In the side room, Ruan Jie sat behind the stove and lit a fire.
Liu Xinghua took a small piece of lean meat, washed it with water and put it on the chopping board.
She cut the lean meat into thin slices with a knife, put the slices in a bowl, added pepper, soy sauce and other seasonings and set aside to marinate.
The garlic cloves were flattened into pieces under the knife, and simply chopped a few times to make minced garlic. The minced
garlic was put aside and a handful of green chopped green onions were chopped, and finally a handful of bright red dried chili peppers.
Heat the pot and pour in oil, and pour the dried chili peppers and minced garlic into the hot oil with a sizzling sound, stirring up a burst of fresh and spicy flavor.
The homemade bean paste and chili peppers were put into the pot and fried to make red oil. Half a basin of water was added, and a layer of bright red floated up.
Ruan Jie took a deep breath behind the stove and said with emotion: "It's great to celebrate the New Year."
This is like asking a tailor to come home to make clothes, and you can eat meat twice a day.
The taste of the twice-cooked meat at noon is still on the tip of your tongue, and now you can eat boiled pork slices again.
Liu Xinghua poured the washed green vegetables, bean sprouts and bean curd skin into the pot, and stirred them with a spoon. "I didn't put much meat this time, just a little for each person to taste, the main thing is to eat the vegetables."
Ruan Jie smiled and said, "That tastes good enough."
The water in the pot boiled, and Liu Xinghua added salt, MSG and pepper to the pot. Seeing that the vegetables were almost cooked, she took them out and put them in a deep white porcelain bowl, then added the meat slices to the pot, blanched them for a while, and took them out directly on the vegetables. The
thin meat slices were blanched white, tender and fresh, and the bright red soup was poured on them, and then a handful of dried chili peppers and chopped green onions and garlic were added, and a little hot oil was poured on them, and the fragrance spread directly to the surface.
Liu Xinghua put the big porcelain bowl in the middle of the table, and simply fried a few vegetarian dishes. After putting all of them on the table, she asked Ruan Jie to invite the old tailor to eat. When the old tailor was called, Ruan Xi, Ruan Cuizhi, Ruan Zhigao, and Ruan Changsheng also came.
Seven people sat down at the table in order of age, and the place was packed.
The old tailor was the most comfortable, sitting alone at one side of the table, with no one crowding him.
He was making clothes for Ruan Xi's family today, so naturally he stayed at her house to eat and sleep.
He didn't like to socialize with people, especially when eating.
They sat down at the table one after another, and everyone's attention was on the food, and they didn't want to think about anything else for the time being.
Ruan Changsheng waited for the old tailor and Ruan Zhigao to take a bite of the meat, and then he picked up some meat with his chopsticks.
The tender and smooth meat was smeared with a little green onion and minced garlic. It tasted spicy at first, and then the soft and tender meat aroma came out after chewing.
Ruan Changsheng smiled as he ate, and said in a useless way, "It's delicious."
Others also picked up some meat with their chopsticks, leaving the meat aroma on their tongues, and then started eating the vegetables below.
After eating the meat, Ruan Changsheng had other thoughts. He looked at Ruan Xi and said, "Niece, tell your uncle how you got this inspiration. Your inspiration is amazing. You made clothes like that so easily."
Ruan Xi smiled and watched him make up a story, "One day I had a dream. I dreamed of an old man with a white beard. He gave me a needle and said that as long as I had that needle, I could make the most beautiful clothes in the world..."
Before she could finish, Ruan Changsheng looked at her with a smile. After a glance, "How old do you think I am?"
Seeing him say this, everyone in the family laughed, and Ruan Xi smiled even more, "Why would I lie to you? It's true."
Ruan Changsheng was too lazy to pay attention to her words, and said, "It's pretty good, study hard and work hard."
After that, he went to tease the old tailor again, "Master Song, is my niece okay?"
The old tailor looked at him, "She's much better than you."
