After the fire wall was lit, the room became warmer. Xu Ning made a bowl of noodles, planning to make steamed buns for lunch. He also took out the big pig's head and cleaned it, planning to braise it in the afternoon.
When Dalin, Jianmin and Erdan came, Lu Xiaotang was telling stories to Xu An and Xu Mo on the kang.
As soon as Jianmin arrived, he said to Xu Ning, "Xu Zhiqing, when are we going to ride our bicycles to the village?"
Xu Ning...
There's such thick snow, and you want me to ride a bike and take you around the village?
When Xu An heard that Jianmin and his friends were coming, he put on his shoes and came out. Lu Xiaotang also walked behind with Xu Mo. When Xu An heard that Jianmin was not coming to see him, but asked Xu Ning to take him around the village on a bicycle, he was speechless.
"It's snowing so thick, and you let my sister take you around the village on a bicycle? Aren't you afraid of falling?"
In the end, Lu Xiaotang cleared a piece of land outside the door and pushed a few people on his bicycle for a few laps, satisfying their urge to ride a bicycle. Seeing that they were so cold outside that their noses were bleeding, Xu Ning asked them to come into the house and look at the picture album on the kang.
Seeing Xu Ning plucking the hair from a large pig head, Lu Xiaotang took it from her and asked, "Why did you get such a large pig head?"
"I know someone who works in a slaughterhouse. He helped me with it. He doesn't need a ticket," Xu Ning said mysteriously.
Lu Xiaotang saw her winking and smiled.
Asked, "Is he reliable? You are young, you must pay attention to safety."
"They are our relatives here, Brother Lu, I know my limits," Xu Ning said.
Lu Xiaotang nodded.
At noon, Xu Ning cooked two pots of steamed buns made from two gram flour, fried some pig intestines with chili peppers, and stewed some cabbage vermicelli with oil residue.
Xu Ning asked Jianmin and the others to eat here and not go back, but Jianmin and the others refused and insisted on going home, saying they would come back to play in the afternoon. Xu Ning then gave each of them a steamed bun with a few pieces of pork intestines in it and asked them to eat it on the way.
The stir-fried pork intestines at noon received unanimous praise from several people. Xu Ning originally planned to braise the remaining pork intestines with pork head in the afternoon. Everyone said they were delicious when stir-fried, so he decided to keep them and stir-fry them!
In the afternoon, Xu Ning asked Xu An to go to the cowshed and tell them not to cook in the evening, as the food would be brought over.
In the evening, Xu Ning cut the braised pork head, pork lungs, pork heart, and pork liver into a full bowl, and also filled a bowl with braised vegetables, kelp, black fungus, frozen tofu, potato chips, and a bowl of rice.
Xu Ning and Lu Xiaotang brought it over. Xu Ning came back after delivering the meal. Lu Xiaotang ate over there and came back when it was time to sleep.
When Lu Xiaotang came back from dinner, Xu An immediately got down from the kang and said, "Brother Lu, you're back. I'll go get you some water to wash your face."
Lu Xiaotang carried him to the kang and said with a smile, "Go to sleep quickly, I will wash myself."
Xu Ning knitted until very late yesterday, thinking that he still had a little time to finish before going to bed, so he didn't check the clock. When he finally went to bed, he saw that it was already past 11 o'clock in the evening. He got up late in the morning, and Xu Mo had also gotten up without him knowing when.
When he opened the door, the snow had stopped and the sun was out, but it felt even colder. Xu Ning shivered.
In the kitchen, Lu Xiaotang sat in front of the stove and made a fire. Xu Mo sat next to him. Xu An poured noodles into the pot and said, "Brother Lu, the noodle soup I made is so delicious. You should have two more bowls later. This is my specialty. I can also cook rice porridge, millet porridge, and corn porridge. I'm still learning. My sister said she wants to train me to be a good cook."
Hearing this, Xu Ning couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. Several people looked at her. Xu Ning saw a smile in Lu Xiaotang's eyes as well.
