Chapter 622: Another New Year

There are several ways to process tiger bones, sand extraction, vinegar extraction, wine extraction, Li Long was quite surprised after reading the notebook.

Before, he thought the processing of tiger bones should just be scraping the minced meat clean, washing it clean, and at best roasting it again, etc.

He didn't expect processing to really be turning the tiger bones into charred crisp, almost destroying the organization.

Does this way make its medicinal properties easy to exert?

Will the rotten tiger bones also have medicinal properties?

Of course, this sentence was a joke.

Li Long processed the deer placenta in the afternoon, then put it into a cloth bag, knocked it into pieces, then washed the stone mortar for pounding garlic clean, wiped it dry, and pounded those fragments into powder.

It was okay, because it was blocked by the charred smell, it wasn't very unpleasant, he thought it wouldn't be very hard to swallow.

There are no empty capsules like in later generations; otherwise, if I could get some, filling them with this powder would make it more convenient to take.

At this time, he could only take it with warm water, wait until the evening to see if his wife could eat it.

Found an open canned bottle, washed it clean and dried it, put the powder in, covered the lid, put it in the bedroom, and next was to deal with the tiger bones.

After reading it, he found that tiger bone processing wasn't something that could be done in a while.

It was quite troublesome to say it was troublesome.

Then do the basic work first.

Before tiger bone processing, it had to be knocked into pieces, usually processed when needed. However, before knocking into pieces, all the minced meat had to be scraped clean, washed clean, and air-dried.

Li Long still had some time at this moment, so he went to that side room and slowly scraped the meat on the tiger bones clean.

This was a fine job, he had to do it for a while.

One-tenth wasn't finished, and Gu Xiaoxia got off work.

And at this time, Yang Xiulan was also cooking in the kitchen of the small courtyard.

After finishing dinner last night with her daughter, both of them rested early.

Early this morning, Yang Xiulan got up, and after breakfast, she cleaned up a place in the bedroom, and moved a writing desk from the main bedroom in the west.

Han Fang asked while helping move the writing desk:

"Mom, what is this writing desk for? On our side, if we put it again, there won't be any place to walk."

"Put your father's memorial tablet here." Yang Xiulan said, "Your father is dead, we have to keep vigil for him."

"Oh." Han Fang understood half-heartedly, "Then why not use the writing desk I set?"

"Not convenient." Yang Xiulan explained.

The writing desk was actually a desk of later generations, long and narrow, with drawers and cabinets, because it was often used for office work and writing, it was called a writing desk at this time.

The room on the east was slightly smaller, a stove, a writing desk, a bed, plus a cabinet against the north wall.

The writing desk was moved in, and it could only be placed against the east wall against the cabinet.

Yang Xiulan planned to put the position of worshiping Han Bin here.

Originally, a memorial tablet should be made, but Yang Xiulan hadn't been in Northern Xinjiang for a short time, and knew that no one did this here.

So she just told Han Fang wrong, she planned to go to the photo studio, see if she could enlarge the family photo, and then take out Han Bin's one separately as a portrait.

These things didn't need to let Han Fang know, she let Han Fang do homework at home—when they left, Han Fang's things and her things were all packed and packed, including homework.

Han Fang wasn't afraid either, and promised obediently.

After Yang Xiulan left, Han Fang added some coal to the stove, and then took out her homework and started writing at the writing desk.

By the evening, in front of the writing desk against the east wall, there was a bowl filled with soil, with three sticks of sanitary incense inserted. In front of the bowl were three porcelain plates, containing cigarettes, fried small crucian carp, and three apples respectively.

Just this apple, Yang Auntie looked for many places to buy it.

Previously in the big courtyard, Li Long often brought back various kinds of food, including things sent by people looking for him, and Yang Xiulan didn't have much feeling.

Only when she went out to sell things today did she discover that at this time, even if you had money, some things might not necessarily be bought.

A bottle of wine was placed beside the bowl for inserting incense, and a cup was beside it. The wine bottle was opened, and a cup was filled. A burst of wine fragrance filled the air.

Photos could be washed, but it took time.

Yang Xiulan sighed, for the time being, just like this.

