Before the third ban on the street drum fell, the two finally returned to the Bajia Broken Courtyard.

As soon as he entered the hospital, he saw the big fool walking sideways on a log, staring intently at the western sky with his head raised, and he didn't know what he was looking at, so he looked up curiously along his line of sight.

The neck hurts, except for seeing the birds passing by and returning to the nest, pouting and dropping two pieces of bird poop, squeaking and flying away. I didn't see anything else!

"Dasha, what are you looking at?" The dog asked, confused.

"I'm looking to see where you two have gone!"

Well? Can this also be seen? The dog on the side asked curiously: "We are not flying in the sky, how can you see it?" ”

The big fool said with a look of sudden realization: "Hey, you're right, I'm not the bird how can I see you, let me watch this afternoon." ”

Dogs...

Well, don't be a fool!

Rubbing his sore neck, he threw the pouch around his waist to him. After thinking about it, he hurriedly snatched the bag back, slowly took out a meat steamed bun from it and stuffed it into his mouth, and threw the rest back to him. Looking at his surprised and distorted expression, I instantly felt a sense of pride rise faintly, hahaha...

I think back to when I was a child, I once asked them under a tree what they wanted to do when they grew up.

Their answers are varied, some want to be generals, some want to be big officials, be shopkeepers, and kill a lot of pigs!

And when it was Dasha's turn, he said, "Eat the cake!" ”。

At that time, I always thought that I hadn't made the problem clear, so I deliberately explained, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" ”

The big fool turned his head around, thought seriously for a while, and said, "Eat meat!" ”

At that time, several friends were laughing at him, and they didn't care about sarcastically saying to him, what's the big deal about eating meat.

Later, when I was a few years older, I began to study with my father, and I understood.

"Eat meat"! It's a mountain-high problem!

Looking at the stupid gobbling up, his nose was actually a little sour.

Afraid that he would choke, he hurriedly took a bowl of water and put it in front of him, telling him to eat slowly and not choking, so he sat next to him by the way, picked up the steamed bun in his hand and ate it. In the blink of an eye, the big fool had already eaten all four, and he was looking at the dog with his eyes, and his eyes were so pitiful.

After appeasing the rampaging dog, he turned his head to Dasha and said: "You came back in a hurry, I didn't invite Langzhong, you can bear with it, we will come back early tomorrow to catch medicine for you." He sighed and said to the dog: "You share him with another one!" ”

"Brother Da Lang, you only ate one, Dasha ate all four and gave it back to him?"

"It's okay, dog, we ate it at lunch, and maybe there will be one tomorrow when we go!" Dasha still has an injury on his leg, and he can't go, so it's okay to let him eat more today. ”

Hearing that it can be eaten tomorrow, the dog will not be noisy. He muttered and took out a meat steamed bun from his bag, stuffed it into Dasha's hand, and then took out a whole half and handed it to the dog, saying, "Brother Da Lang, you eat half a pull, I have another one!" ”

The dog happened to be a little hungry and didn't shirk it, so he took it and put it in his mouth and ate it slowly, while the dog on the side roared and stuffed it all into his mouth, for fear that he would be robbed by Dasha if he was a little slower!

Although I only ate half full, I was used to being hungry and full for a long time, and I didn't feel how hungry I was.

picked up the bowl and rinsed his mouth, but he was reluctant to spit it out, swallowed it into his stomach with a bang, and poured two bowls in a row. Clapped his hands, stood up and shook his stomach, only listening to the belly clanging, like a big buffalo.

Stretching his neck and sneezing happily, he turned his head and said to the dog, "I'll go and return the neighbor's barrel later, and borrow a flint to come back!" While there was still some light, he rolled up his sleeves and collected the straw that was drying in the yard one by one.

This east house has a clay kang and an earthen stove in the middle. In winter, when cooking on an earthen stove, the smoke will heat up the kang and then disperse from the chimney.

It will be especially warm to sleep on at night. In the summer, the stove is put on a board, and the pot can be brought to the room to be used, so in this cold north, the earthen kang stove is particularly convenient.

Kang, the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancients.

It can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty at the earliest, and it has been widely used in cold places such as the north during the Tang Dynasty. "The Old Tang Dynasty Book of Goryeo Biography" says: "In winter, the moon is made into a long pit, and a fire is lit to keep warm." In ancient times, "kang" was also written as "pit", and the "long pit" here is "soil kang".

