The commotion in the courtyard alerted Sheng Liancheng and Zhang Shuzhen, the couple.
When the two came out of the house, they were astonished to find a roe deer, three rabbits, and four pheasants on the ground.
"Wow, you guys brought back quite a lot of stuff this morning."
"That's great! Tomorrow is the day for the house's roof beam raising ceremony, which will bring in several more dishes!" Zhang Shuzhen exclaimed with delight upon seeing the items on the ground.
Building a house is a big deal, and everyone comes to help on the day of the roof-raising ceremony, so the host family has to prepare a decent meal to entertain them.
If someone doesn't serve you well, people will talk about it behind your back, even if they don't say it.
With these additions, tomorrow's meal will certainly not be embarrassing. How could Zhang Shuzhen not be happy?
"Mom, I've already talked to my older brother and asked him to bring us some millet and corn grits from Taodeng tonight."
Do you have any rice at home? If you do, I'll cook some golden and silver rice tomorrow. If not, I'll cook some yellow rice.
In the evening, I'll go with my second and third brothers to cook fish roe again; I think we can make two more dishes.
I'll figure out a few more to do in the vegetable garden; they'll be coming to help tomorrow, so I just need to make sure they don't do a terrible job.
When Sheng Xiping came home last night, the whole family was so busy admiring the dog that he forgot to tell his parents about buying food.
When Sheng Xiping mentioned his elder brother, he was naturally referring to Liu Yujiang; everyone in the family understood that.
"Oh, okay."
I was thinking of suggesting that if that doesn't work, your dad could borrow some grain from someone else.
We'll return them in a few days when we collect our rations."
With food supplies, we feel more secure.
Even the most skilled cook can't make a meal without ingredients; no matter how good you are at cooking, you can't do it without the right ingredients.
"Alright, wash your hands first, let's eat quickly. After you finish eating, you guys can go about your business."
Zhang Shuzhen was very happy and hurriedly invited the children inside for dinner.
"Sixth Brother, get inside and get dressed right now. What kind of behavior is it to run around naked first thing in the morning?"
"Mom, I'm not naked."
Sheng Xitai reached up and pulled up his underwear, muttering to himself as he went inside to get dressed.
The others quickly washed their hands and went inside to eat together.
After breakfast, Sheng Liancheng would first go back to the small repair shop to check in. If there was anything to do, he would handle it; otherwise, he would go to work at the new house.
Sheng Xiping quickly processed all the wild game outside: skinning the rabbits and roe deer, and plucking and gutting the pheasants.
"Mom, soak those rabbits and chickens in water for a while longer, and add more seasoning when you cook them."
These pheasants and rabbits were probably caught in the snares yesterday evening; in any case, they were already dead when they went into the mountains to set the snares.
Even though it's cool in the woods at night, it's been so long since it was opened, it must be stuffy.
If there's no bleeding involved, and the chest is covered up a little, the taste definitely won't be as good.
That's why Sheng Xiping said to soak the chicken and rabbit in water for a while and change the water frequently.
Soaking it to remove all the blood will make it taste better.
"Okay, I understand, don't worry." Zhang Shuzhen replied, continuing to clean the pheasant without stopping.
Sheng Xiping was skinning the roe deer.
This is an adult male roe deer, which should have weighed over 50 kilograms when it was alive.
In fact, roe deer have many parasites, which can be seen as soon as you peel off their skin.
The insects were inside the skin but outside the flesh, their heads inside the flesh and their bodies outside. They were plump and white, and would fall off if you moved even slightly.
"Third brother, hurry up and sweep these things up, then go feed the chickens."
Sheng Xiping turned the skinned roe deer over and over to remove the insects, then called his younger brother to get to work.
These insects are also a source of high-quality protein. Humans can't eat them, but they're fine for feeding chickens.
The Sheng family raised two hens, the one that lays eggs, which was just right for feeding them.
Sheng Xikang quickly found a broom and a scrubbing cloth and swept the insects off the ground to feed the chickens.
After skinning the roe deer, put it in a large basin and rinse it with cold water.
The roe deer hides are kept and nailed to the barn to dry in the shade. They can be used to make roe deer hide rugs, roe deer hide sleeping bags, and the like.
When hunting or herding in the mountains, it's best to use a roe deer hide as a blanket for a short overnight stay.
Roe deer are insulated from dampness and cold, and they don't have any odor, so they won't attract snakes on rainy days.
Dogskin rugs won't work; if it rains in the mountains, they'll have a peculiar smell that attracts snakes and the like.
With all the wild game at home properly prepared, Sheng Xiping no longer needed to worry about the rest.
So he led the second and third sons to the other side of the new house to prepare the things needed for the roof beam raising ceremony the next day.
The beams and rafters were already in place, and the purlins, planks, roof boards, tiles, ridge tiles, and everything else were all ready, except for the materials needed to cover the roof.
In the past, houses were not built with roofs, so no matter how much fire was lit inside, it didn't feel warm.
Nowadays, houses are built with enclosed roofs.
To keep warm, a mixture of sawdust and yellow mud, or even volcanic ash, would be pressed on top of the greenhouse panels.
Volcanic ash is hard to find, but sawdust is easy to find. There are sawmills in the forest farm, and there's plenty of sawdust there, but nobody wants it.
So the brothers borrowed some burlap sacks from the forest farm and went to the sawmill to start filling them with sawdust.
Once enough was loaded, it was transported back on a flatbed truck and dumped in the shed specially built in front of the new house.
In the afternoon, I sifted out more yellow soil and mixed it with sawdust.
After a busy day, by evening, the three of them were covered in dust, their hair was full of sawdust, and their nostrils were full of yellow dirt.
"Oh my god, look what you three have done! Hurry up and beat it up!"
As soon as he returned to the Sheng family home, he was spotted by Zhang Shuzhen, who was busy cooking in the courtyard.
Zhang Shuzhen quickly waved them over, telling them to clean it up outside before coming in.
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