Chapter 17 Preparing Rations
The Lin family was very reluctant to leave everything behind and go far away. However, no matter how sad they were, they thought about the war, the men would be taken away to fight in the army, and thousands of refugees would come. It was estimated that few people in the Lin family would survive, or even all of them would be killed. If all the people were gone, then these houses and fields would be meaningless.
Lin Zisu didn't pay attention to the inside of the RV, but turned to look at the backyard. Apart from the first few sounds of chickens, ducks and geese, she could only see the light of the torches in the backyard, and heard no other sounds.
"Zi Su, take out your flashlight, we're going to kill the pig soon." Lin Youcai's shout brought Lin Zi Su's attention back.
"it is good."
Lin Youcai called everyone in the Lin family out of the car, and they went to the backyard under the light of the oil lamp. Lin Zisu got into the car and took out two headlamps and two handheld flashlights, and handed a handheld flashlight to the elder brother. "Turn it on and see if there is still power?"
Lin Xianwen pressed the key, the white light broke through the dark night, and he immediately pressed the key to turn it off.
After closing the car door, Lin Zisu turned on the flashlight, adjusted the brightness to the minimum, and the two siblings walked towards the backyard.
In the backyard, Lin's daughter-in-law and the half-grown children were squatting on the ground plucking hair.
Old Lady Wang looked at the ducks on the ground and widened her eyes. "You guys are too lazy to ask for a beating, right? You're going to die if you keep plucking their feathers!"
Mrs. Lu quickly raised her head and said, "Mom, my fourth brother's wife said that if we want to collect these hairs, we can't use boiling water to scald them!"
"Mom, I told you to pluck the feathers this way! These small feathers will be useful if you keep them. You can't scald them with boiling water before plucking them." Shen Xianglan stood up with her hands full of duck feathers. "The kitchen is boiling water! Once these feathers are plucked, we will use boiling water to scald the big feathers."
Old Lady Wang frowned so hard that a mosquito could be killed: "What? The situation is urgent, and you are still making trouble!!"
"I see more than ten poultry, there is so much hair, it would be a waste if we don't collect it. If we clean it up, we can also make a winter coat."
"I don't know what these feathers are useful for! This stuff smells so bad! It's so stinky! No matter how you wash it, it still smells fishy!" Old Lady Wang's face twisted. They also collected the feathers of chickens, ducks and geese, washed them, dried them, and stuffed them into cloth to make winter clothes. It is warmer than stuffing grass, but the smell is too strong, very unpleasant, and it can't be washed off.
Lin Youcai stood in front of Old Lady Wang and said, "Mom, the down of ducks and geese is a good thing to keep out the cold! It's very warm. Xianglan knows how to make these."
"I have a way to wash it and get rid of the smell!" Shen Xianglan squatted down and continued plucking the hair and put it into the large wooden basin next to her.
"Let them do what they want!" Old man Lin had just turned around and walked towards the pigpen when a blindingly bright light shone over him.
Everyone in the backyard was shocked. What the hell is that?
"Oh my God! Grandson, what are you holding? It's so bright! Ouch!" Old man Lin squinted and looked over.
"Oh my God! Did you pull the lights off the car?" Old Mrs. Wang stamped her feet anxiously.
"Grandma, no. The one in the car is on the car. This is a flashlight." Lin Xianwen shook the flashlight in his hand, "I'll light it up for you!"
Lin Zisu handed over the two head-mounted lights in her hand, "Dad, a flashlight."
Lin Youcai took it and handed it to Lin Youfu, "Brother, you wear one. Dad, let's go to the pigpen quickly!" He put the mask on his brother, turned on the light, put it on himself, and took the lead to light the way.
"Wow! Fourth brother, what kind of magic weapon is this! It's so bright without any fire! As bright as day!" Lin Youfu reached out and carefully touched the lamp above his head, while Lin Yougui and Lin Youxiang looked curiously over their eldest brother's head.
Arriving at the pig pen, Lin Youcai lowered his voice and said, "This is what I told you about, solar energy! The sun's light is collected here during the day," pointing to the lamp above his head, "and it can be turned on to illuminate it when it gets dark!"
"Oh~ then this is the magic weapon that can collect the sun's light!" Lin Youxiang had an understanding expression.
Old Man Lin couldn't help but say happily, "I never thought that my Lin family would be able to use immortal tools one day. The gods are really blessing my Lin family!"
"It's so bright! Look, we can see everything clearly even at night!" Lin Youfu pointed at the pigpen and smiled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
In the pigsty made of mud and wood, a half-sleeping pig was startled by the light and started to grunt in the pigsty. A big yellow dog in the pen next to it stretched its head and opened its big eyes to look at the person coming.
Lin Youcai suddenly remembered, "I was in such a hurry to talk about something that I forgot that the mule hasn't been fed yet."
"I'll call Dazai to feed the mules! Dapeng! Bring a bucket of water and a bundle of grass to the front yard to feed the mules!" Lin Youfu shouted at the plucking team.
"Hey! I'll go right away!" Lin Xianpeng rubbed the hair on his hands, stood up and went to feed the mule.
Old Lady Wang pulled Lin Xianwen over and said, "Let me see you. Let's go to the kitchen and see if the water is ready." Her wrinkled hands carefully touched the flashlight. No matter when the immortal will come back, the RV and the immortal tools on it are hers now. Old Lady Wang thought, her mouth almost stretched to her ears.
