Ba Zong's rural life [farming]

After the winter solstice, every household in the village began to prepare for the New Year, such as sausage, bacon, preserved duck, dried fish, dried bamboo shoots, dried sweet potatoes, and local special snacks.

Just during this period of time, the weather is sunny and suitable for drying, and the stoves of every household have not rested, cooking this and that, and frying this and that, so busy.

Ruan Xishi also planned to make some sausages, so he used the money he earned from selling chili peppers last week to buy a few catties of lean meat and powdered sausages to make sausages.

The pork needs to be sliced, marinated in oil and salt sauce, then poured into the cleaned vermicelli, and the vermicelli is filled, about ten centimeters, and tied with a rope, so that it can be cut into sections for preservation or steamed for eating later.

Lu Ze was at home, so he was the one who cut the pork. It was not easy to cut a few catties of pork. Lu Ze got up in the morning and had breakfast, and then he stood in front of the chopping board and cut the pork until Ruan Xi came home from class at noon. There's still a little bit left unfinished.

Ruan Xishi put away her things and went over to watch him cut pork. As soon as she got close to Lu Ze, she elbowed him away and said in disgust, "I smell like pork all over me, don't get too close."

Seeing his aggrieved look, Ruan Xishi couldn't help laughing and said, "I don't despise you, so let me rely on you."

Lu Ze sniffed his arm, his nose was blocked by the fishy smell of pork, he couldn't smell anything, and said dejectedly, "I despise myself."

Ruan Xishi patted his back comfortingly, and coaxed: "Why don't you take a rest and I'll cut it?"

Lu Ze didn't let him take the knife in his hand, and sent him to say, "I'll do it, there's no need to make both of you smell like pork, you can cook."

Ruan Xishi went to wash the pot and wash the rice with a smile, then leaned out half of her body and asked Lu Ze, "What do you want for lunch?"

Lu Ze looked at the pork on the chopping board, frowned slightly, and replied, "Anyway, I don't want to eat pork. I don't think I want to see pork anymore."

Ruan Xishi stuck out her tongue, and muttered in a low voice: "Is that an exaggeration? In the past, grandpa rarely had money to buy pork and eat it. I can smell it for days. Let's have tomato scrambled eggs at noon." , Just now I met Aunt Niu at the stadium, she gave me several tomatoes, then fried lettuce and cooked lettuce leaf soup."

Before eating, Lu Ze finally finished cutting all the pork. He put down the kitchen knife and felt that his hands were going numb, so he shook them and hurried to wash his hands.

He rubbed his hands with a lot of dishwashing liquid, and after washing them a few times, he didn't feel clean, as if the smell seemed to seep into his nails, lingering.

Lu Ze was washing and washing, and he felt dumbfounded. In the past, he would never have imagined that he would be like a half-pig butcher. If his mother saw it, she might despise him to death.

Ruan Xishi came out of the kitchen with the dishes, saw that he was still washing his hands, and felt amused for a while. When he came out, he brought a pot of hot water and poured it into the basin for him to wash with hot water.

Hot water can dissolve lard, so Lu Ze soaked his hands in hot water for a while, and then wiped them off with the towel Ruan Xishi handed over, only then did he feel that it was not as unbearable as before.

The lunch is simple, not as big as the banquet at home two days ago, but they have been eating the leftovers from the banquet for the past two days, and they feel tired after eating too much. Today, they changed to a few light dishes. I also think it suits the taste.

After dinner, Ruan Xishi asked Lu Ze to wash the dishes, brought out the big pot of pork, poured a small pot of peanut oil, half a bag of salt, half a bottle of soy sauce and half a pot of soy sauce into it, and took the chopsticks Stir until each piece of pork is evenly flavored, then cover and marinate until overnight before pouring into the sausage.

When they were cooking in the evening, Aunt Li came knocking on the door and asked Ruan Xishi how much rice flower she wanted this year, so that she would know how much glutinous rice she wanted to steam tonight.

When Ruan Xishi heard it, she was surprised and said, "Are you going to make rice crackers now?"

Aunt Li smiled and said to him with an expression of "you kid doesn't understand anything", "If you don't do it, you won't be able to dry it in a few days if the weather is bad. It's only one and a half months away from the Chinese New Year."

After Ruan Xi reminded her like this, he realized that the Chinese New Year was coming soon. While lamenting how quickly the time passed, he thought about the question Aunt Li gave him.

Rice flower is the most popular local New Year's product, and it is a must-have for every household during the New Year, whether it is eating during the New Year, offering to ancestors, entertaining guests, or visiting relatives to give gifts.And this thing is not like the rice crackers that are mass-produced and packaged by outside manufacturers. It is a special product only during the Chinese New Year. A lot of labor is required.