In a flash, it was the Little New Year, and there was already a New Year atmosphere on the street. Occasionally, there would be children laughing or screaming, accompanied by the sound of firecrackers.

Although there were no ready-made couplets or "Fu" characters for sale in the free market, there were already small stalls selling firecrackers.

It was roughly goods from Wucheng, and then turned into second-hand money here.

The air was filled with the fragrance of gunpowder and fried food.

Compared to the previous two years, life was indeed better, this better, roughly reflected in the eating and wearing during the New Year.

Although she had to keep vigil for her husband, Yang Xiulan didn't plan to set up a stall these few days, but she still prepared to make a set of new clothes for Han Fang.

She herself just forgot it.

Gu Xiaoxia could only have a holiday on the day before the New Year, and the holiday was only three days.

So Li Long and the others only had these three days to return to the team.

However, Gu Bo Yuan was different, he closed the shop door on the day of the Little New Year, rode his bicycle, and returned to the team leisurely.

Although the weather was very cold, the road from the county to the team was only ten kilometers or so, but riding a bicycle took an hour, after all, the road wasn't as good as later generations.

But even so, Gu Bo Yuan was still very happy.

There was a feeling of returning home in glory—not really making a big fortune or having achievements, mainly because he heard and saw many fresh things in the pesticide shop, but had no one to share.

Returning to the Fourth Team, there were many acquaintances there, the human touch was stronger, and it felt better.

Li Long still had to stay in the big courtyard, and would also prepare some food, but not much. Besides picking up and dropping off Gu Xiaoxia, the main thing he had to do every day was to process tiger bones, and on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, which was January 28th, he started to formally process tiger bones.

He used vinegar extraction, this way the time was shorter, convenient.

Because it was the first experiment, he used two vertebrae.

By the afternoon, looking at the processed tiger bones, Li Long was quite satisfied.

First processing, no failure.

Next was soaking in wine.

There were simple and complex recipes for tiger bone wine, Li Long used a relatively simple one. Some medicinal materials for matching, he bought from the medicinal material company.

The glass bottles used for soaking wine were also bought. He ran to the winery of the food factory a few times before he knew that the winery had large glass bottles.

At this time, glass firing really wasn't a high-end technology.

Li Long was just a bit sorry for the wine he had soaked before.

Fortunately, tiger bones soaking in wine was also a process of processing in itself, he planned to wait until after the New Year when he had time to take those tiger bones out and process them again.

South courtyard, after Han Fang came back from playing outside, she asked Yang Xiulan:

"Mom, do we stick couplets at home?"

"Don't stick them." Yang Xiulan had already walked out of the sadness, she turned her head and looked at Han Bin's photo placed on the altar, and then said to Han Fang:

"This year your father is gone, according to the rules, our family cannot stick couplets for three years."

"Oh, then I know." Han Fang went to look, offered incense to her father, and then obediently went to do homework.

At this time, there wasn't much homework, Han Fang's had already been finished, she was now adding codes for herself, copying the content in the original textbook again.

The child was too sensible and well-behaved, Yang Xiulan was gratified, but also felt a bit distressed. When she was young, although life wasn't good, there were still people playing together in the village.

Xiao Fang, besides classmates at school, really didn't have any playmates. At this age, she should still be at an age that likes to play.

But being in this family, playing was really quite luxurious for her.

Wait until after the New Year... after the New Year, the two would return to the big courtyard, it should be better, right? At least there, Han Fang and the children of the neighbors next door could still play together.

Although they had lived here for a long time, the neighbors nearby didn't seem to like the mother and daughter very much.

Quite troublesome. After idling down, Yang Xiulan discovered that she had neglected her daughter for some time.

However, this thought just flashed by, at this time, parents who could provide food and clothing for their children, and not let their children be bullied, were about the same. There weren't so many feelings as in later generations.

She could see that Han Fang wasn't particularly sad about her father's passing, a bit lost, but a bit relaxed. At least it wouldn't have too much impact on her daughter's schooling and so on. The Education Bureau gave a three-day holiday for the Spring Festival. However, they worked for half a day on New Year's Eve, and then had a holiday in the afternoon.

Li Long had already packed things and put them into the jeep, and when Gu Xiaoxia got off work, he took her back to the Fourth Team.

