Chapter 129
Previously, Xu Sheng and his friends thought that their neighbors were buying mutton to eat. Now that they were cooking it, the smell of mutton was wafting everywhere, and adults and children from the neighbors were all looking around to see who was eating mutton.
Seeing Xu Sheng and his friends happily going in and out, his older cousin called out to him and asked, "Sheng, is your family cooking mutton? It smells so good."
Xu Sheng chuckled, neither denying nor denying, which meant he tacitly agreed.
Upon hearing Xu Sheng's admission, Xu Sen was somewhat surprised and ran to the courtyard wall to ask, "What happy occasion is there in your family? Why did you buy mutton?"
Xu Sen wasn't saying that people were too poor to afford mutton; it's just that in this village, except for the sixth day of the sixth lunar month and other big celebrations, no one was willing to buy mutton to eat.
Xu Sheng said, "It's nothing special, it's just mutton that my cousin bought."
Xu Sen: "Which cousin of yours? The one from Aunt Xiu's family?"
Xu Sheng nodded. "Mm."
The two brothers were talking loudly, and the adults on both sides could hear them. The eldest aunt, who was inside the house, came out under the pretext of getting water and asked Xu Sheng to go to the field to get some coriander and scallions, and also pick some chili peppers.
Xu Sheng ran off in a flash. Xu Sen's mother looked at her aunt and said with a smile, "Ah Xiu's Chun Tao has made something of herself. You're going to enjoy your good life now."
The eldest aunt said helplessly, "She's accomplished, but she's also suffered a lot. She works so hard to earn money, and it pains me to see her spend it. But this child is just like Ah Xiu, very stubborn and won't listen to you."
Hearing this, Xu Sen's mother smiled. Xu Xiu had passed away early, and Lin Chuntao and the other girls were not favored by their grandparents and were bullied by their biological father and stepmother. They all knew how miserable they had been. Later, when Lin Chuntao built a new house and held a banquet, they all went to eat. The house was very well built, and the banquet was also well organized. The villagers all praised it after they came back from the banquet.
From being miserable to triumphant, it only took a few months, which is unbelievable.
Many people are both envious and jealous.
Especially since we're so close, and the aroma of the meat makes it even more unbearable.
But there's nothing we can do; she's someone's own niece, and it's only natural to give her something as a token of respect.
There are several families of cousins and uncles, and there are nearly a hundred people, young and old, gathered together. It is not practical to have them all eat together, so the eldest aunt did not invite anyone else's family and just ate with her own family.
The weather was sunny today. After picking the milk fungus, the system didn't report anything for two days, so Lin Chuntao didn't go into the mountains.
Just like last time, the charcoal kiln was sealed and it took four days before it was opened.
Lin Chuntao did not go into the mountains, nor did she go to the county town.
After sleeping until dawn, Lin Chuntao got up, had breakfast with Lin Chunhe and Lin Duo'er, and busied herself with household chores. As the sky gradually brightened, her grandmother and Aunt Guizhi came to help with the work. Only then did Lin Chuntao ask Lin Duo'er to call Lin Jialang and Fan Niangzi over to start the charcoal kiln together.
The cave dwelling was modified once, and the kiln was opened from the top. Lin Chuntao knocked away the soil above the kiln.
After knocking out a hole, Lin Chuntao took out a piece of charcoal to examine it. It was burning quite well; the charcoal was hard and made a crisp sound when tapped.
Lin Jialang took a small hoe and helped Lin Chuntao pry the mud off the surface. Lin Chuntao brought over a bamboo basket and prepared to put all the charcoal into it.
Madam Fan also rolled up her sleeves to take some, but Lin Chuntao quickly said, "Madam, don't get your hands dirty. There's not much. I can take it."
Madam Fan said, "There's no risk of staining your hands. I'll get it done quickly with you."
After Lin Jialang pried open the top of the roof, he also came over to help take out the charcoal. The amount of charcoal was about the same as last time. After taking it out, the group carried it into the yard together.
Lin Duo'er scooped water for them to wash their hands, and Lin Chuntao then asked, "Are your mud bricks almost dry?"
