"Ga ——!"

The old courtyard door was slammed open from the inside, making a rattling sound.

The wooden door scratches the corner of the wall, and the sound back and forth is a little harsh.

Hua Shi clenched the somewhat cold hand that had been withdrawn and stood firmly outside the door frame.

"You're... Spend time? ”

The old lady who came to open the door, with gray hair, raised her old face and cloudy old eyes, and carefully identified the visitor.

"Grandma He, it's me." Hua Shi held the hand of the bamboo basket, tightened a little, and nodded hurriedly.

"It's cold outside, come in."

Old Mrs. He bent her somewhat hunched back, beckoned, and motioned for Hua Shi to follow quickly.

The yard I saw last time was still spacious, and the things placed were also very messy, such as stone mills, shelves, dry firewood, and wellheads...... Same after the same.

Hua Shi followed behind Mrs. He, and was greeted until he walked to the hall before stopping.

"Here, drink some hot water."

Grandma He enthusiastically poured her a glass of water.

Hua Shi reached out to take it, and the gesture paused when it touched the cold edge of the porcelain cup.

This tea is obviously cold......

She quickly glanced down at the tea in the cup, and there were bits and pieces of tea floating above it, and the water under the cup looked like boiled water that had never been boiled.

Under Grandma He's kind gaze, she took a sip when she spent her time.

The water at the entrance is indeed well water that has not been soaked, but some tea leaves are added to it......

"Don't stand, sit here."

Grandma He looked at her lovingly, and after seeing her drink the tea, she turned her head again, moved a wooden chair from the corner, and motioned for her to sit.

The old lady seemed to be just thinking to herself, and without waiting for the flower to speak, she pulled her sleeve and pressed her hand to sit down.

Hua Shi couldn't resist her, so he had to sit down.

"Grandma He, can I borrow your kitchen and use it for me?"

Hua Shi looked at the old lady's smiling side face and asked tentatively.

Grandma He kept tilting her head, looking in the direction of her feet, as if she was attracted by something.

Hua Shi followed her gaze and looked down at his feet.

"Meow......?"

Leaning on her feet, the black cat, who was sitting honestly and licking her cat's paws, noticed the sight that Hua Shi had seen, and also looked up, looked over, and screamed blankly.

"This black cat is your cat?"

Old Lady He asked suddenly, so cloudy that she couldn't see her pupils' gaze, clinging to the black cat's body.

Hua Shi noticed that something seemed wrong with the old man, so he bent down and picked up the black cat and put it in his arms, before nodding in response, "Yes." ”

After Grandma He heard her answer, she kept tilting her head, and the person seemed to freeze in place, stunned, half still, as if she had fallen into some memory.

When he spent time, he pinched his palm, and he was a little restless for a while.

In fact, she also thought twice before she came here.

If Hua Yu hadn't lied to her last time, Grandma He's family would have died, and the chatters on her lips were just her own fantasies, and the separation of memory and spirit was chaotic, so she said those words.

Whether it was the last meeting or this meeting, Grandma He's emotions were very stable and had no objections to ordinary people.

She also came here with selfishness, Grandma He is a lonely old man, only one person is at home, the location of Grandma He's house is also a little remote, and she has to cross two mountain roads to see another family when she goes out.

It can be seen that this place is very hidden, and the road is overgrown with weeds and piles of snow, and it can be seen that few people come here.

She didn't have any familiar people in the village, and the Hua family had the Li family, so there was no way for her to show her strengths, so after thinking about it, she thought of Grandma He......

Hua Shi pondered, and his eyes couldn't help but fall on the wooden table on the left side of the square covertly, and there were three spirit cards, husband, son, daughter... The spirit cards of the three of them, like the last time they were seen, were still neatly arranged.

The spirit card was wiped clean, and there was no dust at all......

“… Ah Shi, ? What did you just say? Excuse me... The old woman is useless, and I didn't hear what you said. ”

Hua Shi was distracted, and suddenly there was a little old and hoarse voice from Grandma He's ears.

