The pace of the year is getting closer and closer, and in the blink of an eye, there is only one day left before the traditional Chinese New Year's Eve. The street is full of people buying New Year's goods, whether they have money or no money, the New Year is a major festival, you always have to tear some cloth to make new clothes, always have to buy some meat, cook some good food, after a year of hard work, only at this time, there is a comfortable excuse to relax.

After talking with Xiaohong's mother, Yun Qi felt that his relationship with this family was getting closer and closer, and he felt the warmth of his mother from Aunt He's care, this kind of warmth was something that Grandpa Wu couldn't give himself, it was very peculiar, it couldn't be explained in words, but it was real, it was a feeling, a taste, a hint, you can only experience it if you are immersed in it.

After the changes in the family, Yun Qi misses this feeling of mother's family more and more, and now it is back to his side, which he cherishes incomparably.

At dawn on the second day, Yun Qi left the dart bureau and rushed to Xiaohong's house, and took Xiaohong to hunt in the mountains, he wanted to take advantage of the New Year to prepare more things for the family, the family was too poor, and the rabbit didn't know what to exchange for the family last time, Yun Qi knew that if it wasn't too poor, Aunt He would never take the rabbit out, so now while he is free, he can go to play a little more, or keep it for the New Year to eat by himself, or take it to the market to exchange for some silver taels, and finally make some contributions to the family.

When Xiaohong heard that Brother Yun Qi was going to take her hunting again, she jumped and jumped with joy, and she was very happy.

Since he had already come to hunt yesterday, Yun Qi had a certain understanding of the local terrain, and he already knew where there was prey and where there was none. So today, I made some preparations in a targeted manner, and the harvest was really rich, trapping two hares and catching a pheasant.

Even when I was digging a vole hole with Xiaohong, I didn't dig to the bottom of the hole after digging for a long time, and the vole hole extended in all directions, with many forks in the road, and the two of them were so tired that they were out of breath. Finally, Yun Qi threw the tool to the ground and said to Xiaohong: "Forget it, we won't dig this hole, we don't want the food in it, today we will catch the vole, catch this cunning guy, skin it, and eat its flesh." ”

So they carefully searched the surroundings and looked for other exits from the rat hole. Yun Qi made a small but long cage out of wild grass, and then asked Xiaohong to pour water into the stream, poured it into the rat hole, and pressed the grass cage on the other end of the rat hole. Xiaohong poured two or three bamboo tubes of water, and two fat-headed and big-eared mice came out of the hole one after another, and plunged into Yun Qi's cage, and Yun Qi carried a wooden stick and beat the mouse to death in three strokes.

Xiaohong said to Yun Qi: "Big brother, you hurry up and throw this mouse away, it looks ugly and dirty, I don't like it." Yun Qi laughed and said: "Xiaohong, don't underestimate this ugly guy, he steals a lot of food every year, we are in the mountains, often go to dig rat holes in winter to solve the food problem, and this rat meat is also very delicious, its meat is very tender, a bit like rabbit meat, and a bit like chicken, much better than pork." Xiaohong heard that Brother Yunqi said that he still ate mice, and his face turned white with fright, so he hurriedly jumped away from the distance and said to Yunqi: "Brother, you even eat mice, I won't play with you in the future." ”

Yun Qi laughed and said to her, "If you don't wait a while, I'll roast a rat meat for you to eat, I promise that after you eat it, you will never forget it, and you will often want to eat it in the future." Xiaohong pinched her nose and shouted: "This thing is smelly and dirty, so I won't eat it, I will not eat it." ”

Yun Qi pulled out a knife from his body, skinned the rat three times and twice, removed the internal organs, went to the stream to clean it, then gathered some dry grass and branches, made a fire, and used two longer branches to put the mouse on the branches, and roasted them on the fire.

It can be seen that Yun Qi used to barbecue and eat, and his movements were very skillful, unhurried, and methodical.

