The story of a cook

Chapter 148 Going Home for the New Year ([-])

On the second day of junior high school, I got up early and had dinner. Lin Yan cleaned up the house in the house, and I prepared lunch in the outhouse.When it was almost nine o'clock, the fifth sister and the fifth brother-in-law came with their eldest son in their arms.

The fifth brother-in-law kowtowed to his mother first when he entered the house.

Lin Yan asked: "Is the son-in-law also kowtow?"

I said, "What's wrong with the son-in-law? A son-in-law is half-launched, and he is not much different from a son, so he has to kowtow."

After hearing this, the fifth brother-in-law said, "I'm a good half-baby, better than you. If you don't stay at home for a year, you're not as good as a half-baby like me."

I said: "Well, it's not as good as you, I admit this, I have nothing to say."

The fifth brother-in-law said: "You know, Guohua, you haven't been home this year, and I have eaten the little chicken raised by my mother, but you haven't."

Mother said: "You should eat chickens, and you have done a lot of work at home."

Fifth Sister said, "What kind of work is he doing? It's still called work."

My mother said: "Isn't all the work at home this year done by others, what else do you do?"

The fifth brother-in-law said: "My mother is fair." Then he said to the fifth sister: "When I ate chicken, you didn't eat less."

Fifth Sister said: "I eat, I am doing inspection work."

I picked up the son of Fifth Sister's family and looked at his chubby little face, which was very attractive.Said: "Let the old uncle hug."

The little nephew looked at me a little strangely, and was a little scared by my appearance, so he stretched out his little hand and looked for Fifth Sister.

Fifth Sister said: "Silly son, isn't that your uncle? Let your uncle hold you for a while."

The little nephew burst into tears, and the fifth sister quickly hugged her and said to me, "I'm new to you, you're never coming back, I don't know you."

I said, "Yes, I'm a little scared because I'm unfamiliar."

The fifth brother-in-law said: "Seeing that you are an uncle, you don't even look for your own nephew. You are not very popular."

I said, "I'll just come back often in the future."

The little nephew went to his mother, and the mother took it and hugged it, then put it on the kang, and said, "It's sinking again, I can't hold it anymore, go play by yourself."

The fifth sister said to her son: "Son, what are we talking about at home? What do you do first when you come to grandma's house?"

The little nephew thought about it, then knelt down and kowtowed to his mother, and said, "Grandma, Happy Chinese New Year!"

My mother was so happy, she smiled and said, "My old nephew is still sensible."

The fifth sister saw that her son had paid New Year's greetings to his mother, and said, "There are more."

The little nephew looked at me, still a little strange.

The fifth brother-in-law said to the little nephew: "I have finished greeting my grandma, who should I greet?"

The little nephew seemed to be pressured by his parents. He had no choice but to kowtow to me on the kang and said, "Happy Chinese New Year, uncle!"

I hurriedly took out the prepared red envelope and gave it to him, and said, "Okay, come on, my uncle will give you a big red envelope."

The little nephew smiled and accepted the red envelope, feeling happy this time.

While speaking, the eldest sister and the eldest brother-in-law came.After entering the house, the eldest brother-in-law also kowtowed to his mother to pay New Year's greetings, and then he was polite.

The eldest sister asked Lin Yan: "You should still get used to celebrating the New Year here."

Lin Yan said: "I'm used to it, it's pretty good, it's more lively than my house."

The eldest sister said: "Chinese New Year here is a lot of fun."

Fifth Sister said: "This time it's your family of three celebrating the New Year, and my mother is also happy."

The eldest brother-in-law said: "That's not true. If the old lady spends the New Year at home every year, it doesn't make any sense. The old lady has a personality. She doesn't go to anyone's house, so she stays at home."

The eldest sister said: "My house is not good and I don't see you going to other people's houses for Chinese New Year. You will go to other people's houses for Chinese New Year next year."

The eldest brother-in-law said: "Isn't there you? If I didn't have you, I would go to someone else's house."

Make tea and pour tea for everyone. At this time, the third sister, second sister, and fourth sister also came one after another, and the room began to become more crowded and lively.

