Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 223

Yesterday, Zhao Tiegang originally wanted to check out the incense, and then asked Zhao Tingxu to deliver it to him. He might have been interested in someone else.

Otherwise, if your leg is injured, everything else will go downhill.

As a result, after drinking too much, Zhao Yongbo smashed the large water vat in Zhao Tingxu's room in the middle of the night, and then he forgot about the incident.

Then I'll go back tonight and have Zhao Tingxu "see me off".

However, this can only be done at night, since those poverty gods and hungry ghosts usually don't possess you during the day.

Zhao Tiegang was about to leave, but he was really eyeing the coal at Liu Xiaochun's house. It was perfect for burning; it saved time and kept the kang (heated brick bed) warm.

A small heated kang bed, a little wine, that must feel especially comfortable.

Thinking this, Zhao Tiegang said, "Then I'm leaving. Uncle-in-law, I was thinking of inviting you to my place for a drink. We've never really had a proper drink together before."

Drinking... Liu Xiaochun especially enjoys it. But he's also afraid of his wife; as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

Zhang Cuilan is arrogant and domineering in her husband's family. How can her younger sister, Zhang Cuimei, develop peacefully?

She must be arrogant and domineering in her husband's family.

Without a second thought, Liu Xiaochun agreed: "Thank you, brother-in-law. Perfect timing, let's take some coal over there..."

Zhao Tiegang had the same idea.

So the two of them each carried a bag of coal and returned to Old Zhao's old house.

It must be said that a person's strength becomes very powerful when they are in a state of extreme excitement.

Carrying nearly 200 pounds of coal on his shoulder, Zhao Tiegang didn't feel tired at all. After walking two miles, his back didn't ache, his legs didn't feel weak, and he felt energetic all over.

Two hundred catties of coal should be worth forty or fifty yuan. This is free money, why not take it!

Zhao Tiegang regretted not borrowing a car to go to Liu Xiaochun's house...

Liu Xiaochun is quite honest; he carried over 100 pounds himself...

Upon arriving at the old house, the two placed the coal at the entrance. Liu Xiaochun looked at the yard, which seemed better than his own, especially upon seeing the large pear tree.

He looked at the big pear tree next to Zhao Da'e's barn and asked, "Second brother-in-law, this pear tree must be quite old."

When this is mentioned, Zhao Tiegang has a proud look on his face, after all, this is the most boast-worthy part of the Zhao family's old mansion...

Old Zhao's old house was very dilapidated. Although the yard was larger, it didn't even have a wall. It was just a wooden pole that served as a wall. The blue ox in the yard belonged to Cheng Jinxiang, and the two dogs belonged to Zhao Da'e. As for the pile of shredders in front of the yard, they also belonged to Zhao Da'e.

In the entire courtyard, the only thing Zhao Tiegang could boast about was this huge pear tree. This pear tree was a full ten feet in diameter, with lush branches and leaves. In the summer, it was like a giant umbrella, perfect for seeking shade.

"That's quite old," Zhao Tie began, his face full of pride. "This big pear tree was planted by my grandfather when he was a child. It's seventy or eighty years old; it's practically an antique now. Back then, my grandfather was quite young, and he planted a few pear trees in the yard. Later, when the family divided the property among his sons, each son received a pear tree, leaving only this big pear tree in the house. It's also the best-growing of all the pear trees."

This tree is much older than my father. And the pears from this tree are especially delicious. They're the Flower-Gai pear.

(The Huagai pear, also known as the sour pear, is scientifically called Pyrus pyrifolia. I won't go into too much detail, but the most notable feature of this Huagai pear is its high yield. The pear trees themselves have the advantage of long lifespan, often living for over a hundred years, and they have exceptionally strong water absorption and an extremely well-developed root system.)

Note: This pear tree is gone now; my third uncle cut it down to make furniture, which is truly sad. If it had survived to this day, a tree of that age would be quite valuable.

Zhao Tiegang continued, "The pears from this tree are incredibly sour and crisp. I'll pick some for you next autumn. They're delicious boiled into soup or made into frozen pears."

As for this year, don't even think about it. Nobody picked them this year; they all fell off...

Liu Xiaochun quickly agreed.

As the two were talking, Zhao Tingxu came out wearing a long gown: "Oh dear, his third aunt's husband is here."

Zhao Tingxu was an elder, so Liu Xiaochun quickly replied, "Uncle, I just arrived. My second brother-in-law asked me to come."

Zhao Tingxu had just discussed it with Wang Guixiang and decided that if Liu Xiaochun came over, they should arrange to have a meal and drinks together.

As the saying goes, it's not that there are no good things, it's that there are no good people. Zhao Tingxu knew perfectly well that Zhang Cuilan wouldn't be easy to call back.

Furthermore, Zhao Tingxu felt that Zhang Cuilan's visit to her parents' home was different from Zhao Da'e's. Zhang Cuilan had a son, and what mother wouldn't worry about her son? If she was worried about her son, she wouldn't stay long, especially since Zhao Yongbo was only a few years old.

