Chapter 207 Snow in Laba
In the twelfth lunar month, the days are cold and the nights are even colder. The northwest wind blows all night, making the temperature in the house seem lower and lower. In view of this, Chen Ling moved the stove into the house early. , and the quilt was also covered thickly to prevent Wang Susu from getting cold at night.
But in the middle of the night on the seventh day of the lunar month, after the stove went out, Wang Susu still felt cold. She opened her eyes drowsily and remembered to pick up the thick quilt again, but she saw the bright light outside the window. Coming through the window paper, the bedroom is no longer dark and dark, and looks slightly brighter.
After being stunned for a moment, I immediately realized that it must be snowing outside.
I quickly pushed my sleeping husband beside me to wake him up.
"Ah? Is it snowing?"
When Chen Ling heard this, he sat up. Then without putting on any clothes, he got out of bed, walked to the window, opened the window, and felt a sudden The biting cold wind blew in hard, and everything outside was already white.
"Hiss, it's such a heavy snow."
Chen Ling passively took two sips of the cold wind and couldn't help but shiver, but his face was full of surprise.
Just as he was about to drag his wife over to watch the snow, Wang Susu retracted into the quilt and covered her neck tightly, leaving no gap.
He immediately slapped his forehead, secretly blaming himself for being careless.
My daughter-in-law is already pregnant, so why would I come over and open the window? What should I do if I'm freezing?
I quickly closed the window, took out a quilt from the cabinet, and covered Wang Susu with it.
"It's snowing heavily. I'm going to go to the yard to check on our chickens, ducks and livestock to make sure they don't get frozen."
"Well, turn on the light and take a look. ”
Chen Ling turned on the lights inside and outside the house, got dressed, put on his coat, opened the door and walked out.
The snow on the ground was already very deep at this time, and it creaked when you stepped on it.
Under the electric light outside the courtyard, the northwest wind blew snowflakes rustling down, like willow catkins, and like reed flowers. Sometimes they were blown sideways by the wind, sometimes they were blown around, and they fluttered to the ground.
Rooftops, trees, bamboo beds, and everywhere in the yard are covered with thick white snow. Under the dim yellow electric light, there is a slight gradual warm tone, which looks extremely beautiful.
Seeing this, Chen Ling rubbed his hands excitedly, exhaled two thick puffs of white air, reached out to catch a few falling snowflakes, leaned over and grabbed two handfuls of snow on the ground, and stuffed it into his mouth. After two mouthfuls, it melted, and I felt that I was satisfied after feeling the unique cold and refreshing feeling of winter snow turning into water.
Then I walked through the thick snow and went to the sheepfold to take a look. The lambs were only about two months old and had weak resistance. If it snowed for the first time, they would easily freeze if they were not kept warm.
Walking into the sheepfold, Chen Ling saw that the lambs had hid under the belly of the ewe, with only their little heads exposed, bleating softly, and looking at him curiously.
He obviously felt cold, so he kicked away a few piles of sheep dung, stepped forward, gathered up the dry thatch, gave them a thick mat, and fed them two mouthfuls of Dongtian's spiritual water. Get up and walk out.
Hearing the noise, the two dogs also crawled out of the kennel, wagging their tails and ran up to him and rubbed against him. After being slapped away by him, they circled around in the snow and splashed happily.
They were so happy when they saw snow for the first time.
Chen Ling ignored them, since these two guys would definitely not be able to freeze, and then went to look at the rabbits, chickens, ducks and pigeons.
After going around like this, in the end, except for the two pairs of wild pigeons locked up in the warehouse, one of the captured male pigeons was always bullied by the female pigeons at home, and his head was pecked until it was bald and bloody. Other than that, everything else was fine. They all huddled in the warm nest and slept with their eyes squinted.
Seeing this, he went back to the house to sleep with peace of mind.
In the early morning, the snow gradually stopped.
Villages, fields, mountains and forests are all covered in silver.
It just so happens that today is the Laba Festival.
Chen Ling and his wife did not stay in bed like they did a few days ago. They got up early to cook Laba porridge.
As the saying goes: During the seventh and eighth lunar months, your chin will fall off due to the cold.
