Xi Yanqing was extremely depressed, but when he thought about it, he found it too funny. He had heard before that once a person is pregnant, his appetite, mood and personality may change a lot, but he didn't expect Luo Fei to do the same one day.
If it weren't for Luo Fei's inconvenience right now, Xi Yanqing would have wanted to "rectify the Fa on the spot". Now, just have to wait.
The next day, the official's family was coming to collect taxes, and the villagers in Huaping Village had to go to the threshing floor with the things they had to pay.
After the banquet had finished the rice and soybeans, he put it on his shoulders: "Then I'll go first, you can be careful at home by yourself. I'll be back after handing over."
Luo Fei hugged Xi Yanqing's head and kissed him heavily: "Go! I'll make something delicious and wait for you to come back."
Xi Yanqing rubbed Luo Fei's head, made sure to close the door when he went out, and then left.
After cleaning up the wild boar yesterday, Xi Yanqing left behind a pig's hind leg, a pig's front leg, a pork rib, a tenderloin and a large piece of pork belly. He also kept the pig heart, and the rest were basically divided between the Han Yang family and the Luo family. As for Luo Yong, he originally divided a pig's front leg, but when he got it from the Liang family, he brought it back, because Dr. Liang's mouth is not good, they have not eaten meat for a long time, and Luo Yong can't do it by himself.
Luo Fei pondered, then he will cook more food, and then pick some soft and tender ones to give to the old couple. As for Luo Yong, just call over and eat together.
Luo Fei took out all the pork belly parts. Wild boars have more lean meat, not as fat as domestic pigs, which is exactly what he wanted. He cut a large piece of meat into strips five or six centimeters wide. There were nine strips in total, one he kept, and the remaining eight strips were divided into two. For one of them, he took some salt and pepper and rubbed them for a while. Then he took a big bowl and placed them neatly. After it tasted good, it was dried and used for smoking. And the other, he took out a bowl of soybean paste. He poured some salt into the sauce, reconciled, and then spread the salty sauce evenly on the strips of meat, and also found a bowl for them to arrange. This kind of sauce-cured bacon is rare on the market, and Luo Fei has eaten it at a classmate's house before. It seems that most of the people in the north will do this. After they are done, they will have a unique fragrance when cut into slices and roasted beans.
It is estimated that if Han Xu did this job, Han Xu would have to vomit and faint, but Luo Fei worked very hard.
Luo Fei preliminarily finished the bacon, then took out the ribs and blanched them in boiling water, and braised them all. He put more garlic in it and made it slightly salty. Mainly because there is no refrigerator here, the more bland the dishes are, the more they can't hold. It was cold outside, but it wasn't enough to freeze through. Luo Fei pondered that the bacon can be kept for several months, but the ribs and tenderloin still need to be eaten as soon as possible.
At first, it was suggested that Luo Fei should sell some of the pork so that he could get some money. Caroline didn't do it. He and Xi Yanqing tacitly chose to give a pork leg and a pork chop to Shifu. They didn't go there, so they let Luo Yi send it to Shifu on the way to school. Just this morning, Luo Yi took it away.
Anyway, this wild boar was obtained by accident, and Luo Fei and Xi Yanqing would not be stingy with their benefactors and those who helped them.
Luo Fei put out the braised pork ribs and stewed some rice, waiting for the banquet to come back to eat.
But at this moment, Xi Yanqing is lining up. He should have paid his taxes at this time, but there was a lot of fun on the threshing floor, and the team was stuck there.
"Young man, are you saying that Zhang Yangfan's family also has to pay the land tax?" The person who spoke was the old village chief. Huaping Village pays taxes every year. Every year, the old village chief brings a person from an official family to register the amount of grain produced at the threshing field. The tax collector is Cheng Guangguang, and the old village chief is talking to this person at the moment, and it is the first time he has dealt with this person.
"Yes, old man." Cheng Guangguang said, "Zhang Yangfan's family also pays taxes. Why didn't you write down the amount of taxes this person should pay?"
"But, but Zhang Yangfan is a scholar. He hasn't paid taxes all these years."
"This..." Cheng Guangguang repeatedly confirmed the list of taxpayers from the top of his head, "it is indeed Zhang Yangfan's name. Old man, don't you remember badly?"
"No, boy, if you don't believe me, ask other people in our village. Everyone knows that Zhang Yangfan is a scholar."
