Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 598: Dreaming and itching to drive a jeep to the street

The Mid-Autumn Festival has always been a big day from ancient times to the present. It can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. At first, ancient emperors worshiped the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. After thousands of years of evolution, through cultural integration, customs such as playing with lanterns, eating moon cakes, and dancing fire dragons have emerged. The most important thing is that the Mid-Autumn Festival symbolizes perfection and beauty.

In ancient times, there were mythological stories such as Chang'e flying to the moon, Wu Gang chopping down trees, and Jade Rabbit pounding medicine. Today, there is the folk history of Xu Laonian looking at the moon and flirting with Diao Chan. It's just that the former is more widely spread. If Xu Laonian lived in today's era, he could really compete with it.

At this time, everyone gathered in the reception room to chat. Wang Hu and others walked in with soy milk and tofu pudding, while Xu Feng and Guan Hua followed behind with the Meng siblings. After Meng Ziyan came in, Xu Ning asked why her parents didn't come. The siblings said helplessly that the old couple had already cooked at home and they had to clean up last night's leftovers.

Xu Ning joked that the old couple were stupid. They didn't eat the ready-made mutton buns, but insisted on cleaning up the leftovers.

This is similar to what many parents and elders do. They don't eat new dishes, but insist on eating leftovers that have been reheated three times, making their children feel deeply exhausted.

This morning, Liu Lizhen and others wrapped eight kilograms of mutton and an extra tray of radish vermicelli with vegetarian filling, mainly because they were afraid that these people would get tired of it and come back for more.

Everyone sat at three tables. After the four pots and eight trays of buns were put into the aluminum basin, the basin was placed in the middle of the table. On both sides were soy milk and tofu pudding, cold dishes and pickles, salted duck eggs, etc. Of course, today was Mid-Autumn Festival, so moon cakes were indispensable, but they just glanced at them and put their chopsticks into the aluminum basin.

After just two bites, everyone said that the mutton-stuffed buns were crunchy and praised the old woman's good cooking skills.

How could it not be delicious? Liu Lizhen only added green onions when mixing the stuffing. When you bite into the steamed buns, the meat stuffing inside is in lumps, just like boiled meatballs, big and round, and the golden oil penetrates the bun skin. The white appearance and the oily inside are quite appetizing!

There were eight trays of buns in total, each one was bigger than a fist. Everyone put down their chopsticks only after patting their bulging bellies, and left the table only after their mouths were full of oil and they were very satisfied.

After everyone had left the table, there was still half a bowl left, which surprised Liu Lizhen. After all, there were so many people, how could they only eat so little? After asking, she found out that Ma Liu, Yang Yusheng, Xu Laonian and other middle-aged and elderly people only ate two or three, and the young people headed by Xu Ning only ate three or four. Some people like Wang Biao, Huang Lin and Li Mantang were in their growing years, but they could only swallow six at most.

It’s not that these people are too greedy, but in addition to the buns, there are also soy milk, tofu pudding, and cold dishes. Besides, the middle-aged and elderly can’t eat much...

After clearing the table, Yang Shuhua, Wang Shujuan and others washed the dishes and pots, while Liu Lizhen sat on a chair, frowning and calculating what to prepare for lunch. The ingredients were ready, but she wanted to make something different. Otherwise, what was the difference between it and the home-cooked meals she had eaten before?
"Son, go get our two big tabletops. We have ten dishes for lunch, and this small table may not be able to accommodate them all."

Xu Ning lazily lay on the kang in the west room and said, "Let Biao and Tian En go. I don't like to move."

"I can't order you around now, can I?"

"Oh, it's just a small matter... Biao, go to our old house and get those two big tabletops, and then wipe them clean with a rag. Go quickly and come back soon, I'll check it later!"

Wang Biao, who was skipping rubber rope with Xu Feng outside the courtyard, looked up and said, "Okay!"

Then he waved his hand and Liu Tianen and Huang Lin followed him.

Liu Lizhen glared at him and said, "Hurry up and get me some pickled cabbage. How can we kill a pig without pickled cabbage?"

"Oh, I know what's going on. Don't worry. It won't delay you."

At this time, Liu Fenfang, Meng Quezi, Li Baoquan, Chang Juan and Chang Xiaobao entered the house. Xu Ning stood up and introduced Ma Liu again, and then took Meng Ziyan to the second west room. Before they could close the door and talk about love, the nagging Xu Feng chased after them, took Meng Ziyan's arm and tied her to go out to skip rubber bands. Xu Ning was so angry that he kicked Xu Feng, but Xu Feng had no idea what he was thinking. She pouted and dragged Meng Ziyan away.

In the east room, Xu Laonian and other middle-aged and elderly people were making lanterns, and Wang Hu and others were helping to cut paper. After Li Fuqiang was free, he went to the second west room and found that Xu Ning was sleeping.

He has been running around these days. Although it's not a big deal, it's just small things that keep happening and it's extremely exhausting. Now that he has some free time, Xu Ning doesn't know what to do.

He originally wanted to take some time to go hiking and pick mushrooms, but with so many things to do at home, how could he leave? He could only stay at home and doze off.