In the cold weather of the twelfth lunar month, cooking a pot of hot Laba porridge is the greatest comfort to the body and mind.
Wang Susu had prepared all the ingredients for making Laba porridge before the twelfth lunar month.
Rice, millet, adzuki beans, black beans, peanuts, sweet potatoes, red dates, and lotus seeds are all available.
Go into the kitchen, take out all the ingredients, and wash them in water.
After cleaning, Wang Susu added water to the pot.
Chen Ling squatted in front of the stove to light the fire, pulling the bellows a few times from time to time. Soon the firewood in the furnace was burning more and more vigorously. He blocked the mouth of the furnace with an iron plate and could still hear the rapid burning of firewood inside. "Crackling" and "booming boom" sounds.
The firewood was too strong, and soon the steamed buns were piping hot. Wang Susu was afraid that the rice porridge would burn and stick to the bottom of the pot, so after a while she took off the grate of the steamed buns and pushed it in the pot with a rice spoon from time to time. Stir it, and when the pot bubbles and bubbles, the kitchen will be filled with steam and filled with the rich aroma of Laba porridge.
Because it takes a long time to cook, the sweet potato inside has its own sweetness and is very easy to cook. It quickly turned into a pot of soft, glutinous and fragrant sweet porridge.
The Laba porridge is ready. The young couple put the sticky Laba porridge in a bowl and brought it to the dinner table. They saw that the Laba porridge was all in color, including black, white, red and yellow. The color, flavor and fragrance complemented each other. .
Take a sip and your mouth will be filled with sweetness.
Tasting it carefully, I found that the rice in the Laba porridge is sticky and delicious, the beans are fragrant when chewed slightly, and the sweet potatoes are soft and sweet. In this way, the bowl of Laba porridge is warm and warm in the stomach. , and my whole body immediately felt warm.
Taking advantage of the first snowfall, eating Laba vegetables and drinking Laba porridge, this Laba Festival can be said to be extremely comfortable.
With the crispy and sour Laba vegetables and the sweet and hot Laba porridge, Chen Ling finished three steamed buns in one go.
While they were eating warm food in the kitchen, the lambs were jumping around in the snow, playing back and forth. After adapting to the winter environment, they were specially fed with spiritual water last night, and now they are also I don’t feel cold anymore.
The little weasel was also shrinking in the tree hole in the yard. Its three little heads were all crowded at the entrance of the tree hole, looking out, either watching the little lambs playing in the snow, or staring at Heiwa to see how it was playing with the dog. It was rolling all over the ground in front of the nest, but refused to come out.
After waiting for a while, Chen Ling finished eating and came out with a bucket to feed the poultry and livestock.
They just slipped out of the tree hole, skimming the snow with light footsteps, climbed onto Chen Ling, and got into the pockets of his warm cotton coat to keep warm.
They are chicken thieves and know that this is a good place.
When Chen Ling finished feeding and cleared several paths in the yard, he still refused to come out.
Seeing that they were just staying there and not making as much noise as before, Chen Ling let them sit in his pocket.
Then he locked the door with Wang Susu, who was neatly dressed and bundled up, and went out to watch the snow together.
It was very lively outside at this time.
I am not only happy because of the Laba Festival, but also because of such a heavy snowfall.
As the saying goes: In winter, you will be covered with three layers of quilts covered with snow, and you will sleep with steamed buns on your pillow in the coming year.
Auspicious snow heralds a good harvest, which is the best sign for the people.
Every house was busily clearing snow in their front yards. Children, even teenage girls and half-grown men, were having fun in the snow and having snowball fights. Building a snowman is such a joy.
The adults were talking about this year's solar terms.
The snow this winter is really hard to wait for.
Although the weather in previous years was mostly sunny and less rainy and snowy, it was only a little. It does not mean that there was really no snow before the twelfth lunar month.
What’s more, there is a leap month in August this year, and the solar terms at this time are two solar terms later than in previous years.
Waiting and waiting, people are scratching their hearts and lungs, and the Chinese New Year is about to come.
This winter snow started to fall like a big girl in the middle of the night before Laba.
"Come out for a walk, Fugui."
