Chen Jingnian rode his bicycle and merged into the traffic flow.
Along the way, all kinds of sounds kept ringing, including the car bell, the arm of the stirrup scraping against the chain box, the butt pressing against the seat, and the squeaking sound of the old spring.
Together, these sounds are louder than the train whistle.
When he was approaching the moat, Chen Jingnian glanced at the river again. He didn't see those half-grown men, but he saw a rabbit jumping out of the grass.
"Ha, it's really eye-opening. I didn't expect that there would be rabbits in this place."
Chen Jingnian was sure that he was not dazzled. What he saw was indeed a rabbit, not a mouse or a weasel. His face immediately bloomed, and he grinned: "What do you mean?"
There used to be many hares on the outskirts of the city. In the memory of the original owner, we can still find stories about old people telling us that when they were young, they blocked rabbit nests near the city and smoked rabbits with mugwort.
Many old people have also mentioned that when they were young in 1942, an entire army hunted and killed hares on the outskirts of the city.
Now more than 20 years have passed, especially during the years of turmoil, when people ate all the grass roots and bark of trees, so in recent years few people have said that they have seen rabbits in this area.
"Rabbit? What a good thing! Braised rabbit meat, braised rabbit head! I can also get a new leather board for Uncle Wu, and sew a leather hand seal for my daughter."
Almost in an instant, Chen Jinnian arranged the rabbit clearly from head to toe.
"Weekend? Weekend afternoon, no time in the morning."
By the time Chen Jingnian came to his senses, he had already arrived at the entrance of the alley.
First, we went to Li Xianwen's car repair shop, pushing Li Xianwen while greeting neighbors and acquaintances as he walked home.
"Dad, brother, I've finished my homework."
Nannan heard the sound, ran out of the yard, supported Li Xianwen and said
Li Xianwen and Chen Jingnian agreed together, and Nannan followed Li Xianwen into the yard first, and started the daily broadcast on the way.
For example, who lent the eraser to me today, who won the lattice jump, why was Banggeng so naughty? Anyway, it’s all about school.
Chen Jingnian's head was pounding after hearing this, but Li Xianwen kept agreeing cheerfully.
After Li Xianwen was settled, Nannan followed Chen Jingnian out and shouted: "Brother, I want to go to Yuanyuan and the others to dance rubber bands."
"wear mask."
Chen Jingnian tied up his sister's braid again and said: "Come back before dinner time, and you are not allowed to eat at other people's houses."
"Okay."
Nannan responded and ran away jumping up and down.
Chen Jingnian went into the house and hung up his bag, took out a basin from the quilt, opened the curtain made of sorghum stalks, and pulled out a cluster of gluten, which was the stick noodles he had given out in the morning.
Sprinkle some flour soda, knead evenly and let it rise for a while.
Taking advantage of this gap, Chen Jinnian took care of yesterday's leftover cabbage.
The water in the water tank was almost bottoming out. Chen Jingnian lit the fire, put the washed wormwood into the pot, then scooped out half a bucket of water, brushed the water tank again, scooped out the muddy water, and took
I took out the pole and carried the bucket to the water station at the entrance of the alley to fetch water.
There are two wells in the front yard. They are old-fashioned water wells with windlass. Because they are bitter water wells, a water station was built at the entrance of the alley a few years ago, so these two wells were filled in.
We carried four or five loads of water from the water station and put the boiled wormwood into the tank. Then we cleaned up Li Xianwen's small water tank and filled it with fresh water.
Make a fire and cook.
The burning firewood licked the bottom of the pot, and Chen Jingnian steamed the pot first to make the cake.
Use the water from the evaporated cake to blanch the wilted purslane, and then rinse it with cold water.
After the bottom of the pot is dried and some meat oil is added, the freshly baked cake and the meat oil that has changed its physical state will emit different aromas.
Add the chopped green onion until it turns slightly yellow, add the shredded cabbage, stir-fry for a few times, then add soy sauce and salt to stir up the steam, then pour half a basin of cold water into it.
When the water is slightly boiling, pour in the stirred stick batter and stir the soup. After the batter is spread, cook for a while.