The smile on Ruan Changsheng's face froze instantly - hey, this old man!
Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie looked at his face and couldn't help laughing.
As a person on Fengming Mountain, who has not been ridiculed by the old tailor is incomplete in life.
Because the old tailor had to stay overnight, Liu Xinghua also squeezed into Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie's bed at night, and slept with Ruan Cuizhi. The old tailor naturally slept in her room, together with Ruan Zhigao.
The four of them were so crowded that Ruan Xi was pressed against the wall.
But she had slept in worse places before, so the current difficulty was nothing to Ruan Xi.
She tilted her head, and slept shoulder to shoulder with Ruan Jie, head to head.
Liu Xinghua and Ruan Cuizhi were also shoulder to shoulder at the other end.
It was rare for the mother and daughter to sleep together, and the quiet night was the best time to chat. Liu Xinghua whispered to Ruan Cuizhi and asked her, "You went to the town to buy New Year's goods two days ago. Did you see the four children?"
Ruan Cuizhi took a breath softly, and the sound of her inhalation was unusually clear in the quiet environment.
After she relaxed, she said, "Mom, let's not talk about it."
Liu Xinghua tilted her head to look at her, "Did Liu Xiong not let you see them? Or did they themselves not want to see you?"
Ruan Cuizhi blinked and was silent for a moment, then said, "I saw them, but they didn't want the things I bought, and just asked me if I would go back. I said I would never go back, and Dani left with her brothers and sisters."
After hearing this, Liu Xinghua was also silent for a moment, then said, "Four conscienceless people."
Ruan Cuizhi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's true that I don't want them anymore."
Liu Xinghua was unhappy, "What do you mean you don't want them anymore? If you don't want them anymore, why do you go to see them? You miss them every day at home. , worried that they don’t have enough to eat and wear warm clothes. But they only care about whether you go back and be their mother. Are they reluctant to leave you? They want you to go back and cook and wash clothes for them! If you don’t go back, you are not a mother? You have worked hard to give birth to them for so many years, and it’s all in vain? "
Ruan Cuizhi took a deep breath, "Forget it."
Liu Xinghua’s tone was hard and aggressive, "Forget it, don’t go back to see them in the future. Didn’t you say you don’t want them, then really don’t want them. The next time you go to find them, maybe they won’t see you at all. "
Ruan Cuizhi blinked and stopped talking. She felt that her life was a mess.
She thought she could live a happy life, but now she has no home and no children, and has nothing.
Then she thought again, it was not right, she still had her parents, her younger brother, and two lovely nieces.
She took a deep breath again, and when she heard Liu Xinghua fall asleep beside her, she closed her eyes and fell asleep too.
Making clothes during the Chinese New Year is different from making clothes at other times. If you usually make clothes for other people, you can take your time and not rush. But during the Chinese New Year, you have to make clothes for many families, so you have to rush to make clothes. There is no time to rest except for eating, sleeping and going to the toilet.
The next day, Ruan Xi and the old tailor made clothes for Ruan Changgui's family of four.
After getting the wages, they asked someone to move the sewing machine and went to the next family without stopping.
Ruan Xi followed the old tailor to work from house to house, so naturally she didn't go home. She ate and drank at the people who made clothes. But because it was close, she went home to sleep after finishing her work at night.
After finishing the work in their village, she and the old tailor went to the next village together.
So for the next period of time, you can always see this scene somewhere on the mountain road in Fengming Mountain - two men are carrying a sedan chair, and an old man sitting on the sedan chair is smoking a pipe. Next to the sedan chair is a little girl, who is wearing a flowered cotton jacket and a red scarf, which covers half of her face, revealing a pair of smart eyes. Further behind are two men carrying sewing machines.
It was also during this period that Ruan Xi followed the old tailor to visit all the villages on Fengming Mountain and ate many people's meals. Families with better conditions can eat more meat, and families with poorer conditions can also eat a few eggs.
