Era: Started from raising livestock in the mountains

"I can only watch. I really don't know how to do this." Lin Heng laughed.

He is the one in charge of eating at home. He can definitely make it if he wants to, but he is lazy.

Father Lin smiled and said, "Wash your hands and help me mix the flour later. We will thicken it."

"Okay."

Lin Heng ran to Xiulan and asked her to scoop water to wash his hands. By the way, he asked, "How much fern root flour did you beat?"

"It's all hanging there. It's probably seven or eight pounds. I'll make it into vermicelli for you later."

Xiulan pointed to a white sheet hanging next to it to control the water and said.

"After the vermicelli is made, I will make you a cold fern root vermicelli to show my craftsmanship." Lin Heng said with a smile while washing his hands.

Xiulan blinked and smiled, "Then I have to taste your craftsmanship."

"I will definitely conquer your stomach." Lin Heng grinned.

Then he took Xiaoxia and the other two to watch the thickening.

The production of sweet potato vermicelli is very technical. The first step is called thickening.

Because sweet potato flour is starch, it will sink to the bottom if poured directly into water, so it needs to be thickened.

Thickening means using half a bucket of boiling water, adding sweet potato flour in small amounts and multiple times, stirring evenly to boil the sweet potato flour.

The boiled sweet potato flour is like the lotus root flour that is usually diluted, forming a gray viscous liquid similar to gelatin.

This step requires a lot of skills, there should be no lumps, and it should not be too dry, and the thickness should be appropriate.

Lin Yue added some sweet potato flour, and Lin's father began to stir frantically.

After a long while, Lin's father looked at it and said, "That's almost it, pour the sweet potato flour, Lin Heng also come to help stir."

"Okay."

Lin Heng came over to help.

This large wooden barrel with a diameter of 50 cm is placed on a small table, and half of the barrel is thickened with starch.

With the thickened starch as a medium, the sweet potato flour will not sink directly to the bottom when poured in.

"Come on, one, two, one, two..."

Pour some sweet potato flour, three people clenched their fists in three directions and pressed the sweet potato flour from the surface to the bottom, then pulled up the thickened starch, stirred repeatedly, and kneaded at the same time.

Kneading is to remove small lumps, and stirring is to make the sweet potato flour and the thickened starch completely blended.

"One, two, one, two..."

Xiaoxia and several other children were also jumping around to watch the excitement, some cheering, some clapping, and some eager to try.

As the sound spread, many people in the village also came to watch the excitement. There was nothing to do in winter, and everyone gathered around when there was something exciting.

Lin Heng also had a lot of fun. It was a little hot at the beginning, but it was very comfortable later.

Watching the vermicelli being made is a very stress-relieving thing. The villagers watched and chatted around the big pot of boiling water, just like killing the New Year pig, it was very lively.

"Lin Heng, are you selling this vermicelli? I want to buy some to eat." Tian Baishun shouted with a smile.

"No, I can give you some if you want to eat." Lin Heng said with a smile.

Old Man Tian shook his head and said, "Then I'll make some sweet potato flour for you."

"I'll give it to you if I say so. Don't be so nagging." Lin Heng shook his head.

"No, I'll get you some." Old Man Tian laughed and turned to buy sweet potato flour.

Lin Heng continued to work, and after half an hour of stirring, the first bucket was finally completed.

Now the bucket is a white gelatinous sweet potato flour paste. If you grab a handful and stick it to your hand, it will slowly fall down. It is a success. It is not good if it is too dry or too thin.

On the other side, the water in Lin's mother's big pot has also been boiled. After the water in the pot is boiled, it is required to roll but not bubble, and it cannot gurgle, otherwise the vermicelli will be cooked messy.

"It's started, are you ready?"

Father Lin went to get an iron colander and asked with a smile.

"Okay, start quickly." Lin's mother urged impatiently.

"Let's start."

Father Lin laughed and brought the colander over. There were densely packed tiny holes under the colander.

Pour the stirred white sweet potato flour paste into the pot and pat it gently. The sweet potato flour will leak into the pot in strips and be instantly cooked by the boiling water.

Father Lin tried it and started to leak the vermicelli. Lin Heng was responsible for holding the colander. Father Lin patted to ensure that the vermicelli kept coming, and Lin Yue added the sweet potato flour paste.

Mother Lin would use a wooden stick to scoop up the cooked vermicelli and pull it into the large wooden barrel filled with cold water next to it.

Xiu Lan was responsible for washing and cooling the vermicelli in the wooden barrel. Liu Juan was responsible for picking up the vermicelli with a wooden stick. When the length was almost right, she would use the wooden stick to string them up and hang them up to dry.

The whole process was carried out in an orderly manner by six people who divided the work and cooperated with each other. There were villagers watching the excitement next to them. It was a lively scene when the warm winter sun came out.

The vermicelli made by yourself in the countryside may look unclean and messy. But the products are all genuine, without any additives. Every year, there are people who come to collect them specially, and they are very popular.

