Siheyuan: He Yuzhu’s Sunshine Farm

Chapter 192 Bathing in the countryside in summer
It is very convenient for rural people to take a bath in summer. There are basically rivers in front of and behind the village. When we were young, the village and the surrounding dams, weirs, ponds, and ditches were crystal clear and without pollution.

Fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs are everywhere in the river ditches, and grass and fish will grow in the stagnant water in Ditoutou ditch.

During the rainy season in midsummer, the water in the river rises, and fish swim upstream, sometimes swimming to the doorsteps of people's houses in the village.When the water falls, you can pick up fish and shrimps hanging in small puddles.

In the summer afternoon and evening, it is a good time for men to go to the river dam and pond to take a bath.After working in the fields, they were sweating profusely and felt uncomfortable all over. The men went to wash themselves off to get rid of the sweat and heat.

There are fish, shrimps, and old turtles in the river.

When you take a shower, naughty little fish will come and bite your body, making your skin itchy, but you can't catch them.You might step on a hard turtle cover in the mud, but experienced ones can catch the old turtle from the water by digging hard.

After dinner, it is the exclusive bathing time for the women in the village. Men should avoid it. This is an unwritten rule.After cleaning up the housework, the women met in small groups and went to the river to take a bath, taking the clothes they needed to wash with them. After taking a bath, they washed their clothes in the dark.

At that time, there were still some feudal ideas in the countryside. Women generally could not take off their clothes and bathe in the river in a big way during the day. They were also a little embarrassed to go to the river to bathe at night. However, the sultry heat in summer made them really uncomfortable and they were eager to wash away the heat in the river. sweat.

The small river and the weir pond have become a paradise for women. Chatting and laughing, the cheerful laughter of little ducks playing in the water, and the calls of female companions playing in the water and having water fights resound through the night sky. A simple and loud country symphony.

Women also go to the river to bathe during the day, usually wearing underwear and soaking in the river. It is equivalent to taking a shower, which has the effect of preventing heatstroke and cooling down, but they are afraid of being seen.

I remember that at noon one summer, an old woman in our village went to Nanhe to take a bath desperately because it was too hot and the greasy smoke made her breathless.

At this time, a man came back from the market and passed by the river. The old woman was afraid of being embarrassed, so she plunged her head into the water, leaving her butt exposed.Afterwards, people in the village jokingly asked her: Are you drilling your head and ignoring your buttocks?She smiled and said: Even if I let him see my butt, I can't let him see who I am!

Children covet the coolness of the water and spend a long time soaking in the water for fun.

We chose a steep spot one or two feet high on the river embankment, and painted a smooth slide more than one meter wide with silt from top to bottom. The children slid naked from above along the silt-coated place. Sliding down, he rushed into the water and splashed with waves, causing bursts of hearty laughter from his friends around him.

Everyone enjoyed it very much and sat on the slide one by one.Someone slid down on his head, rushed into the water, and stuck his head out.There are also three or five people lying on their backs one after another. The person in front is holding the feet of the person behind them, and they are connected together and sliding into the water like a train. There are all kinds of tricks.

Now that I think about it, this is probably the prototype of the slide that children play in kindergartens today.

At that time, the children used their ingenuity and made their own slides out of simple materials, which added endless happiness to their childhood.

But there are also disharmony. Sometimes there are hard grass roots or small tiles in the foundation. When sliding, a bloody gash will be drawn on the tender little buttocks. The injured person will cover his buttocks with tears in his eyes. Companions I felt bad for him when I saw it.

I often have water fights when taking a shower.All the partners were divided into two equal groups, lined up on both sides of the river two to three feet wide, and used the mud in the river as bullets to hit each other.The friends plunged into the water, quickly dug out a piece of mud from the water, held it with one hand, and picked up a piece with the other hand and threw it at each other.

The two sides were going back and forth, bullets were flying randomly, and it was really a hail of bullets, completely simulating the scene of a gunfight between the enemy and ourselves in the movie.When a bullet hit the enemy's head, the enemy screamed. In order to take revenge, he fired harder at the enemy.Everyone laughed, and the water fight reached its climax.

Once when I was shooting at each other, we built bunkers with mud on our respective positions. After throwing them at the enemy, we immediately hid in our bunkers. The mud eggs on the position crackled into the water and in front of the bunkers. It is not easy for both sides of the bunker to hit each other.

After shooting for a while, I carefully observed the bunker where the enemy was hiding. When throwing, I estimated the distance and threw at the target. After several attempts, I finally grasped the distance and hit the target. Each mud bullet accurately hit the target. On the enemy's backbone.

