That night, when Shi Zhen returned to Guan Baiyu's place, the stewed pork skin and pig tail with soybeans in the pot was ready and fragrant.
Shi Xinghuo kept gulping. He ate it with the man who sold mud at noon. The conditions were not too bad, but most of the rural people were reluctant to spend money on vegetables, so they never had meat, and occasionally ate garlic. Ye scrambled eggs or something, he remembered Shi Zhen's explanation, and he didn't dare to eat more eggs.
Now the pig's tail is stewed with soybeans, it is really fragrant.
Shi Zhen filled two small bowls of soybeans, and gave Guan Baiyu and Shi Xinghuo a bowl each, and let them eat them. Only then did the rest of the dishes in the pot be filled and cooked.
Seeing this, Guan Baiyu hurriedly went to set the fire.
Although Shi Zhen's family was poor, when his mother was there, his mother cooked. After his mother was gone, his father did it for a while, and then his stepmother did it.
At the age of eighteen, he actually can't cook, nor is he willing to do it.
He was fashionable and young, and he grew up in a small isolated village. His mind was still in the Qing Dynasty, and he always felt that these jobs were all done by women, and he could not be done by a big man.
Now he has no such idea, and in the years he lived alone before his death, he also practiced a good craft.
When cooking the rice, Shi Zhen cut some shredded mustard and put it in a bowl, and then poured in the water and put it on the steaming rack, so that when the rice was cooked, there was still a bowl of mustard soup to drink.
This is what his stepmother often cooks. His stepmother, like Guan Baiyu, steams something while cooking and treats it as a dish.
The pickles and mustards are all pickled by Guan Baiyu. When his grandmother was still alive, he taught him to make them. When his grandmother died, he made them himself.
Thanks to his skill, he picked up the mustard that had grown bad and the mustard leaves that the mustard factory didn't want after planting it in the next village, and picked up the mustard leaves that were not needed by the mustard factory.
His adoptive parents have a vegetable farm, but he doesn't go there to pick vegetables. Instead, he grows some scattered vegetables by the river, plus the occasional donation from his neighbors, it's enough. eat.
Just... can't eat meat.
But when his grandmother was alive, he couldn't eat it either, he was actually used to it.
He doesn't know what his grandma used to be like. Ever since he can remember, his grandma has always only cared about eating and drinking well for herself. She would not allow the daughter-in-law who is nursing the child to eat her meat, let alone him. grandson.
Guan Baiyu looked up at Shi Zhen.
The sudden appearance of this cousin made him a little apprehensive at first, but now it has become fearful.
This man is really good to him.
After the three of them ate, Shi Zhen said, "I don't have enough firewood at home, I'll go out and buy some."
When Guan Baiyu heard the words, he hurriedly said, "I'll go with you."
Seeing Shi Zhen looking over, Guan Baiyu said again, "I know all the people around me. I'll go along and buy firewood for a cheaper price."
He was embarrassed, and there were always some children in the village who looked down on him and made fun of him.
However, the adults in the village are mostly sympathetic to him and do not hate him, especially when his grades are good.
After all, he can't get in the way of others, and his biological father still grew up in the village.
"I originally wanted to buy from Uncle Guan..." Shi Zhen said.
Guan Baiyu said without thinking: "Uncle Guan has no firewood there. Aunt Guan works in the factory, and their family does not raise silkworms, nor do they have mulberry branches."
Guan Jianguo's wife worked in the chemical fiber factory in the village before marriage. After marriage, she was resigned from the chemical fiber factory because of the birth of a child. After a year, she went to the sofa factory to find a job.
The sofa factory is a bit far from here. She has to work three shifts and sometimes she doesn't come back to sleep. She sleeps in the dormitory of the factory. Shi Zhen has never seen her before.
She has a job, so naturally she will not raise silkworms. After all, raising silkworms is hard work.
Therefore, his family's mulberry land was leased to others, and the leased land was Guan Baiyu's adoptive parents.
Guan Baiyu's adoptive parents are very industrious, and they raise three or four silkworm seeds every year. The people in the village raise silkworms, all of which are bought uniformly, and silkworm eggs are laid on paper, one by one.
When silkworms were raised, the grounds of his adoptive father's main room and the upstairs of his house were full of silkworms, and the family of three all crammed into one room to eat and sleep.
But even so, they didn't earn much money, because they were building houses, organizing funerals, and supporting their two children in junior high school, and even owed foreign debts.
Of course, there are a lot of people like this in the village, so many are for the sake of face, and they have to build a two-story building when they owe money.
Guan Baiyu took Shi Zhen to his adoptive father's side.
It was the first time that Shi Zhen met Guan Baiyu's adoptive parents.
He originally wanted to have some money, buy some gifts, and then come to the door, but unfortunately he was too poor, and now he can only bring a bowl of stewed soybeans with pig skin.
Fortunately, Guan Guangguo didn't care.
If Grandpa and Grandma Guan Baiyu came over, they would definitely care about it, after all, they helped others raise their children so big.
But Shi Zhen is only the child of Guan Baiyu's aunt's family. According to Guan Baiyu, his mother is dead, and Shi Zhen's mother is gone... What else can they care about
Hearing that Guan Baiyu wanted to buy mulberry branches, Guan Guangguo gave him a few bundles: "I don't want your money anymore."
Zhang Xiumei was unhappy: "If someone wants to buy it, it's your turn to be a good person?"
Zhang Xiumei took out a few more bundles of mulberry branches and said to Guan Baiyu, "One dollar."
When Shi Zhen was about to take the money, Guan Baiyu gave Zhang Xiumei a dollar.
Seeing this, Zhang Xiumei snorted.
She knew that the lost old woman must have left some money for Guan Baiyu.
It was obvious that her daughter was the Guan family member, but the old woman only cared about Guan Baiyu.
Guan Baiyu didn't say a word, and together with Shi Zhen, carried the firewood back in several trips and put it beside his bed.
His house is very small, so he keeps food and firewood beside his bed.
They moved firewood, but saw that Guan Baiyu's adoptive father's house did not close as early as in the past.
"What is this for?" Shi Zhen asked.
Guan Baiyu said, "Someone is here to kill the pig."
It is true that someone is coming to kill the pig.
There is usually nothing to do in the village. Everyone is very busy. When they know that someone in Guan Guangguo is going to kill pigs, they all come out to watch the fun, and some people ask Guan Guangguo for pig blood.
Guan Guangguo responded: "I'll give you a bowl later."
The person who killed the pig came soon after, and Shi Zhen was quite surprised to see that person—the person who came to kill the pig was actually the vendor he bought meat from in the morning.
Of course, he was not the only one who came, there were other vendors, there were three of them in total.
As soon as the three of them came, they went to the pigsty behind Guanguang Country to drag the pigs. Several big men dragged the pigs that kept barking out, and pressed them onto the bench, ready to kill the pigs.
In fact, it is most convenient to kill pigs directly on the ground, but they are reluctant to waste pig blood, so they will use a bench to support the pigs, so that the pig blood can be collected below.
Pig blood is also a good thing. Eating it can replenish blood... Guan Baiyu is obviously not nutritious, and most of them are also anemic.
Shi Zhen thought about buying some pig blood, and wondered if he could take this opportunity to buy some meat.