"Yunyun, can you memorize the books that your father-in-law taught you? Dad told you that you will be able to go to school in another year, and when the time comes, you will study hard and get into a good university in the future. ”

Niu Yonghou listened to his son's recitation of "Liweng's Rhyme", and his heart seemed to be more energetic, because of the historical problems of his father's generation, after graduating from junior high school, he could no longer study, which was the regret of his life. Now that the reform and opening up, the country's policies are getting better and better, and there are no restrictions on family components for education, and he knows that his son was born in a good era.

"Mom, what is a university?"

Tian E is in high school, and she is often at home, and when she has problems with farming, she will ask her mother most of the time.

"You'll find out when you're older."

"And when will I grow up?"

"Didn't your father say that? You'll be able to go to school in another year, and you'll be a little older. ”

Tian E knows very well that her son's little head has a lot of problems, and she has to curb the children's problems as much as possible, otherwise the two of them will not be able to resist the "why" and "why" of this energy.

"Mom, I asked my father-in-law the other day, where did I come from? My father-in-law said I was born to you? But I remember you saying that you picked it up in the garbage? Why are you different from what your father-in-law said? ”

"When I picked you up, your father-in-law hadn't come back yet, so he didn't know, so he said that to you."

Tian E held the edge of the carriage of the frame car with her hand, looked at her son in the car, and couldn't help frowning, but when she thought of two more at home, when they would also ask "why", these three boys came together, and it was really a big head. She saw the plough's lips move, as if she was about to ask something, and saw that it was not far from the mill, and said hurriedly.

"Yunyun, the mill is coming soon, hurry up and get ready to get off the car and help with the work!"

The mill in Hongshuigou Village is located on the side of the road, a large open room, and the grinding machines are scattered on the built floor and cement platform, and several large rectangular iron troughs are placed on the ground, the largest of which is two meters long and more than one meter wide, and the edge is about a foot high.

The owner of the mill was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a stubbled beard, and a cigarette with a handle obliquely in his mouth, and when he spoke, the corners of his mouth would hiss, and the smoke would flicker and flicker. He wore a thick padded jacket, a white hat on his head, and a white coat over the outside, like a doctor in a hospital.

As a mill owner, he was dressed in this outfit, and a discerning person would know at a glance that it was meant to be clean and hygienic. But the white coat on his body seems to have never been washed, and now the color is almost gray, and there are many oil marks, which are dirty when they look at it, and they are not clean at all.

I heard my grandmother tell me that the owner of this mill is surnamed Zhou, but I don't know what it's called. The parents who worked hard came to grind noodles, greeted and spoke, all of which were called by Brother Zhou and Brother Zhou. The cultivator is careful, once he heard other people who came to grind noodles call the mill owner Zhou Kang, he didn't know when he started to call the mill owner Uncle Kang.

Five bags of wheat were weighed together, with a total weight of more than 200 kilograms, and the cost of grinding flour was 2 yuan and 1 dime.

Bags of wheat were poured into the tin trough, and the mill owner Zhou Kang reached into the wheat to test the moisture, pinched a few more grains and bit them in his mouth.

"Brother Zhou, this wheat has been washed, and when it cools a little in the sun, it will be bagged."

"It's still a little dry, and it's lacking some moisture."

As Zhou Kang spoke, he took an iron watering can from the side, sprinkled some water evenly on the wheat, and commanded Niu Yonghou to stir with a shovel for a while, then grabbed a handful with his hand, weighed the weight and said, "It's okay, stop for half an hour, and you can grind." ”

Hearing the mill owner say that it was okay, Niu Yonghou asked the cultivator to bring over the six or seven iron buckets on the side and fill the buckets of wheat.

The dough sheeter is placed in a large cement rectangular pit about half a meter deep underground, with several pipes connected diagonally or upright to the surrounding machines, thick vinyl wires stretching like snakes against the wall, and the mill is covered with a layer of gray cobwebs. Machines, electrical wiring, window sills, walls, etc., are covered with a thick layer of dust, and it is not known whether it is accumulated dust, flour or whatever.

The cultivation is known, and now thanks to the winter, in addition to the cold, the flour looks cleaner when grinding. When it's warm, there are a lot of flies and insects flying around the mill.

Tian E took the small broom of the mill to sweep the flour, went down to the pit, and went to clean the iron trough placed under the dough sheeter, the tin trough is one large and one small, which is used to hold the ground flour when grinding the flour later, one for white flour and one for black flour.

Zhou Kang has a big addiction to smoking, and he will pick up the third one after a while, but he won't smoke it in the mill. There was a red sign on the wall of the mill, and although it was also covered with a thick layer of dust, the words "no fireworks" were still clear. When the machine is not running, no matter how lazy he is, he will stand at the door and smoke against the door frame; Once the machine was turned on, he was busy and smoked cigarettes and ran out of the mill. Of course this is the prerogative of himself, the mill owner. Others get outside whether the machine is on or not, and if they want to smoke.

