Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

Zhao Shanhe carried Niu Niu in one arm and held Lin Xiu's hand as they walked back along the dirt road.

Before even reaching the center of the village, a rich aroma of pickled cabbage and pork, mixed with the smell of firewood, wafted towards us on the cool early autumn wind.

On the threshing ground, yellow dust flew everywhere.

In less than half an hour, a dozen or so uneven wooden tables were pieced together into a long row.

Long benches, low stools, and even wooden stumps temporarily brought from home were all arranged around the table.

Several large black iron pots, as thick as large bowls, were placed on the makeshift earthen stove.

The dry firewood underneath crackled and popped as it burned, the orange-red flames fiercely licking the bottom of the pot.

In the pot, boiling water was releasing large plumes of white steam.

In another pot, sauerkraut and thickly sliced ​​pork belly were simmering, filling the entire Kaoshantun village with a rich aroma of meat.

"Make way, everyone! The front is up!"

Several women carrying porcelain basins larger than washbasins walked briskly through the crowd.

Seeing this, Lin Xiu released Zhao Shanhe's hand, told him "Keep an eye on Niu Niu," and quickly rolled up her sleeves to help at the chopping board.

The rolling pin clattered as the village aunties and grandmas gathered around, picking out fillings, folding the dough, and pinching it closed. Plump, white sauerkraut and pork dumplings quickly filled the sorghum stalk mat, ready to be dropped into the boiling water.

To welcome these men who had narrowly escaped death, the village slaughtered two large, fat pigs all at once today.

Next to the dumpling pot, Liu Yidao, the butcher, was shirtless, swinging his thick-backed cleaver and chopping away furiously on the cutting board.

The white, fatty pork and bloody ribs were chopped into large pieces and, along with the cleaned offal, were carried away in basins by several men and put directly into the old braising pot next to them.

In a large iron pot further on, hot oil was sizzling and boiling.

Grandma Wang took a long-handled iron ladle and stir-fried the freshly cut blood sausage and fresh pig liver in oil. She then sprinkled in a generous amount of dried chili peppers and scallions. The enticing aroma of fat mixed with spiciness instantly elevated the fragrance of the entire courtyard to another level.

The monkey clung shamelessly to the edge of the cutting board, its eyes gleaming, drool practically dripping from its mouth.

While Liu Yidao turned around to get the salt shaker, he stretched out two dark fingers, swiftly picked up a piece of freshly cut, marbled white meat, and put it in his mouth.

"Snapped!"

Aunt Wang reacted quickly, grabbing a piece of scallion and slapping it hard on the back of the monkey's hand.

"Ouch!"

The monkey recoiled in pain, nearly dropping the piece of meat that was just about to fall into its mouth. It then shoved the meat into its mouth, scalding it and making it gasp for breath.

"You little bastard!" Granny Wang cursed loudly, "How much dirt have you gotten yourself into in the city? You haven't even washed your paws before sticking them on meat!"

"Auntie, I'm starving!"

The monkey, its mouth greasy with oil, clung to its head and complained, "The food in the city is so bland! Now, even if you gave me a piece of tree bark, I could taste the meat!"

"Get out! Get out! Go wait at the table!"

Liu Yidao pretended to hit him with the back of his knife, and herded the monkey toward the long table like a duck.

The surrounding villagers, seeing the monkey's gluttonous appearance, burst into deafening laughter.

Old Liu at the village entrance tapped his pipe and quipped, "Monkey, didn't you brag before you left that you were going to the city to eat and drink your fill? Why are you acting like a starving ghost reincarnated? Isn't the meat in the city delicious?"

"Don't mention Grandpa Liu!"

The monkey swallowed the fatty meat in its mouth, wiped its greasy mouth, and said, "The meat in the city is sliced ​​as thin as leaves; a gust of wind could blow it away. It's not even enough to fill a tooth gap! Nothing compares to the big, fat pig from our village!"

"Hahaha! I bet you've been so busy getting beaten up in the city that you haven't even had time to eat!"

Everyone burst into laughter again, and the whole threshing ground was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

"Take it off the heat!"

Someone gave a long shout, and the first pot of plump, white sauerkraut and pork dumplings was scooped out steaming hot.

Immediately afterwards, large chunks of stewed pork belly, sizzling stir-fried blood sausage, and big bones with tendons and meat were served in a continuous stream on the long wooden table that had been pieced together.

The starving men's eyes were practically glowing green; who cared about rules anymore?

Da Zhuang slapped open the clay seal of the Lao Bai Gan liquor, and the rich, spicy aroma of the liquor instantly wafted out.

He picked up a wine jar and poured it full into the large, rough porcelain bowls in front of everyone.

"make!"

Da Niu roared, his chopsticks flashing through the air as he picked up a piece of white meat about half the size of his palm and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing with gusto. He then picked up a large bowl and gulped down a mouthful of strong liquor, his breath coming in gasps from the spiciness, and exclaimed how satisfying it was.

Lao Hei, Da Zhuang, and the others, still wrapped in blood-soaked gauze, had long since taken off their tattered cotton-padded coats. They swung their arms, climbed onto the long bench, and began eating and drinking, scrambling together in a chaotic frenzy.

The scene was a hundred times more lively than during the Chinese New Year.

As Zhao Shanhe strolled slowly along the dirt road, carrying Niu Niu in one arm, the men at the long table had already downed half a jar of wine.

The sharp-eyed ox, who was busy chewing on a large bone, was the first to spot him.

"Brother Shanhe!"

Da Niu quickly spat out the bone fragments in his mouth, wiped his mouth haphazardly with the back of his hand, and suddenly picked up two large bowls filled with wine from the table, squeezing over in three steps at a time.

