Apocalyptic Tundra Age

Xu Zhonglei never expected that the cooling down came earlier than expected when the villagers sang and danced and celebrated harvesting potatoes.

The soil covering the newly harvested potatoes at home has dried up, and the khaki potato skins are exposed with just a flick of the hand. Xu Zhonglei cleaned up the potatoes one by one and dragged them back to the vegetable cellar.Before he even got out of the cave, he heard Cheng Yuming shouting outside:

"It's raining, brother! Collect dried vegetables! Where are you?"

The wind and rain became stronger in an instant.

The light rain seemed to have no temperature at all, and it hit Xu Zhonglei's bald head and neck coldly, making him shiver.

The wind was heavy and the rain was cold. He only got wet and ran a short distance from the vegetable cellar into the boiler room, and his whole body was covered with cold air.

Cheng Yuming rushed in dragging a bamboo basket, wiped the rain from his face, looked at him with bright eyes and said:

"Brother, so you are here! I called you just now, but you didn't agree." Cheng Yuming heaved a sigh of relief, put down the basket in his hand and rushed outside again, before leaving, he said, "Anyway, I'm all wet, so I'll go and get rid of the leftovers outside." Take the dishes back. Brother, if you light a fire, you have to dry these things, otherwise they will become moldy and can’t be eaten.”

Xu Zhonglei originally wanted to go out to help, but under Xiao Cheng's care, he became a ruthless burning machine.Baking vegetables, drying clothes, and boiling hot water are all handy, but there is no chance to face the freezing rain outside.

This feeling of being at a loss for being cared for has always surrounded him, especially when he was sleeping at night, he heard Cheng Yuming snoring with a blocked nose, a cold?Got a stuffy nose?

He was thinking wildly about Xiao Cheng's possible illness, and he didn't even have time to think about the sleeping position where this guy was skillfully wrapped around his waist, with his head resting on his heart. It's best to shave your head bald.

The wind outside was several times more violent than during the day, and something solidly slammed on the bedroom window, and from time to time, something was blown by the wind and smashed everywhere.

He stiffened his body and listened to the concerto of a gust of wind silently, and finally fell into a dark and sweet sleep amidst Xiao Cheng's heavy snoring.

***

The north wind was strong all night, Xu Zhonglei got up early in the morning, opened the door and closed it immediately, turned around and went back to the house to add clothes.

It was time to put on the jacket and sweater for work. Although it wasn't snowing outside, a gust of cold air hit Xu Zhonglei's face, and the body temperature must be close to zero.

Cheng Yuming was still sleeping unconsciously on the bed, his cheeks were flushed, and there was even a hint of naivety.Just like a young man who has just entered college, he has no worries at all.

Xu Zhonglei thought silently, if Xiao Cheng is still in Guang'an, he must be a meticulous, upright and good policeman, then he can't be as rua as he is now.

Xu Zhonglei gave up the sinful idea of ​​rua Xiaocheng's face, took two dogs and a cat out, and closed the door gently.

In the past, the three meals and the two meals for the pets were Cheng Yuming's business, but today, because of Xiao Cheng's hard work yesterday, Xu Zhonglei decided to make a good meal to welcome the cooling down, just like northerners treat the "winter solstice" solemnly.

The boiling water had long been boiled on the stove, the cat food was soaked in milk powder, the dog food was soaked in milk powder, the old and small paper and the mouse’s throat made grunting noises. They all ate happily. Xu Zhonglei also made a cup for himself, and then made two more Eggs, make two bowls of steaming egg noodles, sprinkle with green onions.

"Brother, good morning..."

Cheng Yuming listened to the collision of tableware, smelled the aroma, and rubbed his eyes to say hello.

"Morning! Wash and eat noodles, go to get dressed, thick trousers and sweater are put on the bedside, it's really cold today. By the way, how are you? You snored loudly last night, and caught a cold in the rain yesterday? "

Snoring?Still loud?

Cheng Yuming's drowsiness was thrown out of the blue in an instant. He, a young man of twenty-five years old, would actually snore in the middle of the night?What the hell was being listened to all night, was that person the boyfriend you just made?

He didn't even bother to give back to Cheng Yuming's relationship anymore, he just wanted to shut himself off from the world, so let him enjoy the solitude and loneliness alone!

"I'm fine, I'll go brother, you eat first."

Cheng Yuming ran away resolutely, striding so fast that he almost stepped on one of his slippers. No, isn't snoring a unique sign of a 60-year-old man suffering from lung disease?It's scary to think about it!

Xu Zhonglei didn't notice the young man's heart, but said with a noodle in his mouth: "Then hurry up, the weather is not so good, let's collect the Chinese cabbage today, and it will be safe."

As soon as he finished talking about the powder, Xu Zhonglei went out with a big shovel in his hand. It was raining lightly, and Xu Zhonglei was wearing a raincoat, so he didn't get in the way.

The cabbages are grown in greenhouses, and the accumulated temperature is not enough this year. With the support of plastic greenhouses, these Chinese cabbages still grow quite well.The plastic film is now a treasure, and Xu Zhonglei can no longer use it as a disposable/suppliable item. As soon as he entered the vegetable garden, he put down the shovel and carefully pushed aside the mud that had covered the film.

