Chapter 22 Chapter 22 Gaga Killing (Second Update)...
The purpose of the visit is first to visit the private plot.
Ye Yu had never had the chance to farm in her life, and she had no idea about it. She didn't have any wood-related abilities, so she couldn't expect a good harvest whether she planted or not. Of course, she had to consult someone.
"Our village has good terrain. Even during those years of national drought, the three ditches didn't dry up completely. Water still flows down from the mountains, saving us the effort of building dams every year. The fields have ample water and the air humidity is just right, so many crops can be grown, and they thrive better than in other communes."
Sister Guihua's knowledge was not like that of an ordinary villager. After careful questioning, I learned that she had attended junior high school in the town. Junior high school was considered a high level of education in rural areas at that time.
"I'm not as good as you educated youth. We are all high school students." Sister Guihua smiled shyly.
This hit Ye Yu's pain point.
I have lived for several decades in two lifetimes, but I have never graduated from college and am still a high school student.
Ye Yu changed the subject: "Is there a primary school in the village? Erniu and the others don't seem to be attending school?"
"Indeed, there isn't one," Sister Guihua smiled wryly and shook her head. "If the kids in Wangjiagou want to go to elementary school, they either have to walk to the town, or go to the Hongqi Brigade twenty miles away. They also accept students from outside the brigade, but the number of kids going there is dwindling, and the tuition is a bit... expensive. It's several yuan a semester, and you have to pay dozens of kilograms of rations. The current brigade leader inquired about building one this year, but the vote didn't pass."
In the past, people knew that they could go to school, get into high school, get into college, and then become workers that everyone envied, but no one in their village became a worker by studying.
In addition, now that the college entrance examination has been cancelled, children studying in the city are all moving to the countryside. They really don’t know what’s the point of children studying, and it just wastes money and food.
Sister Guihua may not have this idea, but raising four children is difficult enough just to provide for their food, and she cannot afford to send them to school.
Ye Yu nodded:
"The captain seems to have just taken office?"
"You've heard," Sister Guihua nodded and said, "Our previous village chief has always been Wang Laosan's family on the northern hillside. His grandfather was the village chief before him, and his father was the village chief before that. Logically, Wang Laosan should have been the current village chief, but didn't the "Four Olds" movement destroy the village ancestral hall? They no longer respected the old clan system, and when the team leader retired, he became the new team leader, and Wang Laoer retired."
After a pause, he added, "Not all villagers are convinced of the captain's loyalty, especially Wang Laosan and his family. The village militia commander, Wang Erdan, is Wang Laosan's cousin and a member of his family. The former captain still has connections in Pingquan Commune, and these people are always keeping an eye on the captain."
Oh, no wonder the team leader didn’t have many connections in the town yesterday, and the educated youth didn’t see the militia company commander when they arrived in the village. It turns out that where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.
Back to the topic.
Sister Guihua was knowledgeable about farming and explained everything she could. She even offered a demonstration on the spot. She explained in detail: "Generally, people plant sweet potatoes and potatoes in their private plots. Sweet potatoes can be planted twice a year, once in March or April in the spring. After harvesting in June, autumn potatoes are quickly planted again for another harvest before frost. However, planting too many sweet potatoes can cause great damage to the soil, so it is best to plant once and then rest. There are also different planting methods. Before planting, cut the sweet potatoes into tubers to allow them to sprout and root, then insert them diagonally into the soil and compact the soil. Potatoes are also selected, cut into pieces, and germinated..."
It is definitely too late to plant sweet potatoes now, and potato planting is nearing the end, so it is definitely too late to grow seedlings. I can only ask the villagers if I can exchange some.
There was some left at Guihua's house, but it was very little, enough to cultivate at most one-third of the land at the educated youth's site.
Ye Yu decisively bought them all.
She also wanted to grow some soybeans, not only for eating tofu and other bean foods, but also for extracting oil. In the era of oil ticket shortage, she could only consider growing it herself. Growing soybeans can also fertilize the land. Their private plots are not special and need to be improved.
If we fertilize the land this year, we can plant sweet potatoes and soybeans next year, which is a perfect combination.
As for vegetables, the most common cabbage and leek in the north are also planted in their village around September. In late October, they can also plant several cold-resistant vegetables such as black cabbage, winter radish, and winter spinach, but not all of them can survive. If they survive, they can be harvested in early spring.
Ye Yu also asked about the cultivation methods of several seasonings.
Chili peppers and ginger are mostly planted in spring, with chili peppers planted earlier than ginger; onions and garlic can be planted in spring and summer, and do not take up space... As for some uncommon seasonings, they are not grown in the village, so we don't know how to grow them and we don't have the seeds.
Ye Yu asked Sister Guihua to exchange some vegetable seeds that can be planted in winter, including some vegetables.
Of course she used money, after all, she didn't have much she could or was willing to exchange for.
Speculation and profiteering are indeed not allowed in this era.
But since people are allowed to barter, privately exchanging money for some things is possible even in the city. As long as the amount is not large and the transactions are regular at fixed times, it is difficult to catch such individuals, and even if they are caught, it is easy to get away with it.
This is especially true in the countryside.
Ye Yu had no idea about the price of seeds. In addition to the potato seeds and soybean seeds just now, he pretended to take out two one-yuan bills from his pocket, but actually took out two from the space. How about three?
"You don't need so much money. They are not worth much." Sister Guihua pushed all the money back.
"Sister Guihua, please accept it."
Money can buy food, but that is not necessarily the case in this era. Ye Yu is not as obsessed with money as she is with food. She pushed it over again. Her strength was no match for Sister Guihua's.
Besides, I came to Sister Guihua’s house not only because of farming issues, but also for other reasons.