In the kitchen, on the mud stove, two large iron pots were emitting white steam. The two brothers, Lin Xianshan and Lin Xianhe, from the third family, were lighting the fire and adding firewood, while the other scooped hot water into the wooden barrel and added cold water to the pot.
Lin Zisu looked at the chickens, ducks and geese with their necks cut and blood drained all over the floor, and estimated that there were more than ten of them. My mother was really good, she could persuade everyone to pluck their feathers in the middle of the night.
"Torches are out, I'll light the way for you." Lin Zisu squatted down to illuminate the plucking team. Suddenly, something wet rubbed her face, and she jumped up in fright. The flashlight shone over, and a black Chinese rural dog turned its head due to the light, and its big furry tail swayed!
"What's wrong?!" Shen Xianglan immediately turned to look at her daughter, "Oh, don't be so startled! You're scaring me to death!"
Lin Cuihe looked over and said with a smile, "Sister, don't be afraid, it's Heizi!"
"Hehe, Heizi still remembers you!" Lu took a look and plucked the hair skillfully without stopping.
"You scared me!" Lin Zisu patted her chest and squatted down to continue lighting the way for everyone. The black dog approached with its tail wagging, sniffing her everywhere with its nose raised. Lin Zisu couldn't help but reach out and stroke the dog's head.
Shen Xianglan looked at the almost full wooden basin. She thought it would not work if the fluff was left there like this. It was light and would be everywhere when the wind blew. "Zi Su, is there a big bag on the car?" She raised her eyebrows and blinked.
"Yes." Lin Zisu blinked to show that she understood.
"Then go get two and pretend to be furry."
"Row."
A shrill pig howl crossed the dark night and soon disappeared into the darkness.
Buckets of hot water were brought to the backyard, which was needed by the pig-slaughtering team and the chicken, duck and goose team.
The Lin family, with more than 11 people, was busy all night. The advantage of having a large population is that there are more people working. They started working at 3 pm and worked until am. The chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs were all killed, cleaned, chopped, cut, and brought into the kitchen.
The men and children went back to their rooms to sleep, while the women continued to work in the kitchen, preparing all the meats as cooked or semi-finished products.
On the road, you can put the semi-finished products in the pot, light the fire and cook them, without having to wash or cut them, saving water and trouble. Cooked food is even more convenient and easy to eat, just heat it up and you can continue on your journey. If you don't have to travel, you can have more time to rest.
This is the result of Lin Youcai spending a lot of time and effort to explain the pros and cons to Old Lady Wang.
At about 12 o'clock, Mr. Lin and Mrs. Wang were urged by their sons to go back to their room to sleep. However, Mrs. Wang refused to go back to her room to sleep and insisted on staying in the kitchen.
Just kidding, except for the cow, all the "household belongings" were in the kitchen tonight, how could she dare to go to sleep. It was not that she was worried about the daughters-in-law, but that the daughters-in-law did not know how to manage the household. Old Lady Wang insisted on staying with the daughters-in-law until dawn, until all the meat was cooked.
The knife was almost at his neck, but Old Man Lin couldn't sleep. He didn't go to rest until after 3 a.m. with his children and grandchildren.
Lin Zisu had been driving all day and couldn't stand it any longer. At 1 o'clock, her parents called her to go to bed. When she got back to the car, she fell asleep without even taking a shower.
"Dong dong dong."
"Knock knock! Zisu, get up! Time for breakfast!" Shen Xianglan stood outside the car holding a bowl.
Lin Zisu squinted her eyes and got up, opened the car door, and the hot air outside rushed towards her. The sun had already risen high.
Taking the bowl, he looked at his old mother, whose hair was greasy, whose body was dirty, and who smelled of food, and said, "Mom... Mom, do you want to take a bath first..."
"There is still a lot of work to do! It's useless to wash!" Shen Xianglan wiped the sweat from her face and got into the car. The cool breeze made her feel comfortable instantly.
Lin Zisu closed the door and said, "Wash yourself. There is hot water available. How can you wash in vain? If you don't wash, it will be even more uncomfortable. There is a washing machine to wash your clothes. You can get in the car and take a nap. You and the aunts should at least take a few hours' rest! People are not made of iron!"
"Your grandma and the aunts have gone to rest. OK, I'll go get some clean clothes, take a shower, and get some sleep."
Lin Zisu chewed a multi-grain cake and drank millet porridge from time to time. Although the taste was original, she was very content to have something ready to eat.
Shen Xianglan got on the bus carrying a bundle.
"Where's my dad? Where's Li Hao?"
"Your grandfather took your father, your father took your brother, and the three of them went to find the head of the village to talk about fleeing. The three uncles and the boys went to the fields to harvest food." Shen Xianglan said as she threw her clothes on the bed, walked into the bathroom, closed the door, and started running the water.
"Then you wash it, I'll go to the kitchen to see if there's anything I can help with."
Shen Xianglan stuck her head out and said, "The kitchen is locked by your grandma. I almost forgot to tell you, hurry up and take the detergent and disinfectant to the backyard. I asked Cuihe, Xiatao, Qiuyue and the others to wash the fur together, you go and help, you remembered how to wash it, right?"
"Okay, I haven't forgotten. I know." In modern times, I washed goose feathers at home with my mother and filled my own down jackets.
"It's hot now, so after taking a shower, it's just right for the sun to shine!" Shen Xianglan said, closing the bathroom door and continuing to take a shower.
"After drying in the sun, put it in the washing machine and it will definitely become fluffy!" Lin Zisu said as she went to look for detergent and disinfectant.