Of course, there are families that are so poor that they can't afford to make clothes, and that's probably because they have too many children and too many people in the family.
Ruan Xi showed up on Fengming Mountain, and now everyone affectionately calls her - Little Tailor.
On the afternoon of the day before New Year's Eve, Ruan Xi came home with her schoolbag on her back, and she was so tired that she felt like she was about to fall apart. But she was in a good mood, and she called Liu Xinghua into the house and took out a handful of money from her schoolbag and stuffed it into her.
This year, when she went out to make clothes, the old tailor didn't do much, just drew some paper patterns. Most of the rest of the work was done by Ruan Xi, and every time she changed villages, she had to walk on the mountain road, so it was a bit harder.
Because she took on most of the hard work, the old tailor gave her more money than before.
After seeing the money, Liu Xinghua glared and whispered, "How did you earn so much?"
Ruan Xi nodded, "I'll keep it for you."
Liu Xinghua smiled and began to count the money, "I'll keep it for you, it will all be your dowry in the future."
Ruan Xi smiled, "Let Uncle Wu get married first."
Liu Xinghua said, "Nonsense, how can an uncle get married with the money earned by his niece?"
Ruan Xi didn't say anything more about this, she leaned against Liu Xinghua and said softly, "I'm one year older."
After tomorrow, she will be fifteen years old.
Fifteen-year-old Ruan Xi, on the first day of the new year, went to visit various families with Ruan Jie to pay New Year's greetings.
Ruan Xi thought that the old tailor must be lonely spending the New Year alone, and no one would accompany him on New Year's Eve, so she planned to go to him first to pay New Year's greetings, and then go back to Ling Yao's house to pay New Year's greetings to their family.
So after breakfast on the first day of the new year, she took the food and took Ruan Jie to Jinguan Village.
The two were not in a hurry. They walked slowly on the mountain path wearing the new clothes they made before the New Year.
When they arrived at the old tailor's house, the sun had risen high, but the old tailor's house had not yet opened the door.
Ruan Xi stood outside the courtyard gate and raised her hands to knock on the door a few times, and called inside: "Master, I'm here to wish you a happy new year."
After calling, there was no response from inside, so she continued to knock on the door and call a few more times.
This time there was movement inside. Da Mi jumped onto the wall and looked at Ruan Xi and meowed a few times.
Seeing that the old tailor had not responded, Ruan Jie guessed: "Did he go out?"
After all, the most important thing during the New Year is to eat, drink, visit relatives and friends, maybe the old tailor has also gone to someone else's house.
Ruan Xi thought about it and felt that this was possible, so she put down her knocking hand and planned to go back to the village first and come back in the afternoon.
But when she turned around and prepared to leave, she suddenly found something wrong.
It was not that she thought the old tailor was a loner and must have no relatives or friends to visit, but she found that the door of the old tailor's house was not locked. If the door was not locked from the outside but could not be opened, it must be bolted from the inside.
Therefore, the old tailor must be at home.
But why didn't he come to open the door at home?
If the old tailor was still sleeping, that was unlikely.
Elderly people generally have a short sleep time and usually wake up very early in the morning.
The sun has risen to this height, if he hasn't woken up, then there must be a problem.
Thinking of this, Ruan Xi immediately turned back and continued to knock on the door and called a few more times.
Ruan Jie didn't understand what she meant, so she just asked curiously, "Aren't you going home?"
Ruan Xi knocked on the door and said to her, "He must be at home."
After knocking for a while, no one answered, and no one came to open the door. Ruan Xi decisively turned around and stuffed the food in her hand to Ruan Jie, found a stone of suitable size nearby, moved it outside the courtyard wall, stepped on the stone and climbed over the courtyard wall.
After jumping off the courtyard wall, she immediately went to open the courtyard door, then turned around and went to the main house.
There was no one in the main room and the side rooms. There was a sewing machine and some clothes and fabrics in the main room.
