"Mingdong, hurry up and bring the diaper, Roubao has peed!" Mingdong, who was being directed by Guihua on the kang, was spinning around. Ever since Zhenzhen gave her nephew the nickname "Roubao", the whole family agreed. According to Grandma Li, "Roubao is such a good name, with all the meat in the flour, it sounds like a blessing, and the meaning is also good. Zhenzhen must have made a good choice."
Mingdong really couldn't figure out what the meat buns meant, but he was already used to Mrs. Li's behavior of being so partial to him. Fortunately, the meat buns didn't sound bad and were much better than the dung balls that the Zhang family next door made for their children.
After changing the baby's diaper and placing it on the oilcloth, Mingdong took a basin to the kitchen, scooped a spoonful of hot water from the pot and poured it into the basin. He then added some cold water, washed the diapers that had been changed in the morning, and hung them in the empty west room next door.
Mingdong and his wife have always lived in the east room of the backyard. Originally, they didn't heat the kang or light the stove in the west room in winter, but now that they have children coming in and out, it's easy for them to get cold air, and the laundry needs a place to dry every day, so they also heated up the kang in the west room.
Mingdong nailed two nails on the fire wall, hung a hemp rope, hung the clean diapers on the rope and put them against the fire wall to bake, and they were completely dry in an hour. Being close to the mountain, the family didn't have to worry about the lack of firewood for the two houses. Since autumn, Mrs. Li asked Mingxi to lead Mingnan and Mingbei to bring back countless firewood. They piled up two high piles of firewood, enough for the whole winter.
After washing his hands, Mingdong opened the door and said something to Guihua, preparing to go to the front room to bring her chicken soup. The chicken was an old hen that had been raised for more than two years. It stopped laying eggs in the fall, but Old Mrs. Li had not ordered it to be killed because she wanted to keep some for Guihua to eat during her confinement.
It was snowing heavily outside. Mingdong put on his fur coat and cotton hat and trotted to the front yard. As soon as he opened the door, he smelled the mouth-watering aroma of chicken soup coming from the kitchen. Mingxi, Mingnan and Mingbei were squatting in a row at the kitchen door, each eating a baked potato.
Mingdong stretched his neck to take a look into the kitchen, then looked down at Mingbei who was blocking the way ahead, and couldn't help but kick him in the butt: "What are you doing squatting here? You're blocking the way. Can't you go back to the house to eat?"
Mingbei picked up the chopsticks, took some soybean paste from the sauce bowl on the windowsill and spread it on the potatoes. He took a bite first, then glanced back at his brother and said vaguely, "The chicken soup smells good, and it goes well with rice."
"That's fine." Mingdong laughed out loud, "With your stomach, you can eat a whole bowl of potatoes without smelling anything. If you smell meat, you might eat a whole cellar."
Mingbei finished the potato in his hand, and without even raising his head, he took out another potato from the basin beside him and continued to peel it. Mingdong looked at him speechlessly, reached out to Mingbei, opened the door curtain, and shouted at the top of his voice: "Mom, is the meal ready?"
Wang Sufen lifted the lid of the pot and poked it twice with chopsticks, then hurriedly replied, "Wait a moment. The meat of this old hen is too old and it's not well stewed. I just added some more firewood, so let's stew it for a while. If you have nothing to do, go to the east room and talk to your grandma. I'll call you when it's ready." Mingdong agreed, lowered the curtain, turned around and left.
Wang Sufen took out the thawed pork and cut a few slices, poured some oil and added chopped green onions, stir-fried it for a few times and put the pork in. There was a "sizzling" sound and some white smoke came out. Mingbei immediately squatted and moved forward two steps, sticking his head under the door curtain: "Mom, did you put a few more slices of meat?"
Without even turning her head, Wang Sufen poured the chopped cabbage back into the pot: "One piece per person will do the trick."
Mingbei wailed at the top of his voice, "We can't even get enough of you giving us a whole piece of meat a day. You might as well stew a pot of braised pork for us to enjoy."
Mingnan became excited when he heard about the braised pork. He took two steps forward and squatted down: "Mom, let's stew the meat we received this month. Let's steam some rice and pour the stewed meat on it. It will be so delicious." Mingbei swallowed his saliva after listening. He squatted beside her and nodded repeatedly, looking at Wang Sufen expectantly.