She was stunned for a moment, then immediately came back to her senses and hurriedly said, "That's the case, Grandma He, I want to borrow your small kitchen, is it okay?" ”

"Kitchen...? Yes, go ahead, it's in the east house outside the courtyard, and you can see it when you go out. ”

This time the old lady quickly came down, and she was just stunned, as if it were her delusion.

"Okay, thank you, Grandma He."

Hua Shi stood up, holding a basket in one hand and a black cat in the other, and walked out of the yard.

The moment she stood up, Grandma He also stood up.

Hua Shi thought that she would follow her out, but no, Grandma He just stood up and walked towards the basket full of cotton in the hall, hunched her hunched back, and turned over the cotton in the basket with her rough hands.

When the flowers came out of the hall, she pursed her lower lip and looked at the falling snow in the yard, feeling a little weird.

Grandma He just looked at Xiao Hei's eyes, obviously something was wrong.

It's just that Grandma He was stunned for a moment, and didn't show it, but agreed to her words in a daze.

"Meow......?"

The black meow that was comfortably nestled in her arm suddenly stopped when she saw the flower, and scratched the back of her hand with her paw in confusion.

Hua Shi bent down and put the black cat on the ground before walking towards the kitchen of the East House that Grandma He said.

She gathered her thoughts and walked into the dimly lit kitchen.

The space location of the small kitchen in front of me is better than that of the flower family, spacious and bright, and the position of the window facing the light source is also just right.

Hua Shi stood on tiptoe and pushed open the two closed windows, letting in the light from outside, and the vision suddenly brightened.

The kitchen is very clean, there are two long wooden cabinets in the left corner, the counter is not closed, and you can clearly see the miscellaneous items inside, bowls, chopsticks, plates...... Neatly placed on the same level, there are some miscellaneous things that are not easy to see.

There are five kang openings on the stove, the larger one is a large iron pot, and the four smaller ones next to it, only one of which has a black clay pot on it, and the firewood burning hole at the bottom, and there is still unburned firewood.

A large open space on the right is a place where dry firewood is placed, but there is very little firewood in this area, and it seems to be empty, only some scattered branches remain, and a few large thick wooden blocks that have not been chopped.

There is only half of the water left in the water tank at the kitchen door.

Hua Shi walked over and lifted the wooden lid on the top of the cauldron, and there were still two yellow tortillas in it, still with some heat.

It should be the leftovers that Grandma He eats in the morning, and she should keep it for lunch at noon.

Hua Shi turned over a wooden plate from the cupboard, put the tortillas on the plate, and put them on the cabinet next to him.

She is going to divide this last basket of winter dates into two parts, one to make frosted dates and the other to make candied dates.

The method of frosted dates is easier and more convenient, after washing the winter dates with clean water, then dry the water on the skin, then put the sugar cubes in the pot, add a small amount of water, fry into syrup, wait for the syrup to be heated to the point that it can be drawn, and then put the dried winter dates in it, mixed with a piece of stir-frying.

This process requires a lot of patience, because if you are not careful, you will not control the heat well, and it is easy to fry the sugar or the winter dates into a mushy taste.

Because of the limited materials, the flower has been guarded wholeheartedly, carefully, for fear of messing up.

Although she hadn't cooked much in months, the memories engraved in her mind and body, and her careful avoidance.

A large portion of frosted dates was quickly ready, and she kept holding her breath, fiddling with the heat and spatula up and down, and sweating, but fortunately it was a complete success and did not mess it up.

"Meow ......"

The black cat, crouching next to her, circling her back and forth, kept looking up at her with its head up, and the cat's eyes looked at her curiously.

At this time, when I saw the flowers, I finally got the things right, and with a kick of my hind legs, I jumped on the stove, sniffed my nose, and leaned over to the frosted dates on the wooden plate.

It is attracted by the smell of spring water, and the frosted dates processed with spring water have a great attraction to it......

Smelling the smell, I couldn't help but come up......

"Meow?!"

Seeing that it was about to snort at its own things, Hua Shi raised his hand and knocked it on the head.

The black cat let out a grieved cry and was driven down.

"Watch by the side obediently, don't make trouble, if you mess up, I'll clean you up when I go back."

In the low voice of the flower, the threat contained in it could be clearly heard.

"Meow ......"

