Crossing the farm gate, the whole family reunites in the disaster year

Silang didn't know how to start, and it was actually okay to tell Third Aunt.

"No, no, no, I just want to make more money to marry my second brother..."

Silang's last words were so soft as a mosquito's and were blown away before they even reached Lin's ears.

"what?"

Xiao Qi came back and circled around Lin, laughing and joking.

"My second brother is getting married!"

Lin was stunned. Which family was Erlang marrying?

The man has to go to the woman's family to propose marriage. Erlang's parents are not easy to deal with, so he has to go through the Cui family elders to get married. Before making a decision, the two families have to meet and ask each other.

How come there wasn't even a whistleblower about such a big thing?

Lin's expression gradually became serious. She was sure that Old Mrs. Cui didn't know about this either. The children had done something big in silence.

Engagement is a matter between two families. If the Cui family does not observe proper etiquette, the girl's family will criticize them. If the family values their daughter, they may even think that the boy's family does not value her, thus ruining the child's life.

She is the elder, and now that she knows about it, I can't just ignore it.

Lin looked at Silang and said in a deep voice, "Tell me everything about this matter. Erlang's life is not something you can mess around with."

Seeing Third Aunt’s stern face, Xiaoqi shrank his neck and hid behind Fourth Brother.

"Forehead..."

Silang also wanted to shrink his neck, but Third Aunt seemed to have misunderstood.

"Xiao Qi, if you keep talking nonsense, I'll beat you up!"

The door of the west room was pushed open suddenly. Erlang was angry and embarrassed, and slapped Xiaoqi on the butt.

Lin looked at Erlang, then at Silang, and then at Xiaoqi who looked guilty, and seemed to understand something.

"Shiro, go to the threshing ground."

Calculating the time, the ox cart from the brick kiln should be arriving. Silang fled as if he had been pardoned.

"Xiao Liu is feeding the chickens in the backyard. Xiao Qi, go play with him." Lin gently touched Xiao Qi's head, stood up and said to Er Lang, "Come with me into the house."

Erlang seldom entered the east room, and he had always come here with Silang and the others.

This time, after being called in by Lin, he just lowered his head and stared at the ground.

Lin poured two bowls of water and found a stool to sit on.

"You should sit down too. I'm tired of looking up and talking to you."

Among the second wife's children, she has the least contact with Erlang, but Erlang has a steady personality and has always been diligently taking care of his younger siblings, which makes her feel at ease.

But even though he has the responsibility of being an older brother, he is still a young boy when it comes to matters of marriage.

She has already taught Silang, so this one won’t be a big deal.

"You are fifteen this year, right?"

Erlang sat on the stool. He didn't know what Third Aunt wanted, but his intuition was that it was related to getting married. He whispered, "Sixteen."

He was born when the wheat was in ear, so he should be sixteen years old now.

Lin nodded and said, "At sixteen, it's time to consider finding a wife. Talk to Third Aunt about it. Do you have any ideas?"

People here get married early, and most become fathers before they are 20 years old. Even if they are not married, most of them are engaged.

The girl has just been determined at the age of sixteen, and the responsible parents have already started to arrange for her to be seen. After all, a good girl is sought after by many families, so the sooner she is settled, the more at ease she will feel.

"Aunt San, I'm not in a hurry." Erlang suppressed the restlessness in his heart, "Xiaowu and Xiaoqi are still young, I want to consider it in two years."

Thinking of his parents, Erlang's mouth flashed with mockery.

Getting married means having one more person to suffer from. There is no need to burden the girl.

"You don't need to consider other factors. You raised them, and they want you to start a family of your own. Wasn't this what Shilang was the one who started it?"

Erlang had to admit that Third Aunt's guess was correct.

"...Xiao Si insisted on building an extra room, saying...that it would be for me to marry a wife."

Lin felt sad and couldn't help laughing.

Although life is hard, the feelings between them are more precious than money. Silang himself has not yet figured it out, but he is already thinking about arranging his second brother's lifelong affairs.

"Don't be nervous. I'm your elder and I've been through it all. You're worried about what you're going through, and after going through it, you'll realize the difficulties ahead are nothing. You don't have a mountain weighing you down, and Silang and the others aren't a burden at all."

"Behind you are your grandparents, me, your uncle's family, and your brothers and sisters who respect and love you. Do you understand what Third Aunt means?"

Lin's tone was gentle yet powerful, like a trickle of water flowing through the ears, wandering through the limbs and bones, and seemed to bring warmth wherever it passed.

Jilang looked up in surprise.

He thought...

"You've taken good care of Shiro and the others. You're a competent and perfect second brother to them. They've grown up, and your life has just begun. You can try to focus on yourself and live the life you envisioned."