Just talking about straw sandals, Ye Yu doesn't know how to weave them. Sister Guihua calls this craft "making straw sandals."
Her craftsmanship is very delicate. Each straw sandal has three pairs of ears, and the ropes are used to tie it. The straw sandals she makes are not only soft and non-slip, but also solid and durable.
Ye Yu immediately changed into a new pair of straw sandals. The straw sandals can be worn in spring, summer, autumn and winter except in the snowy winter. The new pair of ears on the sandals are convenient for Guo Ding. In autumn, he can simply wrap his feet with corn husks so that he can go out in the fields. If he is afraid of the cold in winter, he can add a pair of old socks. He will not feel cold even if he does a lot of work, and his feet will sometimes sweat.
The only pair she changed was because she was growing and she ordered three more pairs in a larger size.
A pair of straw sandals like this could only be sold for five cents in the past when the market was unrestricted. Now, I can't even find a way to sell them to earn some extra money. Labor is really worthless nowadays.
In addition to straw sandals, straw ropes, straw mats, straw baskets, brooms and other straw products are also indispensable. Straw mats should be ordered in summer to prevent them from getting moldy.
There are not as many bamboos planted in the mountains of the north as in the south, but there are also cold-resistant moso bamboo and green bamboo.
Bamboo is a good thing, just like thatch. Backpacks, bamboo baskets, chicken baskets, bamboo sieves, straw raincoats, bamboo hats, etc. are all good things. Ye Yu ordered two or three of them.
But apart from a half-new large backpack and a new bamboo hat, everything else will take some time.
Sister Guihua smiled with gratitude because the family had more income.
"It's the other way around. I should be thanking you, sister-in-law."
In addition, Ye Yu also needed some wooden products. Sister Guihua did not know how to do carpentry work, but she knew an old carpenter in the village.
It is also not far from Sister Guihua’s house, and it only takes about ten minutes to walk downhill to get there.
The old carpenter is actually not that old, not even fifty years old. He just looks much older than his actual age because he suffered a lot when he was young. His surname is Zhang, not Wang, and the villagers also call him Carpenter Zhang, which has a bit of respect in it.
For the lower-class working people, people with skills are always popular in any era.
The same is true for carpenters.
Even though he can't sell his skills openly now, Carpenter Zhang still relies on his skills to exchange some things with the team from time to time, and occasionally repairs wooden farm tools, such as wooden plows, looms, ox harnesses, hoes, rakes, etc., and can still make a good living.
It was because of his carpentry skills that he, a person from another family, was able to get married and start a family in Wangjiagou.
When Sister Guihua brought Ye Yu to Zhang's house, Carpenter Zhang, who did not rely on working in the fields to earn a penny and usually stayed in the fourth group of the elderly, the weak and the disabled, had already returned from work.
Carpenter Zhang is a very straightforward person. He doesn't exchange pleasantries with others. He just asks about the purpose of the visit and then directly asks for requirements.
Thanks to Ye Yu for thinking it through early, there needed to be a wardrobe and boxes, as well as tables and stools, a bathtub, some more wooden basins, cupboards, and barrels, as well as shelves in the room, as the gifts couldn't be left on the floor all the time.
"What kind of shelf?" asked Carpenter Zhang.
Ye Yu gave a brief description. Her request was not difficult and the style was also simple. She just needed a few more layers to store things. Carpenter Zhang understood it immediately.
Seeing that Ye Yu was only focused on studying and didn't seem to be short of money, Sister Guihua and Carpenter Zhang added some things that Ye Yu hadn't thought of.
There are quite a few small items such as steamers, bellows, pot lids, and mallets.
After the negotiation, Ye Yu paid a deposit of 5 yuan, which was not much less than the full payment.
Money in this era is more valuable than she imagined, especially in rural areas where there is no other source of income except working.
Carpenter Zhang once again demonstrated his craftsmanship to Ye Yu. Most of the wood used was wild camphor or fir, and there was also mahogany. Especially for the wardrobe and boxes, the style was simple and elegant, but with some exquisite details.
Ye Yu even felt that it would not be impossible for him to put them into the space and take them away with him ten years later, provided that the space was big enough by then.
She was generous in praising the old carpenter's craftsmanship.
The old carpenter said modestly, "I can't compare with the carpenters in your city, but I can make a living", but there seemed to be more smile lines at the corners of his eyes. He patted his chest and promised that he would do the work well. He was completely different from the old man who seemed a little tough to mess with when he first met.
In addition to carpenters, Ye Yu actually needs some iron products for daily life or farming.
But there is really no blacksmith in the village. Few brigades can afford a blacksmith, so things can only be bought at the supply and marketing cooperative in town. Even if there was one, it was owned by the commune during the steelmaking boom in 1960. Now, you basically need an industrial ticket to buy iron products.
After leaving Carpenter Zhang's house, Ye Yu and Sister Guihua went to chop firewood, and the big girl followed them to pick up firewood. Er Zhuang stayed at home to look after the little girl who was still walking unsteadily.
Sister Guihua had two hatchets at home, and she borrowed one from Ye Yu, thinking that she didn't know how to use it. Unexpectedly, she used it better than her. She could only sigh that strength really makes a difference. She wished that women could have the same strength as men.
Ye Yu had no idea what she was thinking. She had learned how to chop wood without any instruction because she was really strong. Even without an axe, she could easily "cut down" a tree with her special ability.
But besides strength, there is another reason - the proficiency in the use of weapons.
Ye Yu had lived in the apocalypse for so long, and had used quite a lot of cold weapons and hot weapons. There were still some left in the shrunken space after traveling through time, but he was afraid that he would have no chance to use the hot weapons.
She could kill people with a fire axe, so a hatchet would be a perfect weapon for her.
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