Chapter Twenty-Eight: Eating Together

Yuan Anping returned home happily, moved a stool and put it in the yard, and took out a history book to kill time. The three puppies played around in the yard for a while, and then came to his feet and lay on their stomachs to bask in the sun. Yuan Anping looked down at the little puppy who put his chin on the instep of his foot, and felt that this day was not pleasant. Thinking about it carefully, now that he is not short of food, clothing or money, it seems that he has lost the direction of his efforts all of a sudden, but fortunately, there are still some children for him to teach, otherwise he is really too idle.

After sitting for a while, Yuan Anping, who was drowsy from the sun, got up. He put the history book back in the house, took out the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and tried to study the ink by himself. He had practiced calligraphy for several years, and learned Yan Ti. It's just that I haven't written in years, so after dipping it in ink, I first look for a feeling on a piece of paper that he has cut.

After practicing the words all morning, I felt that it was okay, so I took a piece of paper again and wrote Li Bai's silent night thoughts on it. I have to talk about the feeling of missing my hometown, even if all he misses is the earth that he can never go back to. When the ink dried, Yuan Anping folded the paper and put it in the cabinet, which was regarded as a kind of nostalgia.

Yuan Anping washed the ink off his hands and saw that it was noon. He warmed up some cakes and had a simple lunch with chicken soup stored in the space. Speaking of chicken broth, he still has as many as two cauldrons in the space. Like Huo Xiaohan, his body is not good, although he is not so thin that he can be blown away by the wind, but he is indeed a very thin person, so he needs to make up for it.

Thinking about how to take the opportunity to make up for Huo Xiaohan, he washed the pots and bowls. As soon as they were packed, the children who were studying came. He was not in a hurry, let them review the knowledge they had learned before, and he himself did his own thing unhurriedly, and waited for the children to arrive before leaving the room with the whip.

Yuan Anping stood in front of the children and informed them: "From today onwards, the original daily learning of four words will be changed to learning eight words a day. But don't worry, I won't do it today, I will check it tomorrow, as I did before, but every five days. So, you have to work very hard, or ......," he waved the bamboo strip in his hand, "the bamboo strip in my hand is not an ornament. "I saw that they were all tense and small, and they looked very teachable. Yuan Anping began to teach them new characters.

"The eight characters I learned today are, 'Jin Shenglishui, Jade out of Kungang'......"

One afternoon, Yuan Anping was quite satisfied with their study. He suddenly increased the number of words he studied, or because of the situation in the previous exam. These children really want to learn, and they are very motivated to work hard, and they finish learning the words without teaching them themselves. According to the workload, they have to learn at least ten new words a day, but they still learn it. So in his opinion, it should be no problem to increase the amount of new words to eight every day. Otherwise, he doesn't know how long he will teach this thousand-word essay in four words a day, and in general, he is really not a very patient person.

When school ended, after watching the children leave one by one, Yuan Anping closed the courtyard door and returned to the house to make himself a cup of hot tea. It's getting colder and colder, and after three hours outside, I feel like I'm really cold. Holding the hot bowl, I drank a few sips, and after feeling better, I sighed and said, "This sun is useless, it seems that they have to be allowed to study tomorrow." ”

I drank a cup of tea and looked out at the sky. It's past four o'clock in the afternoon, and he can probably feel the time now. I got up and looked into the pot, and I felt that the noodles were ready, so I started to make steamed buns. In fact, he had never made steamed buns before, and he couldn't predict what it would look like. But you have to try it anyway, otherwise you'll have to eat dead bread all the time.

He sprinkled some flour on the board and was about to pull the dough from the porcelain basin onto the board when he heard a knock on the door outside. He turned to the door and shouted, "The door is not bolted, push the door in." Then I saw Huo Xiaohan walking in with firewood on his back. Seeing that Huo Xiaohan was carrying such a large bundle of firewood on his body, and his whole body was bent, he hurriedly ran over. Yuan Anping frowned and raised his hand to help him get some firewood, and said: "Why are you so solid-eyed!

Huo Xiaohan took a breath, and said non-no: "This is not much firewood, after all, you spent money, if I make too little, you will suffer too much." Also, if I don't have enough firewood and someone sees it, I should say it. ”

Yuan Anping said with an ugly face: "I didn't spend money for you! When you are seen, you won't say that you sent it in several trips? Could it be that someone came to my house to check it!"

Huo Xiaohan saw that he was angry, so he lowered his head and didn't dare to speak anymore, a little sad.

Yuan Anping saw that he really couldn't do anything with him with his head down, sighed, and said in a bad tone: "Stand there and drink the cold wind, come into the house." He walked back into the house. Huo Xiaohan didn't dare to disobey and followed him with his head down.

Yuan Anping walked to the board, ignored him, and continued to study his face. Huo Xiaohan waited for a while, glanced up, and asked in a low voice, "Are you going to make steamed buns?"

