Chapter 40 Rabbit
Mu Xi was a little hurried while eating.
Not only did he have to hold down Huhu who wanted to jump onto the table at any time, he also had to pass paper to Zhao Yeqing.
"Use less chili next time."
Zhao Yeqing wiped his tears and shook his head, "No."
Fortunately, the rice has already cooled down, so it won’t be spicier when eaten with spicy dishes.
Zhao Yeqing was a little worried when he thought about the food in the rice jar. "There's not much rice left. I'll really have to rely on sweet potatoes and potatoes for every meal in the future."
Thinking of this, the rabbit in my mouth doesn’t taste so good anymore.
"I went to my grandmother's fields at the foot of the mountain before. Do you remember? They were contracted out to others. I thought if they had planted some, I could harvest some ready-made crops. But there were none. I guess some of them had sprouted on their own. I wonder if I can save the seeds to plant myself."
Mu Xi put a piece of rabbit leg meat into her bowl and said, "I'll go and have a look tomorrow. If it can be planted, I'll harvest it and plant it in a field next to it. If it can't be planted, it's okay. The potatoes can be made into potato vermicelli. Don't you like to eat it?"
Potato vermicelli was indeed a path she had never imagined. Zhao Yeqing, who was just sad about not having rice, now had her mind occupied by the spicy and sour potato vermicelli in the casserole, and began to eat the rabbit happily again.
I don’t know if it was the rabbit meat that stimulated it, but Zhao Yeqing happened to see from the corner of his eye that the female rabbit in the box was lying there motionless, her body trembling slightly, and her breathing was rising and falling rapidly.
"Could it be that the baby is about to be born?" Zhao Yeqing opened his eyes wide and spat out the rabbit bone in his mouth.
"It's time to give birth."
There are some signs before a rabbit gives birth, in addition to the milk leaking seen in the first two days, there is also nest-building behavior.
They pile up the grass they eat to make a warm nest, and then place their babies inside after they are born. They also use their mouths to pull rabbit hair from their bodies and spread it inside.
Zhao Yeqing had never seen a rabbit give birth to kittens, so he was very curious and even his chewing speed slowed down.
Mu Xi tapped her bowl gently and said, "Eat first."
-
The birthing process of a rabbit takes from one to two days.
At night, Mu Xi took the two little leopards back home for fear of scaring the mother rabbit that was giving birth.
The next day, Zhao Yeqing, who had originally planned to go down the mountain with Mu Xi to see the rice fields, did not go. He did not want to miss the rabbits giving birth at home. The female rabbit had already given birth to two rabbits that night.
Mu Xi let Huhu and Xuebing go out to play and did not let them stay at home. Mu Xi said that a mother rabbit might eat her own cubs if she was frightened during delivery, or if she was malnourished.
The shock was visible on Zhao Yeqing's face.
Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. This rabbit is even more cruel than a tiger.
Not long after Mu Xi left, the third little rabbit was born. It was a red ball of flesh without any hair, and its body was slightly heaving. Zhao Yeqing didn't dare to touch it.
When Mu Xi came back, there were five baby rabbits in the nest, and the mother rabbit had not yet finished giving birth.
Mu Xi took a look and said, "A litter usually has five to eight cubs. If there are eight, it will take some time for them to finish giving birth. Don't wait like an idiot."
Zhao Yeqing thought so too, "Did we get any harvest? Can we save the rice for seeds?"
"Yes, but not much, just a few ears." Mu Xi hadn't harvested the rice yet, so the millet wasn't full yet. He had to wait a few more days. "Don't you want soybeans?"
Zhao Yeqing was confused, "What soybeans?"
Mu Xi was speechless, "Didn't you notice that there was a field next to it that was planted entirely with soybeans?"
Zhao Yeqing recalled that there seemed to be a lot of small plants in a field, but there were no beans at the time, so she didn't know they were soybeans.
She knew that some people would rotate soybeans in the land after growing rice, wheat and corn. This is because the nutrients in the land are limited, and over-cultivation will cause nutrient loss or uneven distribution in the soil. This will not happen with soybean rotation because soybeans have rhizobia at their roots that can make the soil more fertile.
Plants need nitrogen, but they cannot absorb nitrogen from the air. The content in the soil is low. Planting soybeans can increase the nitrogen content in the soil.
She understood the principle, but she had never seen what unripened soybeans looked like.
"It will take some time for the soybeans in that field to mature, and then we can grind soy milk. My family still has the old hand-milled stone mill."
Zhao Yeqing thinks it’s very good. She loves iced soy milk and iced tofu pudding in summer, whether sweet, salty or spicy.
Although there are only a few ears of rice, if all are saved for seed and planted successfully, about 100 kilograms of rice can be grown.
As long as you plant it once, you won’t have to worry about the follow-up.
I don’t know how long it will take to restore order, so I always leave more rice seeds each time I plant to be prepared.
Mu Xi suggested digging out the wooden stakes on the land outside where the trees were cut down and turning it into a rice field. Firstly, it was close, and secondly, it was flat enough.
Before Mu Xi came back, Zhao Yeqing had always been fantasizing about Sisi and had never thought that the outside world would be so chaotic. He thought about changing the environment in the mountains as little as possible. After all, everyone was responsible for the current situation.
But now the situation has changed. Although she still doesn't want to cut down trees indiscriminately, she has to protect herself first. It is not safe at the foot of the mountain. If the cracks spread, then there will be no harvest.
The two planned the scope of paddy field reclamation.
The area of land left after felling the trees was neither too big nor too small, about half an acre. All the tree stumps were cleared out and then deep plowed to dig out the roots. The workload was extremely large.
After all, neither of them had the right tools. The ancients relied on oxen to plow the land, not to mention that they didn't even have a plow or harrow.
Fortunately, there are only two of us and we cannot eat a lot of rice. If we rotate it with potatoes and sweet potatoes, a small rice field will be enough to ensure a harvest of 200 kilograms of rice every season.
Mu Xi marked out an area of 70 square meters, and Zhao Yeqing thought that the size was appropriate. In fact, 60 square meters would probably be enough. The remaining area could be used for planting if necessary, and left empty if not.
The land next to it can be used to grow corn instead of rice, which is simpler than growing rice and does not require deep plowing.
Both of them are the kind of people who don't procrastinate and just do what they say.
Clearing the tree stumps is the first step. Zhao Yeqing dragged the generator to the location and plugged in the power cord of the chainsaw.
The only advantage of the strong sun recently is that there is plenty of electricity and it can be replenished at any time.
First, use an electric saw to cut the tree stump as short as possible, and dig up the soil around the stump.
They chose a place with the least tree stump density, with only three tree stumps in 70 square meters.
Mu Xi was sawing with an electric saw while Zhao Yeqing was digging the soil beside him.
Huhu and Xuebing scratched the ground with their claws as if they wanted to help.
Zhao Yeqing was amused. "You are not dogs, you are cats. Do you have a clear understanding of yourself?"
While digging the soil, Zhao Yeqing talked to Mu Xi about the wild boar he saw that night and how he cut pine oil to light the torch.
Mu Xi looked at her like she was a fool. "The pine forest is on the north side. Why don't you ride your bike along the mountain road to the top of the mountain and then walk a short distance?"
Zhao Yeqing felt like she was struck by lightning. She felt like a big fool.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
