The little sweetheart of the rough family

Zhao Hou fell asleep to the sound of "hmmmmhhhhhhh" from the neighbor.

When he woke up again, it was already the first moment of Shen Shi, and he went to the well in the yard with his eyes dazed. He bent down and brought up a bucket of well water. He first drank a couple of sips of it with his hands, and then washed his face. .

The well water is clear and sweet, and people are immediately sober.

When he got up, he subconsciously glanced at the courtyard wall, but the new neighbor stopped barking. He raised his hand to wipe the water off his face, and went straight to the kitchen.

There are unsold spring bamboo shoots piled on the kitchen floor.

He picked a few of the tenderest ones and threw them aside, intending to keep them for dinner.As for the rest, it is naturally made into dried bamboo shoots. When it snows heavily in winter, they can be made into dried bamboo shoots and roasted pork. Zhao Hou couldn't help swallowing when he thought of the delicious taste.

He first filled the pot with water, then skillfully lit the fire, and stuffed some dry firewood into the stove. When the water boiled, he picked up the pony beside him and sat down on the porch, and began to peel the bamboo shoots.

He works swiftly. When the water boils, the bamboo shoots have just been peeled and cut.He put the white and tender bamboo shoots into the pot, then picked up the bamboo shoots on the ground and threw them into the chicken coop in the corner of the yard.

The chicken coop is surrounded by a net, and besides the big pecking rooster, there are four hens.

Zhao Hou threw the bamboo shoots in his hands, and several chickens rushed over in a swarm, pecking at them with their heads down. Zhao Hou saw two eggs in the nest, and when he reached for them, the big rooster's neck His hair stood on end.

"You try to peck one?"

Zhao Hou made a threat, and then slandered in his heart, you didn't lay this damn egg, so why are you protecting it?

Perhaps the rooster was bullying the weak and afraid of the strong, retracting its wings that were about to spread, and pacing around to grab food from the hens.It went to the peaceful eating atmosphere in an instant, and a few chickens flapped their wings and flew around, screaming, and it was very noisy.

Zhao Hou had a headache for a while, and his eyes were still dazzled by the raised dust. Zhao Hou rubbed his eyes and thought, keeping this beast is a disaster.

He put the eggs into the porcelain jar in the cupboard, quickly fished out the boiled bamboo shoots and put them in cold water. After they were completely cool, he went to the utility room and took out a round dustpan, wiped them with a damp cloth. After cleaning, spread the bamboo shoots evenly on top.

After finishing all this, the rest is to wait for the sun to dry. He put the round dustpan on a high place where it can be easily exposed to the sun, and was about to go back to the kitchen to prepare dinner, but he heard a faint sobbing from the next door. , that is to say, his hearing is amazing, if it is someone else, he may not be able to hear it.

He leaned against the courtyard wall, listened carefully, and made sure that the new neighbor was indeed crying.

Zhao Hou was a little surprised.

Why do you always cry like a masculine man?He didn't want to care about it at first, but the unbearable crying went straight to his ears intermittently, which made him upset for a while, and finally decided to go to the next door to find out what happened.

The door next door was open, and the weeds in the yard were clumps here and there, like a mangy head, with one bald spot and another bald spot.And Cheng Yanping was sitting in the bushes, with his hands hugging his knees, his head buried tightly in his arms, his thin back twitching.

Zhao Hou Quzhi knocked on the door twice.

"You... are you all right?"

Cheng Yanping didn't expect that there would be someone behind him, so he hurriedly wiped his face with his sleeve, and when he got up, he saw Zhao Hou standing at the door, feeling more and more ashamed.He lived a life of gold and jade in the first 20 years, and he had never been so embarrassing in front of outsiders.

Well now, all his embarrassment fell into his eyes.

He stared fixedly at Zhao Hou, tears streaming down his face.It's all like this anyway, can it be worse?

Zhao Hou was a little puzzled, he just stood outside the door and did nothing, why did the people inside cry more and more fiercely?He has always been a loner, and he rarely talks to others, let alone comforts them.

But the man was standing among the deep and shallow grass, his moon-white clothes were covered with mud and blood stains, and his face, which could turn all sentient beings upside down, was also covered with stains, like a little cat.

Zhao Hou looked at Cheng Yanping who was crying uncontrollably, and was at a loss for a while.

The raised hand was lowered and raised again, and it took a long time to squeeze out the word "you".

This Cheng Yanping was also broken, tears had already blurred his eyes, anyway, he couldn't see Zhao Hou's expression, so just laugh at it if you like.He held up the sickle in his hand, and his voice was choked up.

"I...I just want to clean up the yard, but...but he also bullies me with this scythe..."

Zhao Hou glanced at the rusty scythe in his hand, secretly marveling in his heart, but it was just such a trivial matter, why are you crying so sadly?If people who don't know the situation see this, they might think that he has done something to him?

