Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 110 Stir-fried Red Dates with Cured Meat

After hearing this, Xu's father shook his head, clutching the remaining pancake in his hand, and sighed as he looked at the distant, rolling mountains: "I've never seen skyscrapers, but according to those who came back from working in the city, the city isn't as spacious as our mountain village. The houses are all crammed together, and there's not even a plot of land to grow vegetables. You have to pay for vegetables to eat. It's probably not as comfortable as living in the village."

Xu's mother chimed in, repeatedly reciting a jujube in her hand: "Last time at the supply and marketing cooperative, I overheard people chatting. They said that the houses in the city are all next to each other, and when you open the window, all you see are other people's walls. If you want to see the moon at night, you have to go outside."

The older woman picked up a piece of crispy pork and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly, her eyes filled with longing for the big city: "That's what I say, but I still want to see the big city. I've heard that department stores in Guangdong are several buildings, with shelves piled high with all sorts of things, from the floor to the ceiling."

"Unlike us, who only go to the market every three days, they can go anytime and get things anytime, which is very convenient. If we go late, all you can see at the supply and marketing cooperative are scraps of meat."

Mr. Xu took a sip of warm water and sighed, "I'm getting old, and our ancestors have lived in these mountains for generations. This place (the land) is our root. You young people can go to the city to try your luck, but you must know this."

He stamped his foot and said in a deep voice, "So what if the buildings outside are tall and the roads are wide? The world changes in an instant, but the land beneath our feet never lies. As long as the land is still there, we can keep going."

Xu Chunsheng looked at the distant, rolling green hills, his fingertips stroking the pancake in his hand, without trying to change his parents' minds.

At this time, the coastal areas were developing rapidly, changing with each passing day. Everywhere was constantly expanding and introducing new things. However, it would take a long time before these changes could overcome these obstacles and bring about earth-shaking changes in the region.

"I don't want you to leave here, I just want to take you to experience the lively life outside, just to see something new."

Xu Chunsheng picked up a tangerine and peeled it in his hand, the aroma of the peel wafting to the noses of the group: "Once the roads are widened and the town develops, it will be easier to get into the city. We'll be able to sell our own pigs and fruit wine without being pressured by middlemen. As for our free time, we can drive wherever we want."

"Moreover, the city's vegetable markets have fresh vegetables every day, unlike the mountains where there are only radishes and cabbages in winter. There are also special video arcades, like a big TV, where you can watch whatever you want."

The older sister continued, "City people crave peace and quiet, so they often go to the city to have picnics. We also occasionally go to the city to see what's happening and what's new. I've heard that city kids go to amusement parks and children's palaces to play. I'm all grown up, and I still don't know what an amusement park is like."

The eldest sister didn't know that the Children's Palace wasn't just a place to play; she simply thought that amusement parks and Children's Palaces were places specifically for city kids to play.

She knew about the Children's Palace because Tang Changping had told her that he used to go there with his brother when he was little. However, he only told her that there were many children there who played with some novel little objects. Her older sister, who had never left the mountains, simply regarded the Children's Palace as a place to play, just like an amusement park.

Xu Chunsheng didn't know what a children's palace was before. It was only after the internet became widespread in his previous life that he learned about it from some video apps. He explained softly, "Youth palaces are not only places to play, but also places to learn. They are run by the government. Children from the city can go there to learn painting, music, and many other interesting things."

The eldest sister was stunned, then smiled and said, "So it's a place for learning, suitable for the third child and the youngest sister."

She broke off half of the tangerine from Xu Chunsheng's hand, her eyes filled with curiosity about the unknown: "Even if it's a place to learn, it must be much more interesting than our mountain village. Even if it's just to take a look, it will be an eye-opening experience."

"I can't go to the Children's Palace, but I can go to the amusement park, right? I'll take my three kids and my youngest sister along, and we'll go to every single one of the fun places!"

Xu's mother took the tangerines Xu Chunsheng handed her and teased with a smile, "You're a girl in your twenties, yet you're still like a little kid, curious about everything."

"It's precisely because we've never seen it before that we're curious." The older woman rested her hands on her knees, her longing undiminished. "City people go to the mountains to see something new, and mountain people go to the city to see something unusual. There's nothing shameful about that."

Mr. Xu chewed on a jujube without saying a word, but Mrs. Xu, persuaded by her eldest sister, asked curiously, "The city has everything, so we don't have to wait for market days to buy it?"

Xu Chunsheng said with a smile, "That's not all. In the future, everyone will definitely have a phone, and you can talk to whoever you want. Maybe we can even develop high-tech devices that allow you to look at people while they're talking on the phone."

Xu's mother was taken aback: "Talking to someone while looking at them on the phone? That sounds like you're just bragging. It doesn't sound possible at all."

