Four Foods in the Mountains

Eating in the front room at night, Lu Yunlang and Lu Yunchuan came back from work, Yao Chunling and Cen Ning were working in the kitchen, Brother Zhi was playing with a stray cat in the yard.

The two unloaded their work tools, washed their hands, and patted the ashes on their bodies with a damp cloth.

Lu Yunlang picked up Brother Zhi, smiled and asked, "Do you miss Daddy?"

"I want to!" Brother Zhi shook his head and said, kicking his feet again, "Daddy, please let me down." He also wanted to go underground to play with the kitten.

Lu Yunlang smiled and put him on the ground, and sat beside Lu Yunchuan and watched Brother Zhi stroking the kitten.

In the evening, Yao Chunling mixed vegetables with mixed vegetables and fried them with lard. It was very fragrant, and then fried the remaining meat with chili peppers, and made another pot of pumpkin porridge.

Lu Yunlang sat down on the wooden stool, looked at the table and said casually, "Have you eaten pumpkin porridge again?"

Yao Chunling was wiping Brother Zhi's hands when she heard the words and said forcefully: "There are so many pumpkins in the house, what would you eat if you don't eat pumpkins? If you don't want to eat them, don't eat them!"

Lu Yunlang was stunned, looked at Yao Chunling, then turned to look at Lu Yunchuan and Cen Ning, confused: "What, what's wrong? Are you unhappy today?"

Yao Chunling didn't speak, and took a bowl of porridge by herself.

Lu Yunchuan took a mouthful of steamed buns in his mouth and didn't dare to chew. He tilted his head and looked at Cen Ning suspiciously.

Cen Ning pursed his lips and shook his head slightly at him.

The hall was silent for a while.

Lu Yunlang scratched his head and asked tentatively: "Did something happen to you when you went to press the room today? Or is it that the one over there is not happy again?"

"Over there" refers to Wang Fengyu and Lu Dexing.

"Bang!" Yao Chunling slammed the bowl on the table, first softened her tone and said to Brother Zhi who was sitting next to her, "Good boy, the kitten is still here, you take the meat and go to the yard to feed the kitten, but Don't run out of the yard."

Brother Zhi was full from the egg custard ahead of time, and after hearing this, he happily took the bowl and went to the yard to look for the cat.

After Brother Zhi left, Yao Chunling said coldly what happened at Aunt Qian's house this afternoon.

She spoke angrily, and her face turned red after she finished speaking: "How can there be such a person in the world?! Saying such things in front of children, she is so thick-skinned? Baby kisses her A person opens his mouth and comes here, thinking he is something!"

After hearing this, Lu Yunlang and Lu Yunchuan's expressions became a little dark, brother Zhu and her sister-in-law said this out of proportion.

But it's not over yet, Yao Chunling gritted her teeth in hatred: "That shameless person, I'm already annoyed after hearing what she said, and I'm about to leave with Brother Zhi in my arms, and Brother Zhu also talked about her, but she He still held on to our Brother Zhi's hand, saying that it was because of the friendship between our two usual neighbors that he would open this mouth, otherwise, whichever house would be the first to pick a girl, and he would not want a brother. .”

"I also said that brother Zhi is beautiful, has a good temper, and is older than her son, and he will definitely be virtuous when he enters her house in the future. He can take good care of his husband and respect his parents-in-law—"

Yao Chunling didn't want to say even more disgusting things, and Li Shi also said that brother Zhi, who was raised with eggs and goat milk, would have good health in the future, and the children born would definitely be strong and beautiful.

Saying such words to two children who were only a few years old, Yao Chunling wanted to slap Li's face to death on the spot.

Lu Yunlang couldn't listen anymore, he patted the table and stood up, cursing: "Damn! That naughty woman's mouth is rotten, saying such nasty words to the child!"

"That bitch! Next time you try to bump into me again, I'll definitely tear her rotten mouth!" Although Yao Chunling has a bit of a hot temper, she rarely gets angry with others. Brother Zhi is her heart, and this time it's true He was so angry that the person sitting on the bench trembled a little.

"Our family almost raised Brother Zhi in his mouth. I pampered and pampered her so much. She would spray feces as soon as she opened her mouth! What kind of service is not serving, filial or not? Her son is only two years old. In his early years, the mother doesn't know how to accumulate virtue for him! Do you think his family is some kind of emperor who gave birth to a prince?"

