Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 213

Zhao Tingming naturally knew that Zhao Da'e's uncle-in-law, Zhang Ruifeng, owned a tractor, so he said, "Okay, you just need to find someone to help you haul bricks. Your little uncle is home recently, and I don't have much time, otherwise I should help you out."

"My work isn't in a rush."

After receiving the chopped strips, Zhao Da'e returned to the old house.

The wine is necessary; Zhao Tiegang won't get confused without it, and I doubt he'd be able to help with this.

In winter, food was scarce in the north. Zhao Da'e went to his relative Zhao Tieqing's house downstairs and borrowed two sauerkrauts and a few scallions. He also went to another relative's house and borrowed some dried mushrooms that he had picked in the mountains in the fall. He went to his fourth grandfather's house and got some frozen tofu from his third brother. He also rummaged through the storeroom and found a bottle of fermented bean curd, which is stinky tofu...

They found some more glass noodles, wide ones... They still had some cabbage at home, and Zhao Da'e went to his aunt's house to get the remaining two pounds of mutton and a piece of pork belly. Since everything was frozen, they had the ingredients for the hot pot.

The rest is just a matter of using a bowl to solve the problem of the pot...

Zhao Da'e didn't have a pot for hot pot, so she stood around the big iron pot in the warehouse, looking troubled.

We can't possibly use this huge pot to eat hot pot...

It's not that it's impossible, it's just that there's nowhere to sit.

You can't just sit on the kang (heated brick bed), take a bite, and then get up to fetch something from the pot.

However, due to limited family resources, this was the only option.

Zhao Da'e sighed and first lit a fire to get two thermos flasks of hot water.

He then went out and called Zhao Tiesheng and Zhao Tiegang, who were working, into the house.

"I'm treating my third uncle to hot pot today."

"What is hot pot?" Zhao Tiegang asked, completely bewildered.

Zhao Tiesheng was also quite bewildered; they genuinely didn't know what hot pot was. There wasn't a name for hot pot in that era; it was a term that came from the south later on. At this time, in Northeast China, it was called "iron pot stew."

"Never mind, let's eat at the stove. Third Uncle, I heard you have good knife skills and nimble fingers, so please slice this meat into the thinnest slices possible. The thinner the better."

Hearing Zhao Da'e's praise, Zhao Tiegang laughed happily: "Da'e, just you wait and see, your third uncle is really capable..."

Zhao Da'e chuckled: "As expected, Zhao Laosan can't resist praise."

Zhao Tiegang skillfully used a cleaver to slice the frozen mutton and pork.

It must be said that Zhao Tiegang's hands were really skillful; the slices of meat he cut were indeed very thin. Although they couldn't compare to those cut by machines in later generations, they were still passable.

Zhao Da'e asked Zhao Tiesheng to warm up some wine.

Zhao Tiesheng asked, "Should we go and greet your grandfather?"

Zhao Da'e refused, and it was clearly unlikely that he would invite Zhao Tingxu over. The relationship between Zhao Da'e and Zhao Tingxu was only temporarily limited to the fact that one of them was too old and the other too young, so they hadn't actually fought...

So Zhao Da'e waved his hand and said, "Forget it, the old man probably looks down on eating this little bit of stuff."

Zhao Tiesheng had no choice but to give up. He took a ladle, put some hot water in it, then took out a large tea mug, rinsed it clean, poured in a large mug of white wine, and warmed it up.

Then he took out two wine cups.

While cutting the meat, Zhao Tiegang said, "Second Brother, don't use wine cups, just use bowls. With bowls, you can drink to your heart's content."

Zhao Tiesheng: "Drink less..."

Zhao Da'e and Zhao Tiegang both glanced at Zhao Tiesheng at the same time: things are more complicated.

Zhao Da'e was in charge of adding firewood to the stove, and soon the water boiled.

Afterwards, Zhao Da'e found some sesame paste, added some soy sauce, chopped green onions, and fermented bean curd, and that became his dipping sauce.

"Third Uncle, could you chop some chili peppers? Adding them to the soup should make it taste good."

Zhao Tiesheng replied, "You're too young to handle spicy food. Those small chili peppers are extremely spicy."

Zhao Da'e knew she was young and that chili peppers were spicy, but she still wanted to eat them... Although Zhao Tiesheng was still being fussy this time, Zhao Da'e wasn't too bothered and replied casually, "I'll eat a little."

Zhao Tiegang chopped the meat and chili peppers quickly and efficiently. He then said, "These chili peppers would taste even better if they were fried in oil. But we don't have a pot right now, so I'll fry some chili sauce for you in a few days."

"Alright then..." Zhao Da'e said with a drawn-out laugh, "Third Uncle, you're the most capable man in our family~"

Zhao Tiegang got goosebumps listening to this, and casually patted Zhao Da'e's head: "Da'e, calm down. I'll go get some stools, wait for me..."