"Yes, Zhang Yangfan is indeed a scholar." Someone said.
"Then please go to his house alone, old man, and ask his family to come and check." After Cheng Guangguang finished speaking, he motioned for the others to start walking forward.
Seeing that this was inappropriate, the village chief hurriedly called his grandson to come here, lest he could not do well.
The village chief's village was in his early ten years. When he was running fast, he disappeared in a flash. After a while, he arrived at Zhang's house: "Aunt Qin! Aunt Qin, is there anyone in your family?"
Qin Guizhi hurriedly came out: "Yo, isn't this a small pillar? What are you calling Auntie for?"
Qin Guizhi's face is not very good-looking. She woke up early this morning and said she was going to the Valley Farm to watch the fun. She wanted to let those people know that her family didn't have to pay taxes, so that those gangsters would envy her, but her son stopped her and said nothing, which made her I was unhappy for a while.
Xiao Zhuzi said, "Aunt Qin, the official said that your family also has to pay taxes this year, so let the family visit."
Qin Guizhi shouted: "This is impossible! My family Yangfan is a scholar, why should I pay taxes?"
Zhang Yangfan, who was in the room, snorted in his heart, and his face immediately turned gray.
Qin Guizhi couldn't take care of it anymore, she twisted her waist and rushed to the valley with Xiao Zhuzi. When she got to the place, she didn't care about the three sevens and twenty-one and shouted: "Who said they would charge my family's land tax? There are scholars in my family! Why should I pay the tax?"
Cheng Guang frowned upon hearing this: "Are you from Zhang Yangfan's family?"
Qin Guizhi has red eyes and a thick neck: "I'm Zhang Yangfan's mother! My son is a scholar and everyone here knows it! Why should we pay taxes? It's impossible!"
Her family has dozens of acres of land, and she hired a lot of workers this year. Because of Jiang Baining and Zhang Sheng, she was so angry that she lay down for days without work. This year, she spent a lot of money on recruiting workers. Now, she only dares to spend it because she doesn't have to pay taxes. If you let them pay taxes, that's a lot of money. You know, her family pays more taxes than others, and pays much more than others.
Cheng Guang also had doubts in his heart. He is a newly appointed tax collector. He has never been to Huaping Village before, and he has never seen Zhang Yangfan. But looking at the people in the village, it doesn't look like they can lie. So he called his subordinates who were inspecting the quality of the rice outside: "Yunjie, get on my horse, go back quickly, and ask what's going on above."
The one called Yun Jie left quickly. They all came here with Cheng Guangguang. This is the first time they have been collecting taxes in Huaping Village. They used to be in other villages. The reason why the superiors change shifts to collect taxes is to prevent the tax collectors from having long-term contacts with a certain village, corruption and bribery.
Cheng Guangguang didn't want to waste time, so he asked Qin Guizhi to wait aside, and then began to arrange for other villagers to pay taxes. Most of the villagers know how much they have to pay, so the food they bring is basically the same. As long as it is checked, the quantity is confirmed, and they are not shoddy, they can be handed over and left, and someone will register the content of the handover.
Xi Yanqing's line was relatively late, but it took about half an hour for him to arrive. He had seen rice from other families before, so he knew that the one he took could pass. Although the one he took was not the good one, it was almost the same as the other one. The good one, he kept it to make rice for Luo Fei.
The registrar finished registering the amount paid by Xiyan, and after collecting the bag, Xiyan patted the ashes on his body and was about to leave, but Luo Fei's voice came from not far away: "Brother Qing!"
Luo Fei really came, and there was Han Xu next to him.
Han Xu was originally at his mother's house, and when he heard the movement next door, he went to Luo Fei to chat about it. No, here it comes.
Xi Yanqing hurried over: "Why did you come out? Isn't it cold?"
Luo Fei said with a smile: "Come and see the excitement. If it snows in a few days, it will be even more difficult to come out for a walk."
Xi Yanqing thought about it too, so he just followed Luo Fei. It happened that Han Yang was still lining up, so they gathered together to chat.
It took a lot of time to walk to the town, but riding a horse was different. Xi Yanqing didn't chat with Han Yang for a while, and the man named Yun Jie came back on a horse, and in front of everyone He said to Cheng Guangguang: "Brother Cheng, the people from the Taxation Department said that Zhang Yangfan cheated in this year's examination room, and the examiner was kicked out, and he was not allowed to participate in the imperial examination in the future except for his name as a scholar. So their family started this year. You will have to pay taxes.”
