Chapter 642 Building the Sheep Fence
Early on the next morning, Zhang An’s family got up early.
After a while, the second aunt and the third aunt came over.
Although Zhang An's family only built a sheepfold this time, the sheepfold is really not small, and is larger than many other people's houses.
It takes a day just to dig the foundation, and a lot of people are needed.
So Zhang An's two aunts, as members of the family, would definitely come over to help Wang Fang cook.
After the second aunt and the third aunt came, they didn’t say anything and went directly into the kitchen to prepare breakfast with Wang Fang.
It’s only around six o’clock in the morning. Others will come over to help in a while. Breakfast must be prepared.
Because of this, Wang Fang went to town yesterday and bought more than ten kilograms of rice noodles just for this morning.
The three sisters-in-law were working together in the kitchen. Soon the rice had been soaked and the sauerkraut toppings were ready. They were just waiting for someone to come and put it in the pot.
At around seven o'clock, the villagers who were invited yesterday began to come over carrying tools.
After a while, a large group of people gathered in the yard, such as Zhang Laosan, Huang Ming, Zhou Yang and his father, Zhang Ping and Zhang Jianwen, Lin Youde and so on.
They are all people who are relatively close to Zhang An’s family on weekdays. Yesterday they just heard Zhang Jianguo say something, and they all agreed directly.
Of course, there are also those uncles from Zhang An’s family.
There are already more than a dozen people in this circle alone. This is the reason why the Zhang An family did not invite people in large numbers, otherwise there would be more.
“Come on, come on, everyone, come and eat while it’s hot.”
Seeing people coming, the second aunt went to the kitchen with bowls of rice topped with spicy sauce on a large square plate. come out.
"Okay, everyone, stop nagging, come and eat quickly and go to work. You have to brag and wait until you finish the work and you have enough time."
Zhang Jianwen saw this and immediately stood up and shouted. With everyone.
It’s not that he wants to be a guest, and it has nothing to do with his status as village chief, but because he is the senior one in this circle.
As soon as the others heard his shouting, they all stood up and came over to take the bowls.
Then, bursts of slurping sounds came from the yard, mainly because there were too many people.
By the time we finished breakfast, it was almost eight o'clock, and this was the time everyone was waiting for.
Although this time it is just a sheepfold rather than a new house, it is still necessary to wait for the auspicious time to hold a ground-breaking ceremony. However, this ground-breaking ceremony is just for show, not as formal as building a house.
The person who helped with the ground-breaking ceremony was naturally Zhang Jianwen. As soon as eight o'clock arrived, he carried the big rooster prepared by Zhang An's family to sacrifice.
As the chicken blood dripped on the ground, Zhang Jianwen began to pray.
Because it is a pen house, there are words such as praying for the prosperity of the livestock.
After finishing these, offering three sticks of incense, and burning nine pages of yellow paper, the ground-breaking ceremony was completed, and everyone began to break the ground with picks and hoes.
At this point, the big rooster used to break the ground for sacrifice has also completed its mission.
Wang Fang came over and carried it to the backyard. A pot of boiling water had been prepared for it in the kitchen.
In the open field, although it was still early spring in March, the temperature was still very suitable.
But as the hoes and pickaxes were raised high and then dropped, everyone began to feel hot, and everyone began to take off their shirts, and continued to work bare-chested.
Although the sheepfold only needs to be covered with one layer and the foundation does not need to be dug too deep, everyone still digs very seriously.
"I've put the tea here. If you want to drink it, you can pour it yourself. I won't greet you."
After a while, Wang Fang was carrying a pot and had already brewed it. Bring the tea and cups.
"That's definitely not necessary. Auntie, go and work in the kitchen. There are so many of us. Whether we can eat later depends on you."
Mr. Zhang When San lifted up a handful of mud, he laughed and said to Wang Fang.
“Don’t worry, it’s almost as good as this.”
Wang Fang also replied with a smile, and then went back to work on the dishes that will be cooked later.
Then, every once in a while, Zhang An came over and took the initiative to pour everyone a cup of tea and smoke a cigarette.
Although he doesn't smoke it himself, it is indispensable when asking people to do things.
The cigarettes Zhang An took out were brought over by Chen Ze and the others along with the drinks during the holidays. They are rare and good cigarettes.
