Chapter 47 The Son is the Prestige of the Father
Yang Chunyan grabbed a few oily scalp and rubbed them a few times, and foam came out. The foam of the oily scalp is as rich as shampoo and feels as delicate.
These days, some country folks use oil jellyfish or soapberries to wash their hair and take a bath. She thinks using oil jellyfish to wash hair and take a bath is better than the shower gel and other silk products.
One year in her previous life, she was sick and Zhou Xiaoqian came to stay with her for a few days. She used the oil-bearing licorice she picked and said that it was better than the facial cleanser she bought. After washing, the skin on her face became smoother.
The roots of the oil tree can also be used as medicine, which has the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, resolving phlegm and relieving cough.
In the kitchen, Zhou's mother was busy frying lazy cicadas. She heated up the iron pan, poured a large bowl of rapeseed oil into the pan, and carefully scraped a few drops of rapeseed oil from the mouth of the oil can with a spatula. She put the lid on and placed the oil can on the cupboard.
In the past, she would never have been willing to fry food with so much rapeseed oil, but she felt confident now that her family had a lot of money.
After the oil pan is heated, Zhou's mother puts the prepared peppercorns, onions, dried chili peppers, and shredded ginger into the pan. Soon the aroma spreads out. She scoops out the seasonings and then puts the washed lazy cicadas into the pan and stir-frys quickly until all the water is dried up.
Sprinkle salt and continue stir-frying until the brown cicada shells are fried until they are golden and shiny, and the aroma of various seasonings permeates the cicada pupae. Remove from the heat and serve in two bowls.
Scrub the pot clean and scoop the washing water into the slop bucket. It is best to feed the pigs with the oil in it.
After washing the pot clean, fill it with water, and add a handful of firewood to the stove. When the four brothers come back, they will have hot water for a bath.
Mother Zhou carried the bowl to the yard, put it on the small dining table, and said to the people squatting by the vegetable patch rubbing oil and soaking clothes, "The lazy cicadas are fried, come and eat."
"Why!"
Yang Chunyan wiped her hands with her apron and walked to the small dining table. Zhou's father said, "The fried cicadas your mother made tasted good, but she was reluctant to add oil."
Zhou's mother glanced at him sideways, "I poured a big bowl of fried food, and the stir-fried dishes will last for several meals."
"It's too greasy." Yang Chunyan smiled and picked one up and put it in her mouth, nodding repeatedly, "Delicious!"
The lazy cicada fried by Zhou's mother is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a rich aroma. The medicinal name of the lazy cicada is also called Qingyinhou. Its shell can be boiled into a soup, which has the effect of clearing the voice and brightening the throat. It has a significant effect on pharyngitis and hoarseness. It is better not to peel the shell when eating lazy cicada, which is a good Chinese medicine.
"I've smelled the fragrance for a long time." Li Qiuyue picked up the chopsticks and picked one up. After eating, she nodded repeatedly, "It smells so good!"
Seeing that everyone agreed, Zhou's mother was a little proud, "I left a big bowl for the four of them, you guys eat it all."
Several people sat around the small dining table, enjoying the delicious meat.
Li Qiuyue said, "It's delicious. We should have caught it earlier. The Dragon Boat Festival is over and the lazy cicadas won't be around for a few days. Let's catch some tomorrow night."
Mother Zhou looked at them and said happily, "Okay, you can all make money in the future, so I won't be stingy with the oil. If you want to eat it, just go and fry it, and let you guys enjoy it."
Father Zhou already knew that Yang Chunyan agreed to take her three sisters-in-law to dig herbs and sell them. He looked at them happily and said, "Okay, a harmonious family brings prosperity. Let's see who dares to look down on us in the future."
Zhao Huifang nodded. "The Xiong family dared to come to our door with sticks and a dead cow. They thought that no one would believe what the youngest brother said and that we were poor. That's why they dared to put all the blame for the dead cow on him without any reason!"
Yang Chunyan felt that her sister-in-law was right.
Money is a person's courage and a son is the power of his father. Just because the second branch of the Zhou family was poor and Zhou Huaian was incompetent and had a bad reputation, Xiong Dahai, who had as many sons as the Zhou family, dared to blame them for the dead cow without any investigation.
If the second branch of the Zhou family had a rich family background and Zhou Huaian had a good reputation in the village, his words would be credible and others would not question him. Even if the youngest Xiong was the company commander of the militia, Xiong Dahai would not dare to come to him with a cow!
This is how it is in the countryside. If someone has a bad reputation, everyone will think he is responsible for anything bad that happens in the village. If you are a poor and destitute family, anyone will dare to bully you.
"The old Xiong family is the most shameless. No wonder Chunyan asked them to write a note." Li Qiuyue said this, looked at Yang Chunyan, and said in astonishment, "At that time, I thought you were meddling!"
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "It's okay, Third Sister-in-law. You are already very generous. If it were any other family, they would have long since asked me and the youngest brother to pay back the money."
"People, sometimes suffering a loss is actually gaining an advantage." Zhou's mother looked at the few people, "Qiuyue has a sharp tongue, but she is honest and has no bad intentions. You sisters-in-law should be good to each other. As long as the brothers are of one mind, no one will dare to bully you."
"Got it!"
"Well, you can start eating without waiting for us to come back." Before he finished speaking, Zhou Huaian came in with a lantern, "Yan'er, bring out a bucket, the basket is full."
"Youngest, there are still a lot of lazy cicadas, so I left a big bowl for you." Zhao Huifang said as she walked towards the kitchen.
Zhou Huaishan and the other two followed in, "We're lucky tonight. The eels we caught are all over 200 grams, which is great."
It also takes luck to catch eels. On a lucky day, the basket can be filled with eels in no time. If you are unlucky, you may only catch a dozen or so eels in a dozen fields.
Zhou Huaian looked at them with a smug look on his face, "I told you my luck has improved, but you still don't believe me."
"..." Zhou's mother felt it was too much to bear and was afraid that she would not be able to help scolding him again, so she turned and left.
Yang Chunyan brought down a bucket placed under the eaves, and the four brothers poured the eels from the bamboo basket into the bucket, which weighed about 17 or 18 kilograms.
It didn't take long for the group to take pictures of so many eels. She felt that there were more wild eels these days.
Rural conditions were very poor these days, and as the saying goes, a young boy can make his father poor. For a family like the second branch of the Zhou family, which had many boys, it was good enough to be able to eat half full.
Boys are active and get hungry quickly. When they are hungry, they go out to look for food like wild cats. They go fishing in the river, look for fruits in the mountains, and find eel holes to catch eels. They try every possible way to fill their stomachs.
In those days of food and clothing shortages, she and her sister often went with her brother to catch eels and roast them for dinner.
In the wild, the caught eels are clamped by the tail and smashed to death. They are then placed in the ditch, washed clean, wrapped in vegetable leaves and covered with mud, and burned in the firewood pile.
After it’s cooked, dip it in some chili powder and salt and start eating. The taste is so delicious that I still remember it to this day.
Wild eels grow slowly. It is said that a wild eel weighing one pound takes several years to grow. Whenever you catch a particularly large eel, the elders at home will ask you to release it.
Country people who have eaten eels for many years have learned from their experience that the best tasting eels are those weighing 40-50 grams each. These eels are the fattest and have the best taste. Eels that are too thick have a strong fishy smell and contain a lot of toxins.
There are also those that are only as thick as chopsticks, with little meat and many bones. Even if people see them now, they will give up grabbing them.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com