"It tastes so good, it's much more pure than what you buy on the street." Shangguan Lei stretched out his tongue while eating, licked the corners of his mouth and said.

Chen Yuezhi shook his head proudly: "That's natural, the syrup sold on the street is mixed with water, and we use wheat to make syrup, and we have to stay up for a day and a night." ”

"Today, most of it is still watery, and after tonight, you can see the golden syrup. I remember when I was a child, my mother would always save the syrup base for the second year, wrap the mouth of the jar with oiled paper, and put it on the top of the cabinet, and we would take advantage of the absence of adults, secretly take chopsticks into it, pull out the long silk, and then we could happily taste it for a long time. ”

Shangguan Lei happily watched her there while eating maltose and reminiscing about the fun of childhood, and his heart was full of yearning.

Thinking about his childhood, it seems that there was no fun, most of the time he was trained in the barracks, and a little time, he just watched his parents quarrel there.

Whenever his parents quarreled, he would go to Dongfang Yu's house, he always thought that it was a happy land, and thought that Dongfang Yu was his best brother, so he shared his thoughts with him without reservation.

Unexpectedly, it turned out that he inadvertently lured the wolf into the house, harmed his parents, and finally made them break up.

"Hey, what are you thinking?" The syrup in Chen Yuezhi's hand had already been eaten by her, she sent the chopsticks away, and then instructed Shangguan Lei: "You go to my cellar to get a few sweet potatoes, the fire in this stove is so strong, let's roast sweet potatoes and eat them." ”

"Okay!" Shangguan Lei hurriedly went away, and during the time he stayed at Chen's house, he was more familiar with every place than his own home.

"Mom, big sister, we're going to bake sweet potatoes. Do you want to eat? Chen Yuezhi ran out of the stove house and shouted towards the workshop.

Chen Huizhi immediately poked his head out: "Bake a few more, your second brother likes to eat." ”

"Great!" Chen Yuezhi simply carried a basket over, saw Shangguan Lei holding two in his hand, and re-entered the cellar with him, and came out with a small half basket.

The stove is so big, so it has to come in batches. Stuff four or five first. It takes less than half an hour to take it out, and although the skin on the outside is charred black, it only needs to be peeled off. The rice-white sweet potato flesh was exposed, and the flavor made people's mouths water.

It happened that Chen Wei and the others came back from beating rice cakes, and a layer of snowflakes fell on their shoulders, but there was heat on their heads.

Chen Wei shook the snowflakes on his body with a smile and said, "This snow is good." It seems that our wheat harvest is good again this year. ”

Chen Yuezhi hurriedly put a piece of firewood in the stove, and ran diligently to pour hot water for them. Let them drink or cover their hands.

Ma Lizhong came early and was already a little used to it, but Jin Duorong stood up flattered.

Chen Yuezhi took out the roasted sweet potatoes with tongs and prepared to peel them again. saw Chen Wei take it and said, "You have to peel this thing and eat it yourself." It's fun, it's hot. Let me do it. ”

"Yes, yes, we'll do it ourselves!" Jin Duorong hurriedly stretched out his hand, but before he could hold it, the sweet potato rolled down because it was too hot.

Immediately everyone laughed.

"You see, this pot is occupied, and there is no way to stir-fry, so we will have a meal at noon?" Li Qingxia asked.

Ma Lizhong immediately said: "Eldest sister, don't be busy, so much food is not enough for us to eat, and we are not pigs." ”

Everyone else laughed, that is, what about the delicious food on the table in front of them?

Fried rice, rice cakes, baked sweet potatoes, and shortbread are there.

Chen Yuezhi peeled a few pieces of good sweet potatoes, put them in a bowl, washed his hands again, and brought them to Mrs. Ma and Xiaotian to eat.

In the small room at the back, there was a stone mill temporarily borrowed from Yao Liuguo, and Mrs. Ma was sitting next to her, adding soaked japonica rice to the grinding eye, while Chen Lizhi was grinding, and Jin Xiaotian was helping to put the spilled powder into the bag from time to time.

Chen Lizhi's nose was sharp, and he immediately smelled the smell of roasted sweet potatoes, and hurriedly beckoned Mrs. Ma to stop: "I finally have something to eat, I'm starving to death, little sister, you don't know, this fried sesame seeds, the flour ground out is too fragrant and tempting." ”

"Haha, third brother, Dad, they have already beaten the rice cakes, and in the evening, let Mom give us steamed dumplings, and then it will be delicious."

At noon, everyone was like eating a buffet, and they all did it themselves.

