Siheyuan: Big City, Small Love

After that, He Lai received many good things, including night-shining pearls, jades, large official kilns, bronzes and everything else.

He Lai also gave a good price, and every old man left satisfied.

He Lai was also very happy because there was also a chicken head, one of the twelve zodiac animals, inside!

I remember that after watching the movie "The Chinese Zodiac" starring Jackie Chan in my previous life, I became particularly interested in the animal heads of the twelve zodiac animals.

He Lai remembered very clearly that after the British and French allied forces burned down the Old Summer Palace in 1860, the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animals began to be lost overseas.

This was a painful lesson, and also the beginning of the Chinese people's resentment towards the old woman Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty. She fled without resistance, allowing the allied forces of the two countries to burn, kill and loot!

This has become a scar for every Chinese, deeply engraved in their hearts.

I didn't expect these old men would have one. It must have been sold by the British and French allied forces, and then the buyer took it into the coffin after his death, and they dug it out again.

In the past, seven bronze statues of an ox head, a monkey head, a tiger head, a pig head, a horse head, a rat head and a rabbit head returned to China in different ways.

The bronze statues of the ox head, monkey head, tiger head, pig head and horse head are now collected in the Poly Art Museum. Because the bronze statues of the ox head, monkey head and tiger head among these animal heads were acquired by Poly Group from overseas auctions, their company directly set up a museum, which can be regarded as a return to the country.

The horse head and the pig head were purchased by gambling king He at an auction and donated to the Poly Art Museum free of charge.

The bronze statues of the rat head and rabbit head were donated to China free of charge by the Pinault family of France and are now in the collection of the National Museum of China.

The dragon head is currently well preserved in Taiwan Province, but the skinheads in Taiwan Province will not return it.

The whereabouts of the four bronze statues - snake head, sheep head, chicken head and dog head - are still unknown.

Looking at the chicken heads in his hand, He Lai was so happy that he could not express it in words. After all, there were only three chicken heads that were missing.

That means that in the future only four will not be in China. He Lai will definitely get the dragon head of Wandao, no matter what.

The remaining three animal heads are either in the hands of the Eagle people or the French.

France donated two of the animal heads for free, and the Eagle Country auctioned three. It seems that I have to visit these two countries when I have the chance. After all, if they didn't sell them, the remaining animal heads would most likely be in the hands of the big families in their countries.

He Lai went back satisfied. The next day, he brought a lot of supplies to the ghost market and gave them money, meat and flour.

These old men all said that they would not come at night anymore and would enjoy themselves for a few months.

He Lai felt indescribable emotions when he saw these old men leaving in groups, pulling their carts.

……

At dawn, He Lai, Sha Zhu and Xu Damao went to Hejia Village.

When we arrived at Hejia Village, we learned that Xiaohu and Wu Sheng had already gone into the mountains to hunt, and they had brought many villagers with them.

Sha Zhu regretted so much that he slapped his thigh and thought to himself that he should have come earlier so that he might have been able to catch up.

"Xiao Laizi, why don't we go into the mountains too? Doesn't your grandfather know where Xiaohu and the others have gone? If we speed up, maybe we can catch up with them."

Sha Zhu suggested.

"Brother Zhuzi, we'd better not join in the fun. They hunt by setting iron traps and digging traps. It would be bad if we stepped on them."

He Lai politely declined.

"That's right. If you want meat, didn't Xiao Laizi's grandfather just tell you to go back and bring some for us?"

Xu Damao agreed and said that he didn't really want to go into the mountains either.

"Hey, then what are we here for?" Seeing that both of them disagreed, Sha Zhu immediately wilted.

"Haha, Brother Zhuzi, why don't you teach my grandma how to cook? Game has a strong fishy smell, and my grandma's cooking is definitely not as delicious as yours. Why don't you teach me? I'll ask my grandma to get you a few pairs of rabbit leather gloves later."

He Lai suggested.

"Okay then." Sha Zhu could only agree.

"Okay, I'll go out for a walk, you guys stay here."

He Lai said with a smile.

"Hey, where are you going, kid? I'm going too!" Seeing He Lai was about to leave, Xu Damao immediately stood up and wanted to follow him.

