The whole mountain is my hunting ground

If Wang Meilan had spoken like this half a month ago, Zhao Jun would have believed that she had the strength.

But for half a month, Zhao Jun was away from home. Although there was no shortage of meat at home, when Zhao Jun wanted to come, it was Zhao Youcai who brought some back from the canteen. That little thing can satisfy the family's cravings, but it's not enough for my wife to prepare a banquet.

"Oh my god!" Zhao Jun took Wang Meilan's arm and asked her, "We have guests here. Can't we prepare some food for the evening? How about I go outside and take a look?"

"Jun!" As soon as Zhao Jun said this, Wang Meilan didn't need to answer. Wang Qiang in front turned around and smiled at him and said, "Do you still need to worry about food?"

After saying this, Wang Qiang raised his head slightly, pointed his chin at Wang Meilan, and said, "My sister summoned us and said we were going to eat boiled mutton in the evening."

"What?" Hearing Wang Qiang's words, Zhao Jun and Zhang Yuanmin were both shocked. Zhao Jun hurriedly asked Wang Meilan, "Mom, where did you groom the sheep?"

"It belongs to our family." Wang Meilan said: "Son, you have a destiny. I said you would come back today, but ah! One of the sheep will die!"

This is true. If Zhao Jun had not made that call, the big ewe would still be in the sheepfold at this time. If Zhao Jun didn't ask Wang Meilan to do anything, the big ewe wouldn't hit the eight-pound hammer angrily.

But Zhao Jun felt something was wrong when he heard what Wang Meilan said, and hurriedly asked him: "Mom, which sheep died? How did it die? If it died of illness, we can't eat it!"

"It wasn't because of illness." Wang Meilan didn't explain how the sheep died. She just said, "We have trimmed all the meat, but it hasn't been frozen."

"Can it be frozen today?" Wang Qiang asked next to him: "I shot the wild boar that day, picked off the meat and left it outside overnight, but it didn't even freeze well."

At this time, it hasn’t snowed yet in the mountainous area of ​​Yong’an, and the temperature is relatively not that low. It's probably around minus ten degrees during the day, and hovers around minus ten degrees at night.

While they were talking, four people entered the house from outside.

As soon as I opened the door and entered the outhouse, I saw two tables set up in the room. Pieces of mutton were placed on one table, and various vegetables were placed on the other table.

At this moment, the dog outside the house barked, and Mrs. Jiang followed closely into the yard.

After letting the old lady into the house, Wang Meilan took her to the east room. After introducing her to Mr. Jie Sun, Wang Meilan said to the old lady: "Auntie, you chat with this eldest sister, and I will take them to get some food." .”

After saying that, Wang Meilan glanced at the wall, and then said: "They will be home in another hour. When they get home, we will have dinner."

"Okay, daughter." The old lady smiled and said, "You go ahead and get busy."

Wang Meilan agreed, then said to Xie Sun, "Sister, please sit down." Then she took Jin Xiaomei to the outer room.

On two large basswood cutting boards, Zhao Ling and Yang Yufeng were slicing mutton. If the mutton cannot be frozen, it cannot be pushed with a plane, so it can only be cut by hand.

After Jin Xiaomei came over, she started peeling garlic and onions. Wang Meilan used a knife to peel carrots and potatoes.

For a time, the outhouse was very busy.

Zhao Jun stepped into the west room. As soon as he entered, the minister stood up and looked at him apologetically.

Just as Jie Chen was about to speak, he saw Zhao Jun wave his hand with a smile, and then Zhao Jun went over and took the little lynx from Wang Qiang's arms.

This little guy is growing up very quickly, but he is still a baby and still looks very cute.

Zhao Jun pressed his face against its little head, then looked at Jie Chen who was coming over and said, "Brother, we don't need to say anything, it's okay."

Jie Chen pursed his lips and nodded, then sighed softly. There is nothing he can do about his old lady. On the way here, Xie Sun told Xie Chen that she would go home tomorrow morning.