Madam Fan said, "It should be almost done, but we're not sure how big the kiln needs to be." Lin Chuntao said, "The small kiln I dug only produces three baskets of charcoal in five or six days at a time. If we were to sell this charcoal, it wouldn't be enough, would it? The kiln needs to be at least two or three times bigger than mine."
Lin Jialang said, "If that's the case, won't it take several more days to burn charcoal each time?"
Lin Chuntao nodded. "Hmm, I feel that if you decide to burn charcoal to sell, you can build two kilns at the same time. Start burning the one you build first, and then build the other one. That way, you can stagger the burning and always have charcoal to sell."
Lin Jialang's eyes lit up when he heard this, but Fan Liniang was a little worried. If they built two kilns, the backyard would be a bit cramped, and it would be difficult to build a pigsty or something.
But since we're not raising pigs now, we'll just focus on burning charcoal for now.
After resting for a while, Lin Chuntao went to their house to take a look. She drew a line with ash, and the two kilns were about a meter apart, arranged diagonally opposite each other, which was just right.
The location of the kiln in the middle is easy to build, but a chimney and a fire pit still need to be built. Lin Chuntao explained the precautions to them, and Lin Jialang listened carefully. She went to look at the mud bricks that were drying. It would be enough to build one kiln, but it would take quite a bit more to build two kilns.
Madam Fan didn't seem like someone who knew how to build walls, and Lin Jialang was still just a child. After thinking for a moment, Lin Chuntao asked, "Are you going to build this kiln yourselves or do you want to hire someone to help you build it?"
Lin Jialang said, "I plan to invite my eldest uncle, but I haven't gone to invite him yet."
Lin Chuntao nodded, "Yes, if Uncle comes to build it, and there's anything you're unsure about, just come and call me."
"Okay, thank you, sister."
Lin Chuntao responded, and Lin Jialang and the others continued making mud bricks. Lin Chuntao then went home. Before she even got home, she saw eight or nine people coming to the gate of the courtyard, each carrying a basket on their back. They looked like her uncle and his family.
Lin Chuntao rubbed her eyes and craned her neck. Before she could see clearly, the person had already entered the yard. Lin Chuntao ran back home, where Lin Chunhe and Lin Duo'er were pouring water for them.
"Uncle, Aunt!"
Lin Chuntao called out as soon as she stepped into the courtyard.
The eldest aunt and the others turned around and looked at her. "Chuntao, we thought you went to the county town."
Lin Chuntao said, "I didn't go this morning because I had nothing to do."
My uncle asked, "Have you been busy lately?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "It's alright, not too busy."
Uncle: "I went to the cornfield behind your mountain to chop firewood the other day. Have you not gone to check on it for a few days? The corn leaves are almost all yellow. Your aunt said she was afraid of rain and didn't pick them, so she called us over to take a look."
Lin Chuntao was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. The two plots of land at the village entrance were close by, so she didn't go to the back mountain to take a look. Besides, she felt that the land on the back mountain was planted later and shouldn't be so fast.
Thinking about it, she spoke up, and her uncle said, "The sandy soil is drier, so corn will ripen faster. If you're not busy, would you like to go and take a look? If you can pick them, we'll help you pick the corn first."
Looking at her family, Lin Chuntao said, "It's not a big deal, it's really too much trouble for you to worry about us."
Hearing this, the eldest aunt laughed and said, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. We've been free lately, so with more people helping you, we can finish the harvest in a few days. But where are you going to dry the corn after you harvest it?"
Lin Chuntao said, "Let's lay it out on the floor of the main room to dry first, so we won't have to worry about dust downstairs."
The eldest aunt nodded. Lin Chuntao and the others were in a new house, so it wasn't dusty. They could carry the corn they brought back directly upstairs.
As she said this, Lin Chuntao went to get a basket and a sickle. She quickly used bamboo to whittle two sharp points, which would be more convenient for peeling the leaves off corn husks.
There were many people eating lunch, and there was still enough meat to cook vegetables. She soaked the rice, then quickly took an earthenware basin, scooped out some flour, added yeast and honey, kneaded the dough a couple of times, covered it with a winnowing basket to ferment, and it should be ready by lunchtime. She steamed two trays of buns and set them aside so they could eat them when they got hungry in the afternoon.