Ruan Xi was about to turn around and leave when she suddenly heard Ruan Jie shouting, "Sister, come quickly!"
Ruan Jie's voice came from the kitchen next to her. Ruan Xi hurried out of the main room and ran to the kitchen.
When they went to the kitchen, they saw the old tailor lying on the ground beside the water tank, motionless, with his mouth open and breathing.
Seeing this, Ruan Xi was nervous and hurriedly bent down and called Ruan Jie: "Help him up quickly."
Ruan Jie quickly put the food in his hand on the stove and went to help Ruan Xi to lift the old tailor up from the ground. After all, the old tailor was a man, and even though he was thin, he was not light in weight. Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie spent a lot of effort.
After stumbling and helping the old tailor to lie on the bed in the main room, Ruan Xi called Ruan Jie again: "I will stay here to watch him, you go to the hanging building to find Ling Yao's mother and ask her to come over quickly."
Ruan Jie responded and turned around and ran, running towards Fengyan Village.
When she was tired, she walked a few steps, rested and continued running. When she ran to the hanging building of Ling's house, she happened to meet Zhou Xueyun coming out of the house, so she ran up to him and panted and begged: "Doctor Zhou, please go to Jinguan Village."
Zhou Xueyun followed Ruan Jie and trotted all the way to Jinguan Village.
Ling Yao trotted behind them, carrying Zhou Xueyun's medical kit on his back.
Zhou Xueyun asked Ruan Jie with a breath in his mouth: "Did you fall down at home? Did you bump into anything? Did you pass out?"
Ruan Jie shook his head and said: "I didn't pass out. I can still blink and breathe, but I can't seem to speak."
Zhou Xueyun didn't ask any more questions and followed Ruan Jie all the way to the old tailor's house.
The three of them went into the yard and went to the main room, where they saw Ruan Xi sitting in front of the old tailor's bed.
Zhou Xueyun went into the room and asked Ruan Xi directly: "How are you now?"
Ruan Xi stood up from the stool, "I gave him some warm water, and he seems to be better."
Zhou Xueyun went up to the old tailor to check his body. After the examination, she said: "The ribs are injured, but I can't be sure of the extent of the injury. If the bones are injured, you have to stay in bed. There are some blood-activating and blood-stasis-removing medicines in the medicine box."
Ruan Xi looked at the old tailor and asked: "How do you feel now?"
The old tailor felt a little chest tightness, but he shook his head and said weakly: "It's okay."
Even if there was something wrong, there was nothing he could do. He was old and his bones were fragile. This was not an unexpected thing. Although Zhou Xueyun could see a doctor, after all, the conditions were limited, and he could only see some minor injuries and illnesses.
If he went to the hospital for a proper checkup, he would have to be carried out of the mountain, which was not worth it. And even if he went down the mountain to the town, the medical conditions in the health center there were very poor, so what could they find out?
At his age, bumps and bruises were normal, and no one would bother him.
Seeing him like this, Ruan Xi fed him some blood-activating and blood-stasis-removing medicine.
After feeding him and letting him lie down to rest, Ruan Xi, Zhou Xueyun, and Ruan Jie Lingyao went to the yard.
Ruan Xi asked Zhou Xueyun: "What will happen if it's serious?"
Zhou Xueyun said: "The most serious thing is to injure the internal organs."
She didn't say the rest. Since the internal organs were injured and there were no conditions for treatment, that was a natural result.
But she quickly continued, "But his condition shouldn't be that serious."
After all, he just slipped and fell, which might cause broken ribs, but it shouldn't hurt his internal organs. And judging from his condition just now, it wasn't that bad.
Ruan Xi took a deep breath, "Then you can only pay attention to rest and let the bones heal on their own."
For people in the mountains, it is almost impossible to go to a big city for medical treatment. And there is not much point in going out of the mountains to the local town or county for treatment. The medical conditions in the town and county are also very poor and can't cure anything.