After chatting with a few brothers-in-law for a while, I went to the outhouse to start cooking.Lin Yan came to help, and Fifth Sister and Third Sister also came over, told them that they could come over quickly, and asked them to come in and chat.In fact, as long as I celebrate the New Year at home, it is like this every year. Before the meal, I will be busy in the outhouse, and I will have time to sit and chat with my sister and brother-in-law when the meal starts.

The second sister came to the outhouse, saw Lin Yan and I were busy, and said: "I don't know anything, let's help you light the fire."

Lin Yan said: "You don't need the second sister, you can just stay in the room, and Lao Tan and I can do it."

The second sister said: "That's pretty good, I can eat ready-made ones."

I smiled and said, "Second sister, isn't Qiuping here?"

The second sister said: "I'm looking after the house at home. I don't want to come when I grow up. It's too cold to ride in a carriage."

At that time, the second sister's family was in trouble, and she hadn't bought a motorcycle yet, so every time she went back to her mother's house, she drove a horse-drawn carriage.

I said, "Qiuping is on the third day of the junior high school this year, and it's time for the senior high school entrance examination."

The second sister said: "Yes, she wants to go to high school or not, and wants to go to a technical secondary school."

I said, "That's fine, and the technical secondary school is also very good."

The second sister said: "Then who knows, it depends on whether she passes the exam or not. If she passes the exam, she will read it. If she fails the exam, she is not going to let her study."

I asked: "If she is not allowed to study, what would she do?"

The second sister said: "It's not that I don't let her read it, it's that she doesn't plan to read it. How many times have you told her that your fifth sister also told her that she is going to ask her to read it, but she doesn't plan to read it herself."

I said: "Then she must be allowed to study. What is a girl doing if she doesn't study?"

The second sister said: "Isn't it worth money to study? Where can I get the money?"

I said, "I'm still making money here, so I don't have the money to tell me."

The second sister said: "You still have the money to get married. When I go back, I will talk to her and see what she thinks. I don't care about her. I have taken care of her studies all these years. It's not bad for a year or two."

I chatted with the second sister for a while while cooking, and then the second sister went back to the house.

Lin Yan played with her second sister and old girl Lele.Lele was only eight years old at that time, in the first grade of elementary school, with big eyes, strange spirits, and extraordinary intelligence.The little girl walked around Lin Yan, yelling "old concubine" one after another, which made Lin Yan a little embarrassed.

Fifth Sister said, "Lele, don't call me old concubine first, but Auntie."

Lele asked: "Why is it called Auntie? Isn't she my uncle's wife?"

Fifth Sister said, "Isn't that not married yet?"

Lele said: "Call it first, and call it after you get married. It's not suitable for you. You are not an old concubine."

Lin Yan just laughed.

Lele asked: "Old lady, you must marry my uncle, right?"

Lin Yan said, "What do you think?"

Lele said: "Old lady, it's okay, my uncle is very good, I won't want you, how nice you are, I like you."

Lin Yan said: "You can really talk with your little mouth."

Lele said: "I don't have what my uncle can say. If my uncle talks about it, my dad can't talk about him. Sometimes my dad is afraid of my uncle."

Lin Yan asked: "Then are you afraid of your uncle?"

Lele said, "I'm not afraid, and I won't mess with him."

When eating, there are three tables for a large family, two for adults and one for children.

The days are getting better every year, and people's mental heads are different.When the first few years were difficult, when visitors came to the house during the Chinese New Year, they didn’t know what to feed them. It would be a good day to kill the New Year’s pig during the Chinese New Year.It's much better now than in the past, people don't have to worry about eating and drinking, and people are naturally happy.Chinese New Year used to be poor and happy, but now Chinese New Year is really happy.

I remember that in the first few years, my eldest brother-in-law smoked cigarettes during the Chinese New Year. They rolled them themselves, but now they are all cigarettes.It's just that the drinking hasn't changed, it's still the pure grain cooking made in my own village, and I don't drink a good bottle of wine.It is rare to drink pure grains now. It used to cost three yuan a catty, but now it costs 40 yuan a catty, and it is not as pure as before.

