Chapter 141 Rabbit Fur
Zhao Yeqing withdrew his hand from the window and stared blankly at the snowflakes in his hand.
It's really hexagonal.
She quickly walked over and stretched her hand in front of Mu Xi before the snowflakes melted, "Look! A hexagon!"
The snow in Meishan is mostly sandy snow, which is granular. As far as the two can remember, there has never been a heavy snowfall. This kind of snowflakes is the first time they have seen.
The window was not closed and the temperature in the room slowly dropped. Zhao Yeqing watched the snowflakes on his hands slowly melt before he remembered to close the window.
After a while, her nose felt itchy and she rubbed it subconsciously.
Mu Xi held her hand, which was already cold, and said, "Come up quickly, or you will catch a cold."
After saying that, he moved to the side where Zhao Yeqing was sleeping and tucked her into his warm quilt.
The quilt was pulled up to her chin, and Mu Xi warmed her hands and feet before getting out of bed.
The damper of the fireplace was opened and a fire started inside.
There was a small basket in the room, which was used to store firewood, and it was almost empty.
Mu Xi put on his coat, put on his shoes and went out to get firewood.
As soon as I stepped into the yard, the snow had reached my ankles. When I stepped on it, there was a crisp squeezing sound and it was a little slippery.
Everything they saw was covered in a layer of white snow. Fortunately, the light snow two days ago had reminded them that the cowshed, sheepfold, chicken coop and stable were all tightly closed.
After Mu Xi brought the firewood into the room, Zhao Yeqing also got up. After the fireplace was lit, the room became much warmer. She put on her coat and walked to the side.
"Is it cold outside?"
As he spoke, he stood on tiptoe to brush away the snowflakes on Mu Xi's head.
Mu Xi added two more pieces of firewood to the fireplace. "It's cold, but not as cold as I imagined. It's better than when the sand and snow fell heavily before."
It is really cold when the sand and snow fall, especially when it is sleeting, it is cold to the bone.
Zhao Yeqing had a rough idea in mind and took out a pair of cotton pants from the closet and put them on.
It's the kind of cotton trousers worn by the Hunan provincial uniform, and a pair of thick socks.
There is a hook inside the fireplace, and you can hang the kettle on it to boil water. The two of them boiled hot water inside before going out, and they can drink it when they come back.
There was still hot water in the thermos in the kitchen. After pouring it out and washing up, Mu Xi went to clean the cattle and sheep pens, and Zhao Yeqing went to make breakfast.
Make some hot soup for breakfast so that you can warm up after eating it.
The two of them had eaten mutton hotpot the night before, and the remaining mutton soup had frozen into jelly.
After the mutton soup is heated in the pot and melted, use another pot to cook the noodles. Once the noodles are cooked, you have to put the kettle on the stove immediately. Now you have to use hot water to wash everything at home.
The mutton is cut into thin slices and cooked immediately after being picked up with chopsticks and put into the boiling mutton soup.
Put the cooked noodles in a bowl, pour in the boiling mutton soup and meat slices, and sprinkle coriander and white pepper on the noodles.
This weather is the best time to eat pepper, which can cure coldness in the five internal organs and is perfect for warming up the body.
Mu Xi walked into the kitchen and got the thermos, which contained hot water that Zhao Yeqing had just added.
"I'll be back after I finish feeding them grass and water. You can eat first."
Sheep and cattle cannot drink water at room temperature in this weather. They have to be mixed with hot water to make it warm water before being fed.
But the water cannot be kept warm all the time, so the only thing to do is to reduce the frequency with which the cattle and sheep drink water. Mu Xi sprinkled some hay crumbs on the surface of the water in the trough to prevent the cattle and sheep from getting diarrhea due to drinking too much water.
After they had breakfast, Mu Xi went to the yard to sweep the snow. The snow had not stopped yet, so he just roughly cleared a path to walk on.
The kettle in the room was already making a gurgling sound. Zhao Yeqing took down the handle of the kettle wrapped in a rag and placed it by the fire to warm it.
Small sprouts have already appeared at the tips of the peas on the windowsill. In this weather, just water them once every two days. We will be able to eat the first crop in another week.
The room was still relatively warm, but the temperature outside had reached minus six degrees Celsius. Zhao Yeqing was holding a cup of hot water, and suddenly remembered the winters when she was a child. Her grandmother would add a piece of sweet maltose to the hot water for her.
I don't know if I can still grow live malt in this weather.
Zhao Yeqing put on his coat and took out the unplanted wheat seeds. The wheat seeds had to be soaked in water for a day first.
It was feared that it would freeze outside, so Zhao Yeqing brought the basin containing the wheat seeds indoors and placed it next to the fireplace.
In order to prevent the kitchen water pipes from freezing, Mu Xi wrapped cloth strips around them after sweeping the snow. The water in the well became warmer and was warm when it was pumped out.
Zhao Yeqing took some dry hay to the rabbit pen. The accumulated snow collapsed the hay, so she cleared the snow, found some branches to support the hole, and then put the hay on top.
Looking down, I saw the little rabbits inside were huddled together to keep each other warm.
Only after the dry hay was put in did the rabbits move their crowded bodies away. Rabbits don't drink much water, and the crude fiber in the dry hay is most suitable for feeding rabbits.
When she returned to the room, Mu Xi was already adding firewood to the fireplace. When he saw her come in, he refilled her cup with hot water.
"Want to make malt sugar?" Mu Xi obviously saw the wheat seeds placed next to him.
"Well, I want to drink some maltose water, but I don't know if I can grow crops in this weather."
Mu Xi glanced at the watch on his wrist. Now that they were indoors, the temperature showed six degrees.
"Cover it with film to keep it warm, there shouldn't be any problem."
The sudden heavy snow left the two of them with nothing to do.
Zhao Yeqing was sitting in a rocking chair knitting a scarf. She didn't know any complicated patterns and could only knit from beginning to end using flat stitch, just to pass the time.
Mu Xi took out the furs that he had collected yesterday and checked them.
The sheepskin and wolfskin had been washed clean from the previous two days, and the fat and meat inside were scraped off with a knife. Laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid were added to the water and soaked for a day and a night before being taken out and scrubbed.
After drying it for a day yesterday, it was almost dry. I thought I could dry it for another day before storing it away today, but who would have thought that it would snow so heavily overnight.
It was not until noon that the snow slowly stopped.
The clouds in the sky sometimes block the sun, and sometimes the sun comes out. The sunlight is slightly warm, but I don’t know if it can be dried after hanging it in the sun for an afternoon.
A lot of rabbit furs had been stockpiled during this period, and Mu Xi took out all the rabbit furs. Last time, only eight or nine pieces of rabbit fur were used to make the carpet, and most of them were defective. Now the remaining intact furs were just right for making rabbit fur blankets.
The fur used to make rabbit hair carpets was tanned when he did not have much experience. It was tanned by the sun-drying method, which was simple to operate, but the leather inside was prone to stiffness and cracking.
Just perfect for making carpets.
The latter ones are pickled with salt. After the fresh rabbit skin is pickled with salt, the leather inside is still soft and elastic, and it is comfortable to touch as a blanket.
Mu Xi picked out the ones with ordinary fur colors to sew blankets, and kept the ones with good fur colors to make scarves.
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