"The sickle in your hand is rusted, you have to sharpen it with a whetstone to make it sharp and fast..." He walked towards Cheng Yanping as he spoke, and put the sickle in his hand To snatch it.

Cheng Yanping didn't know what happened to him?He obviously made up his mind to start from scratch and live a good life, but when he mowed the grass just now, every time the scythe went down, he didn't necessarily cut a lot of grass, but he was always injured.

The more he cut, the more angry he became. He didn't know if he was angry with the sickle or with himself.

In the end, his body was covered with injuries, but the grass was not cut off much. At that time, there was a wind blowing, and the tip of the grass swayed slightly. Every blade of grass seemed to be mocking his incompetence.

He couldn't hold it back at that time, but he didn't dare to cry too loudly, for fear of being laughed at by others, so he just sat on the ground and wept silently, but unexpectedly the Orion next door came.

Seeing that he was still crying, Zhao Hou was anxiously scratching his head and scratching his head, not knowing what to do, the mayor came in with something.

As soon as the mayor came in, he saw Cheng Yanping, who was covered in bruises and crying pear blossoms and rain. Regardless of 21, he rushed behind Zhao Hou, jumped up, and slapped him on the back of the head. .

"You little bastard, why did you bully people like this? Fortunately, I still praise you when I meet people, you really..."

He was filled with righteous indignation, "Apologize, apologize quickly."

Zhao Hou got hit for no reason, and his face immediately turned ugly.

Cheng Yanping laughed out loud when he saw the two staring at each other. He choked up and said, "Mayor, don't blame him. It's all my own fault. I'm too stupid to even Not mowing the grass."

The mayor directly stood between the two of them, protecting Cheng Yanping behind him.

"Xiao Cheng, don't be afraid. Tell me how he bullied you, and I'll make the decision for you..."

Bully?

Inexplicably, Cheng Yanping thought of the red-faced words he said while leaning in the man's arms last night, and what the man did to help him detoxify. Is this considered bullying?

"Mayor, he really didn't bully me."

The mayor turned around suspiciously, and seeing blood stains on Cheng Yanping's body, he hurriedly checked him.This inspection was truly incredible. Cheng Yanping's skin was already delicate, but there were scrapes from rolling down the hillside last night, cuts from sickles, and pecks from chickens.

Although they were not serious injuries, they were scary enough to look at.

The mayor shouted at Zhao, "What are you still doing? Why don't you take someone to the hospital to bandage the wound?"

Zhao Hou originally wanted to refuse, after all the mayor gave him a slap indiscriminately, but seeing the blood spots on Cheng Yanping's arm, he still squatted down in front of him.

"Mayor, don't worry, these are minor injuries, it's nothing serious, really..."

Cheng Yanping felt that he was making a fuss out of a molehill, so he waved his hand and refused.

Zhao Hou lost his patience and roared in a deep voice, "Hurry up."

Cheng Yanping looked at the mayor, and obediently lay on the man's back, "Well... Actually, I can walk by myself..."

The man's strong hands supported his legs, and then he walked out steadily.

There is only one medical clinic in Longmen Town.

The doctor, surnamed He, was an old man with white beard and hair. After treating Cheng Yanping's wound, he prescribed some medicines to relieve pain and blood stasis.

After all this commotion, when they returned to the small courtyard again, the sky had already darkened.

The mayor looked at the mess in the yard, and said, "Xiao Cheng, you are injured now, you should take care of it after you heal up." After speaking, he glanced at Zhao Hou, seeing that he didn't respond, he made up for it again. He said, "Zhao Hou, do you think so?"

Zhao Hou naturally knew what he was up to, so he leaned against the door with his arms folded and didn't answer.

The mayor withdrew his gaze, thumped his lower back a few times with circled hands, and coughed a few times pretendingly.

"Oh, take pity on my old bones, Xiao Cheng, if you don't mind, you can rest at my house tonight..."

Zhao Hou looked at his hunched back walking out, the corners of his lips twitched.

You are only in your fifties, how can you become an old bone?

The mayor was about to step out of the door with one foot. Seeing that Zhao Hou still didn't move, he simply straightened up, opened his legs, and ran straight away.

"Zhao Hou, today I will hand over Xiao Cheng to you. If there is a hair missing tomorrow, I will only ask you. Besides, it's all neighbors' neighbors, so we should take care of each other."

The voice just fell, and the person disappeared.

Zhao Hou: "???" With such a healthy old bone?

As soon as the mayor left, only Cheng Yanping and Zhao Hou were left looking at each other.One of them stood inside the door, and the other stood outside the door, until the last ray of light in the sky disappeared, Zhao Hou said first, "Come with me."

Cheng Yanping didn't want to disturb him either, and was even more afraid of being alone with him, after all what happened last night...

But after looking at the messy room, he locked the door and followed.

