Four Foods in the Mountains

The day before the wedding, Brother Zhu was sitting in his room, and his mother invited his aunt from the village to wring his face.

The auntie had a long red silk thread wrapped around her hands, and she twisted it tightly close to Brother Zhu's face covered with face powder. When she opened and closed her hands, the thread was loosened and tightened, and the fluff on her face was twisted off one by one.

Brother Zhu only felt the thread bouncing on his face. Before he felt the pain, his aunt put away the thread and picked up a hot cloth towel to wipe his face. That was the twist.

My aunt smiled and said a few auspicious words. His mother sent her out with red eggs and sugar. Brother Zhu sat on the kang and held a mirror to look at it. He felt that his face would be fairer and more delicate after twisting.

"Don't look, come get an egg and roll it." The aunt who was twisted by his mother came into the room again, holding a hard-boiled egg in his hand.

"Fuck what?" Brother Zhu asked.

"Get out of your face!" Aunt Qian handed the egg to Brother Zhu, "Some people's faces are fine at the time of wringing, but suddenly turn red the next day, you should quickly take an egg and roll it, it will be better."

"Isn't that good, it saves on powdering." Zhu Geer took the egg and said.

"You child, can this be the same as smearing powder? Hurry up and peel off the shell, it's so ugly to have a flushed face on a big day." Aunt Qian said.

With a "pop", Brother Zhu cracked the egg on the table, slowly peeled off the shell, and then looked at his mother... while stuffing the egg into his mouth.

"Hey, you kid! Your skin is itchy, isn't it?" Seeing this, Aunt Qian raised her hand to hit him.

Brother Zhu bit the egg and hid it with a smile: "It's a waste to use the egg to burn your face, why don't you let me eat it to make up for it. Besides, I'm going to get married tomorrow, so you still hit me?"

It was in a village, and it took less than a quarter of an hour to walk. The Wu family was a reliable family. Aunt Qian was more happy than reluctant to let Brother Zhu get married.

Brother Zhu chewed eggs until his cheeks bulged, and Aunt Qian pointed her finger at Brother Zhu's forehead angrily: "You, you can cry tomorrow with a red face."

"Red cheeks are red cheeks, I'm covered with a hijab, who can see me?" Brother Zhu said indifferently.

As for Wu Erhe who wants to lift his hijab, Brother Zhu doesn't care, Wu Erhe will never despise him.

After swallowing the eggs, Aunt Qian went outside to discuss tomorrow's affairs, while Brother Zhu sat cross-legged on the kang, feeling very bored.

This year, the snow is heavy, and the beginning of spring will be later, and it is still chilly outside in February.

It was warm inside the house with the kang burning. He lay on the kang, looked at the roof and listened to the sound of the wind outside the house, and fell asleep after listening to it.

Sleeping in a daze, I heard a sound from outside, Brother Zhu pulled the quilt to cover his body, just about to turn over and continue to sleep, when he heard his mother shouting from the yard: "Brother Ning? Come in and sit, come in and sit!" "

Ning'er?

Brother Zhu lifted the quilt and sat up, as expected, he heard Cen Ning's voice in the courtyard.

He pulled his shoes off the kang and opened the door. Cen Ning was standing in the yard with a basket in his hand.

"Ning'er, come into my room quickly." He shouted.

Aunt Qian said: "This child, no matter what, I have to invite Brother Ning to have a cup of tea in the main room."

Brother Zhu saw that his elder brother and sister-in-law were all in the main room, so he stepped forward and took Cen Ning into his own room, saying: "Ning'er and I don't engage in such vain rituals, besides, he came to see me, and drinking tea is fine." Should drink in my house."

After entering the room and closing the door, Brother Zhu turned his head and smiled at Cen Ning, "Why are you here? I thought you weren't coming."

Since the incident with Mrs. Li last time, Cen Ning has never been to Qian's house again.Brother Zhu could understand him, but he was still happy to see Cen Ning coming to him.

Cen Ning also smiled: "You get married tomorrow, I always come to see you."

"Sit down, sit down quickly." Brother Zhu said cheerfully, "It's cold outside, go and sit on my kang, I'll go outside and pour you a cup of hot tea."

While speaking, without waiting for Cen Ning to reply, he ran out quickly.

When he came back again, he not only had tea in his hand, but also a plate of preserved fruit snacks.

The things were placed on the small kang table, and the two sat cross-legged facing each other.

Cen Ning handed the basket he brought to Brother Zhu and said, "Open it and have a look."

Brother Zhu lifted the cloth on his head, and there was a festive red quilt in the basket.

Brother Zhu opened his mouth wide, shook the folded quilt away, and embroidered the pattern of Hehe Erxian, with fine stitches everywhere.

Cen Ning said with a smile: "Take it as a gift for your marriage, you just put it in the dowry and carry it away together tomorrow."

Brother Zhu hugged the quilt so rare that he ran out of good words.

After pouring a cup of tea, Brother Zhu grabbed Cen Ning's hand and said, "You put so much effort into adding a dowry to me, I don't know that my family has quarreled several times over my dowry in the past few days."

There was a hint of anger in his words: "The dowry that the people in the village gave my brother is two beds and two clothes. You know that, my parents love me, and the Wu family sent me a lot of dowry, so I will do it. The Lord gave me an extra piece of cloth and a silver hairpin."

