Chapter 214: Boiling bamboo strips
After a lot of effort, I finally built the bamboo bed frame.
Then Mr. Zhang made a bamboo fence and put it on it.
The bamboo fence was being beaten very quickly. Zhang An sat and watched the old man threading the bamboo strips through in his hand.
It didn’t take much time to lay out a green bamboo mat.
Second Master Zhang has not done much with the strips used to weave this bamboo mat.
Instead, use a knife to cut it and use it directly, so the bamboo mat is very thick and the weaving speed is also very fast.
After installing this bamboo fence mat, a large bamboo cooling bed is completed.
But you can’t lie down on this bamboo bed because the bamboo mat has not been treated in any way.
There are many burrs on it now, and if you lie down on it, they will definitely get stuck into your flesh.
If it were anyone else, it might be done after polishing it.
But here, Mr. Zhang An is not finished yet. There is still one process that has not been completed.
Anyone who has slept on a bamboo bed as a child has experienced that it feels really uncomfortable to have your flesh and hair pinched by the bamboo bed.
Occasionally, the burrs on the bamboo bed accidentally get stuck into the flesh, which will be really painful.
No matter how hard you polish with sandpaper, a piece of sandpaper will occasionally appear and you will be hit accidentally.
When Zhang An was a child, he saw his second grandfather making a bamboo bed, and there was no feeling of back pain or flesh pinching while sleeping on it.
And if you just play on the bed, there will be no burrs piercing your flesh, because the bamboo mat alone requires two layers.
The first floor is the rough thing that was just put on, and a bamboo mat that is more delicate than a mat will be put on the back.
This bamboo bed is not finished until the two bamboo mats are placed.
Originally Mr. Zhang only planned to punch out the bamboo bed first and then weave the bamboo mats tomorrow.
But at this moment, I saw that it was not dark yet, and Zhang An's fourth grandfather also happened to come to visit.
So the two old men just did what they said. They picked up the bamboo and started preparing the strips together.
Everyone who grew up in the village can do things like drawing strips. Of course, most people can only make up some simple things.
When Zhang Jianguo used to make dung pans and dustpans, Zhang An often helped with the work.
When he saw the two old men starting to fight, Zhang An thought about helping.
After all, in Zhang An's opinion, this kind of work is just drawing strips. It's a simple job.
But after seeing the strips drawn by his two grandfathers, Zhang An realized that things were different.
Because the strips drawn by the two old men were thin and thin, just like lines of twine.
The bamboo fence used in the previous one is completely different. The strips drawn this time can be said to be exquisite and delicate.
So Zhang An, who originally planned to take advantage of it, now chooses to be an obedient primary school student.
This is not a job he can master now. He can draw the thinnest strips.
But it can be subdivided into six to eight strips by the old man. He still can't handle such uniform and thin strips.
The two old men did not ask him to teach him how to draw, because this requires accumulated experience and years of practice to be able to draw it well.
After all, they both have been doing these things for decades, and it’s no joke that practice makes perfect.
Because the required strips are very thin, the processing speed is very slow.
It took two or three hours until ninety o'clock in the evening to cut the remaining bamboo into strips.
Although it is already very late, Mr. Zhang has no intention of stopping. He has already made it this far, and there is no need to do it for a while longer.
On the stove at home, Zhang An’s second grandmother had already cooked a pot of sour soup.
Immediately afterwards, Mr. Zhang began to put the prepared strips into the sour soup and cook them.
That's right, just put it in and cook it from beginning to end, and then take it out to dry.
After Zhang An watched for a while, he walked over to help.
Only one side of Mr. Zhang's stove is against the wall, and the other three sides are just big enough for the three of them to stand over it.
It took a lot of time to draw the strips, and now it also takes a lot of time to cook the strips.
Zhang An estimates that it will take less time to lay the bamboo fence tomorrow.
While cooking bamboo strips, Mr. Zhang told Zhang An why he did this.
Put the strips in the sour soup and cook them until they are soft and strong.
The bamboo fence made in this way will be softer and will not scratch people or pinch flesh when sleeping.
And after cooking in this way, these strips will not be so easy to split and develop burrs in the future.
When it is dry, just rub it with sandpaper.
Another point is that the bamboo strips cooked in this way can be stored for a long time and are not prone to decay and insects.
Anyway, after one night, Zhang An did learn a lot.