As long as Ruan Xishi can remember, the rice crackers in their family are made together with Aunt Li's family, because there are only two people in their family, and apart from him, a child who can't do anything, only grandpa can make rice crackers. There are many processes in making rice crackers , every step is very troublesome, and one person cannot do it.

It’s just that grandpa is gone this year, and Aunt Li still remembers to ask if they want to make rice crackers. Ruan Xishi was moved and said to Aunt Li: “I want six, it’s enough. There are only me and Brother Lu Ze in the family, and I can’t eat it.” How much, how much glutinous rice you used when you saw it, I will turn it into money and return it to you."

Aunt Li said: "Hey, it doesn't matter how many catties of glutinous rice can be used for six rice flowers. Let's just say that, I will soak the glutinous rice tonight and steam it tomorrow morning. It will be ready when the sun comes out." Let it hang out when it’s done, and wait until the sugar is dry… Forget it, I might as well wait for me to fry it and then bring it to you, so as to save you from wasting oil.”

Ruan Xishi quickly thanked: "Then trouble Aunt Li, what time will I do it tomorrow, I'll go over and help."

Aunt Li smiled and said, "What can you do to help? Your grandfather never asked you to do it when you grow up so old, will you?"

Ruan Xishi blushed and said embarrassingly: "I can learn from you and do it now."

Aunt Li waved her hand and said, "Come on, it's rare for you to rest tomorrow weekend, so you'd better sleep peacefully. Aunt Li and a few other aunts will do it together, it will be soon."

Ruan Xishi was really embarrassed to sit back and reap the rewards, so she reduced her blessings and said, "I'll go and help you light the fire. I can go back to sleep after I finish my sleep."

Aunt Li couldn't resist him, so she had to say: "Then you can figure it out, if you can get up, go there, if you can't get up, forget it, and you won't need a hand."

Aunt Li discussed with him about making rice crackers tomorrow and went home for dinner. After Lu Ze cooked the last dish, he asked curiously when eating with Ruan Xishi: "What were you discussing with Aunt Li just now? It seems to be about food. ?”

Ruan Xishi glanced at him with a smile, and said, "Aunt Li asked me if I wanted to make special products this year, and she helped me make some, and I said that I would go to her house to help tomorrow morning."

As soon as Lu Ze heard that he wanted to help, he said positively, "Then I will help too."

Ruan Xishi didn't agree very much: "You have to get up early, you have to get up at three or four o'clock."

Lu Ze said, "Then let's go to bed early tonight."

Ruan Xishi sighed and said, "You forgot that we are going to stuff sausages tonight."

Hearing this, Lu Ze thought of the smell of pork this morning, and almost lost his appetite for dinner.

So Ruan Xishi sent him to clean up the bowls and chopsticks to boil water for a bath, while he sat in the kitchen with a pot of marinated pork and a pot of sausage in front of him. The meat is stuffed in through the big opening, and poured into the powder sausage bit by bit.

After Lu Ze took a shower, he couldn't help but come in to take a look. Seeing that Ruan Xishi stuffed the sausages very interestingly, he wanted to follow along, but was pushed aside by Ruan Xishi.

"You just took a shower, don't get dirty again, I'll just do it myself."

Lu Ze huddled in a corner of the kitchen aggrieved, staring intently at the movements of Ruan Xishi's hands with sad and longing eyes.

There are quite a lot of sausages stuffed with a few catties of meat. There are as many sausages as three strings of more than one meter long. After drying, they can be eaten for a long time.

Ruan Xishi used a rope to tie knots on the sausages, hung them on the prepared bamboo poles, and asked Lu Ze to help them hang them on the hooks in the corridor, so as to dry them and prevent Xiaohui from stealing them.

After finishing everything, it was already ten o'clock in the evening when Ruan Xishi took a shower and went to bed.

Lu Ze was thinking about getting up early tomorrow to go to Aunt Li's house to make rice crackers. As soon as he lay down, he hugged Ruan Xishi in his arms, patted Ruan Xishi's back, and coaxed him, "Go to sleep, baby, or you won't be able to get up."

Ruan Xishi found a comfortable position in his arms, rubbed it twice and fell asleep.

Lu Ze has a strong sense of time. When he plans to get up before going to bed, he will definitely wake up around the same time.He opened his eyes when he heard the first cock crow, the room was still dark, he couldn't see his fingers, and he didn't know what time it was.

