Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

"Jinghan, there are frozen pears bought by your mother in the box in the warehouse. You can take out some water and put them on before you eat them at night. They need to wait for a while. Our family doesn't have anything delicious. We bought a lot this year. . "Ms. Chen loved her children, so she remembered that there was something delicious at home, so she quickly asked Jinghan and the others to find it.

When Jinghan heard this, she agreed and took a basin to the warehouse to look for frozen pears. I remember it was like this when I was a child in my previous life. There was nothing delicious in winter. At this time, frozen pears are a very good thing. Later, there were not many people selling frozen pears anymore. In winter, all kinds of fruits were available, so eating frozen pears was no longer rare. After entering the warehouse, she found the box her grandma had mentioned. Jinghan picked up a basin of frozen pears and brought it back.

Mrs. Xue saw it and quickly poured a lot of cold water into the basin. The frozen pears needed to be soaked in cold water. "Okay, let's go inside and have a look. We'll eat soon. The food is almost ready."

Jinghan, Jingya and their sisters entered the house, "Grandpa, my mother said the food is almost ready, let's get ready to eat."

The old man nodded, "Okay, quickly set the table, we will eat later."

Wenhan and Wencheng came over to move the table. Jingya, Jinghan and the others entered the room holding bowls and chopsticks, and arranged the bowls and chopsticks. Just then Mrs. Xue shouted, "Hurry up and bring the dishes up, the dishes are ready."

The children were busy carrying food into the house. There were exactly 20 people in the house, so there were two tables. Each dish comes in two plates, stewed fish, chicken stewed with mushrooms, bergamot cabbage, pork belly, sauerkraut and pork vermicelli, braised pork ribs, muddy chicken, meatballs, fried mushrooms and day lily, fried meat with fungus, pork liver, and elbows, total Twelve dishes, almost all meat dishes. The old man was happy when he saw it, "Oh, this year's dish is quite tough. It should be. This year, the fifth child in our family has won the lottery, and Huixin is getting married. This is the last year at home, so it's time to have a good time." Come on, come and sit down, kids. Have you bought some wine at home? Let’s have a good drink tonight.”

"Grandpa, I'll get the wine, you wait." Wenhan ran to the kitchen, found a small jar in the cabinet, and carried it into the house. Then he went to get some wine glasses and put them for grandpa, father and uncles.

Zhixin poured the wine one by one, "Come on, dad, let's have a good drink. This year will be enough for you. Third brother, I have to thank you. If you hadn't told your shopkeeper, our family's Bangchui can't be sold for such a high price. Come on, let's drink together." The men started drinking.

Mrs. Chen led Mrs. Xue and Mrs. Zhu into the house and found a seat to sit down. Needless to say, Mrs. Han was already sitting there with her children. Mrs. Chen glanced at Mrs. Han and said nothing. After everyone sat down, he said: "There are many happy events in our family this year, and we have to celebrate them properly. We specially kept a pig at home just for the New Year. Come on, today's dishes are delicious. Let's put them all in Just eat when you feel like it. Wenhan, you juniors don’t have to worry about anything, just eat. Our family will get better and better in the future, and we will let you eat like this every day.”

This year was the first year of prosperity, and Mrs. Chen felt happy from the bottom of her heart when she saw how delicious the children's food was. It would be great if every year could be like this year. Not only adults, but also children think so.

Jinghan picked up a piece of pork belly. If no one liked it in the previous life, it would be too fat. It's a rare good thing here. Put it in your mouth and feel the smoothness. It's really a pleasure. "Sister, Jingwan, Jingxian, please try it quickly. This braised pork is good, not so oily, and very mushy." Jinghan asked everyone to eat together, and gave Jingxian a piece to put in the bowl.

"Thank you, second sister." Jingxian said, holding the bowl.

"Eat quickly. After dinner, we still need to fry the melon seeds. I'll boil the red water from the mountains for you to drink. That's good. I've also softened the frozen pears. I'll feel comfortable eating some frozen pears now." Jinghan thought of this Some delicious food makes my mouth water.

It's rare for children to eat such good food. Every one of them eats with their mouths full of oil. The staple food tonight is naturally steamed buns. The snow-white steamed buns make people want to eat them. One bite is enough to make people excited. Jinghan squinted her eyes and tasted the rare thing carefully. The crops at this time were all farmyard manure and there was no chemical fertilizer, so they tasted particularly fragrant. This steamed bun is chewy and has a full wheat flavor, which is really good.

After all, the children were small and could not eat much before they were full. They patted their bellies one by one and were very satisfied. "Grandpa, grandma, we've finished eating, you eat slowly." Jinghan saw that Jingxian and Jingwan were also full, so he led them off the table and went to play aside.

The old man and his sons drank some wine and felt that they were about the same. They couldn't drink anymore, so they said, "I've almost drank. If you can drink, drink more. If you can't drink, just eat. Don't drink too much. Tonight These dishes are all good." He picked up a piece of steamed bun and ate it. "Well, these steamed buns are quite juicy, good."

