Chapter 1131

Although Wang Xiaomei and Wang Xiaoli didn't know what everyone was laughing at, seeing everyone laughing, they followed suit and laughed, and they were quite happy.

Don't say, children are indeed quite interesting; they can always bring joy to people inadvertently.

After laughing, Wang Dazhu, Wang An, and Huang Zhong went to the back room to wash their hands, while Liu Guilan and Huang Li also walked to the back room, taking turns bringing out the dishes and rice that were kept warm in the pot.

During lunch, Liu Guilan said to Wang Dazhu:

"Dazhu, if you have nothing to do in the afternoon, why don't you go to the mill to grind some rice and some flour? Let’s taste what this year’s new rice and flour taste like."

Any crop is most delicious and has the strongest fragrance when it is just harvested, and with the passage of time, the natural fragrance of the grain will gradually fade.

Wang Dazhu thought for a moment and said:

"Grinding some flour is fine, but grinding rice is too laborious. Why don't we just go to the processing plant in the township to process it directly? It’s worry-free."

Liu Guilan nodded:

"That’s true, grinding rice in the mill isn't worth the effort. It’s even better to go directly to the processing plant."

As everyone knows, shelling rice, if you use a millstone to grind it, is definitely not just ordinarily laborious; it needs to be ground many times, otherwise the rice husks won't be cleaned off at all.

Relatively speaking, grinding wheat is okay, because after using the mill to grind the wheat into pieces, you can just filter it with a fine sieve or basket. After filtering, what’s in the sieve is the wheat husk, also called wheat bran, and what’s under the sieve is the flour.

Wang An heard their conversation and volunteered:

"I’ll drive the four-wheeled vehicle to the county to process it directly. After that, I’ll take some rice and flour to my eldest sister and those friends of mine."

The friends Wang An mentioned naturally refer to Wu Dong and Wang Shuai and the others. It’s just that they were very busy some time ago, seemingly busy with exercises and some other things, so Wang An didn't go to see them much. As for now, I don't know what the situation is.

After Wang An finished speaking, Wang Dazhu nodded:

"Yeah, it’s fine to take some to them, take more. You’ve really troubled them quite a bit this past year. By the way, shouldn't that chainsaw be returned to Wu Dong? It’s almost winter, don't they have to do inventory or something?"

Wang An thought for a moment and said with a smile:

"It should be returned. I’ll have him exchange it for a new one for me to use, hehehehe."

When Wang Dazhu heard this, he rolled his eyes at Wang An and said:

"Where would there be so many new ones for you to use? You have too many things going on; it’s already not bad that they could borrow one for you."

Wang An smiled and didn't explain too much; the main thing was that Wang Dazhu and the others didn't know about the things inside at all.

Liu Guilan didn't pick up the conversation, but asked:

"Then I’ll wash more wheat in the afternoon, and we’ll process more tomorrow."

Wheat is different from other grains before grinding into flour, because some wheat will be blown down by the wind, causing the wheat ears to touch the soil, and when harvesting the wheat, the fallen wheat will be mixed in.

Moreover, wheat needs to be dried after threshing, and many dirty things will also be mixed in. In this way, if the wheat grains are not washed before processing, the flour ground will feel very gritty when eaten.

And the reason why rice, millet, or sorghum don't need to be washed before processing is because what is processed from these things is rice, and rice needs to be washed once or twice before being put into the pot.

As for corn, under normal circumstances, this thing is very clean. If it is covered with soil, it also needs to be washed before processing.

However, this refers to corn flour for human consumption; if it is corn flour for livestock, a little soil doesn't matter.

Just like this, amidst constant discussion, everyone finished this lunch.

Until after the meal, Wang An remembered to ask:

"By the way, why didn't I see Sister Shen Wei come over today? What did she go do?"

After Mu Xueqing heard Wang An’s words, she said:

"Sister Shen Wei said her mother-in-law was not doing well, so Sister Shen Wei drove the donkey cart to take her mother-in-law to the township health center."

Wang An nodded upon hearing this, but in his heart, he knew that Shen Wei’s mother-in-law was likely going to be in trouble; even if she went to the health center to see a doctor, she wouldn't be able to find any problems.

Because if it continues to develop according to the historical trajectory, then by next month, Shen Wei’s mother-in-law will pass away.

There was no other way; birth, aging, sickness, and death are human nature, and Wang An had no ability to stop it.

It’s just that, to tell the truth, Shen Wei is a truly good woman. You have to know that her husband is gone, and she can still serve her paralyzed mother-in-law, and when her mother-in-law is sick, she doesn't choose to let it be, but goes to the health center to see a doctor for her mother-in-law.

Such a woman is absolutely a good woman with feelings and righteousness.

After the meal, Wang An took Mu Xueqing back to the room to take a nap.

After waking up, Wang An felt quite bored, so he went to the old house and said to Huang Zhong, who was repairing a slingshot fork:

"Xiao Zhong, let’s go, come with me to catch rabbits?"

As soon as catching rabbits was mentioned, Huang Zhong immediately became happy and asked Wang An with a smile:

"Catch rabbits? Hehehe, I love catching rabbits."

As he spoke, Huang Zhong jumped from the kang to the ground, and while putting on his shoes, he asked:

"Big Brother, it’s just that the snow is too thin. It’s likely going to be tough to chase them down, right?"

In the north, after snow falls, many people go up the mountain to chase rabbits, which means not using dogs, just people chasing them. It’s just that chasing rabbits has a high requirement for the thickness of the snow; too thin won't work, because if the snow is too thin, people can't chase down the rabbits.

But the snow can't be too thick either, because if it’s too thick, people can't run; snow about ten centimeters thick is best for chasing rabbits.

When Wang An heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then rubbed Huang Zhong’s head hard and said with a smile:

"I said to go catch rabbits, when did I say I wanted to chase rabbits? Chasing rabbits is damn tiring; I wouldn't chase that thing."

Huang Zhong scratched his head and suddenly realized:

"Yeah, huh. Big Brother, you have so many dogs, how fast it would be to let the dogs chase them, hehehe... I forgot."

Seeing Huang Zhong finished putting on his shoes, Wang An said while walking out:

"No need for dogs. Our dogs are for hunting large livestock; I try not to let them do this work. We’ll take the eagles; eagles catch rabbits faster than dogs."

Huang Zhong followed Wang An like a tail, running and asking:

"Can those few eagles still catch rabbits? I see they are quite good at catching rats and ground squirrels."

Wang An’s four eagles now all hunt for their own food; they catch whatever they want to eat, but they still need people to feed them if they want to eat it.

The main thing is that on the point of eating independently, Wang An absolutely cannot let go so quickly. It’s still that saying: what if they learn to eat by themselves and then run away?

After Huang Zhong finished asking, Wang An said without looking back:

"They catch ground squirrels and rats because they think ground squirrel meat and rat meat are better than rabbit meat; otherwise, they would catch rabbits."

As they spoke, the two walked to the warehouse in the new courtyard.

Wang An tied two pieces of leather to his shoulders and two pieces of leather to his forearms, then put his fingers in his mouth and whistled three times in the direction of the four eagles.

As the whistle sounded, Dajin, Xiaojin, Dacang, and Xiaocang flew out from the shed.

(End of chapter)