NOVEL WEB Chapter 18 Crying in the middle of the night
"I'm just chatting with the guests, it's okay. You can cook some porridge and some sweet potatoes from home."
"Hey, I got it." The old woman left with a worried look on her face.
"Brother, are there really any taboos?" General Xue lowered his voice, "If that's the case, there's no need to tell us."
"Hey, it's actually nothing. In our town, no outsiders have come here for a few years. As for the family with the best house in the middle that you see, they moved back from the capital five years ago." The old man shook his head and sighed, "They If you become an official, you will still be an official in the capital."
By the dim oil lamp at home, the old man told the story of this family.
The family moved back several years ago. It is said that the old man reached the third rank, but his descendants failed to live up to expectations and failed to even pass the examination. He could not afford the life in the capital, so he simply moved back to his hometown.
When I first came back, it was pretty good. It had a courtyard with front and rear entrances. Not to mention the pavilions and pavilions, it was considered one of the leading wealthy families in the village.
It's just that this family has not been prosperous for long. I don't know if it's because of bad feng shui or some disease passed down from ancestors. In just one year, most of the people died.
Especially the men, almost all of them died.
First the old man of the family, then the three sons.
Now there may be only one male left in this family, the only son left by their eldest son.
Four widows lived with their seven or eight-year-old child.
General Xue and his son looked at each other.
If this was a widow, it would be normal not to keep them overnight. However, it is not normal for so many people to die in the family in five years.
"Actually, the village once invited an expert to come and see it, but as soon as they arrived at the entrance of the village, the expert turned around and left."
The old man seemed to see what General Xue was thinking, and shook his head and said, "After that, other families in the village began to die, and many people were afraid and gradually moved away from here. The families you knocked on the door were all family members. There’s no one left.”
"Ah, I see, it's such a coincidence that we caught up." Xue Lei shook his head and smiled bitterly.
I thought that the people in this village were very indifferent and didn't even open the door after knocking for a long time, but I didn't expect that there was a reason.
"Yes, our place was actually a big town a few years ago. There were all kinds of restaurants and inns!" Haizi, the son of this family, came in with a steamed bun that had been heated and said casually.
This plate not only contains the steamed buns brought by Xue Lei, but also the old man's own staple food. There is something that looks like steamed buns, but is darker in color, and there are a few hot sweet potatoes.
After asking, Xue Lei found out that it was made from dried sweet potatoes and then ground into powder. Out of curiosity, I broke off half of it and took a bite.
It doesn't taste bad at first glance, and it has a bit of sweetness, but it doesn't look very good.
After Xue Lei gave Long Baoer a bite, the little girl also liked it, but was stopped by General Xue.
"If you can taste it, let's give Long Bao'er some steamed buns. Sweet potato noodles are not easy to melt."
The old woman also brought over a few plates of pickled vegetables, a few cut salted eggs, and the porridge she had just cooked.
"There are only a few guests, and there's nothing good to eat at home, that's all."
"This is good!" General Xue is not picky. When they go out to march and fight, they may not even be able to eat this.
Several people came to the table, and the young man even took out a spoon, scooped out some water, washed it carefully and gave it to Long Baoer.
"Thank you, little brother!" Long Baoer said loudly.
"No, you're welcome." The young man smiled honestly.
The crowded place was narrow, so Xue Lei picked up Long Baoer and put him on his lap.
Next to him, General Xue had already extended his half-stretched hand and retracted it nonchalantly.
This bastard will fight with him!
Each person had a big bowl of porridge, but two cut salted eggs were placed in front of the Xue family and his son.
For poor farmers, salted eggs are also a good thing to entertain guests, and they are easily reluctant to eat them.
The Xue family father and son each took half, and the remaining two pushed them back.
There are many varieties of pickles, including pickled kohlrabi, potherb mustard and pickled radish.
This mustard is a common winter vegetable in the north. After being pickled with coarse salt, it can be eaten directly or used as a side dish.
The three kinds of pickles seem to be different, but in fact, after they are thoroughly pickled, they are almost the same, leaving only one salty taste.
However, the pickling is just right at this time, the kohlrabi is crisp and tender, the radish is crisp and refreshing, and the potherb mustard is salty, tender and juicy.
Xue Lei gave her a little bit one by one to taste. The little girl liked the taste of porridge more.
"Actually, if I had known that a distinguished guest would be coming today, I should have bought two pieces of tofu. The stewed tofu with potherb mustard is very delicious."
"Really? Uncle?" Long Baoer swallowed when he heard it tasted delicious.
They also had a dish of tofu at noon. The tofu also had minced meat in it, which was very delicious.
"Little greedy cat." General Xue smiled and purred Long Bao'er's head. "We also have mustard at home. When you get home, let someone stew tofu for you, okay?"
"Okay!" The little girl responded happily.
"Come on, Long Bao'er, take a sip of porridge." Xue Lei put another spoonful of porridge to his mouth.
Haizi, the young man next to him, looked at Xue Lei feeding Long Baoer with eyes full of envy.
Who doesn’t want to have a soft and sweet sister? He also coaxed her to hold her and feed her porridge. But in a blink of an eye, Haizi's severe envy turned into loneliness and pain.
The old man and his wife were originally worried, fearing that the food at home would be too rough, but they didn't expect that even the little girl who was loved by the father and son was not picky at all.
A mouthful of steamed buns and a mouthful of porridge, and I actually ate less than half of it.
"Young lady, you are very lucky." The old man said sincerely.
"Yes, everyone said that." General Xue laughed loudly. The old man's words could be said to have reached the depths of his heart.
After eating, everyone chatted for a few words and then got ready to go to bed.
You need to go to bed quickly while the kang is still warm just now, otherwise it will be uncomfortable when the kang cools down.
The old lady cleaned up the room next door and took out two half-new beddings, which still had a slight musty smell. They must have been pressed from the bottom of the box.
The quilt was warm, so the little girl was sent in, and soon all six people in the two rooms fell asleep.
Just when everyone was falling asleep, suddenly a strange cry came from the village.
The little girl, who was always sleeping deeply, was awakened by the cry and raised her arms to rub her eyes.
"Long Bao'er, why are you awake?" General Xue coaxed softly.
"Uncle, there is crying outside!" the little girl pointed out the window and said.