In the Song Dynasty, the kang in the north has almost reached the extent that every family has it. For the shape, the decoration of these, those families of the rich and poor are also different. The poor house is built with adobe, blue bricks and stones, and it is not decorated, it is just ordinary. Wealthy families decorate the kang (kang edge), kang noodles, kang skirts, kang enclosures and other places with valuable things. Of course, in addition to the kang, there are also some families who like to sleep on wooden beds, bamboo beds, wooden couches, etc.

The dog spread the warm straw evenly on the clay kang, pressed some wooden boards on it, and laid two layers of straw mats on the wooden boards. I lay down all over my body, and it was quite soft when I tried it.

Looking at the leaky doorway, he pulled a clean linen cloth and hung it as a curtain. As for the dark window holes, let's stop now, and when it gets colder later, hire a carpenter to make a window frame and paste it, and then repair the roof that seems to be a little leaky, and this house will have some appearance.

After being busy for a while, he heard the sound of dogs outside the house, so he got off the kang, went out to take the flint in his hand, and then found a handful of dry and easy withered grass leaves, which were softly broken and rolled in a piece of ragged linen, and brought in some fine dry wood, and put it in front of the stove. So he struck a spark with a flint, and ignited the blades of grass, and the blades of grass led to strips of linen, and then stuffed some straw into them, and when the fire was burning, he covered it with the dry wood, and waited for the fire to burn slowly, and stared at the flames that were burning more and more.

With a long sigh, the dilapidated house finally felt a little warmth.

The fire burned for half an hour, until the house could no longer smell the choking earthy smell, and then the fire stopped. Touching the kang head has some heat.

Hurriedly carried Dasha in with the dog left, and at this time, the frozen people were about to run their noses to the ground.

Half-helped him to move to the west side of the kang, and the dog was left in the middle, and he slept on the east side. Although the kang head is not big, it is enough to sleep the three of them.

After running back and forth in the east and west of the city for a day, my calves hurt a little, and I wanted to go to bed early, but the boss who was lying on the kang couldn't sleep! Listening to Dasha's long and short snoring, he sighed and said in his heart, this fool can still sleep so soundly after sleeping for a day.

A burst of urine came in a hurry, and he quickly got up and got off the kang, and before he had time to put on his shoes, he kicked and pulled it and was ready to lift the door curtain and go out. I only heard a shout behind me, and the startled dog almost urinated in his pants. Hurriedly turned his head to look, it turned out to be the dog left.

I saw that he closed his eyes and kept shouting meat and flesh in his mouth. It turns out that this thing is having a nightmare, okay! The little master who almost hurt peed his pants. Walked over a big mouth to end his nightmare. The dog also woke up in a daze, only looking at the dog with his eyes open.

"Good dog, you just had a nightmare, go to sleep!" Softly coaxed him.

The dog grunted, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Whew, it's dangerous!

I took a breath, turned my head and was about to go out, when I swept to the end of the kang, and saw a pair of black and white eyes on my swarthy face staring at me! It turned out that the dog's shout woke up Dasha as well. threw him a warning look, and didn't care whether he understood it or not, so he ran out of the house in a hurry. I found a corner and splashed it freely. Whew, rejoice!

The water was spilled, but the stomach was flattened, and he gurgled several times.

Pat the belly, comfort and comfort it, I wronged you tonight, and we will make up for it tomorrow after a big meal!

The cold wind in the middle of the night has blown, and the stars in the sky are shining brightly. I remember that every time I asked my father what the pearl looked like when I was a child, he always pointed to the stars in the sky to show him, and he smirked for a while.

Hurry back to the house, the wind can't blow this night, it's easy to get sick after blowing for a long time, shrink your neck, and go back to the house. Dasha had already fallen asleep, filled the stove with some more firewood, and lay down on the kang again.

Looking at the empty room, I thought to myself, although this is a little broken, it can still block the wind. When you have money in the future, you can buy some wooden cabinets, tables and chairs, and the layout will be pleasing to the eye.

Thinking and pondering in my heart, I fell asleep unconsciously.

The ancients adhered to the rhythm of life from sunrise to sunset, even in the Song Dynasty, when cultural and entertainment activities increased greatly. Those scenes are only found in the bustling big cities with large populations, and the people in poor and remote places have nothing at all, and when it gets dark, they have to go to sleep on the kang. Therefore, children are born in litters, and of course, the high mortality rate is another important factor. Turn the conversation back!

