Chapter 26 Farmhouse
Liu Guizhen has been cooking for decades and she doesn't have any particular requirements. No matter what ingredients she is given, she can cook it, regardless of whether she knows how to do it or not.
The rooster brought back from Mr. Pu was quite large, weighing more than six pounds without the feathers and internal organs. He placed the chopping board in the yard and chopped it with a special meat-chopping knife for more than ten minutes. The rooster was chopped into small pieces and the chicken blood coagulated.
Liu Guizhen wants to roast chicken with taro in the evening. A rooster is not as good as a hen when stewed into soup, and it tastes best when fried.
The kitchen was Liu Guizhen's home turf. Qi Miaomiao didn't dare to watch the bloody scene of killing the chicken, so she took the longest and most beautiful feathers from the rooster's tail, and Xia Wu took her outside to play with shuttlecock.
She also found the tutorial on the Internet. She used two copper coins, a small piece of rubber, and a piece of cloth. She stuffed the feathers into the copper coins, burned the rubber to fix it, and then wrapped it with cloth. The cheap feather shuttlecock was ready.
The rooster's feathers were very beautiful and the shuttlecock was neither light nor heavy when thrown. Unfortunately, neither Xia Wu nor Qi Miaomiao knew how to kick the shuttlecock. They looked at each other for a while, kicked a few times clumsily, and quickly gave up.
I went to the greenhouse to watch the progress of the men's work. As soon as I entered, I was almost blinded by Shen Beiyang's exposed upper body. When the sun shone, the greenhouse was hot and stuffy. During the few hours of work, Shen Beiyang drank half a pot of honey water and had not yet run to the toilet.
He was getting better and better at digging. He had just taken a shower and his body was dirty again. His muscles were engorged with blood, and his already tight clothes became even tighter, so he simply took them off.
"Wow, you have a nice figure!"
Qi Miaomiao looked him up and down and teased him, Shen Beiyang’s face flushed, and he turned sideways to cover his two points: “Qi Miaomiao, why are you like a female gangster!”
"Humph, you took it off yourself, and you don't allow others to see it?"
Yang Guojun is neither blind nor deaf, and he doesn't act like an old man. He just pretends not to hear or see anything about young people.
Yang Hongwen, who had been working hard, raised his head, not quite understanding what was said.
“Okay, okay, it’s so hot in here, hurry up and get out,” Shen Beiyang drove the two of them away, thinking of the fishing rod, and hurriedly asked: “Uncle Yang, who are you going to borrow a fishing rod from, or let them run errands?”
Yang Guojun then spoke: "Xiao Wu, go to your Fourth Master Yang's house and ask him to borrow a fishing rod."
"Understood!"
Xia Wu took the order and pulled Qi Miaomiao to go. It must be said that it was really stuffy in the greenhouse.
Before leaving, Qi Miaomiao made a face at Shen Beiyang, trying to make him angry.
No matter how far he walked out of the door, Qi Miaomiao was still talking about Shen Beiyang's body, "I always thought that this kid was bragging about fitness, but I didn't expect it to be really awesome. Did you see his chest muscles, wow..."
Xia Wu expressed her agreement expressionlessly, "It's quite suitable for farm work."
"Pfft..." Qi Miaomiao almost burst out laughing, "You know what, he really looks like someone who does farm work."
"He's just too stingy. Such a great figure should be shown to everyone. Look at him, he's still hiding it."
Xia Wu sighed. When will Miaomiao discover Shen Beiyang’s feelings for her?
He went to Fourth Master Yang's house to borrow a fishing rod. He was alone, and the door was open. Xia Wu called out twice, but when no one showed up, he walked into the yard.
Mr. Yang Siye's house is an old house. On the right is the kitchen and the well, and on the left is the demolished cowshed. There are a few pear trees planted in the yard. It looks like it is quite old. The gaps between the bricks and tiles on the roof are filled with dust and piled up into mud. There are thriving wild grasses taking root and sprouting from the soil, swaying in the wind.
Apart from a few chickens walking around, the only sound in the yard was the chirping of crickets.
"Mr. Yang Si may have gone out to herd cattle."
Xia Wu knew that Mr. Yang Si used to raise many cows, but now that he was old, there were only three cows left at home: one cow, which was the old friend, and two cows, which were the old friend's eldest daughter and youngest daughter.
The old man's little daughter was only one year old and had not yet been weaned. She was at the age of being lively. Every day, Mr. Yang Si would take the three cows, mother and daughter, out for a bath and a stroll. Sometimes he would put the old man on the back seat and go to the town to buy some things.
Xia Wu was talking to Miao Miao about the taste of buffalo milk when she walked out of the yard and noticed some movement behind the bamboo grove on the left side of Fourth Master Yang's yard. She called out at the top of her voice, "Fourth Master Yang, is that you?"
The old man just heard the noise and responded with a cry of "Hey!"
When Xia Wu walked over, he saw that there was a small river behind the bamboo forest. Three buffaloes were soaking in the water. Master Yang Si was sitting on the bluestone steps wearing a straw hat and fishing.
