Chapter 49 Chapter 49 Chen pushed the door open and walked in...
Chen pushed the door open, bringing in a cool breeze.
It turned out that before I knew it, it started to rain heavily outside, accompanied by dull thunder.
"I don't agree..."
Chen originally just thought that it was late at night and she came to find her husband to go back to sleep, but she never expected to overhear the conversation between her husband and father-in-law. She said that she felt that something was wrong with her husband and son in the past few days.
In the past, no matter what happened, they would have quarreled more or less, but these days, her husband always goes along with her and gives in to her.
The two sons were always eager to do everything. Even though the backyard was already piled high with firewood, they still went to chop it whenever they had time and kept it there. They were told to burn it first and then chop it, but they refused, saying they would keep it for themselves to burn later. It turned out they had already planned this...
Chen's eyes were filled with tears. "How much money do you need this time? I'll go borrow it. I'll go borrow it from my eldest brother and third sister..."
Is it not possible? Chen looked at her husband's eyes, and tears finally fell from her eyes.
"Oh..." With a sigh, as the heavy rain fell, tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for everyone.
The next day, when Su Li got up, she looked at her grandmother Wu, her mother Chen and her eldest sister's red and swollen eyes. She didn't know what had happened. It was not until breakfast that she heard that her father and her second and third brothers would leave in two days. When their tone hinted that they might never come back, Su Li fell silent. She had been in this world for almost a month, so she naturally understood the meaning of these words. She also understood the helplessness and sadness of military families in this world, and the cruel reality that most of the time was beyond their control.
The atmosphere at the dinner table was extremely depressing, completely devoid of the usual cheerfulness. Even Su Tao lowered her head and wiped away her tears. You know, last night she was still clamoring for scallion pancakes or something this morning, but she didn't expect to hear this bad news when she woke up in the morning.
Little Lian Gu also noticed that something was wrong. She looked at this and that, but she was too young to understand what separation meant. She only knew that her mother, great-grandfather and uncle seemed unhappy.
"You still need to bring winter clothes and some food." Old Man Su suddenly said.
It’s cold in the north in winter, and ordinary warm clothes are definitely not enough. If you wear too little, you might freeze to death.
"I discussed it with your mother. Since we have nothing to do these two days, we might as well take apart the quilts in our room, take out the cotton inside and sew it into your clothes." Cotton is expensive and hard to come by. The most valuable things in the Su family are the quilts with cotton that Old Man Su bought when he was young. Although the cotton wool always clumped together over time, it can still be used after all.
"Dad..." Father Su refused without thinking, but then he heard Old Man Su say,
"Listen to me first!"
Father Su fell silent, and then Old Man Su turned to Chen and said,
"Mother Qingshan, you and your mother have worked hard these past two days to help Daya and the others bake more pancakes for Dalang and the others to eat on the road."
"And we need to make some dried meat to take with us."
The march was extremely difficult. Sometimes we had to stay in the mountains for a month or two without food or water. When we were hungry, we could only gnaw on tree bark and dig up grass roots. When we were thirsty, we could only drink dirty water. Countless people died on the road for various reasons. It was because he knew this clearly that Old Man Su wanted to think of as much as possible.
"Oh, I almost forgot. We have to buy a piece of donkey or deerskin. It doesn't have to be too big, just enough to make three pairs of boots." Although the weather is still hot now, the further north we go, the colder it gets, especially in the winter in the north. I heard it's so cold that it can freeze people's toes off, so we have to make a few pairs of warmer shoes.
"I'll go ask later to see if Tiezhu and his family have any." The Wang family are hunters, and they must have skins of various animals stored at home.
"We also need to buy some anti-diarrhea and anti-parasitic medicine."
Old man Su explained everything slowly, one by one, as if he was afraid of missing something. He had thought about these all night long.
When there was really nothing left, Mrs. Wu continued, "That stove might be too small for roasting meat. We should find a bigger pottery jar later."
The Su family's stove is usually a small stove used to cook porridge. It is too small and cannot bake much at a time. The ceramic jar is a good substitute nowadays. You just need to knock off the bottom of the ceramic jar, place it on the earthen stove, and then hang the meat strips inside to bake.
"Okay, let's go after dinner." Old man Su took a sip of porridge and nodded.
"If there's anything else, we'll think of it later. Let's eat."
Just like that, after the Su family finished their meal, they all went out to act. Old man Su and his father went to the Wang family next door to buy deerskin, Mrs. Wu and Chen went to dismantle bedding to make clothes, the eldest sisters Su Hong, Su Li and Su Tao went to make pancakes, and Su Qingshan and Su Qinghe went to get yellow mud to build an earthen stove in the yard.
After Uncle Chen arrived, I asked him to send over 20 kilograms of pork. Although 20 kilograms sounds heavy, it is actually only a few kilograms after drying. If it is dried very dry, about 5 kilograms will be dried per kilogram, so 20 kilograms will only make 4 kilograms of dried meat, which is very little for three people to share.
"It's too much. Not 20 catties, 10 catties will do." 20 catties of meat is almost several hundred coins of silver. So much silver was just spent yesterday. Father Su didn't want his family to have no savings because of them.
"It's settled." Chen ignored Su's father's words and turned to Uncle Chen who came to deliver pig intestines in the yard and said:
"Brother, just bring it over. I'll give you the money later." Originally, I wanted to buy more meat, but the money saved at home was not enough. I would have to spend more money on the leather and medicinal herbs, which was also a big expense.
