"Are you hungry or tired?" Li Shaohua suddenly asked.”
Everyone said,"I'm not hungry, and I'm not tired."”
"Alright, since there's still some time before dinner, I'll take you to visit a few farmers nearby.”
Everyone followed him out of the central room and headed northwest. He pointed to the west and said,"Three miles from here, you will reach Sanguang Town. However, there was nothing to see there.”
The farmers in this area were scattered across the fields in groups of three or five. The sound of looms wafted everywhere. They walked along the channel toward a thatched cottage. As soon as they approached a farmer's house, a yellow dog barked out. An old woman walked to the front of the door and shouted enthusiastically,"Second Young Master is back."
"Hello, Erhuo. I just got home. I brought a few classmates to your house to take a look.”
"What's there to see here? The house is full of dust. I'm so poor that I can even sit on a stool.”She walked down the stairs as she spoke. When she saw this group of young guests really walking towards her room, she hurriedly welcomed them into the main room.
This was a small thatched cottage with two or three rooms. The central room was in the middle, and there were bedrooms on both sides. On both sides of the main house and behind it, there were three slanted rooms.
The furniture in the room was very old and simple. There was an old loom on one side of the central room. A piece of cloth was about to be taken off the loom, and there was a spinning wheel beside it. There were really no stools in the room, so they could only stand and talk.
Erhuo was Li Shaohua's distant relative. He was about the same age as his mother. He was tall but looked much older. His wax-yellow face was covered with wrinkles.
She also had two sons and a daughter. The eldest son was swept away by the flood in the Yangtze River two years ago. Her daughter-in-law left her three-year-old son behind and remarried.
The second son was still single at the age of 26 or 27. His family was poor and no girl was willing to visit. His daughter was married not far from the village, and he could even call out to her when he was standing on the stage. His four-year-old grandson had gone to his aunt's house to report the news.
"What about Second Uncle and Brother Tianbao?" Li Shaohua asked.”
"The boss is going to take in a wife. He chose the 26th day and your second uncle and Tianbao were called to help.”
Er Huan was busy weaving this piece of cloth. Today was already the twenty-first day of the Lunar New Year, and there were only two days left before the New Year. She still wanted to hurry up and sew a new dress for her grandson.
As she spoke, her grandson ran in. His thin figure snuggled up to Er Huan's chest and stared at the stranger with his big eyes. When her daughter heard that there was a guest at home, she also came over with her one-year-old daughter.
Er Huan's daughter was called Chun Xiu. She had a tall figure, beautiful eyebrows, and phoenix eyes. Two patches of blush appeared on her yellow oval face. She called out to Brother Shaohua and hugged her son as she looked at the customer with a silly smile.
Chun Xiu's in-laws were also tenants, and their family situation was not good. Her husband was the only son, her father-in-law had suffered from rheumatism and lost his physical strength, and there were two unmarried aunts at home.
She was still a young woman, but she was wearing a turquoise blue cotton coat. The daughter in her arms was also wearing the same color as her. The rich people in the city wore silk and satin, while ordinary people wore colorful printed gauze. Children wore red and green. It was a world of difference.
Er Huan asked his grandson to call him uncle and aunt. His grandson was timid and shy, so he hid behind Er Huan.
Yao Shunru and the others didn't expect that there would be a child in this house. They didn't even bring a single candy with them, so they felt very embarrassed.
Tian Meixiu quickly took out two notes worth five thousand yuan from her pocket and gave one to each child as a greeting gift.
However, Erhuo and Chun Xiu refused to take it no matter what. They pushed it back and forth as if they were fighting. They chased it all the way to the rice field in front of the hall. In the end, the mother and son threw the money on the ground.
Li Shaohua picked it up and handed it to Tian Meixiu."They won't take money that's neither green nor white for no reason.”
Everyone sighed at the poor man's backbone. They visited two more tenant families, both of which were in a similar situation, suffering from a lack of food and clothing.
The tenant farmers faced the sand with their backs facing the sky. They were not afraid of the sun and rain. They worked hard for a year. After paying the land rent and taxes after the autumn harvest, there was not much left. The end of the year was approaching, and it was difficult for every household to celebrate the new year.
At this moment, Ju Xiang wore a large red jacket, obviously just changed into, and ran over with a root. She blinked her thick eyebrows and big eyes, and invited them home for dinner with a smile.
When they returned to the central room, there was a table full of food and wine waiting for them to take their seats. Li Shaohua's parents invited Yao Shunru and the others to sit at the table, but Yao Shunru refused. They invited their parents to sit at the table, Yao Shunru and Shi Guangyao sat next to their father, followed by Li Shaohua and his seven-year-old nephew who had just returned from school.
Tian Meixiu and Zhang Ruilian sat below their mother. There were eight people sitting at a table. His sister-in-law and sister, along with their three-year-old nephew, hid in the kitchen and refused to sit down.
The table was filled with delicacies. Other than preserved fish, preserved meat, braised chicken, braised duck, and other home-cooked dishes, the most eye-catching dishes were a pot of braised fish and a large pot of dark red winter crab in the middle of the table.
Li Shaohua was busy opening the Huadiao wine and filling everyone's glasses. Uncle Li politely said in the local language,"There's nothing on the island. Please have some crabs!”
Yao Shunru took the lead and stood up. He raised his glass to toast Uncle Li and Auntie Li, thanking them for their hospitality.
This large basin of boiled winter crab was a natural specialty of Chongming Island. Its scientific name was Chinese mitten crab, also known as river crab, hairy crab, clear water crab, or crab. Because of the hairy fur on its two big pincers, Chongming people called it "Old hairy crab".
This kind of crab in the Yangtze River water system grew to maturity after two years of age. In late October of each year, it would migrate to the Yangtze River's mouth for reproduction. It would gather in the waters of Chongming Island and begin mating after the beginning of winter until March of the following year.