He let go of Ruan Xishi who was still sleeping in his arms, got up and turned on the light and went out to look at the clock. At exactly 03:30, he yawned, fetched a pot of water from outside and boiled it, then went into the room to change clothes and called Ruan Xishi to get up.

Ruan Xishi rubbed her sleepy eyes, obediently put on her shoes and got out of bed to change clothes, the two of them washed their faces with hot water, then closed the door and walked to Aunt Li's house in the dark.

It’s still dark at this time, and most of the people in the village are still sleeping with their lights off, and some people’s homes have already turned on their lights for activities, so they must be busy with something.

When I went to Aunt Li's house, the door of Aunt Li's house was ajar, and through the gap, I could see the bright lights inside, and many people were chatting.

It should start making rice crackers, Ruan Xishi thought so, then opened the door openly and went in, and called Aunt Li in the direction of the kitchen.

It was not Aunt Li who responded to him, but a few aunts from other families. It seems that there are quite a few families who have partnered with Aunt Li to make rice crackers this year.

Aunt Li was busy washing the printing frame, she was a little surprised to see him and Lu Ze coming, she laughed softly, "You two are really up so early, we haven't started yet, the glutinous rice is still steaming in the barrel. "

Ruan Xishi looked at the stove in the kitchen, and sure enough there was a big wooden barrel for steaming glutinous rice on the cauldron. Uncle Li was putting firewood in the stove. He was still wearing the clothes he wore when he was sleeping, so he wore a coat outside. The coat should have been called by Aunt Li to help.

He walked over to Uncle Li and said, "Uncle Li, let me light the fire, you go back to sleep."

Uncle Li teased him with a smile and said, "Really, can you steam glutinous rice?"

Ruan Xishi scratched the back of her head and said, "Can I ask my aunts how long it takes to steam?"

Aunt Li came in and saw them squatting in front of the stove, she smiled and said: "Lao Li, don't try to be lazy, just watch over the fire for the old lady, the glutinous rice won't be steamed for a while, we only have you." It's asking."

Uncle Li never cares about women, let alone so many women present, quarreling and fighting can't be fought, so he can only admit it. Fortunately, he still has time to chat with him, so as not to make him sleepy Fall asleep by the stove.

The first bucket of glutinous rice was steaming before Ruan Xishi came, so it didn't take long for it to be steamed. Uncle Li and Lu Ze worked together to remove the bucket from the stove, lifted the lid, and the aroma of glutinous rice came to the nostrils.

To make it easier to take out the glutinous rice without sticking to the barrel, a layer of gauze was spread in the barrel before the glutinous rice was put down. When the gauze was removed, there was white and sticky glutinous rice underneath.

Uncle Li asked Lu Ze to help him move another bucket of raw glutinous rice to the stove. One bucket of glutinous rice was not enough for so many families to make rice crackers, and two buckets had to be steamed.

Aunts Li dug out a few pieces of glutinous rice from the bucket with rice spoons, made them into glutinous rice balls at will, and said to others: "Eat a piece of glutinous rice to fill your stomach before you can work hard. Everyone, come and get a piece of glutinous rice." Eat, there are dried radishes and salted fish under the cover for delivery.”

The aunts were not polite to Aunt Li, they took a ball of glutinous rice one by one, lifted the gauze cover and grabbed a piece of salted fish into the glutinous rice ball to eat with relish.

Aunt Li called out to Ruan Xishi and Lu Ze who were still helping: "Shizi, Ah Ze, you should eat glutinous rice first, it's the same when the fire burns later."

Ruan Xishi took Lu Ze out to wash his hands, and when he came back, he grabbed a ball of glutinous rice and imitated his aunts and girls to eat salted fish.

The glutinous rice that has just been cooked is still hot, so the taste is very soft. Because it has not been cooked for a long time, the aroma has not had time to dissipate, so it tastes very fragrant.Rao Lu Ze, who is used to fine food, can eat happily with rice balls in one hand and salted fish in the other, and even eats two balls in a row before he is satisfied.

Seeing his good appetite, the aunts all joked, "Ah Ze eats everything so deliciously, and he is not picky at all, no wonder he is so tall."

Lu Ze knew that everyone had no intention of targeting him, so he smiled at them and went to help.

After the aunts were full, they began to make rice crackers. They put the glutinous rice in the printing frame, pressed it with their hands, then turned it upside down and patted it hard, and poured out the printed glutinous rice, forming a printed pattern. After it is cooled, the glutinous rice will harden naturally, and the shape will be fixed and can be moved freely.