"Okay, I'll go back and bring it to you right away." When Uncle Chen learned that his sister, brother and two nephews were going on a long journey to the north, he agreed without saying a word. He put down the pig intestines on his body, carried the empty backpack and left.
It was also a coincidence that because Uncle Chen came home early today, he ran into his wife Zhao squatting by the well washing the pig intestines.
"Don't you like eating this?" Uncle Chen wiped his face with a towel and looked at his wife in confusion.
Zhao blocked her nose with a piece of cloth and rubbed it vigorously with her hands while retorting, "What's wrong with trying? Your sister is the only one who can eat more than we can, right?"
"I didn't say that." Fearing that the quarrel would resume, Uncle Chen stopped talking, picked out the best pieces of pork from the yard, carried them on his back and went out.
Liu Zhao washed it for a long time, and finally cooked it and ate it. She almost vomited it out.
She had clearly done it according to the instructions her son had given her, so what was wrong? Zhao looked at the plate of pig intestines on the table, baffled.
What she didn't know was that Chen Dalang went late that day and didn't see his cousin Su Li cooking at all, not even her shadow. When he came back, he was afraid that Zhao would nag her, so he just made up a recipe. Of course, he couldn't cook, so the recipe was just nonsense, like adding sugar and vinegar to stir-fry. Naturally, the food couldn't be delicious, and it would even be hard to eat.
Zhao spat out the pig intestines, but she did not think that her son had deceived her. Instead, she thought that Chen and the others had deliberately deceived her son.
She said that her husband's sister only looked honest and decent, but was actually very cunning. She must have discovered it and was deliberately saying nonsense to deceive Dalang and make fun of her.
Zhao was angry but had no other options, and felt extremely frustrated.
Here, the Su family had just built the earthen stove and lifted the pottery jar when Uncle Chen arrived. Twenty pounds of pork was cut into about six pieces, but it was still too big. Su Li asked her eldest sister Su Hong and fourth sister Su Tao to cut the meat in half into two-finger-wide pieces so that it would be easier to carry. Then she went to knead the dough and wait for it to ferment. Su Li thought for a while and decided that it would be better to make pot cakes instead of flatbreads. The hollow kind could be used to put vegetables in the middle, which was convenient for eating on the road. If you don't want to eat it, you can use a rope to pass a hole in the middle and wear it around your neck and take it off when you want to eat.
However, the dough for the Guokui needs to ferment for about five or six hours, so Su Li kneaded the dough and went to prepare the food to be sold at noon.
My family is short of money right now. I didn't go yesterday because of my eldest sister's matter, so I must continue selling today. It would be good to get more money, so I can buy more flour.
Su Li sliced the five fish with a few strokes of the knife, and then began to arrange the ingredients. Eldest sister Su Hong happened to come in to get something at this time. Seeing Su Li's neat appearance, she couldn't help but feel a little emotional. She thought, "My little sister's knife skills are so good. The fish slices are so thin, and the dish she made yesterday tasted so good."
She felt a little emotional. Six or seven years had passed in a flash. The younger sister who used to just follow her around and call her "sister" had grown up to be an adult who could stand on her own.
Around noon, Su Li's meal was finally ready, and she went to help turn the grilled meat strips. At this time, Su's father and grandfather, Old Man Su, also came back from outside.
They were holding quite a few things in their hands. Su Li looked closely and saw that in addition to a large deerskin, there were also several rabbit skins.
Chen and Mrs. Wu were sitting in the yard sewing clothes and also looked over curiously.
"Such a big one?" How much silver would that cost?
But before Mrs. Wu could ask, Wang Ergou came over with a large sheepskin.
Father Su said, "Nephew, go back and tell your father that I am taking advantage of you by selling this fur to me. We really can't keep your sheepskin."
Wang's father was also a man of temperament. When he learned that the Su father and son were going to leave in a few days, he insisted on selling and giving away half a deerskin, and even insisted on giving a sheepskin to the two of them. How could Su's father feel embarrassed, so he hurried back home.
"My father said that we don't have much use for this goat skin on a daily basis, so it's a good idea to give it to you. You can alter it and make it into three sets of underwear later."
The father and son had never been to the north, but they had heard that it was very cold there, so they discussed it and decided to give the goat skin at home to the Su father and son.
"No, we can't accept it." Father Su was about to refuse, but Wang Ergou actually put it down and left.
Father Su quickly picked up the sheepskin and chased after him, but the man had already gone far away.
This is really...
When Mrs. Wu saw Father Su coming back with the goat skin, she knew that she had not caught up with the man. She felt that the Wang family was really kind, but it was a pity that the two families had no dealings with each other in the past.
However, it cannot be said that there was no contact. In fact, the two families had occasional contact as early as when Wang Ergou's mother, Wang's father's wife, was still alive. But later, Wang Ergou's mother died, and the Wang father and son were often not at home. The two of them looked so fierce, and they were often unkempt, with messy beards and hair. The village began to spread rumors that Wang's father and son went out early and came back late not because they went to the mountains to hunt, but to other places to rob. Mrs. Wu gradually believed it. Thinking of her prejudice against the two of them, Mrs. Wu felt quite uncomfortable.
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The author has something to say: Thank you for the rocket launchers, mines and nutrient solution sent by the babies [star eyes][star eyes][star eyes][kiss][kiss][kiss][scatter flowers][scatter flowers][scatter flowers] Sorry, the update is a bit late today (run...
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