Free Days in Siheyuan

Chapter 37 Laba
"Children, children, don't be greedy, after Laba is the New Year; Laba porridge, drink it for a few days, and it will be la la la 23; 23, Tanggua sticky; 24 Clean the house; 25, Frozen tofu; 26, Go to buy meat; 27, Slaughtering a rooster; 28, making noodles; 29, steaming steamed buns; staying up all night at [-]; walking all over the streets on the first and second day of the junior high school.”

The children were chasing each other in the alley with windmills, and some even sang while running, laughing and joking.

But when Zhang Yu listened to the songs sung by the children in the alley, he realized that tomorrow is the Laba Festival.

As the saying goes, Laba Laba is the coldest two days of the year, and Laba porridge and Laba garlic are especially important.

Laba porridge, also known as "seven treasures and five flavors porridge", "Buddha porridge", "everyone's rice", etc., is a kind of porridge made from various ingredients.

Eating Laba porridge is the custom of Laba Festival. The traditional ingredients of Laba porridge include rice, millet, corn, barley, red dates, lotus seeds, peanuts, longan and red beans, mung beans, soybeans, black beans, kidney beans and other beans.

In the cold winter, drinking a bowl of steaming Laba porridge is very comfortable and happy.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yu couldn't help sighing that time flies so fast, it turned out that he had traveled here for more than half a year before he knew it.

Speaking of it, since he went to university and worked after graduation, because there is no holiday, he basically has no time to go back to his hometown during the Laba Festival, so he has had his family make Laba porridge for a long time.

I still remember that when I was a child in my previous life, although I was not very rich, every year when Laba was approaching, my sister-in-law would prepare many kinds of ingredients for a few days before, and used it to cook a big pot of Laba porridge when it was Laba.

My sister-in-law has always believed that drinking a bowl of steaming Laba porridge in the cold winter months can not only drive away the cold, but also increase appetite and nourish the body, so I prepare the ingredients early every year, and I will never miss it.

Especially in the early years, I would exchange Laba porridge with the neighbors nearby. Until the economic development became better and better, and everyone became richer, Laba porridge is no longer a rare item. This habit It gradually disappeared, but every year I still boil some of my family to eat.

I remember that at that time, several children in the family were looking forward to the arrival of Laba several days in advance.

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, when my sister-in-law was making porridge, the children would stare at the cauldron for fear of missing something.

Especially when it's time to eat, holding a big bowl full of delicious Laba porridge in your hand, you can't wait to take a sip, even if you are scalded, you don't want to spit it out.

Thinking about it now, it was not just a bowl of porridge, but also my sister-in-law's best wishes for the children.In Zhang Yu's memory, the sister-in-law in this life would cook Laba porridge every year to satisfy the whole family's gluttony.

Thinking of the sweet and delicious Laba porridge, Zhang Yu couldn't help but feel a little greedy.

Zhang Yu went out this time to find someone to ask what information is needed for learning Russian, and can he help with some content about Russian.

Because students of later generations generally learn English, few people learn Russian.

And his last exam ignored the fact that high school students in this day and age generally study Russian. He doesn’t know it at all. He basically just pretended to be blind. Of course he didn’t pass. Fortunately, his other subjects were perfect. Passed, so the head teacher gave him another chance.

After getting the grades, I introduced a friend to him. That friend has studied Russian and is very proficient in Russian. He can pay her to be a tutor.

He got on his bicycle and rode quickly to the address given by the head teacher. When he got there, he knocked on the door and exchanged greetings, explaining his purpose of coming. Ye Huizhi readily agreed to him, and agreed to have an afternoon class every Saturday afternoon.

Coming out of the Russian teacher's house and solving the current serious problem, Zhang Yu couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, and then hurried home, just happened to meet Zhang Guifang at the entrance of the alley and brought a lot of things home from outside.

"Sister-in-law, I'll come," Zhang Yu said, taking what Zhang Guifang was holding and putting it on the back seat of the bicycle.

Zhang Guifang didn't refuse. After handing the things to Zhang Yu, she shook her hands: "Just this little thing, it's quite heavy after holding it for a long time, and it hurts my hand."

"Sister, what did you buy?"

"Isn't it going to be Laba tomorrow? I managed to gather a few things to make porridge, but it seems that this year is not enough." Zhang Guifang sighed as she said, the year of this year has already appeared After it came out, everyone's life was not easy, and the supply was low.

At this time in previous years, as long as you have money, you can easily gather the ingredients needed for Laba porridge, but this year it is not possible, and you can't buy it with money.

The two talked and walked, and when they got home, Zhang Yu opened the bag to see what was inside.

I saw about seven or eight catties of white rice in the bag.A small bag of chestnuts, five or six catties of millet, a small bowl of soybeans, a little red beans, and a small piece of rock sugar.

"When I went there, there was a supply of rice and millet, so I bought more. I couldn't use it all at once, and kept it for the New Year, because I couldn't get other raw materials. This year's Laba porridge is probably not as good as in previous years. .”

"Sister-in-law, I still have some ingredients here. Can you see which ones can be used?" While speaking, under the cover of the cabinet, he secretly took out some things from the space and put them in the cabinet.

"Let me see, you have quite a lot of things." Looking at the red dates, lotus seeds, peanuts, longan, walnuts in the cupboard... Zhang Guifang showed a happy expression. With these ingredients, Laba porridge is complete.

She didn't ask Zhang Yu where these materials came from, as long as it was safe. Regarding this point, after half a year, Zhang Yu took out things and went home from time to time, but no one found out when they got them back, which dissuaded her. concerns.

All she had to do was to cover Xiaoyu in the yard, deal with his little tricks, and dispel the doubts of the neighbors.

Zhang Guifang is very particular about cooking Laba porridge, unlike some people who basically cook everything in the pot together. When it is cooked, some are already rotten, and some are just cooked.So I started washing the rice, soaking the fruit, peeling the skin, and removing the core at night, and then started to simmer slowly at midnight. It was not until the next morning that the Laba porridge was ready.

The smell of cooking Laba porridge at night aroused the neighbors who were not full to wake up hungry from their sleep.

The neighbors who woke up rubbed their grumbling stomachs, and regardless of the cold weather, opened the windows to inhale the aroma in the air vigorously, and then looked around through the windows, wanting to see who was making the rice porridge.

In the end, I fell asleep with the aroma of Laba porridge. It is estimated that even the dream is about Laba porridge.
(End of this chapter)