This night, I only slept soundly and looked refreshed. When I looked outside, I washed my face by the well, tore a branch from the tree, and bit my tooth, and waited to eat meat in the future, and this tooth had to be protected. Maybe it's a meat bun last night, that stupid, I can already walk a few steps today. sighed at the rough and thick body, and said in his heart, if it was himself, he would never be able to get up if he didn't lie down for five or six days.

When the three of them finished washing, you looked at me and I watched you stare at each other for a long time. Dasha took the lead and said: "Brother Dalang, I want to eat meat steamed buns!" ”

"No, I finished eating last night."

"I'm hungry!"

"We only have some brown rice, but we don't have a pot to cook..."

"I can't eat raw rice, what should I do?"

"I'll give you three pennies, I'll go to Granny Cao's house to buy two cooking cakes today, and go to Zhang Laohan's restaurant at noon to beg for some food, just so that your injured leg can also sell a miserable appearance."

Dasha nodded, happily took the copper coin handed over by the dog and put it in his pocket, and limped towards Granny Cao's stall.

Grandma Cao, I forgot what her name was, I only knew that her husband's surname was Cao, and everyone called her Granny Cao after a long time.

This is also a hard-working person, her son and daughter-in-law all died in the military disaster, but fortunately, she left a pair of children to support her and continue to live. The eldest child is only ten years old, and his nickname is Bao, and the other is a girl who is eight years old this year, named Aru. This girl is estimated to have been frightened in that military disaster, and she is not timid, and she often cries her nose for no reason, and she cries for a long time.

And the boy Ah Bao, like a monkey, often plays around with a wooden stick in his hand, and often plays together because of his similar age, and his residence is not far away, and he is familiar with each other.

Grandma Cao is in her fifties and often wears a gray cloth dress. In order to pull the two children to grow up, he opened a cooking cake stall. Although I can't earn a few dollars, I can still solve the problem of eating for a family of three.

In this year, if you can eat a full stomach, this person will be able to live smoothly.

Grandma was kind-hearted, and when she saw that the little beggars couldn't ask for money to buy food, she often owed some cooking cakes on credit. Credit is just a name, and everyone knows that Grandma never keeps accounts. Unlike Zhang Laohan, who opened a restaurant, the accounts of the two copper coins had to be recorded on the door panel.

Grandma Cao's craftsmanship is good, and the sweetness of the steamed cookcakes can be smelled from afar. And her cookcakes are bigger than others, so the neighbors around her like to come to her to buy cookcakes.

Grandma Cao has some business minds, in this famine year, the market of cooking cakes is three pennies, but you feel that you are really shy and can't afford to eat cooking cakes, so you can eat multigrain cakes for a penny, also called nest cakes, which are the original creation of Granny Cao.

The coarse wheat noodles sieved from the three stone mills are mixed with some bean noodles, filled with some vegetable oil, kneaded into a ball and steamed in a pot, and it is still good to fill the stomach.

Compared with the cooking cakes made of fine noodles, the color of the wo cakes is dark, and there is a slight bitterness in the mouth. But it's affordable! A penny and a fist-sized cake can no longer be found in this Manyugawa city.

Wo cake is the favorite of these people who often don't have enough to eat.

It's a little cold today, but there are quite a few people waiting in line to buy cooking cakes. Hurriedly steamed three cages of cooking cakes and one cage of nest cakes, but now there are not many. I knew that I would have steamed more, Grandma Cao said in her heart.

Skillfully picked up a pair of cooking cakes with a bamboo clip and threw them in a bamboo basket, and then lowered his head and counted them carefully, then put down the clamp in his hand, handed the bamboo basket back to a young woman in front, and said at the same time: "Mrs. Liu, the ten cooking cakes you want are loaded, and I will give you a nest cake, thank you for taking care of the old woman's business for many days!" ”

When the young woman heard that Bai had a nest cake, she instantly burst into laughter, and hurriedly replied, "Grandma Cao, what are you polite!" When it comes to your old steamed cooking cakes, everyone in the neighborhood around here wants to congratulate them, if you don't come to buy them, where else can you go! ”

Granny Cao listened to her subordinates and did not let go, and at the same time said in her mouth, "It is not easy to pull the two dolls to grow up, and it is all up to the neighbors to take care of them", so she accepted the money and sent the woman away.

This sent off four or five waves of guests in a row before he took a moment to stop and catch his breath. As soon as I looked up, I saw a little beggar limping towards me from a distance, humming a tune with a long wooden stick.