"Xu Damao, you stay and light the fire for me!"

As Sha Zhu said this, he pushed Xu Damao down.

"Why are you lighting a fire, He Yuzhu? There are so many women here, and no one is lighting a fire for you!" Xu Damao glared at Sha Zhu.

"They have to learn how to cook, and you are responsible for lighting the fire! Otherwise, you want to eat for free!"

"you!…"

"What do you mean, do you want to practice?"

"Bah, you are just a warrior, and you only know how to fight!"

"You're not even a mover!"

……

He Lai ignored them and went straight to the cowshed to help the old oxen deal with the bloating in their bodies and fed them some delicious food.

"Hey, Xiao Laizi, you are here to treat the old cows again!"

The old man who was looking after the cows came over and said with a smile.

In the past two years, He Lai came over from time to time to treat the cow's bloating, and the old man was used to it.

It’s just that He Lai’s technique was very quick, and every time he came, he never saw how He Lai treated the patient.

"Well, uncle, are you okay?" He Lai touched the yellow cow and said to the old man.

"It's OK, but I can't compare to your grandfather. I'm too old."

The old man smiled.

Now the old man is no longer a breeder. There are many breeders in the village! They raise many livestock! They were all caught by Xiaohu and his friends.

Seven or eight women in the village gathered together to raise them. They raised wild boars, goats, and everything else. As long as they could be raised, they would raise them.

When they grow up, they are sold to steel mills or killed to feed the villagers.

Because Hejia Village is a clan village, most people have the surname He, with only a few having other surnames, so the villagers are relatively united and no one dares to mess up. Even if there is, they will be suppressed by force.

Generally, they do whatever the clan leader says. The clan leader is also the village chief, who is now the production team leader.

"Haha, my grandpa also often wanders around and can't stay idle. He just went to the fields to check on the vegetable seedlings."

He Lai smiled.

Since the end of the communal dining system and the return of private plots to each household, He Lai has gotten many melon and vegetable seedlings for Grandpa He, especially pumpkin seedlings and winter melon seedlings. After all, the melons grown from these two kinds of seedlings are large in size and one can be eaten for several days.

Mr. He also watered the plants, removed insects and weeds, and carried manure to fertilize every day! Because there was no such thing as chemical fertilizers in those days, at least in the countryside, manure water was used for irrigation, so those were all pure natural and pollution-free green foods.

"Okay, then I'll go back! You continue with your work." Seeing that He Lai felt a little restrained because of him here, the old man said goodbye and left.

He Lai didn't stay long. After letting them eat their fill, he left.

When I returned to the yard, I found Sha Zhu and a group of women cooking. It looked so funny.

Sha Zhu was so flustered by the praise from the women that he probably even forgot what to do next.

Our classmate Xu Damao just sat there quietly watching the fire, with no intention of helping Sha Zhu.

He Lai couldn't help laughing when he saw this. He quietly walked behind Sha Zhu and patted his shoulder, which frightened Sha Zhu so much that he almost threw the spoon in his hand away.

"Hey, Xiao Laizi, you scared me!" Sha Zhu thought that a woman was patting him!

"Haha, Brother Zhuzi, what delicious food are you going to make?"

"Look for yourself. Minced meat and potatoes, braised rabbit, spicy and sour shredded potatoes, braised pork, and finally a serving of pickled fish."

Sha Zhu pointed at the ingredients on the chopping board and said.

"Xiao Laizi, Master He's cooking skills are incredible. Look at how the potatoes are cut. Your aunt-in-law thinks they're delicious."

The aunt laughed.

"Yes, now I know why the chef's dishes are so delicious. He has to prepare for so long before cooking. Look at the rabbit meat and pork. They have to be marinated for a while before they are fried. I have even forgotten what the ingredients are! I can't remember them, I can't remember them!"

The second aunt also spoke up.

……

The women chatted with each other, and in the end it turned into a blind date meeting. They kept asking Sha Zhu how many apprentices he had and whether he wanted wives, as they wanted to marry their daughters to them.

He Lai found this scene funny, thinking that if Sha Zhu had lowered his demands in his previous life and didn't care about a family of scholars or a match, he would have been married and had children long ago, and wouldn't have ended up being entangled by a widow.