The three hundred chickens and three hundred ducks that Xu Qingzhi bought last time are still being raised in the pigsty in the old house. Grandpa has been helping to feed them these days.
Now the wire fence on the back hill has been completed and cherry trees have been planted.
The chickens and ducks over there can also be moved over.
Before, we only raised chickens and ducks for food, so the number was small. Now we have 600 more, which is not a small number.
The ducks at home grew fat and strong. Xu Fuqiang was worried that the fat and strong ducks would crush the chicks to death with one claw.
So there is a new plan.
The two orchards on the back mountain were divided into two, and the puddle underneath was dug larger to form a small pond for the ducks.
The cherry forest above has steeper slopes, and the chickens are more authentic pheasant, which tastes better when raised.
Xu Fuqiang started working on separating the two orchards with barbed wire early in the morning before daybreak.
He just came back at this moment. He took off his gloves and poured himself a glass of water. When he saw Xu Dongru, he called out, "Dad."
"Hey." Xu Dongru responded.
The father and son looked at each other in silence.
Xu Fuqiang walked in, saw Xu Zijun, and asked, "You got up so early?"
Xu Zijun: “Yeah.”
The relationship between father and son is a very strange one. Sometimes when there is nothing to say, there is always a sense of unspoken awkwardness.
I want to say something, but it seems like there is nothing much to say.
After Xu Qingzhi finished wrapping the buns and washed her hands, she saw her father's face full of sweat and couldn't help nagging: "Dad, there are some things you can ask others to help you do together. You don't have to do everything by yourself. Don't get tired."
Although she had some reservations about the Baoshan thing, she thought that if her parents were busy, they would not talk about her finding a partner anymore.
But she didn't want to do that either, because these things would make her parents' lives very tiring.
Xu Fuqiang thought that his little girl was really nice, but he pretended to be calm and said, "Dad couldn't sleep early in the morning, so he went to the back mountain to fix things for a while. It's no big deal. I used to work as a laborer and repair houses for others, which was much more tiring than this."
Xu Qingzhi: "Okay, you should know what's going on."
Xu Fuqiang couldn't help but talk about his future plans: "I plan to dig the pond myself later."
"Dad, how do you dig it yourself? Aren't ponds usually dug with machines?" Xu Zijun was stunned.
Xu Fuqiang walked into the living room and picked up something that looked like a hoe in the corner. "Look, I went to a car repair shop yesterday and welded an iron hoe myself."
Wen Shanshan just walked into the house and saw the iron hoe. She was surprised and asked, "Uncle, you can also make a hoe?"
Whenever the water pipes or electrical wires at home were broken, Xu Fuqiang was the one who repaired them.
Even when Xu Qingzhi's bicycle broke when he was in sixth grade, it was he who repaired the chain.
Xu Fuqiang likes to tinker with these things, and he was very excited when he talked about it: "Well, it's very convenient to dig a pond with this homemade hoe."
Wen Shanshan took a look at the stick as big as a steel pipe and tried to take it over to test its weight, but she couldn't lift it at all.
"Hiss, this... is so heavy." Wen Shanshan returned the hoe.
Xu Qingzhi advised: "Dad, just find someone to dig it, it's more convenient."
"No need. Your mother is going to learn how to operate a tractor. I have nothing to do at home, so I can go dig a pond every day." Xu Fuqiang picked up the hoe easily. "This hoe has to be heavy so that it saves effort when you hit it. You can dig deep in one go. It would cost more to hire someone to dig a pond."
Jiang Xiao couldn't help but support his waist which was sore from digging holes to plant trees a few days ago. He was very self-aware and didn't say a word.
Xu Qingzhi also knew what her father was thinking, thinking that having nothing to do would be a good way to save some money.
He had dug a pond by himself before. The pond in front of his house was dug by him. If he couldn't be persuaded, then he would stop trying.
Soon, the hot buns came out of the pot.
In addition to brown sugar buns and scallion pork buns, Wang Yanmei also specially made an innovative flavor this time, mushroom meat buns.
The mushrooms that were not eaten before were dried and stored. Before making the stuffing, they were soaked in water and chopped up, and then mixed with the chopped meat and served with ginger juice and other ingredients.
Wen Shanshan happened to be holding the mushroom meat bun, and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Auntie, this bun is so delicious. It tastes so fresh and tender when you take a bite."
Wang Yanmei smiled and waved her hand: "Well, I just made some fresh flavors."
“This bun is so delicious.”
"Auntie's cooking skills have always been amazing."
“This bun is quite fragrant.”
Everyone praised it endlessly.
After eating the buns, there were still some left. Wang Yanmei packed a bag of buns and handed it to the old man, "Dad, take it back and eat it."
Xu Dongru didn't refuse and took it.
These buns are fragrant and soft, not hard at all, and are perfect for the elderly.
"The children love to eat these mushroom meat buns. I will go to the mountain to pick some mushrooms later. I'm going fishing first." After Xu Dongru finished speaking, he picked up the buns and left. He was eager to fish and his steps were so fast that he didn't look like an eighty-year-old man.
Xu Qingzhi didn't have time to react and could only shout from behind: "Grandpa, slow down, be careful of the slippery road."
Grandpa's voice came from afar: "I know."
After breakfast, the weather was fine, so Xu Qingzhi went to the field to set up the scaffolding.
It rained heavily last night, and some places where the racks were not firmly built became tilted and needed to be readjusted.
The ground was slippery, so the group put on black overboots before going out.
Wen Shanshan handed over the bamboo, Jiang Xiao and Xu Zijun were strong and were responsible for tying the bamboo tightly into the soil, and Xu Qingzhi tied the ropes.
This shelf needs one on each side, tied into a triangle to make it firm, and another one needs to be placed on the top.
Putting up a scaffold is not an easy job.
The four men worked for almost a whole morning before the racks on the ground began to take shape.
When Wen Shanshan was handing over the bamboo, she accidentally slipped and almost fell. Fortunately, Xu Qingzhi who was standing by supported her in time.
Wen Shanshan said with lingering fear: "You guys should be careful too, the ground is a bit slippery, don't fall."
As soon as the words fell...
Xu Zijun slipped and fell on his butt, crushing the corn seedlings that had just been planted nearby.
Wen Shanshan fell silent. What a bad mouth she has.
Xu Qingzhi felt a little sorry for the vegetables. No, she felt sorry for her brother.
Jiang Xiao pulled the man up and asked, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay." Xu Zijun touched his butt and it felt a little painful.
The racks were just finished, Xu Qingzhi tied up the last few and waved his hand: "Let's go, it's done."
Xu Zijun limped back home.
Wen Shanshan always felt that it was her bad mouth that caused her to be so guilty. As soon as she got home, she shouted, "Auntie, do you have any medicine for injuries at home? Someone fell in the field."
"Did Qingzhi fall down?" Wang Yanmei was washing dishes with bubbles on her hands, and she ran out anxiously to see what was going on.
Xu Zijun endured the pain and said in a panic: "No, Mom, I fell."
"Oh, you're thick-skinned and it's okay if you fall. Don't hurt your sister, her skin is more tender." Wang Yanmei went back to the kitchen to wash her hands first, then went to find some massage oil, "Go, ask your dad to massage you."
Soon after, the boy's painful howls like a pig being slaughtered were heard in the room.
Wen Shanshan frowned, "Hiss~ It sounds so painful."
(End of this chapter)