The little train swayed for about two hours before finally returning smoothly to Qianchuan Forest Farm.
Everyone got off the bus, first went to the forest farm to return the chainsaw, and then went home.
Before Zhou Qinglan left, her family gave her a lot of things, including gifts from the Zhou family to the Sheng family.
So Zhou Qinglan didn't go home with Tang Fengying, but instead went to the Sheng family first.
Around nine o'clock, none of the family members who were at work or school were home; only Zhang Shuzhen was inside, sewing a cotton-padded coat.
Qianchuan Forest Farm is close to Changbai Mountain, and due to the influence of the mountain's climate, it gets cold earlier than other places.
The weather is getting colder and colder, so I should make cotton-padded clothes for the family as soon as possible so they can wear them when it snows.
As soon as Sheng Xiping and Zhou Qinglan entered the courtyard, Erlang Shen and Black General, the two dogs, started whimpering.
With no other option, Sheng Xiping put the bag on the ground and went to pet the dog first.
Zhang Shuzhen was working inside when she heard something amiss with the dog barking outside. Looking out the window, she saw her son and Zhou Qinglan had returned.
So he quickly put down his needle and thread and came out.
"I guessed you two would be able to take the little train back today, how was it? Your parents are doing well, right?"
Zhang Shuzhen smiled and walked over to Zhou Qinglan, helping her carry her things into the house, and casually asked her a question.
"Yes, my parents are both doing well."
This time, we sent back a huge cartload of firewood, more than ten zhang long. My parents said that we won't have to worry about firewood for several years.
My mom asked me to give her regards to my aunt and uncle, and to thank them both.
Zhou Qinglan placed the backpack she had brought back on the kang (a heated brick bed).
"Auntie, I brought some things from home. This is for you, this is for Uncle, and this is for Xi'an and Xikang..."
As Zhou Qinglan spoke, she rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a number of things.
There was a scarf for Zhang Shuzhen, two bottles of wine for Sheng Liancheng, a fountain pen and notebook for Sheng Xi'an and Sheng Xikang, fabric for Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei, and a new schoolbag for Sheng Xitai.
Sheng Xiping not only delivered a cartload of firewood to the Zhou family, but also bought a lot of things for Zhou Qinglan.
Feeling bad about it, the Zhou family asked Zhou Qinglan to bring some things to the Sheng family.
Only through this give-and-take can the growing closeness between the two families be demonstrated.
"Oh dear, why are you carrying so much stuff? It must cost a lot of money."
"Your parents' salaries aren't low, but your younger brother is still in school. How can we afford to spend money like this?"
Zhang Shuzhen had a rough idea of how much these things cost as soon as she saw them, so she quickly said...
"Auntie, it's alright, my family doesn't spend much."
My brother receives a stipend in the army, and I'm here as an educated youth, so I don't need any money from my family.
My brother is the only one studying, so it doesn't cost much.
Besides, it's not much money; it's just a small token of my parents' affection, so Auntie must accept it.
Zhou Qinglan smiled and pushed the things in front of Zhang Shuzhen.
"Okay, please thank your parents for me later. It's kind of them to think of everything."
These things are much better than what we have in the forest farm store.
It wouldn't be right for Zhang Shuzhen to refuse the Zhou couple's kind offer.
Anyway, there's plenty of time in the future, and we can always return the favor when the opportunity arises.
While the two were talking, Sheng Xiping finally managed to coax the two dogs into coming into the house.
"Mom, these are the things I bought, take a look."
And this money came from the sale of the copper by the second and third brothers.
"Whatever you do later, don't tell them how much you made, I'm afraid they'll go out and cause trouble again."
Sheng Xiping rummaged through the contents of his basket and handed a stack of money to Zhang Shuzhen.
Zhang Shuzhen took the money first, and after counting it, she was shocked. "How many pounds of copper? It's selling for so much money?"
Sheng Xiping told his mother about the price of copper, "I didn't expect it to be so expensive, it really shocked me."
Zhang Shuzhen nodded. "Yes, we can't let those bastards know, otherwise who knows what trouble they might cause?"
"Oh, right, hurry up and go to the family team and find Captain Hu."
It seems he needs to talk to you about something. He sent his child over last night to ask if you were back yet.
Zhang Shuzhen took the money and put it in her pocket, but then suddenly remembered this and quickly told her son.
"Uncle Hu is looking for me? What's wrong now?" Sheng Xiping was taken aback.
He asked the team leader for leave before going to Songjiang River.
Everyone knows the little train is coming back today. What important thing could it be that made Old Hu send the kids over to find him?
"Qinglan, you sit here, I'll go check on the family team." Sheng Xiping hurriedly got up and walked out.
In early September, the cabbages in the field were just beginning to form heads, and the radishes were still growing and not very crisp.
Not to mention corn and beans, they are still in the final stages of ripening and are not yet ready for harvest.
So Sheng Xiping was quite puzzled as to why Lao Hu was in such a hurry to find him.
Sheng Xiping went to Lao Hu's house first, but his family said he had gone to Hou Dadi, so he went to Hou Dadi instead.
After arriving at Hou Dadi, they searched for a long time before finally finding Lao Hu in a sweet potato field.
Old Hu was standing in the sweet potato field, looking at the holes in the ground in front of him, feeling quite troubled.
Seeing the mess on the ground, Sheng Xiping immediately understood what had happened. "Uncle, did a badger get into our sweet potato field?"
Qianchuan Forest Farm has about 300 households, and the agricultural team has a total of 700 to 800 mu of land, which cannot all be used to grow winter vegetables.
On the other side of the land, some corn, soybeans, and sweet potatoes were planted to enrich the lives of forestry workers and their families.
The land was next to a forest, and every autumn, some animals would come into the fields to damage the crops. For example, wild boars, bears, badgers, and the like.
Black bears love to destroy corn, while wild boars destroy corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Badgers are similar, destroying corn, sweet potatoes, and the like.
This sweet potato field has clearly been ruined by badgers.
There were many holes in the ground, which clearly indicated that badgers had dug the holes and were eating the sweet potatoes from the roots.
Wild boars mostly use their snouts to root around, turning over entire patches of land.
"Isn't that right? It's really worrying. Look at how much damage it has caused to this place overnight."
Old Hu squatted down in front of those earthen holes, reached out and dug through the soil to reveal the chewed-up sweet potato pieces inside, feeling heartbroken.
“Yesterday morning, someone told me that the sweet potato field seemed to have been damaged by something.”
When I came over, I saw it was a badger. Didn't we arrange for someone to guard it last night?
The few people guarding the land were utterly useless; when they came up this morning, they found it had been vandalized again.
"Xiping, when it comes to hunting, no one in our forest farm is better than you."
Could you bring some people up here to check on the greenery and maybe take care of these badgers while you're at it?
"If this continues, will anyone in our team be left this year?" Old Hu stood up and asked Sheng Xiping earnestly.
"Uncle, don't worry, I'll bring some men over tonight to keep watch and figure out how to deal with these badgers."
Can Sheng Xiping really say no?
This is the result of their hard work for half a year. If wild animals wipe it all out, how will they make any money?
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