Just as Jie Chen was about to refuse, he saw his mother take out a butter paper packet from her pocket.

Seeing the paper package, Jie Chen was startled, and then the car jolted violently, shaking Zhang Yuanmin awake.

As a biological son, Jie Chen knew that his mother could not seek death, otherwise she would not have hanged herself seven times in the first place. But he was afraid that if Jie Sun made trouble at Zhao Jun's house, it would be troublesome.

Therefore, Jie Chen could only reluctantly agree to understand the Sun family.

"Brother Jun!" Jie Chen thought for a moment and said to Zhao Jun: "I have to go back early tomorrow morning."

"Ah?" Zhao Jun hurriedly said after hearing this: "Why are you in a hurry to go back? Let's leave in two days. My aunt finally came here, so let her stay here for a few days. After that, let's go up the mountain to the foot of the mountain and take a look. If there is a black blind man, let's kill one of them and bring it back to you. The family will not be short of food this winter."

Hearing what Zhao Jun said, Jie Chen felt even more sorry, but he couldn't tell Zhao Jun what Xie Sun did and said in the car. He could only say: "Brother Jun, my mother is staying at someone else's house." No, I’ll send it back to her first, and then I’ll come back by myself when it’s done.”

"Ah, that's okay." Zhao Jun didn't think much about it. He listened to the "clang-clang" sound of meat being chopped in the outer room, and suddenly remembered something, so he looked at Zhang Yuanmin and said, "Brother, let's grill the meat on time." Let’s eat!”

"Roast mutton?" Zhang Yuanmin was startled, and then said: "We are not from the grasslands. We don't have those ingredients, so we can't make that stuff well."

Zhang Yuanmin's legendary father once "traveled" through the Northeast. The Northeast is not only the three eastern provinces, but also Eastern Mongolia.

Zhang Da Naou once went to Mengdong and wanted to find a job there. After all, there are a lot of sheep there, so perhaps his "talent" can be put to use.

But he overlooked one thing. Although there were many sheep there, there were also many wolves. If he offered a "clever trick" there, he would easily be hammered to death.

In addition, when we went there, there was a strong wind. It's windier over there than here at home. The small man, who was not tall, had his big head blown all over the place by the wind. After being forced to stay there for a few days, he became acclimatized. I had no choice but to take a taxi home.

After returning, Zhang Datou told his son all his experiences outside, so that Zhang Yuanmin could increase his knowledge and broaden his horizons.

"It's not the roasted lamb." Zhao Jun said, "It's the roasted lamb skewers!"

"Grilled mutton skewers?" Wang Qiang, Zhang Yuanmin, and Jie Chen were all stunned when they heard this.

Twenty or thirty years later, barbecues are everywhere in the Northeast, and there are all kinds of them.

But at this moment, how do mountain people know what kebabs are?

When raiders like Zhao Jun and others hunted prey in the mountains, they would sometimes take a few strips of meat from the thighs and roast them on the fire. But that kind of crude barbecue is not delicious to be honest.

So when it came to kebabs, Zhang Yuanmin and the others didn't take it seriously.

I don’t know why, but Zhao Jun is still craving for this bite today. Anyway, he had this condition, so he said to Zhang Yuanmin: "Brother, just watch the wicker."

"Ah!" Zhao Jun didn't explain clearly, but Zhang Yuanmin also reacted and said: "For piercing flesh?"

"Yes, yes!" Zhao Jun responded twice, then walked out with the little lynx in his arms.

When he arrived at the table where Yang Yufeng and Zhao Ling were cutting meat, the little lynx grabbed Zhao Jun's arm with a pair of front paws and tried to struggle out.

Yang Yufeng smiled when she saw this and said, "Is the kitten hungry for meat?"

"Can it eat meat?" Zhao Ling looked up at the little lynx and asked, "Has all its teeth grown?"