Chen Yuezhi and Shangguan Lei, Chen Mingzhi ate roasted sweet potatoes with a little maltose.

Chen Wei and Li Qingxia soaked fried rice in boiling water and added white sugar to it, which was soft and sweet.

Chen Lizhi and Chen Huizhi pulled off the rice cake that was still hot, put it into a bowl filled with sesame powder and rolled it, and immediately turned into a black whirring ball.

Mrs. Ma and Xiaotian didn't want to bother, so they ate shortbread directly with hot water.

After the meal, Li Qingxia and Chen Huizhi finished the fried rice, and began to pick up chicken, duck and fish meat, and chop the meat into foam, half of which was mixed into pickles when the time came, and used to make japonica rice and baba filling.

The other half is mixed with vegetable foam to make balls, steamed or fried in a pot, and the taste is excellent.

Jinlin Village belongs to the south of the Yangtze River, so during the Chinese New Year, I actually don't eat dumplings, but eat dumplings and japonica rice baba.

However, considering that Jin Duorong's taste may be a little northern, the Chen family also made dumplings.

On the first day, the preparations are done, and on the second day, the syrup is boiled, the men make fried rice candy, and the women are in charge of fried meatballs.

Shangguan Lei saw that everyone had a job to do, and he was idle alone, which was really depressed, but he didn't know anything and couldn't help.

In the past, he always thought that Chen Mingzhi was an impulsive guy, but he didn't expect this guy to have a good set of cutting fried rice candy, that thing looks easy to cut, but in fact, it has the stickiness of sugar, and it will be scattered if it is not good, and it must be cut while it is hot.

Of course, to make fried rice candy, the most critical step is to put fried rice and syrup together in a certain proportion, and then keep stirring with your hands.

The syrup has just come out of the pot, it is very hot, and the stirring technique must be very skillful. It is necessary to knead the sugar and fried rice tightly together, but also not to burn your hands.

I saw Chen Wei, who was usually honest, calmed down in an instant, and his momentum changed, his hands were rolled up on his sleeves, and a white towel was hung on his shoulder, so that he could wipe his sweat at any time.

Hands quickly and constantly up and down and kneading. But in the blink of an eye. A piece of fried rice scattered around it becomes a sugar fried rice dumpling.

Before the heat dissipates, quickly put the sugar-fried rice dumplings into the square wooden frame prepared in advance. Then use a wooden hammer to press desperately to flat, this work is done by Chen Lizhi, after pressing and flattening, the square wooden frame to the door panel knocked. A square piece of fried rice candy comes out in its original form.

Chen Mingzhi held a ruler in his hand and quickly compared it to an even length. Draw a dotted line on it with a knife, and then cut it flat at a time, and you can smell the aroma only by hearing the sound of sizzling. Gluttonous people drool.

Once it has cooled, take a small piece and put it in your mouth to taste, it is crispy and sweet. Only then did I know that it turned out to be a small piece of fried rice candy. It takes such a complicated process to be able to eat in people's mouths.

The Chen family is doing well this year, not only making white sugar, but also peanut candy, sesame candy, and walnut candy.

In addition to the white sugar, which is square, walnuts, peanut candy and sesame candy have been cut into thin prisms by him, which is crunchy and fragrant in the mouth.

The men and women were busy as if they were playing in the ring, and the Bao Bao competition led by Mrs. Ma did not show weakness.

Li Qingxia is responsible for scalding the dough, Chen Huizhi is responsible for pinching the medicine, Mrs. Ma is making the baba neatly with her hands and feet, and Chen Yuezhi is using a tray to shape the baba and print the patterns of all the best.

Jin Xiaotian is also very sensible in helping to make baba flowers, so that Chen Yuezhi can occasionally pull out his hands and help Mrs. Ma make baba together.

"Hey, Yuezhi, find me something to do, I think I'm going to die." Shangguan Lei entered the room and said helplessly.

As soon as he entered the kitchen, he saw Ma Lizhong, who was tall and tall, coming over with a wooden basin, and asked him to let him go, Jin Duorong said that he wanted to add firewood, and helped pour fried rice, Chen Wei was frying rice again, everyone had something to do, and they were busy, as if he was redundant.

"It's quite idle, so let's do it, you and Xiaotian will take care of the poop together, and I'll help the mare's milk/milk make it, otherwise the eldest sister will pinch the medicine too fast, and the mare's milk/milk can't be done alone."

As soon as Shangguan Lei saw that he had something to do, his eyes immediately lit up, he washed his hands happily, and came over.