The season for fishermen to catch crabs was from early November to late March of the following year. The crabs caught before the beginning of February were called winter crabs, and the crabs caught after the beginning of February were called spring crabs.
There was a saying of "nine females and ten males" when eating crabs. In the ninth month of the lunar calendar, they had to eat female crabs. At this time, the female crabs had not mated and laid eggs. After the tenth month of the lunar calendar, male crabs had to be eaten. In order to prepare for winter, male crabs gradually accumulated fat and grew into crab paste.
Crab roe and crab paste were both delicious and highly praised by people. It would be a pity if you couldn't eat crab on Chongming Island.
The origin of this crab was that thousands of years ago, there was a kind of beetle with two pincers and eight legs in the rivers and lakes. Not only did they steal rice, but they also hurt people with their pincers. People called them "man-pinching insects".
Later on, a man named Baoluo accidentally caught a "man-pinching bug" and threw it into boiling water. The scalded "man-pinching bug" was red all over. Bai Jie curiously opened the shell. When he smelled the fragrance, he boldly took a bite. Who knew that the taste was delicious, more delicious than anything else.
As a result, the pests that were feared by everyone became a well-known delicacy. In order to express their gratitude to the people who dared to fight for the world, they added the word " insect " under the word " solution " and renamed " man-pinching insect " to " crab ", which meant that they were the world's number one crab-eater.
In this basin of water, there were perilla leaves and ginger slices. The hot fragrance assailed his nostrils. Yao Shunru recalled something his uncle said, If you eat crabs but don't eat your legs, you will really regret it. Eat crabs without biting the pincers, delicious imitation of the whole.
He picked up a crab, tore off a leg, dipped it in a little garlic vinegar, and put it in his mouth. He gently cracked the shell of the leg, and the original taste of the leg marrow was very sweet and delicious. After he finished eating the eight crab legs, he took a sip of Huadiao wine, slowly tasted the two front claws, and finally opened the navel cover of the crab. It was actually a male crab.
He used his fingernails to pick up the white crab meat and the translucent crab paste. He slowly tasted the delicious meat.
Uncle Li frequently toasted everyone. He smiled and said,"It's a pity that my eldest son didn't come back from the county town. Otherwise, he would have played rock-paper-scissors with you guys today. I'm old and can't drink with you. Please go ahead and don't stand on ceremony. There's nothing on this island. Please eat more crabs.”
It turned out that his eldest son had recently set up a Southern goods store at the North Gate. They were trying to change the farming model that faced the sand and back to the sky, and find another way to become rich.
Auntie Li took over the topic and said," Don't just eat crabs. This braised Hui fish is also very delicious. Please try it."”She picked up a piece of fish and placed it in her grandson's bowl.
This time, the fish meat was white and tender, and the skin was fat and delicious. It had the freshness of pufferfish and carp, but it did not have the toxin of pufferfish and the thorns of carp. Su Dongpo once wrote a poem praising it: "The pink stone head is still boneless, and the snow-white pufferfish is not medicine." Winter and spring are the best seasons to taste the fish.
This pot of braised Hui fish was red and shiny. Yao Shunru used his chopsticks to pick up a piece and put it into his mouth. The fish skin was fat and moist, the meat was delicious, soft and tender without thorns, and the sauce was full. There was a sweet taste in the fresh and salty taste. He praised it repeatedly.
Zhang Ruilian and Tian Meixiu also tasted it. It was their first time tasting the fish. It was indeed delicious and they praised it repeatedly.
The meal lasted for one or two hours, and they were all drunk and satisfied. After dinner, they sat around the brazier and chatted.
Suddenly, Li Shaohua said," I almost forgot. Today is a rare sunny day. I'll take you to enjoy the sunset on the Yangtze River."”
Hearing that they were watching the sunset on the Yangtze River, everyone sobered up. They put down the teacups in their hands, got up, and followed Li Shaohua out of the hall, running toward a small road in the southwest. After walking for more than a mile, they climbed up the pond. The north wind was biting cold, and they couldn't help but have goosebumps all over their bodies.
A red sun hung in the western sky, and the river surface was magnificent. The waves stretched into the sky, and the rolling Yangtze River poured down. This pond was built with wooden stakes, mud, and stones. After being washed by the river water year after year, and eroded by the tides day and night, many places had collapsed, and the surface of the dike was full of holes and wounds.
The river bend in the distance was filled with greenery. There was a large stretch of yellow reeds by the river. Its dead leaves and catkins were ravaged by the north wind. The reeds swayed and made a series of sounds. Together with the sound of the waves, they formed a desolate harmony. It was a little like ten thousand horses galloping, but also like the sound of the wind in the wild.
Yao Shunru thought of the Southern Song Dynasty poet Fan Chengda's poem "On the River": The sky was merciless, and the sound of the river continued. The ancients have endless worries, leaving them for future generations to worry about!
The tide wanted to swallow a tree stump, and the waves went over and back again, and again and again, but failed. The tide ended its last surge of the day and began to retreat quietly.
The setting sun in the west also began to sink faster. The color of the river also began to change from light yellow to valley yellow, and then to orange.
A red sun finally fell to the surface of the water, like a fireball burning on the waves. The color of the waves on the river also changed drastically. The orange waves shone with a colorful light, dyeing the pond, reeds, and the white clouds in the sky red.
While they were immersed in the beauty of nature, Tian Meixiu suddenly saw two familiar figures flash past the willow trees under the pond and disappear in a flash. She felt so strange and scared and quickly shouted,"Come and look, there are two figures over there that disappeared in a flash. Who is it? Are they bad people?"
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This book comes from：m.funovel.com。