nycdaug Chapter 114: Kitchen God (2)
Chapter 114: Kitchen God (2)
At dusk, after Li Dali finished his own affairs, he returned to Zhao's place.
He was going to take the big bull to the kitchen to prepare for the "sending of the stove".
According to the local custom, 'men do not worship the moon, and women do not worship the kitchen god', so only the two of them were there to complete this task.
The offering table has been set up in the kitchen, and it is filled with offerings.
Li Dali burned incense to the Kitchen God in the shrine on the stove wall and painted the Kitchen God's mouth with sugar, while Li Daniu smeared the stove door with wine dregs.
According to legend, the Kitchen God faces heaven and tells the Jade Emperor about the good and evil deeds of the people, and then rewards and punishes them. If you put sugar on the stove door, it will be sticky and unable to speak; if you smear the stove door with wine dregs, it is called "Drunk God of Life".
Then they took off the paper with the image of the Kitchen God and put it into the stove together with the paper horse to burn. During this process, Li Dali was muttering something, while Li Daniu stood beside him with a solemn look on his young face.
It is said that in this way the Kitchen God can climb out of the chimney and ascend to heaven with the smoke.
Please ask the Kitchen God to eat and drink, and let him go to heaven when he is drunk and full. He will pray for good things from heaven and keep the world below safe.
After everything was done, the whole family sat together in the main room and prepared to eat.
After a quick bite in the morning and at noon, everyone was already starving. In the first quarter of an hour, almost no one spoke, as everyone was busy eating.
Zhao is good at cooking. Although the ingredients in the countryside are limited and lack seasonings, she can still make simple dishes fresh, tender and delicious.
The only pity is that there is no chili pepper. In his previous life, Zhou Xiaoxi loved spicy food, but after coming to this time and space, his daily meals have become bland.
However, the environment is more important than the sky, and she gradually began to adapt. A person who can taste the sweetness of a rough pancake has a strong ability to adapt.
It's on special days like these that I can't help but miss it.
In addition, people here only eat sticky rice cakes and don’t make dumplings during the Little New Year!
For fear of being exposed, Zhou Xiaoxi didn't even dare to ask.
But she would know during the Chinese New Year. If there were no dumplings on New Year's Eve, then she could be basically sure that there was no such food in this time and space.
It’s a bit regrettable when I think about it!
In the previous life, even though there was no sense of ritual during the New Year, young people still had to eat dumplings. If they didn’t eat dumplings, it would feel like the New Year hadn’t begun.
But Zhou Xiaoxi didn't dare to say what he did, it was impossible to explain it!
But regarding the chili pepper, I can ask Xiao Nan in private. Chili pepper is a traditional Chinese medicine, maybe Huichuntang has it!
As long as I can let her get the pepper seeds, I can plant the yard full of them next year. Maybe I can even make some money!
The family celebrated the Kitchen God Festival with laughter and conversation. The country people could not afford firecrackers, but were reluctant to light the oil lamps for too long.
So after dinner, they walked around the village twice in the moonlight to digest the food, and then went back to their homes to rest.
The next day, Zhou Xiaoxi got up very early.
Since she came here, she has never slept in. At first it was forced by life, but later it became a habit.
She opened the door out of habit, but was almost scared to death by a curled up figure outside the door!
She tried hard to cover her mouth, resisting the urge to scream.
Because she found that the curled up person should be a woman, and she looked somewhat familiar upon closer inspection.
The man also heard the door open and raised his head weakly. He saw that her face was pale and bloodless, her eyes were red and swollen and full of bloodshot, and it was obvious that she had not slept all night.
The man saw Zhou Xiaoxi's horrified expression and opened his mouth. At first, no sound came out. He exerted some strength and spoke hoarsely:
"Don't be afraid, Xiaoxi. You're my big girl."
Zhou Xiaoxi also recognized the person. She tried to help the person up in panic but her strength was too weak to succeed. She quickly ran back to the yard to call for help.
Finally, Zhao and Li lifted the man up and carried him into the room.
It was not until she drank a bowl of sugar water and held the boiling hot water bottle for a long time that Zhang Danniu finally recovered.
Zhao's face was full of disapproval, but seeing how weak the girl looked, she couldn't be too harsh on her.
She said distressedly:
"Girl, how long have you been outside the door? Why didn't you knock on the door? What if you freeze yourself to death?!"
Zhang Danniu's tears fell like beads from a broken string, and she didn't know how to start.
She tossed and turned at home and couldn't sleep, so she went out as soon as it was light. She didn't think much at the time, and unknowingly walked to the door of Zhao's house.
Perhaps in her subconscious, this place feels like home, but unfortunately it does not belong to her.
Zhou Xiaoxi hugged the girl and asked softly:
"Big girl, did something happen in your family? And is it related to you?"
Zhang Danniu raised her head in surprise, tears slid down her cheeks to her pointed chin, and it took a while for them to fall off.
"Xiaoxi, how did you know?!"
Li was a little anxious after hearing this.
"Girl, stop hiding it. Tell me what's going on and we can think of a solution together."
Zhang Danniu finally told everything in detail.
Yesterday, on Kitchen God's Day, not only did her father's attitude towards her change drastically, he also put meat on her plate several times at the dinner table.
The frightened girl lost her appetite and ended up having indigestion.
So she had to take a quiet walk in the yard alone to digest her food after everyone had gone to bed.
Then I heard the conversation between her father and her mother.
Her father planned to sell her to a wealthy family in the city as a maid. When she was older, she might be able to climb into the master's bed and become a concubine...
Da Niu's mother disagreed at first, but she became obedient after being slapped a few times by her father.
She knew that her mother couldn't protect her at all, but she still felt heartbroken every time she was disappointed.
Her mother always advised the girl to be patient and endure, and she would be free when she could marry into a good family in the future.
Zhang Da Nv didn't believe it! Her mother married a villain who beat and scolded her and her mother all day long.
I still remember that when she was a child, she was not very sensible, but when she saw her father beating her mother, she cried and begged her father to stop.
It seemed that it was from that time that his father also started beating her. Her mother just cried silently on the side, not even daring to make a sound, let alone stop him.
From then on, Zhang Danniu's world was dark, without a single ray of light.
Until she met Zhou Xiaoxi.
It was thanks to Zhou Xiaoxi that she was recognized by the Zhao and Li families and made those rare items.
She was so nervous at that time that she couldn't even hold the crochet hook in her hand, and her mind was blank, let alone understanding what Grandma Zhao was teaching her.
It was Xiaoxi who pulled her aside, comforted her softly, and made her a bowl of very sweet sugar water. After she calmed down, she regained her nimble hands and drew a sample that everyone was satisfied with.
She still remembers the taste of that bowl of sugar water, even though she has been to restaurants in the city and eaten all kinds of delicacies from land and sea.
That bowl of sugar water was still the most delicious thing she had ever tasted in her life.
She originally thought that she finally had hope in this life. As long as she worked hard, she could earn a lot of money. Then her father would treat her better for the sake of money.
Even if I don’t get married in the future, it’s fine!
However, even such a small wish was ruthlessly shattered by his father!
Why are Xiaoxi and Aunt Lanxiang, both girls, loved by their families, but I have to suffer so much? !
The light in Zhang Danniu's eyes gradually disappeared.