"Fourth Master, can you catch any fish?" The small river, neither too big nor too small, was stirred up by three buffaloes, and was full of ripples. Even the dumbest fish would have run away.
Fourth Master Yang laughed cheerfully, "Just fishing for fun."
Xia Wu introduced him: "Fourth Master, this is my friend. She came to play with me. Her name is Miaomiao. Do you have any extra fishing rods at home? Another friend of mine wants to go fishing too."
Mr. Yang Si simply stood up, stopped fishing, and gave the fishing rod to Xia Wu.
"You guys can play with it."
"You're not fishing anymore?"
"I still have one at home. I made this fishing rod myself. It's not worth much and it's nothing special."
Sure enough, Xia Wu touched the fishing rod in his hand and found that it was made of bamboo. The owner had used it for many years, and the fishing rod had been polished to a very smooth surface.
"Fourth Master, I'm having roast chicken at home tonight. Would you like to come with us?" Xia Wu invited warmly.
"Oh, no, no, I'm too old to chew meat," Fourth Master Yang waved his hand, not very willing to go.
Xia Wu tried to persuade him a few more times, but Fourth Master Yang remained unmoved, so they had to leave.
After walking a short distance, he looked back and saw that Mr. Yang Si was sitting back on the bluestone steps. He stopped fishing and just watched the cows in the water.
"It seems like there aren't many young people here," Qi Miaomiao hit the nail on the head.
"Yes, the young people have all gone out to work, and only a few middle-aged people, many elderly people, and quite a few children are left in the village."
"These should be the people left behind in the news, right?"
Qi Miaomiao always felt that this word was far away from her, and she couldn't understand why such a group would appear.
But the experiences of the past two days seemed to have given her some insights.
"Yes, at Fourth Master's age, he can still take care of himself. What will happen when he gets older?"
The question was a bit heavy and neither girl could answer it.
He successfully brought the fishing rod back. Since there was no special fishing bait at home, Yang Guojun dug earthworms from the soil to use as bait. Qi Miaomiao was so scared that she turned pale and didn't dare to come forward at all.
Xia Wu didn't feel scared and volunteered to take the fishing rod. However, she had never fished before and was clumsy in casting the rod.
The work was not finished yet, Yang Guojun prepared the bait and went back to work, working like a tireless old ox. As a young man, Shen Beiyang was embarrassed even if he wanted to rest.
"Are there any fish in the water?" Qi Miaomiao held her face in her hands, feeling a little bored.
The water was calm and the bait disappeared as soon as it was thrown in.
Xia Wu couldn't say for sure, so she shook her head and said, "I don't know."
"Come on, look at the camera!"
Qi Miaomiao took out her cell phone at some point, turned on the camera and pointed it at herself and Xia Wu.
Like a conditioned reflex, Xia Wu immediately made the most accurate response and posed naturally in front of the camera.
She didn't even need to see the picture to know that she must be extremely beautiful.
The next second, the fishing rod in his hand suddenly sank down. Xia Wu was horrified: "Fish! I caught it!"
Subconsciously lifting the fishing rod, Qi Miaomiao looked in the direction of her fishing rod and saw a carp with its mouth hooked, its body bent into a half-bow and hanging in the air. "Oh my god!"
Her hand trembled and she pressed the live camera button to record this magical moment.
"I actually caught a fish!"
Xia Wu was still excited until she took the fish off the hook. She ran home to get an empty bucket, scooped half a bucket of water, and put the fish in the bucket. The fish was still alive and kicking.
Everyone in the family came to see Xia Wu's catch. Liu Guizhen gave her a thumbs up and asked her to catch a few more so that she could make braised fish in the evening.
Qi Miaomiao was eager to try, so she asked Xia Wu to help her hang the earthworms, and then she learned how to cast the hook and waited expectantly.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
As time went by, Qi Miaomiao gradually began to get anxious, "Why aren't there any fish biting?"
Xia Wu comforted her: "Don't worry, maybe the other fish saw that their friend is missing and are on high alert."
"Come here, come here," Qi Miaomiao stuffed the fishing rod into Xia Wu's hand. But before a minute had passed, the rod sank again. "The fish has taken the bait!"
She handed the fishing rod to Qi Miaomiao and asked her to hold back and pull the rod. This time, she caught another carp. Qi Miaomiao was so happy that she jumped for joy: "Great! I finally understand why some people like fishing!"
For some reason, as long as Xia Wu holds the rod, a fish will bite the hook soon, but if it is Qi Miaomiao, she will have to wait for a long time.
In the end, Xia Wu was responsible for fishing and Miaomiao was responsible for pulling the hook. With the two of them working together, there were five or six fish in the bucket in a short while.
The sky was dyed red by the setting sun. Xia Wu fiddled with the food in his hands and said, "It should be enough to eat. Let's send them back first."
It's time to feed the rabbit at home.
Qi Miaomiao was like a child who had found a good toy, and was reluctant to leave her home.
After a while, Xia Wu took Bugs Bunny out of the cage, and her attention was attracted by the clever Bugs Bunny again.