Because Zhang An and his son did not smoke, they stayed here.
Seeing Zhang An bring out this cigarette, everyone took it one after another, then lit it and put it in their mouths.
Although everyone's living conditions have changed greatly and the economic conditions are getting better and better, they are reluctant to spend more money to buy expensive cigarettes to smoke. If they have that money, they might as well cut it in half. The pound of meat is enough to happily feed the whole family for two meals.
"Okay, Xiao An, give it to them. I can't smoke yours, so I'd better smoke my own."
Not everyone likes to smoke cigarettes, but Zhang Jianwen does. As a special case, every time Zhang An offered him a cigarette, he refused without hesitation.
Then when everyone is smoking, he will also take out the cigarette pack made of plastic bags that he carries with him, take out the tobacco leaves that have been cut into sections, tear up the package and roll it into one, Finally, he inserted it into his small pipe and took two puffs, with a satisfied expression on his face.
"Village Chief, you are enjoying your cigarette."
Huang Ming was standing nearby, watching Zhang Jianwen exhale the thick green smoke, and leaned over to ask.
Hearing this, Zhang Jianwen had a very proud look on his face. He had always grown his leaf cigarettes himself, and it had been this way for decades.
"That's natural. Don't look at me. I don't spend money, but smoking is more exciting than your ten or twenty yuan a pack. How about you take a shot too?"
Seeing Huang Ming's interest, Zhang Jianwen took out his cigarette pack and handed it to Huang Ming, hoping to let him experience it.
"Forget it, forget it, I'm still young, the village chief said I can't enjoy the good smoke now."
If it were other old people in the village, they would definitely take it without courtesy. Get yourself a roll.
But Huang Ming couldn't do it. When he saw this, he immediately shook his head and refused.
It’s not that he looks down on this leaf cigarette. Not a single young person in the village has such an idea, because every family has elders who smoke this.
The reason why he didn't want it was because he didn't dare to smoke it, because the strength of this tobacco leaf was too overbearing, much stronger than the boxed cigarettes. For people who are not used to smoking, suddenly taking a few puffs will make them feel better. It will definitely make you feel bored.
"Hahaha, don't be afraid, Da Mingzi. You will definitely not be suffocated after just one puff like before."
Hearing this, Zhou Yang started to make noises with Huang. Ming laughed.
This is because when they were young, someone secretly smoked the leaf cigarettes of the elderly family member out of curiosity. This person was Huang Ming. He was only eleven or twelve years old at the time and could not smoke yet. He smoked very quickly when he smoked, so just one puff suffocated him and he slept for a whole day and night.
This matter really worried Mr. Huang and Mr. Huang. Later, they found out from their mouths that he had fainted due to smoking, so they felt relieved.
After that, Huang Ming also felt like a formidable enemy of this leaf.
"I can't do it, I don't have enough Taoism, and I can't enjoy it."
No matter how everyone joked, Huang Ming's head shook like a trough of waves.
"Go, go, you kid won't enjoy it."
In response, Zhang Jianwen just rolled his eyes and said with great disgust.
What he said is absolutely true. If you want to know who grows the best cigarettes in the whole village, it is Zhang Jianwen.
Every time the old men in the village sit together, there are many people asking him for tobacco leaves.
The main reason is that after so many years, he has already selected his favorite tobacco variety, and by constantly saving seeds, he ensures that he can grow the best tobacco leaves every year.
After the seeds were planted, they not only sprinkled them with manure frequently, but also applied oil residue, which took good care of them.
And the tobacco leaves in the field lived up to his hard work. Every year he harvested top-quality tobacco. Not only could he smoke it himself, but he could also sell part of it to support his family. If you really think about it, after so many years, This trip saved their family a lot of money.
After finishing smoking cigarettes, drinking tea, and taking a rest, everyone immediately started working with pickaxes in their hands without wasting a minute.
Because the place is too big and requires too much digging, it took me a long time to dig out a prototype about ten centimeters deep.
In fact, at the beginning, Zhang An wanted to call an excavator to dig the foundation. After all, Li Hongbin's people were starting work on the other side of the river.
But there is a large circle of obstacles. Even the smallest excavator on Li Hongbin's side cannot go around directly from the yard, so it can only be excavated manually.
