There are no children in the countryside who do not cook over a fire. Most of them like to make a fire, especially when there are guests at home or in winter.

At that time, firewood was burned in the countryside, and now most of the countryside still burns firewood.

For cooking in the countryside, cooking pigweed requires a lot of firewood. In addition to wheat straw, corn straw, corn stalks, and rapeseed branches in the crop fields, the firewood also includes trees and miscellaneous trees on the mountain. Many families just don't have enough firewood to burn, so they need someone to collect firewood, and most of the time it's the girls in the family who do this fine work.

To cut pigweed, you usually go to the ridge at the edge of the field and walk in the field. This is a daily task, because pigs need to eat three meals a day, and the more they eat, the stronger they grow. To collect firewood, you have to climb uphill and walk through the mountains. The best time to collect firewood is during the summer vacation or when the leaves are falling in autumn.

Whenever summer vacation comes, Little Xingxing will go out with her friends to herd cattle and collect firewood, then go home to dry it and pile it in the firewood house, like a hill, which gives her a special sense of accomplishment.

The stove is an essential cooking facility for every household in rural areas. From single-pot stoves to double-pot stoves, three-pot stoves, and even four-pot stoves with steamers, their sizes and shapes vary according to the conditions of each household.

Building stoves in rural areas is a technical job, and its construction also requires certain knowledge and rules. A well-built stove will make the stove easy to burn and save firewood. People in the countryside have accumulated a certain amount of experience and seem to be self-taught. The stove in Little Xingxing's house was designed by her mother and she found someone to build it together. It is very easy to use.

The stove in Xiaoxing’s house is a rectangular fire pit made of bricks. On one side is a stove over one meter high. On the stove are two iron pots, one large and one small. The small pot is used for Cook rice and stir-fry vegetables, and the big pot is used to cook pig food.

There are several aluminum pots placed next to the stove for heating hot water. Behind the aluminum pots is the chimney that rises high from the roof. Blackened bacon and sausages hang from the aluminum pot all year round. Opposite the stove is a stool made of a tree knot, which has already been sat on and is shiny. There are piles of dead branches and fuel for the fire next to it.

While cooking, my mother cleaned the stove cleanly, and Little Xingxing was responsible for lighting the fire. After a while, the stove started to glow red. Suddenly, smoke curled up, exuding a faint smell of firewood.

In fact, making a fire is also a skill-requiring job. Those who are not good at burning will always make the fire bigger for a while, smaller for a while, and extinguished for a while. The fire was not burning well, and the clothes and pants were covered with a layer of black charcoal ash, and the hands and face were also smeared with black.

In fact, there is a trick to lighting a fire. There should not be too much firewood in the stove. The firewood should be elevated and the core of the fire should be empty, so that the fire can be burned well. At that time, my mother always said, "People must be solid, and fire must be hollow." Of course, the fire also needs to be coordinated with the person cooking on the stove. When cooking, it should be heated vigorously, and when stewing, the fire should be low and simmer slowly.

Little Xingxing’s mother was busy on the stove, clinking pots and pans. Cut vegetables, add seasonings, wave the spatula, and the vegetables in the pot will sizzle and smell.

The little stars are burning the fire vigorously here, the firewood is crackling, and the blazing flames make the little face turn red and the whole body warm.

At that time, the iron pots at home all had wooden lids. Of course, the best material for wooden pot lids was masson pine. The pine aroma exuded from the pot lids, mixed with the aroma of the food, always made people appetizing. Wide open.

At night, the firewood crackled and there was no need to light a lamp in the room. The flames in the stove penetrated the thick darkness and illuminated the room red.

The kitchen is also a food paradise for children.

Autumn is the harvest season, and it is also the harvest season of sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes can be eaten raw or cooked. Our favorite is to simmer them in the stove. The friend put the sweet potatoes in the stove and buried them with hot firewood ash. In about half an hour, the sweet potatoes were cooked. When the friends peeled off the hot layer of scorched skin, they took a bite and it was hot on their mouths and the fragrance lingered on their tongues.

Not only sweet potatoes can be simmered in the stove, but also potatoes, peanuts, walnuts and chestnuts can be simmered.

"People must be solid, fire must be hollow."

The blazing fire and the choking firewood smoke are a spiritual symbol, the incarnation of the Kitchen God, and a metaphor for prosperous days. Of course, what is more important is the simple and simple truth that "people should be solid, and fire should be hollow."

Postscript: This is a memory of the countryside, which is also a disappearing memory of the countryside. I went back to my hometown during the National Day and had a deep feeling. The roads were built and the houses were beautiful, but the land was deserted, people fled, and even uninhabited villages appeared.

This is a prose novel of about 100,000 words. The tentative title is "Little Star in the Country". It is being serialized. I hope someone will like it.

Like it? Let’s go, okay? Let those of us who make a living by writing stick to it.

Thanks!