Erlang's throat tightened. When he was hungry, what he wanted most was that they could have enough food and warm clothes. Now that everything has been realized, what's next?

When they were forced by their mother to work and wandered around the village without enough food, it was he who took care of his younger brothers and sisters and set the bottom line for them.

It doesn't seem to be needed now.

Xiao Si follows his third aunt to do business, Xiao Wu follows Old Man Cui to learn farming, Li Dong is busy conquering the stove all day, and Xiao Qi is also very happy.

Erlang pursed his lips, he seemed to have suddenly lost his direction.

Lin was not in a hurry. He lowered his head, drank a sip of water, and waited for him to figure it out.

This child is too tense and never smiles all day long. He is like the most qualified eldest brother in the family, putting his younger siblings first and never thinking about himself.

There is no such thing as a perfect person. They are all forced by life. When the environment changes drastically, people like Erlang can easily fall into confusion and lose their previous motivation.

"Can I...really?"

Erlang met Lin's gaze, with confusion and struggle in his eyes.

Lin put down the bowl and looked at him seriously.

"You are no worse than anyone else, why not?"

"But my mother won't let us go. If I marry... my wife will be bullied..."

"So the four of you brothers won't get married and will be widows for the rest of your lives? Lidong won't get married either?"

Erlang shook his head without hesitation. It didn't matter to him, but it didn't matter to his younger brothers and sisters.

"So for their sake, you must get married. Not only protect your brothers and sisters, but also protect your wife, and pave a new path for Shilang and the others."

When Erlang heard about protecting his wife, his face naturally turned red and his heart skipped a beat.

"I understand. Thank you, Aunt San."

No one had ever told him this.

Erlang suddenly stood up from the stool and was about to kowtow to Lin the next second.

If Lin wasn't too tired to move, she would have jumped up and moved to the side.

I am a little uncomfortable with kowtow all the time. According to the customs of later generations, kowtow is associated with red envelopes.

"Hurry up and don't kowtow except during the New Year. It's not customary here at Aunt San's place."

Erlang stood up obediently with a relaxed smile on his face.

He didn't insist on kowtowing, but he just didn't know how to express his gratitude for the moment.

Lin tilted her head to look at him. It was rare to see this child smile before, but now when he smiled, his eyebrows were clear and his eyes were bright. If he were a little whiter, he would look like a typical scholar.

I don’t know what kind of girl I will marry.

When Erlang was sent out, he opened the door and saw Cuicui standing outside with a bowl in her hand.

"Aunt Lin, uh...Second Brother Cui."

Cuicui didn't expect that there was someone else in the room. Her gentle nature suddenly came out. After saying hello, she immediately lowered her head like a frightened little rabbit.

Erlang said "hmm" calmly, frowned and looked at Cuicui carefully.

He is too young and too weak in character.

He shook his head and strode away.

Seeing his series of actions, Lin couldn't help but hold his forehead.

I should find a chance to talk to him about it. Finding a wife is not a task to be completed. His behavior of judging everyone one by one is really unbelievable.

Cuicui lowered her head and did not see Erlang's expression, but Lin felt inexplicably guilty and enthusiastically invited Cuicui into the house.

"It's not time to go to work yet, why are you here so early?"

He put away the bowl that Erlang had just used, took another bowl, and dissolved some warm sugar water in it for her to drink.

Without the unfamiliar people around, Cuicui relaxed and handed the bowl to Lin as if to ask for credit.

"Yesterday, a hunter from the next village came to our house, and my father bought a rabbit. Last night, I stewed the rabbit with the seasoning you gave me. Aunt Lin, please try it."

When the prey is brought to the city to be sold, the vendors will bargain for it. The fresher the prey, the higher the price. Not to mention the long distance to the county town, it is not worth the trip to sell just one or two prey.

Most of the time, after hunters catch prey, they will first sell it in nearby villages, and over time, the hunters will know which family will spend money to buy the game.

Cuicui's father earns a lot and is willing to spend money on food, so it's not surprising that hunters come to his house.

The rabbit meat in the bowl had no soy sauce to color it, and it still had the light color of being boiled in water. Lin picked up a piece and tasted it carefully.

The taste is good, but the seasoning is not enough to completely suppress the earthy smell.

Later generations had recipes to follow for cooking, but Cuicui relied entirely on her own learning, and it was considered very talented for her to achieve this level.

Cuicui looked expectantly.

Lin put down her chopsticks and said, "It's great. It tastes better than Auntie expected."

There was a flash of excitement in Cui Cui's eyes, but she felt that there was still something missing.

"It tastes better than the stew I made before, but I still think it lacks flavor."

She couldn't say exactly what was different, but it just wasn't as delicious as Aunt Lin's bone soup, so she brought the rabbit meat to ask Aunt Lin for her comments.

