Siheyuan: Happy Life of Jia Zhang Family

Several people put the geese in the cross-yard together. It felt like the whole yard was filled with the geese's cries. It was too noisy. Zhang Dabao took some corn stubble and cut some sweet potato vines to feed the geese. He also gave the geese water, and the noise became a little quieter.

"Seventh uncle, there are too many geese. Can I feed them all? My grandma said that big geese eat a lot." Banggeng was worried when he saw more than ten geese.

"Of course you can't do it by yourself. You have to find a way. Tomorrow I will pick out a few that don't lay eggs and give them away, and we will keep a few. How many do you think are suitable to feed? Six or eight?" Zhang Dabao asked Banggeng.

"Eight, maybe? I'll raise them together with Aunt Si Ni and Xiao Zheng. I'll divide the eggs given to me into two parts. I'll take one and divide the other equally between the two of them." Bang Geng is very smart and he thought of a solution in a short while.

"It is said that Banggeng is smart, much better than your father. This is a good idea. Let's go and discuss it with them," said Zhang Dabao, pinching Banggeng's fat face.

"Seventh Uncle, is the goose delicious?" Jia Dongxu saw Banggeng walking away and came over to ask.

"Of course it's delicious. Have you heard of stewed goose in an iron pot? It is a specialty dish in Northeast China. It uses goose as the raw material, supplemented with a variety of Chinese herbs and fine seasonings to form a unique recipe. It is cooked in a traditional cast iron pot. The skin is golden, the taste is pure, the meat is tender and boneless, the texture is tender, fragrant but not greasy, and it has an endless aftertaste. It is much more delicious than stewed chicken," Zhang Dabao said to Jia Dongxu.

"Really? You haven't eaten it before. Would you like to try it?" Jia Dongxu asked Zhang Dabao.

"You fucking idiot, you only know how to eat. Didn't you hear Da Biao and Bang Geng say? You should save the goose for laying eggs. Can you lay eggs if you eat the goose? You are so greedy, greedier than a dog." Zhang Cuihua was sitting aside to enjoy the cool air. After hearing what Jia Dongxu said, she walked over and started to hit Jia Dongxu on the back.

"Mom, I'm just asking, I'm not really going to eat it," Jia Dongxu said while running and looking back.

"Okay, stop hitting Dongxu. Just try it. Let's stew one in the yard tomorrow. I'll do it and you, Dongxu, will be responsible for killing the goose," said Zhang Dabao. Killing a goose is troublesome because the goose's neck is too long and it takes a long time to pluck the feathers.

"Okay!" After hearing this, Jia Dongxu ran back.

Zhang Lianhua laughed out loud. She thought her eldest nephew was really interesting, a guy who only cared about eating and not about being beaten.

Under the locust tree in the middle courtyard, Banggeng, Yan Jiedi and Niu Xiaozheng reached an agreement on raising geese. They discussed and decided to feed them once in the morning and once in the evening. There was still grass, so after school the three of them would go cut grass together, and they would cut more because geese were particularly greedy. Yan Jiedi and Niu Xiaozheng would share the goose eggs from Banggeng once a week.

"What? Banggeng invites you to raise geese together? Is there such a good thing?" Yan Bugui was stunned when he heard his daughter say this when he came home.

"Of course, I am very capable and not lazy at all when doing work. Banggeng and I are good friends. Brother Dabia also asked me and my third brother to help him dig sweet potatoes next Sunday. Brother Dabia said he would treat us to a good meal," Yan Jiedi said proudly.

"Your mother is more capable than you. Do you have time to raise geese while you are in school? Otherwise, let your mother raise them for you," Yan Bugui asked his daughter.

"Is my mom Banggeng's friend? I'm free too. We've agreed that we only need to feed the geese once in the morning and once in the evening. During the day, Banggeng will ask Sister Jingru to give the geese some water. After school in the afternoon, the three of us will go cut grass together. I'll have money in the future. I heard from Banggeng that a goose egg is 20 cents. Now there are eight geese, and they lay four eggs a day. So I can get one every two days, which is equivalent to 10 cents a day. It's great," said Yan Jiedi.

"An egg is five cents now. Goose eggs are so big and good for pregnant women. Two cents is not expensive. Jie Di, let's discuss how to divide the money you earn, okay? Otherwise, let your mother keep it for you. It would be embarrassing if you keep it on yourself," said Yan Bugui.

"I don't feel good at all. I'm going to fall asleep." Yan Jiedi was very smart. Of course, she knew what her father was thinking. What did the money have to do with her after it was in his hands? So she quickly returned to her room.

"The child has grown up and is hard to coax," Yan Bugui said self-deprecatingly.

After his sister returned to his room, Yan Jiekuang also returned to his room. His eldest and second brothers were not at home, so Yan Jiekuang now had his own room, and it was a large room of more than ten square meters. He was very satisfied with it.

In the morning, Zhang Dabiao picked out the old geese and male geese from the flock, and picked out five, leaving seven geese. Together with the one that Huang Xinsheng had originally kept, there were exactly eight geese. In the morning, they were still feeding the geese with sweet potato vines. Zhang Dabiao told the three people who came to feed the geese that the sweet potato vines on the three acres of land were given to them. After harvesting the sweet potatoes, they could store them aside and save them for the geese to eat when it rains or there is no grass in winter.

Zhang Dabao built a frame with the remaining wood in the yard, and bought some wooden boards from the recycling station. He made a simple house for the geese and also built a small shed for Banggeng and the others to store grass.

After finishing all these, a whole morning had passed. He tied the selected goose to Jia Dongxu's door in the backyard, waiting for him to come back from get off work and then just kill it.

After lunch break, Zhang Dabao took a few geese out. He gave a live goose to his aunt Wang Xiuqin and took one from Chunfeng Hutong. He planned to treat everyone to a meal. Friends need to communicate frequently. The more you communicate, the deeper the feelings will be.

There were also two big geese, which Zhang Dabao gave to his sixth brother Zhang Dasen and his friends. He hadn't seen them for a long time, so he gave them two geese to help them improve their lives.

After putting the goose down in Chunfeng Hutong, Zhang Dabao looked at the time. It was almost four o'clock. Jia Dongxu should be back, so he went home to stew the goose.

When we returned to Yard 95, Jia Dongxu had indeed returned. The water had been boiled, and the goose had been bled and the processing had begun.

Jia Dongxu was busy for more than an hour before he finally finished it. "It was so troublesome. I finally finished it with great difficulty," Jia Dongxu said as he straightened up and stretched his waist.

"If you want to eat good food, of course you have to work hard. Go boil a pot of water. Goose meat is quite fishy, ​​so it must be blanched. After Dongxu blanchs it, you need to wash it several times after taking it out before cooking. Otherwise, the goose meat will not taste good and the taste will be affected," Zhang Dabao said to Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu now listens to Zhang Dabao very much. He does whatever Zhang Dabao says without asking why, because Zhang Dabao is so professional in all aspects.

Jia Dongxu now has special respect for Zhang Dabiao. In Jia Dongxu's words, I just reacted a little slowly, but I'm not stupid. I didn't think about some things at the time, but I understood them after thinking about them a few more times. He knows that his family is living a good life now, thanks to Master Zhang. Why? Isn't he just his mother's younger brother? There are many people in the outside world who are in more difficult situations than his own family, so why doesn't he help?