Looking at the simple work of bamboo strip craftsman, there are so many things in it.
Of course, people who sell bamboo beds generally won’t go to such trouble.
In this day and age, the price of ordinary bamboo beds is no longer cheap.
If you do this with Mr. Zhang, wouldn’t the price increase several times?
Secretary Zhang himself is willing to spend so much energy simply because this is for his family.
As for the things you use, it’s always right to make them more refined, and they will be comfortable for you to use.
It wasn't until very late that Zhang An left Master Zhang's house and went home to sleep.
But at two or three o'clock in the middle of the night, a burst of firecrackers rang out in the village, and Zhang An, who was sleeping soundly, was woken up
The village generally does not set off firecrackers easily, unless there is an occasion. It’s the New Year holidays, or there’s something big going on at home.
And now, it was not the season of the year, it was midnight again, Zhang An knew as soon as he heard that an old man in the village must have passed away.
The sound of firecrackers is more used to notify everyone that someone has something to do at home and needs help.
After all, as the old saying goes, good things come to you uninvited, and white things come to you uninvited.
Generally when encountering such a thing, the host will not come to ask for help. Everyone will take the initiative to come to the door to help.
Many people have taboos about visiting other people's homes because they are wearing linen and mourning. In everyone's opinion, this is very unlucky.
After Zhang An woke up, he got up and went out, wanting to see whose family it was.
If it is a close relative, you should start now.
If you are a neighbor in the village, then get up and go there tomorrow morning.
After all, it would be inconvenient for me to go there now without mentioning other taboos.
Just go there after you get up tomorrow morning. It will be convenient for people then.
"Xiao An, go back and continue sleeping. It's the old lady of Li Heping's family who has left."
When Zhang An went downstairs, he met his mother who had gotten up. She must have gone out to see her.
“Hey, it would be a good thing for the old man to leave. Not only will the old man suffer the consequences of hanging like this, Li Heping and his whole family will also suffer.”
Hearing what his mother said, Zhang An was a little emotional.
The old lady of Li Heping's family has been hanging on to her last breath since some time ago.
Everyone thought that this old lady only had a few days to live, but who would have thought that she would only be alive for more than half a month.
Not only did the old lady live in pain, but the younger ones in the family could only stay on guard.
The next morning, Zhang An got up, changed into green and black clothes, and then went to help.
At this time, many people have come to Li Heping's family, some of whom are relatives nearby, and some of whom are fellow villagers. Zhou Yang arrived earlier than Zhang An, and he and Zhang Jianzhong will undoubtedly be responsible for the kitchen.
At this time, I have already started to help count the menus to see what dishes I need to buy.
When he went to buy groceries, Zhang An would definitely be requisitioned.
In the past, when there were no cars, people would go there by horse-drawn carriage from the village.
He is the only one with a car in the village now, and he will definitely go shopping with him later.
Zhang An originally wanted to help move the tables and benches, as well as the guys serving the drinks.
Unexpectedly, Zhang An was assigned the task of being a driver, and Zhang An was happy to be at ease.
When it was time to eat at noon, Zhang An didn't even get the job of serving bars and plates.
I can’t help but sigh that this era is still good, everyone is vying to help, and they are very loving.
When I encountered something like this when I arrived, there were not many people to help, and I had to find the person who handled the dish.
Because there were not many people in the village, most of the young people went outside.
Zhang An originally wanted to go along with the ceremony, but their family didn't have a ceremony counter yet.
But when the ceremony was opened, Zhang An no longer needed to attend the ceremony.
Because Zhang Jianguo has already attended the ceremony, and Zhang An is not married yet, there is no need to attend the ceremony alone.
And even after Zhang An gets married, their family only needs one copy of this kind of thing.
Because Zhang An is the only child in the family, they must be considered a family.
It’s just that after Zhang An gets married, the person accompanying the gift will have to write Zhang An’s name.
In the remaining few days, Zhang An and his family went to help, and Zhang An followed everyone to do odd jobs.
See where there is something that needs help, and take the initiative to help.
After several days, the matter with Li Heping's family was finally over.
After several days, the silkworm seeds that Wang Fang placed in the silkworm plaque had hatched, several days faster than Zhang An thought.
Although Wang Fang was busy helping out at Li Heping's house a few days ago, Wang Fang did not forget these little guys.
