Chapter 180 My Mountain
Qian finally agreed.
Manbao happily took Zhou Silang's hand and went out, but before they left, Qian arranged a place for them, "Since you are going into the mountains, why don't you go and take a look at the land you were allocated and pick up some firewood."
Then he said to Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang who were about to sneak out to play, "You two go together. We don't have much firewood at home, so we need to bring back more."
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang agreed with their heads down, and as soon as they left the house, they complained to Manbao, "Why are you going into the mountains in such a cold weather? Look, we have to go collect firewood now, right?"
"I've made an appointment with someone to go catch sparrows."
Manbao said confidently: "I am doing something big, and there are many things in the mountains, so much fun."
"Isn't it just plucking flowers and plants? Next time we go into the mountains, we'll definitely do it for you. Why don't we go today?"
"No, I must go!" Man Bao had just been given a blueprint by Ke Ke, and he was full of ambition. How could he not go?
The three Zhou brothers could only sigh and walk away from the village with Manbao.
The place they went to this time was one that Manbao had never been to before.
That was Zhou Silang’s land.
It is called that, but in fact it is not a field, but a mountain forest mixed with a piece of barren wasteland.
Everyone was allocated 40 mu of land. The head of the village and the village chief were fair and distributed the land from the mountains near the village outwards. When it was Zhou Silang's turn, most of the mountains near the village had been divided, so the land he received was a bit far away. It took about a quarter of an hour to walk from the village, and it was almost at the border of another village.
This division was also a rough one, without any detailed measurement. They didn't have much else here, just a lot of small hills covered with trees and weeds. They said it was forty acres, but that was just an estimate made by the village elders. Then they drew a circle with their hands and said, "This is forty acres."
So everyone hammered a wooden stake here and put down another wooden stake there, and that was the place they had decided on.
Anyway, this mountain is of no use. When the people die, the country will take it back.
However, when Zhou Silang stretched out his hand and drew a circle, telling Manbao that the entire mountain was his, Manbao still widened his eyes in envy and exclaimed, "Fourth brother, you are so awesome! Fourth brother, you have so much land!"
This was something every adult male in the village had. Zhou Silang didn't think it was anything to be proud of, but when his sister exclaimed in praise of him, he felt a surge of pride and puffed out his chest, saying, "Of course!"
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang said, "We will have it when we grow up."
Manbao asked, "Do I have it?"
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang turned to look at Zhou Silang. Zhou Silang scratched his head and said, "I've never heard of girls having this."
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang thought about it seriously and nodded, "It seems that my eldest sister doesn't have it."
Manbao pouted and asked, "Why don't girls have it?"
The three Zhou brothers spread their hands. This rule was not made by them, so how would they know?
But this was not the time to discuss this. When we reached the foot of the mountain, we started looking for dry firewood.
Although it was winter, there was still a lot of green in the mountains. Zhou Silang casually pulled out a piece of green grass and asked Manbao, "Do you want some?"
Manbao knew he was teasing her, so she snorted at him and walked inside holding on to the trees.
Koko also scanned the surroundings carefully, making sure not to miss any creature that might bring them points.
This kind of mountain is considered a barren mountain. The trees on the mountain are in disarray, and there are many thorny plants. They will not go to lush places. Basically, they only go to places where the trees are sparse and the mountain roads are easier to walk on.
When they saw dry branches scattered on the ground, Zhou Wulang and his friends would lazily pick them up and tie them up. Manbao finally found some fun and started looking for firewood everywhere. Once he found some, he would drag it over to his brothers and was very happy.
The three Zhou brothers couldn't understand her happiness at all. As they dragged their firewood inside, they kept muttering, "Why don't you stay in such a warm house at home? You have to come out to the mountains to blow in the wind. There are no flowers or fruits here. What's the fun in that?"
Keke had already found an endangered plant. Manbao followed his instructions and ran over to dig it up. Hearing this, he looked up and said, "Fourth brother, this is your mountain. Why don't you come and take a look?"
"Whether you look at it or not, it's here, isn't it?" Zhou Silang said, "It won't run away."
"Then you have to come and take a look, and think about what you can do with this mountain in the future."
Zhou Silang looked disgusted and said, "This mountain is so far away from home, what can we do with it? Just leave it like this. If you get married in the future, you can come to this mountain and choose one or two good trees as your dowry."
Zhou Wulang looked at the crooked trees and said disdainfully, "Forget it! These are just trash trees. How can they possibly serve as a dowry for Manbao? Dad has already planted several good trees in his own mountain. We can chop them down as soon as Manbao proposes marriage."
Old Zhoutou’s mountain is right next to the village, and even Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang’s mountains are not far away. Manbao is very familiar with them because he goes there often.
Unlike Zhou Silang's field where weeds and trees grow all over the mountain, Old Zhoutou's mountain is much better managed.
He'd cleared the wasteland at the foot of the mountain to grow hemp, and planted a number of trees on the seemingly flatter parts of the mountain. Last year, the Bai family sold a few trees to build their house, and then replanted.
This year, because the remaining mature trees were cut down to build a house, Old Zhou is planning to buy some saplings to plant in the spring.
He felt that he could live for a long time, ten or twenty years, which would be enough time for the trees to grow into mature trees. By then, whether his grandsons wanted to build houses or his granddaughters wanted to get married, they could cut down another batch of trees from his mountain.
Zhou Dalang and his people also do the same thing in the mountains. It can be said that almost every household in the village does the same thing. The land they share is just where they plant trees and hemp.
Zhou Erlang was a bit of an exception. When the land was divided, there were many bamboos on his mountain, so he simply planted more bamboo. The bamboo he needed for bamboo weaving basically came from his own mountain.
Therefore, the trees that Zhou Erlang planted for Er Tou and Er Ya were not on his own mountain, but on the mountains of Zhou Dalang and Zhou Sanlang.
There are many cases in the village where trees meant for one's own children are planted on the mountain of one's brothers. Basically, as long as the brothers do not fall out with each other, there will be no disputes in the future.
Zhou Silang himself had this plan: "My mountain is too far from home. I have made a plan. When my wife gets pregnant, I will ask my third brother to plant the trees for the child on his mountain."
Zhou Wulang looked at him with disdain, "Fourth brother, first you have to find a wife."
Zhou Silang bared his teeth at him and said, "Just wait, I'll find her soon. And if I can't find her, you won't be able to get married."
(End of this chapter)
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