Porridge and side dishes [farming]

Chapter 12 Attending the Wedding Banquet

Little Tudou is the only child of the two. At the age of nine and a half, he is a well-known naughty boy in the village.

Erying smiled and said: "The monkey's coming here is not enough to cause trouble, let him go out and do it."

Li Ji is not very old, and it is the time when he is annoying the bear, so it is understandable not to bring Little Tudou.Facing these two nephews and nephews who are old enough to be his uncle.Li Ji wanted to be an elder but couldn't put up with it, so he just chatted for a long time.

Li Ji wanted to keep the two of them for dinner, but they didn't stay, put down the gift and left.

After the people left, Li Ji opened it to have a look, there were some peanuts and millet.These can be regarded as rare items, and ordinary people use them to make up their bodies.Because the output is not high, so few are planted, and the price of rare ones is high, and ordinary people are reluctant to spend money to buy them.

At noon, Li Ji picked out six meat buns and three steamed buns. After they were hot, he gave all the meat buns to Er Gouzi, and he ate the steamed buns and ate pickles.

Er Gouzi didn't understand, so he grabbed the steamed stuffed bun on his side and handed it to Li Ji: "You eat."

Li Ji smiled: "I am a vegetarian today and cannot eat meat. You can eat it. I will eat more tomorrow."

Er Gouzi tilted his head to express his incomprehension: "Why."

Li Ji patiently explained: "My son's birthday is the day of my mother's death, and my father and mother are gone, so today I will be a vegetarian, and I will go to the ancestral hall to burn incense in the evening."

The younger generation celebrates the birthday of the elders, but they cannot celebrate their birthdays before the age of 60, because parents gave life to people on this day, so this day should belong to their parents' festival.

Ergouzi seemed to understand, put down the half-eaten meat bun, and took a steamed bun in front of Li Ji: "Then I don't eat meat either."

Seeing that the plate of steamed buns was missing in front of him, Li Ji smiled helplessly. What kind of thing is this: "Three steamed buns are not enough for the two of us. Be obedient and stop making trouble. Eat well, and I will eat more tomorrow."

Er Gouzi looked at the steamed bun in his hand, and then at the half-eaten steamed bun that was still smelling like meat, and felt that he had no appetite at all.

Li Ji lost one steamed bun, and the remaining two or three bites were enough to settle. Er Gouzi over there had just finished eating the steamed bun, picked up the remaining half and ate slowly.

"No leftovers, you eat first, I'll go see if the chicken has laid any eggs."

Go to the chicken house, bend down to get in, open the door of the chicken house to bring the air-conditioning to make the chickens inside squawk, the feed is running out, add some ground corn, and pick up the three newly laid eggs.I have to come in several times a day to pick them up, and sometimes there will be one or two more a day, which can be regarded as a little surprise in ordinary life.

Going back to see that Er Gouzi hadn't finished his meal, it was the first time he saw Er Gouzi like a glutton, Li Ji just felt baffled.

Er Gouzi grew up on the mountain. It stands to reason that he is a bit like a beast in the mountain. He does not welcome others to share food, because food is so precious in the wild. Being eaten by others means that he has the possibility of starving to death.

But Er Gouzi is different, because Li Ji refuses to eat meat with him, this slow-chewing appearance seems to be...is he playing a petty temper?

After such thoughts popped into his head, Li Ji immediately threw them out, how could it be possible, Er Gouzi is such a good boy.

In the afternoon, someone came over to deliver things again, the value was different, and the more important thing was the intention.

In the evening when the sun was setting, Li Ji was going to offer incense to his parents, and asked Er Gouzi to warm things up at home and wait for him to go back to eat.

Er Gouzi is learning very fast, and now he can even fry one or two simple dishes, such as stewed rice and so on.Even relatively complicated ones like steamed buns are still worse, but it does not affect the overall performance.

Er Gouzi nodded in response and watched Li Ji leave.

There is only one ancestral hall in the village, and those who go to the village are ranked here.Of course, only after marriage.Those who are not married are considered children, and those who die can only be regarded as premature deaths. Therefore, people with a little money will try their best to marry or buy a daughter-in-law when the child is about to die. Enjoy the incense of the younger generation in the ancestral hall.

It's just that the place is small and there are few people. Each family doesn't even have its own ancestral hall. There is only one ancestral hall in the village, which is shared by the villagers. It's just that each family is placed separately. The surname Li is the common surname in the village. Li Ji The line of the family is the main line of the family, so Li Ji's parents are relatively in the middle.

Li Ji lit the incense and knelt on the somewhat worn-out futon, watching the rankings with mixed feelings in his heart.His impression of his parents became more and more blurred, and only a shadow of his father remained.

He has no memory of his mother, but he only remembers that his father was very kind to him when he was a child. Although the family was poor, his father got sick and drained the last bit of family wealth. But for Li Ji, that was the most extravagant family affection.

Now Li Ji is only 16 years old, a half-grown child, because he lives alone, he is forcing himself to grow up and grow up.Now that some elders in the village say so, it is actually quite lonely.

Fortunately, there is Er Gouzi, but I don't know how long this eldest nephew can accompany him.