Of course, most importantly, Zhang Cuilan is now the only true goddess in the Zhao family. She gave birth to a son, so the Zhao family can continue its lineage.

Although Zhao Tingxu also has an eldest son, his eldest daughter-in-law, Zhao Da'e's aunt, is extremely domineering and unreasonable. Even Wang Guixiang, the mother-in-law, can be chased away when she visits. So, although Zhao Tingxu's eldest son and his grandson are both present, it's practically the same as not having one. They hardly ever interact with the old family home.

Zhao Tingxu couldn't possibly have the nerve to visit his grandson, could he?

Zhao Yongbo is now his only grandson and his only hope.

In order to ensure that Zhao Yongbo "grows up healthily," we must ensure that Zhao Yongbo has a "mother."

As for Zhao Tiesheng, the second wife, Zhao Tingxu has already given up. Cheng Jinxiang has given birth to two daughters, and according to current regulations, it will be difficult for her to have more children. It's basically impossible for her to have a grandson again.

Although the Zhao family was poor, they were still able to make a living.

However, if Zhao Tiesheng still wants a son, he will basically punish Zhao Tingxu so severely that he will be unable to pay the fines.

Since his second son couldn't have a grandson, Zhao Tingxu's attention has recently shifted entirely to Zhao Tiegang.

Zhao Tingxu believed that only Zhao Tiegang was his good son. And only Zhao Tiegang's son, Zhao Yongbo, was the only candidate to carry on the Zhao family line.

Zhao Yongbo is the hope for the future of the Zhao family.

Of course, Zhao Yongbo was unaware of this. If Zhao Yongbo had known that his grandfather had no money and was leaving him countless famine heirs, his childhood would no longer have been pleasant.

"Come in, come in." Zhao Tingxu warmly pulled the curtain closed for Liu Xiaochun, gesturing for her to enter his room.

Liu Xiaochun hesitated a bit. After all, Zhao Tingxu was an elder, and he was supposed to go to Zhao Tiegang's west room for drinks today. He didn't expect to be asked to go to the east room, which made him feel a little flattered.

However, since Zhao Tingxu had invited him, Liu Xiaochun hesitated for a moment, declined a few times, and then went inside.

Plop.

Liu Xiaochun tripped and fell flat on his backside as soon as he entered the house!

When Zhao Tingxu went inside, he found that Liu Xiaochun was wearing very old-fashioned military boots with slippery soles, and the ground was covered in ice, which, although not very thick, was extremely slippery. Zhao Yongbo had broken the water vat last night, and Zhao Tingxu and his wife had cleaned some out, but some remained. The old house was cramped inside, but it was still very cold outside, and the ice had frozen over.

Liu Xiaochun scrambled to his feet, looking embarrassed: "I'm drunk before I've even had a drink?"

Looking around, the black soil surface was all ice and full of potholes, which seemed a bit unbelievable: What were those two old people doing? If they had just mixed in some fresh soil, it wouldn't be so slippery...

Liu Xiaochun had no idea how lazy the Zhao family members were.

If even one of these people hadn't been lazy, he wouldn't have fallen.

"Is it broken?" Wang Guixiang asked as she came out of the inner room.

Liu Xiaochun smiled and said, "It's alright, I'm tough. Just consider it an early New Year's greeting to Uncle and Aunt."

Wang Guixiang remarked that Liu Xiaochun was quite eloquent, and then smiled as she ushered him into the house.

After Liu Xiaochun went inside, Wang Guixiang saw Zhao Tingxu come in and asked in a low voice, "There's nothing in the house, what are you going to cook?"

Zhao Tingxu was also in a dilemma. His family didn't have any fancy dishes, let alone meat or fish.

However, since Zhao Tiegang had invited everyone over, he couldn't just have them drink without any food.

Moreover, staple foods are also a problem.

In the past, when guests came to visit, Zhao Tiesheng would pay for them and Cheng Jinxiang would cook. Now that there was no wealthy man to support them and no chef to support them, Zhao Tingxu didn't know what to do.

"How about we go buy some meat?" Wang Guixiang muttered to herself. "I don't have any money. I didn't buy anything at the last market either."

Zhao Tingxu frowned; he was at a loss.

"Maybe I should go out and borrow some meat..." Wang Guixiang said somewhat awkwardly.

Zhao Tingxu rejected the idea outright. In the dead of winter, going out to borrow meat would only make people laugh at you.

But even a skilled cook can't cook without rice, and Wang Guixiang wasn't exactly a skilled cook either... Without meat, all she had was pickled cabbage.

The problem is, if you don't add meat, how awful will it taste when stewed?

More importantly, it won't cook through.

There is no doubt about this point. The sauerkraut of this era was made from old Chinese cabbage, the very old kind of green cabbage. This kind of cabbage is very different from the small-headed cabbage of later generations. It has a thick skin and few leaves, and it doesn't taste very good and has a bitter taste. Its advantage is that it can be stored for a long time.