"This is a big deal. My brother and sister-in-law have been talking in front of my parents in the past few days, saying that they should either take back the extra dowry, or give them half of the betrothal money given by the Wu family. It was used for private money, but it made my parents very angry, and I have never heard of elder brother and sister-in-law asking for gift money from younger brother."

Cen Ning didn't like to talk about the affairs of the Qian family, so he could only comfort Brother Zhu with good words: "After all, you are getting married tomorrow, so don't get angry about it, just be considerate of Uncle and Aunt Qian's feelings for you." .”

Brother Zhu raised his eyebrows and said: "I'm not angry, I'm happy in my heart."

He leaned closer and whispered to Cen Ning, "I'm really annoyed by their arguing. Sister Ru came to talk to me yesterday, and I asked her to secretly go to Wu's house to talk to Wu Erhe, and asked them to send red eggs yesterday. I took back the few taels of extra hire money.”

Can it still be like this?Cen Ning opened his eyes wide.

Brother Zhu raised his chin and said triumphantly: "Wu Erhe will listen to my words. If the bride price is too much, my brother and sister-in-law will take it. Why don't we spend it on our own after taking it back? You don't know, my brother and sister-in-law My face turned green."

Cen Ning was dumbfounded and worried for him: "I'm afraid it will be even more difficult to get along with him in the future. Uncle Qian and Aunt Qian will have to live with your elder brother and sister-in-law."

Brother Zhu waved his hand: "Don't worry, the Wu family gave too much, and they can't talk about taking the extra few taels back, and I also returned the cloth and silver hairpins that my parents bought for me. I don’t want it, just let them go to town next time and give it back.”

Cen Ning shook his head with a smile, "You."

Brother Zhu also laughed, bowed his head and picked up a piece of red bean cake from the plate and handed it to Cen Ning: "Here, red bean cake, you like it."

Cen Ning took it and ate it, and Brother Zhu picked another horseshoe cake and ate it himself.

I haven't talked with Cen Ning for a long time, and I feel like I can't finish talking for a while.

He said that the Wu family sent a piece of fine cotton cloth, and later he cut one piece to make two sachets, and when the peach blossoms in the back mountain bloomed in spring, he put the peach petals in, tied them around his waist and wore them together, and walked around. Can have fragrance.

He also said that the weed vegetables on the back mountain will soon grow, and this thing tastes delicious. When the time comes, go to the back mountain to pick a basket, cook the weet vegetable sauce with chili and sauerkraut, put a spoonful of it on the noodles, and the plain noodles will be delicious up.

……

Cen Ning listened carefully while biting the red bean cake, and refilled Zhu Geer's tea from time to time.

After finishing the words in his stomach, Brother Zhu held the teacup, showing a little awkwardness which is rare.

He struggled for a while, bit his lip and moved around, almost sat with Cen Ning, then turned his head and looked at the window.

"What's wrong?" Cen Ning lowered his head and asked him.

Brother Zhu pursed his lips, and hummed with an unnatural expression: "Ning'er, you, you, tell me... about that."

"What's the matter?"

"Just, that's it."

"What's the matter?"

Seeing that Cen Ning still didn't understand, Brother Zhu couldn't take it anymore and said, "What else can it be, just the bed thing!"

"What are you talking about!" Cen Ning was so startled that he covered Brother Zhu's mouth, "It's so loud, aren't you afraid to hear it outside the house?"

Brother Zhu's mouth was covered, and he said in a vague voice: "You've been married for more than half a year, how can you be better than me, who is not married... what is that?"

Cen Ning blushed and said nothing, and asked Brother Zhu in a low voice for a while, "Aunt Qian... Didn't Aunt Qian tell you?"

"My mother is a woman, and I'm a brother, so it's not the same if I say it." Brother Zhu said, "You and I are both brothers, come and talk to me, is it comfortable? Or is it just painful? "

Cen Ning blushed from his face to his neck, but he didn't feel it just now, but now he just felt uneasy sitting on the kang, like sitting on pins and needles.

"Tell me, I'm not ashamed to ask you, but you blushed first." Brother Zhu said.

Unable to help Brother Zhu tugging on his sleeve and urging him, Cen Ning finally turned around, covered it with his hands, shy, shy, and whispered to Brother Zhu slowly.

……

After stuttering, Cen Ning picked up the tea on the table and drank it in one gulp, feeling that the room was very hot.

On the other hand, Brother Zhu was suddenly enlightened: "Oh, no wonder Brother Chuanzi didn't let you go to work in the field. That bit of strength was exhausted at night, how can you still work hard during the day?"

"Stop talking." Cen Ning gritted his teeth.

Walking out of Qian's courtyard and heading home, the cold wind was blowing outside, but Cen Ning didn't feel cold at all.

When they got home, Lu Yunchuan was gathering firewood in the yard, when he heard the sound, he turned to look at Cen Ning.

"I'm back." Lu Yunchuan said, and then asked in surprise, "Why is your face so red?"

"Red, is it red?"

"Well, is Brother Zhu's kang burning too hot?"

Cen Ning clenched the corners of his clothes with both hands, stood on the spot and shook his head, then nodded again: "Mm, um...probably...right."