Lu Yunlang's face was extremely ugly. He glanced at Brother Zhi who was feeding the kittens in the yard, and said in a deep voice, "Don't associate with his family anymore. We can't afford such a family!"

As he spoke, he seemed to realize that Cen Ning had a good time with Brother Zhu on weekdays, and it was inappropriate for him to say this in front of Cen Ning, so he was about to explain it to Cen Ning.

Cen Ning was the first to speak: "Brother Zhu is getting married, don't delay anything. Aunt Qian helped me and my sister-in-law a lot in the past. This afternoon I brought the eggs over there, and I will be Aunt Qian's old lady." In the future, everyone will live their own lives, and it is best for everyone in the neighborhood not to interfere with each other."

This afternoon, Mrs. Li made such a fuss, Yao Chunling pointed at her nose and yelled at her on the spot, Cen Ning suppressed her anger and didn't scold anyone, but after returning home, she took out a dozen or so of the eggs she had saved at home, and went to bed with her. Aunt Qian went to her house.

Aunt Qian came back from Sister Ru's house one step later, and when she entered her courtyard, she saw her daughter-in-law wiping her tears and crying, while Brother Zhu was angry at the side, and before she could ask clearly, Cen Ning came to the door with eggs.

Cen Ning has always been soft-hearted. Although the chestnut cake incident last time was the fault of Mrs. Li for wanting to be cheap, he still made a visit to ease the relationship.But this time, he was furious and his tone was cold.

"Aunt Qian, it just so happens that you're back, so I'll speak up if I have something to say." Cen Ning put down the egg and said, "In the past, you took good care of me and my sister-in-law, and we are not shameless people. I am grateful for these things. Take the eggs and nourish your body."

"As for other things..." Cen Ning glanced at Li Shi, who was standing beside him with an earthy face, "The friendship between neighbors is rare. We are all from the same village, so it's not too ugly. If there is less contact, it will naturally be fine." Less quarrels, in the future, it is better for our two families to move around less."

Aunt Qian was shocked when she heard this: "What, what's wrong? Ning'er, why did you say that suddenly?"

"Mother, don't worry about this matter." The brother Zhu at the side spoke up, and took the eggs that Cen Ning brought into his kitchen.

Cen Ning saw Brother Zhu's face softened a little, and said again, "Auntie, I embroidered two aprons for your grandson before. Now that I think about it, it is really inappropriate, if people misunderstand something because of this, then my crime is serious. If so, please return the two bellybands to me, Auntie."

Aunt Qian was so shocked by Cen Ning's words that she couldn't react, and Li Shi who was on the side jumped first: "I really misjudged you! I thought your family was so sensible, but I didn't expect it to be a family of barbarians! It’s okay to run on us adults, but now even the children have made up their minds, and even want to ask for a bellyband, you are too embarrassed!”

"I made the cloth and colored threads, and I embroidered the patterns. I have never received a copper coin from you, sister-in-law. Why should I be embarrassed?" Cen Ning looked at Mrs. Li and said slowly, "Still Yes, it's not me who put my mind on the child, but you."

"What the hell is going on! What did you do while I was away?" Aunt Qian was still in the dark, but seeing that Cen Ning would be so merciless, she turned her head and questioned Li in a hurry.

There was a lot of noise here, while Brother Zhu went to Li's room alone, and found two bellybands from the cabinet.

Sitting in the yard, Sen boy was a little scared when he heard his mother and grandma quarreling, but because he held a plate of snacks in his arms, he didn't cry when he was eating snacks, but he saw Zhuge'er holding his last snack in his hand. The two favorite bellybands came out to be given to others, so she quickly put aside the snacks and ran over: "Ahh... mine..."

"Let your mother embroider for you later." Brother Zhu dropped a sentence.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Cen Ning couldn't bear to see Kid Sen crying. After all, the child was innocent, and this incident shouldn't have involved Kid Sen. He didn't come here to ask for these two bellybands because he was stingy.

At the beginning, Mrs. Li was in a hurry to ask him for a bellyband, saying that the weather was a bit cold, and she wanted to put it on for Brother Sen as soon as possible.

During that time, he was busy picking up the melons and fruits in the vegetable garden, and was busy delivering handkerchiefs to the shops in the town, so he embroidered two pieces directly with the pattern of Brother Zhi'er's bellyband.