She was quick and finished her work, so she was ready to leave. Her eldest aunt and the others picked up their baskets and were about to follow her when they realized there were still things in the baskets. Her second aunt laughed and said, "We almost carried them to the fields."
As they spoke, they carried baskets into the house and brought out two large pumpkins, some vegetables and peppers. The second aunt also had more than twenty eggs in her basket.
Vegetables and pumpkins are fine, but Lin Chuntao and the others are also good at eating vegetables. They don't grow many in their own fields, and when their aunts give them some, they usually take them without hesitation. But they save the eggs to sell for money.
"Auntie, why did you bring eggs for me? The two hens at home have been laying eggs for a long time, and we have eggs to eat too."
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, her aunt said, "Let's eat them slowly. We didn't save up many this time, so let's eat them for now. The chickens aren't laying eggs as much in winter."
Before Lin Chuntao could respond, her third aunt said, "Sister-in-law, speaking of that brown hen, it seems she's about to brood. Will she still be brooding chicks this year?"
Hearing her third aunt's words, Lin Chuntao quickly said, "Eldest aunt, if you get some chicks, give me a few too."
The eldest aunt had originally planned to wait until after the New Year to get a baby, leaving this one empty. But upon hearing Lin Chuntao's words, she asked, "How many do you want?"
Lin Chuntao said, "A dozen or twenty is fine. I want to raise more chickens next year."
"So many?" Second Aunt asked in surprise.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Roosters and hens are both fine. If we raise a lot, we can catch them and kill them when we want to eat them."
The eldest aunt said, "Then I'll go back and get it for you."
After putting their things away, Lin Chuntao and the others didn't dawdle any longer. They carried their baskets and headed towards the cornfield on the back hill.
Everyone had already harvested their grains, and those who acted quickly had even planted buckwheat. Except for their two large corn stalks still standing in the ground, the surrounding area had been leveled.
Lin Chuntao was quite surprised to see the yellowing corn seedlings. They were still very green when she pulled up the bean seedlings, but they had turned yellow in just a few days!
With so many people and the corn seedlings growing very tall, my uncles and aunts quickly cut down the corn seedlings with sickles and piled them up. My aunts and aunts found something to sit around the pile and peeled off all the leaves from the corn right there in the field, so they could carry it back without having to do anything else.
The two of them broke off a bunch of corn stalks, which they then straightened out and laid out neatly. They could take them home to use as bedding for pigs or as food for livestock like mules or cows.
After picking for a while, the aunts and the others noticed that the corn in Lin Chuntao's field was different from the corn they grew themselves, and they all asked her where she bought the seeds.
Lin Chuntao said, "It's just an old man by the roadside. It's a bit cheaper than at the grain store. If you want to plant it, Auntie, I'll get some for you to plant in a while. Also, my bean seeds, maybe it's a different variety, the seedlings seem small but there are a lot of beans."
The eldest aunt said, "I saw the one you were hanging there. I was just about to ask you about it."
"There are so many beans growing there, it feels like each plant has a lot more beans than the last."
Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "I'll weigh how many kilograms we've harvested this year after we've taken the pills."
"I feel like your corn harvest will be quite plentiful."
As everyone chatted, the eldest uncle and his group cleared a plot of land. Including Lin Chuntao, there were ten of them. They slowly picked the corn in baskets, some carrying them home first, while others continued picking in the field. Lin Chuntao went back with them on the first trip, and she even had to point out exactly where to lay the corn. By the time they made the next few trips, everyone knew the way.
In just one morning, Lin Chuntao had harvested more than half of the corn in her field. As lunchtime approached, Lin Chuntao called them to go home and rest while she went to make lunch. Her uncles told her to go ahead and that they should continue harvesting.
Lin Chuntao couldn't persuade them otherwise, so she had no choice but to go along with it.
Today, Lin Qingqing and the others received their wages. Although she hadn't worked a full month, she still received a total of 670 cash due to some bonuses. This was the first time Lin Qingqing had ever received so much money in her life. She first counted out the amount she needed to return to Lin Chuntao, then went to buy some malt sugar and pastries. She hid most of the remaining money and returned with 400 cash, along with Lin Chunxing and the others.
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