After adding some soy sauce and frying until it had a nice color, Wang Sufen covered the pot and looked back at her two greedy sons: "It's still more than a month before the Chinese New Year. If we eat all this, the next time we eat meat we'll have to kill the New Year pig."
Mingbei was immediately happy: "It's good to eat it in one meal, so I don't have to eat one piece every day and then it's gone before I'm satisfied, which is a waste of meat."
Wang Sufen lifted the lid of the pot and turned it over twice. Seeing that half of the steamed potatoes were missing, she quickly brought it over and put it on the cupboard: "Ask your grandma about stewing the braised pork and steaming rice. I don't have the final say." After hearing this, Mingbei quickly stuffed the last bite of potato into his mouth and happily went to the east room.
Since the beginning of this spring, the supply on the streets has shown signs of recovery. By the autumn, people can basically buy grain, vegetables and pork on a monthly basis. The people of Beicha have been in a tight spot for three years, and they have managed to stay afloat by growing crops and digging wild vegetables. Now that the supply of materials has been restored, the people of Beicha have breathed a sigh of relief.
For two consecutive years, the Li family harvested one more crop than others, and each time it was a bumper harvest. The family stored a lot of various grains. This year, they did not buy much ration grain, but did buy enough non-staple food. The meat they bought was not over-fried, but cooked to satisfy their cravings.
Being able to eat a piece of fried pork every day was already a good life in the past, but Mingbei's mind was full of braised pork, and his mouth was watering with greed. He ran to the east room and shouted before he even entered: "Grandma, let's ask my mother to stew the meat for us?"
Zhenzhen was sitting on the kang eating pine nuts. When she heard about stewing meat, her eyes lit up: "What kind of meat do you want to stew?"
Mingbei sat on the kang with his buttocks raised. He stretched out his hands to hug Mrs. Li's arms. Mrs. Li glanced at his hands, dodged, picked up the fly swatter on the kang and hit Mingbei's hands: "Look at your hands, why are they so dirty? Don't touch my clothes."
Mingbei looked at his hands, which were covered with potatoes and soybean paste. He hid them behind his back with a wry smile. Zhenzhen didn't mind Mingbei's dirtiness. She came over and handed Mingbei her small bowl to eat pine nuts: "Fourth brother, what kind of meat do you want to stew?"
Mingbei chuckled, "Mom only prepares a few slices of meat for every meal, and each person only takes a bite before it's gone. Grandma, why don't you just let my mom stew all the meat she bought this month, and then steam a pot of rice, so that we can also have a good time."
Zhenzhen swallowed her saliva and asked seriously, "Is it stewed braised pork?"
"Red-braised pork is fine too. Ask mom to put more potatoes in it. When it's done, the potatoes will taste like meat." Mingbei looked at Zhenzhen and coaxed her by asking, "Sister, do you want to eat it?"
Zhen Zhen nodded repeatedly: "I want to eat!"
If Mingbei was greedy alone, Mrs. Li would definitely ignore him. But seeing Zhenzhen smiling at her like a greedy cat, Mrs. Li softened her heart immediately: "Okay, okay, let's stew the meat tonight. It doesn't matter if we run out of food anyway."
Mingbei cheered immediately and jumped out to pass on the order. Mingdong pinched Zhenzhen's soft and tender chubby face and said with a smile: "Our Zhenzhen is a little greedy cat. Look at her chubby face after eating so much. She might become a fat girl in the future."
Mrs. Li immediately slapped Mingdong's hand away and rubbed Zhenzhen's fair and tender face: "Our Zhenzhen is still young, and she looks good when she is chubby like this. She looks blessed. Don't just say that our Zhenzhen is fat, look at your Roubao, he is only half a month old, and he has a lot of fat on his face."
Thinking about his son's big fat face, Mingdong felt depressed: "It was Zhenzhen who gave him the name, Roubao Roubao. The longer he grows, the more he looks like a Roubao."
Zhenzhen hid behind Old Lady Li with her hands covering her mouth and laughed. Mingdong glanced at Li Mingzhong who was napping on the ground and felt even more depressed: "Look, even a dog can be called by its full name, but my son has become a meat bun."
Zhen Zhen blinked her eyes and said innocently: "Rou Bao is a nickname, Li Mingzhong is a real name, they are different."