We have to check several times every day, because once these silkworms hatch, they need to be fed mulberry leaves.
Newly born ant silkworms can eat in about two or three hours. If they are not fed, they will soon starve to death.
And the mulberry leaves fed at this time must not only be fresh and tender, but also chopped into pieces to make it easier for them to eat.
As these young silkworms grow up day by day, they need to eat more and more mulberry leaves every day.
Zhang An is not worried about picking all the mulberry leaves nearby, but his old mother gets up early every day.
By the time Zhang An got up, Wang Fang had already picked the mulberry leaves back.
Raising silkworms is different from other livestock. You can cut a lot of fodder and put it away.
If mulberry leaves are not good, try to feed them on the same day and pick them on the same day.
Because silkworms will have diarrhea if they eat mulberry leaves that have been left out for a long time. Otherwise, people would not say that silkworms are difficult to take care of.
In the afternoon, Chen Ze came to Changqing.
Originally Chen Ning planned to go with him, but today he didn't just come to play.
Because I have to go to Su Ying’s house to help fulfill my duties as a matchmaker.
So he decisively rejected his sister who wanted to come with him.
He didn’t want Chen Ning to know that he was working as a matchmaker.
Otherwise, Chen Ning will laugh at her for a long time in the future.
"Auntie, I'm here."
Chen Ze came over and first said hello to Wang Fang who was cleaning the mulberry leaves, then took out an envelope and handed it over.
"Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Chen. Tell Auntie what you want to eat tonight, and Auntie will cook it for you."
Wang Fang opened the envelope, and inside was a piece of red paper, with Su Ying's name on it. Birthday horoscope.
After getting this thing, Wang Fang finally felt relieved.
In this way, she can find someone to marry Zhang An and Su Ying in the next few days and see how they live.
"Auntie can make whatever you want. I like to eat whatever you make, and I won't be picky at all."
Chen Ze smiled and talked to Wang Fang while looking at Zhang An, as if I asked you why you didn’t express anything.
"Well, our great hero should indeed be rewarded."
Zhang An pondered for a moment, and then said.
"How about I give you the whole turtle soup? I happened to catch a few big turtles a few days ago."
The turtles that Zhang Tie and the others caught before are now in Many offspring have been born in the space.
Looking at Chen Ze's age, Zhang An thought about stewing one to replenish him.
"Go, go, go, what's the old turtle soup? Brother, I am in my prime, how can I use that thing? Just tell Li Hongbin this."
Chen Ze rolled his eyes. This guy thought he didn't know what Lao Turtle Soup was for.
Besides, he is now in his twenties, in the prime of his youth, and is not even married, so why would he use that thing?
"How about some crayfish? I brought a few boxes of beer here today."
Chen Ze thought of the crayfish he went to eat at Zhang An's house last year. After so long, it was pretty good. Missed.
"There is now a restaurant on the old street that also sells crayfish. My friends and I went there once and it was not as delicious as yours."
"No problem, later. I’ll make you a beggar’s chicken and cook a pot of crayfish. Is this enough?”
Chen Ze wants to eat lobster. This is not an easy matter. He can catch half of it in a while using local materials. bucket.
“Enough, enough, I can’t finish these.”
Hearing Zhang An talk about the beggar’s chicken, Chen Ze was quite looking forward to it.
He has only seen this stuff in novels and TV, but has never tasted it in real life.
Originally, Zhang An thought about letting the doll army go out to catch shrimps, but today they were not at home.
So even if Zhang An doesn't want to go out, he has no one to help him at the moment and can only go out with a bucket.
Chen Ze looked very interested. He had long wanted to experience the fun of catching lobsters.
When he came here before, Zhang An always called the children to catch them.
He is in his twenties, and he is too embarrassed to follow others around.
When he arrived at Tianba, Chen Ze was like a child, looking here and there.
"Zhang An, see if this one works."
Chen Ze excitedly picked up a crayfish the size of a little finger with tongs and showed it to Zhang An.
"Brother, can you be of some use? These shrimps are too small, you can still eat them."
This man has really never caught a baby in the village. Everyone knows to catch the big ones.
"Here, this one is about the same size."
Zhang An picked one up from the ditch and handed it to Chen Ze for a look.
This lobster is about ten centimeters long, especially the pair of large pincers that are longer than the shrimp Chen Ze caught himself.
(End of this chapter)