Chapter 207 Mihua Sian
"Didn't you say before that you would keep it? Why do you suddenly want to make furniture?"
After Carpenter Liang left, Xiulan looked at Lin Heng and asked curiously.
Lin Heng smiled and responded, "We can sell it for money after it's made into a table, and we can still use it ourselves now."
In fact, if this thing is not made into furniture now, he may not like it in the future. If you have money, you can buy anything, such as golden nanmu and North American walnut.
Now if it is made into furniture, it can still have some value for our own enjoyment.
Of course, it would be nice to sell it now, but I guess no one in this small town can afford it.
After comprehensive consideration, he decided to make it into furniture. The square table at home happened to be a bit small, so he planned to make a long table, a few beautiful benches, and a dressing table for Xiulan.
If there is any leftover wood, you can make a tea tray, bookshelf or something like that.
"That's fine." Xiulan nodded. It would be nice to have a few more pieces of furniture in the house.
After a pause, she continued, "Let's take a bag of walnuts to the bedroom and crack them open. We'll make some walnut and sesame oil dumplings tomorrow."
The reason why she went to pick wild walnuts was to make dumplings with them. The wild walnut kernels are a great choice for making dumplings after being dried on the kang.
"good."
Lin Heng knew that Xiulan wanted to use wild walnut kernels to make dumplings, which is definitely a delicacy in the countryside.
He took a snakeskin bag of wild walnuts, a wooden hammer for peeling the walnuts, and a wooden basin for the walnut kernels, and went to the bedroom.
Light the fireplace in the bedroom and it will soon be warm enough to wear just a sweater.
Lin Heng found a small stool ten centimeters high and started smashing the walnuts.
Because they pick wild walnuts every year, Lin Heng has special tools for cracking walnuts.
Wild walnuts are round and their shells are very hard, so it is easy to get hurt if you hit them with your hands. So Lin Heng got a piece of hard ironwood and dug a hole with a diameter of three centimeters and a depth of one centimeter.
Throw the wild walnut into the hole and crack it open with a wooden hammer.
After smashing it open, pour it out and give it to Xiulan, who picks out the walnut kernels.
“Try it!”
Xiulan picked out some walnut kernels and fed them to Lin Heng.
"It's fragrant enough, but the walnut skin is a bit bitter."
Lin Heng took a bite and commented that no matter which walnut it was, the yellowish-brown skin on the surface was equally bitter.
Xiulan smiled slightly: "Wait until my kang is cooked, it will be gone after rubbing and blowing."
"I want to eat too~"
Xiaoxia opened her mouth wide and wanted to eat the walnut kernel too.
Xiulan fed her a little and then started putting it into the tub.
Xiaoxia didn't seem to be afraid of hard work. She reached out to take the walnut kernels in the small wooden basin when she saw them. Even the food provided by two people was not enough for her.
"Okay, the rest can't be eaten."
Xiulan patted her to stop her.
Xiaoxia looked at it eagerly for a while, and only when Lin Heng threw the toy to her did she look away.
Lin Heng smashed the bags quickly. After smashing half a bag, he went to help Xiulan pick out the items.
The kernels of this wild walnut are too small. It took me two or three hours, until around three in the afternoon, to get two and a half kilograms.
Xiulan put a low fire in the pot and threw the walnut kernels in to slowly cook them. When the walnut kernels are cooked, they are like peanuts. The thin skin will fall off when you rub it, and after blowing a few times, the pure special walnut kernels will be left.
Just smelling the crispy aroma makes one's appetite grow. Lin Heng couldn't believe how delicious it would be if he made dumplings with them and sesame seeds.
After the walnut kernels were prepared, Xiulan kneaded the dough. She would use part of it to make dumpling wrappers the next day and part of it to make knife-cut noodles for the three of them to eat in the evening.
The next morning, Lin Heng got up early, fed Hongzao corn porridge, and then led him to the road and got the carriage ready.
Lin Heng had finished his work, and Xiulan had also helped Xiaoxia put on her clothes. She took the bag and brought her to the street.
Today, Xiulan wore the khaki cashmere coat that Lin Heng bought for her. She wore a goose yellow turtleneck sweater underneath, black trousers, and a pair of brown short boots.
Her hair was tied up into a high ponytail, revealing her smooth forehead. She didn't have the classic bangs of that era, but more like the breeze-like bangs, which looked very natural.
She has bright and beautiful eyes and a rosy mouth. Her dress and temperament do not make her look like a rural woman, but a beautiful female educated youth who has moved to the countryside from a big city.
Xiaoxia was wearing a red cotton jacket with plum blossoms printed on it and a white scarf, and she looked very cute.
“Get in the car!”