As soon as Zhao Hou got home, he got into the kitchen. After waiting for a long time, no one came in, so he poked his head out of the kitchen and saw Cheng Yan shrunk at the door, confronting the big rooster in the coop.

"Come in, it doesn't come out of the cage at night."

Cheng Yanping let out an "oh", and ran into the kitchen at a trot.

The kitchen area is small, and the double stoves occupy most of the space. There is a large water tank in the corner beside it. There is a cabinet next to the water tank, and there is a window near the door.

The moment Cheng Yanping came in, he seemed more cramped and crowded.

Zhao Hou was making dinner, knowing he was coming, he didn't even raise his head, "Can you make a fire?"

"meeting."

Cheng Yanping subconsciously gave an affirmative answer.

Zhao Hou raised his head, one who can't even use a sickle, can't mow grass, but can start a fire?You must know that making a fire is also a science. When to use a high fire and when to use a low fire, there is no mistake at all. If you make a mistake, the rice will be burnt or the vegetables will be burnt.

Under his scorching gaze, Cheng Yanping lowered his head.

"I...I can learn..."

Zhao Hou first cleaned the rice and put it in the pot, put some water in it, covered the pot, lit the fire himself, and then ordered, "Just burn it on a medium fire, and stop the fire when you see white steam coming out. "

Cheng Yanping obediently said "oh", held the tongs, and stared at the fire in the pot hole.

This Zhao Hou divided the tender bamboo shoots left in advance into two parts, one part was blanched in cold water and then torn into shredded bamboo shoots, and placed in a plain porcelain bowl.

The other part was cut into thin slices of bamboo shoots and placed on a plate.

Cheng Yanping saw white steam rising from the pot, so he quickly turned off the fire. Zhao Hou didn't tell him anything else, so he got up and walked to Zhao Hou's side. Because Zhao Hou had his back to him, he could only I heard the sound of "Tuk Tuk Tuk" chopping vegetables, but I couldn't see it.

Now that I saw it, I realized that Zhao Hou's knife skills are very good. In the blink of an eye, minced garlic, chopped green onion, and minced ginger were all chopped and put into a small bowl. Zhao Hou ignored him and put it into the small bowl. I poured a little soy sauce and vinegar, and sprinkled some sesame seeds from the small urn in the cupboard.

"Fire the pot inside too."

Cheng Yanping was in a hurry to light the fire again, but luckily, the fire was still alive. Looking at the flames burning in the pot hole, he felt a sense of satisfaction and pride in his heart.

"Zhao Hou, can I worship you as my teacher?"

After Zhao Hou waited for the pot to heat up, he poured the rapeseed oil into it. A strong smell of oil wafted from the kitchen. When the oil was warmed up, he scooped some more with an iron spoon and poured it over the previous pot. In the prepared seasoning.

After the sound of "zilazila", Zhao Hou mixed the seasoning with chopsticks, and then poured it on the shredded bamboo shoots.

This dish of cold bamboo shoots is ready.

The oil in the pot was hot, and Zhao Hou didn't have time to answer. He put the pre-cut bacon and green onion and ginger slices into the pot. For a while, the kitchen was full of oily smoke. Zhao Hou waved the spatula and stir-fried. The bamboo shoots were put in.

Soon, dinner will be ready.

Cold shredded bamboo shoots, bacon and spring bamboo shoots, two dishes for two people.

Zhao Hou was sweating profusely because he wanted to cook vegetables, so he asked Cheng Yanping to bring the food to the main room, and then went to wash up by the well.

When he came back, he couldn't help laughing at Cheng Yanping's gluttonous look, "I didn't tell you to wait, if you're hungry, eat first." After speaking, he sat down and ate .

It took a while to realize that the person beside him didn't move his chopsticks, and he glanced at him curiously, "The food doesn't suit your appetite?"

Cheng Yanping shook his head, looking at the white rice in the bowl in embarrassment.

"It was more than I could eat......"

Zhao Hou was stunned for a moment, he was the one who served the rice, he thought it was just a guest, so there was no reason to only serve a small amount for the guests, so he filled it up according to his usual appetite.He pushed the bowl towards Cheng Yanping.

"Why don't you pick some for me."

Cheng Yanping blushed, picked up half of the rice and put it in Zhao Hou's bowl.

Zhao Hou took the bowl and muttered something.

"Why do you eat so little like a cat? No wonder you're so thin..."

Cheng Yanping didn't speak, just ate with his head down.

Zhao Hou's craftsmanship is very good, the shredded bamboo shoots in cold sauce are delicious and sweet, while the spring bamboo shoots with bacon are smooth and refreshing, the salty aroma of bacon and the fragrance of bamboo shoots blend together, Cheng Yanping is very satisfied with this meal.

It was the best meal he had had in over a year.

Zhao Hou ate very quickly, Cheng Yanping only took a few mouthfuls, and he had already finished it, probably because he ate in a hurry, his forehead was sweating profusely.

"You said just now that you want to worship me as a teacher?"