Mid-Levels Farm

When I walked in, I saw a kitchen. Through the door, I saw a young man cooking with his back to the door. He was tall and tall, wearing a simple and loose white short-sleeved T-shirt and gray slacks.Zhang Bai yelled: "Old fellow!" The man happened to be filling the dishes and turned his head to see them, and asked in surprise, "What's the matter?"

When Chu Ruozhuo saw the young man's appearance, he was also taken aback. The man's black and shattered hair, his eyes were black and white, his brows were clear and clear, his skin was fair, and his neck was slender. It's like the skinny yellow and black local farmers in the village who have been working under the scorching sun for a long time in the past few days.Lian Zhangbai opened his mouth and didn't feel embarrassed to call the fellow again, and said with a smile: "Brother, we passed by here on business, and we are very thirsty. I wonder if we can have a glass of water."

The young man looked them up, with a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, raised his chin to the door at the back of the kitchen and signaled: "Sit inside, it's hot here, I'll pour water for you." With the dishes in hand, he led them through the door into a spacious room.

As soon as Zhang Bai entered the house, he felt comfortable. It turns out that the house is spacious and the beams are extremely high. There is a draft blowing through the hall, which makes people feel cool and comfortable.And this decoration is also different from the decoration of ordinary farmhouses. The floor is covered with frosted gray bricks, and one side is full of glass walls. The light is extremely cool. There are dozens of rectangular glass fish tanks in a row, with all kinds of fish swimming in them. There is a long log dining table in the middle, the wood is thick, and a few chairs are placed randomly, which looks simple and cute.

Zhang Bai sighed in admiration: "Brother, the goldfish you raise must be worth a lot of money! That's a red dragon, I've seen it before! When it's good in the market, it can sell for hundreds of thousands!" The man put the vegetables on the On the table: "Well, if you are interested, you can also buy a few to take away." He said while opening the double-door refrigerator on the wall of the room, and took things from it.

Zhang Bai said: "Where can I afford it? It also costs a lot of money to raise a tank and buy fish feed, which is very expensive. Brother, you are not from this place, are you?" Don’t buy such a large refrigerator, and it should be quite expensive depending on the brand. Look at the kitchen appliances on the side cabinets, ovens, steam ovens, microwave ovens, dishwashers, cooking machines, etc., which are all available for city people. Are you living in the countryside?

The man smiled and said: "My father and grandparents are all from this side. I retired from the army and settled here." He took two long glasses and a glass high pot from the double-door refrigerator, which contained green broken leaves in the clear water. Ups and downs in the water.He put two glasses filled with water on their table, glanced at Zhang Bai who had already run to the front of the goldfish bowl, and then at Chu Ruozhuo who was sitting in front of the long table with a straight waist as soon as he entered the room, and said with a smile : "My surname is Xuan, Xuan Xiaodong, just call me Xiaodong."

Zhang Bai had already come over, took the cup and gulped down the whole glass of water in one go, then looked at the water in the glass helplessly, Xiaodong smiled, filled another glass for him, and then poured the water out of the pot. Put it on the table and said with a smile: "You can do what you want." Zhang Bai was a little embarrassed and smiled while drinking: "This lemon and honey water is good, very fragrant and refreshing."

Although Chu Ruozhuo was also very thirsty, he sipped the cold drink slowly, and when he heard Zhang Bai's words, he corrected him, "It's not lemon, it's lemongrass." Then he added: "My surname is Chu, My friend’s surname is Zhang, I’m sorry.” But I saw that the other party introduced himself, and it was supposed to be Zhang Bai who introduced him at this time, but Zhang Bai was still ignorant and didn’t know how to introduce him. Is it because he just graduated and lacked social experience? , basically never mixed in social situations, but he has been in social situations since he was a child, so he introduced himself.

Xuan Xiaodong glanced at him, with a smile in his eyes: "Mr. Chu, Mr. Zhang, this is lemongrass honey water. The scent of lemongrass is similar to lemon, so it is also called lemongrass."