So Zhao Tiegang went back to his room and got a few wooden stools. They were four-legged stools, the kind he could easily make at home; the carpenter had made them for his wedding. Zhao Tiegang took four stools, and then he also took a work surface.

The work surface is new; it's what I usually use for kneading dough. However, this one seems newly made; it hasn't been used yet, as the rough edges of the willow wood are still there.

Zhao Tiegang placed one end of the cutting board on the edge of the stove and the other end on a stool, thus creating a simple dining table. Although it was rather rudimentary, it was enough to hold some bowls and chopsticks.

After finishing all that, Zhao Tiegang gave one of the other two stools to Zhao Tiesheng and the other to Zhao Da'e.

"Second brother, please have a seat."

Zhao Tiesheng frowned. He clearly disapproved of Zhao Da'e's gluttonous lifestyle. What kind of family could afford to live like this, eating meat all day long?

Isn't this life all about saving money?

However, Zhao Tiesheng didn't dare to scold Zhao Da'e, since he didn't know where her money came from. But regardless of where her money came from, she was undeniably wealthy…

Zhao Tiesheng simply sat down with a furrowed brow and said nothing.

Although Zhao Tiegang is usually quite lazy... well, you can't really say that Zhao Tiegang is extremely lazy. He just doesn't work very often. After all, he's already quite busy if he's awake for four or five hours a day.

Zhao Tiegang brought over the warm wine, then poured a bowl full.

Upon seeing the bubbles forming on the surface of the wine, Zhao Tiegang's eyes immediately lit up...

Zhao Da'e was a little incredulous: Holy crap... my third uncle's eyes are practically glowing green when he sees alcohol.

Before Zhao Da'e could say anything, Zhao Tiegang lowered his head, took a sip of wine, then closed his eyes and said comfortably, "Wine is the essence of grain; the more you drink, the younger you become."

Zhao Tiesheng glared at Zhao Tiegang and sighed, "You're not even thirty yet, you're still young."

Zhao Da'e didn't take it seriously and asked, "Dad, would you like a drink?"

Zhao Tiesheng thought for a moment and said, "I'll use a wine cup and drink two cups."

Zhao Tiegang was quick-witted and poured Zhao Tiesheng a wine cup.

"Third Uncle, don't rush to drink. Let's have some meat," Zhao Da'e said.

Two pounds of mutton and two or three pounds of pork belly is still a lot.

Zhao Tiegang poured some mutton into the pot, and Zhao Da'e prepared the dipping sauce. Feeling that something was missing, he finally found a clove of garlic and peeled it himself.

Zhao Da'e doesn't drink alcohol. She picked up a slice of meat, put it in her bowl, rinsed it briefly, and ate it.

Comfortable.

In winter, nothing beats a hot pot meal.

Although the conditions are quite basic, it can still be considered a hot pot meal.

"Oh dear... Uncle San, I forgot to chop the sauerkraut." Zhao Da'e chuckled.

Zhao Tiegang took another sip of wine, scooped out a wide rice noodle from the pot and ate it, then got up and went to wash and chop the sauerkraut.

Sometimes, Zhao Da'e couldn't help but sigh that Zhao Tiegang's temper seemed to be better than Zhao Tiesheng's.

Of course, this is probably just a facade. After all, Zhao Da'e is just a niece, and Zhao Tiegang wouldn't dare to say anything too deep. Moreover, Zhao Da'e and Zhang Cuilan had an absurdly bad relationship. Now that Zhang Cuilan has run away, the fact that Zhao Da'e occasionally treats Zhao Tiegang to a drink or a meal is a sign of genuine filial piety.

Zhao Tiegang simply loves to drink, and he always gets drunk. But he's not stupid; he can cause trouble with old men and women when he's broke, but he has no right to cause trouble with Zhao Da'e when he's broke.

Zhao Da'e provided meals, and he did the work of chopping vegetables; he thought it was perfectly normal.

Moreover, Zhao Da'e himself sometimes doesn't like to do those things. He's busy all day long, and these two people basically didn't do much work in the morning. They just chopped some vegetables, which is perfectly reasonable.

Once the sauerkraut is chopped, the ingredients are basically complete.

Zhao Da'e picked up a scallion, dipped it in soybean paste, and took a bite.

He then shook his head: "Our homemade soybean paste is terrible. We'll open it before it's ready."

“No, these are leftovers from last year. We didn’t make any this year because your mother isn’t home and there’s no one to do the work,” Zhao Tiegang said honestly.

With Cheng Jinxiang not home, the Zhao family's entire supply chain essentially collapsed. Everything from making soybean paste, tofu, and sesame salt disappeared. Even pickled vegetables were no longer being prepared.

"By the way, when is your mother coming back?" Zhao Tiegang asked.

"I don't know, don't ask, I don't know either," Zhao Da'e replied evasively.

"Eat meat."

Zhao Da'e happily ate the meat, and when he could eat, he tried his best not to talk.