All three of them thought Xu Chunsheng was just talking nonsense from a young man, and the eldest sister joined in the joke: "It's already amazing that every household can install a telephone. If you could even talk to someone while looking at them, the phone call would probably cost ten or twenty yuan per minute. Who could afford to make a call like that?"

At this point, Xu Chunsheng reminisced about the days in his previous life when a mobile phone could solve most things: "You think it's outrageous now, but maybe it will really exist in a few years."

Looking at the undulating mountains in the distance, then looking down at the ground beneath his feet, Xu's father nodded: "You've all grown up and are more sensible now. If you can really get our things to the city, it won't be a waste of time. But all that is far away. It's more important to live well in the present."

A gust of autumn wind blew by, bringing down a few withered leaves from the trees. They swayed and twirled, slowly falling in front of Xu Chunsheng.

"Dad is right, the present moment is the most important."

Mother Xu smiled and nodded: "Then let's not sit there, let's get moving. We haven't picked many jujubes yet, and there are still dozens of pigs in the pen waiting for us to go back and feed them."

Xu's mother picked up the things on the ground and urged the group to stop chatting and get to work.

Xu Chunsheng and his older sister returned to their previous spot and continued picking jujubes.

While they were working, villagers would occasionally come to pick jujubes, and they could hear someone greeting them: "Old Xu, you've picked so many? Can you finish them all?"

Mr. Xu greeted the people with a smile, "You've come to pick fruit too? Have you eaten yet?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Mr. Xu said with a hint of pride, "We definitely can't finish eating them all ourselves. It's just that my second son can't sit still. He said he wanted to pick some fresh jujubes to try making fruit wine. Come and try it when it's done."

"Then I wish you success in advance. Do you buy jujubes? If you do, I'll pick more." The man asked Xu Chunsheng's family, who often bought things in the village. Hearing that Xu's father wanted to make jujube wine, he asked directly. If they bought them, he could earn a few dollars.

Mr. Xu certainly had confidence in his son, but he was unsure whether to agree to the proposal.

Xu Chunsheng overheard their conversation from above and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Uncle Zhang, you can pick them now. Separate the fresh ones from the dried ones, I'll take them all."

Harvesting more Japanese raisins won't do you any harm. Even if you can't use all the fresh ones right away, you can dry them and use them to make wine, or sell them as medicinal herbs. At least they won't rot in your hands.

As it grew darker, around 5 p.m., Xu Chunsheng called out to the others, "Mom and Dad, let's stop picking and go home."

"It'll be too late to see anything in the woods, and I need to go back to feed the pigs."

To prevent the jujubes from being damaged by the bamboo strips on the basket, a nylon bag had been sewn around the inside of the basket.

Xu Chunsheng and his father emptied the dried and fresh jujubes from their baskets and put them together. Each of them carried one basket on their backs. The eldest sister stacked the other two empty baskets together and carried them on her back, which contained some things to bring into the mountains. Xu's mother went empty-handed. The group walked back along the path they had cleared on their way there.

The bamboo poles we brought were left hidden where they were, so we wouldn't need to bring them again next time.

At the fork in the road, Xu's father stopped: "Eldest son, you go with Erwa and carry the fruit back. I'll go with your mother to the pig farm to feed the pigs first, so we don't have to go all the way to the pig farm later."

"Yes, I will."

The eldest sister put the empty basket on the ground and then put on the basket that her father had just been carrying.

After helping his daughter lift the basket so she could carry it comfortably, Mr. Xu carried the two empty baskets on the ground and went to feed the pigs with his wife, chatting and laughing.

After arriving home, Xu Chunsheng first put his own basket on a stool, and then helped take the basket off his older sister's back.

"Crunch"

Xu Chunsheng opened the door, listened to the sound the old door made, and muttered to himself, "The door hinges are all rusted, they need some oil."

Xu Chunsheng went into the house and found a bottle of kerosene. Although the house had electricity, the power lines in the mountains were unstable and the power would easily go out whenever there was wind or rain, so the family always kept kerosene and candles on hand.

Xu Chunsheng broke off a thin bamboo twig from the bamboo broom, placed one end on the hinge, held the twig steady with one hand, and with the other hand, held the oil bottle and slowly dripped a few drops of kerosene into the gap of the hinge shaft along the twig.

After applying the oil, Xu Chunsheng handed the oil bottle to his older sister standing beside him: "Sister, please put the oil bottle back in the cabinet."

Xu Chunsheng pushed and pulled the wooden door several times until it opened and closed much more smoothly and the creaking friction sound was much quieter, then he stopped.

After watching Xu Chunsheng finish, the older sister put the bottle cap back on and returned the oil bottle to its original position.