As time passed, the rat meat slowly became oily, and the color gradually turned golden yellow, emitting an attractive aroma, seeing that the color was almost there, Yun Qi took out a small bottle from his body, and slowly sprinkled the contents of the bottle on the rat meat, and the fragrance became even stronger.

Xiaohong squatted to the side and watched, with a look of disdain, but couldn't help but be curious, her eyes were wide open, and she kept glancing here, occasionally smelling the fragrance and swallowing a few mouthfuls of saliva, Yun Qi pretended not to see it, and when it was almost roasted, he put the rat meat on the side of his nose and smelled it, and said to himself: "Well, it's still a little hot, and if you roast it for a while, it should be delicious." ”

Xiaohong grimaced at him and said, "Big brother, you are not allowed to eat rat meat, if you eat it, I will ignore you again!" ”

Yun Qi ignored her, continued to roast the rat meat, and saw that it was almost roasted, so he picked up one of them, tore off a piece of meat, and slurped, with an intoxicated expression on his face, Xiaohong began to look at it from a distance, with a disgusted expression, but slowly, curiosity still overcame reason, and unconsciously approached Yun Qi, she swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked, "Big brother, is it really delicious?" ”

Yun Qi made an exaggerated expression at her, and said: "It's delicious, this rat meat is actually much cleaner than pork, rats eat all year round is all food, unlike pigs that eat everything, and you also saw it yesterday, how clean the rat nest is, refreshing and dry, much stronger than the pig nest, you actually said that the rat meat is dirty, I really don't know what you think, this rat meat is very delicious, countless times better than pork, you can taste it?" ”

Xiaohong hesitated: "Is it true?" Brother, don't lie to me, I'll try a little bite. ”

Yun Qi knew that he was afraid, so he carefully tore off a small strip of shredded meat from the rat meat and handed it to Xiaohong, Xiaohong took the shredded meat, looked at it for a long time, the rat meat was roasted just right, under the sunlight, it was golden in color, crystal clear, like a piece of jade, Xiaohong was bold, closed his eyes, threw the rat meat into his mouth, chewed it carefully, his eyes suddenly opened, and he said in surprise: "It's really delicious, big brother." ”

I wanted to continue eating, but she didn't dare to touch the mouse with her hands, the look of wanting and being scared was really cute, so Yun Qi had to tear the mouse meat into pieces and feed it to her mouth, eating Xiaohong's mouth full of oil.

After a while, the two mice were filled into the abdomen by the two, Xiaohong looked at the bones on the ground, and said regretfully: "Brother, should we stop catching a few?" I will also give my mother a little food when I go back. After thinking about it, she shook her head again and said, "My mother will definitely not eat this, my mother is most afraid of mice, snakes, and insects, and she may scream when she sees this." After Xiaohong finished speaking, she followed her mother's example, danced and screamed a few times, and then giggled, forgetting her performance at the beginning.

Yun Qi wiped the oil stains on his hands on the dead grass next to him, and said to Xiaohong: "Then let's eat voles, don't tell your mother when we go back, this is the secret of the two of us, if Xiaohong wants to eat it next time, let's catch it again, okay?" ”

"Good!" Xiaohong said happily.

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When Yun Qi and Xiaohong handed over the day's harvest to Aunt He, Aunt He smiled happily and said to Yun Qi: "You are really my family's lucky star, it's about to be the New Year, you actually hunted so many prey, this hare, we keep it for ourselves to eat, and I will change the rest for something else, this year, we will spend a happy New Year together." ”

In the Chinese New Year's Eve, the dart bureau was full of lights, and the dart masters were busy, pasting couplets, hanging lanterns, scrubbing furniture, Yun Qi helped for a while, and suddenly thought that Aunt He's family didn't know what was going on, so he said to the butler and hurried over.