Taro roast chicken requires no technical skills and is a home-cooked dish that all the women in the village can make. I don’t know if the chickens raised by Mr. Pu are particularly good, but the aroma of the fried chicken goes straight into people’s noses.
Qi Miaomiao boasted that she had eaten in many star-rated restaurants and had eaten all kinds of delicious food, but she had never smelled such an enticing aroma of food, which made her drool.
The chicken was stewing in the pot over firewood. Xia Wu was asked to watch the fire while Liu Guizhen went to the pond and swiftly sent the carp back to the west. She gutted the carp, scraped off the scales, removed the inedible internal organs, and cleaned it.
Generally, there is more than one pot on the stove in the countryside. The main pot is used to stew chicken. Liu Guizhen added firewood to another pot and poured in homemade rapeseed oil. When the oil was hot, she started to marinate the fish wrapped in it.
With a "sizzling" sound of oil, the fish bodies began to change color and take shape. After all six fish were fried, Liu Guizhen added water and seasonings to the pot, and finally covered the pot and simmered it.
When the soup became thick and was served on a plate, she scooped a handful of green onions and coriander from the bowl and sprinkled them evenly on the fish. Finally, she scooped out the soup with a spoon and poured it on the fish.
The kitchen light was turned on, and the room was hazy, making it difficult to tell whether it was fragrance or steam.
Shen Beiyang and the other two worked all afternoon and were already hungry. Smoke rose from the chimneys of a house in the village, followed by two, then three, but none of them could match the charming fragrance from the Yang family's yard.
"Let's stop here for today and go home to eat," Yang Guojun, as the host, waved his hand to make the decision. No one could continue working here, they just wanted to go home and eat. "I think at this rate, we can almost finish it tomorrow."
When they returned home, Xia Wu had already drawn well water for them to wash their hands and faces. They soaked the towels in the cool water, wrung them half dry, and wiped them on their bodies, and all the fatigue and heat were wiped away.
Before they could sigh in relief, Xia Wu brought them some warm honey water. After drinking a cup of warm water, they were so tired that they didn't feel hungry at first, but when they smelled the fragrance from the kitchen, their stomachs started to growl in protest.
"Shen Beiyang, you're not bad. You've actually managed to do this!" Qi Miaomiao's praise was worth ten thousand cups of honey water. Shen Beiyang, who was about to bend down to relax, straightened his waist again and said with full energy: "Aren't you sure? Do you really think I'm a freeloader?"
"It's time for dinner! Xiaowen! Set the table and we'll eat in the yard. It's cool!"
At Liu Guizhen's command, Yang Hongwen, who had washed his face, immediately went to work. He moved out the square wooden table at home, propped it up, took out small wooden stools, and placed them around the table.
"Why hasn't Grandpa come back yet?" It was dinnertime, and Old Man Yang, who had been out treating a patient, hadn't returned yet. "I'll give him a call!"
Fortunately, we have mobile phones now, which is convenient.
Xia Wu dialed his grandfather's cell phone number, and someone answered shortly: "Hello!"
"Master, it's me, why haven't you come back yet?"
"Xiao Wu, I'll be back soon. I really can't keep you here any longer. My granddaughter is waiting for me!"
It seemed like Mr. Yang had been invited to dinner. Xia Wu hurriedly whispered on the phone, "Master, there are guests coming to our house today. I went to Mr. Pu's place to get a chicken."
Sure enough, Mr. Yang's tone became firmer: "I'm leaving! Take the medicine first, I'll come back in a few days!"
As he spoke, the tinkling of a bicycle bell could be heard from the other side.
"Master, please ride slowly, we are waiting for you!"
Xia Wu hung up the phone and raised his chin. "My grandfather will be back soon. Let's wait."
You have to wait.
There were guests here today, and Yang Guojun felt bad for making them do so much work, so he went back to the house and took out his treasured medicinal wine.
"Miao Miao, would you like to drink something?"
"want!"
"Okay, uncle will fill yours too. This wine is great, good for both men and women. It was brewed by Xiao Wu's grandfather, and the herbs in it are all genuine and good stuff, red dates, wolfberries, codonopsis, astragalus..."
While pouring wine for the children, Yang Guojun told them what medicinal herbs were in the wine.
There were no minors present, and everyone was given a cup, even Yang Hongwen, but he only had a small amount.
As soon as the wine was poured, Yang Hongwen took a sip of the glass and said, "Spicy!"
He refused to drink anymore no matter what.
Yang Guojun had known this would happen, so he laughed and drank the wine in his glass, then took out the prepared Wahaha and said, "Drink this."
Yang Hongwen smiled, inserted the straw obediently, took a sip, and looked very satisfied.
Old Man Yang rode very fast and soon arrived at the door of his house. He parked the bike in the aisle. Xia Wu hurriedly called out, "Grandpa! Wash your hands and come eat!"
It gets dark early in the autumn night, the stars are visible in the wild, and the courtyard is full of joy, which seems to make people forget all the troubles of the world.
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