Lin Heng smiled and stretched out his hand, taking Xiulan and Xiaoxia into the carriage.
This is an open carriage, very simple but labor-saving.
Xiulan got in the car, sat down next to Lin Heng, held Xiaoxia in her arms, and covered her mouth with a scarf.
"shelf!"
As Lin Heng moved the reins, Hongzao started to walk quickly.
The thick frost on the ground had not yet disappeared early in the morning, and Lin Heng and Xiulan were breathing out white air.
The sun is still at the top of the mountain. Looking up, the mountain seems to be wearing a golden hat.
When Lin Heng and his family of three arrived at Huangtan Town, which was flat enough, they could see the warm sun.
“It’s so warm~”
Xiaoxia was wearing leopard leather gloves made by Xiulan, which looked like two little paws when she waved them.
The incomplete clouded leopard skin was used to make two pairs of gloves, one for Xiulan and one for Xiaoxia. The remaining scraps were sewn onto Xiaoxia's shoes, but Lin Heng did not.
Although he didn't have gloves, he had Xiulan to warm his hands.
"It's only eight o'clock and they're still setting up stalls. Let's go and light a fire first."
Lin Heng looked at the scene on the street, then looked at his watch and said with a smile.
"good."
Xiulan nodded and pulled Xiaoxia over, while Lin Heng tied the horse in the backyard of Grandpa Gao's house.
"Brother Lin, sister-in-law!"
Seeing the three people coming in, Wang Zhou hurried over to greet them.
"Shrimp crackers, sugar!"
Xiaoxia seemed to have realized that this store was owned by her family. She broke free from her mother's hands and ran towards the shelves.
"Here you go. Here you go."
Lin Heng looked helpless and walked over to give her a bag of shrimp crackers.
Seeing Wang Zhou following behind him, Lin Heng quickly shook his head and said, "Wang Zhou, just do your job and don't worry about us."
"good."
Wang Zhou nodded and turned to go to the counter.
Lin Heng went in to meet Grandpa Gao and sat by the fire for a while. At about nine o'clock, he took Xiulan and Xiaoxia out shopping.
The sun is warm now, the street stalls are all set up, and there are a constant stream of people coming and going, making it very lively.
"It's almost New Year's Day, it's different."
Xiulan looked at the street and smiled and said, there are many more stalls today than before, and there are two tractors pulling fruits parked on the street selling them.
"Let's go buy some fruit."
Lin Heng smiled and said, material resources are not well developed now, and there are not many kinds of fruits. What is sold on this car are fist-sized oranges, as well as apples, pears, and hawthorns.
After picking and choosing, Lin Heng bought ten kilograms of each.
After buying the apples, Xiaoxia was about to eat one. Lin Heng gave her a small one and temporarily left the rest in the store.
After putting the fruits away, Lin Heng pulled Xiaoxia to follow Xiulan. They planned to go see if there was any beef or mutton and buy some to take back for hotpot.
Not long after they walked, Xiaoxia suddenly pointed to a place in front of her on the left and said, "Dad, look at how that person put his hand into someone else's pocket."
Xiaoxia's childish words not only reminded Lin Heng, but also the passers-by nearby.
"That's a thief!"
Lin Heng shouted, and the thief turned around and ran away.
"Catch the thief."
As soon as someone shouted, a group of people would chase after him. Thieves were always hated.
Lin Heng did not go, but instead took Xiaoxia to teach her how terrible thieves are and how to protect herself.
Xiulan felt the money in the inner pocket of her coat before she felt relieved.
The three of them always attracted attention when they walked down the street. Compared to other people, the three of them were dressed too well, especially Xiulan, whose temperament and beauty made men on the street turn their heads frequently.
However, when they saw Xiulan holding Lin Heng, they secretly compared them and turned their heads away silently.
"Bang!!"
As we were walking, a roar suddenly came from the front.
Xiulan looked over and was immediately surprised: "It turned out to be a popcorn vendor. Let's go buy some."
"good."
Lin Heng was also very interested in this. Rice popcorn was the most common snack he ate during the Chinese New Year when he was a child.
"Dad, pick me up, please."
Xiaoxia couldn't see anything because she was blocked by someone, so she hugged Lin Heng's legs and acted coquettishly, and refused to leave.
Lin Heng had no choice but to pick her up and walk towards the place where popcorn was being made.
The popcorn seller was an old man, spinning an iron can with a raging fire burning underneath.
There is no pressure gauge on this iron can, so it all depends on experience.
"Come and eat and see."
The old man turned the tin can and shouted, "There was half a basket of popcorn in the bamboo basket next to it for people to eat."
The popcorn is cheap and available in large quantities, so a lot of people buy it and the place is crowded with people.