Li Mingdong glanced at Li Mingzhong who was drooling in his sleep, wondering: "Does it have a nickname? I haven't heard you call it that."
Zhen Zhen nodded: "My fourth brother gave me this name, Hong Zhong."
Li Mingzhong seemed to hear someone calling him, and he stood up with a flutter. He turned his big head around and found that he was at home. Then he yawned and lay down again staggeringly.
Li Mingdong: “…”
Zhenzhen took a frozen pear from the basin on the kang and took a bite. The sour, sweet and cool taste stimulated her eyes and squinted: "I think Roubao is much better than Hongzhong. I was young at that time, otherwise I would never let Li Mingzhong call me by that nickname."
Li Mingdong watched Zhenzhen pouting her lips and sucking the juice from the frozen pear, and couldn't help teasing her: "If I want you to get up, should I call you Dongli?"
Zhenzhen ate the frozen pear and smiled at Li Mingdong: "This is a good name. When my eldest brother gives birth to my second nephew, he will be named this."
Mingdong looked at Zhenzhen with a look of despair: "This frozen pear is not as good as the meat bun."
Zhenzhen thought about it for a while and said, "Yeah, the gap is a bit too big. How about calling the second nephew Doubao? It sounds like they are brothers, and they are both delicious. Grandma, when are we going to make Doubao at home?"
Old Mrs. Li hugged Zhenzhen and said, "Want to eat tofu buns? Tomorrow I'll ask your mother to knead the dough and make two for you to satisfy your craving." Then she knocked Mingdong's head with a fly swatter and said, "Your sister gave you a lucky name. I think it's not bad. Okay, okay, go and see if the chicken soup is ready. If it's ready, bring it to your wife. Whenever you want to drink it, just heat it up in the big pot in the back room."
Mingdong nodded helplessly. He was used to ordering meat buns, so an additional bean bun didn't seem to matter. He walked to the door and turned back to ask Zhenzhen: "Zhenzhen, do you want some chicken soup? Can I leave a big chicken drumstick for you?"
Zhenzhen nodded repeatedly: "Ask mom to add some chopped green onions for me."
Mingdong was immediately happy: "He is not very old, but he has a lot to do."
After eating the frozen pear in her hand, Zhenzhen got off the kang and ran to wash her hands. As soon as she opened the door to the east room, Li Muwu hurried in with snowflakes all over his body, followed by someone. Li Muwu's voice changed: "Mom, look who's here?"
"Who is this?" Old Mrs. Li squinted and knocked, but the man was wearing a big fur hat and a thick military coat, with only half of his face showing, so she couldn't make out his appearance.
"Mom, it's me!" The man burst into tears as soon as he opened his mouth. Old Mrs. Li was shocked: "Mu Wen, is that you?"
Li Muwen took off his hat, revealing a head of half-white hair. He looked somewhat similar to Li Muwu, but looked older.
"Mu Wen, it's my Mu Wen." Old Lady Li got off the kang, walked over tremblingly, hugged Li Mu Wen's waist, and cried loudly in his arms: "My son, mother thought I would never see you again in this life. At the beginning, you were only 20 years old and followed the army to fight the Japanese devils. It has been more than 20 years since you left. Finally, the Japanese devils and the Kuomintang were driven away, and you followed the army to Fujian. I dreamed of you a few days ago, and when I woke up, I wondered if I could see you before I die."
Li Muwen, a tough man, saw that Old Lady Li's eyes were red from crying. He gently patted Old Lady Li on the back and said, "Mom, you are in good health. You will live a long life."
"That makes you look like an old witch." Mrs. Li was amused. She wiped the tears from her face and looked down at Zhenzhen standing beside her crying. She was immediately frightened: "Why are you crying, kid? This is your uncle."
Zhenzhen took out a small handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her tears: "It was so touching, I couldn't help it."
The author has something to say: Today is the last day I have worked at the company. I can finally have a day off tomorrow. Let me give you some flowers~~~
Tomorrow is my mother's birthday, and I have to accompany her in the afternoon, so the update will be posted around 4 pm. You can come and see it early. There will be no more updates in the evening. In order to celebrate my mother's birthday, and to thank the readers for their company and support for the genuine version since the opening of V, how about we give 200 red envelopes in this chapter
Thank you to the local tyrants who sent the Overlord tickets for your continued support, muah~~
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