"Well, come out for a walk and clear the snow. Uncle Yun, these branches have broken a lot."
"Who says it's not the case? When I fell asleep, I heard a clicking sound outside. The snow was quite heavy, so I didn’t wait in vain.”
“…”
“I got up very early today, Fugui.”
"Good morning, sister-in-law, we are going to Laba Mile today, how can we stay in bed?"
"Haha, where are we taking Susu?"
"Let's go to the fields and take a look. Snow.”
Walling to the villagers along the way, Chen Ling and Wang Susu walked slowly out of the village through the thick snow. I saw that the fields were completely white, and the green wheat seedlings were all covered, and not a trace of green could be seen.
Just like a world of snow, the surrounding mountains seem to be wearing white hats, all covered with white snow.
However, the wind outside the village is much stronger than in the village. There is a wind outlet here. As soon as I walked out of the village, there was a cold wind blowing over. The wind seemed to be wrapped in ice particles, beating on the There was actually a slight feeling of pain on the person's face.
The cold wind sucked the cold air into his lungs, making Chen Ling shiver.
But after the respiratory organs of the entire body adapt, the whole body becomes refreshed.
When they came out this time, the two dogs did not follow them.
The young couple quietly admired the beautiful snow scenery and enjoyed their own world.
As for the three little weasels in Chen Ling's pocket, they were almost asleep in Chen Ling's warm and fuzzy pocket, so naturally they were not considered light bulbs.
The two of them walked in the snow on the path in the field, and walked to the orchard to see if the frame of the farm had been affected in any way.
Seeing that everything was fine, I was not in a hurry to leave. I went to check out the sticky bird nets and ground traps. Unfortunately, I forgot to scatter grain in the past few days, and there was no harvest.
The two of them looked around and felt that it would be a bad idea not to play in the snow on a snowy day, so they built a big snowman outside the farm and returned home happily.
...
We don't visit each other during the Laba Festival here. Chen Ling originally wanted to take advantage of the snow to have a drink with Wang Lixian, but that was no longer possible.
So I stayed at home, accompanying Wang Susu to make new quilts and stretch out the quilts. Squatting on the ground in the room, he either pulled her here or straightened it out and gave her a few blows.
Most of the quilts at home are double quilts.
Now that Wang Susu's belly has grown, if she and Chen Ling share a double quilt, they will easily get caught in the wind and catch a cold if they turn sideways at night, and there will also be many other inconveniences.
So after discussing it, the two decided to sleep separately, each with a single quilt at night.
Now the single quilt at home is a bit thin, and it is mostly covered in spring and autumn.
I have to make two new quilts.
The new cotton and old cotton cores at home were already played by the bullet cotton maker who came to the house a while ago, and they came in handy.
Wang Susu prepared to wadding everything with this year's new cotton. The wadding was thick and thick, so it would be warm when covered at night.
As for the double quilt, it can be used as a quilt for two people.
......
Wang Susu's needlework is undoubtedly very good. When the quilt is quilted and stretched, the large embroidery needle seems to have eyes in her hand. As soon as the needle was inserted, the head came out from the other direction. One stitch after another, the sound of the cotton thread kept making a sound, and the needle moved smoothly and skillfully.
When Chen Ling saw it, he only felt that it was a kind of enjoyment, and he did not feel bored.
After the quilt lining is sewn, put on the quilt cover and stretch it again.
In this way, carefully sew all sides of the quilt, both horizontally and vertically.
The stitches are evenly spaced horizontally and vertically, so that the quilt will not look fluffy, and the cotton batting will not run back and forth inside, making the quilt uneven in thickness.
The quilt stretched in this way is stronger and more durable.
However, needlework is a delicate job. The cotton in winter quilts is thick and the needle is very difficult to move. Even if Wang Susu is skilled in needlework, it took more than a day to make this quilt.
After all, she is pregnant and cannot squat on the ground sewing quilts for a long time. After doing it for a while, Chen Ling will help her up to rest.
The single quilt is ready.
The red quilt is also sewn with red cotton thread. The pattern is a ball of golden phoenixes. The gold and red colors match. It looks beautiful and feels soft and comfortable.
