The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 300 The Way of Repaying Gratitude for Rural Women

After they arrived in the beautiful valley, the two went to the winery first. The winery was built at the foot of the West Mountain. There is clear and sweet mountain spring water here, and the shochu could not be better.

From far away, there is an aromatic wine smell, which contains the aroma of fermented sorghum and corn, as well as the aroma of hot rice husks, and the steaming wine smells very good.

Zhou Xiaomei's father is in the wine cellar behind the winery.

There are four bungalows in a row, the first on the left is the barroom, and the other three are cellars.The cellar is three feet deep into the ground, and the large black wine jars are buried in the soil, and the wine jar covers covered with red silk are exposed outside, which looks like rows of large red round futons.

Seeing his daughter coming, Mr. Zhou stopped what he was doing and smiled all over his face.

"Dad, your house has become a pharmacy." Zhou Xiaomei said looking at the row of medicine shelves on the north wall of the house.

"It's all for bartending," Mr. Zhou said.

"It smells good, both wine and medicine," Zhou Xiaomei said.

"Uncle, isn't your room cold?" Wang Shulan couldn't help asking when she saw that there was no stove or kang in the room.

"It's not cold, so I'll come over when I'm mixing medicine and wine. Besides, the wine cellar shouldn't be too hot." The old man said.

"Dad, is there a lot of wine now?" Zhou Xiaomei asked.

"It's okay, it's enough to burn enough, the cellar is for our own use, and the rest of the wine cans are sold out, and everyone rushes to buy it, 31 catties." The old man said.

"Is it expensive?" Zhou Xiaomei asked in surprise.

"It's still expensive? I have a headache."

"Oh—" Zhou Xiaomei nodded, "I thought it was over."

"Our wine is not exchanged, and the good one is sold for [-], and we are rushing to buy it."

While talking, the old man opened the door of the wine cellar, Zhou Xiaomei and Wang Shulan visited the whole wine cellar, and then the old man led the two back to the hut where he lived.

There are three rooms inside and outside the hut, the middle is the outer room, with a pot and table, the east room is the house where the old man lives, next to the north kang, and the south wall has windows. The room is complete with tables, chairs and benches, and a TV.

The kang is hot and the hut is warm.

When Zhou Xiaomei entered the room, she put her slippers on the kang, and called for Wang Shulan to go up too, but Wang Shulan hesitated a little.

"The head of the kang is warm." Mr. Zhou said.

Wang Shulan took off her shoes and got on the kang, Zhou Xiaomei handed her a cotton pad and said with a smile, "Put it on, it won't hurt your butt."

Wang Shulan sat the cotton pad under her buttocks, and after a while the heat from the kang came up, and her buttocks were warm and comfortable, making one want to lie down and sleep.

Zhou Xiaomei leaned halfway on her father's luggage roll, and said, "Dad, no wonder you don't want to go back. This place is so nice and comfortable to sleep on the kang."

"Is the light comfortable? This place is so open and bright. When you go out, you can see the mountains, the scenery is good, and the air is good. There are many people chatting, and the people in the winery are all in front of the house. It is easy to understand what they are saying." The old man said. .

"You eat with them every day?" Zhou Xiaomei asked.

"Well, let's eat together. Our food is good, and Yingzi's mother cooks it. In the past two days, many people have slaughtered pigs, stewed big bones with sauerkraut, pig intestines, and blood stew. We eat them differently. In the ground pot in the outhouse There are still sticky bean buns, Yingzi's mother steamed them herself, and brought me more than twenty." The old man said.

"Really? I'll eat two later." Zhou Xiaomei said happily.

"Does Wan Jun know that you are coming?" the old man asked.

"I know. I called when I came here. He said he was going to the town for a meeting and would come back at noon." Zhou Xiaomei said.

"Going back today?" the old man asked.

"Don't go back, stay for two days, and stay here with you."

"Well, let's stay for two days. It's a lively night. There are Yangko twisting, stilt walking, and Errenzhuan singing in the courtyard (farmhouse music)."