The reason why I can drink is that when I didn’t go out to work, I had an uncle’s sister who opened a wine shop. I helped there, and I knew a little about shochu. I was very good with the brewer, and I knew some wine indirectly.

Later, I had a good relationship with an old man in the town who lived under five guarantees. The old man was an old soldier from Hebei. I don’t know why he stayed in our town. He was alone. The town built three houses for him at the head of our village. he lives there.When I was in junior high school, I loved going to the old man's place whenever I had nothing to do. The old man had a stubborn temper and liked to drink.All the wine he drank was made by himself. There was nothing else in the room, but there were eight or nine jars for soaking wine, and each jar contained the same wine.Don't think I was young at that time, but I got along with the old man, and the old man liked me very much.

The wines he makes include apricot blossom wine, pear blossom wine, peach blossom wine, mountain jujube wine, skullcap wine, polygala wine, as well as donkey whip wine, bull whip wine, and horse whip wine.Every spring, I help the old man pick apricot, pear, and peach blossoms. The old man dries these flowers and soaks them in wine. In summer, my fifth sister and I go up to the mountain to plan medicinal materials, dry them and sell them to supplement the family. Every time, I would secretly set aside a little, such as Polygala, Scutellaria, and Bupleurum, and send them to the old man, who would smile and take them to make wine.Sometimes the old man teases me and asks me to taste his bubble wine, but I dare not taste it, I just open the jar and smell it.The wine made with flowers has a faint floral fragrance, and the wine made with medicinal herbs has a medicinal taste, especially Polygala, which has a strong medicinal flavor.

The old man also added some other things when brewing wine. Some of the brewed wines were light yellow, some were red, and some were black.The wine made with donkey whip, bullwhip, and horsewhip is very particular. When the old man heard that someone killed a cow or a donkey, he would ask him for a bullwhip or a donkey whip, and most of them would give it.

The old man is famous for his stubbornness, most people don't provoke him, and they can't afford to provoke him. When the old man gets angry, even the mayor scolds him. The mayor dare not say a word in front of him, so few people provoke the old man.

The old man brought back the bullwhip and donkey whip, and "combed" it himself first, combed it, dried it, and then made wine.When soaking, add a few Chinese herbal medicines, soak for three to four months, and open the lid of the wine jar after soaking, and the bullwhip can stand up.The current bullwhip brewing wine can’t reach that level, mainly because the bullwhip is not handled properly, and now people don’t know how to “comb”. "Combing" leather is the basic skill of old cobblers in the past, but today's cobblers don't know it. When I was a child, I saw a cobbler combing leather. It is a very complicated process.

After being with the old man for a long time, I have developed a strong interest in wine, especially in making wine. When the old man is free, he also teaches me how to make wine, and tells me what wine is good for.When I was in high school, the old man was too old, and the civil affairs of the town took the old man to the nursing home. The old man passed away in the second year in the nursing home.

I didn't learn anything else from the old man, but I learned the technique of brewing wine first-hand. The health wine sold in the restaurant where I work now is brewed when I was there.It's just that the current loose baijiu is not good, and you can't make good wine. In addition, most of the current medicinal materials are cultivated, so the medicinal properties cannot be achieved, and the effect is not very good.Whether health-preserving wine can preserve health depends first on what medicinal materials are used to make the wine, and on the other hand how it is drunk. If the soaked wine is used as white wine, a meal will be half a catty or eight taels. That is not health preservation, but destruction.

After a lively lunch, it was time for family members to chat and chat.

My sister and brother-in-law are used to me going out to work, so they don't care much, and the topics on me have decreased a lot.What they are talking about now is how much tobacco will be roasted, how much corn will be planted, how many sheep and cattle will be raised this year.There is also the matter of children. The eldest sister's son is getting married this year, and the eldest sister will soon be promoted to mother-in-law.

The second sister said: "The eldest sister has started to be a mother-in-law this year, and my mother hasn't become a mother-in-law yet."

