Siheyuan: A Cook in the 60s

"Brother is good!" accompanied by the crowing of a rooster with a middle-parted hair.

The courtyard seemed to come alive.

The third uncle was the first to set up a stall in the yard.

A small table and a small chair, on which were placed a brush, ink, paper and inkstone. The brush was a writing brush, the ink was a small ink block, no one knew where he got it from, the paper was a large red paper for pasting couplets, and next to the inkstone was a plate and a pot of water. He was wearing thick clothes, and his hands were crossed in his sleeves to keep his hands warm.

He just sat in the courtyard, waiting for guests to come calmly.

I have to say it, but just based on this attitude, you have to give him something.

After sitting for a while, the yard became lively.

Qi Su was the first one to get up. The house was almost tidied up, and she wanted to go see how the dough was rising.

In this cold winter, the dough may not rise in one day.

If it’s still not ready by the evening, the dumplings will be a bit inferior to the white flour buns.

The New Year celebration at Sha Zhu's family is the simplest.

There are not many relatives at home, and it is not their turn to visit my only father.

The same goes for Qi Su. There is no one at home anymore, so they can spend the New Year happily in the house without having to think too much.

Qi Su's body is in good shape now, and her complexion is not as pale as before. This is all thanks to Grandpa Yang. A deficiency is not so easy to make up for.

He just got up and went into the kitchen.

There was a fool following behind him.

"Wife, what are you doing? So early?"

Qi Su was a little surprised: "Why did you get up so early? Don't you want to sleep a little longer?"

"No, no, I can't sleep. Hey, let's go, let's go ask the third uncle for a couplet."

"Hmm? Is there anyone writing couplets in the courtyard?"

"No, that's an old tradition. Come on, let me show you something fun." Sha Zhu put a handful of melon seeds in his pocket and pulled Qi Su out.

"Hey, wait a minute, let me see how the dough is growing."

"Oh, no need to look at it. If it doesn't come out, then it won't come out. We'll just eat the same thing on the first day of the new year. Anyway, we'll be at home these days."

Qi Su had no choice but to let Sha Zhu drag her out.

The two came to the front yard.

Seeing Yan Bugui, Sha Zhu was delighted and turned to his wife and said, "See, I knew it."

After saying that, he raised his eyebrows and walked over happily: "Hey, Third Uncle, are you writing Spring Festival couplets?"

Yan Bugui had originally closed his eyes to rest, but when he heard Sha Zhu's voice, he raised his eyebrows and opened his left eye with his eyelids closed: "Sha Zhu."

He looked like a complete master.

"Hey, Third Uncle, you are so indifferent, are you going to write it or not?"

Qi Su followed and looked at the Third Uncle's thing curiously. You know what, it really looked like that.

"Write, but the Dharma cannot be passed on lightly."

"Hey, look, what's in my hand?" Sha Zhu rummaged in his pocket and grabbed a handful of melon seeds.

The third uncle opened his eyes and immediately laughed: "But then again..."

"Hey, don't talk about coming back, let's play a game."

"what game?"

"Just keep doing what you did just now. I'll throw some melon seeds into your plate. If you can guess how many I've thrown, I'll give you all of them."

"What do you mean by my behavior just now?" The third uncle refuted with dissatisfaction, and then asked: "What if I guess wrong?"

"Then I'll give you five." Sha Zhu made the shape of the number "five" with his left hand.

"I say, idiot, it's New Year's Day and I write a couplet, and you give me five? Tell me yourself, is this appropriate?" The third uncle looked incredulous.

"I'm telling you, I have a few melon seeds in my pocket. Think about it yourself."

This made the third uncle a little hesitant.

Actually, during the New Year, Yan Bugui helped write Spring Festival couplets, and it was not for nothing. But if you say he asked for a lot, it was not much. Every household had some fruits and snacks at home, so he just gave him a handful and that was it. Just a handful, any amount is fine, the three or two that Sha Zhu mentioned was several handfuls.

"Dad, why are you here so early?" Before anyone could agree, Yan Jiecheng came out.

Every year Yan Jiecheng comes to join in the fun.

On the surface, they said they were helping to grind ink, but in fact, they were just trying to grab melon seeds to eat. Later, the Yan family's kids all rushed out to help. Yan Jiecheng got up early, thinking about the melons, fruits and snacks. You know, the third uncle's family never bought these during the New Year.

"You came at the right time. Sha Zhu made a bet with me."

"What are we betting on?" Yan Jiecheng also became interested.

Yan Bugui waved at him.

"Hey, hey, hey, this is really unkind of you two, you're cheating in front of me?" Sha Zhu said, "If you want to do it, do it. If you don't want to do it, forget it. I'll still give you a hand. It's New Year's Day, you can't do those things."

"Hey, you idiot, why did you do those things? What were they?"

"Whoever wants to do something knows what they want to do! So, do you dare?!"

"Come on, come on."

"Okay, come on, act like a dead person."

"Boss! It's New Year's Day..." Qi Su frowned and pulled Sha Zhu.

"Oh, my my, look at my mouth." Sha Zhu slapped himself twice: "I'm here to apologize to you, are you coming?"

The third uncle glanced at Qi Su, and then said to Sha Zhu, "It has to be your daughter-in-law. A virtuous wife brings less trouble to her husband. My old friend is not lying to me. Come on, come on."

The third uncle closed his eyes and shook his ears twice.

"Then you better listen carefully!"

Sha Zhu took out some melon seeds from his pocket, without any special technique, and even less any way to put them one by one, he just threw a handful into the plate. Yan Jiecheng took a quick look and saw that there were about ten or so seeds.

The third uncle's ears twitched.

Without waiting for Yan Jiecheng to call out, he shouted directly: "Twenty-three!"

"Oh my! Dad!" Yan Jiecheng slapped his thigh and said, "What's going on? There are only a dozen of them!"

The third uncle didn't care, he opened his eyes and took the plate: "Shall we count?"

"Okay, then count them." Shazhu didn't know how many he had lost, but he would just count the ones that leaked out.

"Two, four, six..."

As the third uncle counted, Yan Jiecheng followed suit.

"One fifteen."

"Seventeen."

"twenty!"

"twenty two……"

The third uncle put the last melon seed down.

"Twenty-three!" He looked at Sha Zhu and said proudly, "What, Sha Zhu, do you admit it?"

Shazhu was dumbfounded: "No, there are only about a dozen of them, right? How come there are already twenty-three?!"

"Silly Zhu, you watched my dad count, so don't deny it!"

"That's right, Silly Zhu. My family never buys those melon seeds during the Chinese New Year. You are the first one. You said there were more than ten, but that's just the ten you saw. In fact, there are more. Do you know what this is called? This is called knowledge!"