Lu Ze went to light the fire, and Ruan Xishi was robbed of his job, so he had to sit behind the aunts and carefully put the printed glutinous rice cakes on the dustpan, and put them in the sun when the sun came out. Sunny place to bask in.

It was the first time for Lu Ze to see the production process of this special product. During the fire, he also got closer to observe it. He watched the balls of glutinous rice turn into cakes with patterns under the dexterous hands of the village women. He couldn't help sighing again. Wisdom of working people.

After making enough rice crackers for each family, there was still a lot of glutinous rice left. Aunt Li and his family couldn't eat so much, so they used bowls and plates to transfer many portions for others to take home to eat.

In the village, glutinous rice is not available anytime you want. Generally, someone cooks it only during the New Year and holidays, so everyone did not refuse, and took the glutinous rice home one after another.

Because she got up early, Ruan Xishi bid farewell to Aunt Li's house and walked home with a plate of glutinous rice.

The early morning in winter is a bit cold, the sky is hazy, and sporadic crowing and barking of cocks and dogs can be heard from all directions, giving people a sense of tranquility and comfort.Ruan Xishi felt a little drowsy, wanted to go back to sleep quickly, and kept yawning along the way.

When the two returned home, Xiao Hui kept wagging his tail at the two of them, and kept looking at the glutinous rice in Ruan Xishi's hand, as if he really wanted to eat it.

Ruan Xishi held up the glutinous rice and said to it: "You can't eat glutinous rice, it will cause indigestion and affect the health of the stomach and intestines."

After hearing this, Xiao Hui whimpered in disappointment, and went back to its den in despair with its tail between its legs.

Lu Ze helped him put the glutinous rice into the pot, and seeing that he was so sleepy, he asked him to go back to sleep again. Ruan Xishi obediently obeyed, and climbed into bed to sleep again.

……

The sausages are made, and the rice crackers are also made. The roofs of every household are filled with food ready to eat for the New Year. It looks like a prosperous and peaceful place.

When Ruan Xi went to class, Lu Ze was in charge of drying the sausages at home. After drying the sausages for a few days, the smell of the meat wafted out and could be smelled from far away. He just followed behind him eagerly, longing for the strings of sausages hanging on it.

The winter sun was so warm that it covered the entire roof. Lu Ze was drying the sausages on the roof, and Xiao Hui simply slept under the sausages.

After drying the sausages, Lu Ze was not in a hurry to go down. He leaned on the fence on the roof and looked around. The cabbage planted in the vegetable field had already grown cauliflower, and the fields were golden in color, similar to the rapeseed flowers in the ecological garden. Take a look, it's pleasing to the eye.

Because the weather is sunny and warm, there are more bees. They usually fly in the fields, leaving their hard-working footprints on every flower. Occasionally, they fly over people's homes, buzzing and buzzing, which is very lively. It makes people feel like spring has arrived.

Neighbor Aunt Li’s house is drying the rice crackers made a few days ago on the roof. Oh, they can’t be called rice crackers now, they should be called glutinous rice pancakes. They have to be deep-fried to become rice crackers.

The glutinous rice has become hard. After a period of time, it can be sugared, dried and stored. After the New Year's Eve, it can be fried in oil.

When Ruan Xi came home from school, he was walking far away on the small road home. Lu Ze saw him at a glance. The sun was a little dazzling. Lu Ze had to squint his eyes to see his little figure clearly. Watching him quietly walking towards the house with brisk steps.

Ruan Xishi was innocent and lively, walking, squatting restlessly to the side of the road, picking a cauliflower from someone else's vegetable field, holding it in his hand, playing with it all the way back.

Before Lu Ze called out to him, Aunt Li, who was standing on the roof of her house drying glutinous rice pancakes, stopped him first.

The women in the village have a loud voice, which is due to hard work. The voice is not so loud that others can't hear it, especially the naughty children at home. If you don't call him loudly, he will pretend that you don't exist.

Ruan Xishi immediately heard that it was Aunt Li calling him, and they walked to the door, turned back, stood on the road where Aunt Li could see him, raised her voice and asked, "Aunt Li, what are you calling me for?"

Aunt Li said: "Tomorrow, I will make some sweet potato soup, remember to come and drink it with Ah Ze."

Ruan Xishi squinted her eyes happily when she heard the words, and replied with a smile: "Okay, we'll go over and help when the time comes."

After answering Aunt Li, Ruan Xishi opened the door and came in. Seeing that there was no sign of Lu Ze and Xiao Hui in the room, she felt puzzled and murmured to herself, "It's strange, brother Lu Ze. Did you take Xiao Hui out to play?"