Xu An blushed and said to his sister, "Sister, what are you laughing at?"
"Ahem, Xiao An, I'm not laughing at you. I'm just happy to see that you've already prepared the meal, which is my favorite dumpling soup."
Only then did Xu An continue to pour the noodles into the pot with a red face.
After dinner, Lu Xiaotang wanted to go to the mountain because the weather was good, and Xu An also wanted to go with him.
Xu Ning thought that a child of that age was very active and lively, and he couldn't stay at home all day, so he put on a hat and gloves for him. Seeing that Lu Xiaotang didn't have a hat, he went back to the house and got him a big cotton hat and a pair of cotton gloves.
Lu Xiaotang took a look at the hat and gloves in her hands and put them on.
Xu Mo had tears in his eyes as he watched the two of them walk up the mountain. Xu Ning didn't dare to let him go. He was too young, and it was cold. There was a lack of medical care and medicine, and it would be terrible if he caught a cold.
Xu Ning told him to go back to the house and roast some chestnuts on the stove. He asked him to sit on the kang first. Xu Ning brought the stove over and put an iron plate on it. He then cut the chestnuts into crosses with a knife so that they would not explode when roasted. He then put a plate of pine nuts over him, which would make them more fragrant when roasted.
The brother and sister were eating with gusto when they heard someone outside calling Xu Zhiqing. Xu Ning opened the door and saw that it was Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei.
"Xu Zhiqing, what are you doing? We are so bored staying in the house, so we came to visit you and get some fresh air," Wei Lanlan said with a smile
"I'm just bored and roasting chestnuts at home. Come in and have some," Xu Ning said, inviting the two of them into the house.
As soon as they entered the room, they saw Xu Mo on the kang. Wei Lanlan asked, "Xu Zhiqing, isn't this the kid from the cowshed? Why is he here with you?"
Xu Ning said, "Grandpa Qi from the cowshed saw that we were not working, so he asked the village chief to let us help take care of him. There is a lot of work in the cowshed, and the adults can't take care of him."
Wei Lanlan said, "Oh, so that's how it is. This child is quite well behaved."
"He is very well behaved. He never cries or makes a fuss. He just sits there reading picture books every day. I thought that since it was the village chief who arranged this, he would be obedient, so I helped take care of him," Xu Ning said casually.
"Xu Zhiqing, why is your room so warm?" Yang Xiaomei asked from the side.
"I made a fire wall. It is warm, but it uses very little firewood. Let's sit on the kang, which is warmer."
Ever since Lu Xiaotang came, Xu Ning rarely went to that room. Although the kang in her room was small, it could still accommodate several people.
Xu Ning brought them some roasted pine nuts to eat. Wei Lanlan said enviously, "Xu Zhiqing, you are living such a comfortable life. You don't know that in our Zhiqing compound, seven people live on one kang. It's so crowded at night. Before Lin Miao left, eight of us lived on one kang. The male Zhiqings had it a little better, with four people living on one kang. Three male Zhiqings built their own rooms and moved out. I don't know when this life will end."
Xu Ning smiled but said nothing. It seemed that their lives were now more comfortable than those of the educated youth, but they didn't see that the brother and sister went up the mountain every day to chop wood and collect mountain products. They knew that their good life was the result of their own hard work.
Several people sat on the kang, eating pine nuts and chatting. Time passed quickly. Xu Ning also knew what had happened in the educated youth camp recently. Lin Miao seldom came back since she moved out. Gu Wenjing also wanted to move in with Lin Miao, but Lin Miao did not agree, saying that it was inconvenient to live in someone else's house. Gu Wenjing also lost his temper at the educated youth camp.
Gu Wenping often went to see Lin Miao, but Lin Miao rarely saw him. Sometimes he went three times but only saw her once. Gu Wenping also asked his good friend Yang Wenli to persuade Lin Miao. Xu Ning listened with relish while eating pine nuts.
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