Zhao Tiegang also ate very comfortably. He had a little wine, a couple of bites of meat, a couple of bites of pickled cabbage, and some rice noodles. The main thing was that it was hot, and it was even more comforting than the pork stew.

Especially when the wine is warmed, the feeling upon entering the stomach is like that of a god. Before you know it, you've finished a bowl, and then you pour yourself a second bowl.

Zhao Da'e ate very comfortably. After finishing a piece of meat, he ate some pickled cabbage and some chili peppers, and he felt particularly comfortable.

It's been so many years since I've enjoyed eating this comfortably.

The three of them ate for quite a while, and Zhao Tiegang finished his second bowl of wine before Zhao Da'e said, "Third Uncle, one more bowl is enough. This bowl is at least four liang (200 grams), so two bowls would be eight liang (400 grams). One more bowl at most, or you'll drink too much."

"It's alright, it's low in alcohol." Zhao Tiegang poured another bowl of wine: "But Da'e is worried that Uncle San will drink too much, so Uncle San should only drink three bowls."

"Okay, go to sleep after you finish drinking," Zhao Da'e said.

Zhao Tiesheng, who was standing to the side, took out a tobacco basket that had been used to store dry tobacco, rolled a cigarette, and then puffed on it.

Zhao Tiesheng didn't smoke before, but recently he's had too many worries, so he's slowly started smoking.

He had no money, so he could only roll some tobacco to smoke.

He didn't keep any of the money Zhao Tiesheng and Cheng Jinxiang had earned before. Now, while other people's lives are getting better and better, his own life is getting worse and worse, and there is even a faint risk of the partnership falling apart.

Life is getting harder and harder, and these past few days the family has run out of rice and flour. They only have some sorghum to make do with. If it weren't for Zhao Da'e coming back, he wouldn't have cooked a meat dish for himself in a long time.

Zhao Tiesheng didn't think he had done anything wrong; he just felt that this was the most difficult time of his life.

Thinking of this, he drank two more cups of wine.

Seeing that she had drunk enough, Zhao Da'e prepared to get back to the main topic. She had something to do today, and drinking was just a prelude.

“Third Uncle, I got some bricks. I bought them on credit, and my dad knows about it. These red bricks are from our village's brick factory. I bought them for five thousand yuan. After that, we have to get the bricks back. If we don't get them back, how can we build this house? Right?” Zhao Da’e said slowly.

“Third Uncle, you know our ox is about to give birth. It’s definitely not suitable for hauling bricks, and besides, an oxcart is too slow. In this freezing weather, I was thinking of using a tractor. Perfect, my aunt’s family has a tractor, and in previous years during the autumn harvest, my uncle would drive the tractor home to help with the harvest. I was thinking of having my uncle drive the tractor, and you guys could help haul the bricks back.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tiegang nodded in agreement: "It's so cold today, the oxen definitely won't be able to withstand it. How about we wait until spring?"

"There's still work to be done in the spring."

Zhao Tiegang rubbed his hair: "Then we can only ask your uncle to drive and bring the bricks home. What can your uncle say about bringing bricks to his own house? Why don't you just have your dad talk to him directly?"

Zhao Da'e said with some difficulty, "My father doesn't have the same popularity as you, Uncle."

To be honest, Zhao Tiesheng is not as likable as Zhao Tiegang. Firstly, it's due to Zhao Tiesheng's personality. Compared to Zhao Tiegang, Zhao Tiesheng's way of speaking is unpleasant. Even Zhao Da'e (a famous goose) is too lazy to talk to him. So even though Zhao Tiegang also has many flaws, he only drinks and nothing else.

So, to be fair, which person would be more likable in real life: someone who works hard but has a bad tongue, or someone who doesn't work but never talks nonsense?

It was Zhao Tiegang, of course.

Moreover, Zhao Tiegang could be shameless. Although he himself wasn't very shameless, he was the youngest son in the Zhao family. No matter how much Zhao Tiegang angered Zhao Tingxu, Zhao Tingxu still thought Zhao Tiegang was good.

When people get old, they all tend to prefer their youngest son.

This is a local tradition.

Speaking of tradition, the traditions of Dongtaizi Village are different from those of many Han Chinese cultures.

In many Han Chinese cultures, the eldest brother is considered the primary heir of a family.

Especially in the southwest region, families would pool all their money to send the eldest brother or sister to school. Afterwards, the eldest brother or sister would then turn around and support their younger siblings.

However, in Dongtaizi, it's more of a blend of Mongolian and Han cultures, even leaning more towards Mongolian culture.

The prevailing custom here is to have fewer sons to manage the household.

This is consistent with the practice of Genghis Khan leaving Tolui to guard the home while his other brothers went out to conquer their own territories.

Therefore, Zhao Tiegang is the youngest son, and he is theoretically the legal heir.

Zhao Da'e was well aware of this, and in fact, everyone was well aware of it.

It's normal that Zhao Tiegang is liked by his parents.