It feels much warmer when covered with it at night.
......
The snow this year should not be forgotten, it was really heavy. It stopped during the day in Laba and started to snow again at night. It didn’t stop until the afternoon of the ninth day of the Lunar New Year.
It has been snowing heavily for two consecutive days. Needless to say, the mountain road to the county seat has become inaccessible. It has also been impossible to go to buy new year's goods. If it snows again for another day, the mountains will be closed by heavy snow.
Chen Ling accompanied his wife to make a quilt, then went to the kitchen to boil a pot of water, and took two eggs that were still warm from the pot. After peeling them off, the egg whites were fed to the little weasel, and the egg yolks were Crush it and mix it into the corn grits in the earthen basin, then take it to the east barn to feed the pigeons.
After arriving at the warehouse, he mixed in some diluted cave spirit water.
This is for the injured male pigeon.
It has been bullied a bit badly by domestic pigeons. Chen Ling treated its injury a few days ago, but it was beaten again the next day. The wound on its head was pecked open before it healed. , the feathers on his head were all bald, and there was blood oozing out.
There is no way, since it is a pairing, the relationship must be cultivated, which depends on the male and the female running into each other, and the mouth of the female pigeon cannot be tied.
In this case, we can only raise the male pigeon to be stronger, supplement it with nutrients every day, and let the female pigeon accept it.
In fact, in most cases, if a male and female are locked together, this kind of thing will not happen.
The blame is that the pigeons raised by Chen Ling are too strong.
The male wild pigeon is like a son in front of this female pigeon, and the female pigeon doesn't like him at all.
So Chen Ling wanted to improve the male pigeon's physique and help him subdue the female pigeon.
Anyway, he is not in a hurry, as long as they can be paired up next spring.
But I didn’t expect that the effect would be seen in just a few days.
Although the wound of this male pigeon has not healed, Chen Ling gives him a small dose every day, and various nutrients will not make the wound worse.
Unexpectedly, because it is cold in the twelfth lunar month, it always comes close to the female pigeon in order to keep warm.
It doesn't matter if you get pecked frequently, you can still get close to them at night.
Actually, male pigeons are not such thieves originally. This is because of the cold weather.
In addition, the place is small, and the mother pigeon gradually loses her temper after going back and forth.
Chen Ling opened the basket now, and two pigeons, one big and one small, were stuck together. The smaller one had a bald forehead with bones and bloody scabs exposed. Chen Ling stretched out his hand to catch it, and then Feed on the ground.
This pigeon is also familiar with this process. It does not resist or avoid, but just guards the earthen basin and eats quietly.
After it was full, I put it back under the basket. It immediately cooed and came to the mother pigeon.
The mother pigeon saw this and spread her wings to flap it away, but it just moved forward. There was only so much space under the basket. The mother pigeon really had no place to hide, so the two pigeons stuck to each other again. Together, we warmed each other and fell asleep with our eyes closed.
"Well, that's good. I'll hatch a nest of pigeons next spring, and I'll feed you well every day."
Chen Ling nodded secretly.
I thought that pursuing the opposite sex still requires shamelessness, and the poultry industry is no exception.
After looking at the leftovers of the pigeons in the earthenware basin, Chen Ling walked to the large water tank at the base of the wall, scooped some water and rinsed it twice. Now the food residue in the earthenware basin suddenly floated on the surface of the water. Various and colorful fish quickly swam up from the bottom of the tank, snatching up all the food residue on the surface.
This is the fish in the small pond in the yard.
After Wang Zhenzhen's winter vacation, he and Liang Hongyu, one old and one young, fished out the fish from the small pond and put them in the water tank.
As for the red eels inside, they were all hidden in the mud caves. Chen Ling didn't bother to care about them. There were so many in the caves now, they were all in groups, and no one like Shanmao paid for them. After buying it, he didn't want to bother looking for it again.
After feeding the fish, put the basin down.
Chen Ling slipped out the rectangular chicken coop in the corner. Various birds were flying around inside. He blocked the cage door with one hand, reached in with the other hand, grabbed two sparrows, and held them in his hand.
Then we braved the wind and snow to lure kites outside the yard.
(End of this chapter)