It was originally for the children to wear, so there is no need to be so particular about it, but today, Mrs. Li's words are really bad, and she is afraid that she will become angry and go around talking about the apron, and turn around and say what is wrong with her family. Cen Ning can only be ruthless. I am determined to get this bellyband back.

The yard was filled with shouts from adults mixed with children's cries. Brother Zhu handed the bellyband to Cen Ning, and after getting closer, he whispered, "Don't pay attention to them, you should go back quickly. I'm sorry about this matter today." You guys, please apologize to sister-in-law Chunling and me, and I will go find you secretly again another day."

After hearing this, Cen Ning had no choice but to turn around and leave with his things.

It was night, and in the courtyard of Aunt Qian's house, only the main room was lit with lights.

In the room, Mori was still buried in Li's arms and sobbing, his eyes were pitifully red and swollen.

While coaxing her son distressedly, Mrs. Li wiped away her tears, sat on the kang and turned her back to the other people in the room.

Aunt Qian looked at Mrs. Li angrily: "You are still annoyed, what is there to be annoyed about?! Look at what you did today!"

Mrs. Li was quite unconvinced, and contradicted: "Mother, you let me have a good relationship with the Lu family to keep our friendship. I also see that Brother Zhi is well-behaved. I thought you once said that the eldest daughter-in-law of the village chief's family has a good relationship with Brother Zhi." This thought opened the mouth."

Mrs. Li muttered: "Since she can even fall in love with her, it means that Brother Zhi will be in demand in the future. I helped the family settle down early, and it is also for the good of the family. The bond of getting married is no better than that of Brother Zhu. It is much better to give small favors to his family on weekdays."

"What are you talking about!" Brother Zhu was about to scold, but was interrupted by Aunt Qian's angry reprimand.

"I thought you were just a little bit greedy and cautious, and the place next to it is still good, but now I see that you are the most stupid!" Aunt Qian pointed at Li Shi and cursed, "Zhu Shi has taken a fancy to Zhi Zhi Brother, you can see that she ran to the Lu family to propose? Since the village head's family doesn't have the face to mention the matter of the baby, where do you have the face! Keep your mouth shut and want Brother Zhi to come to your house to serve you filial piety? !"

Since Mrs. Li married into the Qian family, it was the first time that her mother-in-law pointed her nose and scolded her like this. She was so wronged and cried, "Why am I shameless? Could it be that I am shorter than her by a head? The village chief's family is Fengyu, But there are so many children and grandchildren in his family, how many can his father divide after dividing up the family? Mrs. Zhu is now wearing gold and silver, so look at it in the days to come!"

"Our family has a house and a field, and there is only one man named Qian Da in the family. Besides, when Kid Mori was born, who would not boast of his intelligence? They say that after looking at his face, he will go to school and get rich and famous. Isn't it worthy of him? Is he a younger brother from the Lu family? If you want me to say, his family is the best!"

Li shi cried hoarsely as she spoke, half sobbing in Qian Da's arms.

Seeing his daughter-in-law like this, Qian Da couldn't bear it, so he opened his mouth and said, "Mother, you too, for the sake of the whole family, outsiders turn around and say that it's the daughter-in-law's grandson, isn't this turning your elbows away?"

Seeing her son and daughter-in-law like this, Aunt Qian felt cold, shook her head and said, "It's my fault, I gave birth to a lifeless wife, and I thought it would be safe to marry a daughter-in-law who can manage the house. It's stupid."

Qian Daheng raised his eyebrows: "Mom, what are you talking about! Are you crazy to talk about your own son?"

Qian Da, who had been silent all this time, slapped the table heavily. Qian Da was afraid of his father, knowing that he had slipped his words just now, so he shut his mouth embarrassingly.

Aunt Qian's heart was half cold, and she said in a cold voice: "Our family's six acres of land, every time the farming is busy, have you seriously cut one of the acres? I am so tired that I am half dead, and my son is happy on the sidelines. Do you really think No one in the village talked about our family, no one gossips about you! Our family can still have a meal now, all thanks to your father working hard in the field for a long time, when your father and I die, you How are you going to fill the stomachs of yourself and your wife and son?!"

Qian Da was ashamed and annoyed when he heard this, and felt that he had lost face in front of his wife and younger brother, but what Aunt Qian said was true, so he could only hold his head and bear it while panting heavily.

