In the old yard of the Zhang family, Zhang's mother has been busy with her two daughters-in-law since the early hours of the morning, preparing several large pots of corn dregs, stewed potatoes with pork ribs, stewed beans, stewed Chinese cabbage with lard residue and pickles.

Busy and busy, time flies quickly, and it will be noon in a while.

Zhang's mother and daughter-in-law were all placed in the temporary thatched house in the new yard. Here's a good one, and the fragrance comes out. Daddy Zhang hurriedly asked everyone to eat first and then dry in the afternoon.

Just the pork ribs stewed potatoes in this wooden plate, the less meat is potato pieces, and in the pork lard residue stewed Chinese cabbage, there are a few pieces of meat residue, and everyone also said that Zhang's father is kind and Zhang's mother is generous. The people from the village who came to deliver the stones, even the children who followed behind, were also pulled over by Zhang's father to eat together.

Everyone was busy all morning, and they were not polite, and they all gobbled up. There are not many chairs on the side, squatting, leaning, everything. In the countryside, if you don't mind having to sit down at the table, you automatically leave the only few chairs to the elders and to the master bricklayer.

In a short time all the food was empty, even the broth was eaten in a rough nest, and the barrels and plates were empty.

Dad Zhang saw it and called out to his wife, "the child, it's not enough here, bring your daughter-in-law and add it." ”

The master bricklayer burped, shook his hand, and shouted, "Stop shouting." I'm all full, don't you see that I'm full of burps? Old sister-in-law, don't listen to him. ”

Mother Zhang looked at her wife hesitantly, this is all served, where did she change it all at once? I was relieved to see that everyone said they were full. Everyone is helping her family work, but she can't let people be underfed, or she will have to lose her reputation. Her father-in-law is still alive, and he would rather save his mouth and tighten his belt, rather than wronged the good people who help his family.

She prepared 30 people's portions in the morning, and she should have eaten enough. It seems that tomorrow we still have to prepare more nests. If you can't finish eating, you can keep it, and you can also bring one or two back to everyone.

Nowadays, even nests are rare. Seeing that a few people in the village were embarrassed to eat more, they secretly left the nest head in their arms and put it in their arms, which was intended to be brought to the children at home. Mother Zhang was sad, and secretly looked away, pretending not to see it.

After thinking about it, it is better to double it, and she will build a house this time in her life. Don't be reluctant to give up rations, I would rather save some at home, and make everyone who comes to help happy. Maybe there won't be many people working in the village tomorrow, and someone will come to help, and you have to get up tomorrow morning and start steaming, otherwise you really won't be able to catch lunch.

After a break, Zhang Guoqing greeted everyone and left in advance.

Father Zhang and the others were full, sat down to smoke dry tobacco, chatted with the master bricklayer for a while, and watched the villagers who sent the stones home to rest. Just about to propose to let the master bricklayer rest.

The master bricklayer would look at the apprentices and say, "How is it?" Can you afford it? After eating and drinking, continue to work, and strive for the completion of the two courtyards as soon as possible. ”

After speaking, he stood up and kicked the big apprentice, "Quickly take them to do it." Their old Zhang family are all kind-hearted people, you work hard, they all know it in their hearts, and they can't lose you. ”

The master bricklayer just celebrated his 60th birthday last year, and his body is very strong, so he walks around when he has nothing to do. Now there are two sons in the family, and the eldest son has inherited his craft. The youngest son followed the Yue family into the city. The family conditions are wealthy, and this time it is also because the eldest son has a job in the city, and he is out of the mountains.

Speaking of his craft, all the miles and towns are thumbs up. Don't look at him now that he has no worries about food and clothing, when his father and mother were alive, the family was so poor that rats didn't come to his house. But he was clever, and at a young age, he went to the provincial capital to make a living and help his parents support his younger siblings. I have pulled rickshaws in provincial towns, carried goods on the docks, worked as a seller, and made money and got in.

By chance, I met Grandpa Zhang, who was still alive, and the two chatted and found out that they were fellow villagers. Grandpa Zhang is a warm-hearted person, seeing that he is so young, it is not a matter of getting up early and being greedy for darkness, and he has no craftsmanship in his hands, so he gave an idea and helped him introduce the famous bricklayer master in the provincial capital.

He has always remembered the kindness of Grandpa Zhang back then, and he can't forget those wild meats, and several grandchildren of the old Zhang family know some handicrafts, all of which they learned from him. This time, as soon as Dad Zhang came over and talked about building a yard, he agreed without saying a word. Even his wife made a look, and his son said that he would come to work in the coming year, but he was ruthlessly cleaned up behind his back.

Zhang Guoqing returned to the room, looked at the rest of the food in the room, and asked her worriedly, "Jiaojiao, why is there any left?" Can't you eat it? What do you want to eat? Let's change the taste. ”

Zhou Jiao frowned lightly and said softly: "Forget it, I still have a lot of confinement rice in it." You buy it and it is conspicuous, and you will be there first. Didn't you eat enough at noon? Mom is gone, the food at home must be back to the original, or wowotou, I can smell the smell. ”

"I barely ate a nest and just ate vegetables. Keep it in your hand for you to eat slowly. There's chicken soup on the stove, so I'll just mix it with leftovers and eat it. ”

Zhou Jiao didn't listen to him. She had known for a long time that he had a lot of strength and a lot of food. Coupled with the heavy work today, a small bowl of rice is not enough for him to stuff his teeth. Zhou Jiao directly took out two large bowls of box lunches, sweet and sour short ribs, and grilled steaks, looked at them all meat dishes, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Come and eat, aren't you going out today? Eat it all, we are not afraid of running out of food, there is no need to save it for me. You have to take care of yourself yourself - I think it's better to move early, you have to be so tired that you don't get enough sleep every day, you get up in the early hours of the morning and lie down in the middle of the night. See if you can give money, you don't go to the foundation, find a reason not to go. You haven't suffered all of this before, but now you've suffered it all. ”

Zhang Guoqing looked at her worried chatter with a smile, and waited for her to finish speaking, before comforting: "I know, I know, don't worry." If you're really tired, don't go. It's okay now. Don't feel sorry for me, we're okay now. Didn't you see that today's nests and wombs are all treasures, and they are reluctant to eat them, so they secretly hide them in their arms and take them back. Some people came with stones, their faces were yellow and thin, their clothes were single and patched, and their feet were wearing straw sandals, and the children who followed behind were also wearing single clothes and straw sandals, trembling, and I saw that my nose was sour, and I wanted to take off my clothes and put them on for the children to wear. But it's just an idea, and I didn't really do it. ”

Zhou Jiao patted him gently, there are some things that don't need to be said, the general environment is like this, their power is too small, and they can't be implicated too much. They are just small people, and they can only be small people.

After Zhang Guoqing finished eating, hugged his son, and chatted with Zhou Jiao for a few words, he took away the small note prepared by Jiaojiao, and brought two bottles of wine to say goodbye to her.