Mrs. Chen ate quickly and was almost full, and Mrs. Xue and Mrs. Zhu were almost full too. Han had just been secretly said something by Zhide, and the food tonight was really delicious, so he didn't say anything more, fed Wenxing, and started eating by himself. Jinghe was eating there with chopsticks, and Mr. Han didn't pay much attention to her.

After a while, everyone was full, and Xue and Zhu started to pack their things. Jingya and Jinghan also helped. Huixin originally wanted to help, but everyone refused and told her to rest. Huixin had no choice but to return to her house. After Jinghan and the others finished clearing the table, they ran to her sister-in-law's room to play with Huixin.

It was already the end of the Youshi period, and Mrs. Chen led Mrs. Xue and Mrs. Zhu to chop meat fillings and vegetables together to prepare things for making dumplings in the evening. Wenhan went to stir-fry melon seeds, and Jinghan found Shanlihong, put it in a small pot, added water and sat on the stove to stew. Anyway, the fire in the stove will not be cut off tonight. There are a lot of tree roots, knot heads and the like put in it to resist burning.

The men had nothing to do, so they took out the cards and touched them. This card was Pai Gow. Anyway, there is no winning or losing between men, they are just trying to have fun. The old man played good cards tonight and won three games in a row. Everyone said that you can't lose your fortune and you have to win something. Later, I decided that it would be better to have some fun and make some money. Men in the Northeast usually like to play cards and make money in winter. The men of the Xu family are okay. They rarely go out to play for money. They only play for a while during the Chinese New Year.

Wenhan fried the melon seeds and put them into a dustpan. Xue went out with the dustpan to shake out all the failed ones. Then he entered the house with a dustpan, poured a lot of it into the west room, and then went to the east room. "Come, let's crush the melon seeds. The melon seeds are growing very well this year." After saying that, he put the dustpan on the kang in the east room, and anyone who liked it could grab it and eat it.

The two mothers worked together and chopped the meat and vegetables in a short time. Mrs. Chen mixed the stuffing, Mrs. Xue went to knead the noodles, and Mrs. Zhu moved the board and other things into the house and placed them on the Kang. The old man led his sons to place a table on the ground and played cards.

After waking up for a while after the noodles were ready, everyone started making dumplings. There are many people today, so we have to pack a lot, and we have to pack it for the morning of the first grade of junior high school, so we have to start early. Huixin, Jingya, and Jinghan all came to help, and Jinghan was pretty good at making dumplings. At this moment, Wenxing, Jinghe, and Jingxian couldn't stand it anymore, and they all fell asleep. Mrs. Chen put them in Huixin's room and found a quilt to cover them. Mr. Han had nothing to do now, so he washed his hands and made dumplings with everyone.

Mrs. Chen found out copper coins, jujubes, and sugar, and put them into the dumplings. These were all festive things, in order to get good luck.

If everyone works together, the package will be completed quickly. I started making the dumplings in the middle of Xu Shizhong, and by the time of the middle of Haishi, they were almost done. A full six curtains of dumplings were all placed there.

"Okay, let's all take a rest. Put these three curtains in the suite in the east room. The remaining three curtains will be eaten tonight." Mrs. Chen said. On New Year's Eve, we can't eat as many dumplings as usual, so three curtains are enough. Everyone took out the dumplings, packed up the panels, and took them out. The women also sat on the kang and chatted, and the children all ran to play.

Before midnight, I heard the sporadic sound of firecrackers outside. At the end of Haishi, Mrs. Chen put the kang table in the yard, placed steamed buns and incense burner bowls, and placed three glasses of wine and three pairs of chopsticks in front of it. Mrs. Xue went down to the ground to make a fire, added water to the pot, and waited for the water to boil before making the dumplings.

When midnight arrived, the old man led his sons to hang up the firecrackers, took out the burning paper, went to the table outside, and lit the burning paper. Zhixin also lit the firecrackers, and for a while the yard was filled with the sound of firecrackers.

As soon as the firecrackers went off, Mr. Wenhan and Jinghan each carried a large armful of firewood into the house, and shouted, "Hold the money." This is a homophonic pronunciation, and it is an auspicious word, wishing good luck for the next year.

Mrs. Chen took out a few pieces of burning paper that the old man and the others had lit. They burned paper at the door, in front of the two stove pits, and in Zhengbei. She was still mumbling some auspicious words. After the sound of firecrackers outside passed, the old man led his sons to kowtow in front of the table, then poured the wine in the glass onto the ground, and then got up.

By this time, the dumplings were already cooked. Mrs. Chen held the bowl aside and asked, "Have you earned it yet?"

Mrs. Xue agreed, "I've earned it, I've earned a lot." After saying that, he took the bowl from Mrs. Chen's hand, fished out a few with a pick, and put them in the bowl. Mrs. Chen came outside with the bowl in hand. He placed the bowl on the table and placed a pair of chopsticks horizontally on top of the bowl.