"Why do I get close to the Lu family? That's because I can see that the Lu family brothers are down-to-earth people. I helped to form a relationship between the two families. If there is anything I can ask them to help in the future, I am so It's not for you!"

Qian Da curled his lips and muttered: "It would be nice if the conditions of the Lu family can take care of themselves. How can we help us? Besides, why do we need help from outsiders? When Brother Zhu and Wu Erhe get married, we and the Wu family will be the same. In-laws, why worry about food and clothing?"

"Don't think about it!" Aunt Qian stood up angrily, and said in a deep voice, "Your father and I have worked hard for you all our lives. We gave birth to you, and we deserve it, but don't think about playing with Brother Zhu! You If you want to use Brother Zhu to embezzle the Wu family's wealth, let me tell you, you should stop thinking about it as soon as possible, there is no way!"

Qian Da's mind was punctured, Huo De stood up and said: "Which family's girl and brother are not thinking about their mother's family after they marry into their husband's family? Why can't Brother Zhu make it? I am his own brother, and boy Sen is his." Dear nephew, why can't he help us?"

Aunt Qian sneered and said, "Yeah, this is your daughter-in-law's job. After marrying in for so many years, I don't know how much she has subsidized her mother's family with our family's food and money! If my wife hadn't died, the family would probably have died." Evacuated by her!"

Li's heart was guilty, and when she heard the words, she suppressed her anger and dared not make a sound.

Brother Zhu snorted coldly at the side: "Help? How do you want me to help? I have been engaged to Wu Erhe for the past two years, every time I go to their house to kill pigs, you run over after smelling the smell, and pick up the meat again and again. When you came back from the water with the pig, your mother took the money and told you to give it to others. After you took the money, did you ever give the Wu family a copper coin? Sen was born, and Wu Erhe's mother and his sister-in-law came to see him with a heavy gift. What did the sister-in-law do? In front of the Wu family, I said that I want to eat meat and want to drink pork rib soup, so I almost reached out and asked for it!"

Brother Zhu said, with contempt in his heart, "I thought you were just greedy for cheap things, but now that you think about it, you couple are really shameless!"

"You fart!"

"Why are you talking to your brother!"

Qian Da and Mrs. Li were very angry after being scolded by Aunt Qian all night, but they couldn't really do anything to their old lady.

At this moment, Brother Zhu opened his mouth, and the couple found a place to vent their anger, shouting and about to rush towards Brother Zhu.

"It's against you!" With a loud bang, Father Qian almost made a hole in the table, and Father Qian sternly said, "If you have the ability to beat your brother, why don't we divide the family, your mother and I will live alone for the rest of our lives." Pass!"

As soon as these words came out, Qian Da and Li Shi didn't dare to speak anymore.

It's a joke, if the family is really divided, who will plant so many lands?Who will help Mr. Sen?Are you going to exhaust the two of them to death?

The main room was silent for a long time, Aunt Qian sighed, clutched her chest and went back to the room, and Father Qian followed behind with a sullen face.

"Hey—" Mrs. Li raised her head and wanted to call Aunt Qian, but was stopped by Qian Da: "The trouble has become like this, what do you want to do?"

Mrs. Li stared and said: "Your mother has gone back to the house, who will take Sen boy to sleep?!"

Now that it's cold, the child is noisy in the middle of the night, and it's hard to get up to comfort him, so when the weather is cold, Aunt Qian always takes Sen to sleep at night.

Seeing that her mother-in-law left Son Sen and went back to the house by herself, the boss Li was not happy: "Your mother is showing us embarrassment."

Brother Zhu heard his brother and sister-in-law's conversation at the side, and laughed in his heart, saying that his family was blessed, so it turned out that it was such a blessed method.

No one knew what happened to the Qian family that night, only the next door heard the movement, and the next day they gathered at the entrance of the village to talk a few words, guessing that Qian was lazy again, and was scolded by Aunt Qian.

Two days later, someone saw Aunt Qian carrying a bamboo basket to Wu's house. The basket was covered with a cloth, and they didn't know what was inside. hanging money.

Life went on as usual, Lu Yunchuan and Lu Yunlang finished helping people build houses, and each settled 350 yuan.

After finishing the work, we have to go to the mountain to cut firewood. In winter, it is almost a day. As long as it snows in the mountains, it will be difficult to melt. We have to prepare everything that needs to be prepared before the snow falls.