Soon, the first batch of vermicelli came out and was hung on the rack to dry. The translucent gray vermicelli reflected rays of light in the sun. Just by looking at it, you can imagine how chewy and elastic it is.

When Lin Heng and his friends were making the third batch of vermicelli, Tian Baishun finally came back with a bag of sweet potato flour: "I bought 20 kilograms of sweet potato flour, you can make it for me together."

Lin Heng glanced at him and nodded without being polite: "Okay, I'll add it to you in the last batch."

"Okay, what we make ourselves is better." Tian Baishun said with a smile.

"Of course, ours are all real ingredients."

Someone nodded in agreement.

Each batch of vermicelli made by Lin Heng and his friends is 50 kilograms, and it was already 12 noon when the third batch was finished.

Immersed in work, several people did not eat and continued to work. The children next to them were so hungry that they staggered and cried for their parents.

"Dad, I'm hungry~"

Xiaoxia even hugged Lin Heng's legs to stop him from working.

"Okay, okay, wait a minute."

Lin Heng went home and took four bags of shrimp crackers and gave one bag to each child. Yesterday, when Li Chengguo came up, he asked him to bring a box of shrimp crackers up, with 30 bags.

"Thank you, second father~"

Lin Tao thanked with a smile on his face. This was a snack he dared not think of before, and only his second father could bring it.

"Brother, you can just take a bag and share it between the two of them. This is too much." Lin Yue said with a smile.

"It doesn't matter, it's not worth much money." Lin Heng waved his hand and said with a smile.

He didn't eat any snacks when he was a child, but he couldn't let these children have none.

Some children in the village who were watching the excitement smelled the fragrance and heard the crisp sound of the crackling, and their necks stretched out, and they were swallowing saliva one by one.

Let alone them, even the adults have never eaten shrimp crackers. The best snack they have ever eaten is biscuits.

When they saw the children eating shrimp crackers, they were all curious. Most people didn't know what they were made of.

Lin Heng handed the remaining bag to Lin Tao and said, "Lin Tao, you can share this bag with them..."

"Okay."

Lin Tao opened it and distributed it to the children. The well-mannered ones thanked Lin Heng repeatedly, while the uneducated ones stuffed the food into their mouths and ran away.

Lin Heng didn't care about it. He didn't give snacks for free just to make people thank him.

"Go on."

Father Lin said, and the three of them continued to make vermicelli. It was already past two o'clock in the afternoon when the last bucket was finished.

Then he made the 20 kilograms of vermicelli for Tian Baishun separately.

"Your fern root powder is really black." Father Lin said with a smile while thickening the starch. This was the first time he used fern root powder to make vermicelli.

"This is pure." Lin Heng smiled. The reason why it is black is because there are a lot of pigments in it.

Thickened the starch, because the fern root powder was not dry enough, it was a bit troublesome to mix and blend, and it took half an hour to complete.

When it was put into the pot through the colander, the color was pure black.

Seventeen or eighteen pounds were done in a short while, and the beautiful black fern root powder was hung on the shelf.

"It's finally done, I'll go cook quickly." Lin's mother wiped her hands and said, she was also very hungry.

"Let's pack up." Lin's father said with a smile.

After washing these utensils, everyone took out the big wooden barrel in the house and filled the gaps with sawdust and soaked them, and they would be used to make wine tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

The people in the village also left at this time. Lin's mother made sauerkraut noodles very quickly. Lin Heng scooped a bowl and sat on a small bench under the eaves to eat.

At this time, there was still some sun. The vermicelli in the yard quickly lost moisture in the cold wind and sunshine, and gradually became dry.

It was already past three o'clock after dinner. Lin's father and eldest brother went to carry some straw back to feed the cows and horses.

Lin Heng and Xiulan went home to rest for a while, lit the fireplace, and sat in front of the window to drink tea. It was quite pleasant.

"Are you going to Hongfeng Mountain later?" Xiulan asked after taking a sip of tea. She liked to add some sugar to her tea.

Lin Heng nodded: "Yes, notify people to take a holiday."

Xiulan immediately said: "Then let's go together, I'll go pick some wild vegetables to eat."

Kacha! !

Lin Heng was about to speak when he suddenly heard a crisp sound.

"Damn, my purple clay cup!!"

Both of them were startled and looked at Xiaoxia. Xiaoxia was frightened by their eyes and dared not move. She pursed her lips and was about to cry.

"You should apologize to your father for breaking his things and say sorry." Xiulan looked at her and said.

"Woo woo ~ Sorry, Dad ~"

Xiaoxia cried and got into Lin Heng's arms, wiping her tears with her little hands.

"It's okay, it's okay, just don't hit me next time." Lin Heng quickly hugged her and patted her back to comfort her.

She cried for a long time before she stopped, still holding Lin Heng's neck and saying sorry.

