Defeat natural disasters with farming

Not long after the tax officials left, it snowed again. Although it stopped soon, the temperature still didn’t rise, and it even got lower day by day. How low was it? The scalding hot water condenses into a layer of ice as soon as it touches the ground, so strong that people can even stand on it.

Therefore, the Ye family did not dare to go out at all, and Ye's father didn't want to open a shop anymore. It was better to stay at home in such a cold day. As for Ye He, he couldn't leave.

Fortunately, Master Wu came to Yejiacun specially, and said that he would escort a batch of goods for the Xinglong Escort, so that Ye He didn't have to go to the martial arts hall for the time being, as long as he remembered to practice martial arts on time at home, he also brought several packs of medicinal baths For the medicinal materials needed, Ye He was instructed to soak them every two or three days.

Holding the medicinal materials, Ye He reluctantly watched his master and senior brother leave, "I also want to go darts with the master."

"Okay, come back quickly, don't look at how old you are now, following them is equivalent to a burden, it's better to listen to your master and practice martial arts on time."

Mrs. Ye rolled her eyes and called him back, "Come quickly and help me knead the dough."

Needless to say, the noodles Ye He kneaded after practicing martial arts are strong and flexible, suitable for making buns or making noodles.

When Ye He heard this, he first ran back to the house to put down the medicine bag, and then came out to help his mother knead the dough.

While kneading, he asked, "Mom, what are we doing with the noodles today?"

"To make steamed buns, where is your milk and stuffing? There are two kinds, sauerkraut vermicelli stuffing and peanut brown sugar stuffing. Next, you children will have something to eat." Mrs. Ye said while rolling the dough. stop.

"Brown sugar? We still have brown sugar at home." Ye He suddenly became excited. He licked the corner of his mouth and said, "I like eating sugar triangles the most."

Mrs. Ye replied: "There is not much left. This is the New Year's gift from his father when the son of the Shen family paid your third uncle New Year's greetings last year. After eating for a whole year, there is only a little left."

Brown sugar is a precious thing. The women in the family like to drink a cup of brown sugar water every month when they have menstruation. They always feel that they don’t feel so uncomfortable after drinking a cup. about there.

Mother Ye heard Mrs. Ye's words, thought for a while and said, "Let Bao Ge'er and his father go to the county town to find out if they can buy some more brown sugar."

Mrs. Ye was both moved and hesitated when she heard the words, before she spoke after a while: "Would it be too much trouble?"

"What's the matter, it's just buying brown sugar. It's something that everyone in our family likes, and it's not just for one person." Ye Mu waved her hand and said, "I also want to buy some extra honey. Brother Bao recently went to bed before going to bed. I am used to drinking a glass of honey water, and I see that there is only one bottom left in the honey jar."

Honey water is helpful for sleep and has a very good calming effect. It is very suitable for people who have dreams at night. Ye Yu is just used to drinking it. As for the effect, I can't feel it. I can only say that it is better than nothing.

"But according to the temperature outside, it seems that there are no bees collecting honey. Let's wait until spring."

The second sister-in-law Ye interjected when she heard this, "Let my parents go to the mountains in spring to have a look. There are a few beehives that should have honey."

After a few people chatted for a while, the dough in their hands gradually took shape, and then they only needed to put the noodles and basin on the kang head, and it fermented successfully after only a short meeting.

Mother Ye rolled the fermented dough into strips and cut them into small pieces. The rest of the work was handed over to Aunt Ye and Aunt Ye. Both of them were good at making buns. The white and fat buns appeared on the curtain.

Accompanied by two large baskets of sauerkraut steamed buns and sugar triangles, the noodle soup made by Mrs. Ye is also ready. It is really a pleasure to have a steaming meal in the cold weather.

Ye Yu bit the sharp corner of the sugar triangle, and the brown sugar filling inside flowed out immediately, his mouth was full of sweetness, and the peanuts were not particularly ground, it tasted grainy, especially sweet.

Halfway through eating, Ye Lao Er took a sip of the noodle soup and said, "We don't have much firewood left. We have to go to the mountain to cut it again tomorrow."

They have a lot of families and they don't live together, so they burn a lot of kangs, and the firewood is used up very quickly. The firewood hoarded by the other people can last until the spring, so their family can't do it anymore. Stock up.

Father Ye put down his chopsticks and responded, "See what the weather will be like tomorrow. If it doesn't snow, the three of us will go up the mountain together and try to cut more firewood."