Lin smiled, stood up, went to the corner and brought out a jar, opened the seal on it, took out a clean bowl, and scooped out the dark brown liquid from it.

Cuicui recognized it and asked, "Is this soy sauce?"

"Almost. It's more delicious than soy sauce. I made it myself. Try dipping it in and trying it."

After scooping, seal the jar again and put it back in the corner.

Watching Cuicui tasting the soy sauce, Lin was not worried about any risk of food poisoning, because the soy sauce in the jar was not homemade soy sauce at all, but the extremely delicious soy sauce that Cui Zhaozhao bought from the mall.

The soy sauce here is thick and salty. It’s okay for stewing meat, but it’s so salty that it makes you choke when you add a little bit to stir-frying, so I secretly changed it to the Wei Ji Xian from the mall.

As for putting it in a jar, it is just for outsiders to see.

Anything that cannot be bought can be attributed to one's own ingenuity.

Want the recipe?

Ancestral no comment.

After Cui Cui took a little, her eyes widened in surprise.

"It tastes so fresh, almost as good as clam noodles."

Lin continued to sit down and said gently, "Domesticated poultry or rabbits have a lighter flavor and don't need too much seasoning, while wild game caught in the mountains has a stronger earthy smell. When stewing or stir-frying, the first thing to do is to remove the earthy smell, such as blanching or pickling."

"In addition to the above methods, you should also use different seasonings when cooking to suppress the fishy smell. For example, you can use angelica, sand ginger, cumin, etc. for lamb, and beef..."

Cuicui was listening intently when she suddenly frowned.

"beef?"

Lin paused, forgetting that beef is not allowed here.

To be precise, the law stipulates that cows cannot be killed, and if you want to eat cows, you can only eat cows that have died of natural causes, so beef is rarely served on the table.

"Aunt, you're talking about old beef. No matter how long you stew it, it will still become tough. If you want to make it delicious, you need to soak it in water in advance..." Lin racked her brains to make up for it.

Cuicui suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. My father bought beef once before, but it turned out dry and tough. He never bought it again. If Aunt hadn't told me, I would have forgotten about it."

Mrs. Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

The two of them spoke and took notes, and the atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant.

"Thank you, Auntie. I'll try it again when I get back. Then you can give me your comments."

Cuicui had learned new knowledge and was like a wheat seedling that had drunk enough water. She couldn't wait to go home and stew another rabbit.

"Cooking skills are not acquired in a day. Don't be in a hurry. Take your time." Lin paused and said, "Cui Cui, Auntie has something to ask."

"Auntie, tell me."

In just a few days, Cuicui had already regarded Lin as a half-master, and she admired and felt close to him.

"We've been building a house these past few days, and we need to prepare meals for more than ten people every day. I'm really overwhelmed, so I'd like to ask if you'd like to help. I'll give you fifty coins for lunch and dinner each day..."

"I am willing!"

Before Lin could finish her words, Cuicui agreed without hesitation.

"Okay, then it's settled. You can shred the vegetables first. I'll go to the village to collect some vegetables. We'll start cooking later."

Cooking with Aunt Lin was a great joy in Cuicui's eyes. She, who had always been introverted, rarely jumped out of the door.

After finding help, Lin also swept away his fatigue, grabbed a handful of copper coins, and went out.

Even if the Cui family's vegetable garden was completely plucked out, it would not be able to provide food for so many days, so Lin decided to buy it from the villagers.

After walking around the village, the backpack was full.

If Lin hadn't insisted on paying, the simple villagers would even want to give it away for free, as the leftovers would rot in the fields anyway.

Carrying a basket of vegetables and knocking on every door is not an easy job. Lin made an agreement with the villagers that the fresh vegetables produced in the fields would be delivered directly to the Cui family every day, and she would pay for them.

On the way back, I met a brother and sister who had rushed back from the county town, and a few people including Thick Neck also came back with them.

Lin's attention was mainly focused on the backpack behind Cui Jingwen. She took a quick look and saw two pieces of fat and lean meat, a large piece of tofu, and a bulging grain bag underneath.

As they passed each other, Cui Zhaozhao whispered, "I've already bought everything. The top two pieces of meat were bought at the butcher's shop, and I also hid ten pounds of meat at the bottom that I bought at the mall..."

Mrs. Lin was very confident in her daughter's work, so she asked Cui Jingwen to put the backpack in the house, and called the thick-necked people who were watching the vegetable shredding in the yard with curiosity to go to the backyard.

It’s not that we don’t allow them to come in, it’s just that there’s no room for them to sit in the house.

I heated up yesterday's leftovers to fill their stomachs, and then sent them back to my own fields.