Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 268: Violent Martin Tea

After Old Meng and the others had discussed the matter, he led Qu Shaoyang and his party straight to the Zheng family.

The Zheng family lives at the west end of the village. They have two wooden houses, which are quite large.

Zheng Qingshan and his son led a group of strangers into the house. The dog at home did not recognize Qu Shaoyang and his sons, so it started barking.

"Why are you yelling? There are visitors in the house. Go back to the doghouse or I'll kick you to death if you yell again."

Zheng Qingshan raised his hand to scare the dog. The dog saw it and quickly turned around and went back into the doghouse.

"Mother, please boil some water and make some tea. There are guests at home."

Zheng Qingshan is tall and strong, and has a loud voice.

If you shout at the top of your lungs at this time, even if it is winter and the doors and windows are closed, people at home will be able to hear you.

Sure enough, the people in the house heard the noise and came out to check.

"Hey, where did this guest come from? Come on, come inside and warm up."

The mountains are sparsely populated and it is rare to see outsiders, so the people there are particularly warm and welcoming when they see guests.

When Zheng Qingshan's daughter-in-law saw Qu Shaoyang and others, she warmly invited them into the house without even asking any questions.

"Nephew, let's go inside and sit down first. Tieniu and Tiezhu, you two go get rid of the deer.

Remember, from the two big deer, except for the meat, pack up the rest and give it to your brother Qu and the others."

On the way back, Qu Shaoyang said that they didn't want the four deer and would leave them all to these three families.

Zheng Qingshan and others naturally disagreed. In the end, they said that the meat should be kept for everyone to eat, and the things from the two deer should be taken away by Qu Shaoyang.

This was originally done by Qu Shaoyang, so it's good enough for them to get some credit for it.

The two Zheng brothers responded, and together with Wang Junshan and Meng Lanjun, they dragged the deer into the outer room and started to deal with it with tools.

Qu Shaoyang and others were invited to sit in the east room. "Quick, take off your shoes and get on the kang. It's warm there."

The Zheng family's east room also has two large kangs in the north and south, so the place is quite spacious.

While Zheng Qingshan's wife invited everyone to get on the kang, she took a jar from the cupboard and put a handful of unknown things into the pot.

Then he came in from the outer room with a copper kettle of boiling water and poured the hot water into the room. Suddenly, a strange fragrance filled the room.

"Hey, auntie, what are you brewing? It smells so good."

Qu Shaoyang sniffed. The smell was sweet and fragrant, a bit like some flower, not like tea.

"Oh, those are the leaves and flowers of the tea tree. We don't have tea trees here.

I went out to buy some tea. Not only was it very expensive, but I couldn't stop drinking it.

In the spring, we would go to the woods to pick some leaves and flowers of the hollyhock, then come back and fry them dry to drink as tea.

Nephew, please try it. It tastes good and warms the stomach, which is good for the stomach."

Zheng Qingshan asked his youngest son to fetch a stack of bowls and poured half a bowl of tea for each person.

The tea soup is amber in color, and the aroma drifts with the hot steam, smelling particularly fragrant.

Qu Shaoyang didn't hesitate, he picked up the bowl, blew on it, and took a sip.

You know what, this stuff tastes pretty good. "Yeah, it's delicious."

After walking so far in the cold wind, everyone was chilled.

At this point, I didn't care whether the tea was hot or not. I blew on it and took two sips slowly. I just felt much warmer.

Inside the room, Zheng Qingshan and others were chatting with Qu Shaoyang.

In the outer room, Zheng Qingshan's daughter-in-law sent her youngest son to Wang Chun's house and called Wang Chun's wife and daughter over.

Zheng Qingshan has just instructed us to stew venison tonight and have dinner for everyone.

Wang Chun's home was not far away, so he called people over to eat together and help with the work.

In this way, several women were busy in the outer room, cutting and chopping, and in the kitchen two pots were burning at the same time, stewing and frying, busy cooking.

By the time the food was ready, it was already dark, so they lit two oil lamps in the east room and set up the table. There were not enough tables for so many people, so they borrowed one from the Wang family, took out the top, put two wooden blocks underneath, and used it as a makeshift table.