The gate of the big courtyard had already been stuck with "Fu" characters and couplets, looking festive, but not thick.

No Chinese knots, no lanterns, looking a bit thin.

However, Li Long didn't care, the real root was in the Fourth Team, and the New Year over there was happy.

The Spring Festival Gala this year must be good, the family must have made a lot of delicious food, right?

When the jeep drove back, Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia were guessing these things. Although they were married, in front of their old dad, old mom, big brother, and sister-in-law, they were still small, and these things in the family didn't need to be prepared.

It was New Year, at most put some melon seeds and candy in their own room, waiting for people to pay New Year's calls.

As for eating and the like, it definitely had to be at Big Brother's house.

On the road, they also chatted about Sister Yang and Han Fang's matter, but this matter really couldn't be helped, only wait for time to settle, and fade the sadness.

Reading the original text!

Ma County at this time, although the population wasn't large, much less than those counties in the interior, but the New Year was a festival for the whole country, in many villages, people had already started setting off firecrackers.

The villages of Han people in Northern Xinjiang were mostly gathered from all over the country, so the customs were different.

There were those who ate dumplings and set off firecrackers at noon on New Year's Eve, those who ate dumplings and set off firecrackers at night, and those who ate a rich dinner at night.

Of course, there were also those who ate dumplings for three consecutive mornings from the first to the third day of the New Year, and so on.

The sound of firecrackers slowly became continuous. The number of firecrackers at this time was usually not very large, there were one hundred, two hundred, five hundred, one thousand, and those over two thousand were few, and usually wouldn't buy that many.

So the sound of firecrackers was short and loud.

When Li Long and the others arrived at the Fourth Team, they already smelled a relatively strong gunpowder smell in the air.

When the jeep drove to the courtyard of Big Brother's house, the old dad, old mom, big brother, and sister-in-law all came out.

Li Long got out of the car and moved the things he brought down one by one.

"What are those things for? You don't eat in that courtyard?" Old mom Du Chunfang was as openly biased toward Li Long as ever.

"There are, I have plenty over there." Li Long specifically pointed to the two jars of wine and said to his old dad: "These two jars of wine, after a month, old dad, old mom, you two drink one cup a day."

"Hey, talk about that later, hurry, hurry, enter the house, it's cold outside!"

A family of people carried things into the house, the house was burning warmly, Li Juan and Li Qiang weren't there, saying they went out to play.

Gu Xiaoxia's belly was more obvious, Liang Yuemei pulled her to the bedside and asked about the situation in a low voice.

Didn't build a kang this winter. The family conditions were better, no need to squeeze to sleep, plus there was money to pull more coal, so didn't build a kang, the main bedroom and living room side put a big and a small two beds.

It wasn't that they hadn't seen each other for long, so they didn't chat for a while, Li Long went to drive the jeep to the front courtyard, drained the water, and cleaned up the room here.

The couplets had already been stuck in the front courtyard, looking at the handwriting, it was still Gu Bo Yuan's handwriting. The fire in the stove was burning very vigorously, and the melon seeds and candy on the table had already been set up.

Really good.

At night, they watched the Spring Festival Gala in the old dad's room. They watched it last year, Li Long said there would be one this year, so everyone remembered it. Usually at this time, others would come to the Li family to watch TV, but today was different, New Year's Eve, basically no one would go to other people's houses.

After zero o'clock, Gu Xiaoxia gave red envelopes to Li Juan and Li Qiang, Li Juan and Li Qiang were very happy, but didn't be happy for a while, those two ten-yuan notes were collected by Liang Yuemei.

The two children weren't disappointed, they were used to it. Then when they weren't paying attention, Li Long stuffed two yuan to each of the sister and brother, this money wasn't much, it was fine for the children to spend.

After watching the gala and returning to the front courtyard to rest, the room was warm, very comfortable.

"I always feel that living in this room is more comfortable than living in the big courtyard in the county." Gu Xiaoxia whispered to Li Long in the quilt, "Also at ease."

"That's for sure, this is more like our home than that one." Li Long smiled.

The next day, they got up to pay New Year's calls, Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia were married, but they still had to pay New Year's calls to the older people in the team.