Chen Jingnian poured out the dough for the sticks and was about to call his daughter home for dinner when he was stopped by Lou Xiao'e who came out of the backyard.
"Axe, why didn't you go have dinner with your brother Xu?"
Lou Xiao'e has a bit of baby fat that is very rare in this era. She wears a popular hairdo with shiny chemical hairpins on her head. She wears a purple hot velvet top with a small collar. Her face is filled with youthful confidence and arrogance.
.
"Sister Lou, Brother Xu called me. I can't get away from home."
Chen Jinnian turned around, looked at Lou Xiao'e and then looked at the gray bricks on the eaves.
"Your projection team is not very good. I thought the projectionists were good before, but since I met you, Brother Xu, I feel that you are busier than anyone else. You go to the countryside three or four times a month, and the time is as short as a day or two.
We know that he went to the countryside or went to hide among bandits. He came back twice with fleas on his body..."
Lou Xiao'e has an impatient temper and speaks quickly. Chen Jinnian only counted ten tiles, and she has almost finished talking about her whole life.
"Axe, Ezi."
Xu Damao, who became Cao Cao, walked in from outside the courtyard carrying two oil paper bags and a small pot of flowers.
"May……"
"Why are you back? Didn't you ask Liu Guangtian to bring me a message that you and the people from the security department would go out to eat tonight? The ax is in your projection group. Why didn't you let the ax bring me a message..."
Chen Jinnian was interrupted by Lou Xiao'e when he said one word. He felt that Lou Xiao'e's tongue was either enlightened or able to form seals.
Xu Damao's pig-kidney face formed an awkward smile, and the hand holding the thing was raised halfway and then lowered.
His eyes moved from Chen Jingnian's body to Lou Xiao'e's, then looked at the ground.
Chen Jingnian looked through the ridge of the house, and Xu Damao stared at the green bricks.
"...Speak, why don't you speak? Tell me why, ah!"
Lou Xiao'e shook her baby-fat face and asked in a clear voice.
"Well, Axe went out at that time. I saw Liu Guangtian got off work early, so I asked him to bring you a message."
Xu Damao was startled by Lou Xiao'e who had not known when he was approaching, choked for a moment, and then smiled flatteringly: "Aren't I afraid that you will be tired? You have been busy cleaning the house these days. If I come back to eat, you are not allowed to eat.
The three of us are very busy."
"De Xing, then why are you back?"
"Hey, you didn't ask me and you forgot to have fun."
Xu Damao separated one of the oil paper bags in his hand, handed it over, and said: "Axe, Brother Xu and I are treating you today. You have something to do at home, and Zhijun from the Security Department was called to a meeting by Director Li.
After waiting for a long time, everyone was so hungry that they decided to wait for another day to drink. Well, when I came back, I cut two pieces of pork head meat. Each of us brothers took one piece. Watch carefully. This is not the case.
Fold the basket, you are a foreigner."
"Brother Xu, I've prepared the food. You and Sister Lou can eat this meat."
Chen Jinnian took a step back, waved his hand and said.
"I'm meeting your brother Xu. It's more or less your brother Xu's wishes."
Lou Xiao'e snatched the pig's head meat, took a few steps forward and hung it on a nail on the pillar of Chen Jingnian's house. She turned around and pulled Xu Damao away.
"Ezi, look, I bought you a potted flower, a rose. It is said that the flowers can bloom so big..."
Xu Damao took advantage of the situation and put his arm around Lou Xiao'e's shoulders. Lou Xiao'e twisted her body twice and then leaned over obediently.
"this......"
Seeing the two of them hanging out together, Chen Jinnian couldn't stop him or not, so he could only say thank you to the two of them.
I went out to the yard next door and called my daughter back. I cut half of the pork head into pieces and mixed it with purslane.
First, the food was delivered to the main room and Li Xianwen poured half a glass of the first wine that Zhao Jianjun brought yesterday.
Returning to the side room, he chewed the pork head meat and sipped the batter from the sticks with his daughter who was waiting for him to eat.
...
The next day, Chen Jingnian handed Li Mancang the graph paper on which eight carving knives, four embryonic knives and two lancets were drawn.
