house. Once the window was opened, wouldn't the heat in the house run out?
"Can my second and third brothers stay at your place? Otherwise, you can send them to my place." Lu Mingfei could still hear the shouting voice of Tanggao in his room. He was afraid that the two little ones would disturb the two adults' rest if they stayed in their parents' room.
"No need to send you here, just let them stay at our side. Please lower the window quickly, and I'm going back to sleep." Liu Sanniang waved her hand and went back to the main house with the oil lamp.
The eldest son was worried that the two younger ones would disturb their sleep, and Liu Sanniang was also worried that the two younger ones would disturb the eldest son's study.
Her eldest son had studied for so many years and would be taking the exam next year. She had never told him that she hoped he would achieve any kind of honor. But secretly, she still hoped that he could achieve some kind of honor, so that their family could have a foothold in Kyoto and no longer have to worry about the people from the old house causing trouble for them.
Lu Mingfei, who was standing by the window, didn't lower the window until he saw his mother carrying an oil lamp into the house and the door of the main house closed from the inside. He then sat back in his chair and continued to warm himself by the fire and read.
Not long after, he heard a long drumbeat outside, and he knew that the city gate was about to close.
But it's still early, probably around seven o'clock in the evening.
Now that he no longer had to get up in the middle of the night to help his mother braise meat, Lu Mingfei could read a little longer at night and sleep in a little later to go to school with his teacher. While he was in school, he didn't have to help out at the stall, and he couldn't help out much either. So his main task was to study and take the county exam next year to get the qualification to take the exam. He couldn't let the money his parents spent on him go to waste.
He was so engrossed in reading that by the time he finished the book, the hourglass timer on the table had reached ten o'clock.
The hourglass timer on the table was made by him himself. In order to make this hourglass timer, he spent three years repeatedly calculating the time, and his father kept helping him make the mold, and finally he made this hourglass timer.
This hourglass timer is made by placing the hourglass cup in a rectangular rack, which is then mounted on a U-shaped rack. A base is then placed at the bottom of the U-shaped rack so that it can be placed flat on the table.
The hourglass on his desk had twelve hours and twenty-four Arabic numerals carved into its ends. People here were used to looking at the hours, but Lu Mingfei was more accustomed to looking at the numbers; he knew what time it was just by looking at them.
After the day is over, the other end of the hourglass becomes heavier, and the angle will slowly tilt over. Then the hourglass will move to the other end and start the next day.
The reason why I spent a long time researching this thing was because this hourglass is automatic and there is no need to manually switch ends to continue counting time.
In fact, Lu Mingfei wanted to make a wall clock at that time, but was limited by his skills and materials, so he could only make a simple hourglass to calculate the time.
Before the invention of the clepsydra, they could only judge the time of day by the sounds of the morning bell and evening drum, as well as the night watchmen outside. But now with this hourglass timer, he can know the exact time and no longer has to worry about missing the time to go to the school and being punished by the teacher for being late.
The hourglass timer on his desk was the first hourglass timer made by him and his father. Later, they made two hourglass timers. The second one was taken to his parents' room for their use; the last one was given to Zhao Lang as a birthday gift this year.
He and Zhao Lang have been in contact over the past few years. They have a good relationship privately and can be called good friends.
He also knew Zhao Lang's situation in Kyoto Prefecture, so sometimes he felt sorry for his good friend. When they met, Zhao Lang was only eight years old, and he was five years old at that time; now eight years have passed, Zhao Lang is sixteen years old, and he is thirteen years old.
Unconsciously, they have known each other for eight years and have been friends for eight years. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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