But it was okay, because there were so many people doing it, so by the time of lunch, less than half of it had been dug.
While eating, the cement, sand and bricks ordered by Uncle Zhang An were also delivered one after another.
The formerly spacious yard was finally put to use.
By around three o'clock in the afternoon, everyone had dug the foundation early.
But this is not yet finished, because the work of laying the foundation has just begun.
Pour the cement mortar from the trolley into the dug foundation, and then use stones to build it flush with the ground before it is completed.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Zhang An’s sheepfold is bigger than my house.”
Looking at the freshly made basic frame, Zhang Laosan couldn’t help but sigh.
The average house in the village, not counting the courtyard, is only two cents in size, but the sheepfold of Zhang An's house occupies a full three cents, which is not small.
"Why don't you tell Zhang An to trade your house for his sheepfold? He will definitely trade it."
After hearing what he said, Huang Ming immediately Acting as a dog-headed strategist on the side.
"In that case, I won't be able to take advantage of Zhang An."
Zhang Laosan only became inspired when he saw the place where Zhang An's family built a sheepfold.
In fact, although their house only occupies two minutes of land, if you include the front yard, backyard, and vegetable plot, it would be at least one acre smaller.
After finishing work, dinner was served in the house on time.
Dinner is more sumptuous than lunch.
With the comparison at noon, I cooked a lot of hard dishes in the evening and served them directly in pots.
No one was polite. They came to help. On the one hand, they wanted to give Zhang An's family face, and on the other hand, they wanted to have a meal. After all, Zhang An's family's food was famous in the village.
In the past, when the Zhang An family paid to hire people to do the work, someone said that they didn’t need money, as long as they took care of a meal.
Although it is a joke, it also shows that their food is really good.
On the second day, the foundation was laid and hardened, and the materials were ready. Zhang Jianjun brought several people who worked with him to build the wall.
Zhang An doesn't know how to be a mason, so even though he has no strength at all, he can only act as a handyman, helping transport bricks, mix mortar, and push them inside with a cart.
“Hey, Zhang An, what are you doing here? Why didn’t I hear you say it?”
In the afternoon, Chen Ze brought Cheng Peng and his party over and asked when he saw the building materials piled in the yard.
“It’s not that there are more and more sheep in the house, the original pen can no longer be closed, so before the next batch of lambs are born, we quickly build a new sheep pen.”< br>
This matter was decided just the day before yesterday. Zhang An remembered that although Chen Ze came the day before yesterday, he didn't seem to have told him, so he explained again.
"To tell the truth, your sheep won't be able to eat much just by raising them at home. There will definitely be more and more of them, so just sell some."
From the beginning Zhang Chen Ze had witnessed it with his own eyes from the few sheep An bought to such a large sheep pen.
"Well, what you said makes sense. I will kill a few of them to sell mutton during the New Year and holidays."
Zhang An also felt that Chen Ze's words made sense. I can no longer be like a brave man who can only get in and out.
There are so many sheep now. If we only rely on our own family for food, the number of sheep will not be small, but will become more and more.
So often killing one or two heads to sell mutton will help control the number of sheep.
And the group of tenants who own Dongli Yard are here, so they don’t have to worry about selling their mutton.
"Why, is Zhang An's sheep the same one we ate the day before yesterday?"
Hearing the conversation between the two, Cheng Peng next to him couldn't help but ask.
“Yes, it belongs to their family. In the whole village, his family is the only one that raises sheep. In addition to the very delicious black goat we ate that day, he also has a kind of goat that is not too spicy. Tasty wild goat.”
When Cheng Peng asked about it, Chen Ze habitually helped Zhang An to sell it.
“I have decided that when I leave, I will take one of these delicious goats back with me and give them to my family to try, as well as the wild goat that Aze mentioned that has no smell. I even had a whole head of meat at that time.”
If there was any impression that the mutton that night had left on him, there were only two words: it was delicious.
Although he thinks Zhang An's skill at roasting sheep is indeed good, there are many things that cannot be covered up by manual processing.
"Hahaha, it seems that Brother Cheng Peng will become a big customer of my family now that he comes, so I will have to treat him well."
Zhang An did not expect that , after Cheng Peng came here, he not only bought wine from his place, but also bought a sheep. It seemed that it was not just one. He really came to their house to give money.
(End of this chapter)