Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the New Year atmosphere becomes even stronger. Cleaning the house on the 24th and papering the windows on the 25th. There are things to be busy with every day.

On the 26th, the family started to cook meat. They killed two pigs this year, so the meat was very good. So a big pot full of meat was served, and the smell of meat filled the yard. Mrs. Zhu looked at the pot, always paying attention to the soup inside, and adding some seasonings to it.

Chen and Xue made dough and steamed steamed buns. It is said that it takes twenty-eight to make steamed buns. If it is really twenty-eight before steaming steamed buns, it will be too late. Starting from the 26th, steamed buns will be steamed. Three or four pots will be steamed every day. When the 28th, steamed buns will be steamed for the Chinese New Year.

Jinghan and the others were also busy busy, and everyone had smiles on their faces. This year, the family has made a lot of money, and it is the first time that Jingya and his wife are married. The old lady said that she should live a prosperous year. The two old people in the Xu family are different from other people's families. They are not the kind of misers who are reluctant to spend money even if they have money. The old man once said, what do you do to make money? Isn’t it just to eat, drink and enjoy yourself? If you are not allowed to eat well after making money, then who is willing to work?

With such two enlightened old people, the children in the family are the happiest. From time to time, they would wander around the front and back yards, or they would light firecrackers with a loud bang, which would frighten people.

Wen Xuan and Wen Chang were lighting firecrackers outside when they heard movement at the gate. Wen Chang stopped quickly and ran outside to take a look. It turned out that a car was parked at the gate, and there were several people riding horses. Everyone knew that person, it was the person who came to pick up Li Mingyu.

The visitor happened to see Wenchang, dismounted from his horse and came to him, "Master Xu, my second young master sent someone to deliver a New Year's gift. Please also ask Master Xu to say something to the old man at home."

Wenchang nodded and motioned to Lao Wangtou next to him to hurry in and report. Not long after, Zhixin and Zhiming came out, "It turns out to be Guard Li, please come in. How is Mingyu doing now?"

Li Jin saluted the two brothers Zhixin, and then said, "Our second young master is going on a long trip, so he specially sent someone here to give some New Year's gifts. The second young master was grateful for the Xu family's kindness in taking him in, so he prepared some small gifts. , Please don’t dislike it, Uncle Xu and Third Master.”

The two brothers Zhixin said they were polite and then let Li Jin into the hospital. The people following behind quickly unloaded the things and carried them into the house.

The old man was talking to the old lady in the house. Suddenly he saw his son leading someone in. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the person was the guard of the Li family. He quickly told them all to sit down, "Mingyu is so polite. Why go all the way? If you come here at this time, I'm afraid you won't even be able to return to the capital in time for the Chinese New Year. Go back and tell Mingyu that as long as As long as he is fine, we are fine here, so don’t worry about him. Don’t send anything here in the future, causing you to suffer.”

"Thank you for your concern, old man. Our second young master will go on a long journey after the new year. In the future, he may not even go back to the capital, so he asked us to send some things, just to show his care. We will rush back in a while, and we should be able to Rushing back to the capital. Here are the letters from the second young master, one is for you and the other is for Miss Jingxian. This is the gift list, and a separate box is for Miss Jingxian." Li Jin handed over. The thing was handed over.

Zhiming took the letter and put the one from Jingxian aside. No matter what the letter said, Jingxian had to open it by herself. There is another letter for everyone. After reading it, it is just to express my gratitude to the Xu family for taking me in. As the Chinese New Year is approaching, I have prepared some things to send here. Zhiming opened the gift slip and looked at it, and actually smiled. "This Mingyu is really thoughtful, and the things he gave are unique."

As soon as Li Jin saw that the things had been delivered, he hurriedly said goodbye and left. Zhixin left him waiting for a while, then went out to discuss with Mr. Xue, then found Jinghan, and everyone prepared some gifts in return.

Jinghan knew that with Mingyu's family's wealth, he might not like even the most expensive things, so he found a set of down quilts and down mattresses that he had just made a while ago. Although it is warmer in the capital than here, they usually sleep on beds, and this down mattress can keep out the cold. At the same time, I also found insoles made of urethane straw, small fish dried in the summer sun, mushrooms, fungus and other products from the mountains. I'm just preparing pine nut candies and walnut candies for the New Year these days. In autumn, everyone makes mountain grape cakes, schisandra cakes, and soft jujube cakes, these small snacks together.

Ms. In this way, everyone wrapped everything up, took it to the front, and asked Li Jin to deliver it to Mingyu.

