Druid's Country Retirement

Chapter 165 Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival, together with the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, are known as the four major traditional festivals in China. Caogou Village also has its own way of celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival.

Eating zongzi, hanging mugwort, cleaning the streets, and racing dragon boats.

There is no need to mention eating zongzi, except for sweet and salty, it is almost the same all over the country.

Hanging mugwort, every Dragon Boat Festival, will hang two bundles of mugwort at the door of the house, because the Dragon Boat Festival is a bad and unlucky day in the eyes of the ancients, and hanging mugwort is to ward off evil spirits.

And before and after the Dragon Boat Festival is a time when diseases frequently occur. The unique fragrance of mugwort has the effect of repelling diseases and repelling mosquitoes.

Jingjie is a unique way to celebrate in the forest area. When the time is set, each household will send out a person, carrying a bucket in one hand and mugwort in the other, walking through the village lanes, and then swaying the water-soaked mugwort around to express The meaning of eliminating disasters and exorcising evil spirits.

The last is the dragon boat race.

Every year when the Dragon Boat Festival comes, the village will organize a dragon boat race. It is said that it is a dragon boat, but it is actually a bathtub at home. The grass hanging on the edge of the basin is the faucet. Participants can use anything as a registration fee, and the final winner can get all the registrations. fee.

yard.

in the shade.

Mother, Second Sister, Shan Xing, and Sister Cui, in front of the four of them, there are several large pots of soaked glutinous rice. It is estimated that there can be two to three hundred catties of glutinous rice, as well as red dates and red bean paste. The red bean paste was cooked in advance last night. Red beans, let the silly boy hammer them into red bean paste.

"Make so many zongzi, we can finish eating!" Li Hongbing was taken aback by this battle.

"Is there a lot? It's wrapped, and it will be distributed to your eldest sister and second sister's family. You just eat and don't care about the package."

The mother glared at the youngest son, and skillfully picked up the bamboo shoots and leaves, nested them into a funnel shape, then put some rice on the bottom, put the stuffing, then put glutinous rice to cover the stuffing, and pinched the sides of the zongzi inwards, Fold the other end of the zongzi leaf over to cover the zongzi, hold the zongzi tightly with one hand at the end, tie the zongzi with a thread with the other hand, and tie it.

In three or two strokes, a one-jin heavy zongzi is completed.

That's right, it weighs just one catty, which is as big as the mouth of a bowl, and it's heavy in your hand.

The zongzi sold in the city are all small and exquisite, and each bite fits exactly one.

Compared with the freshly wrapped zongzi in front of him, he doesn't even count as a younger brother.

The corners of Li Hongbing's eyes twitched, it was hard to imagine how he could eat a rice dumpling by himself when he was a child, but now if he let himself eat it, he could only eat half of it when his stomach was broken, which is amazing.

"San'er, what are you doing in a daze? Take the wrapped zongzi to the kitchen, put them in the pot to soak first, and cook them together later, go and get the bamboo shoot shells." My mother picked up a red date and smashed it to wake up the dazed man. Li Hongbing.

After feeding the eagle owl chicks, Anna Dian Dian ran in front of the crowd, blinking her big eyes, she was inexplicably curious about making zongzi, but she just didn't say it, and circled around the four women.

It was Shan Xing who knew Anna, and deliberately shook her hands and said, "Making zongzi is so tiring, it would be great if someone could help."

Immediately, Anna leaned beside her, looking like a little adult.

"Aunt Xing, let me help you!"

Haha!

Human fine!

Several women saw through Anna's little trick and couldn't help laughing.

Li Hongbing walked into the kitchen with a bowl of rice dumplings in his arms.

In the kitchen, two large pots were filled with zongzi, pressed down with a wooden board, and a pressing stone was placed on the wooden board to keep the zongzi submerged in the water, so as to avoid the phenomenon of being caught.

Bamboo shoot shells are used to cook rice dumplings in a small pot.

