Chapter 218 Aluminum Barrel
Now the rice, glutinous rice and wheat in the house have been harvested.
All the wheat has been dried and brought into the house, waiting to be peeled and ground into flour.
The rice needs to be dried for a few days.
Zhao Yeqing found that it was better not to use the plastic sheet as the cement floor conducts heat quickly, so he just put the clothes on it to dry in the sun. On such a sunny day, the clothes were much drier after just one day of exposure.
Anyway, it hasn't been shelled yet, so there's no need to worry about it getting dirty if you put it on the ground.
Zhao Yeqing said, "It doesn't matter if we wait for two days. We can go down the mountain the day after tomorrow. The rice should be ready for drying tomorrow."
Mu Xi shook his head. "How about you stay at home this time, and I'll go get the aluminum bucket first, and then we'll go down the mountain together. I don't know what the road down the mountain will be like after winter. We might have to clear obstacles, not to mention the glutinous rice."
There is really no rush. It is safer to dry the grain first. If the grain is stored while damp, it will start to be infested with moths in a few days.
It would probably take more than one or two trips to move all the aluminum barrels, as one aluminum barrel can be divided into several sections.
Now that the rice has been harvested, the original owner's house is no longer suitable for storing grain, so the two men moved all the grain into the hay house.
There was very little hay left in the hay house, and the empty space was perfect for storing food.
"After all the grain is harvested, the hay barn may not be enough."
Mu Xi: "Then expand it. If the yard is not big enough, expand it. We are using cement slabs anyway, so we can just move it."
It is enough for now, but I am worried that after the second rice harvest, when we need to store a large amount of hay straw in the winter, it will not be enough.
However, there are still many things to do now, so this matter can be postponed until the second crop of rice is planted.
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The next day, as planned, Zhao Yeqing continued to dry the grain at home, while Mu Xi went down the mountain.
After a winter, there were many dead branches and broken leaves, and the road was blocked by broken tree trunks in several places.
Clearing the broken branches is not the most difficult thing. The most troublesome thing is that after spring, a lot of weeds grow on the roads that were originally cleared. From spring to summer, these weeds have become knee-high.
Mu Xi took Xiao Hei to explore the way ahead to avoid sudden attacks by snakes.
Holding a sickle, I cleared the weeds on the road along the way.
In two or three days, after harvesting the rice, they harvested the glutinous rice, and after harvesting the glutinous rice, they threshed the millet, and after threshing the millet, they cut the weeds.
Even people who exercise all year round cannot withstand such back strain.
He touched the area where his waist injury had just been relieved, and waited until the pain passed before he stood up and continued mowing the grass.
It would definitely take a lot of time to clear the entire road down the mountain. Mu Xi was mentally prepared before going out and told Zhao Yeqing in advance that he might stay in the village for one night.
He had brought some food with him when he went down the mountain. Almost all the remaining food in the village had been carried back before. Mu Xi used the pots and pans that he had not taken away to make a fire and cook. After eating, he fell asleep quickly.
As soon as it was light in the morning, I took two aluminum buckets and went back.
The aluminum barrels are one large and one small, and they can fit together just fine.
The barrels for storing grain can't be that small. Although they are not heavy, they are quite large. When carrying them along the forest paths, they will always get caught on weeds and tree branches.
We set out early in the morning and it was already afternoon when we got home.
Zhao Yeqing saw him coming back and walked over to take the aluminum bucket. "How was it? Did you have a smooth journey?"
Mu Xi nodded, "It's OK, but I still need to cut grass. The aluminum barrel is too big to move, so I only brought back two sections."
This kind of aluminum barrel can be assembled and put together piece by piece, and can hold a lot of grain.
The big one has a diameter of 80 centimeters, and the small one has a diameter of 60 centimeters. Both the big and small buckets have three sections, and he can only bring back one section at a time.
The three sections put together are about 1.4 meters high.
Zhao Yeqing estimated, "These three large sections put together can probably hold more than 700 kilograms of rice, and 1,000 kilograms of husked rice. The small sections can hold about 400 kilograms of rice, and more than 600 kilograms of rice."
Generally in rural areas, all paddy rice is not husked at once. It is best to thresh a few dozen kilograms each time and continue threshing after the rice is eaten to ensure the freshness of the rice.
Mu Xi said: "Then one for rice and one for wheat."
The quality of wheat and rice is similar. Set aside a portion to grind into flour, and put the rest into the smaller bucket.
“What about the corn?”
There were only a few families left in the village whose food had not been buried. There was not much food stored in the village, and there were only two suitable aluminum barrels that could be found.
Mu Xi remembered that there was another big one, "There was a family who had a big aluminum barrel, but that one was too big, I'm afraid they can't move it back."
The aluminum barrel was very new. He had found it when he was searching for food before, but there was no food in it. He probably bought it but could not use it before the world changed.
Zhao Yeqing also remembered the oversized aluminum barrel. "That barrel is probably about 1.2 meters in diameter. If used to hold corn, it would probably hold 2,000 kilograms."
It is estimated that their corn field can only produce about 700 kilograms at most.
Zhao Yeqing was stunned after saying this, "Then let's find a way to move a section back, it will just be able to hold about 700 kilograms."
Mu Xi said helplessly, "That's true, but it's mainly because it's too big and the path in the forest is narrow. It took me a long time to move these two back."
"What if we put something underneath like the sled we made in the winter?" Zhao Yeqing stood up the large aluminum barrel and gestured.
"Put something underneath to prevent scratches. No matter how big the aluminum barrel is, its diameter when erected is only about 1.2 meters, which is only as high as your waist. You drag it in front, and I'll go with you and support it from behind. I'm sure you can carry it back."
Mu Xi was silent for a while and nodded, "It should be possible." But his subconscious thinking did not take into account the idea of two people going together. Every time he just thought about whether he could solve the problem by himself.
Zhao Yeqing also noticed Mu Xi's thoughts. When he first came back, everything was unknown. He was thinking about training more so that he could have the ability to protect himself.
But now, after their lives have gradually stabilized, Zhao Yeqing found that he increasingly wanted to take over everything and do it himself.
She raised her hands and pinched his face, "Who do you look down on?"
Mu Xi immediately explained, "I don't look down on you, I just don't want you to be tired."
In fact, Zhao Yeqing knew in her heart that Mu Xi wanted to take good care of her, but when they were together, both their emotions and actions had to be mutual.
If it were in the past, she would have felt very caring and at ease, but now in this special period, there are only two of them living together, the climate and environment are relatively harsh, and accidents may happen at any time.
She didn't want to wait until danger arose, as Mu Xi would subconsciously feel that he was the only one who could bear the consequences, thus losing his rational judgment.
Just like this time of moving the aluminum barrels.
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