There were four large pots on the drying dam in the center of the village, with fire burning underneath and smoke filling the air.
The dam, which is usually empty, is now bustling with people. Men squat on one side, talking and chatting animatedly.
The women wore their own flowery cotton coats and gathered in groups of three or five to chat.
The child was running around the field with a bowl in his hand.
Everyone's face was filled with happy smiles.
There was also a group of children gathered in a circle, looking at something unknown.
When I got closer, I saw that there was a slightly smaller pot there, with a basket next to it.
You can smell the aroma of frying even when standing on the dam.
Liu Ankang handed the two bowls to Song Jinxiu and went over with another large bowl.
"This is Hunter Wang. His wife and children passed away a few years ago, so he has been living alone these past few years.
Every Chinese New Year, he would set up a wok and fry some vegetarian meatballs to satisfy the children's cravings. "He was a pitiful man, too. His child was only four or five years old when he passed away."
Looking at Hunter Wang, Aunt Cuihua fell into deep thought.
She once lived a life of luxury, but looking back now it seemed as distant as a lifetime ago.
At first, the group of people had no fixed place to live, but later, as more and more people started to get married, they found a place to settle down.
Many people ran away during that period because they couldn't bear the hardship.
But the Japanese were omnipresent, so they moved from one place to another and finally found this position that was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
I still remember that year, on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, the Japanese suddenly broke into the village and caught everyone off guard.
Many people died in the village that year, and many were arrested. Many families were torn apart, and their lives were destroyed.
If someone hadn't accidentally seen it, the whole village might have been destroyed.
Wang the Hunter was one of them. He went out for something at noon and when he came back in the afternoon he saw his wife and child tragically dead on the road.
He was also the most desperate one in the subsequent operation to kill the Japanese.
He has been blaming himself for so many years. If only he hadn't gone out that noon, he could have protected them.
Later, it was discovered that a woman who had lived in the village for nearly a year was actually a spy sent by the Japanese.
That day, she drugged all the guards and worked together with the Japanese to catch everyone off guard.
The Japanese had many tricks up their sleeves, but that one was the one that caused the most losses.
Although they have established their own country now, they are still like bandits and were once a faction of the Kuomintang.
Although they did not do anything harmful, many of the people who joined later were refugees who were desperate from various places.
But I am also afraid that the current leader will bring up old issues.
After a while, Liu Ankang came back with a bowl.
It was half a bowl full of vegetarian meatballs, fried tofu cubes, and crispy pork.
"Oh, there are also crispy pork this year. It seems that Hunter Wang is very happy this year! The tofu must be provided by Tofu Xishi!" Aunt Cuihua said with a smile.
"There is a tofu beauty in the village! I have never seen her before." Song Jinxiu said in surprise.
"Hahaha, I'll show it to you when I have a chance!" Aunt Cuihua laughed when she thought of the tofu beauty.
"Auntie, have one." Liu Ankang gave the bowl to Song Jinxiu, who handed it to Aunt Cuihua.
"You guys just eat it. I don't want to eat it." Because everyone knew that Wang the Hunter fried it specially for the little kids, no adults came over to join in the fun.
"Try a few!" Song Jinxiu handed over the bowl.
"Hmm, it smells so good." Aunt Cuihua picked up a vegetarian meatball and ate it.
Song Jinxiu also started eating. The fried food just out of the oven was so delicious.
After eating a few pieces, he returned the bowl to Liu Ankang. This was still his food ration.
Liu Ankang shook his head. He wasn't as greedy as she was. The pig-killing dish was almost ready, so he could hold back.
"What a little old man." Song Jinxiu stuffed a piece of crispy meat into his mouth.
He continued to eat, and occasionally passed it to Aunt Cuihua.
There wasn't much to begin with, so the three of them finished it in no time.
There are two tables in the middle of the dam, which are for the older people in the village, or people with higher status.
Song Jinxiu discovered that the village chief and Old Jin were among them, as well as the carpenters Old Lin and Old Qiu.
I don’t recognize the others.
After serving a bowl to everyone at the table, the four young men shouted that it was time to eat.
A group of little kids who were standing by rushed forward, and the adults were watching and laughing.
When the little radishes had food in their bowls, they went to the side to eat.
Everyone looked at their own bowl and then at their friends' bowls, comparing whose bowl had more meat.
Some of them even planned to steal a piece of meat from their friends' bowls.
Some children are impatient and pick up a piece of meat, blow on it slightly and put it in their mouths. Even though it is burned, Shashasha is reluctant to spit it out.
It made the little friend next to him laugh out loud.
After the children had finished their food, the adults went to line up. Everyone stayed on the dam and talked and boasted.
He talked while eating and could even eat two more bowls.
"Look. That's Tofu Xishi." The three of them also filled a bowl and stood by.
Song Jinxiu blew it slowly and did not allow Liu Ankang to eat it. It would be terrible if it burned his throat!
Song Jinxiu followed Aunt Cuihua's gaze and thought, "No way, are there still people who are so fat nowadays?"
What a good meal this is!
"Dahua has been chubby since she was a child. There was a time when everyone else was starving to the point of being skin and bones, but she was still plump." Aunt Cuihua said with a smile, not knowing what she was thinking about.
"At that time, we were targeted by many people because they thought we had a lot of food. If we weren't so many people, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
Song Jinxiu looked like a man who weighed more than 200 pounds and was about 1.7 meters tall.
This should be the physique that will gain weight even if drinking cold water.
"I wasn't this fat before, but now my family has opened a grocery store and Zhuzi sells pork. It's obvious that there's no shortage of oil and water at home, so I'm gaining weight even more.
But don't look at her fatness, she's very flexible!" said Aunt Cuihua.
"Her family is so crowded with people proposing marriage that they are almost knocking down the door. Unfortunately, she is the only girl in the family. Her parents want to find a husband for her and are reluctant to marry her off so early."
"Yeah!" Song Jinxiu nodded. Fat girls should be popular in this era.
After chatting for a while, the pig-killing dish in the bowl was ready to be eaten. Liu Ankang had already finished one bowl and was getting a second one.
Song Jinxiu took a bite and found it tasted really good. It contained pork belly, black fungus, pickles, various pig offal, vermicelli, etc.
After everyone finished eating, they went back to work on the sausages and bacon.
Liu Ankang was sent back to sleep, and the four adults worked until two or three in the afternoon before they finished everything.
After helping to wash the pots and bowls, Song Jinxiu slowly walked home.
My waist is a little sore.
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