Husband and wife are hot on the kang

The sales of small tomatoes and various melons and fruits in Shibalipu are booming, and there are two happy events, and the whole Shibalipu is full of joy.

When it comes to the twelfth lunar month, the one who kills the pigs on the first day of the lunar new year is the Hou Mansion.

Yu Liangji invited the whole village to have a meal of butchering pigs, and Hou's mansion killed ten big fat pigs, ranking first in the number of pigs slaughtered in the whole village.

"Well, everyone can eat the elbow meat this time!" The old village head joked, "You can also eat whatever you want, ten of them!"

The crowd laughed.

"If you eat more, you will only have one stomach. You said, it would be great if you had four stomachs like an old cow!" Yu Liangji also joked.

"Then you still have to ruminate!" someone nearby broke the news.

Everyone laughed again.

The next day, the village head's family invited him to dinner. This time, Yu Liangji went with Shi Hongda and brought the baby without dragging his family.

During the meal, the old village head also said: "We should treat guests to dinner earlier, because there are not enough days in the twelfth lunar month, and now there are more than 30 households."

"Don't worry, my family doesn't kill pigs!" Ba Duo blew himself up.

"Then when will your family kill the cow?" Everyone began to ask Batu.

"This year won't work, let's wait until next year. Next year, please eat mutton and braised beef!" Batu also happily promised everyone: "In the first year of this year, the two cows will be given to Lord Hou, and the sheep will be eaten." The group took over, there is no one suitable for slaughter, and they are not fat."

Everyone knew that they set up their own family in the first year, and Yu Liangji helped in many things, and their family didn't raise pigs, only cattle and sheep.

"There are no cows and sheep to eat, but you can have milk and goat's milk!" Yu Liangji mocked Batu and asked, "Is there any?"

"Only goat's milk." The goat has only given birth to four and can squeeze out a little goat's milk.

"Then when the lamb is weaned, how much goat's milk will there be? If you want to buy it, you can buy some," Yu Liangji said, "Goat's milk is a good thing."

"It's just too smelly." Fu Erzhuzi said based on his experience: "When raising sheep, children didn't like to drink it."

"Tea can remove fishy smell." Yu Liangji suggested.

"Put it down, tea is so expensive, who dares to waste it? Besides, children can't drink tea." Fu Erzhuzi had another reason.

"That's right." Yu Liangji forgot that in this era, the smell is not removed, and tea is also very expensive. Unless there are guests at home, few people will brew tea all day long.

There is another kind, which is to grind sweet almonds into powder and boil goat milk, which can remove the fishy smell and taste very delicious. This is the method that most people can't afford.

After the banquet, everyone started to eat and drink. The stewed sauerkraut was delicious, Yu Liangji ate deliciously, and heard everyone talk about their own harvest.

Red and green tomatoes are very popular, strawberries are in short supply, and cantaloupe, even watermelon is almost ripe now. Many people have used Yu Liangji's sweet recipe.

The watermelons in Shibalipu are not worried about selling.

On the morning of Laba, I ate Laba porridge. This year I didn’t rest, because there were people treating guests today, because it was the first year of marriage, and the brothers and sisters-in-law came. This year, everyone in the Qiao family was together and killed five pigs. Because they were killed together, the four families set up a banquet for one day. Everyone knows that they did it to save trouble, because if they were invited once a day now, there would definitely not be enough time, and they had to be killed a few years ago.

But once Laba passed, Manager He started to work.

Seeing that the Chinese New Year is coming, it will take three to five days to arrive from Shibalipu to the capital without stopping, and it has to be the case of changing horses and people without changing cars.

The Northeast Mansion has already contacted them. When their convoy arrives, they will go with the convoy of the Hou Mansion, and when they arrive at the place, they can give gifts and enter the palace together.

Everyone is from the Northeast Mansion, so it's normal to walk together, and the Northeast General's Mansion has more guards than theirs.

The family had prepared two carriages, the one with a large carriage and a heater. One carriage was equipped with two servants and two coachmen. This was to transport tribute to Beijing!

In addition, there was a steward of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who followed them back. After all, they were familiar with Beijing, so they would know where to send things when they came to Beijing.

There are also things for the four-horse cart, which are for the sixth-rank Qiwei mansion in the capital. In addition to the bank notes, there are also some frozen pork, which are sent to the capital for the New Year.

When carrying the gifts that day, He Demiao finally saw the gift prepared by Lord Hou, which was a New Year gift for His Majesty the Emperor.

Yu Liangji led the people to drive the carriage directly to the door of the No. [-] experimental shed. The shed was indeed very large, and the carriage drove directly in.

Inside, there are two large vats, on which grow lush... a watermelon seedling, and several wooden boxes, one of which is connected to a vine....

The two individual watermelons he planted are actually yellow-fleshed watermelons, commonly known as "black stretched tendons", which are mostly planted in coastal areas and plains. Obvious dark green texture, golden flesh, crisp and sweet sand, rich melon aroma, unique flavor, the most mature one weighs three or four catties, suitable for planting on semi-sandy soil with coarse sand and good drainage. If it is planted normally, seven Ripe in August.

This is also a good product selected at the Fucheng Seed Station. In fact, watermelon was abundant in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty, and it was once used as a fruit for receiving foreign guests.

But Yu Liangji can do it!

Before the permafrost, I dug the sand by the river and planted it in a large tank for easy transportation. The melons cannot be separated from the plants before entering the palace, otherwise they will rot within a week!

The custom-made square wooden box was also moved along with the seedlings. When moving it, several people worked together to move it into the car.

"What are you?" He Demiao couldn't understand what Liangji had prepared for His Majesty.

