binnovel Chapter 154 The Disaster Has Just Begun
Chapter 154 The Disaster Has Just Begun
After taking a big bite of the vine, the water went straight to the top of my head, hitting my nose and forehead, and I couldn't help but cry.
After the little guy got drunk, he was also smart. He quickly took a big bite of the steamed bun to suppress the taste that hit his head.
"Are you still greedy now? This is vine vegetables. You can't eat too much at one time. If you eat too much, your mouth will get spicy and your head will throb.
You can eat this stem, the vine stem has a light taste, is crunchy and delicious." Hou Xiaoge handed the little guy a handkerchief and asked him to wipe his tears.
But the little guy had suffered a loss, so how could he want to eat anymore? His eye bags were shaking like a rattle, and he no longer dared to put his chopsticks into the bowl of preserved vegetables. He only dared to eat the pickles.
Although Hou Xiaoge's body is now that of a Central Plains person and he has never eaten this vine vegetable since he was a child, his soul is from Qin Province. Naturally, he likes this thing very much, otherwise he would not have been able to cook it.
Break open a soft pancake, put some radishes into the steamed bun, then put some pickles on it, and finally spread some red chili oil that you made yourself.
When they took a bite, the taste was so good that everyone in Qin Province could only think of one word to describe it: the taste of mother.
At this time, the sound of a door being pushed open was heard in the yard. Hou Xiaoge quickly climbed to the head of the kang, lifted the curtain and looked outside.
"Aunt, have you eaten?" Seeing that it was his aunt, Hou Xiaoge greeted her with a smile.
"I've eaten. I came to see if you've finished cleaning up!" Hou Cuiping walked in with her hands in her pockets, smiling as she lifted the door curtain.
"Cuiping, come and sit on the kang. It's warm because it was just lit for cooking this morning." Wang Maimiao put down his bowl and hurriedly greeted her.
Nowadays, when you visit someone else's home in winter, the host will invite you to sit on the kang, which is the most intimate attitude.
"Third sister-in-law, you guys eat yours. I'll see how the noodles I made last night are doing." Hou Cuiping was not shy. She took off her shoes and got on the kang, checking the basin that was placed on the kang last night.
"I watched them cooking this morning. It's almost done. We can start cooking after they set up the stall." Wang Maimiao chatted with her sister-in-law while holding a bowl.
"Yes! They are indeed up. The kang is warm now, so let them warm up a little. The pancakes they make will be delicious then." The aunt-in-law Hou Cuiping opened the three basins and checked them one by one and said with satisfaction.
In the days when there was no baking powder, people used old dough. When the winter in the north was too cold, the leavener would be placed in a pot of hot water or on the kang.
The temperature in these places is high, so if you leave the yeast overnight, you can make cakes or steamed buns directly the next day. Otherwise, the weather will be too cold and the dough will freeze to death.
In his previous life, Hou Xiaoge had a large family, and the whole family slept on one kang. Every winter, he would sleep with a washbasin in his arms.
Especially at the end of the year when steaming buns, the amount of leavened dough was particularly large, and three or four dough basins were placed on the kang at once. You had to be careful even when sleeping, because if you kicked the lid covering the dough away, you would be scolded and beaten.
"Hey! Heiwa, how come you can eat so well now? This steamed bun looks delicious." Hou Cuiping said with a smile as she watched Hou Xiaoge biting the golden bun.
"Aunt, you should have one too. The vine vegetables made by Heiwa are ready to eat today. You can try it. Heiwa made a lot. You can scoop a bowl for your family when you go back." Wang Maimiao smiled and picked up a steamed bun and handed it to her aunt.
"Wow! This dish tastes really good. It's delicious. The corn grits and batter are definitely a good match with rice." Hou Cuiping took a bite and said with eyes lighting up.
"Hehe! How about it, little aunt? This is also a small business. Many people don't know how to make this vine vegetable, and it's too troublesome to make.
If you like to eat it, just scatter some leeks seeds on the slopes in front and behind us next year. This vegetable is as easy to manage as weeds.
When the time comes, we can make more, so that we can have green vegetables to eat with rice in the cold winter. It will be great whether we eat it ourselves or sell it. "Hou Xiaoge said with a smile.
"You kid, you're really a business savvy. But this vine vegetable is really delicious. At the end of the year, there are basically no green vegetables left. City people have eaten too many radishes and cabbages, so they must want to eat something fresh. This vegetable will definitely sell well." Hou Cuiping nodded with a smile.
Now that the family is doing business, apart from gossip every day, the thing they talk about is making money. Hou Cuiping has also learned a lot and her brain has become more open.
After breakfast, Wang Maimiao scooped the rice crust out of the pot, and Hou Xiaoge and his brother each had half.
Hou Xiaoge, who hadn't eaten rice crust for many years in his previous life, ate this most original rice crust. The crispy rice crust was black with a hint of burnt aroma, and it was really delicious.
While eating the rice crust, Hou Xiaoge pulled the cart out from the storage cave. It had not been used for a long time and was covered with dirt.
In order to sell the food cleanly, Hou Xiaoge shoveled some snow into the cart, and then cleaned the cart with a broom mixed with the snow.
At this time, my uncle's family and my brother-in-law also came, and everyone put the braised meat and baked pancakes and other belongings on the cart.
"Mom, you guys stay here and pull the cabbages. If you're busy, I'll come back in the afternoon to pull them." Hou Xiaoge said to Wang Maimiao who was brought out.
"It's okay. You're not busy at home. Just be careful when you go out to sell things." Wang Maimiao patted the dirt off Hou Xiaoge's back and reminded him.