Zhang Bai also smiled: "Oh lemongrass, I seem to have heard of it somewhere—ah, by the way, Xiaodong, are you a local? Do you know where there is a clean restaurant nearby? We are too far back into the city , I'm not very familiar with this area."

Xuan Xiaodong smiled and said, "I'm also making lunch. If you don't mind, how about having a meal at my place? Although there are no good dishes, it's still fresh and clean."

Zhang Bai was overjoyed: "How embarrassing..." But he glanced at Chu Ruozhuo, he and Chu Ruozhuo had known each other for a while, and they knew how particular he was, and he was determined not to go into the fly restaurant on the side of the road.It looked clean here, but he didn't know if he had violated any taboo again, Chu Ruozhuo hesitated for a while and said, "Shall we convert the food money for you?"

Xuan Xiaodong shook his head and laughed: "It's all freshly picked from the vegetable field. You can't finish it every day. You're welcome. Just add two more vegetables. The porridge is also ready-made." After finishing speaking, he turned his head and walked to the kitchen After a while, he came in with a pot of porridge and put it on the side of the long table. He smiled and said, "This is corn porridge. I wonder if you are used to drinking porridge. If you are not used to it, I will cook another pot of porridge for you, or you can also cook rice of."

Zhang Bai knew that the local people here love to use corn porridge, but he was a little worried about Chu Ruozhuo, and persuaded him, "The people here live a long life. I heard that they rely on the common grains. This corn is dried and ground to make porridge. It is very sweet. Mr. Chu Might as well give it a try."

Chu Ruozhuo saw that there was indeed a pot of corn porridge in the porcelain pot. He smelled the sweet smell of corn, and he was probably very hungry. Although it was the first time he saw it, he didn't feel repelled, so he said to Xuan Xiaodong: "The guest follows the master." Come on, I'm fine."

Xuan Xiaodong smiled: "It's not because of longevity and health. In fact, it's because of poverty. This corn porridge is mixed with white rice to save money, but it has been used as a staple food for a long time. Compared with white rice, it still lacks a lot of nutrition." Take it out from the cupboard next to it. Several large white porcelain bowls were placed in front of them.

Xuan Xiaodong turned his head and went out, only to hear the sound of the pot again, and a few dishes came in after a while.

Zhang Bai had already prepared several bowls of porridge, and he was very surprised to see the dishes. He didn't expect that he would cook up three dishes and one soup in a short time.

The meat dish is sliced ​​bacon fried with celery. The bacon is so fragrant, and the fried pork with green pepper and eggplant is red, green and purple. The green, bright red and thick purple are put together on a plate, which looks very good. Another dish of stir-fried kale is also green and pleasing.

The portions of several dishes are very large. The soup is made of young chili leaves and egg drop soup. It is tender yellow and bright green, and it is fragrant. If you look closely, the soup is also served with dried scallops, and the cold salad is served with a plate of chopped salted duck eggs. The egg yolks are all oily, and the cucumber is slapped in a pot, with bright red millet and spicy, red and green.

Seeing Xuan Xiaodong sit down, Zhang Bai hurriedly stepped forward to serve him soup while smiling: "These salted duck eggs are also made by the villagers themselves? They are all oily! Good craftsmanship."

Xuan Xiaodong said: "It's nothing surprising. The locals here know that when making salted duck eggs, they use the brine in which jellyfish is soaked, and they must all be able to produce oil."

Zhang Bai had already taken the porridge bowl and began to drink the porridge in a sputtering manner. He drank half of the bowl in one go, and then took the chopsticks to pick up the vegetables. He was obviously very hungry, but Chu Ruozhuo took the chopsticks and stirred it in the porridge bowl, rather A little worried and didn't know what to say, it would be too ugly to ask him to pick up the porridge directly like Zhang Bai, and when he was hesitating, Xuan Xiaodong had already handed him a porcelain spoon from the side.

He took the spoon and looked up to see Xuan Xiaodong making a bowl of soup for him with a smile in his eyes. He couldn't help being very surprised at his thoughtfulness, nodded and said, "Thank you." Then he slowly lowered his head and started to drink the porridge with a porcelain spoon.