"Where have you been wandering off to! We didn't wait for you, we started building ahead of time!"

Da Niu grinned and handed one of the heavy bowls to Zhao Shanhe.

The wine sloshed around in the bowl, spilling a few drops that instantly seeped into the yellow earth.

Zhao Shanhe steadily took the large bowl with one hand, looked at Da Niu's greasy face, and chuckled, "Just eat yours. If I had come half an hour earlier, would you have even gotten a slice of that fatty meat in the pot?"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The men around him immediately burst into laughter.

"Brother, you've hit the nail on the head!"

With a piping hot sauerkraut dumpling in his mouth, Da Zhuang mumbled incoherently, "That mouth of Da Niu's, it's like a funnel! He ate almost half a bowl of that pork belly all by himself!"

"Go to hell!"

Da Niu turned around and kicked Da Zhuang. "I'm eating to nourish myself! After being in jail, I'm so weak I can barely fart, and I can't even eat a little more?"

Zhao Shanhe ignored their laughter and put Niu Niu down.

The little girl was already drooling from the aroma of the meat on the table, and she ran towards Lin Xiu with her short legs.

Lin Xiu had just freed her hands from the cutting board when she quickly grabbed a small, rough porcelain bowl, put two cooled dumplings in Niu Niu's bowl, and then used the tip of her chopsticks to pick up a little lean meat and feed it to her.

Zhao Shanhe, holding a wine bowl, walked directly to the long table.

Da Niu and the monkey quickly squeezed to the sides, making room for him to sit on a bench.

"Come on, brother, sit here!"

As soon as Zhao Shanhe sat down, the group of men seemed to have found their backbone, and the atmosphere became even more lively.

After a few glasses of strong liquor, the aftereffects of the baijiu kicked in.

Fueled by alcohol, the men even started boasting to each other.

"Hey, you guys didn't see it!"

The monkey had one foot on a long bench, waving a large, gnawed bone in his hand. "Back then in that alley, those bastards across the street were holding iron bars, but I, the monkey, didn't even flinch! I just swept my leg..."

"Alright, alright, shut your bird beak!"

Old Hei, standing to the side, mercilessly refuted her, saying, "I don't recall you having this trick up your sleeve."

The monkey's hand, which was waving the club, suddenly froze.

Old Hei, holding a large bowl, glanced at him sideways: "I only remember you just saw those guys taking out iron bars, slipping, and falling straight into the coal briquette shed next door."

"fart!"

The monkey's face flushed bright red, and it stubbornly retorted, "I was using the terrain to avoid a direct confrontation! What do you know?!"

"Yes, yes, yes, we'll use the terrain."

Old Hei nodded seriously: "Your head was stuck in the coal pile, and your butt was sticking out. If I hadn't kicked you halfway in, the other side would have ripped your ass open with a stick."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The whole table erupted in chaos.

Several men laughed so hard they were doubled over, and one of them sprayed the wine he had just drunk directly onto the face of the person opposite him.

At the next table, Erzhuzi, whose head, shoulders, and chest were almost entirely wrapped in bandages, sat upright among several young women and wives.

This kid was clearly in so much pain that he was wincing at the slightest movement, but he insisted on tearing open half of his cotton-padded jacket, revealing the bandage on his shoulder that had already turned red, and winking at the girls.

"See that?"

"A man's medal!"

Erzhu patted his chest hard, which aggravated his injury, causing his eyelids to twitch violently in pain, but he still stubbornly held on without showing any fear.

"Those bastards, dozens of them, surrounded me. Their blades were almost at my neck, but I, Erzhuzi, didn't even flinch!"

A young woman with braided pigtails standing nearby, clearly engrossed in the conversation, couldn't help but ask:

"And then what happened?"

"later?"

Erzhuzi picked up his wine bowl and took a sip, feigning seriousness.

"Later, I stood alone at the doorway, grabbed one with my left hand, lifted another with my right, and kicked the other two away—"

Before he could finish speaking, a hand suddenly reached out from behind, grabbed Erzhuzi's ear, and twisted it halfway around.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"

Erzhuzi's invincible aura vanished instantly, replaced by a grimace of pain as his body involuntarily slumped to the side by the hand.

"You're grabbing one with your left hand and carrying one with your right?"

His wife, Cuihua, with one hand on her hip and a fierce look in her eyes, scolded, "You can't even lift a garbage can at home, what are you pretending to be here for! Wearing your clothes so open, showing off your skinny frame? Trying to let your wound frost and fester so I'll have to take care of you, huh?!"

The young women and wives who had been listening intently just moments before suddenly burst into laughter, covering their mouths and laughing uncontrollably.

"Wife, wife! Be gentle! The villagers are watching, give us some face..."

Erzhuzi covered his ears, bent over, and begged for mercy repeatedly.

"Face my ass! Hurry up and button up your clothes, then come over here and drink some bone broth!"

Cuihua cursed and let go, then grabbed his tattered cotton-padded coat and wrapped it tightly around him, pulling and dragging him toward the table next to her like a chick.

The surrounding villagers, seeing Erzhuzi completely dominated by his wife, burst into a cacophony of laughter.

The firelight made everyone's faces glow red.

Zhao Shanhe leaned back on the long bench, holding a large bowl in one hand. He didn't say much, just listened quietly to his brothers bragging and joking, a very faint smile on his lips.

He would occasionally pick up his bowl, clink it with one of his brothers who came over, and then tilt his head back and gulp down a large mouthful.

He was surrounded by the lively chatter of his fellow villagers, and before him were the unsuspecting smiles of his brothers.

The early autumn night breeze should have been cool, but the entire threshing ground in Kaoshantun was as hot as a giant furnace, burning the confidence and warmth in everyone's hearts.