At first, he was a little embarrassed, but Xiaotian patiently showed him, and he quickly learned.

In this way, the cooperation is also fast, the house is lively, warm as spring, the snow flies outside the house, and the atmosphere of the New Year is very strong.

When he was busy until midnight, Chen Yuezhi looked out the window and saw that on the ground, the grass and trees had been wrapped in snow and turned silver, and in this night, it was also shining with silver.

The last time it snowed, she suddenly fainted, and she didn't make it to play, so she couldn't miss it this time.

A few small ones are already head to head, discussing where to build a snowman tomorrow and where to have a snowball fight.

In winter, there are few things, and it is a time when farmers should rest and recuperate at the end of the year.

Li Qingxia and Chen Huizhi were rushing to work, and they had bought that kind of hard leather material from the county before, because Chen Yuezhi remembered a kind of snow boots in later generations.

Nowadays, people wear cotton shoes, which are not resistant to moisture, and only walk in the snow a few times, and the snow will immediately seep in, and then the feet will be cold, as if stepping on cold water.

At that time, Chen Yuezhi made the kind of hard leather used for leather shoes, lined it with a layer of cotton wool, and then pasted a layer of plush, which was waterproof and warm.

However, in this way, the shoes that were originally worn in size 36 had to be made into 38, otherwise they would not be able to fit in at all.

Chen Yuezhi saw the second brother and they discussed the snowball fight tomorrow, so he went to help his mother make boots together, since the old lady came over, she took over this matter, most of them she did well, and now the main thing is the boots of Jin Duorong and Xiaotian.

The careful Chen Huizhi also embroidered a cute little animal on the mouth of Jin Xiaotian's boots, but Xiaotian's eyes were squinted with joy, and he couldn't wait to sleep in his boots tonight.

Jin Duorong looked at his half-finished boots, his eyes moistened inexplicably, since Xiaotian's mother died, how long has he not felt the warmth of this kind of home?

Even his sister and his family would only greedily ask him endlessly for money, things and benefits, and no one ever thought of sending them some warmth and care.

He looked at Chen Yuezhi with a smile, and was surprised to find that she was so experienced in doing things outside, and she looked like a real child at home.

Will steal syrup, eat until the corners of the mouth are stained, will giggle because of snowflakes and think about the fun of building a snowman, will lie in the arms of the old lady Ma and be coquettish, just like a real fifteen-year-old girl as cute.

But if you really treat her as a child, then you will suffer, but I don't know how shrewd she is when she negotiates with Shangguan Cai, and how calm she is when dealing with conflicts.

With such a master, I believe that his future must be bright.

About eleven o'clock in the evening, everyone's boots were ready, and everyone went back to rest.

Before dawn the next morning, Ma Lizhong had already gotten up first, he had a shovel and a broom in his hand, and he was going to clear the snow, at least to sweep the road from the workshop to the old house here.

But he was very careful when he swept, but on that part of the road, the rest of the place did not move at all, and he also heard it last night, Chen Mingzhi said that he wanted to build a snowman in the courtyard.

Last night's heavy snow fell all night without stopping, and this morning I woke up to see and drink, and it didn't reach the top of my feet and neck, it was really thick.

"Lizhong, you got up so early, why don't you sleep for a while?" Chen Wei's face was ruddy, and he walked out in good spirits, and he was constantly doing chest expansion exercises.

Chen Wei found that since he practiced the technique of returning to the truth, he didn't seem to be too afraid of the cold, and in the past, in winter, two or three sweaters and an old cotton jacket were still cold.

But now he wears only a thin blue wool and a light gray tweed jacket on the outside, but he still feels warm, like soaking in a hot spring.

When Ma Lizhong used to be a soldier, he bathed in cold water all year round, and training in the snow in winter was even more common, so he was not afraid of the cold, and he only wore a thin wool on his body, and he was steaming in shoveling snow.

"Brother Chen, I see that you have been in very good spirits recently, how many years younger you seem to be?" Ma Lizhong said with a smile.

"Ouch, they're all old, where did they come from, they can't compare to you." Chen Wei laughed and laughed, and also brought a shovel over to help shovel the snow.

Ma Lizhong didn't lie, since he came to Chen's house for a while, he found that Chen Wei really had an amazing change, at the beginning, he always felt sad, with bitter marks on his face, and his hair was slightly gray.

But after a long time, it seems that there are fewer gray hairs, but more black hairs, and the whole person's spirit has also been enriched, and it really seems that he is much younger. (To be continued.) )