Sitting in front of the stove, Li Hongbing kept putting firewood into the hearth, and the blazing fire burned with crackling sounds.

soon.

The hot water in the pot was tumbling, and there was a faint fragrance of bamboo and wood.

Seeing that the water was boiling, Li Hongbing hurriedly fished out the bamboo shoots and leaves and put them into a basin of cold water, then put the rice dumplings into the pot, pressed them down with heavy objects, and took out the firewood from the stove, keeping only a small fire.

Because the zongzi is so big, it will continue to cook on low heat for about 3 hours.

Sitting still is boring.

The mugwort has not been cut at home.

Li Hongbing left the kitchen, put down the bamboo shoots, and told the old horse to cut the mugwort.

When Anna heard something interesting, she hurriedly said she wanted to go, but after being stung by a bee, her family grounded her at home.

Sister Cui stared, and the little girl pursed her mouth to pretend to cry.

However, no one eats this now, especially my mother and second sister. When Anna came back from Mingzhu City, she was such a well-behaved and obedient child. It has only been a long time since she returned to the village, and she is like a crazy girl. God.

Seeing that his daughter's sure-kill failed, Li Hongbing deliberately added fuel to the fire and made a goodbye gesture.

Make Anna bark her teeth and claws in anger.

Walk out of the courtyard gate.

A loud whistle was blown.

The next moment, with the sound of horseshoes rattling, Heifeng flew up the grassy slope and came to Li Hongbing's side, pawing the soil lightly with his hooves, and yelling "咴咴".

Li Hongbing got on his horse and patted Heifeng's neck.

"Let's go up the mountain and mow the grass."

咴.
Excitedly, Hei Feng raised his upper body and let out a neigh, just like a rear-drive sports car raising its head when it started to accelerate, and when it landed, it rushed forward, and the whole body was ejected.

Li Hongbing didn't know what kind of wind Heifeng was blowing, so he could only clamp the horse's back passively and let Heifeng lead it to run wildly.

There is a clear difference between saddle and bareback.

Riding a horse with a saddle can protect the rider's safety, but it will make the horse uncomfortable and feel restrained. After all, the saddle also has weight, and the pressure on the horse without a saddle will be much less, and the limbs can be stretched out, making the horse more dexterous, but relatively The rider's riding skills are more demanding.

At the beginning, Li Hongbing was not used to it. Without the protection of the saddle, his bumpy butt hurt. Later, he adjusted his posture by feeling the changes in the horse's back muscles.

Chic is chic!
It's just a little tired, and the two sit bones on Heifeng's back are really coughing.

After running for a while, Heifeng finished venting his energy, slowed down, and trot along the mountain path.

I met many villagers on the side of the road, and they all walked back after cutting the mugwort.

After a few simple greetings, they parted ways.

Guided by the name of the village, Li Hongbing rode a black wind to the eastern slope behind Caogou Village. The soil here is fertile, and the mugwort grows tall and thick.

Before you get close, you can smell the strong and mellow aroma of mugwort.

Some villagers are using a sickle to cut off two-meter-high mugwort and put them on the ground to form bundles.

Seeing Li Hongbing appearing, he greeted him warmly.

"Uncle Red Soldier, you also come to cut mugwort!"

"I just cut a few bundles. If you don't mind, I'll take it back. You didn't even have a sickle, so you pulled it out with your hands!"

"Take mine, freshly cut."

After being reminded by the villagers, Li Hongbing realized that he did not bring a sickle.

I didn't bring a knife, but I brought cigarettes.

Li Hongbing took out a cigarette and handed it Fugui to the villager who cut the most mugwort.

"Then you're welcome, I want to take a few more bundles."

When the villagers saw the packaging of the cigarette pack, it was Hua Zi, which Li Hongqi flaunted every day but was reluctant to smoke. Hearing that this pack of cigarettes in the city could sell for a hundred and ten yuan, the corners of his mouth almost grinned, "Take it, whatever you want." Take it, and if it's not enough I'll cut a few more bundles."