Lin Heng brought his wife and children to a relatively safe place and took a handful of popcorn to taste.
“It’s delicious!”
Xiaoxia took a bite and was conquered by the fragrance, and asked for more.
Xiulan smiled and said, "Take the rice krispuff and boil some maltose to make rice krispuff candy, which is the best."
"Then let's go and make some reservations."
Lin Heng also liked this, so he walked up to the old man and talked to him, asking him to make ten kilograms of popcorn and he would come to get it later.
After the order was made, he grabbed two handfuls of popcorn for Xiaoxia to satisfy her craving.
It's a pity that this machine can only make popcorn. If it had something like a tractor engine, it could also make corn into fluffy popcorn.
Continuing to stroll around, I found that there were already people selling Spring Festival couplets and almanacs on the street, as well as various vegetables and game.
"There's beef for sale over there."
Lin Heng pointed ahead and said that he saw a big yellow ox head in the distance.
"How much is this beef?"
Xiulan came over and asked.
"One dollar and a half a pound. This is home-raised yellow beef."
When the butcher saw what the two men were wearing, the smile on his face became a little friendlier.
The boss didn't need to show it deliberately, he knew that Lin Heng and Xiulan were both rich people.
"Where's the tripe?"
Lin Heng pointed at the uncleaned beef tripe next to it and asked, the price is a bit high, but not outrageous.
"This is two yuan per pound." said the boss with a smile.
Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said, "Then how about buying five catties of beef and five catties of tripe?"
Xiulan didn't answer, but turned to look at the boss selling beef and asked, "Since we bought so much, why don't we give you some beef bones? No one is buying them anyway."
"Well, if you add five dollars, I'll give you a beef leg bone." said the stall owner with a smile.
Xiulan glanced at him, stretched out her hand and pulled Lin Heng, saying, "Let's go buy some pork."
The boss waved his hand and said, "No, no, I'll give you a beef rib."
A dozen dollars is a big deal for him, as few people buy beef bones in this town.
"That's more like it."
Xiulan nodded with satisfaction, and finally bought six pounds of beef shank and five pounds of beef stomach.
After buying the beef, there was nothing else that needed to be purchased. They went to get the popcorn and put the things back to the store, then the three of them continued wandering around the street.
Xiulan and Xiaoxia often don't come down, they like to look around. Lin Heng actually has no interest, but Xiulan wants to look around, so he accompanies her.
"After I buy a motorcycle in a few days, I will take you to the temple fair in the city." Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said with a smile. There are snacks sold in the city, but there are none on this street. The most they can get is a candied haws.
"good."
Xiulan blinked, looking somewhat expectant.
After shopping for a while, the three of them felt a little tired and prepared to go back to the store.
When walking back, a person hid in the sleeves and walked straight towards Xiaoxia.
Lin Heng has a very good memory. When he saw this man, he immediately remembered that he was the thief just now.
"Oh no, this guy is coming for Xiaoxia."
Lin Heng's heart moved, and he immediately realized that this was revenge.
The hand hidden in the sleeve might be a small knife. If he scratched Xiaoxia's face and tried to escape, it would be another matter whether he could catch her or not, but if Xiaoxia's face was ruined, her life would be ruined.
Thinking of this, Lin Heng immediately locked Xiaoxia behind him, then took a shoulder pole from the stall next to him and sneered at him, "You just stole something, do you think I don't recognize you?"
"You!" The man was shocked. He didn't expect that Lin Heng actually recognized him. Then he turned around and left without saying a word.
"Get out of here now, or I'll put you in jail for life." Lin Heng threw the carrying pole back and shouted coldly.
After saying this, he ignored the strange looks from the people around him, took Xiulan and held Xiaoxia in his arms and quickly left.
"Is that the man just now the thief from before?"
Xiulan seemed to understand the general situation.
"Well, this person seems to want to take revenge on Xiaoxia."
Lin Heng nodded, regretting that he had not arrested the man and sent him to the police station.
"Then let's go back quickly."
Xiulan was a little scared when she heard this, but fortunately Lin Heng was by her side.
"It's okay. This place is open now. I'm not afraid if he comes again."
Lin Heng shook his head and said with a smile.
Thieves and human traffickers are rampant these days, so you should be careful when you go out.
"Let's go back, there's no need."
Xiulan shook her head and pulled Lin Heng back, not wanting him to get into conflict with others.
Lin Heng did not insist, but this incident reminded him that he should pay attention to the safety of his family in the future. If he has money, he can get a bodyguard or something. This era is not the peaceful and prosperous era of later generations.
After returning to the store and picking up the things, the three of them rode back in a carriage.
(End of this chapter)
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