"We from a remote country don't have much good things to give to Mingyu. They are just some local products. I would like to ask Guard Li to bring them back to Mingyu. This is our little thought." Zhixin said.

Li Jin understood that the things prepared by the Xu family might not be expensive, but they were the truest intentions of the Xu family, and the second young master would definitely like them. So he didn't dare to neglect, and sent the things to the carriage together with others.

"Uncle Xu, Third Master Xu, let's go back now. If we hurry up, we should be able to go back. I won't delay here and say goodbye." Everyone jumped on their horses and ran all the way.

After seeing these people off, Zhixin and the others also returned to the house. At this time, everyone in the family was in the living room in the front yard. Jinghan and the others were very eager to see what Mingyu had brought.

Jinghan took the gift list and looked at it, then she laughed. Mingyu was so funny. Most of the things he sent were food. "This little fat guy, no wonder he is so fat, he just wants to eat."

There are a lot of seafood on the gift list, some dry and some frozen. The weather is very cold at this time, and nothing can be spoiled. There are also some expensive supplements, such as bird's nest, shark's fin, abalone, etc. Finally, there are some clothes and fabrics, rouge, gouache, pen, ink, paper and inkstone. In fact, the most surprising thing is that there are still two baskets of tightly packed oranges. This guy, it's hard for him to imagine that he was lucky not to die after such a long journey.

Each of these things reflects Mingyu's intentions. He must have felt that these things were not available in the north and wanted everyone to try them. Jinghan was happy with what Mingyu did. If Mingyu really sent a lot of gold, silver and jewelry, it would only make people feel arrogant and arrogant, instead of the real feeling like now. A warmth and thoughtfulness. In fact, these things are also very valuable. Those supplements and the like are of excellent quality, and you don’t have the money to buy them.

"It's rare for Mingyu to think like this. Okay, let's quickly put those frozen goods outside and stop melting. When we are thirty, we will make some and taste what they taste like. The rest, I keep all those supplements. We don't need them most of the time. I'll save some for Jingya. She needs to take some supplements at this time. You girls, take those rouge and gouache. They're all like flowers. At your age, you should dress up well. Wenhan, you boys can take those pens, inks, papers and inkstones. "Ms. Chen distributed all the things directly. These things are Mingyu's heart, so naturally they can't. As always, save the favor before passing on the favor.

After the things were distributed, everyone looked at Jingxian's box. Mingyu didn't write the things for Jingxian on the gift list, so everyone didn't know what they were. Everyone has curiosity, and everyone is curious about what is inside.

Jingxian opened the box with her own hands, "Ah, there are so many good things inside." It turned out that the box was filled with gadgets. There are some colorful little clay figurines, various pottery masks, pen holders dug out of tree roots, small baskets made of bamboo, small combs made of unknown wood, with patterns of flowers carved on them, all of them. It’s some little thing that doesn’t exist in the north. Jingxian saw it and liked it so much that she couldn't put it down.

The old lady also laughed, "How did Mingyu find these things? I feel strange when I look at them. That little clay figurine, oh, it's really vivid. Jingxian, you are so awesome with these things. You have to put it away properly, Mingyu doesn’t know how much effort he put into it.”

"Grandma, don't worry. Brother Mingyu gave this to me. I will take good care of it." Jingxian's voice was full of joy.

"Okay, everyone, hurry up and take your things back, and then do whatever you need to do. We still have a lot of work to do." The old man ordered.

Before everyone here could take action, they heard Old Wangtou shouting excitedly, "Old Master, Old Madam, Fifth Master is back."

Fifth Master, of course he is talking about Zhixiang.

At this time, the room became lively. Everyone hurried out, even the old man and the old lady hurried out. Zhixiang went out and didn't come back for three years. How could he not want to be an old man?

Before everyone could reach the door, people from outside came in directly. There were nearly twenty people in front and behind, and those in the middle were Zhixiang and Wanting. Wanting was seen holding a big belly, and Zhixiang was holding her carefully. The two ladies at the back each held a little baby with pink makeup and jade in their arms.

"It's all this far away, and Wanting is in such a bad shape, what are you doing back here? If something goes wrong on the way, how will Wanting suffer?" When the old lady saw this, she was overwhelmed by her son's joy. Worry was replaced, and I started to complain about my son. "You're already a grown-up, but you still can't do things properly. If you don't come back, can your father and I still have a fight? Come on, Wanting, let's go into the house and ignore him." With that said, Mrs. Chen I have to help Wanting into the house.

"Mom, my son came all the way back to see you, and all you see are your daughter-in-law and grandson." Zhixiang complained with a smile.