These vegetables are all freshly picked from the vegetable garden. Needless to say, they are fresh and refreshing. This Xuan Xiaodong obviously has some experience in cooking. Still green and pleasing, the bacon is salty and fragrant, the cucumber is hot and sour and crispy, and the corn porridge is very delicious. The pepper leaves in the soup are so tender that they melt in the mouth, and there is a hint of the unique slightly astringent fragrance of pepper leaves in the deliciousness.

Zhang Bai ate three big bowls of corn porridge in a row, and drank another big bowl of soup. He sweated profusely, but felt refreshed all over. Feeling a little envious of Xuan Xiaodong.

He couldn't help feeling: "We are tired from running around looking for food every day. It's not as comfortable as you grow your own food. The air here is good, and there is no pressure at all."

Xuan Xiaodong comforted him with a smile: "It's good to be self-sufficient, but in today's society, if you don't advance, you will retreat. If you don't think about progress, you will not accumulate. If you don't try your best to create a career when you are young, your children will suffer in the future."

The daughter of Zhang Bai’s family has just turned one year old, and this year they have been working hard to give their daughter a bright future. Hearing this, he immediately felt a sense of confidant: “That’s right! If it wasn’t for my daughter not to lose at the starting line, why would I fight so hard?” Fate! Let me tell you, bro, looking at you is more comfortable than me now, but in the future, when children go to school and adults go to the hospital when they are sick, these resources still have to go to big cities! You can’t be greedy for comfort when you are young! If you really lie flat, people will really step on it!"

Chu Ruozhuo frowned slightly, feeling that Zhang Bai was a little condescending and out of control when speaking. He glanced at Xuan Xiaodong, but unexpectedly, Xuan Xiaodong was not angry at all, but still had a smile on his face, as if he didn't care about Zhang Bai's words. Don't mind: "You're right." He had thick eyelashes, and there was no disapproval in his eyes, but he really had a good temper. He turned around and saw Chu Ruozhuo looking at him, and smiled amicably: "Mr. I've eaten?"

Chu Ruozhuo nodded and said, "Thank you." While stacking the bowls in front of him, Zhang Bai was a smart person, he hurriedly took them over and quickly put away the bowls: "I'll wash the dishes, I'll wash the dishes." Xuan Xiao Dong smiled and pressed the button: "Don't be too polite, you'd better go busy with your affairs, this matter is nothing."

After all Zhang Bai washed the dishes, Xuan Xiaodong didn't refuse, the two quickly left and went to the field to look around for a while, seeing the sunset, Chu Ruozhuo and Zhang Bai got into the car and wanted to go back to the city. Returning to the city and passing by the foot of the mountain before, Chu Ruozhuo suddenly said: "Drive the car over to the family who had dinner today."

Zhang Bai didn't understand what he meant, but he still drove the car to the door. Chu Ruozhuo got out of the car and took two cigarettes wrapped in newspaper and a bottle of wine from the trunk. He closed the wooden door and went back to the car.

Zhang Bai glanced at the green packaging, and said dumbfounded: "Panda, this is a special offering, authentic Nanyan, and Furong wine, which is not available in the market. I heard that it is brewed in the army and used Furong Mountain The spring water is actually made of grain, and it is not worth drinking. These are much more valuable than the meal we ate at noon. If you are afraid of being in debt, I will just buy a chicken later. I think that Xiaodong He doesn’t look like he smokes, so maybe he doesn’t know what to buy, what a waste.”

Chu Ruozhuo ignored him, only said: "Let's go."

Zhang Bai glanced regretfully at the thing next to the wooden door, and said while driving: "I don't know if he will, but it would be a pity if someone passing by took it away."

Chu Ruozhuo didn't speak much, Zhang Bai tsk-tsk for a while before he said, "Are you going back to Huanjing tomorrow? I heard it's Mr. Chu's birthday?"

Chu Ruozhuo nodded and said, "The field is up to you."

Zhang Bai patted his chest with a smile and said, "Don't worry! It will be fine! We will definitely see profits next year."