When the enemy saw that the bunker was not safe, they fled in all directions.The battle ends with our victory.

Sometimes, children use a rope to hang a can bottle, put a piece of steamed bun in it, and put it in the water. After a while, they can pull it out and catch several large shrimps that are as long as a hand. Ten, a nice meal in the evening.In an era when food is scarce, being able to eat fried horse shrimp is very attractive to children, so children are willing to soak in the water and catch horse shrimp while bathing.

But if you soak it for a long time, your lips will turn blue, your whole body will feel uncomfortable, and you may even get sick.The most important thing is that danger is always present, so parents are most opposed to children bathing in the river in summer.If they catch their children bathing alone in the river, most parents will give them a harsh lesson or even be beaten.

I remember one year, my friend and I went to Nanba to take a bath in the afternoon, and he almost drowned.

A few days ago, when I was taking a bath here with a friend, my friend told me that during the drought here, the local production team near the river removed a layer of soil. After the water rose, the water inside was more than a month deep. He warned me not to go in. go.

In the afternoon, I came to take a shower with my friend. I specifically told him not to go in because the water was deep.

He didn't pay attention. As he was talking, he swam to the deep water, showed his head, and drank water one by one. I didn't dare to pull him, so I had to shout loudly: "Here, help!"

But in the hot afternoon, most villagers take a nap at home or enjoy the coolness under the shade of trees. How can there be anyone in the empty river bend?Seeing Uncle Hai struggling in the river, danger threatened him at all times, and I saw him drowning.

At this moment, a figure from the main canal on the other side of the river rushed over, jumped into the river, and swam over quickly. He picked up my dying friend and went ashore. He controlled the water on the hot land. It took a long time for my friend to slowly recover. Come.

It turned out that it was an uncle from our village who went to mow grass in the main canal at noon, dried it and used it as firewood for cooking, and inadvertently saved my friend's life.

You can go into the water in the summer, but what to do in the winter? After all, you can’t go into the water in the winter. At this time, in the 90s, the bath cover appeared.

Someone will definitely ask what a bath cover is. It is a fabric or plastic (and other materials) product similar to a single dome mosquito net. It is used to cover the bathtub when taking a bath to prevent the heat from dissipating.

When it is hung, the lower edge is close to the ground and the temperature inside the cover is higher. Many rural areas use this method to bathe in winter.

Of course, elderly people suffering from high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, emphysema, asthma and other diseases should not use a bath cover to take a bath.Since the air in the bath cover is limited and the air circulation is restricted, the longer the bathing time, the less oxygen and more carbon dioxide in the bath cover. As the temperature in the bath cover rises, sick elderly people are extremely prone to stroke and myocardial infarction. .The correct way to use a bath cover is to first fix the bath cover, then pour hot water into it, and then hold up the bath cover as the hot air spurts out. At this time, when you go in, you won't feel cold.

This method is really good. A bath cover is equivalent to a small bathroom. It is not cold at all to take a bath in it. This bath cover will appear in the 90s, but now He Yuzhu invented the bath cover at the end of the 80s. This It is an innate accumulation of wealth.

Looking at the rain falling outside, He Yuzhu smiled slightly. Tomorrow he would start organizing people to start selling the bath covers he produced. The production price of the bath covers was about fifty cents. He Yuzhu was willing to sell them for two yuan, so It's not too much. He Yuzhu has made nearly millions of bath covers. As long as he can sell them all, he will make a lot of money.

"Eat, eat!"

After a while, the lunch prepared by Yu Haitang, Li Xiuniang, and He Yuyu was served. It was copper hot pot. It is a tradition in Sijiu City to eat charcoal-fired copper pot-shabu-shabu when it snows!

Three friends and four friends sat around, watching the boiling water rolling and listening to the crackling of the charcoal fire. They even had to blow their mouths on the charcoal fire a few times. The white charcoal ash floated out and ran to the mutton rolls next to it!
In the past, there was only one kind of vegetable in winter in Sijiu City, a bunch of Chinese cabbage!

For a few years, farmers in the suburbs had a bumper harvest of cabbage that was unsalable. They even promoted people to buy Chinese cabbage for winter storage. By then, the yards and corridors of every household would be filled with Chinese cabbage!

Don't look at the dirty look of Chinese cabbage. When you eat it, pull off the outer layer of leaves and the inside will be fine!
Usually it's just mutton rolls, beef tongue, lamb, etc., it's all after opening.