At around 9 o'clock, after Xu Ning woke up, he heard the sounds of playing mahjong and poker in the east and west rooms. He walked to the east room and saw Ma Liu, Yang Yusheng, Xu Laonian and Wang Erli playing mahjong, and in the west room Liu Daming, Li Fuqiang and others were playing poker. Li Fuqiang asked him to play a few rounds, but Xu Ning waved his hands. He really had no interest today, as if he couldn't muster the energy to do anything.

Why? The reason is simple. He just had a dream.

Li Fuqiang noticed that he looked unhappy, so he walked out, patted his shoulder and asked, "What's wrong? You don't look very energetic."

"Hey, I don't know what's going on. I can't muster the energy to do anything today."

"I'm not drinking. Let's drink more at noon and then see..."

After saying that, Li Fuqiang frowned and asked, "Are you thinking about that brown bear?"

"How do you know? I just had a dream about a brown bear and a big cat. The two animals started fighting right in front of me, and I woke up before they decided the winner. It made me feel so anxious! Damn it, if I hadn't been so busy recently, I would have gone into the mountains to find that brown bear!"

"Hahaha, that's all I thought about it! When you three are done with your business, the mountain will be open for hiking. It's winter time too, so we can go hiking then. I haven't hiked much in this period, so it's normal that I still have the urge to hike."

"I really have a strong desire. If Brother Dong and his father weren't around when I went to Wanye, I would have killed that big cat!"

Li Fuqiang turned his head and whispered, "Didn't you say before that big cats can't be cut randomly? They are prone to corruption."

"There's no one else in the mountain, so what can I do if I cut it? Besides, Chen Heshuang... Well, if he wasn't there, the big cat wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. This incident..."

"Don't worry, the brown bear will definitely come back."

At this time, three figures flashed past the gate. Du Shoucai, Du Manzhi, Zhao Yue'e and the two children came in. Xu Ning turned around and called out "Mom and Dad", and then he and Li Fuqiang stood up to greet them.

Soon, Xu Laonian, Liu Lizhen and others came out and greeted him warmly.

Then everyone gathered in the house again, chatted for only five or six minutes, and then set up another mahjong table in the outer room.

There was nothing to do today, so they just played. It was not until after noon when the sounds of cooking came from the north kitchen that they put away their mahjong and poker games and counted their money. As expected, Xu Laonian lost, but Xu Ning won a few dollars. Surprisingly, Ma Liu won the most, followed by Yang Yusheng.

After laughing, Ma Liu divided the money in his hand into several portions and gave them all to the children.

At about 1:, four tables were placed in the reception room and the dining room, and a kang table was placed in the east room. Then, dishes were served one by one. Xu Ning took out the two boxes of Wuliangye sent by Lao Qian. After opening five bottles in a row, Du Shoucai waved his hand and said, "It's better to drink some sorghum red than this stuff."

Ma Liu replied: "Not so good, it would be better to make some Shaodaozi!"

Yang Yusheng laughed and said, "Hahaha, Shaodaozi is very strong. Then we will drink Gaolianghong and let Erning and the others drink Wuliangye."

"I think it works!"

Xu Ning said: "How about you drink some ginseng wine? I'll go get it..."

"Oh, no need, red sorghum is good enough."

After the dishes were served and the wine glasses in front of everyone were filled, Xu Laonian asked Yang Yusheng to say a few opening remarks, mainly to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and everyone gathering together... Then, all the men and women, young and old, raised their glasses, took a sip and started eating.

Today's dishes are a bit harder than usual, including cumin lamb, braised pork, fried pork intestines, fish-scale eggplant, colorful rice noodles, sweet and sour pork, fried pork slices, fried river shrimp, chicken stewed with mushrooms and braised carp.

The table in the east room was occupied by Xu Feng and Li Jinyu, along with their two children, Chang Xiaobao and Du Manzhi. The five of them sat at the kang table. The dishes on the table were in small plates, but they had all the necessary items, including orange soda.

Outside was a table for middle-aged and elderly people, a table for young people headed by Xu Ning, and a table for Wang Biao, Liu Tianen, Huang Lin, Li Mantang, Meng Yinhe, Zi Yan, Guan Hua, and Wang Shujuan. Why did Wang Shujuan sit at this table? Wasn't she preparing for pregnancy? She couldn't drink at all. The rest of the old ladies sat at the big round table in the restaurant, which was just enough to sit down.

Liu Lizhen was quite unrestrained today. The Wuliangye in the bottle was almost empty, but she was fine. She chatted with Zhao Yue'e, Chang Juan, Zhang Guifang and others around her with a red face. When she drank to her heart's content, she even danced with joy, wishing she could use her hands to indicate the world.

When Xu Ning saw this at the table next to him, he was overjoyed. It was obvious that his mother was really happy, otherwise she would not have lost her composure like that.

Almost all the relatives and friends of Old Xu's family were in the house, except Wang Minfu, Guo Hongxia and Wang Yuanjun. Originally, they had made plans with Wang Yuanjun yesterday, but after he returned home last night, he suddenly received a call saying that Guo Xingmin asked his parents to go to the festival, so they had to give up and regretted not being able to get together.