Yuan Anping turned his head to look at him, and when he saw his cautious appearance, he didn't want to put on a face anymore. His voice became softer and said, "Yes, I made some dough and prepared to make steamed buns." ”

Huo Xiaohan saw that his face had improved, he was relieved, and hurriedly said to him, "You shouldn't know how to knead dough, right?" I'll do it for you." ”

Seeing that he wanted to help so much, Yuan Anping withdrew and agreed.

Seeing this, Huo Xiaohan hurriedly washed his hands, and then kneading his dough, as if he was afraid that Yuan Anping would not let him do it if he slowed down.

Yuan Anping, who abdicated and made Xian, look at Huo Xiaohan, who was skilled, and felt that he was much better than himself, so he went to make a fire and boil water. By the way, I secretly smuggled chicken soup and chicken into another pot.

Yuan Anping threw a few pieces of firewood at the bottom of the pot, and then said to Huo Xiaohan: "Xiaohan, you have some noodles left later, and I plan to wrap five sugar corners." ”

Huo Xiaohan smiled and turned around and said, "Okay." He looked at the white flour in his hands. I thought that Yuan Anping's life was really good, and I was very happy for him.

When Huo Xiaohan kneaded the steamed bun and began to wrap the sugar corner, Yuan Anping came over with the sugar jar, "Teach me how to wrap it." ”

Huo Xiaohan took the sugar jar, "It's very simple, it's like making dumplings." ”

Yuan Anping shrugged his shoulders, "I don't even know how to make dumplings." ”

Huo Xiaohan couldn't help but smile and said, "I'll teach you." ”

He first used a rolling pin to make five dough doughs, then took out one and demonstrated it to Yuan Anping, "Put sugar in the middle, but not too much, too much is easy to leak sugar." Then seal it like this. "He made it triangular, and the three folds were very beautiful.

Yuan Anping watched his movements, and followed with the dough in his hand, but he sprinkled some when he added sugar, and the shape of the package was ugly, but at least the mouth was tightly sealed. However, compared with Huo Xiaohan's sugar horn, it is a bit miserable.

Huo Xiaohan comforted him on the side and said, "As long as you pack more, it will look good." ”

Yuan Anping put the sugar corner aside, but he didn't care too much, and said with a smile: "I think you should do the rest." I went to stare at the pot. ”

Huo Xiaohan quickly wrapped the remaining three sugar horns and asked Yuan Anping, who was burning the fire, "Is the water boiling?"

Yuan Anping looked at the smoking pot, "It's open, you can put the steamed buns." ”

Huo Xiaohan took the bamboo grate for steaming steamed buns, laid out the cage cloth, and put the steamed buns on the grate one by one. Then took over Yuan Anping's work: "I'll burn the fire, you can rest for a while." ”

Yuan Anping got out of the way, but he didn't plan to rest, but took a cabbage out and prepared to make cabbage fried meat. No way, there are really no vegetables in the winter, although there are still some vegetables in his space, but he doesn't dare to take them out to eat.

When I washed and cut the vegetables and was about to go to the pot to stir-fry, I remembered a small pot of chicken soup that I had smuggled in it, and brought it out first, in addition to the soup, there were two chicken legs.

Huo Xiaohan saw that he was busy, and after adding a stick of firewood to the bottom of the pot, he got up, "Brother Anping, are you going to stir-fry? I'll help." ”

"Okay, I'll brush the pot, and you'll be in charge of stir-frying. He raised his hand and pointed to the jars on the board, "The big one is the oil jar, and the small ones are filled with spices, you look at it." ”

Huo Xiaohan walked over and took a look, he knew several spices. Although I am usually reluctant to use spices, I always buy some during the Chinese New Year.

The two of them were busy, and after the dishes were fried, the unique aroma of steamed steamed buns had wafted out of the steamed bun pot, and Yuan Anping found that he was really a little hungry when he smelled it.

When he was a child, he especially liked to eat steamed buns that had just come out of the pot, and he didn't need to eat vegetables at that time. Make some chili noodles with salt, blanch them with hot water, make them into a chili paste, put some on the steamed buns, dip them and eat them. And I think it's very delicious, and the deliciousness is indescribable. But that's the taste of memory, and I can't eat it anymore.

The two of them took the white fat steamed buns out of the pot with chopsticks, and there was a smell of steamed buns.

Huo Xiaohan looked very happy, "It smells so fragrant." ”

Seeing his happy appearance, Yuan Anping couldn't help but smile and said, "I think I'll eat more later." As he spoke, he put the basket on the table, then turned around and took out the vegetables and chicken soup that had been warm in the pot. Divide the chicken broth, one chicken leg per person.

Yuan Anping put the bowl of chicken soup in front of Huo Xiaohan, and then handed him half a steamed bun, "You eat half of it first, and you can eat a sugar corner with your stomach saved." ”

Huo Xiaohan waved his hand, "Brother Anping, you eat first." I cooked the porridge. ”

Yuan Anping stopped him, "Don't be busy, I'll just come, cook without delaying the meal." You drink chicken soup first, eat chicken legs, and nourish your body. As he spoke, he changed the water in the pot where the steamed buns were steamed, put the firewood under the pot, and then he could go to the table to eat. That's why it's good to burn firewood, so you don't have to watch from the sidelines all the time.