The black cat who sat back on the ground sneered, and after understanding Hua Shi's words, he didn't dare to make another attempt, and this time he squatted on the ground honestly and didn't jump on the stove again.

When the attention of the flower returns to the main thing, the method of candied dates is more difficult than the method of sugar water dates.

First of all, the seeds in the jujube are removed, and then the outer layer of the peel is made by hand to make neat marks, and the last step is to control the heat, dissolve the sugar cubes with water, pour all the processed winter dates into it, and cook it with sugar water......

Until the sugar water is boiled to semi-dry, start stir-frying, and wait for the sugar shreds to adhere to the skin of the winter jujube, at this time, under the heating of the fire, the skin of the winter jujube that has faded from the moisture also becomes yellow and clear, smelling a sweet and greasy fragrance.

Finally, the sugar shreds that stick to the skin of the winter dates are roasted and dried over fire, and the sugar on the top is completely bonded to the winter dates, and the dates are almost finished.

When I was flowering, I was afraid that the carbon ash from the firewood would fly up, and I would get on the skin of the dates that could still pull out the sugar silk, so I didn't dare to roast it directly with charcoal.

If you have an oven, you can just put it in and bake it, and you are not afraid of the gray smell of charcoal, and you are afraid of the smell.

At present, the conditions are limited, so she can only use a stupid way, standing on the edge of the stove, waiting for the dates in the pot, roasting them one by one, and paying attention to the fire from time to time not to be too fierce, otherwise it is easy to burn the liao......

Time passed minute by minute, and in the small kitchen of the east house, there was a trivial sound from time to time, and it was not noisy.

When she kept her head down and looked at the busy flowers, she didn't notice that while she was busy, the small sound she made attracted the attention of the old lady He in the hall.

The old lady did not sit in the hall, but moved a small wooden chair, sat under the eaves of the hall, and raised her head from time to time to look into the kitchen of the east room, and the figure flashed from time to time.

Listening to the noisy sounds, the courtyard that was as quiet as death in the past seemed to add a bit of liveliness and liveliness......

After waiting for the flowers to finally make all the things, she didn't delay much, and put the frosted dates and candied dates in oilskin paper wrapped in sugar cubes separately and put them in the basket.

A basket of winter dates looks like a lot, but in fact, there are not many, it is less than a full basket, counting the failures that did not grasp well at the beginning, and when they get down, there is only half a basket left that can be handled.

When it comes to flowers, the ones that failed at the beginning are also packed separately and put back in the basket.

Looking down, he saw the black cat that had been looking at him all the time, and fed it two failed products.

Although it is a failed product, it is not impossible to eat, but it is not formed, and the taste has a bit of charcoal fire, if you take it to sell, I am afraid it will not work, but it can still be eaten.

"Meow ......"

After staring at it for a long time, he finally ate what he had been thinking about all day, and the black cat licked his tongue and was immediately satisfied.

Hanatoki touched its head before standing up and starting to clean up the kitchen that she had made a little messy.

Estimating the time, the hazy sky outside the window made her realize that it should be around three or four o'clock in the afternoon......

She occupied Grandma He's kitchen all day, and burned a lot of her firewood, which had to be made up for Grandma He.

After returning the kitchen to its original state while it was dark, Hua Shi came out of the kitchen and noticed at a glance that Grandma He was sitting under the eaves with a needle and thread in her hand, as if she was making clothes.

“… Done with work? ”

The old man, who heard the sound, raised his head, and looked towards Hua Shi with smiling old eyes.

Hua Shi nodded, and his voice couldn't help but slow down a little, "I'm done, thank you Grandma He, I'll fill the water tank for you, as well as the firewood in the kitchen, I'll pick up some for you later." ”

Listening to Hua Shi's words, Grandma He didn't speak, nor did she nod, just a pair of cloudy pupils that were a little dull yellow, looking at her quietly.

Hua Shi was stared at by her a little hairy, and without waiting for Grandma He to speak, she hurriedly turned around and walked in the direction of the well.

The water tank at the kitchen door is not far from the well, and it is about a meter apart.

The capacity of the water tank is not large, and when I spend my time, I stare at the light snow that keeps falling, and run back and forth with a bucket of water, and I will soon fill the water tank after a dozen trips.