Lu Ze heard his voice, smiled above him, and said to him, "Ruan Ruan, look up."

Ruan Xishi got goosebumps all over her body when she heard this annoying name, and raised her head with fried hair and looked up, only to see Lu Ze half body leaning out of the fence, looking at him with a seductive ruffian smile, like a TV A playboy who molested women from good families.He suddenly became angry from embarrassment, and yelled at him sternly: "Don't call me soft!"

The nickname "Ruan Ruan" was casually given to him by Lu Ze when he was bored with him on the bed, saying that his body was soft and his temper was soft, and his surname was Ruan, which was very suitable for this nickname. Every time Ruan Xi heard it, he wanted to hit someone, but in the end Because Lu Ze tortured him hard, his hands and feet were soft, so he could only breathe softly on him, without any deterrent effect.

Lu Ze laughed, his back was facing the sun, his outline was dyed with a layer of warm gold, his condescending look was like a god, Ruan Xishi was stunned, and he didn't even know when Lu Ze came down to him.

……

Sugaring is one of the important steps in making rice crackers. Only when the sugar is passed through can the fried rice crackers be tasty. Otherwise, it’s like chewing a piece of wood. , If you pass it too many times, it will affect the taste of rice crackers.

The sugar juice is boiled with white sugar, which requires a lot of white sugar. Boil a pot of boiling water, pour the white sugar into it, add half a plate of ginger slices, and keep stirring until the white sugar is completely melted, and the water is boiled. until thick syrup.

Because the concentration of sugar juice is too high, the air is filled with the sweet smell of sugar, making Aunt Li's grandson so fat that he drools. If the adults are not paying attention, he will stick his head into the basin filled with sugar juice and lick it twice. The people present couldn't laugh or cry.

The thickest Aunt Li had no choice, so she fished out a piece of ginger from the sugar juice and gave it to him to lick. The original flavor of the ginger has been boiled in the sugar juice, so it won’t taste very spicy, but it has been infiltrated with sugar, so it tastes sweet. Pangpang kept licking the ginger slices, and watched helplessly as the adults put the glutinous rice pancakes into the sugar juice to overcook them.

Generally, a pot of sugar juice can only pass over a dozen glutinous rice cakes. If it is too much, there will be no sweetness later. The juice can be kept, and when all the sugar juice is used up, it can be poured back into the pot together, and then cut a few large sweet potatoes into it to cook sweet potato syrup for eating.

Sweet potato syrup is not something you can drink often in winter. Firstly, it is cold and frequent urination is very troublesome if you drink too much sugar water. Secondly, sweet potatoes need to be washed, peeled and cut into pieces. When the weather is good and the leftover sugar juice is just in use, in order not to waste sugar, I will cook a meal to eat.

Even though the syrup has been used repeatedly more than ten times, it is still very sweet, but it is not as sweet as the freshly boiled sweet potato syrup. It's sweet.

The sugared glutinous rice cakes are put in the sun again, and the sugar juice on them is slowly dried in the air, and the sugar stains are left on the glutinous rice. The more dried, the greater the sweetness, and the sweetness in the air The thicker it is, the sweeter the roof of almost every household where glutinous rice pancakes are made.

Such a strong fragrance, the bees who want to get something for nothing will naturally not let it go. They follow the sweetness and scramble to pounce on the sugared glutinous rice cakes. The exaggerated black piece can be heard from a long distance The humming sound they make is very annoying.

I am worried that the bees will take away all the sweetness on the glutinous rice cakes. At this time, someone will be guarding, holding a bamboo in his hand, with a clean plastic bag tied to the top, and waving it on the glutinous rice cakes to drive away the bees. Come to steal the bees.Some people are so annoyed that they even bought new fly swatters to kill the bees directly, and the ground is densely covered with dead bees.

This kind of situation usually takes two days. After the sugar stains have completely penetrated into the glutinous rice cakes, it will get better. The sweetness in the air is almost gone, and the bees will seldom come. After a few more days in the sun, they can be stored. Take it out and fry it into rice crackers before the Chinese New Year.

The author has something to say:

What I look forward to most when I was a child is the Chinese New Year. Making sausages and making New Year’s snacks can be a great feast for a few days hhh Unfortunately, now that the material conditions are better, few people do these things, and they basically buy them_(:з)∠)_

There will be another chapter at nine o'clock in a while.Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution~

Thanks to the little angel who cast [Mine]: Life is so wonderful 1;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:

20 bottles of Yiran Xueluo (large size); 10 bottles of Toddler Rolling Cub; 3 bottles of Neither Rain nor Sunny;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!