Yuan Anping sat down, took a bite of Huo Xiaohan's fried dishes, and couldn't help but nod and praise, "It's still delicious for you to fry." ”

Huo Xiaohan was very happy to hear him say this, "Actually, it's because you have a lot of spices here, and it must be delicious if you put so much oil." ”

Yuan Anping shook his head, "I usually put a lot of things in cooking, and I can eat the taste." In the end, it's because you're good at craft. ”

Huo Xiaohan saw that he liked to eat, and said with a happy smile: "You are a scholar, and it is right that you can't cook." ”

Yuan Anping laughed when he heard this, "Is it still important to pay attention to gentlemen and chefs here?"

Huo Xiaohan smiled at him, he didn't understand Yuan Anping's words too much.

Yuan Anping looked at his bowl, he drank a lot of chicken soup, but he hadn't eaten the chicken legs yet, "You eat the chicken legs, put the bones on the table, and keep them for the inkstone to eat." As he spoke, he picked up the chicken thigh in his bowl and ate it in a big gulp, to be honest, he didn't like to eat meat every day. But think about your thin body like a hemp stick, and then think about your former tall and big self, let's eat.

After eating the chicken thighs in a few clicks, the three puppies on the side of the greedy side snorted. However, seeing that Yuan Anping had no intention of feeding them, he could only stand aside with his head held high and hum a few times from time to time. Huo Xiaohan saw that a few little guys were pitiful, and wanted to throw some food to them, but was stopped by Yuan Anping.

"You eat them yourself, ignore them, and feed them when we're done, or they'll haunt people when it's time to eat." ”

When Huo Xiaohan heard him say this, he glanced at the three puppies, feeling a little helpless.

While eating, the two of them talked a few words from time to time, and they both felt very happy. After the rice soup in the pot was cooked, Yuan Anping served Huo Xiaohan a bowl and added a spoonful of sugar.

Huo Xiaohan looked at the bowl, touched his stomach and said, "I'm a little bit supportive." ”

Yuan Anping said indifferently: "It's okay, how much can you drink, the rest is theirs." As he spoke, he raised his chin and signaled that there were still a few dogs to finish.

Huo Xiaohan looked at the bowl, "It's sweetened." "It's a shame to give it to the dog.

Yuan Anping knew what he meant, and smiled, "Don't drink hard, it's not good if it's too uncomfortable." It's okay to leave something for them, just let them have a good meal. ”

Huo Xiaohan looked at a few puppies, and the puppies also looked at him, thinking that a few puppies were indeed quite cute, and thought, "Then I'll give you some leftover." ”

After eating a meal, Huo Xiaohan was a little supportive, but it was okay. helped Yuan Anping clean up the dishes and chopsticks, and he had to hurry home when he saw the sky. Yuan Anping told him to wait for a while, and then turned into the back room to get something.

He took some cotton and a pair of gloves, "which are very warm and can be used when you carry them for work." Sew an old cloth on the outside, and your mother shouldn't suspect it. And this cotton, you quietly bring it back so that your family will not see it. ”

Huo Xiaohan, "I won't bring cotton first, I haven't washed those clothes and bedding yet." The glove?" he had never seen before, and he looked at it in his hand, feeling a little strange.

Yuan Anping demonstrated to show him, "This way you won't freeze your hands, you can try it." ”

Huo Xiaohan put it on his hand and liked it very much, "It's so warm." ”

"You wear these gloves when you go out, so that your hands don't get frostbitten even more. The glove was naturally a thing in the space, but in order to be able to take it out and meet people, he still sewed a layer of cloth on the outside to cover it up. For Huo Xiaohan, he can be regarded as very thoughtful.

Huo Xiaohan was grateful, "Thank you." ”

"You're welcome. Saying that, he went to get two steamed buns and two sugar horns wrapped in cloth for him, "Two steamed buns for your sister-in-law, and you can keep the sugar horns for yourself." ”

"Good. Huo Xiaohan put the food in the broken pocket he brought, and no one would rummage through his things.

Yuan Anping thought about it and then instructed: "Remember not to chop so much wood tomorrow." Then he took out thirty yuan, "This is ten days' money, give it to your mother." In this way, he doesn't have to ask you every day, saving trouble. "Moreover, after receiving so much money at one time, the Liu family will definitely be more concerned about sending firewood to himself, and at least he can look better for Huo Xiaohan.

After Huo Xiaohan left, Yuan Anping poured the leftovers into the dog basin, and touched the three puppies who put their heads into the basin and wagged their tails, "You guys have a good meal tonight, and you can still eat some meat." "I thought I could make something delicious for Huo Xiaohan tomorrow. People are like this, they eat more perfunctory by themselves, and it takes more effort to be accompanied by someone.

And here Huo Xiaohan handed over thirty yuan to the Liu family, and sure enough, as Yuan Anping thought, the Liu family was very happy to see the money, and he was extremely rare to Huo Xiaohan and Yan Yuese, allowing him to eat two cakes at night.