Tofu and potatoes are also common. The most exciting thing is freshly fried chili oil, mixed in sesame sauce and sprinkled with chopped green onion. It is so fragrant!

In the past, cooking mutton once would have cost one-third of my monthly salary!

So everyone can wash it once every few months.Now you can rinse it every week!Just don't get angry!As for which copper hotpot is better, it all depends on where you live!
Shabu-shabu style of Sijicheng people is mutton-shabu-shabu in clear soup. Basically, mutton-shabu is the main dish, supplemented by vegetables.The pot used is also charcoal-fired. This kind of pot has a large chamber, which can ensure that the fire is strong and the pot is always boiling.

Copper pot is the most obvious symbol of Laosi Jiucheng's meat-shabu-shabu. The reason why aluminum pots and iron pots are kept aside is because copper pots conduct heat quickly, and the water can only be rinsed when the water is boiling. Otherwise, it is the same as boiling mutton. This A pot is best if it has a large chamber and enough charcoal to keep the pot boiling. It also makes the charcoal fire more resistant to burning. If you forget to store water, the pot will burn.

Laosi Jiucheng's mutton-shabu-shabu specializes in the clear soup base.
"One cup of clear soup, two or three onions and ginger"

You can't see any other base ingredients except scallions and ginger.

Clear soup is not the same as plain water.
The traditional soup base is to add mushrooms and dried shrimps to cook together.

But the mutton must be good, and a discerning owner must eat mutton. Do not add any condiments, just eat the fresh and tender taste of the mutton itself. You will know it as soon as you bite it.

Really good mutton feels extremely tender in your mouth and is delicious beyond words!
In addition, Laosijiucheng people eat copper-pot shabu-shabu in an authentic way. They also pay attention to the main use of lamb hind legs. The meat is fresh, the sinews and brains are removed, and it is cut into thin slices.For those who know how to eat, in addition to the hind legs, they also have "lumbar fossa" (both sides of the lower part of the waist), "cucumber strips" (rib meat), "upper brain" (upper abdominal meat), and "sancha'er" (neck). Meat) one plate each.Chew carefully and slowly, the taste will be different.

Dipping ingredients for hot-pot meat are the key. There is a popular recipe for preparing classic mutton-shabu-shabu ingredients: sesame sauce and soy sauce as the main ingredients, chive flowers and soybean curd as supplements, a little shrimp oil and cooking wine, and free chili oil.

He Yuzhu picked up a pair of chopsticks, rinsed it in a copper pot, wrapped it in seasonings, and ate it. The delicious taste exploded in He Yuzhu's mouth.

He Yuzhu laughed out loud: "The mutton sent by my brother-in-law this time is really good! It is said that these muttons are the best kind of mutton!"

"Yes, your brother-in-law has only sent some mutton back for so many years. It's pretty good. I used to eat and drink from you. Fortunately, now that I'm older, I know it's embarrassing to eat and drink, so I gave it to you. Come back with these muttons.

Eat, eat. Everyone eats, your brother-in-law said, there will be more in the future. "

Li Xiuniang smiled and said to everyone.

"Mom, when will dad come back?" At this time, Zhou Guoan looked at Li Xiuniang and asked.

"Yes!" He Yuzhu nodded and asked: "Didn't my brother-in-law say last year that he would be back soon, and he won't leave this time when he comes back? The higher ups have also arranged work for my brother-in-law."

"Hey!"

At this time, Li Xiuniang sighed: "Your brother-in-law did say that he would come back last year, but you also know that their place has always been a secret. We can't guess when they will release them. I just hope that they can Come back as soon as possible, you must know that your brother-in-law has not called us now, it has been three months, and we have no idea what is going on!"

After saying that, Li Xiuniang also showed a deeply worried look.

He Yuzhu frowned slightly. He shouldn't have mentioned this matter. Fortunately, at this time, Grandma Li smiled and comforted: "It will be okay. Maybe this is the last mission, so we are so cautious. Their men are charging outside. We Women should take good care of their husbands and raise their children at home, and only by raising their children well can we best treat our husbands."

"It's grandma. I know it. I also know that he is doing things for the country. I also know that what he is doing is right. So don't worry, grandma. I won't have any bad thoughts. If he continues to be in the guard, I will I will still support him."

As she spoke, Li Xiuniang showed a smile.

But what Li Xiuniang didn't know at this time was that her husband would come back in less than a month, and when he came back this time, his husband would not leave again, and after he came back, he would also have many things. With great power, at least in Sijiu City, no one would dare to touch He Yuzhu anymore.

(End of this chapter)