Zhou Xueyun nodded and said, "It's okay, just apply a hot towel, and eat a light diet that is easy to digest. He is old, and it will take a very long time for the bones to grow and heal."
Ruan Xi nodded at her and hurriedly took out money from his pocket, intending to give her the money for the medicine.
Zhou Xueyun naturally did not charge any money. When leaving, she asked Ling Yao, "Yaoyao, are you going home?"
Ling Yao handed the medicine box to Zhou Xueyun and said to her, "I'll stay here for a while."
Zhou Xueyun knew that he was going to stay, so she carried the medicine box and left.
The old tailor was lying in the house to rest. Ruan Xi, Ruan Jie and Ling Yao were afraid of disturbing him, so they sat in the yard to bask in the sun.
Ruan Xi lay on the rocking chair like an old lady, while Ruan Jie and Ling Yao sat on the bench next to them. In front of the three of them was a taller stool with a white porcelain plate on it, filled with melon seeds and peanuts.
For half a day in the morning of the first day of the New Year, the three of them basked in the sun, cracked melon seeds, ate peanuts, and chatted.
After a while, Ruan Xi would stand up from the rocking chair and go into the room to see if the old tailor was asleep. If he was not asleep, he would ask him if he needed anything, such as a drink of water or something to eat.
The old tailor said he wanted to go to the bathroom, so Ruan Xi and Ling Yao carefully helped him up and out.
Because the injury was to the bones in the upper body, his legs and feet were not affected. The old tailor was careful when getting out of bed, not to make large movements of his upper body, and he was able to go to the bathroom despite the pain in his chest.
After going to the bathroom, he continued to lie down, groaning a few times when the pain was severe.
After resting and regaining some energy, he said in a weak voice, "I'm afraid this year will be unlucky."
It was just the first day of the new year, and he fell down and hurt his bones when he got up in the morning. It didn't feel like a good sign. He hadn't even started to experience the new atmosphere of the new year, and he was already bedridden.
Ruan Xi was not superstitious, but he didn't like to hear this either. He just said, "Master, superstition is not popular these days."
The old tailor snorted twice, "I'm lying here, who can catch me and criticize me?"
Seeing how he spoke, Ruan Xi thought his injury should not be serious.
But she did not leave the tailor shop. Instead, she stayed to look after the old tailor for the whole day. She looked after him until he went to bed at night. With the help of Ling Yao, she helped him wash up. Then she locked the door of his house and went home.
She and Ling Yao stayed in the tailor shop for the whole day, but did not let Ruan Jie stay there.
In order to reassure Liu Xinghua, Ruan Xi let Ruan Jie go home at noon.
There was no moon on the night of the first day of the new year. It was pitch dark outside when she came out of the old tailor's house.
Ruan Xi locked the gate and turned around. She blinked and found that she could not see anything, so she stretched out her feet and waded forward slowly.
Ling Yao looked at her like this, smiled and stretched out his hand to her: "Let me hold your hand."
Ruan Xi couldn't see his face clearly, blinked in the dark night and asked: "Can you see clearly?"
Ling Yao nodded and said: "I can see a little bit."
They didn't bring a flashlight when they came, so Ruan Xi had to stretch out her hand and put it on Ling Yao's hand.
Then the two of them walked back home hand in hand along the mountain road, just like the last time they went to the commune.
Ling Yao led Ruan Xi forward and kept reporting the road conditions to her.
Ruan Xi couldn't help laughing, thinking that he was like a navigation.
But he was indeed a good guide, and he didn't let her stumble once along the way.
Then when the two were halfway through the road, they saw a circle of flashlights sweeping towards them.
Ruan Xi and Ling Yao squinted their eyes subconsciously because of the bright light. When the light fell on the ground, they realized that the person coming was Ruan Changsheng.
Ruan Changsheng approached with a flashlight and saw two children holding hands at a glance.
He subconsciously cleared his throat and instantly felt that he was not as successful as this little idiot.
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