She was a little out of breath from exhaustion, and her back and forehead were sweating profusely.

When the cold wind blows, it is cold and hot.

Hua Shi tightened the clothes he was wearing and walked in the direction of the backyard.

The huge yard opened a back door, and the direction of the back door was a large grove, because it had been snowing for a while, and the woods were full of snow.

The green leaves on the trunk of the tree have also fallen off a lot, and the remaining leaves have also been dyed with snow.

Hua Shi walked back and forth in the grove, picked up a lot of branches stained with snow and water, and waited until he had a bundle full of them before returning to the yard.

After working for a while, the sky gradually darkened, and she also picked up two bundles of firewood and made up the firewood she had burned today.

Grandma He was still sitting under the eaves, and during her busy work, she didn't make a sound to stop her, just stared at her inexplicably.

At first, Hua Shi was stared at, and I was still a little stunned, but when I got used to it, I vaguely felt that Grandma He seemed to be staring at her in a daze, and seemed to be in deep thought.

"Grandma He, I've packed up all the things, and I'll also heat up the two corn tortillas in the pot, if you're hungry, go eat them."

Hua Shi came out of the small kitchen, looked at the old man who was still sitting under the eaves, and said in a non-serious voice.

"Hey... Good. ”

Grandma He looked at her, seemed to be a little stunned, and answered in a somewhat dull voice.

Hanashi noticed that the cloth she was holding in her hand was a roll of dark blue coarse cloth, which was rolled haphazardly, and it could be seen that a large piece of cloth had been trimmed, and a large piece was left.

She thought about it in her heart, and after being entangled for a while, she still asked out loud, "Grandma He, do you have more cloth like this in your hand?" ”

The old man seemed to guess what she was going to say next at a glance, smiled and nodded, and his voice sounded a little slowly, "There are many, if you want, I'll come into the house and get you one." ”

As she spoke, she got up and walked into the house.

Hua Shi hurriedly walked over and said loudly, "No need, can you sell me the rest of the fabric in your hand?" ”

She now had only one hundred and thirty dollars in her belongings, and she remembered that a complete burlap was expensive, and she could not afford it.

Grandma He seemed to look down at the fabric in her hand, and paused obviously before saying, "Yes, the remaining half of this horse can just make a dress, I will send you some cotton, you can stuff it into it when the time comes, and it will be warmer to wear." ”

She seems to know what she does clearly, and she doesn't care much about these external objects, just like the last time Hua Yu casually mentioned it, she can also sell a quilt to Hua Yu cheaply, and also gave a lot of cotton.

Hanatoki swallowed his dry throat and asked, "How much does this cost?" ”

She heard Grandma He laugh lovingly, "Just give me eighty yuan, it's not a valuable thing." ”

…

Coming out of Grandma He's yard, on the way back, Hua Shi's thoughts were in a state of semi-daze.

She held a bamboo basket in one hand, the half of the leather cloth in the other, and a bag of bulging cotton underneath.

These things are only a hundred dollars......

But this is definitely more than a hundred yuan, she remembered that Hua Xiao had mentioned to her that a complete burlap is the cheapest for 400 yuan, and the half horse in her hand is at least 200 yuan......

And the 100 yuan was still forced to Grandma He when it was spent, she only needed 80 yuan, but she took advantage of it when she spent it, and she couldn't help it, so she stuffed 100 yuan for her.

Grandma He was not very willing to accept it, but she didn't insist on shirking her, so she accepted it.

After getting along this time, Grandma He does sometimes inexplicably take care of herself, and after falling into her own thoughts, she often can't get out.

In addition, there was nothing else wrong, and Hua Shi deliberately avoided the topic and did not mention Grandma He's relatives.

Grandma He's mood seems to be very stable, her thinking logic is also very clear, her words and demeanor are not showing signs of confusion......

No matter what, she is also a beneficiary, and she is so poor that she can't give Grandma He money, so she can only make up for it from somewhere else.

She silently recorded this in her heart, and when the sky darkened, she turned on the moonlight, stepped on the fluttering snow, and took Xiao Hei to the small courtyard of the Hua family......

After another busy day, she was hungry again and began to coo......

…