The dinner lasted until dark, and Xu Ning and the others took the time to hang lanterns in the yard and light the candles inside. A few households in the village set off firecrackers and fireworks, which lasted for more than 20 minutes, unlike the lanterns on the street. Why? It was still the word "poor". Setting off firecrackers and fireworks required money. Instead of spending money on these things, they could buy more seasonings to improve their lives.

Old Xu's family didn't set off too many firecrackers. Although there were several piles of firecrackers in the lower room, they were reserved for Xu Ning's wedding. How could they all be set off? Just a token of appreciation would do.

Some customs and skills cannot be passed down, but they can only be abandoned due to real life...

After everyone finished drinking that night, they sat at the table drinking tea and chatting until after 9 o'clock before they dispersed. Some people were drunk and passed out, some were so drunk that they vomited, and some drank more than a pound and a half and were fine. In short, the atmosphere was very cheerful and everyone was very happy, so the old women just served silently and did not complain or curse the old men.

After sending everyone to their respective places of residence, Li Fuqiang, Wang Biao, Liu Tianen and others who did not drink returned home, took off their clothes, got into bed and began to snore. The Mid-Autumn Festival was over.

The next day, after cleaning up the leftovers from the previous night, Xu Ning took the jeep keys and called Li Fuqiang out. The two of them were going to the street to buy sauerkraut. Before leaving, he arranged a job for Ma Liu, asking him to sharpen the knives at home. Ma Liu was feeling bored, so having a job could help him pass the time.

It was past 9 o'clock when the jeep drove into the street. I parked the car directly in front of the hotel. Just as I was about to get out of the car, I saw the hotel manager jogging over. He raised his hand to open the back door. Li Fuqiang, who was sitting in the passenger seat, pushed the door open and said with a smile, "There's no one in the back."

The manager was stunned for a moment, and seeing that Li Fuqiang was dressed simply and didn't look like he was here for dinner, he asked, "Are you here for dinner?"

At this time, Xu Ning got out of the car and turned around and said, "Brother Zhang, I!"

"Ouch! You scared me. I was wondering who it was. Isn't this the car from the city?"

"Yeah, I came here to look for Yang Liguo. Is he busy now?"

"He's not busy now. He should be resting in the kitchen. I'll take you there."

The two followed Manager Zhang into the restaurant, and when they walked to the kitchen, they saw Yang Liguo sitting in a small room reading a newspaper.

"Master Yang, your brother is here."

Yang Liguo looked up and saw Xu Ning and said with a smile: "Hey, why are you here today?"

"We're going to slaughter a pig tomorrow, so my mom wants to make some pickled vegetables. I was wondering if you can get it."

Manager Zhang had already left. Yang Liguo said, "The restaurant does have some pickled vegetables, but there aren't many left. How about you get some from other restaurants on the street? Five kilograms from this one, ten kilograms from that one, and you can get more than fifty kilograms. It just so happens that I have nothing to do right now, so the three of us can go for a walk together..."

"Okay! Will my sister-in-law and nephew come over tomorrow?"

"Your sister-in-law and I can go tomorrow, and your nephew will have to work harder."

"That's okay too."

Yang Liguo took off his apron and clothes, turned to his apprentice and said, "Go to the cellar and get five pickled cabbages and put them in there, and wait for me to come back."

"Okay, Master."

After leaving the restaurant, I drove my jeep around the restaurants on the street and ended up buying less than 30 pickled cabbages, which cost me more than 20 yuan. Why was it so expensive? Because there were few pickled cabbages at that time. After all, the weather was hot and the pickled cabbages would rot in a few days.

The car stopped at the door of the supply and marketing cooperative, and a salesman inside the house called Manager Qian. When Old Qian saw the jeep, he quickly pushed the door open and rushed out. When he saw Xu Ning, he grinned.

"That scared me! I thought the higher-ups were coming to check."

"Haha, you're so timid."

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Two of my friends are coming over tonight. You should have met them..."

Qian Shude asked: "Scarface and Dazhi, right?"

"Well, they're going to the street tonight. I'll ask them to come find you. You can make arrangements and come to my house early tomorrow."

Qian Shude nodded: "Okay, then we'll leave at eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

Yang Liguo said: "I just took two days off."

"That's it, let's think of something tomorrow to let Brother Liu pull the stage and ride the donkey backwards."

"It's ready. I'm parked at the farm machinery station on my donkey. Why don't you go take a look?"

"I don't have a big truck, and I can't pull it back. I won't go there today. I have to go back now. My mother and the others are waiting to cut the sauerkraut."

Qian Shude asked: "Have you bought pickled vegetables? Do you need anything else?"

"We don't need anything. Just come over for dinner tomorrow."

"Okay!"

Afterwards, Xu Ning sent Yang Liguo back to the hotel and talked to the hotel's buyer, mainly to decide on the meat ingredients, such as pork elbows, pig trotters, ribs, lean meat, roosters, etc.

(End of this chapter)