In the blink of an eye, the tenth day arrived.
After two o'clock in the afternoon, Haonan and Tian Shangguo returned from their hometown.
One of them was carrying a large suitcase, looking dusty and covered in snow.
"Happy New Year, Comrade Zhong." Haonan shook off the snowflakes on his body, put his things on the ground, looked up and smiled at Zhong Yuxiu.
Tian Shangguo didn't move too much. He gently brushed off the snow on his body before speaking, "Comrade Zhong, Happy New Year. Thank you for the things you brought me. My family likes them very much." His expression was gloomy.
"As long as they like it. You just came back, so take a hot bath to warm yourself up. After you've packed up, go upstairs and take a nap. Catching the train is very tiring." They definitely didn't want to buy sleeper tickets.
"Okay, Comrade Zhong." Haonan forced a smile on his frozen face and rubbed it hastily. "It's freezing! The weather here in Beijing is so different from back home."
Tian Shangguo nodded and said, "You'll get used to it in a few days."
The two men opened their luggage and took out large and small packages of things wrapped in oil paper and black cloth.
"Comrade Zhong, these are the mountain products I brought from my hometown. They were all picked in the mountains." Haonan put the things in front of her. Tian Shangguo followed suit, "Comrade Zhong, our mountains are rich in all kinds of mushrooms. Dried mushrooms are not as good as fresh ones, but they are still very delicious when cooked into soup."
Zhong Yuxiu took it with a smile, "Thank you for bringing it from so far away. Thank you. I'll make stir-fried meat and mushroom soup with gouda and mushrooms tonight. I'd also like to try some of the good things from your hometown."
"It's not a good thing, it's just some mountain product." Haonan shook his head and smiled.
"Mushrooms are also very popular in the city." He smiled, his eyebrows curved. After a winter of eating radishes and cabbage, the arrival of mountain products was just in time. "Put the food on the coffee table. Go wash up and get some sleep. You only have one day off. I have to go to work at the school the day after tomorrow. You won't have time to rest."
Haonan and Tian Shangguo nodded in response, put the mountain products they brought on the coffee table, and went upstairs with their bags; when they came down again, they both carried their spare clothes in their hands.
Zhong Yuxiu sat down on the sofa and opened the mountain products they brought one by one; two large bags of mushrooms, with quite a few varieties, at a glance there were four or five kinds, such as shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, Hericium erinaceus, etc.; pickled dried sauerkraut, wrapped in oil paper; a small package next to it caught her attention, she took it and opened it, and found that it was filled with pure natural white fungus, small and perfect in color, not the color that was smoked with sulfur in later generations.
Chestnuts, ginkgo nuts, walnuts, and most surprising of all, pickled venison leg, which is a whole hind leg meat.
Deer meat is always precious. Look at the size of the package. It was brought by Tian Shangguo. It must have taken a lot of effort to get it. He brought it all here. This gift is quite important.
Not only did Tian Shangguo bring meat, but Haonan also brought salted fish.
There are salted fish of all sizes, the big ones weigh about one kilogram, and the small ones are only as big as a fingernail.
"Goudan, come here quickly."
“Ding ding ding.”
Goudan responded to the voice, came out of the kitchen, and stood in front of her.
Zhong Yuxiu picked out a small fish the size of a fingernail and gave it to him. "Fry it. Don't add salt. Add some dried chili powder."
"Ding." Goudan took it.
"And white fungus. I want some tomorrow morning. Remember to stew it." Zhong Yuxiu picked and chose and stuffed some mushrooms, chestnuts, and a whole deer leg into it. "Make soup with shiitake mushrooms, stir-fry oyster mushrooms with meat, steam the deer leg, and fry the chestnuts for me. I want to eat them. Okay, that's all. Go get busy."
“Ding ding.”
Goudan turned around and went back to the kitchen with a bunch of things in his arms.
Zhong Yuxiu picked out some mushrooms and wrapped them in oil paper; she selected two dried salted fish weighing about one pound, and put half of the chestnuts, walnuts, and ginkgo nuts aside, and stuffed the rest into the storage room.
After Haonan and Tian Shangguo finished their showers and dressed, only half of the things were left on the coffee table.
"Comrades, have you finished washing? Hang the clothes upstairs. Once they're dry, take them down to the dryer. They'll dry faster." Zhong Yuxiu pointed to the utility room. "While you're away, I asked Goudan to build a dryer. If your clothes can't dry properly, hang them in the dryer."
"Dryer?" Haonan and Tian Shangguo were confused.
"Go and see for yourself." He was too lazy to explain and sent the two of them out of the storage room.
They put down the wooden basin and went straight to the utility room; they were very familiar with this utility room. The first thing they saw when they entered was the thing covered with cotton cloth. They looked at each other and walked to the dryer to look left and right.
Tian Shangguo untied the rope at the dryer's opening, revealing its internal structure. The three horizontal bars on the top were for hanging clothes, and the three vertical bars below were also for hanging things. However, it was clear that the top bars were for hanging large items, and the bottom bars were for hanging small items.
"How do I use it?" Haonan squatted down and pulled out a handful of cotton cloth.
"There is a machine underneath." Tian Shangguo stood at the front and saw a round hole about twenty centimeters long on the cotton cloth. A machine-like object was stuck in the hole.
Haonan squeezed over to look, "And then?"
The two searched around and finally fixed their sights on the long black wire connecting the machine; the long wire connected the line, and then squatted down to study the dryer. Seeing the standard words such as power on and temperature on it, they roughly understood what was going on.
"Come on, wring out the clothes." Haonan pulled Tian Shangguo out of the utility room, took the wooden basin filled with clothes and returned to the bathroom; they worked together to wring out all the clothes again. If there were still dripping water before, now there is no dripping at all, and they can be put directly into the dryer to dry.
However, they didn't put it in the dryer immediately, but took it upstairs to dry on the balcony.
After they came downstairs, Zhong Yuxiu turned around and asked, "Why don't you take a rest?"
"Comrade Zhong, we want to take another look at the dryer." Hao Nan said.
"Oh." Zhong Yuxiu responded calmly, "Comrade Hao, Comrade Tian, I see you brought a lot of mountain products. Can I give some to the Yan family?"
Haonan nodded, not really caring. "These are all gifts for you. You can do with them as you wish."
"You guys brought all these mountain products here. How can I just give them away without asking for your opinion?"
"It's originally yours, no need to ask us." The two of them hurried to the utility room.
Zhong Yuxiu touched her chin. Is the dryer so attractive?
Since they agreed, Zhong Yuxiu packed up the things and placed them on the coffee table, which looked inappropriate. It was fine when there were no guests, but it would not be the same if there were guests.
Haonan and Tian Shangguo turned on the dryer, and a stream of hot air spread out in the cotton cover; Tian Shangguo simply tied the rope, and the cotton cover quickly became warm.
After watching for a while, they understood the principle of how the dryer can dry clothes; the hot air inside circulates continuously, the wet clothes are dried by the hot air, and the moisture is dissipated invisibly.
"What a great thing! From now on, I won't have to worry about not being able to win and having nothing to wear." Haonan laughed and said, "It's a pity that the village can't use it."
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