In the evening I made braised venison, venison meatballs, venison stewed with yam, and also a pot of marinated bones.

It was freezing cold outside, but the house was warm as spring. Sitting on the heated kang, drinking hot meatball soup and gnawing on bones, it was so wonderful.

"It's a good thing that my nephew Xiaoqu is good at shooting, otherwise we would have to go home and eat sauerkraut stewed potatoes tonight."

Zheng Qingshan said with a smile while eating.

The Northeast is cold in winter and there are no fresh vegetables. There are only radishes, cabbages, potatoes, and pickled cabbage stored in the fall, as well as pickled vegetables.

These are the only dishes we eat throughout the winter.

Sauerkraut likes oil and water, and it will not taste good without oil, so some people cut sauerkraut and potatoes into shreds and stew them together.

This way you don’t need so much oil or water, and it tastes okay.

Some families have less cabbage left in the autumn and not enough to eat, so they stew the cabbage and potatoes together.

This thing is okay for the first meal, but when you heat it up for the second meal, it smells like pig food.

You have to eat it no matter what it tastes like. This is the condition at home. If you don’t eat it, then you will have to leave the bowl empty.

Therefore, children in Northeast China have big appetites and can eat anything.

Zheng Qingshan and his friends are hunters. When winter comes, they often go into the mountains to hunt for something, so at least they can have some meat at home.

But it is still rare to have the opportunity to eat meat freely like today. Who would be willing to eat like this? Is life over?

"Hey, nephew, why don't you stay here for a few more days.

I see you all have quick guns, why don't we go hunting in the mountains when we have time?" Zheng Qingshan suggested.

"Uncle, we still have to go to Donggang, and then go straight back from Donggang. Hunting and so on may be difficult."

Qu Shaoyang shook his head. They came here to collect mountain products and discuss buying ginseng seeds. How could they have time to hunt here?
"Oh, that's all right. Tomorrow morning I'll go to the village and call out to you from house to house.

You guys take the goods before you leave." Zheng Qingshan was not unhappy when he heard this, and continued to chat with Qu Shaoyang.

"Xiao Qu, aren't you going to collect hides, wild ginseng, or something like that?
I know a few old mountain dogs who have a lot of good stuff.

I think you can stay here for two more days, and I will take you to find them." Old Meng said over there.

The so-called old mountain dogs are a group of people who live alone in a shack in the mountains, make a living by hunting and gathering, and live far away from villages and towns.

Some of these people were Manchus who stayed in the Northeast in the early years, and some were people who came from Guandong and never married or had no children.

They don't like to interact with others, so they just build a small shack in the mountains, clear a small piece of wasteland around it, live self-sufficiently and live away from human habitation.

Qu Shaoyang had heard his master mention this kind of old mountain dog before, and he knew that the more powerful these people were, the more capable they were, and they did have good things in their hands.

"Really? Oh, thank you so much, Grandpa Meng."

When they go out, they naturally hope to collect as much goods as possible. In this case, they really have to stay here for a few more days.

"What are you thanking me for? I have a lot of stuff at home, and now that you're here, I don't have to carry it to Shuangdianzi.

Tomorrow, tomorrow I will find them all, and take whatever you want."

Well, starting next week, I will try to update more often.

Actually, my body has recovered. It’s mainly because there are a lot of things to do in autumn, and my eldest son is in the third year of junior high school and will take the high school entrance exam next year.

The way children study nowadays is different from when we were young. They have more homework and are under a lot of pressure.

My eldest son's current grades mean that if he works a little harder, even if he passes the English test, he may be able to go to the best middle school in the county. He currently scores 20 or 30 points in English. If he maintains his current ranking, he will probably go to a mid-level high school.

The child also wants to do well, but he has too much homework at school and can't concentrate on it, which makes him very anxious. I have no choice but to accompany him to do his homework every night, chat with him, and go over the questions.

People who are familiar with writing know that we are the ones who can write fast at night, but I don’t have time to write. In addition, on Saturdays and Sundays, the children are at home, so I have even less time to write.

I am now trying hard to adjust my state and strive to update three times a day starting next Monday.

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(End of this chapter)