Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

Ms. Chen and her daughters-in-law were busy cooking in the kitchen. This year, Zhixiang’s family came back to celebrate the New Year. The old lady felt so beautiful that she always had a smile on her face. Zhide's family and Huixin's family are all back. This is what the old man said, and they will have a reunion year this year.

Logically speaking, the girl who went out to the house did not go home to celebrate the New Year. But the Tao family didn't know what was going on. They just refused to ease the relationship. Every time Qingnian went there, they were always lukewarm. Qing Nian is also frustrated. Now, except for sending people and things during holidays, I rarely visit the house. Qing Nian agreed as soon as Xu Chengkuan asked them to come to his house to make things lively. Otherwise, it would be boring to have just a few people at home. People who have been deeply hurt by their biological parents don't care about the rules and regulations, as long as they are happy.

Now, the yard was full of children. Wenxuan, Wenchang, Wenxing, Jinghui and Wenrui were all running around. Although Wen Rui is young, he can't hold him back at all. He follows behind his brothers and runs very smoothly. Our family bought a lot of firecrackers this year, and Wenchang would take out two and light them from time to time, adding a touch of New Year atmosphere to the courtyard.

Lantern poles have long been erected in the yard, and a string of bright red lanterns have been hung. It is still daytime, so there is no need to light the lights. I saw red lanterns slowly swaying with the wind, announcing that the new year is coming.

The gate has long been pasted with couplets and door gods. Colorful hanging coins are also pasted on the top of the door. Window grilles are also pasted on the windows of each house. Jinghan and her sisters learned to cut these money hangings and window grilles from Mrs. Chen. The sisters are all very clever and the money hangings and window grilles they cut out are all very delicate and unique. The bright red characters "Fu" are also plastered all over the yard, the barns are plastered with "Grain Full", and the livestock sheds are plastered with "Prosperous Livestock". There are also things like going out to see happiness, looking up to see happiness, etc. The whole yard shows a strong flavor of the New Year.

In the main room of the front yard, a genealogy is hung in the north. In front of the genealogy is an incense table with various sacrifices on it. Whole chicken, whole fish, and a big pig's head. What's more interesting is that there is a pig's tail on top of the pig's head. This is called having a head and a tail. The snow-white steamed buns are topped with red dates, which makes them look very happy. There are two thick red candles placed on both sides. They are not lit yet. When it gets dark, the old man will light them himself.

By the time the old man led his children and grandchildren back home, it was already late and everyone sat down to rest for a while. When Mrs. Chen saw all the men coming back, she said, "Let's all rest for a while. Let's enjoy the cool breeze. We'll have dinner later. It's almost done."

The old man chatted with his children and grandchildren, inevitably talking about the affairs of the younger generation. Zhixiang suggested that Wenchang and Wenxuan take the county examination this year, "Dad, brother, I think Wenchang and Wenxuan are doing pretty well in their homework." "It's better to let them try. Whether they can pass the exam or not, the key is to practice."

The old man thought for a while and then said, "This is Wenchang's fifteenth year, and Wenxuan's is also fourteen. It's time to take the exam. Wenhan and the others were about the same age when they took the county exam. Okay, boss, you wait. After the New Year, let’s discuss it with Master and see what Master says. We don’t ask them to pass the exam at once, just give it a try.”

Zhixiang looked at Zhide, "Fourth brother, if Wenxing is already thirteen after the Chinese New Year, you have to hurry up. I see that Wenxing's homework is a little worse than these two. This kid is in front of you, and you probably can't bear to take care of it, but that's not okay." Zhixiang once called several children together to test their homework. Wenchang and Wenxuan were both fine, but Wenxing was slightly worse. .

Zhide nodded, "Well, this is also my fault. Your sister-in-law refused to take care of the child from the beginning, so I listened to her. Now that the child has grown up, it is a bit difficult to manage. I have to take it slowly, my child. It’s big, it’s a bit fixed.” Speaking of this, Zhide also felt a little regretful.

"Okay, children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. Maybe one of them will be successful. Of the five of you brothers, isn't it the fifth one who has passed the exam? If one or two of the younger generation can pass the exam, we will The family is blessed by the ancestors. "The old man is quite contented. The Xu family has been farmers for generations. It is already very good for them to have a scholar and a scholar in their generation.

Zhixiang nodded, "Yes, our family's foundation is too shallow after all. It would be really good if Wenhan could pass the Juren exam again in his lifetime. With me here and the Lu family, as long as he passes the Juren exam, Then we can pursue an official career, and our Xu family will be honored."

The father and son were talking animatedly here, and the old lady happened to come into the room and said, "The food is ready. Let's eat first and chat while we eat."

So everyone worked together to set the table and put all the food on the table. Now, there were sixteen dishes in total, and the table was full. Wenhan came in with two jars of wine and poured it for everyone. "Grandpa, this is Uncle Lin's wine. It is selling well in the county now. Let's try it and see how it goes."