After Xu Zhonglei cleaned up a row of mud, Cheng Yuming also came over. The two did not speak, and tacitly took back these precious industrial products.

The wind blew small raindrops into people's eyes, and the yellow mud on their hands smelled of earth and the pungent smell of plastic.Under the pastoral poetry, the two of them were so dirty that they could hardly be seen.

Even in order to protect these precious plastics, Xu Zhonglei slipped his foot and wanted to fall, so he abruptly changed the direction of his fall, and fell on the muddy ground.

"Fuck, my coccyx is about to break..."

Xu Zhonglei just sat on the ground for a long time without getting up. After a while, he began to think about life: he worked hard to study at night, got high scores in exams, and was admitted to a good school. Unexpectedly, even a plastic film He couldn't bear to throw it away. He fell into the mud on a rainy day and couldn't even get up. The first half of his life was too useless!

"Brother! Can you get up by yourself?"

Cheng Yuming took Xu Zhonglei's hand, supported his buttocks, and barely helped Xu Zhonglei up. Xu Zhonglei slightly controlled his sudden self-loathing, closed his eyes and changed his mood.

"It's okay, keep your hands away! Don't put my ass on it. Let's take the film off, be careful."

God finally got back to his human affairs, the light rain stopped, and the cabbages in the greenhouse were all in good condition, and were not exposed to the rain.

Once the plastic film is lifted, it's like opening the lid of Pandora's Box.

Mosquitoes and moths, big and small, rushed straight into the nostrils of the two of them. Xu Zhonglei couldn't dodge for a while, and actually inhaled a big mouthful of air full of moths.

Xu Zhonglei covered his mouth and swears, it's a bad time, life in the countryside is too miserable!

Under the off-white plastic film, the Chinese cabbage grows lush green, one next to the other, big and strong, which finally comforted Xu Zhonglei a little.

I, Xu Zhonglei, don't pickle all these dog things into sauerkraut today!I am not human!

He picked up the shovels, shoveled them one by one, and smashed the roots of these Chinese cabbages, as if venting all the torture he had suffered today.

Harvesting cabbage is very fast. Cheng Yuming went home and pulled out the board of the dog sled. Xu Zhonglei shoveled it vigorously. The people cooperated tacitly and pulled it a dozen times, and the five hundred Chinese cabbages were harvested cleanly, and all the cabbages were on the ground.

Collecting cabbage is only the first step in the Long March.

The cabbage with fresh soil is collected in the newly built vegetable house in Hemudu. It is necessary to remove the defective leaves one by one, and skim off the yellow, too old, and worm-eyed leaves, so that these Chinese cabbages can finally grow. After enjoying the taste of Super Red x Youth x Team City, Cheng Yuming spread out a large piece of plastic sheeting, and placed the first neat cabbage on it.

Xu Zhonglei still has a heavy worry.

"You really know how to pickle northeast sauerkraut, right?" Xu Zhonglei couldn't help asking as the two cleaned up the cabbage.

Cheng Yuming laughed. This was probably the first time he saw Xu Zhonglei as a mother-in-law. He replied in a confident tone:

"I've watched hundreds of videos of pickled things. Although we Guang'an people don't like to eat this kind of thing, it's really easy to make. It's not difficult, and it's a personal skill."

Cheng Yuming did not lie. Sichuan pickles need old salt water, and southern pickles need to be fermented. They all seem to be technically difficult, and they can be overturned if you are not careful, but Northeast pickles are really simple, a tall and deep one. A large tank, salt, and cabbage are all you need.

And judging from the various tutorials and videos he has watched, adding salt is entirely based on the feel of the hand, and the error tolerance rate is too high. If the Northeast pickled cabbage can be overturned, Cheng Yuming has spent so many years studying delicacies in vain.

"Brother, if you think about it this way, people in Northeast China have pickled sauerkraut for hundreds of years, right? Not everyone can have ancestral craftsmanship, why don't they overturn? It can only explain one problem: that is , Pickling sauerkraut in Northeast China is really not a technical job."

Cheng Yuming tried to convince people with another way of saying it.

"Okay, let's make it vigorously. Anyway, I will pickle two jars. I will take care of it if I have something to do. There are hundreds of cabbages left. We will definitely not starve to death."

Xu Zhonglei's words were not so much Kuan Cheng Yuming's heart, but more comforting himself.

The worst thing is: try and try, try and die...

It took the two of them an hour and a half to clean up the [-] Chinese cabbages. They piled them up into a hill in the room. Looking at the pile of juicy and green Chinese cabbages taller than a person, Xu Zhonglei was healed instantly.

"Now I know why people in the Northeast pay hundreds of catties to buy cabbage. I really feel safe..."

Some people do not wash pickled sauerkraut at all, put it outside in the sun for a few days, after cleaning up the bad leaves, put it into the vat to pickle, and then wash it when it is ready to eat, but Cheng Yuming always feels that it should be done, so he gathers the strengths of the crowd, Cheng Yuming decided to blanch the water before marinating.

The two moved a hundred Chinese cabbages back and forth into the kitchen. On the stove, the big iron pot had been cleaned long ago without any oily spots, and a pot of hot water was boiling inside.