"I got it. Let's go." Hou Xiaoge waved his hand and pushed the cart out of the yard.
"Tongtong, Heidan, just play in the village. Don't go out. It's too chaotic outside when it snows. There are human traffickers." Looking at the brothers and cousins who were skiing and playing behind the cart, Hou Xiaoge drove them all back.
"Whee!"
The little ones were not annoyed at being chased away. They just called their friends and ran out to play.
"Uncle Twelve, we are going out. Please clean up the gate." When they arrived at the village gate, Hou Yangmin opened the switch of the village gate and greeted a cave next to the gate with a smile.
There is a cave next to the village gate, which is for the village's widows and widowers to live in. Now the person living there is an old man who is about fifty years old.
This old man is called Hou Decai, one generation older than Hou Yangmin.
When he was young, he broke his leg while hunting, and it was difficult for him to find a wife. He finally married a widow in his thirties, but she died of illness and they had no children. He lived alone like this.
The old man did not give up on life. He was strong enough to escape with the villagers.
After the village wall was built, there were refugees everywhere outside. For safety reasons, the village gate was usually closed.
Once the gate is closed, it is inconvenient for villagers to enter and exit. You can't just lean over the crack of the door and shout! Someone has to watch the gate.
After a discussion in the village, Hou Decai was arranged to guard the village wall, and the villagers also helped to dig a new cave.
The treatment is not bad. The clan gives a subsidy of 20 kilograms of coarse grains every month, and villagers in the village occasionally give some gifts when they go in and out.
If you give him a scallion today, I will give him a head of garlic tomorrow. The old man has enough food and clothing and is happy with this job.
"Yangmin, you are still setting up the stall when it's snowing so heavily! Go away! I'll clean up the door." The old man was eating and came out with a bowl in his hand and greeted them.
"Twelfth Master, come here, let me scoop some broth for you." Hou Xiaoge often went out and was quite familiar with the old man. He felt a little sorry to see the old man eating bran porridge.
"No, no, you still want to sell it in such a cold day!" The old man quickly put down his chopsticks to refuse.
"Uncle Twelve, the boy is filial, why are you being so polite? It's just a little broth. I can add some water when setting up the stall." Hou Yangmin responded.
The old man didn't have any children either, so when he heard the word "filial piety", his face lit up with smiles and he didn't refuse.
Hou Xiaoge directly scooped a spoonful of broth into the old man's bowl, along with a small piece of pork skin that had melted a little.
The old man looked at the meat skin, his eyes slightly reddened. He did not close the village gate until Hou Xiaoge and his family walked away.
You can't feel anything in the village, but except in the village, the northwest wind is blowing, snowflakes are flying, and people are so cold that they keep shrinking their necks.
"God is crazy! Why is it snowing so heavily? People are freezing to death." Erhuan put his hands into his sleeves, pushed the cart hard, and muttered to himself.
"What nonsense are you talking about, kid! Don't talk nonsense." The young aunt on the side quickly scolded.
"Oh!"
The wheels of the cart were made of wood, and the things on the cart were heavy, so they sank directly into the snow. If they were made of rubber, they would probably be slipping everywhere by now.
The road is a three-meter-long path that has been walked on by many people. There are many shacks built by refugees nearby.
After a night of heavy snow, no shacks can be seen at a glance. The hundreds of straw shacks outside the village have turned into piles of snow.
There are two types of these shacks. One is a tent-like shed built directly on flat ground, about one and a half meters high.
Another method is to dig a deep pit underground and build a straw shed several dozen centimeters high to cover the pit.
Both types of sheds have their own advantages and disadvantages. In summer, the high shed is better because it is ventilated and cool, and it is not afraid of water when it rains a lot in summer. But in winter, it is not good because of strong winds and lack of heat preservation.
But the situation is just the opposite for low sheds, because they are made of large pits, making it hot and humid to live in in the summer, and water can easily seep in when it rains.
But it is much better in winter. The pit more than one meter deep can effectively shelter from the cold wind and achieve good thermal insulation. When it snows, it directly covers the leaky places in the straw hut, making it warmer.
But you have to be careful and make a ventilation hole, otherwise when the snow covers the shack completely, people may easily suffocate to death in the shack.
It was already autumn and winter when most refugees fled to Qin Province. In fact, everyone knew that shacks with pits were better, but how many people had the strength to dig the pits!
So among these shacks, except for the refugees living near Nanjiagou who live in shacks with pits because they have help from relatives, most of the refugees live in straw huts.
It was just daybreak and most of the refugees were huddled in their shacks, not daring to move, enduring the cold and hunger.
Hou Xiaoge looked around with his mental power and saw families huddled together in shacks that were two or three meters square, protecting the last bit of warmth.
As the car went further and further away, the crowds of people increased. Many old and weak refugees were covered in snow, with their hands in their pockets and their necks hunched, walking on the road.
If Hou Xiaoge had not watched the TV series "The Dye House" in his previous life, he would not have understood the meaning of these people walking back and forth.
But after watching the TV series, the barrage of comments made Hou Xiaoge understand why these people got up so early.
These old and weak refugees have nowhere to live, and they would easily freeze to death if they stay in one place, so they can only move around constantly to keep their blood circulating and warm themselves up.
As the cart moved closer to the train station, this situation became more common. Many refugees had just arrived in Qin Province and could only find a place to avoid the cold.
But when the cold wave came, many refugees did not die in their hometown but died in foreign lands.
When he arrived near the train station, Hou Xiaoge saw many old and weak people huddled in the corner and frozen to death.