ebookland Chapter 781 The old man from the countryside
Chapter 781 The old man from the countryside
After walking for a while, Ye Shu asked again: "Do you have any more at home?"
Of course, I am referring to the chickens and eggs.
The old man looked a little embarrassed, but more excited, and immediately said:
"I don't have any at home. The rule is that a family can't keep more than three. My family needed money urgently, so we took it out to exchange."
"Only three of the chickens belong to me. I exchanged the other two for a neighbor from the same village. But if you still want them, I'll ask the villagers later if they want to exchange them."
Ye Shu smiled and nodded: "Okay."
"Besides chickens and eggs, what else is there?"
Grandpa: "And ducks. The ones we raise there are all landlubbers."
Ye Shu had heard of the term "landlubber", but when he saw him specifically point it out, he felt that there might be something special about it, so he asked about it.
Grandpa: "Landlubbers are larger, have more meat, and are easier to raise, but they also eat a lot and have aggressive temperaments, and are prone to attacking people."
Ye Shu understood.
It's not easy to eat meat these days. Many families won't kill live chickens or ducks immediately after buying them, but usually raise them for a while.
If it is a hen or a duck, it can also lay eggs.
However, landlubbers are quite aggressive and eat a lot, so it is not cost-effective to raise them.
The old man asked this because he wanted to know if they wanted help in dealing with it.
Ye Shu had no objection. It didn’t matter whether she kept the pet or not.
But we all live in the same yard, and the environment needs to be maintained by everyone. Raising chickens and ducks is bound to not be a good environment, so we have to discuss it.
Mrs. Jin was straightforward and outspoken: "We live in the city, and we don't have fodder to feed chickens and ducks. If we keep them, they might even lose weight, so it's not worth it."
It is even more impossible to feed them with food.
Zhuang Jingjing also meant this: "It's cold now, so we can freeze them after slaughtering them. If that doesn't work, we can pickle them and hang them up. Even if the weather gets hot, we can still eat them for a long time."
The key is that even when the weather in the ebony area gets warmer, it won’t be too hot.
Fresh meat doesn't necessarily go bad, let alone pickled meat.
Mrs. Tang and Zhao Jinhua had no objections either.
So Ye Shu negotiated the price with the old man and asked him to slaughter the duck. He also asked for some duck eggs and some local wild vegetables and mushrooms, and agreed to come back to exchange them in three days.
Just as I set the time, I walked to an intersection and saw a cyclist team riding towards me from the other side.
The leader was Huo Yisheng.
Huo Yisheng was not very surprised to see them, but when he glanced at the old man carrying a shoulder pole and a basket beside them, he narrowed his eyes slightly and his eyes became sharp.
He dismounted and walked over to Ye Shu, took the bamboo basket and cloth bag from her, and asked, "What's going on?"
Ye Shu whispered, "We met a fellow villager who came up from the countryside. He had some live chickens and fresh eggs, so we scraped them together and exchanged them for him to help deliver them."
Ever since Huo Yisheng and the others showed up, the old man was so scared that he lowered his eyebrows and trembled all over, not daring to breathe.
Huo Yisheng didn't send him away quickly. Instead, he nodded and said, "Okay, you guys go back. I still have to go on patrol. If anything happens, please notify me in time."
Ye Shu understood that he was reminding himself to call him with the whistle if he encountered any accidents.
However, she was still very surprised that he allowed this country boy to enter the inner streets of the defense zone compound.
But at the moment, she didn't ask any more questions.
After all, it was really eye-catching for a country man to pick up so many things to exchange, so he had to take the chickens and eggs back quickly to share them.
So without saying much to him, the group hurried back to the yard.
Just as I turned the corner of the inner street, a man happened to be walking towards me. He was short and thin, wrapped tightly in a military coat, with his hands clasped in front of his chest, his back slightly hunched, and he was wearing a long-eared hat on his head, his head also buried in his chest. He walked past quickly and his face could not be seen at all.
Ye Shu and the others were used to it. It was cold in winter and many people were rushing on their way.
On the contrary, the old man, who should have been very cautious, would quickly look up and assess people when he met them.
After returning to the yard, the old man unloaded all the things, then left with the shoulder pole and basket, and agreed to deliver the things directly to the door in three days.
After the gate closed, Mrs. Jin and the others were very happy: "That's great! We don't have to rush to the farmers' market again and again just to buy some New Year's goods!"
The key point is that even if they go there every day, they may not be able to buy these chickens, ducks and eggs!
Zhuang Jingjing: "Yes, now we have meat, chickens and ducks. We can finally have a more relaxed New Year!"
Just think about a few months ago when they were still in the wilderness and had no worries about eating meat.
As expected, the urban area and the wilderness are really incomparable.
There are four chickens in total, and nearly a hundred eggs.
The eggs are easy to divide. There are six households in this yard, and each family can get more than ten.
But it is impossible for each family to have one chicken.
Zhao Jinhua took the initiative to withdraw: "Aren't there ducks behind? I'll wait for the ducks, you guys share this chicken."
Meng Mingzhen also said no, she hadn't gone out yet, and she was already very grateful that everyone could share a few eggs with her.
But everyone felt sorry for her because she was going through a lot during her pregnancy, which was a time when she needed nutrition.
So Mrs. Tang also withdrew: "I'm waiting for the duck too, you can take the chicken back."
The money was provided by Ye Shu and the tickets were provided by Zhao Jinhua.
Everyone settled their bills, and Ye Shu gave two dollars to Zhao Jinhua. He didn't want her to spend her cloth coupons in vain and only get a dozen eggs.
After the chickens and eggs were divided, each family began to boil water and prepare to slaughter the chickens.
Ye Shu doesn't know.
Mrs. Jin took the initiative to accept the job: "I'll do the slaughtering, you take the children and paste the window paper-cuts."
When the adults went out to buy New Year's goods, Huo Junrou and her sister took Xuan'er to cut a lot of paper-cuts.
Although big festivals are not popular nowadays, people prefer to keep everything simple.
But pasting window flowers on the Little New Year is not a big deal, almost every household does it.
Have a hot reunion dinner and the Little New Year will be over!
Yard No. 2 bought some New Year's goods today and even got some live chickens and eggs. Every family had a good meal.
Huo Yisheng came back early today and brought Mr. Huang with him.
He was alone, and it was okay for him to eat from the same pot with the other soldiers in the cycling team on weekdays, but during the New Year and other holidays, she had to pick him up to join them.
Mr. Huang refused, but he could not withstand Huo Yisheng's strength.
Huo Yisheng had no objection to this, but if the old man didn't go, his wife would have to come out in person to ask for help in the heavy snow. He felt sorry for his wife, so he just took the man back home by force.
In the evening, Ye Shu stewed a chicken, and then added vermicelli, mushrooms, cabbage and prawns. After taking it out of the pot, he put half of it into the space bag.
I also cooked white rice and steamed white buns filled with cabbage and meat.
I also braised dried small yellow croaker and dried eel, and finally cooked a light cabbage meatball soup, and a hearty dinner was ready.