The other villagers stared at the pack of cigarettes enviously, and scolded themselves why they didn't cut more bundles of wormwood, just to benefit the rich and noble.

"Enough, enough, I just want a few bundles."

Li Hongbing waved his hand and bent over to pick up a discarded mugwort.

Ah!
It is wild lobular mugwort, with good quality and high oil quality, very suitable for making mugwort.

Mugwort is known as the king of all herbs, especially the best one during the Dragon Boat Festival.

In ancient books such as "The Book of Songs", "The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic" and "Shen Nong's Herbal Classic", there are records about the medicinal uses of Artemisia argyi: the whole herb of Artemisia argyi is used as medicine, which has the functions of warming the meridians, dispelling dampness, dispelling cold, stopping bleeding, reducing inflammation, relieving asthma, Cough, anti-allergic and other effects, almost everyone is applicable.

And mugwort can also be processed into moxa, and moxibustion in acupuncture refers to moxibustion.

Li Hongbing picked four bundles of mugwort, tied them to his horse, greeted the villagers, and left with Hei Feng.

Back to the old house.

From the courtyard gate to the door of each room in the house, two bunches of mugwort are hung.

And the mugwort must be hung at the door until the next year’s Dragon Boat Festival and then replaced with a new one. The original mugwort cannot be thrown away. If the dried mugwort is left for too long, it will become Chen Ai. The longer the Chen Ai is , the effect will be better, and it will be called Chen Ai if it is more than one year old, and the effect will be better if it is more than three years old.

It has a particularly good effect on dampness, sprains, and cold feet.

yard.

The eldest brother-in-law and Anna held the rice dumplings as big as their faces, and ate the rice dumplings just out of the pan. Anna's face was covered with glutinous rice grains, and her eyes were bent into crescent moons.

brat.

Glutinous rice is so delicious?

If you eat more happily now, your stomach will become more bloated later.

Li Hongbing went to the field to pull a few carrots to prepare.

really.

After a while, Anna felt uncomfortable holding her bulging belly, and her mother came to find her granddaughter in distress.

"Are you still greedy?" Li Hong scratched Anna's nose with her fingers, and picked off the chicken crops hanging in the shade to dry under the eaves.

Chicken crop is a commonly used medicinal material in traditional Chinese medicine, also known as chicken inner gold, chicken food skin, especially pheasant crop is the best.

Chicken crop is located in a large bag bulging under the neck of the chicken. It is used to temporarily store food. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, promoting gallbladder and water, eliminating accumulation and killing insects. It is used for food accumulation, flatulence, infantile malnutrition, hepatitis, Ascariasis, external use to treat burns and scalds, traumatic bleeding.

It is especially effective for children with indigestion and flatulence, and children with malnutrition.

Break the chicken crops into pieces, mix the glutinous rice left over from making dumplings, put it into an iron spoon, put it in the stove, and burn it with firewood.

Until the chicken crops and glutinous rice in the iron spoon are burned to ashes, rinse with hot water.

In rural areas, there are generally children with food accumulation and indigestion. They burn whatever they eat. If they accumulate food, they burn the food, and if they accumulate meat, they burn old bacon. The ashes can be burned and eaten with water.

With a straight face, Li Hongbing put the soup in front of Anna.

"Drink!"

Looking at the black soup in the bowl, Anna pouted her small face and acted coquettishly at her mother with her airy mouth, "Grandma, Anna don't drink it."

The mother knew whether she could spoil her granddaughter at this meeting, so she brought the bowl to Anna's mouth, "My dear girl, drink it quickly, it won't hurt your stomach after drinking it."

Anna firmly shut her mouth, and Li Hongbing stood aside watching the fun and joked, "Mom, if you don't drink, you will be beaten. Back then, if I didn't drink medicine, you would have been beaten."