"What?!" Qin Guizhi was stunned, "This, this is impossible, my son didn't tell me about this, you must be mistaken!"
"Auntie, why are you being so unreasonable? Since there is a registration here, and we are not mistaken, you have to pay taxes according to the regulations." Cheng Guangguang said hard to his companions, He signaled the other party to continue to work, and then told the old village chief: "Old man, please go to Zhang's house to find someone who can take care of the matter. We must finish the taxation of your village before dark today. be held accountable."
"Okay, okay." The village chief hurriedly called his grandson again, "Little Zhuzi, hurry up and go to Zhang's house again and call Zhang Yangfan."
"Oh my god! You're killing me!" Qin Guizhi threw himself to the ground and started to howl, "What the hell did I do
"It's useless for you to cry. It's serious to ask someone to prepare the tax." The registration officer glared at Qin Guizhi.
"I don't want to pay!" Qin Guizhi suddenly stood up, "I didn't listen to my son, I don't believe any of you! I have to go back and ask!" Qin Guizhi pushed aside the popularity beside him and rushed back. She couldn't believe it, how could her son cheat? ! Could it be that she has worked so hard to run all these years in vain? !
"Tsk tsk tsk, there is a big movie on the ground." Luo Fei was almost six or seven meters away from Qin Guizhi, "Brother Qing, shall we go back?"
"Okay. It's rare that you didn't want to stay and wait." Xi Yanqing was a little surprised, "I just happened to be a little hungry."
"Gululu..." A sound came from Luo Fei's stomach, "Hey, the little tiger and the donkey are hungry too."
The young couple walked home holding hands, and when they approached Zhang Yangfan's door, they saw that the small pillar was still knocking on the door, but no one came out. Until Qin Guizhi came and slammed the door open: "Zhang Yangfan! Tell me, why does our family have to pay taxes this year?!"
Zhang Yangfan seemed to be annoyed, and said, "Mother, can you not mention this? Let me hand it over to you!"
Qin Guizhi was almost fainted by this remark: "You bastard child! So you are really, really cheating?! If you want me to pay it, I will pay it? Do you know how much our family will pay?"
If the land exceeds 3 mu but less than 10 mu, 10% of the grain produced will be handed over; if it exceeds 10 mu but less than 20 mu, 12% will be paid; Home will pay 15%! ! !
Zhang Yangfan said nothing.
Xiao Zhuzi was locked out of the door and shouted reluctantly, "Aunt Qin! Take Brother Zhang to the valley, my grandfather and the others are still waiting!"
Qin Guizhi shouted: "I'm not going! I can't afford to lose this person! Who wants to let them come to my door to collect them!"
Zhang Yangfan suddenly retorted: "How did that happen?!"
Come to the house to collect, then do you want his face
Zhang Yangfan told Qin Guizhi about this, and the two quarreled again after a while.
Luo Fei and Xi Yanqing listened, and Luo Fei called Xiao Zhuzi: "Little Zhuzi, I don't think anyone will come out of his family. You should go and tell your grandfather, but don't wait here."
Xiao Zhuzi was also annoyed, and said to Luo Fei, "I know brother Erbao." After saying that, he walked towards the gate of Zhang's house, "Humph!" and ran away again.
Luo Fei looked at the small pillar and ran: "Hey, you run really fast, when will I be able to run..."
Xi Yanqing glanced at Luo Fei's belly: "Next year, we can raise it after our child is born."
Luo Fei is used to being noisy, and he has to be careful about what he does recently, so he always feels a little bored, so he said this. In fact, he himself knew that he would only be able to run and jump next year.
But Zhang Yangfan heard the word "Luo Fei" and wanted to come out to see it, but he never expected to hear that Luo Fei and Xi Yanqing had a child!
Qin Guizhi just didn't want Zhang Yangfan to blame her, and he didn't want Zhang Yangfan to think about Luo Fei, so he never told Zhang Yangfan, but now Zhang Yangfan knew it.
At the beginning, Qin Guizhi persuaded Zhang Yangfan to marry Jiang Baining on the grounds that Luo Fei would definitely not be able to have children. Now, Jiang Baining was pregnant with Zhang Sheng's child and gave him a green hat. The child was gone, but Luo Fei did. The children of Xi Yanqing!
