The Liu brothers went to the backyard to tell their wives to cook, while Sheng Xiping chatted with his master and mistress in the front yard.
A short while later, Liu's two daughters-in-law came over with their children.
People get married and have children early these days. The Liu family was well-off, and both Liu Yujiang and Liu Yuhe started arranging for their wives when they were just over twenty years old.
Liu Yujiang's eldest son is now four years old (by Chinese reckoning), and his second son is not even a year old yet, still crawling all over the bed.
Liu Yuhe's son is also a boy, two years old (by Chinese reckoning), he can walk and runs all over the place, and we have to dig up mouse holes three times over.
So whenever the two daughters-in-law were working, they had to bring the children to the front yard so that their parents-in-law could help look after them; otherwise, how could they free up their hands?
The elderly couple doted on their grandson and did their best to help take care of him.
A family should live like this, harmoniously and happily. That's good.
The two daughters-in-law of the Liu family are both very efficient. They leave the children with their parents-in-law and busy themselves in the outer room.
Before noon, the aroma of food filled the entire yard.
Just past eleven o'clock, the food was all served.
The food at the farmhouse is hearty and plentiful; it doesn't need to be fancy, but it must be enough to eat.
Rabbit stew with matsutake mushrooms was served directly in a small bowl. Other dishes included a mixed stew of river fish, stir-fried salted pork with bok choy, stewed celery with potato slices, stir-fried chives with eggs, and vegetables with dipping sauce.
At this time of year, the vegetable garden isn't very lush with vegetables; most of them are just small, unrefined greens.
The early potatoes had just grown to about the right size; it wasn't time to harvest them yet. I guess they were dug up specifically from the field.
"Xiping, you're not an outsider, just make whatever you have at home, let's just have a simple meal."
Liu Changde looked at the food and thought it was alright. It was just like any other farmhouse; it would be considered good if it were placed in someone else's house.
"Oh, Master, what should I say? Isn't this good?"
Sheng Xiping laughed when he heard this; he hadn't come here for a meal.
No matter what kind of food you have, even if there's nothing else, just some nails and some wine, you can slurp it all night long.
"Come, come, Master, let me fill your cup."
I haven't had much time to come over lately, so I have to have a few more drinks with you today. Enjoy your drinks!
Sheng Xiping never felt like a stranger at the Liu family's house. He automatically opened the wine bottle and poured wine for Liu Changde.
Liu Changde and his son accompanied Sheng Xiping to drink in the east room, while Qin Qiuyan led her two daughters-in-law and three grandsons to eat in the west room.
The main problem was that the three little kids were too noisy, constantly climbing onto the table.
They can eat in the west room, where they can properly feed the children and prevent them from causing trouble.
Sheng Xiping hadn't visited the Liu family for some time, so he made the rare trip. He ate, drank, and chatted with the Liu father and son, and felt especially close to them.
The four of them shared a bottle of wine, and before they had even finished it, they suddenly heard the dog in the yard barking wildly.
Then, a series of hurried footsteps came, "Uncle Liu, Captain Liu, are you home? Hurry, something's happened."
At the main gate, someone was shouting in a strange and unpleasant manner.
Upon hearing this, Liu Yujiang's expression changed, and he immediately put down his chopsticks and ran outside, with Liu Yuhe following him.
When I got to the gate, I was shocked. "Chunsheng, what happened to you? Why are you covered in blood?"
There were two people standing at the gate, one of whom was covered in blood and looked terrifying.
"Captain, this isn't my blood, it's Erzhuzi's."
This morning, a few of us went to the back mountain to dig for Gastrodia elata. As a result, Erzhuzi ran into a black bear and got scratched badly. Half of his face and scalp were torn off.
Luckily, the rest of us were nearby, and we heard the commotion and rushed over, chasing the bear away.
Erzhuzi has been brought back, but our team's barefoot doctor can't treat his injury; he needs to be taken to the hospital immediately.
Chun Sheng, still breathless, managed to explain the situation clearly.
"Then hurry up and send it down! What are you waiting for?" Liu Yujiang was also getting anxious and frustrated when he heard this.
As the production team leader, how could he not be anxious when something like this happened in the team?
"What did Secretary Li say?" Secretary Li refers to the brigade secretary.
The Alkali Field Brigade has two production teams. Liu Yujiang is the captain of one of the production teams, and there is also a brigade secretary above him.
"Secretary Li said that there is no small train running down the mountain today."
I was thinking of asking the team leader if we could discuss borrowing their motorcycles from the forestry station to make a trip for them.
The young man next to Chunsheng quickly chimed in.
This place is located in a remote area with inconvenient transportation.
To get out of the mountains, whether you're a forestry worker or a villager from Dajianchang, the only option is to take the forest transport train.
But this little train doesn't run every day; it only runs every two days.
I just went down yesterday, and there are no buses today, so I won't be able to come back until tomorrow.
Without a small train, getting down the mountain would be quite a hassle.
The mountain path leading from Dajianchang to Donggang is an old one from many years ago. It's rugged and difficult to walk on, let alone catch a bus.
If someone were to go down that path, they wouldn't even need to be saved; they would simply die instantly.
The only remaining option was to ask the forestry station for help and use a railway motorcycle to send people down the mountain.
Although Dajianchang Village and Qianchuan Forest Farm are both located in the same valley, they belong to different systems.
Qianchuan Forest Farm is a state-owned forest farm, belonging to the forestry system, and its inhabitants are all workers.
The people in Dajianchang Village are all farmers, and the area is under the jurisdiction of the commune and the county. They are different from others, and there is not much interaction between them.
If you want to ask the forestry station for help, you need to find someone you know who can speak to the forestry station officials.
Everyone knows that Liu Changde has a good relationship with the family of a foreman at Qianchuan Forestry Farm, which is why Chunsheng came to ask the Liu family for help.
Upon hearing this, Liu Yujiang felt quite troubled.
Those railway motorcycles are vehicles reserved for forestry farm cadres; they're not easily borrowed. This is a huge favor.
The key issue is that the Liu family doesn't have the capability, so they have to ask the Sheng family for help.
Moreover, even if the Sheng family intervenes, it's uncertain whether they can actually get the money.
Sheng Xiping is at the Liu family's house right now, but it's not easy for him to say these words.
If they don't ask, Erzhuzi is a member of the team, and if something happens, Liu Yujiang won't be able to explain himself.
"Big brother, second brother, you two should go to Erzhuzi's house as soon as possible to check the situation and tell them to prepare the things and money for going down the mountain."
I'll go back to the forest farm right away and ask around. Saving lives is urgent; if we're too late, the person might be gone.
Sheng Xiping had also come out earlier and heard everything clearly. He could see Liu Yujiang's predicament, so he took the initiative to speak.
"Oh dear, brother, look at the mess this has made. You rarely come here, and now this has happened."
Liu Yujiang looked apologetic; the person had come to visit the elderly, but this had happened.
I'd barely eaten a few bites when I had to run back to find my car.
"Brother, stop talking and let's get going."
After Sheng Xiping finished speaking, he hurriedly left the Liu family's house and ran towards the forest farm.
The alkali field was two miles away from the forest farm, which was no big deal for Sheng Xiping; he arrived in just a few minutes.
"Uncle Wang, I have something urgent to ask you."
Sheng Xiping went straight to the forestry farm secretary's house, just in time to find that the family was having dinner.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