Gu Xiaoxia wasn't convenient, he took Li Juan and Li Qiang together, after walking a few houses, Li Juan and Li Qiang, whose pockets were full of candy and peanuts, got separated from Li Long, and when they arrived at Old Old Old Luo Shu's place, Li Long bumped into Xie Yun Dong and Tao Daqiang and the others.

Simply sat down at Old Old Old Luo Shu's place.

Old Old Old Luo Shu was also happy, seeing they all came over, he brought out the braised meat and the like, and took out a bottle of wine.

"You guys drink some?" Old Old Old Luo Shu said with a smile.

Actually, at this time, adults, whether married or not, when paying New Year's calls to other people's houses, would mostly enthusiastically invite you to eat two bites and drink two cups.

Of course, individual exceptions.

As for the children paying New Year's calls, the closer ones would give lucky money, the ordinary ones would just bring out candy and melon seeds, let them fill them.

"Then don't drink wine, right?" Li Long said with a smile, "Old Old Old Luo Shu, your wine friends didn't come to find you to drink?"

"Drink, but it's afternoon." Old Old Old Luo Shu was quite happy, "You guys drink yours, I won't drink."

"Then not drinking won't do, we'll each toast you a cup." Li Long, although the youngest, took the lead, "We won't drink much, just two cups."

None of them were people who liked good wine, the cup was poured, it was a meaning. Old Old Old Luo Shu saw they opened the bottle, and was very happy. At this time, those over forty, mostly wanted face. Young people stayed here, drank together, toasted together, that face was there.

Old Old Old Luo Shu really drank two cups, and then went to listen to the radio.

Li Long ate the braised goods, and said:

"Since we bumped into each other, let's talk about some serious business."

Xie Yun Dong and Tao Daqiang listened seriously.

"After the New Year, when spring comes and it melts, I'll buy the tractor back."

"So early?" Xie Yun Dong was a bit surprised, "It's still several months before cutting wheat."

"Let you drive the tractor to do work for your own family, it's considered familiar. When cutting wheat, if there's really any problem, you can handle it yourself, know how to repair it." Li Long said.

Tao Daqiang thought for a moment and said:

"Alright, when we plant the fields in the spring, I'll buy the tractor back. It's necessary to get familiar with it in advance."

Tao Daqiang was buying a tractor himself. Li Long was going to buy them for Xie Yun Dong and Liang Dacheng. The matter had already been agreed upon, and at least for now, there were no changes.

Of course, Li Long would still take the jobs he should, but he would be more inclined to gather these people for future jobs.

Fixing the people now would make it easier to set up a cooperative or handle large machinery in the future; it was a logical progression.

"I'll pull the harvester back after the spring thaw." Li Long said while raising his cup to clink with the others, "The harvester will be even better to use than the previous ones. If there are no changes, we should be ready to harvest wheat after we finish weaving the handles."

As he spoke, Li Long drank the wine in his cup in one gulp.

The other two drank as well.

"Daqiang, are you going to weave handles this year? I mean, if there's still this work."

"I'm going." Tao Daqiang said, "In the spring, I plan to build a side room on the east side of my courtyard. We'll live there then, and my dad will live here."

Everyone understood this. After all, Tao Jian She had lost his wife, and it wouldn't be easy for them to live under the same roof after Tao Daqiang left.

"Alright, just call us then." Li Long asked with a smile, "Do you want to use bricks?"

"No need. I already made the mud bricks last year." Tao Daqiang said with an honest smile, "The wood is also ready. If there are enough people, it will be built in a few days."

Since it had been prepared long ago, it really would only take a few days.

Each person drank another cup, put the bottle cap back on, and they still had to continue paying New Year's calls.

After leaving the door of the old horse stable, Li Long heard the sound of firecrackers again.

The three of them went to the settlement in the west to pay New Year's calls together, and later drank a few more cups at Liang Dacheng's house.

By the time Li Long returned in the evening, his walk was already a bit unsteady.

He had drunk quite a bit today, but he was very happy. He inexplicably remembered a quote from a very famous movie star from later generations.

When you are famous and rich, everyone you meet is a good person.

At least everyone he met today was very enthusiastic toward him, which was quite good.

This new year had begun so magnificently. (End of chapter)