"The maximum width is twenty. If you ask me to reply, I will make these wretched things no bigger than a toothpick!"
Li Mancang frowned and shook the graph paper twice, then left with his hands behind his back.
"Toothpick?! Dinosaur."
Chen Jingnian snickered and returned to the projection team. Looking at the few extra female workers in the room, he felt something was wrong.
Why are there so many people here this early in the morning, before the movie is shown on the weekend?
"Axe, is back."
Xu Damao greeted with a catfish grin.
Chen Jingnian only felt a wave of coquettishness coming towards his face. He calmed down for a moment before responding: "Brother Xu."
He walked up to the master and blinked.
As a result, the old man ignored him and was enjoying himself secretly with the jar in his hands.
"Your nickname is Axe, and my brother's nickname is Suozi."
A female worker came to Chen Jingnian and pretended to be surprised.
"My brother's name is Hammer!"
"Aren't you called a fool?"
"Your brother is called a fool!"
"Your brother and I were classmates for six years in elementary school, and he still wanted to hide something from me."
"Hey, so you are my brother's top guy!"
"Bullshit is top notch..."
"Yes, you know it yourself, you are the only one who deserves a sharp character!"
…
The two female workers over there were quarreling fiercely. Xu Damao was helping one and then the other, and he was extremely busy.
At this time, a tall and slender female worker walked over from the two quarreling female workers and said with a smile: "My cousin is also called Axe! You think it's a coincidence or not."
Chen Jingnian sat down next to the master and sighed secretly. When he raised his head, he returned to his normal state and said with a smile: "Ah! Really? What a coincidence. Is he good at chopping firewood?"
The female worker was stunned for a moment, her eyes fluttered, and she replied with an even brighter smile: "It's amazing, a wood-chopping tripod with thick arms can be split with two axes."
She was wearing work clothes that were 90% new, and she looked okay, but her nasolabial folds were deeper, making her look a bit older.
"That's pretty awesome. When I was sick a few years ago, I couldn't even break off the lamp."
Chen Jinnian hunched over and looked weak.
He didn't think anything wrong about these female workers who were so proactive, but he didn't want to offend them, so he could only make a fool of himself.
"What disease is it? Is it so serious?"
The tall female worker showed concern and asked softly.
When the two female workers who were having an argument heard this, they stopped and looked over.
"It's not convenient to say this..."
Chen Jinnian looked troubled and raised his voice hesitantly.
"Xu Damao, do you know?"
One of the stocky female workers turned to Xu Damao and asked loudly.
"this……"
Xu Damao glanced at Chen Jinnian, his eyes flickered, and he pursed his lips, pretending to be reserved.
The atmosphere became awkward, and several female workers lost their initial enthusiasm. They pushed around Xu Damao twice and left amidst Xu Damao's laughter.
"Axe, Brother Xu is very interesting."
Xu Damao had a wretched look on his face, and he flattered Chen Jingnian with a pig-kidney face.
"Brother Xu, I brought it up on purpose."
Chen Jinnian grinned and did not answer the question.
"Then next time these girls ask me, I will really tell you what I said!"
Xu Damao's triangle eyes opened and he shouted.
"Brother Xu, my parents passed away a few years ago, my daughter is still young, and I don't want to think about personal issues yet."
Chen Jinnian finished speaking in a calm tone, stood up, picked up the thermos, filled Lao Liu with water, and went out with two empty thermoses.
The projection team was completely silent, leaving a series of barely audible footsteps in the corridor.
"Xu Damao, Jingnian is my apprentice. If you dare to speak ill of him behind his back, I won't forgive you."
Liu Guanggeng paused heavily on the enamel jar and said in a bad tone.
"Master Liu, no one said anything about your apprentice. We are from the same hospital, and now we are all in the projection team. I can't help him!"
Xu Damao wiped his long temples, stood up and said impatiently.
"As long as you know."
Liu Guanggeng poured the water in the cup on the ground. The water steamed and spread to both sides, like a spreading crack.
Xu Damao shook his clothes and walked out without saying a word. This chapter has been completed!