"Hopefully the weather will be fine."

The next day was indeed as they hoped, it was a fine and sunny day, the sun was hanging in the sky, although the temperature didn't rise, but it was warm and warm when it shone on people.

After the three of them bid farewell to their family members, they walked up the mountain armed with baskets on their backs. Halfway there, they suddenly met Ye Mingde. Judging from the direction he was heading, it seemed that they were also going to Songshan Mountain.

So Father Ye called him, "How do you go up the mountain in such a cold day?"

Ye Mingde turned his head and saw them stop immediately, and waited for them to catch up before replying: "My cousin doesn't have much firewood left at home, so I might as well come out and chop some firewood."

"Good boy." Boss Ye couldn't help but reached out and patted him on the shoulder, "Let's go, let's go together."

Ye Mingde smiled shyly, and quickened his pace to follow.

The temperature in the forest is much lower than outside, and the snow beside the tree stump has not yet melted, and there are still strings of ice hanging on the treetops, making the tall and straight trees even more straight.

Father Ye told Ye Mingde as he walked, "Be careful, if you are hit by an ice hanging, you will see blood at least, or die at worst."

Ye Mingde listened carefully and nodded repeatedly.

The road on the mountain was really difficult to walk. The four of them lined up and did not go too far. They stopped when they saw the red pine. They took out hatchets from the baskets behind them and began to strike at the branches. Firewood will never slash the whole tree, it is tiring and strenuous, it is better to cut the branches.

Although several of them are veterans of work, they still underestimated the current temperature. It hadn't been long since they were chopping, and they were too cold to bear. Boss Ye put down the chopping knife and rubbed his hands. When he was talking, he exhaled The white air formed a thin layer of ice on the eyebrows.

"How can it be so cold? It wasn't so difficult to cut firewood the last two times."

"What else can it be because it's cold."

Ye Laoer sighed, and said in great confusion: "I don't know what's going on with the weather this year? If it continues to be so cold, many people will freeze to death in one winter."

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding immediately became quiet, and several people began to be absent-minded even at work.

Seeing this, Ye Mingde said, "The imperial court can't just leave us alone."

This is not necessarily the case. Father Ye thought that the imperial court might not be able to control the insect plague in the south. Moreover, it was not just that extra taxes were collected. It is estimated that in the eyes of the court, it is because the weather is a bit cold, so it is not worth sending people to relieve the disaster.

But he didn't say that, just shook his head and changed the subject, "Don't think about it so much, cut the firewood quickly, and you can go home early when you finish chopping."

The few remaining people stopped talking after hearing Father Ye's words, and swung their knives to chop the branches. When they were almost cut, they tied the branches with hemp rope and put them aside. In the end, there were eight bundles of branches neatly placed around them. .

By this time, everyone couldn't bear it any longer. It was too cold, and the exposed skin was turning blue from the cold. Fearing that something might happen, Father Ye stopped in time and asked them to carry the firewood down the mountain together.

No one spoke on the road, they were all exhausted, and even Ye Laoer, who had the best physical strength, was out of breath.

When passing by Dongpo, Boss Ye's ears moved. He turned his head and looked to the right, only to see a tan shadow suddenly jumping out of the white snow.

He quickly asked: "Second brother, do you think that is a big leaf?"

Ye Laoer's eyes were good, and he took a closer look and sure enough, he immediately put down the firewood he was carrying on his shoulders, and ran over with the basket on his back, "It seems to be, I saw that it was injured, it can't run fast, it should be able to catch it arrive."

Seeing him running away, Father Ye frowned slightly, and felt a little worried, so he simply stopped waiting and told his brother to watch Ye Mingde and a few bundles of firewood, and then followed him.

Boss Ye who was standing there opened his mouth twice, closed his mouth only when he saw Ye Mingde, and said to him, "Don't be afraid, let's rest here for a while."

Ye Mingde nodded, and then the two looked at the direction Father Ye and the others left.

They didn't wait very long, and after about a quarter of an hour, the two of them saw Father Ye who was in high spirits.

Ye Laoer ran over excitedly, he was steaming from top to bottom, he looked as if he was about to melt.

He lifted up the basket and showed it, "Look, it really is a big leaf, and the third child and I also caught a silly roe deer."

When it comes to the silly roe deer, I really want to laugh, "This stupid roe deer was frightened and buried himself in a snow cave." Let them catch it without any effort.