"Still singing Errenzhuan?" Wang Shulan asked in surprise.

"Sing. Just for the sake of singing, Zhuan Xiaoxiang specially built a sun room with a stage and everything, the floor was re-paved, and floor heating was installed. It's not cold at all, and it's still sweating. There are many people watching. Come by car." The old man said.

"Is that so lively?" Zhou Xiaomei was a little surprised.

"lively--"

"Uncle, how is my house now?" Wang Shulan asked the small courtyard she bought. She also has a family here.

"Your house is very good. Yingzi's mother cleaned it up neatly. In the winter, she went to burn the kang every now and then to clean it up. It's no different from living in it." The old man said.

"Thank you Yingzi's mother." Wang Shulan said.

"Thank you very much." The old man lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said, "You subsidize their children to go to school, and I will remember that. Now her family is also fine. Yingzi's father is on the side of the compound, and Yingzi's mother will pay for it." Cooking in the winery, the two of them earn more than [-] yuan a month, which is enough to spend."

"How's the ski resort?" Zhou Xiaomei asked.

"Okay, there are so many people, and they keep walking all day long. After playing, eat, and live after eating. They are small and they are all adobe houses with heated kangs. The people in the city are new. They all live for two or three days, and some even pay for a month." The old man said with a smile.

"Do you have those houses?" Wang Shulan asked.

"The compound doesn't have those. Isn't this a rural area? Those who have the conditions pick up the vacant houses. The whole house is the same as the compound house, and it also recruits people. The people who live there eat, and the chickens and geese are free. You can spend money. .” The old man said.

"It's really good." Wang Shulan said.

"Aren't you robbing the farmhouse business?" Zhou Xiaomei asked.

"What are you grabbing? There are so many people here that we can't fit in, so we have to give people a place to live, right? Besides, the ski resort makes more money when there are more people. I saw that selling candied haws there makes money. Eight hundred and eighty dollars a day." said the old man.

It seems that the business opportunities in Beautiful Valley are unlimited.

At noon, when Wan Jun came back from the meeting, Yingzi's mother specially made two extra dishes. Wang Shulan, Zhou Xiaomei, the old man and Wan Jun ate a hearty and delicious farm meal on the old man's kang.

After eating, Wang Shulan and Zhou Xiaomei came out of the old man's hut, and Wan Jun led them to the foot of the mountain. The house Wang Shulan bought was there, and she and Zhou Xiaomei lived there at night.

Walking on the newly built gravel road, the wind at the mountain pass after noon has become soft. Although it is cold on the face, it is smooth and soothing.

From time to time, people wearing ski suits and carrying skis passed by, and they all came back from skiing in the ski resort.There were adults, children, and young couples, talking and laughing as they walked forward.

In front, near, there are two rows of well-arranged small courtyards at the front and back, which are peacefully and harmoniously distributed at the foot of the mountain. The snow on the top of the mountain and the roof gives people the warmth of home instead of cold.

Smoke rose from the chimneys of several houses, and the air was filled with the smoke of firewood.

Wang Shulan's courtyard is the second in Dongshou.Open the door and come in, hot air is blowing from the skylight of the outbuilding in the middle of the three houses, and smoke is rising from the chimney.

Yingzi's mother was burning the kang, and the pot was covered. It was obvious that there was something hot in the pot.

Seeing Wang Shulan and Zhou Xiaomei enter the house, this simple rural woman stood up hurriedly, pinching her apron with her hands, blushing slightly, and said awkwardly: "Think about it, if you two don't leave today, you will come over to burn the kang and heat up the house.

I cleaned up everything in the house, and the bedding and covering were all new—the pig intestines and sauerkraut were hot in the pot. I went home and stewed a chicken and put it in the pot. You two will eat it at night. "

Listening to her talking and watching, Wang Shulan and Zhou Xiaomei's noses felt sore.

This is a simple way for a rural woman to express her gratitude and gratitude to her benefactor, unadorned and down-to-earth.

(End of this chapter)