Aunt He is busy on the stove, Xiaohong is burning the fire under the stove, there are a lot of things on the board, it seems that a lot of dishes will be burned today, seeing Yun Qi coming, Aunt He pointed to the table of the eight immortals in the hall and said to Yun Qi: "You came just right, help me paste the couplet, I made the paste, and put it on the table." ”

Yun Qi agreed, picked up the paste, took a bench to the outside, brushed the paste, turned back and took the couplet, unfolded it, the upper couplet read: Thousands of firecrackers bid farewell to the old year, the lower couplet is: Ten thousand households celebrate the New Year with red lights, the pen and ink are condensed and resolute, the style is concise and timeless, which gentleman should be invited to write, and I couldn't help but praise: "Good words." "I suddenly remembered the life of the academy before, if I had been in the academy, I am probably a scholar now, I don't know how Professor Zhang is, and the little fat man, is he still so fat, and Xiuxiu, Luo Juren...... Scenes of past life flashed in front of you, life is really peculiar, why did you come to this day, this world is full of too many accidents, life is like a spinning top on the ground, you think it will always rotate like this until the end of life, but I don't know when, there will be a whip falling, you will passively change the original trajectory, into a completely different situation, and then, when you gradually get used to it, think that life is like this, there is another whip in the sky, life is always so full of variables, Where is the future? I really can't see what the final outcome will be.

At dinner, there were a lot of dishes on the table, there were fish and meat, of course, the rabbit that Yun Qi and Xiaohong called back in the middle, braised it, a big plate, Xiaohong snorted, and snatched a rabbit's hind legs, holding them in both hands, eating so much that her eyes couldn't see, Aunt He picked out the other hind leg and put it in Yun Qi's bowl, looking at the two children with relish, she smiled happily.

How many years have not felt this way, Yun Qi's nose is sour, a few years ago with Grandpa Wu, although there will be delicious food during the New Year, but Grandpa is a more serious and silent person, strictly abiding by the principle of eating without saying anything, and sleeping without speaking, so when the three of them are together, there are few scenes of laughter, and now here, he suddenly seems to have returned to the past, returned to his hometown, and now this scene is so similar to the beginning, if you add another grandmother, it will be exactly the same.

After eating, Aunt He went to the back room to take out a burden, after opening it, there was a set of new sky blue clothes on the top, Aunt He picked up the clothes, and said to Yun Qi: "It's the New Year, how do you want a new dress, I made a set for you, I don't know if it fits or not, you try, if it's not good, I'll change it, and it will definitely not be delayed tomorrow morning." ”

Yun Qi obediently put on the new clothes according to what Aunt He said, turned around left and right, and showed Aunt He and Xiaohong, there was a good smell in the new clothes, wearing it on the body, Yun Qi seemed to be able to hear the sound of breathing in each of his pores, so cheerful, so comfortable. Xiaohong saw Yun Qi wearing new clothes, clapped her hands on the side, and praised: "Brother is so good-looking, brother is so good-looking." ”

The clothes fit just right, Aunt He is a very good tailor, the handwork is very meticulous, the stitches are dense and even, and it can be seen that she is very careful.

After trying on the clothes, Aunt He took out a sachet from the bag, it seems that it should be embroidered by herself, Aunt He said to Yun Qi: "In our hometown, during the New Year, everyone should hang a new sachet, blessing a year of health and disaster-free, and my aunt also made one for you, don't dislike it." ”

Finally, he took out a thing wrapped in red paper from his pocket, stuffed it into Yun Qi's hand, took Yun Qi's hand and said: "Yun Qi, it's the New Year, according to the custom, there is a New Year's money, and my aunt also gave you a little money, the money is not much, don't be too little, my aunt hopes that you will have a smooth and smooth New Year, everything is fine." Then he stretched out his hand, helped Yun Qi brush the hair scattered around his ears, and patted the dust on Yun Qi's shoulder, his eyes were full of loving expressions, this expression was so familiar, and even the smell on his body was the same as his mother's.

Yun Qi's tears couldn't hold back any longer, like a flood without a levee, surging out, he pinched Aunt He's red envelope, fell to his knees with a plop, hugged Aunt He's legs, and shouted "Mother......"