Zhao Jun held the little lynx with one arm and opened its upper lip with the other hand. The little lynx used a pair of small claws to pull Zhao Jun's hand.

Zhao Jun took a look and saw that this little guy had already grown teeth!

Counting the days again, this little lynx has been home for almost a month. According to their habits, they are about to be weaned.

At this time, Wang Meilan threw the freshly peeled potatoes into the basin and said: "I've been feeding it malted milk these past few days, but it doesn't drink much anymore. I made it for it in the morning, and it has to be left there until later in the evening." .”

When Zhao Jun heard this, he knew in his heart that this little guy was indeed going to be weaned.

Suddenly, the dog outside the house barked again. Zhao Jun turned around and looked out the window. It was Lin Xiangshun's wife, Xu Chunyan, carrying a small basket and bringing their two children.

When Xu Chunyan and her son came in, everyone greeted each other. Xu Chunyan asked her children to play with Zhao Hong and the others, while she came to Wang Meilan and asked: "Second Aunt, what do you want me to do?"

"Yan'er." Wang Meilan pointed into the basin and said, "Cut the dry tofu and potato seeds. After cutting, soak them in water."

If the potatoes are peeled or cut and left in the air, they will oxidize and turn black over time, which will not look good, so Wang Meilan asked Xu Chunyan to soak the potatoes in water after cutting them.

After Wang Meilan finished speaking, she looked up at Zhao Jun and the other men and said, "You can go into the house, you are not needed here."

"Mom!" Zhao Jun said with a smile, "I'm looking for a piece of meat to grill some mutton skewers."

"Mutton kebabs?" Wang Meilan, who comes from a wealthy family, has never eaten this before. After hearing what Zhao Jun said, she only said: "Can that dry thing taste good?"

"I'll put some oil on it and bake it." As soon as Zhao Jun finished replying to Wang Meilan, he saw Yang Yufeng pulling a piece of lamb chop.

Wang Meilan rarely feeds her sheep with food. After autumn, she keeps hugging tree leaves and corn leaves to feed her sheep. Therefore, this sheep is not very fat, and the lamb chops are sandwiched with a thin layer of fat.

"Sister-in-law!" Zhao Jun hurriedly stopped Yang Yufeng, then pinched the pad of his little finger with his thumb and said, "Cut this piece of meat into such big pieces for me."

"Okay!" Without saying a word, Yang Yufeng turned the mutton chop over in her hand, and then cut it into pieces.

"Okay!" Zhang Yuanmin smiled when he saw this: "I'll peel (xuě) the wicker branches!"

After saying that, Zhang Yuanmin walked out.

At this time, Wang Qiang asked from the side: "My nephew, don't you still have to draw fire?"

"There's no need to set up the fire. Isn't there one in the pit?" Wang Meilan interjected and said, "Put the entire iron curtain on that brazier to bake."

At this time, Wang Meilan was very proud. She felt that the brazier she led people to make yesterday was really worth it. It could both rinse the pot and grill the meat.

But Zhao Jun said: "Mom, we don't use a brazier."

"If you don't use a brazier, what should you use to bake it with?" Faced with Wang Meilan's question, Zhao Jun said, "We will bake it outside in a while. We can't leave it inside the house."

Then, Zhao Jun told his minister: "In the corner between our warehouse and the east wall, there are bricks left over from building a house. They are placed in two rows. When they are finished, the skewers are put on the upper shelf and the corn husks are burned underneath. "

Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan are both born leaders. Wang Meilan led a group of women at home. They would do whatever she said.

The same goes for Zhao Jun. After he assigned the tasks, Zhang Yuanmin and his ministers got busy.

In fact, the job was simple. Jie Chen moved the bricks and placed them on the open space. Each brick stands on the ground on its long side, and ten bricks are connected in a row. The distance between the two rows of bricks is about forty centimeters.