How ironic
Zhang Yangfan just felt that his breath was stuck on his chest and he couldn't go down, he was about to suffocate him to death!
"Bang!" Zhang Yangfan suddenly pushed open the door on an impulse. He looked at Luo Fei's background with a complicated expression, his fists clenched tightly, "Luo Fei..."
"Brother Qing, I marinated the bacon this morning. When you come back, find me a cool place to hang it." Luo Fei didn't even look back, and put his arms around Xi Yanqing's arm, "Hey, hey? Is it snowing? !"
"No, it's really snowing." When I woke up tomorrow morning, I felt that the weather was okay.
"It's snowing quite early this year."
"Well, be careful, don't fall." Xi Yanqing carefully supported Luo Fei's waist, "Is it cold?"
"It's not cold." After Luo Fei finished speaking, he stretched out his tongue to catch the snow, feeling a slight chill between his tongue, and then he retracted his tongue again.
When the young couple entered the house, the snow slowly stopped. Luo Fei was still thinking about building a snowman, but now it's gone. As soon as the sun shone, the snow melted away in a while, and he had to stay at home.
This is basically the case in the countryside. After the winter, there is nothing to do. Every household is a cat at home and waits for the next spring. There are also some families who do not have a good harvest and simply go to the town to take a part-time job.
Xi Yanqing also wanted to find something to do in the past and make more money to subsidize his family, but Luo Fei was in a special situation, so he put down this idea first, after all, Luo Fei is the most important thing at present.
Of course, it would not be enough to just watch Luo Fei completely idle, after all, this stay will be almost four months. Besides, he hasn't given up on the idea of building a house in the coming year.
But how to make money
Just when Xi Yanqing was thinking about how to get money every day, Luo Fei suddenly gave him an inspiration.
"Brother Qing..." Luo Fei licked the corners of his lips and said, "Do you think I can put some sugar water in a bowl and freeze an ice cube?"
"It should be ok at night, but it's hard to freeze completely during the day, craving ice cream?" Xi Yanqing smiled.
"Well. But it seems that you can't make ice cream, can you?"
"No." Xi Yanqing had eaten ice cream, but he really didn't know how ice cream was made. But he knew one thing, to make ice cream, especially the kind of ice cream with fresh milk, there must be fresh milk.
Not to mention, his family really needs to get a cow or a milk sheep.
When a child is born next year, he will definitely need to drink milk, but when the time comes, he wants to find a cow or a milk sheep, but what if he can't find it? So this thing really has to be busy in advance.
Xi Yanqing found Han Yang again, but Han Yang's second uncle was not there.
There was no other way, so Xi Yanqing went to town, because there were no suitable milk sheep in the nearby villages, and there were a few sheep that were either used by others or took too long to produce milk. Xi Yanqing felt that the milk must not have much nutrition in this way.
There are people in the town who sell milk sheep, some who are pregnant with lambs, and some who are not pregnant. After the feast was settled, I felt that it was the most suitable for those who had just conceived, and the best colostrum could be given to the child and Luo Fei. But the problem is, he can't raise sheep. This is not like chickens, ducks or puppies, it is easy to feed. If you don't understand it, spending money is small, and it's not good to delay the baby's milk. Now the cows are still put away by my father-in-law, but they have not been brought back, because raising animals requires a lot of attention.
So the banquet was cleared for the whole morning, and the sheep were not bought, so he bought some milk and goat milk for Luo Fei and went back. After going back, he didn't go home first, but went directly to Chen Huazhang to get a small wooden plate. A round groove was cut out of the wooden plate. After polishing, he cut out a small hole for the ice cream sticks, and made a few more ice cream. stick. After taking these, Xi Yanqing went home, and when he went home, he made ice cream for Luo Fei while he was sleeping.
He boiled the milk with sugar, poured it into the mold, and sprinkled a little dried blue prunes into it. He still picked the blue plums, and Luo Fei dried them, and at least they looked less monotonous when sprinkled in.
Xi Yanqing didn't know whether it tasted good or not, because he was in a hurry, so he only asked Chen Huazhang to help him make an ice cream mold, and he didn't taste it himself.
Anyway, at night he quietly got these done, put the lid on it and let it freeze outside. The temperature has been below zero lately at night, and Xi Yanqing estimated that it should be able to freeze well.
In order to eat a complete ice cream feast for my daughter-in-law, I also fought hard.