Every day at dawn, Lu Yunchuan carried his dry food and carried his stuff up the mountain. It was troublesome to go up and down the mountain. He ate some pancakes on the mountain at noon, and went back home when it was dark.

Cen Ning is skillful, even though it is pancakes, he also makes them in different ways every day, such as mille-feuille pancakes, scallion pancakes, sesame pancakes, pumpkin pancakes...

Every time Lu Yunchuan saw him coming out of the kitchen, he would smile and ask, "What kind of cake is it today?"

Cen Ning put the wrapped cake and water bottle into the basket for him, and pushed him out with a smile: "Guess for yourself."

As soon as Lu Yunchuan went out, Cen Ning should be busy sewing cotton clothes for him.Cotton clothes, cotton trousers, and cotton shoes, Cen Ning prepared Lu Yunchuan's whole body well.

In the blink of an eye, it was Frost's Descent, and early in the morning, Cen Ning went to the backyard to pull out two radishes.

Lu Yunchuan came out from the back room and saw it, and asked, "Have you pulled out the carrots now?"

Cen Ning cut up the radish bye, put the radish into the water to wash off the dirt: "Today the Wu family slaughtered pigs, I want to buy some pork belly, I just want to stew the radishes, and the leftover radishes in the field will be colder later." Pickle it together with cabbage and eat it as side dishes.”

After wiping his hands, Cen Ning turned around and saw that Lu Yunchuan's clothes were wrinkled, he stepped forward and smoothed them out: "Come back early today, I'll make some soup."

"Okay." Lu Yunchuan responded with a smile.

Butchering pigs is a lively event, and everyone in the village wants to watch it, but Cen Ning is afraid of watching these things, and since childhood, his father and brothers have avoided him when handling prey.

He waited until almost all the pigs had been killed, scalded, and cut before he touched the copper plate and carried the basket to Wu's house.

It's so hard not to go to the town to have fresh meat to eat, and it's almost winter. This time, many people in the pig-killing village want to come to cut some pork, and the courtyard of the Wu family is very lively.

"Auntie, are you here to buy meat too?"

"Ah, it's getting cold, come and cut some fresh meat and stew vermicelli at home."

"I'll buy a pig's trotter, and make a soy stewed pig's trotter to warm up."

……

In front of the butcher's stall stood Wu Erhe and his brother and younger sister.

Wu Erhe is a dull gourd, he can't speak a few words a day, but he knows that Brother Zhu and Cen Ning are having a good time, and when he sees Cen Ning, he immediately greets him: "Brother Ning, which piece of meat do you want to cut?"

Cen Ning came forward with a basket on his shoulders, and said with a smile, "I want to buy pork belly to make soup." He also passed a piece of cloth, which was used to wrap the meat.

Pig offal such as pork belly, pig large intestine, and pig heart are generally not sold on the surface of the Wu family. Unless someone orders them to buy them, they will be stewed and eaten by themselves.

Wu Erhe neatly wrapped the pork belly and handed it to Cen Ning, but when Cen Ning gave the money, he waved his hand quickly: "It doesn't cost any money to put the pig in the water, we cook and eat it ourselves, you just take it."

"How can this be done? Take it quickly."

At the end of the two people's tugging, Cen Ning was impatient: "Then, I don't want pork belly anymore, I'll cut ribs to eat, you should charge for it!"

Wu Erhe scratched his head in a hurry, but his younger sister Wu Xiaoxi, who was helping by the side, couldn't stand it any longer, and said to Cen Ning, "Aunt Ning, my brother actually wants you to help him see Brother Zhu."

Cen Ning was taken aback: "Look at Brother Zhu?"

"Yeah." Wu Xiaoxi glanced helplessly at her brother and continued, "Aunt Qian came to my house last time, I can't say what happened specifically, but my brother is afraid that Brother Zhu is in a bad mood, so I want you to help , go and see Brother Zhu, he is too embarrassed to go by himself."

As he said that, he scolded her brother angrily: "He's such a good-for-nothing guy."

When Cen Ning was about to speak, a clear voice sounded behind him: "Why are you embarrassed?"

The three of them looked over and saw that Brother Zhu was wearing a blue padded jacket today, and his hair was tied with a headband, which looked a bit more neat than usual.

With a basket on his right arm, he walked over to Cen Ning and put the basket on the table, looked up at Wu Erhe and said, "What are you looking at me for? Cutting flesh."