Fifth Sister said: "Mom is quick, let's do it."

The eldest sister said: "That's not too soon. This year Guohua is the year of birth. After this year, you can get married in the next year."

After speaking, he looked at Lin Yan.Lin Yan said: "We also think the same way. Let's not get married this year and get married during the Chinese New Year."

The second sister said: "That's pretty good. I'm just waiting to hug my eldest nephew. You will have a child after you get married, so don't ask for the child first."

Everyone laughed after speaking.

The eldest sister asked me: "Are you leaving tomorrow?"

I said, "Well, I have to leave tomorrow, and there are only six days off in total."

The second sister said: "Isn't it six days off, this is only one day."

The elder sister said: "It's a day for you, and the two of them will come back at 28."

The second sister said: "Stay at home for two more days, and leave before the bed is warm."

I said, "I have to go back. I didn't have a holiday for Chinese New Year. When I come back, I will be there, and I have to go back and take care of them for two days."

The eldest sister said: "That's not true, we can't be clean, and who is not allowed to go out to visit relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year." Then she asked me: "Then you go to work directly when you go back, and don't go to Lin Yan's house?"

I said, "Well, I can't go for the time being, I will go when I have time."

Lin Yan said: "It's okay, my mother doesn't pick and choose. I go to work on the eighth day of junior high school, and I will go home to visit my mother."

The eldest sister said: "Then you have to go and see it. It's old, so it's wrong not to go and see it during the Chinese New Year."

I said, "If I can do it, I will go there in fifteen."

The eldest sister said: "That's fine, it's not over until fifteen years old, fine."

The fifth sister said: "It's very good. You spend thirty at this house and stay with this mother, and at fifteen you two go back to that house and stay with that mother."

The third sister said: "There are only two mothers in total, you two have to take good care of them."

The eldest sister asked: "Then when will you two come back this time?"

I said, "Come back when Lan Jun gets married."

The elder sister said: "That's fine too. You didn't come back when Lan Zhi got married, and you have to come back when Lan Jun got married."

I said, "Promise to come back."

The eldest sister asked: "Then you two should take something with you when you leave? I heard from my mother that Lin Yan is willing to eat rice cakes. When you leave, bring some. I will bring back some millet and you can take it back."

I said: "Just bring these two things. I don't eat at home. Lin Yan can't eat much by herself at home."

The second sister said: "Aren't you two renting a house now? That's considered a home. It's the same as when I got married and went out to borrow a house from others. My house has nothing but salted duck eggs, which I brought to you. , take it with you when you go."

Lin Yan said: "It's all brought to us, so what do you eat?"

The second sister said: "The duck lays eggs every day, and I will salt them again. Every family has salted duck eggs at home."

The third sister said: "My family smoked tobacco last year. I was busy and didn't raise anything. During the Chinese New Year, I soaked a cow with three families in our village. My mother doesn't eat beef. I will bring some beef back. Guohua, you two go away." Take it with you when you go, so you can eat a few meals."

I said, "No need, I don't have a freezer at home, it's probably broken if I can't eat it."

The third sister said: "You take it to the restaurant. Doesn't the restaurant have a freezer? Put it there, and take some back when you want to eat."

The fifth sister said: "Who else is taking what? Hurry up and report, I will be in charge of packing." After finishing speaking, she said to the fourth brother-in-law: "Fourth brother-in-law, what have you prepared?"

The fourth brother-in-law said, "You didn't say anything, I'm not prepared."

The fifth brother-in-law said: "You don't need to prepare, just bring one of your sheep."

The second brother-in-law said: "Don't talk nonsense, it will kill him if you lead his sheep."

Everyone laughed after speaking.

After a lively day, we all went back in the evening.The fifth sister's family did not leave and stayed.

Early the next morning, the fifth brother-in-law sent Lin Yan and us to the car and returned to the provincial capital that day.

To be honest, every time I leave home, I feel reluctant to part with it, because I can't let go of the blood-thick affection at home.

How far away is a home, how old is a mother.

(End of this chapter)