This is a large tank and a wooden box, what is it for?

"A gift for His Majesty the Emperor!" Yu Liangji patted the vat.

He Demiao's head was buzzing: "Master Hou, there is a greenhouse in the palace, and there are a lot of fruits grown. Your watermelon is not unusual!"

Shi Hongda looked at him silently, he dared to bet that this watermelon must be different!

"You don't understand!" Yu Liangji showed off, and opened a wooden box: "Look!"

He Demiao stretched his neck to look inside, Shi Hongda also glanced curiously, and then the two of them were a little dazed!

"Hey!" Yu Liangji fastened the wooden box: "Haven't you seen it?"

The two shook their heads in unison, they had never seen each other before!

"If you haven't seen it before!" Yu Liangji closed the wooden box.

The car for transporting watermelons is also specially customized. It is the kind that can burn charcoal fire inside to keep warm, and has large glass facing south so that the sun can be seen.

During transportation, it is also very important to let the watermelon grow in the light. If the watermelon is too ripe, it will rot into water. Therefore, the watermelon has to be transported away when it is just about to ripen.

Yu Liangji grasped it very well, and the timing was just right.

Butler He didn't expect Master Hou's gift to be so ingenious, let alone he had never seen it before, it seemed that many people had never seen it before.

He asked people to gossip, and really wanted to know, what would those people think when they saw Lord Hou's gift?

The New Year's gifts are ready, besides these, there is also the wine that he promised to bring to that Eunuch Liu.

Of course, it’s not just two jars of wine alone, but also a bundle of sausages, and some dried vegetables and dried mushrooms are also different, the same hazel mushroom and the same mushroom.

Two air-dried rabbits, a pair of pheasants, a bag of homegrown millet, and eight kinds of beans, all of which are specialties of the farm.

Those specially prepared for Eunuch Liu must be delivered to his old man.

Because Yu Houye believed that eunuchs are not healthy at all, and they are a little different from ordinary people psychologically, and they must do what they promised, otherwise it would be very miserable if they were hated by others!

The gift was sent out at the thirteenth, and the next day I went to eat noodles, and the shopkeeper Gu also came to report every day, and I went to eat noodles every day.

With the income from Little Tomatoes, Shibalipu's life is getting better and better.

During the young year, Yu Liangji, Shi Hongda, and Bao Bao started to prepare for the new year after offering sacrifices to the stove master.

In the past, it was Liu Wenxi who took people to make big purchases, but now that there is a Hou Mansion, of course it is the housekeeper who has to do it. Yu Liangji just thought, there is no such chance!

Shi Hongda is also not very good at these things. He used to leave it to Liu Wenxi to do it, but this year!

"What do you think should be done?" Shi Hongda discussed with Yu Liangji while having breakfast.

"As before, let Liu Wenxi take the big guys to the county town together." Yu Liangji said without thinking.

"Why? What housekeeper does our Hou Mansion have." Shi Hongda didn't want the two to fight for power.

The two of them bid farewell to each other the first time they met, and now even the king doesn't see the king. Steward He is in charge of the Hou's mansion, while Liu Wenxi is in charge of the old house.

Yu Liangji took a bite of the vegetable and meat bun, and answered him silently in his heart: because group buying is cheap.

Of course, there is no such thing as "group buying" at this time, but everyone knows that if you buy together, if the quantity is large, you can get a discount.

"But the old house is also celebrating the New Year, so let Liu Wenxi go with him. He has a good mouth and can bargain." Yu Liangji thought that when he first came, Liu Wenxi was like an iron rooster: "Bring a big guy, and there is a person in charge. Save the big guys from suffering."

Don't look at how powerful outsiders say they are in Shibalipu. In fact, they are also because they are poor, so they look fierce, and because they are not fierce, they feel that they have no confidence.

People with a surviving surname nearby look down on them, so they have to disguise themselves with viciousness.

Now everyone's pockets are bulging, and life is better. After saving money in the past two years, they all think of a good house, which will be passed on to future generations.

The old village head has already approved two land deeds for building houses this year.

The people in Shibalipu are no longer fierce, they have also become kind, for fear that others will say that they are "rich and unkind."

Discrediting Shibalipu is like embarrassing the Hou Mansion.

Let Liu Wenxi go with him, or he can bring everyone to negotiate the price: "Let Liu Wenxi buy some things that you want to buy in the Hou Mansion."

The Hou Mansion has their own set of procedures for the Chinese New Year, and basically all the things they buy are settled, and if there is anything they don't buy, they will just buy it back when Shi Hongda sends the two old gentlemen back to Fucheng.

That is tomorrow.

In the end, Shi Hongda still picked two things for Liu Wenxi to purchase, and gave them a reason to go to the county together.

After they left, Shi Hongda also set off to send the two old gentlemen back to Fucheng. Yu Liangji also sent many new year gifts, including several large baskets of fruits. In order to keep the strawberries fresh, they even sent strawberry seedlings together. Yes, I directly shoveled the root and soil together and put it in a small basket and sent it to the carriage.

I can definitely eat it until the Chinese New Year.

"You two elders go back to celebrate the New Year. After February [-], I will pick you up." Yu Liangji personally sent them to the carriage.

"Understood, I guess we don't have to wait until February [-]nd. We'll be back after the [-]th." Mr. Huang felt a little bored thinking about the situation last year.

"Yes, come back for the spring banquet." Mr. Han has already inquired about it. It is a tradition in Shibalipu to eat pig-killing dishes in the twelfth lunar month and to have a spring banquet in the first month.

In fact, it is everyone gathering together to talk about the next year. He likes this very much. The atmosphere makes people feel prosperous.