The next day, Luo Fei felt bored after breakfast, so he sat on the kang head and continued to make small clothes for the child. He didn't mention the ice cream thing, but he drank some water in a while, feeling like it was uncomfortably hot, but after a closer look, there was no sweat on his body.
Seeing this, Xi Yanqing brought the small wooden box: "Open it and take a look."
Luo Fei looked puzzled: "What? It looks like a small coffin."
Xi Yanqing is also convinced by this unobstructed temperament: "Well, there is a small corpse inside, you can open it and take a look."
Luo Fei didn't believe it, so he opened it and said, "Ah! Ice cream?! Brother Qing, did you make it?!"
"Who else could it be if it wasn't me? Try it." Xi Yanqing took out the ice cream with a small stick. It was a bit hard from freezing just now, and it was not easy to take out.
"There are talents." Luo Fei took a bite. "Well, it's delicious. You can try it too."
"It's not bad." Xi Yanqing felt that this was a little better than what he expected. Although not as soft as the ice cream he ate in modern times, it should be a milk stick in all seriousness, but it is indeed much better than the pure popsicle.
"Thank you, Brother Qing, it's so delicious!" Luo Fei licked his mouth, not willing to waste at all, "Is this made of milk? Where did you get the milk?"
"I bought it in the town. I originally wanted to buy a milk sheep for you and your child, but the suitable ones are those who have just conceived a lamb. I was afraid that they would not be able to raise them, so I didn't buy them first. There is still a bottle of goat milk outside, for a while. Let me warm it up a bit and try it. The goat milk seller says that goat milk has a more stinky smell than cow’s milk. I don’t know if you can drink it.
"Cow?! I'm down. Brother Qing, if you're so used to me, be careful I'll go to the house tomorrow!" Ordinary people don't necessarily buy milk sheep. If there are suitable mothers with sufficient milk in the village, they will help them feed their heads together. For four months, give some milk money, and then give the children rice soup or something. There are very few sheep. This is a cow? !
"I'd better try goat's milk." Luo Fei really never drank goat's milk, not in the previous life, nor in this life.
Xi Yanqing went to warm up the goat milk and brought it to Luo Fei. Luo Fei tasted it, gudu, and after a while, Gudu Gudu, he drank it all in one breath!
Luo Fei licked off the milk beard: "Where does the smell come from? How fragrant is this? It feels more fragrant than milk."
Xi Yanqing: "…"
What Luo Fei said is true, not because the cows are more expensive, but he really thinks that goat milk is particularly fragrant. Xiyan looked at it clearly, this sheep must be bought, and there is no need to wait. It is best to buy a milk-producing sheep now, and children drink it for children. Calcium deficiency or something, wasn't it all played like that in previous advertisements? Pregnant women should supplement calcium and folic acid...
Xi Yanqing began to inquire about the milk sheep again.
Luo Fei made some dumplings at home today, and Xi Yanqing went to deliver a few to Dr. Liang and his wife, and then called Luo Yong over to eat. When Luo Yong heard that Xi Yanqing was still thinking about buying milk sheep, he didn't even think about it and said, "As I said, don't look for Brother Xi, I'm going to look for Jingrong in the next two days. By the way, I'll bring you back. There must be."
"Are you going to find Jingrong?" Xi Yanqing asked, "Why did you suddenly think of going to him?"
"Jingrong came out of the house, he divided some sheep, and left the house with the sheep completely. At this time in Huangtan Town, there is a piece of land of his family, and that piece of land was also divided with him, in the future he will I'm afraid I won't go back again."
"When did it happen?"
"Just the letter I received yesterday, I asked Dr. Liang to read it to me. Jing Rong asked me if I was free, so I went to help him. The land assigned to him is the worst in the family. He said that he couldn't do it there, and that he would also change his place. No one at home could see him in the past few days, so he thought about asking me to help him for a while, and he went to find a new place. "
"Why don't you let him come here to see?" Xi Yanqing said with a smile. This is pure joke.
"Hey, I'm not going to watch the house for him, let him come over and take a look. I think it's pretty good here. There are mountains and rivers."
"That's it, I'm not in a hurry for the next few days. Let him come and have a look. If he really thinks it's good here, then our brothers can do something else together." Xi Yanqing pondered, can raise Sheep, why don't his shop open a mutton restaurant next year? ! Or... think about how to sell ice cream
Although it is cold now, ice cream may not sell well, but what if this thing can be made in summer? !