Then, Jiechen pulled out two more bags of corn kernels, preparing to light them and use them as charcoal grilled skewers.

Logically speaking, there is plenty of firewood in the forest area, so corn pulp and corn stalks (gāi) are not burned.

But both the Zhao and Li families planted sticky corn behind their houses, and planted corn, potatoes, and eggplants in the fall. When the corn is old, peel off the corn particles and grind the corn crumbs and corn flour.

Wang Meilan didn't throw away the remaining corn kernels, so she packed them in sacks, saying that after a while, when the roe deer were about to give birth, she would take this and lay it in the roe deer pen, and then spread grass on top. Because there is this layer of corn pulp as a cushion, it can block the cold air coming from the ground.

While Jie Chen was pouring the corn kernels out, Wang Qiang came out with a spade holding red-hot charcoal, put it into the two rows of bricks, and then added the corn kernels one by one.

The dried corn husks caught fire and emitted green smoke, but soon the smoke disappeared after it was thoroughly burned.

At this time, Zhang Yuanmin had already blocked two bundles of wicker sticks with his knife. The wicker sticks he cut were two circles thicker than the skewers that would be used for skewers in the future, and were even sixty centimeters long.

The willow stick had no tip and could not skewer meat, but this was not a problem for Zhang Yuanmin. He stuck the knife on a thick piece of wood, then put the end of the willow stick on the blade, and with a slight tug, the sharp blade cut the willow stick. Cut off a piece of it diagonally from one end so that it becomes sharp.

Seeing that more than a hundred wicker sticks were ready, Zhang Yuanmin took the sticks and went into the house to ask Zhao Jun for credit.

At this time, Yang Yufeng had also cut the meat. Zhao Jun was holding the meat in the basin and holding a small bowl of bear oil in his other hand, and was bumping into Zhang Yuanmin.

The two of them came out of the house together and called Wang Qiang and Jie Chen over. The four of them gathered around the earthen stove built by Zhang Yuanmin to kebab the mutton.

"Jun." Wang Qiang asked Zhao Jun, "Why don't you add some salt?"

"Salt clean?" Zhao Jun knew that when Wang Qiang said salt was clean, he actually meant it was slightly salty. But he didn't intend to feed the meat to the bottom, he just said: "Then grab a handful of salt."

Having said this, Zhao Jun looked up at the red pepper skewers hanging on the window of the warehouse and said, "It would be better if you grind some pepper noodles and sprinkle them on it."

"Oops..." Wang Qiang heard this and said, "I have a stone grinder at Lao Bai's house in the west courtyard. I'll use his house to grind it down for you!"

"Nothing else!" Zhao Jun hurriedly stopped: "Uncle, we don't need him. I despise Bai Xiuyun the most."

"Yes!" Zhang Yuanmin agreed: "This village belongs to him, not to others!"

Speaking of this, Zhang Yuanmin shook his head and said: "Lao Li's house next to my house also has a stone nianzi, CTM, these two brothers are not toys!"

"Hey!" Hearing what Zhang Yuanmin said, Zhao Jun couldn't help but shake his head when he thought of Minister Li and Li Erchen.

At this moment, Yang Yufeng came out with two small plates. She said to Zhao Jun: "Brother, my aunt asked you to get you some salt and miso. What else do you want?"

"Brother said he wanted to grind some chili noodles." Zhang Yuanmin asked, "Does the old Wei family have stone grinders?"

"What old Wei family! We have it at home." Yang Yufeng put down the small plate and said to Zhao Jun: "Brother, just wait, my sister-in-law will crush it for you when she gets home!"

"What?" Zhang Yuanmin was startled and couldn't believe his ears, so he asked again: "Where did you say you were going to crush me?"

"Go home and crush him." At this time, Yang Yufeng remembered that Zhang Yuanmin didn't know that his family had bought a house, and said quickly: "Our family has bought a house."

Zhang Yuanmin: "..."