The mother glared at the younger son.

"You are you, Nier is Nier, can it be the same? Go away, don't be an eyesore."

Got it!
I'm an eyesore!
You continue to perform milk, kindness and grandson filial piety.

Li Hongbing pouted, walked into the warehouse and took out the wooden bathtub that had not been used for a long time.

Wipe off a thick layer of floating ash on the surface, revealing the dark red wood, which is the trace left by the years.

I remember that when I was a child, I always took a bath in this bathtub. In the evening, my grandma boiled water and put it in the basin, and I sat in it to take a bath.

Time flies so fast.

Carrying a wooden bathtub to the well, he poured a bucket of well water to wash away the dust, and Li Hongbing picked up a brush and began to brush vigorously.

The eldest brother-in-law walked to the well with a bulging stomach, squatted for a few times but failed, and finally loosened the belt in anger, and then completed the difficult squat.

"San'er, this bathtub is quite old! Is it still usable?"

Li Hongbing didn't explain, and took another bucket of water and poured it directly into the bathtub.

The clear well water hugs the dust, blends into one, and becomes turbid.

However, not a single drop of water seeped out of the surface of the tub.

"Handmade, without using a single nail, older than you, believe it or not, it can still be used when you are old."

"I believe." The eldest brother-in-law nodded seriously.

As the boss of a construction team, he has done many projects in the early stage of capital accumulation, and one of the projects impressed me the most.

An old man wanted to build an octagonal gazebo in his garden, and he especially emphasized the requirement of pure wood and no nails. At that time, this requirement stumped him. If the price was not right, he would not accept the job. .

Later, after inquiring from many sources, two carpenter brothers were invited from Shu Province. After talking about the special requirements of the client, the two brothers were unambiguous, rolled up their sleeves and started working directly.

From material cutting, material selection, tenoning, making, and assembly, no one is allowed to interfere at all, and the tools used are chisels, planes, shovels, ink fountains and other traditional carpenter's things, and there are no modern tools that are ready-made.

The only disadvantage is that the construction period is too slow, but fortunately, the customer is not in a hurry.

On the day when the project was completed, the red cloth was torn off. Except for the two carpenter brothers, everyone present was stunned by the tenon-and-mortise pavilion in front of them.

With double eaves and eight pillars, wooden glass and wooden tiles, the corners of the pavilion are upturned, and it looks like it is flying in the air from a distance.

The plaque of Aiwan Pavilion written by famous artists complements this pavilion even more.

Since then, this project has become the capital of the eldest brother-in-law to show off from time to time, and at the same time, he is deeply impressed by the traditional carpentry skills.

After washing the bathtub, Li Hongbing put it in the sun to dry.

After finishing the work, I didn't wait to drink my saliva.

Wang Hai walked into the yard excitedly, waving the drawing board in his hand, Li Hongbing felt his heart skip a beat when he saw it.

There is a feeling that the wallet is about to be emptied.

"Brother Li, I came up with a brand new design that will definitely satisfy you."

……

"What, build a lake in the middle of the yard?"

Li Hongbing looked at Wang Hai impressively.

Even the eldest brother-in-law at the side was curious about Wang Hai's amazing idea, which could scare the brother-in-law like this.

After taking the drawing board and looking at the sketch on it, the eldest brother-in-law began to scratch his teeth.

The outer frame is still square, with an artificial lake in the middle. Surrounding the lake are independent two-way small courtyards, which can not only see the lake water but also protect privacy, and there is a canal beside the small road in front of the door.

In this way, it becomes an artificial lake-yard-water channel.

This design is... simple!
The eldest brother-in-law blushed.

Look!
Even my brother-in-law is so angry, this design is too much, I can't cover it even if I empty my wallet.

Li Hongbing's eyes were filled with tears as if he had found a confidant.

Sudden.

Brother-in-law twist
(End of this chapter)