Of course, the people sitting in the room were all my own family members, and there were three tables in total. The remaining servants were eating in another room, and there were also three tables.

When the old man saw that everyone was sitting down, he raised his glass and said, "Come on, let's have a drink first. This year is the year of reunion. Lao Wu and Qing Nian are both here. This is a rare occasion, old lady. , you and your wives should also drink, don’t be afraid, they are all our own family members. Besides, aren’t there still so many people working? It doesn’t matter if you drink too much.” After that, the old man went ahead. Just drink it.

The people in the room, except Jinghan and the other children, all drank together. The old man put down his wine glass and nodded, "Don't mention it, this Lin family's wine is really good. It's soft and mellow in the mouth, not bad."

Next to him, Zhixiang also nodded. He is someone who has experienced all kinds of good wines, and if he can make him feel that it is okay, then this wine is indeed good. "Brother, I heard that you also have shares in this winery?"

"Well, Xingjia couldn't come up with that much money at the moment, so I said that I wanted to become a shareholder and gave him five hundred taels of silver, accounting for 30% of the wine shop. The wine sold well a year ago, so Xingjia said that he would give it to me. Dividends, what I mean is that it is better to put the money in first, or to save more food and make more wine. Wine is not afraid of aging. The older it gets, the better it tastes. We can't just focus on the immediate benefits. Lost it. I told Xingjia to keep some good wine in the cellar every time he sells it. It will be better if he sells it out in a few years." Zhixin has also found some ways to do business now. It sounds reasonable.

"It's best for me to think this way. No matter what line of work you are in, you have to look further ahead. It's useless to just look at the present. How much money can you have with this little money in front of you? Stay in and develop well. , It will definitely be great in the future." Zhixiang also agreed with Zhixin's view.

"I don't know much about these things. However, the Lin family is a good person, and our two families are about to get married. With this kind of relationship, no matter how much money the wine shop makes, we have to support the family and bring wine to the family. The more we work, the bigger it will be." The old man said with a smile on his face as he drank.

"Yes, dad, don't worry, my son understands this. Okay, let's not talk about this today. Let's drink and eat vegetables. It's a rare reunion today. Our family is reunited, so we have to have a good drink." Zhixin said The eldest son happened to take the lead and toast his parents with a glass of wine.

The remaining brothers all stood up and said, "Dad, Mom, it's Chinese New Year, and my sons have nothing else to say. Thank you for your hard work in raising us up. Now that your parents are older, just take care of yourself." Let’s enjoy the blessings. The sons will definitely be filial to the two elders.”

The old man and the old lady were also full of excitement and kept saying yes. Everyone drank the wine together, and Brother Zhixin sat down.

This meal lasted for a long time, from the end of the night to the end of the night. The men all drank too much and staggered around one by one. The women looked at these very drunk men, shook their heads one by one, and smiled helplessly. Although Wen Han and Wen Cheng also drank some wine, they were children and the old man did not allow them to drink more, so they did not get drunk. So the two brothers found two boys outside and helped these people to their respective rooms one by one so that they could have a good sleep.

After Wenhan and the others helped the person away, the women began to clear the table. Seeing that it was still early, the old lady said there was no need to worry and she would just prepare the dumpling making for the evening later and let everyone go and rest for a while.

Jinghan and the others didn't drink, so they volunteered to fry melon seeds, peanuts, pine nuts and other things.

After all, Mrs. Lu was pregnant and felt very tired now, so the girl supported her and went back to rest. Mrs. Xue, Mrs. Zhu and Mrs. Han, while chatting, put away all the meat and vegetables for making dumplings at night.

"Sister-in-law, let's have dumplings stuffed with cabbage and radish for dinner tonight," asked Han.

"Hey, this is an old rule in our family. Cabbage is a hundred fortunes, and radish is luck. It's just a lucky word. Besides, this is just cabbage. The stuffing is too watery, so it's not easy to wrap. Shao Add some radish, it will be easy to wrap, and it will taste juicy." Mr. Xue lowered his head to collect the cabbage in his hand.

These cabbages were all hidden in the cellar and were only brought back yesterday. The radishes were already shredded, blanched in hot water, and then frozen. They were brought back in advance to cool down.

There are many people at home this year, so we have to prepare more dumpling fillings. Fortunately, there is plenty of meat at home. Mr. Xue brought back several strips of meat, which is estimated to weigh about twenty kilograms.

"Sister-in-law, you have too much meat, don't you? How can you use such an old man?" Mrs. Zhu said when she saw it.

"There are many people, so be prepared. People celebrating the New Year should not be stingy and make people laugh. Those people followed Zhixiang to our house. We can't let their thirty-year-old dumplings be eaten. Let’s eat?” Mr. Xue was talking about the servants in the family.