bayedsolid Chapter 24: A Kind of Relief
Chapter 24: A Kind of Relief
"Did someone hit him? Or did he get hurt accidentally?"
"No, no, he's fine. He has no injuries. He died at home."
The two sisters sat together, looking at the fire at the bottom of the pot. The flames flickered and they licked the black bottom of the pot from time to time. They stared at each other and didn't know what to say for a while.
In terms of seniority, they have to call Shagang "uncle".
Although Shagang is stupid, he is tall and strong and has great strength. During the busy farming season every year, he is the main worker in the family.
His sudden departure must have made my aunt feel bad, after all, tomorrow is Uncle Dashun's good day.
What will the new daughter-in-law and her in-laws think?
As smoke rose from the pot, Zhou Mingshu adjusted his attention and brought out the basin wrapped in a rag.
The basin contains a mixture of mugwort, mint, lemongrass and lard, which is green and exudes a refreshing fragrance.
"Sana, you've finished it so quickly. Is this the anti-itch ointment?"
"Not yet. It's not that simple. There are still many steps to go."
Zhou Mingshu took a pair of chopsticks and stirred it. The amount of water coming out was quite good. Then he waited for the water to cool down and filter it.
"By the way, are the bamboo tubes for Big Brother and Xiaojie ready?"
"I have already prepared it, but I didn't tell you because you were still asleep."
Zhou Mingqi brought in seven or eight bamboo tubes from outside and placed them on the table.
My brother made the bamboo tube a little too long, which will be inconvenient to use when the time comes.
It took a while for the hot oil to cool down, so she took the tools and shortened the bamboo tube again.
After washing it thoroughly inside and out, dry it all in the stove.
"Second sister, it's so late, why haven't grandma and the others come back yet? Will they be busy until the evening? Do we have to prepare dinner?"
"I don't know either. Why don't we go ask her? It's a good opportunity to call back our eldest sister."
"Yeah, wait for me."
Zhou Mingshu moved all the things he had spread out to his room to avoid getting wood ash on them when he cooked later.
Then I washed the pots and dishes.
Unfortunately, after being heated in water for a period of time, the white porcelain plate was actually stained by the mugwort.
Zhou Mingshu washed for a long time but failed to remove the dye, so he had to soak it in a basin for a while.
The two of them closed the house and walked towards the village entrance.
There were few people along the way, not even a dog, and they all ran to the village entrance.
From a long distance away, they could hear wailing in the yard, just like the one that happened when their grandfather was buried some time ago.
The two sisters looked at each other, the pain in their hearts was self-evident.
After finding her family, Mrs. Zhou still couldn't stop crying.
After knowing the purpose of the children's visit, they asked Zhu and Feng to take the children home and cook some food for them.
She and the old family stayed here to help guard the place.
In fact, Boss Zhou and several of his brothers were there, but they were on the other side with the men in the family.
"Second sister-in-law, what do you think this is? Alas~"
"This is fate, but for Shagang, this is also a relief. I don't have to worry so much anymore."
"makes sense."
"Mother, why did the silly jar die?"
Children have nothing to do with what adults say, Zhou Mingshu raised his questions carefully.
"Eat wine and nothing else."
"what?"
Zhou Mingshu and the others were all very surprised.
Can drinking alcohol kill people?
Zhou Mingshu never expected that this kind of pure grain wine in ancient times could also kill people.
In the past, she thought that the drunkards who died in the news were all due to drinking fake alcohol. She really didn't want to believe this cause of death. It was too unexpected. Who could have thought of it?
"Tomorrow is your uncle Dashun's good day, so your aunt and her family bought a lot of wine today, intending to use it for the banquet tomorrow. But Shagang said he wanted to drink it, so we gave him some to try. But he wanted to drink more. Your aunt was already so busy with the wedding that she was confused. Who would have thought that Shagang would secretly hold the jar of wine and drink it in the woodshed? When he was found, he was already a little stiff..."
Everyone sighed at the same time. This tragedy should not have happened.
That's why the silly mother cried so loudly, slapped herself in the face and scolded herself for not taking good care of her son.
The silly grandma held her daughter-in-law's hand to stop her from hurting herself, but she couldn't stop her.
The whole family hugged each other and cried. Dashun was an honest man who didn't talk much usually. But at this time he just hugged his brother's body and cried.
Mingyuan and Minghua were still young, so Zhu and Feng didn't say anything more.
Everyone would have to come back to eat later, so the two of them hurried to cook, and Zhou Mingqin also helped.
The dark clouds in the sky are already very thick, and it looks like it will rain tonight.
The younger ones put all the things that could not be soaked in the water into the woodshed, and Zhou Mingshu put all the dried lemongrass into his own room.
After being exposed to the scorching sun for two days, the lemongrass couldn't stand the heat and curled up. They made a rustling sound when touched, but their unique fragrance was still there.
"Sanya, didn't you wash the snails? Are you still going to do it?"
It might be too late to do it now, so Zhou Mingshu thought about doing it tomorrow.
So I just made some dinner casually.
The old lady had instructed at noon that the pig skin and lean meat should be eaten at night, otherwise the meat would go bad after a day, so Zhu selected the side dishes, stir-fried them and served them out of the pot.
There was a dish of thin corn porridge with wild vegetable dumplings, a dish of pickled cucumbers and diced radishes, a dish of fried lean meat with black fungus, a dish of fried pork skin with garlic sprouts, and a dish of cold shepherd's purse, which was served in the dish that had not been washed clean.
The dishes were not all served. Zhu took out some and put them in a clean bowl, leaving them for Old Lady Zhou and the other people who had not returned.
"Hurry up, eat quickly, wash up and go back to the house after eating, otherwise it will be difficult to clean up if it rains later."
Because of Zhou Mingshu, the dishes on their family's table are now seasoned with some lemongrass and dogwood. There are also more meat in the dishes. Everyone has a thin layer of sweat on their forehead. Compared with the meal at noon, this meal is unexpectedly delicious.
Not caring about the stickiness on their bodies, everyone ate their meal hastily and began to fetch water to wash.
Zhou Mingzhi also took the time to ask Zhou Mingshu if the bamboo tubes were okay and could be used. If not, he would modify them.
Zhou Mingshu naturally said that it could be used, and if there was a need next time, he would be contacted again.
Zhou Mingzhi was praised and happily scooped up some water to go to the backyard to take a bath.
Zhu washed the pot and the dishes, then put the hot rice in the pot to keep it warm.
If my mother-in-law and everyone else come back late, they can still have a hot meal.
After Zhou Mingshu finished his shower and dried his hair, he started searching for things in the kitchen.