Now the family's money and all the changes are brought about by Er Gouzi. If Er Gouzi sees a girl and becomes a family one day, Li Ji's life will be brought back to its original state.The chickens raised will be divided into half and half, and Li Ji's life will not be much better than before.

According to the current situation, it is very difficult to marry a wife. What if I really can't marry a wife?Live a lifetime alone?

The more he thought about the ranking of his parents, the more Li Ji kowtowed three times, tidied up his warm cotton clothes and walked back.

Er Gouzi is eighteen years old. He looks strong and looks good. He can also hunt. He should start a family soon.At that time... I will be alone again.

When he arrived at the door of the house, he could smell the aroma of rice wafting from inside. Li Ji sniffed, put his hands in his hands and smiled, thinking about it so much, now it's a good day to live.

When Li Ji entered the room, the stove in the kitchen was still burning, and the meal had just been heated up, so Er Gouzi sat on the mat in front of the stove and turned to smile at him.

"came back."

"Ah."

"The meal is almost ready."

The simple conversation made Li Ji feel warm in his heart. Today, someone brought boiled salted peanuts and pickled pickles. They didn't stir-fry the dishes, and they ate them when the rice was ready.

When the rice was served, Li Ji didn't expect that Er Gouzi only warmed steamed buns, and Er Gouzi picked twenty small buns.The quantity is large, but it is just enough to feed two people.

"You don't eat meat buns?"

Er Gouzi smiled and said, "I'll eat with you."

Li Ji paused, reached out to tap Er Gouzi's temples, and could only sigh that this child really understood the world. I have to say that Er Gouzi's unintentional behavior was really heartwarming.

The two ate steamed buns and kimchi and peanuts, with smiles on their faces all the time.This is Li Ji's first birthday not celebrated by himself after his father's death.

After a night, I got up in the morning and the snow outside covered my calves. It was obvious that the snow fell a lot last night.Li Ji first cleared the way to the chicken house, and went into the chicken house to see that the chicken inside was still in good condition, and the temperature inside was not low.

There are many chickens, the ventilation is good, and the chickens are close.The chicken itself has feathers, and the body temperature of the chickens is high, so they get close to each other for warmth. The outside of the chicken house is covered with broken quilts and corn stalks, so it is not cold at all inside.It's just that the oil lamp for lighting was off. I went to bed early last night and forgot to add oil to the lamp.

Next time I go to the city to buy two larger oil lamps, so I don't have to worry about them going out all the time.

Every household is busy clearing the snow. There is a lot of snow, so there is no need to go far to shovel snow and store water. Therefore, it is a good thing that the snow is heavy, and the snow is heavy. Next year, the ground will be more moist, and more crops will be bred to fill it up. Stomach and sell copper coins.

So when I went out to see every household, I was very happy to laugh.

Someone is getting married today. As an elder in the village, Li Ji has to go even if he is not from his own family, and he has to sit with his peers at the banquet. The youngest person in the village with Li Jiping’s generation is 48 years old. The average life expectancy in the village is not long. , 48 years old is already half a foot into the coffin.

To be honest, Li Ji didn't want to go, but he had to.

He brought Er Gouzi with him, and began to tell Er Gouzi along the way: "We won't sit together for a while, remember to eat slowly, just eat two bowls of rice, don't scare others, let's have another meal when we go home .”

Er Gouzi nodded to indicate that he had written it down, and Li Ji was still deeply worried about it.

It was not far away, just two steps away, the snow-white ground was still covered with confetti left by firecrackers, and the children were picking out the unexploded fish that slipped through the net, and then picking out the dry firewood with sparks from the stove pit Light the firecrackers and throw them far away to play.

The new daughter-in-law has not yet arrived, and the groom has just gone to greet her.The bridegroom's parents stood at the door accepting the blessings from the villagers, with smiles on their faces.

This is Zhang Erzhu's family, and the wife is his son Zhang Sanzhu. His family has always been single, so the big characters are arranged. If this Sanzhu has another son, he will be called Zhang Sizhu, and so on.

The daughter-in-law is from the village next door, and it is said that she is a flower in the village.

Seeing Li Ji, Zhang Erzhu hurriedly said hello: "Fourth Uncle is here, come in and sit down, this is Er Gouzi, he is quite strong."

Li Ji nodded with a smile and said, "Congratulations, I don't have much good stuff at home. Last time I went to the city to buy some sweet and sour preserves. I usually don't eat much at home. It just so happens that you have a daughter-in-law who has nothing to do as snacks."

Handing over the candied fruit, Zhang Erzhu's smile deepened. What other people sent was at most a few catties of rice, and there might be eggs in summer, when eggs are a luxury.This candied fruit is a good thing, and the price is not cheap.

It is said that these two dogs are very capable, and they know how to hunt and buy skins, so Li Ji's family distributed the money. Looking at the new cotton jackets on the two of them and the candied fruit wrapped in oiled paper, it seems to be true.

Taking it over and thanking them again and again, thinking that the future of these two people will be more and more prosperous, Zhang Erzhu directly sent Li Ji and Er Gouzi to their seats.

Er Gouzi was sitting on the table next to Li Ji, looking back at Li Ji from time to time, and Li Ji comforted him with his eyes.Er Gouzi had never been to a place with so many people, so he was definitely afraid.