"Our family hasn't eaten roe deer meat for a long time, and today the children are lucky."

Father Ye followed up to catch his breath, and then urged: "Okay, hurry home."

As soon as he returned to the village, Ye's father said to Ye Mingde again: "You are still keeping your filial piety, so you can't touch meat. How about this? After a while, the roe deer meat is ready, and I will send a bowl to Ye Tongsheng."

Ye Mingde shook his head quickly when he heard the words, and refused: "No need, uncle, I didn't catch this stupid roe deer, on the contrary, I should thank you for taking me to chop firewood."

But Father Ye was still very firm, "Whoever sees it has a share."

Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Ye Mingde accepted it, thinking that the roe deer meat could be eaten by his two cousins.

After saying goodbye, several people went home separately.

Mother Ye had been waiting for Father Ye's return in the main room early, she was very worried, so she didn't take the work seriously, and didn't make a patch for a long time.

She didn't rush to greet him until she heard the sound of the door opening. She took the basket from Father Ye's back, saw the bruises on the back of his hand, and felt distressed, "Come inside to warm up."

Father Ye patted Mother Ye on the arm to reassure her.

As soon as Ye Laoer who followed behind unloaded the firewood, he yelled at his mother: "Mother, come and see what I caught."

Mrs. Ye walked over slowly, stretched her head to look, and was immediately happy, "Oh, this silly roe deer looks really heavy, it must weigh more than 50 catties."

"That's not it! You look at it again."

"Hey, there's a big leaf here." Mrs. Ye looked inside again, and suddenly laughed. She reached out her hand to touch the thick fur, and said happily, "It looks like it's enough to make a vest."

Ye Yu looked into the basket curiously. The so-called big leaves turned out to be sables. Mink fur is extremely rare, and the more complete it is, the higher the price.

Ye Laoer poured a bowl of tea to warm his hands, then smiled and said: "No, it's just right to make a vest for Brother Bao, and the roe deer skin is also very warm after tanning."

Mrs. Ye nodded and replied, "We won't sell it, we will keep it for ourselves."

After a while, she began to skin the sables and silly roe deer with her daughters-in-law. This job was not easy but not difficult, and more careful.

Mother Ye cut a hole in the lower abdomen of the sable with a knife, and peeled off the whole skin along the dividing line between long and short hairs until the skin and flesh were separated.

The peeled fur is put aside to wipe the snow, and then covered with a layer of plant ash. After careful rubbing, the grease and blood attached to the fur can be removed, and then it can be hung on the clothes rail to dry. up.

The same goes for roe deer skin.

But this is only the first step. Next, you need to prepare a tanning solution with plants, such as tea leaves and larch bark, etc., add water and boil until it boils, and then apply it on the hairless part of the sable skin after the tanning solution drops to normal temperature. side.

After some processes such as rubbing and beating, the tanned fur will become soft and smooth.

Of course, that was half a month later.

"Sable meat is not tasty, but roe deer meat is delicious. You only need to roast it a little bit, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper, and it will taste very delicious." Mrs. Ye happily shared it with them.

Mother Ye first chopped mink meat and steamed it for millet.

Then she hollowed out the internal organs of the roe deer, cleaned them, cut them in half, stored half of them in the yard, and hung the other half on the stove to roast. The meat of the roasted roe deer gradually dripped with oil, and the tempting aroma of the oil attracted Ye Yu's children to poke their heads over one after another.

Before the meal, Ye's father specially cut up a large bowl of meat and sent it to Ye Tongsheng. When he came back, Mrs. Ye brought the roe deer meat to the table.

Ye Yu sat on the kang table and swallowed his saliva. He saw the fat and thin roe deer meat roasted until it was scorched and oily. He felt a burst of satisfaction as soon as he took a bite. Roe deer is originally an animal of the deer family, so the taste of the meat is very similar to that of venison. Similarly, the meat has a very strong aroma, and the outer skin has a little bit of burnt aroma, but the inside is extremely tender, and even the delicious gravy bursts out in the mouth when you bite it down.

"Delicious!" Ye He's mouth was so full that he couldn't even speak clearly.

"Eat more if it tastes good." Mrs. Ye picked up a chopstick of cabbage for him.

In the end, more than 20 catties of roe deer meat were eaten by them in one meal.

Ye Yu couldn't bear it anymore, and rubbed his stomach all night, but this was considered a burden of happiness, because he ate very satisfyingly.