"The water just poured is very hot, don't take it in the future." Lin Heng said helplessly, fortunately it's not an antique, otherwise it would be heartbreaking.

"I know." Xiaoxia nodded, still a little scared, she actually just wanted to drink some water by herself.

After drinking two sips of water, the family set off at almost five o'clock.

Lin Heng held Xiaoxia, Xiulan took the bamboo basket and the small hoe.

The three of them walked quickly to Hongfeng Mountain and dug back from there.

Lin Heng took his daughter to the construction site to take a look, and Li Shiwei said: "It's basically done, let's go straight in the afternoon?"

Lin Heng checked one by one, and after seeing that there was no problem, he took out the workbook and said: "Everyone, come and sign after finishing the work in your hands.

Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow are holidays, and report back at 8 o'clock the day after tomorrow."

"Then we will go back this afternoon, just in time to go back and take a look." Li Shiwei said.

"It's up to you. It's all right." Lin Heng said with a smile. He didn't like to keep others.

"We'll go back and tell your dad and leave. We'll come down early on the 9th." Li Baiquan said with a smile.

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded. After making the arrangements, he went to find Xiulan to dig wild vegetables.

It's a bit cold in winter, but shepherd's purse, dandelions, and purslane are all available. Xiulan mainly digs shepherd's purse and purslane. Their family doesn't like to eat dandelions.

"Mom, here's one!"

Xiaoxia looked for vegetables everywhere, and when she found them, she jumped and called her mother.

Lin Heng pulled her to the side and watched, walking back little by little, just like taking a walk.

There were no extra words, but it was very comfortable and warm.

Some of the dandelions on the roadside had golden flowers, and Xiaoxia picked some and played with them in her hands.

This scene was quite like picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and leisurely seeing the southern mountains.

However, Xiaoxia picked chrysanthemums on the roadside.

"Mom, here you go."

Finally, Xiaoxia gave all the dandelions she picked to Xiulan.

"Thank you." Xiulan kissed her and was very happy.

It was getting dark when the three of them went home. Lin Heng found that his uncle-in-law and Li Shiwei had not returned, and asked curiously.

"Your mother left us here and asked us to help get wine tomorrow and return the day after tomorrow." Li Baiquan smiled helplessly.

"Then stay, and we'll drink after we finish tomorrow." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Okay." Li Baiquan smiled, he liked to drink.

After chatting for a while, Lin Heng and Xiulan went home. They just had a simple rice for dinner. Xiulan had purslane mixed with cold sauce, which tasted good.

Xiulan didn't eat the shepherd's purse, so she prepared to make shepherd's purse dumplings tomorrow.

With the fireplace, it's not cold at all when sleeping at night. Even in pajamas, it's still a little hot, so I have to take them off.

Turn down the air intake of the fireplace a little, and you only need to get up once in the middle of the night to add firewood.

Xiaoxia slept in her own little bed without worrying about whether it was warm or not, and Lin Heng was not afraid of the cold when he held Xiulan and moved around.

This fireplace is really worth installing.

In the morning, add some more firewood to the fireplace, and open the window to see the scenery outside without worrying about the cold.

Lin Heng likes to lie down and watch his wife dress one by one, which is very interesting.

After putting on the clothes, Xiulan's curvy figure was hidden by the cotton jacket, without revealing anything, and outsiders could not guess how much she really had.

"Get up!"

Xiulan rolled her eyes at him and threw the clothes over.

In the morning, Xiulan kneaded the dough and prepared to make dumplings at noon.

After breakfast, Xiulan made dumplings at home, and Lin Heng went to help his father and others get wine.

There are two kinds of wines in the family. Today we make sweet stalk wine, which is field sorghum.

Tomorrow we make jujube wine.

What Lin Heng has to do is to help beat the sweet stalks and chop them into pieces, and the sorghum grains on the sweet stalks need to be steamed.

Normally, it is enough to add wine yeast after chopping, but Lin's father and his family will also add some herbs, which are said to increase the taste of the wine. Lin Heng doesn't know much about the details.

After helping, he watched his father mix the wine yeast. After mixing, he poured it into a large wooden barrel and sealed it for fermentation. Generally, it can be roasted in 21 days.

That is, distilled wine.

Lin Heng is a person who only tastes wine. He feels that the wine made in the countryside is not bad. It is comfortable to drink with a low alcohol content.

Some people think that the wine made in the countryside is not safe, but the wine sold in the store is more likely to be made with various technologies and hard work.

Of course, the very expensive ones are excluded.

In summary, he still thinks that this kind of wine that he can see the raw materials is better for the time being.

After getting the wine, Lin Heng went to the village to see that all the electric poles had been buried. There was one outside their old house.

"The electricity will be on tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it."

Lin Heng said with emotion while feeling the wind. He hadn't seen the light at night for a long time. He really missed the days of having electric lights at night.

I went back to my hometown to chop wood for my grandmother and slaughter pigs these two days. Four thousand words today. Strive for six thousand words tomorrow.