"Sis, you rest for a bit and then cook rice. I'll go take out the jujubes and let them dry."

After confirming that there were no problems with the wooden door opening and closing, Xu Chunsheng found two winnowing baskets and two tall stools in the house. He then placed the winnowing baskets on them and poured some of the fresh jujubes into the baskets.

Xu Chunsheng lifted the two baskets with his hands and estimated that the dried and fresh jujubes together weighed about 120 or 130.

He pulled over a bamboo stool, sat down in front of the winnowing basket, and carefully picked out the fruit he had gathered while the sky was still clear.

While picking the fruit in the mountains, the family had already cleared away the dead leaves and weeds. Now, Xu Chunsheng only needed to sort out the damaged and bruised fruit.

With both hands, he gently rummaged through the winnowing basket, quickly identifying the fruit by touch and visual observation.

Fruits with firm flesh and intact stems are gathered on one side of the winnowing basket, while those that are cracked or have bruised skin are simply placed into the basket next to them.

These rotten fruits cannot be used to make wine directly. Instead, they can be dried, and the seeds can be picked out and sold as medicine. They can also be used to cook food.

An autumn breeze occasionally blew by, and Xu Chunsheng slowly rummaged through the fruit, soon cleaning up the dozens of pounds of fresh fruit.

Xu Chunsheng went to find a small knife and removed the seeds from the rotten fruit in the basket, intending to have his older sister use the rotten fruit to stir-fry some cured meat.

"Second brother, what are you doing?"

When Xu Yaomei came home from school and found the door locked, she went to play with her friends. When she came back, she saw Xu Chunsheng peeling vegetables.

Xu Yaomei usually doesn't eat lunch at home because Xiaowei brings his own lunch and heats it up at school. So Xu Yaomei asked her family to buy her a lunchbox, and she and Xiaowei would eat lunch together at school.

After eating, she didn't think about going home. She just played around with the other kids at school. So, Xu Yaomei didn't even know that her family had spent the whole day in the mountains.

Xu Chunsheng patted Xu Yaomei's head: "Have you done your homework? This is a Japanese jujube; I picked it in the mountains today."

After saying that, Xu Chunsheng handed a piece of fruit to his younger sister and told her to wash it before eating it.

Xu Yaomei nodded: "Xiaowei taught me to finish my homework at school. What about my dad, mom, and sister?"

"My older sister is cooking inside, while my parents have gone to the pig farm to feed the pigs."

"Oh, then I'll go help my sister start the fire."

After waiting for a while, Xu Yaomei went to the kitchen.

"Tell your sister to cut some cured pork. We'll stir-fry it with jujubes later."

"good!"

Xu Chunsheng handed the cleaned and pitted Japanese raisin tree fruit to his eldest sister: "Let's stir-fry this Japanese raisin tree fruit with cured meat; it goes very well with rice."

,

The older sister agreed, took the jujube, first soaked the flesh in clean water, rinsed it clean, then took it out and placed it in a bamboo sieve to dry: "I haven't had time to cut the flesh yet, take a piece down."

"Okay."

Xu Chunsheng took a piece of cured pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat from the roof beam, washed it clean, and his older sister sliced ​​it into thin pieces.

Xu Chunsheng helped out, placing the iron pot on the stove and calling to the young woman, "Fire master, make the fire stronger!"

"Yes, I will!" Xu Yaomei agreed crisply, and added two more thin pieces of firewood to the stove.

After the pot got too hot, Xu Chunsheng pulled his younger sister away from the stove: "Come here quickly, I'm afraid you'll get burned if I pick it up again."

""

Xu Chunsheng watched as his older sister put the cured meat into the pot without adding any extra oil and stir-fried it. As the meat slices gradually turned yellow and translucent, he gathered them to one side and then poured in the jujube pulp and stir-fried it quickly.

"It smells so good! What does the stir-fried jujubes with cured pork taste like, second brother?"

Xu Yaomei smelled the aroma coming from the pot and asked curiously.

"You'll find out when we eat. Go see if Mom and Dad are back yet. We'll eat when they get back."

"good!"

The steaming hot stir-fried jujubes with cured pork was served. Mr. Xu was the first to reach for his chopsticks and take a bite. The cured pork was salty, fragrant, and firm, and the fat was neutralized by the sweetness of the jujubes, making it not greasy at all. He chewed a couple of times and nodded: "I usually only know that jujubes are used to make wine and medicine, but I never thought they would taste so good when stir-fried with cured pork."

Mother Xu also took a bite, savoring the taste: "In previous years, most of the bruised jujubes we picked could only be dried, pitted, and sold for money. This one is perfect for stir-frying with cured meat; it's sweet and goes well with rice."

Curious, Xu Yaomei picked up a jujube with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth: "Delicious! Sweet!"