Chapter 103 Winter Food
Zhao Yeqing deliberately ignored his own discomfort, and patted his chest as if he had figured it out, and said that he would go home and start preparing for the house renovation.
The original cabin, the main room was probably only about ten square meters. In addition to the bed, it also had a wardrobe, a table, chairs, and some small storage cabinets.
There is basically no space left.
The house is quite old, so we’ll see if we can demolish the brick house when the time comes.
In the end, I couldn't take the quilt back because it was too big and I couldn't carry it.
It took them two days to move their things back home.
Fortunately, they found a bamboo forest. After Mu Xi took back the trap early in the morning, he went to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo.
After the rain, a lot of bamboo shoots sprouted in the forest. Mu Xi dug a few bamboo shoots. The skin of the bamboo shoots was hairy. Thinking that Zhao Yeqing's hands would feel itchy if they touched them, he peeled the skin in advance and put it in a basket on his back, carrying the bamboos on his shoulders and taking them home.
Zhao Yeqing was packing up the supplies he brought back yesterday at home. He was surprised to see Mu Xi coming back with bamboo shoots in his backpack.
"And peeled the skin?" Zhao Yeqing took out the bamboo shoots and said casually.
Mu Xi: "It's easy."
I didn't bring back much rice this time, only a few dozen kilograms, and the rest of the weight was concentrated in corn, beans and oil.
There wasn't much food left in the remaining houses.
Zhao Yeqing counted the supplies and said, "Under the current situation, I don't know when I can go back."
The original way back is gone. If you want to go back, you have to go around the back of the mountain.
The road behind the mountain is all barren. If you want to get through, you have to clear the way. It is not easy for people to walk, let alone carrying so many sheep.
Mu Xi looked in the direction behind the mountain and thought for a while. "If we want to go back, I have to clear the way first. After the road is clear, I will come back to pick you up. The house can't be left alone."
Zhao Yeqing frowned and sighed. She knew that Mu Xi was right. The chickens, rabbits and sheep at home could not be left alone like this.
Exploring the back mountain was too dangerous. She scratched her head and said, "Why don't we not go back? If we don't go back, we really have to repair the house."
If we want to spend the winter here, it would be too dangerous not to rebuild the house.
If you catch a cold or fever accidentally, it will be a big trouble in this time of shortage of medical care and medicine.
Not only do we have to repair the house, but we also have to store enough food for the winter.
Zhao Yeqing soaked the bamboo shoots in water to keep them fresh, and waved her hand.
"Let's go make the rabbit circle."
According to the reproduction rate of rabbits, if everything goes well, it will only take another month to obtain enough meat for two months.
Rabbits are not very cold-resistant, so Zhao Yeqing thought of slaughtering a certain number of rabbits before winter and feeding the remaining few to make them plump so that they would have enough fat to survive the winter.
It is also not good to keep too many live rabbits, as they consume forage and are prone to disease.
Three bamboos were the limit that Mu Xi could bring back in one trip. Building such a large rabbit pen would require much more materials.
Zhao Yeqing processes bamboo materials at home, sawing long bamboo logs into sections.
Each section is more than two meters long. After being sawed into sections, they are split into two halves, inserted into the ground and buried, and connected and fixed with ropes in the middle.
There is not much hemp rope left at home, and the nylon ropes brought back from the mountain are also limited. Now I am doing infrastructure construction every day, and ropes are considered consumables, so I have to take time to make some.
It took Mu Xi an hour to carry the bamboo back and forth. Zhao Yeqing dragged the cart to the small intersection, so Mu Xi only needed to carry the bamboo to the intersection and then transport it back with the cart in one go.
The rabbit pen took two days to complete. Zhao Yeqing put two rabbits in it and built a rain shelter in a corner.
Zhao Yeqing was also worried about what would happen if the rabbits ran away after he put all the rabbits in.
So only two rabbits, one male and one female, were released, and the two pregnant female rabbits were left in the cage for the time being.
After placing soft grass for the rabbit, Zhao Yeqing took Xiaohong out to eat grass as usual.
Xiaohong has almost completely adapted now and will not struggle even when Mu Xi is holding her hand.
Zhao Yeqing didn't dare to try riding it. Mu Xi comforted Xiaohong a few times, then jumped up on the horse and sat on it.
Xiaohong stomped her feet a few times and then calmed down.
Riding a horse without a saddle was a bit uncomfortable. Mu Xi walked a few steps holding the reins and didn't dare to run, so he jumped off first.
"It's hard to control the direction without a bit, and it's not comfortable to sit on. I'm going to ride it around the neighborhood tomorrow to see if I can find its original home."
Mu Xi pulled a handful of grass from the grass circle next to him and fed it.
Zhao Yeqing thought that if he let Xiaohong go by herself, maybe she would be able to find the way. As the saying goes, an old horse knows the way. Although Xiaohong doesn't look very old, she is very smart.
Mu Xi’s plan for today is still to cut the grass, and Zhao Yeqing also wants to go to the lake to catch some fish.
The three fish caught before did not have as many bones as the carp on the market. Not only did they have fewer small bones, but the bones were soft and they had almost no scales.
The meat is tender, rich in fat and melts in your mouth.
She didn't know this beforehand, so she braised the three fish. Now she thinks they would have tasted better if steamed.
Mu Xi counted the amount of grass at home and said, "Don't worry, wait until I cut two carts of grass and then I'll go with you. There are probably wild animals near the lake. They didn't come out after the rain, but they may not come out now."
Anyway, it only takes two or three hours. Zhao Yeqing nodded, "Then I'll cut the grass with you."
Mu Xi stopped her, "No, didn't you say you wanted to prepare food?"
Oh, yes.
Zhao Yeqing just remembered what she had mentioned to Mu Xi when planning the rabbit pen before. In addition to meat, staple food also needed to be prepared.
Although there is still enough food in the village for the two of them to consume, it is not a long-term solution. In less than half a year, the food will be consumed.
Zhao Yeqing loosened Xiaohong's reins and let it eat grass on its own.
She ran to the top of the hill to look for a suitable place to plant.
The original owner of the wooden house had planted barley and wheat on the meadow. When setting the trap, he saw that the planting area was often visited by giant pythons.
Zhao Yeqing got goosebumps just thinking about it, she wouldn't want that position no matter how good it was.
The meadows here are not as flat as the prairies of the Mongolian and Uyghur peoples.
Finding arable land requires careful exploration.
Of course it’s best to be close to home, and the ground should be flat, otherwise it will be difficult to dig.
Zhao Yeqing chose another piece of land that had been cultivated by the owner of the log cabin, and planned to cultivate another piece for himself.
Half an acre of land is enough to plant wheat and barley.
Zhao Yeqing still wanted to grow rice, but he didn't know when winter would come, so he gave up the idea.
Barley and wheat are cold-resistant and can be grown in winter.
The original owner expanded the arable land a little more, planted wheat first, and then reclaimed and cultivated a piece of barley field next to it.
Although the selected barley field is not very flat, it is convenient because it is close. The most important thing is that it is near the stream and is relatively moist.
After Zhao Yeqing confirmed the location of the farmland, he went home to look for information.
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