Cultivator likes to look around in the mill, but Zhou Kang reminded him that those machines are rarely close to the edges, especially where there are electric brake knives on the wall, and the black and slimy appearance reveals a feeling that makes people's hearts hairy.

The wheat on the scale has been poured into the big iron trough, the square platform is very tempting, the cultivator stood up, moved the yard on the scale rod with his hands, and found that even if he put it to the smallest scale, it could not make the scale connected to the scale rod bounce up. On one side of the weighing rod, according to the size, there are round weights. He took down all the weights on the scale and hung them up, and then slowly moved the yard, and saw that the scale rod was gradually rising, and it was not up or down.

"23 points 6 kilograms, less than 50 kilograms! Little boy, you have to eat more to grow your body. ”

Zhou Kang walked in from outside smoking a cigarette, glanced at the location of the tour code on it, and said with a smile.

Cultivating lightly jumped down from the scale, he remembered that last year, he also weighed on this scale, it seemed to be about 40 catties, it seems that this year has increased by nearly 10 catties.

Zhou Kang stirred the wheat in the tin trough again, and then he pushed the knife up, and heard the roar of the machine sound, and the grinding machine operated under the connection of the large and small pulleys and the rubber belly belt.

"Brother Yonghou, how many percent of the grind? Or is it business as usual? ”

"Brother Zhou, this is the noodle for the New Year, it's a little thinner, you can press eighty."

Zhou Kang nodded, squatted next to the flour grinder, adjusted the proportions, and twisted the wheel to fix it. Buckets of wheat began to be poured into the tin bucket above the machine.

At this time, the cultivator did not stay much in the mill, and the vibration of the machine gradually turned gray inside. He likes to run to the back to see the long cloth bags attached to the outside of the wall. The cloth bag was blown round by the air flow from the flour grinder, like a giant balloon.

Cultivating is "hehe...... Hey-ha! The ground punched and kicked on the bulging sack, and the exit of the sack was tied tightly by a rope. He knows this, he plays by himself, but he doesn't dare to untie it, and it is bran inside, which can't be wasted.

It often takes several hours to grind noodles once, and the cultivator originally planned to leave at two or three o'clock, but they came over after eating. The main purpose is to grind the noodles and go back before the eldest uncle Niu Yongfeng and the eldest aunt Niu Xiaoling return to the city, so that each of them can be packed with a cloth bag.

After playing outside for a while, he ran in and went down to the cement pit to support the noodle bag for his mother Tian E, watching his mother use a wooden shovel to put the flour piled up in the big iron trough into the noodle bag again and again, he would pinch the flour with his fingers, which was a delicate and smooth feeling.

They not only grinded the noodles, but also brought more than 30 catties of corn, mixed water in a bright iron pot, and let it stand first. Corn is made into small grains, boiled into sticky porridge when eaten, and served in a bowl hot. With cold shredded carrots or pickles, the "huhulu" tastes particularly delicious.

In addition to corn treasures, you can also collect some cornmeal, which is grandma's favorite. She often uses it to make a dough and mix it with side dishes or mixed juices, which is very delicious. It can also be made into a leaky fish, which is very exciting. However, these two ways to eat will be more when the weather is warm, and in winter, they are mainly cooled in a large tray or basin and formed into a whole piece. When eating, cut into small pieces, serve with green vegetables and radish, stir-fry or make soup, all of which have a unique flavor.

Cultivating watched the corn treasures and cornmeal being packed, and he was thinking about the scene when they were made into delicacies, and he had eaten a lot for lunch, and now he thought about it, and he already felt a little hungry.

By the time the flour was polished, the corn was beaten, and the corn was packed, it was nearly five o'clock. Niu Yongfeng and Niu Xiaoling are also ready to pack up and go back to the city, and the old lady Wang Ying wants to leave after her children have dinner, but she can consider that it is not safe to ride a bicycle at night, and miss the last train if it is too late, so she is not forced to stay.

Niu Yongfeng loaded a bag of noodles in the back seat of the bicycle, almost fifty pounds, he originally wanted to help his eldest sister Xiaoling bring some back to the city, after all, the girl has little strength and can't carry much weight. I heard my eldest sister say that there is still more than a month before the New Year, she is not in a hurry to take it back, and when the time comes, let your eldest brother-in-law also ride on his own and bring a bag back.

After New Year's Day, the new 1989 calendar was hung on the wall, and the first page printed in bright red was torn off. It didn't take long for the Lunar New Year to enter the wax moon, and the days passed day by day, and the footsteps of the Lunar New Year gradually approached.