Because in that era, in the north, especially the northeast, during winter, wealthy families could have a cellar or a small house to store vegetables, while poor families could only store them in the outer room of their living quarters, or even outside.

At this time, people prioritize vegetables that can be stored for a long time. Among these, only a few that are resistant to storage can be kept at low temperatures for extended periods. These include cabbage, radishes, potatoes, onions, and turnips. Occasionally, some families will also grow things like garlic sprouts and scallions in pots and jars on the heated brick bed (kang) inside the house.

Of course, if sweet potatoes are considered a vegetable, they can be stored.

As for pumpkins, squash, loofahs, and winter melons, they are not very popular with the locals.

At Zhao Tingxu's house, there was only some pickled cabbage left, nothing else.

There wasn't even any vermicelli.

Since Zhao Tingxu wouldn't allow us to borrow meat, the sauerkraut would be very difficult to cook properly, and it would definitely be crunchy when we ate it.

Zhao Tingxu asked, "Do you have any eggs?"

"two."

"Where are the potatoes?"

"It's sprouted..."

Helpless, Zhao Tingxu looked at the pickle jar, where there were no more spicy or pickled vegetables: "Stir-fry some pickled vegetables, and add more oil."

"There's not much oil left," Wang Guixiang said.

Zhao Tingxu almost flew into a rage: How come there's no food left in the house? How are we supposed to survive?

Left with no other choice, Zhao Tingxu secretly called Zhao Tiegang out from the inner room: "Gangzi, what other dishes do you have in your room?"

Zhao Tiegang was stunned: "I have wine in my room. Da'e gave me sixty catties of wine, but nothing else."

"So what do you usually drink and eat?" Zhao Tingxu asked impatiently.

"I stir-fry soybeans and peanuts. Sometimes I stir-fry chili peppers," Zhao Tiegang said.

"Do you have oil? Do you have meat?" Zhao Tingxu asked.

Zhao Tiegang thought for a moment and said, "You'll have to ask my second brother about this. He has it in his room."

After saying that, Zhao Tiegang went inside: "Hmph, even if my own father wants to cheat me out of food, so be it. I don't even have enough to eat myself. Since guests have come, wasn't it Zhao Tingxu who sent them? What does it have to do with me? I absolutely will not pay for their food."

After thinking it over and over, Zhao Tingxu had no better idea than to go out and find Zhao Tiesheng, who was working outside: "Shengzi, do you have any oil or meat in your room?"

There was some in Zhao Tiesheng's room. A couple of days ago, Zhao Da'e brought back a few pounds of pork, and there was still a large piece left.

Zhao Tiesheng was an honest man, so he said he had some in his room, and then gave Zhao Tingxu a piece of meat, a few potatoes, and a few onions. Later, he also gave him some rice, enough to cook.

Zhao Tingxu took these things and went back; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to cook this meal.

Back home, Zhao Tingxu picked up a spatula and started cooking, his eyes blazing with rage. After all, Wang Guixiang wasn't much of a cook either.

After a while, a table was set up inside, and Zhao Tingxu stewed a large pot of sauerkraut with glass noodles and stir-fried some potato slices with onions. That was it.

Then he followed and got onto the kang (heated brick bed) to prepare for dinner.

Zhao Tiegang took a large bucket of liquor, a fifty-jin bucket, which, after being diluted with water, could hold exactly sixty jin of liquor.

Then they started drinking.

After a few ounces of strong liquor, a person might not be the same person anymore. They'll start talking more and become more open and honest.

Zhao Tingxu specially found two boxes of good cigarettes—Dashengchan—from the box, which he had prepared for his third son-in-law to smoke during the New Year.

Moreover, it was mass-produced in soft packs, costing three yuan a pack. One cigarette could be exchanged for a pound of grain.

For a long time, in order to promote the idea that smoking is harmful to health, the price of cigarettes that people commonly smoke has been basically equivalent to exchanging one pound of grain for one cigarette.

However, in later generations, there was no shortage of food, and the people had long since escaped the poverty of subsistence and were all on the path to a moderately prosperous life, so they no longer cared about how much a pack of cigarettes cost.

However, at this moment, a pack of cigarettes was still ridiculously expensive for Zhao Tingxu. But since Liu Xiaochun was a special guest, Zhao Tingxu was more generous.

"Have a smoke." Zhao Tingxu handed him a cigarette.

Liu Xiaochun lit one, took a puff, and couldn't help but say, "This cigarette is really good. Dry tobacco is too harsh on the throat; I've tried it so many times, but I just can't get used to it. I usually only smoke cigarettes. My favorite is Yuxi..."

Zhao Tingxu was stunned: Wasn't a pack of Yuxi cigarettes twenty or thirty yuan? Ordinary people couldn't afford that! This Liu Xiaochun…

Zhao Tingxu was unaware that Liu Xiaochun liked to boast and thought he was telling the truth. Seeing how arrogant Liu Xiaochun was, he couldn't help but become even more polite in his tone.