Chapter 75: 75: Got Hit Twice
"A few dollars is not enough. When he comes back, search his money and leave him at most 20 cents!" Zhou's mother looked at her in disapproval, "You are good in everything except that you are a little soft-hearted and too thin-skinned."
Yang Chunyan blushed after hearing this, "..." She is in her forties and her skin is thicker than a thousand layers of soil.
Mother Zhou thought of Li Qiuyue and patted her hands. "Yan'er, your sister-in-law has a strong personality. Seeing you make so much money, she is a little jealous. Your brother scolded her last night, and mom also scolded her today. Don't take it to heart!"
"I know Third Sister-in-law's personality. She won't take it to heart."
"And the money-grubber, Old No. 2. Your old man scolded him again this morning."
"Don't worry, we didn't take it seriously." Yang Chunyan said as she stood up. "Huaian said that he would go up the mountain to dig herbs and find beehives to cut honey and sell. I pulled out a few feet of nylon yarn and made him two bee hats."
Mother Zhou thought for a moment and said, "I'll find you two straw hats with broken brims, sew nylon yarn on top and a hemp rope underneath, and tie them up when you use them."
Yang Chunyan didn't expect that Zhou's mother had the same idea as her, and said with a smile: "I also bought two canvas hats."
"Of course it would be best if you had a hat. Go get it and I'll sew it with you."
"Yes!" Yang Chunyan went back and got out a straw hat, nylon yarn, steel wire and elastic band. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law sat at the door of the main room and began to sew the bee-bee hat.
First measure the size of the hat, then cut the nylon yarn and sew it into a barrel shape, sew one end to the brim, sew the elastic band in at the other end, and then sew the steel wire two or three inches away from the elastic band, and the bee cap is successfully made.
Yang Chunyan put the bee cap off her head and let it hang naturally. The steel wire supported the nylon yarn and the elastic band was tightened around the neck so that the bees could not get in.
She took off her beehive hat and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll take it with me when I go up the mountain tomorrow. If we can find a few old beehives, the harvest will be better than digging herbs."
Mother Zhou looked at the beekeeper hat in her hand over and over again, "The youngest child used to ask me to buy him a beekeeper hat with money, but he was always hanging out outside and never brought back a penny.
I would rather spend every penny of the little money I have than spend it on buying him these useless things."
"In the past, private transactions were not allowed. We worked in the production team every day. There were many people who slacked off and cheated. We had no free time at the end of the year. Now we work for ourselves. When we are done, we can catch eels, fish, and find honey to sell on the street."
Zhou's mother thought about it and it was true. "You young people are smarter than us. We are old and we only know how to dig for food in the soil."
"The control was too strict in the past few years, and everyone didn't react for a while."
Yang Chunyan took the finished bee hat back and put it away, then started making mosquito coils.
When Zhou's mother saw this, she also came to help. Yang Chunyan asked her to help pound the charcoal into powder. She took the elm bark to the stone mill, ground it into powder, and sifted it through flour twice.
Zhou's mother also pounded the charcoal, and Yang Chunyan asked her to sift the charcoal powder and keep it there for later use.
Then pound the wild chrysanthemum, mint and mugwort into powder and pour them into the basin. Then pour the charcoal powder and elm flour into the basin. Add water and knead it into a ball. Break off a piece and roll it into noodles, flatten it and pinch it into a small cone shape and put it in the winnowing basket.
Mother Zhou smiled and said, "Is this thing really useful?"
"It works. Mugwort, mint and wild chrysanthemum can all repel mosquitoes!"
****
Zhou Huaian and Xu Erchun have now reached the second ridge. The mountain is full of blooming flowers and hardworking little bees can be seen everywhere.
Along the way, Zhou Huaian didn't find any Magnolia officinalis trees, but he saw several clumps of Polygonum multiflorum vines.
Xu Erchun, who was walking in front, shouted, "Youngest, come and see what's on the pine tree?"
Zhou Huaian walked forward and saw a pine tree that required two people to hug together. He saw nothing else.
"Stupid as hell!" Xu Erchun patted him and pointed excitedly, "Look at that first tree fork up there, what's that?"
Zhou Huaian stretched his neck to look at the huge honey hanging on the tree fork which was thicker than his legs. Thousands of small black bees tightly wrapped the hive, making people salivate.
"Oh my god, this is the first time I've seen such a long honey stick!"
Xu Erchun turned his head and looked at him, "What should we do? Bring the bee caps back tomorrow and harvest them again?"
Zhou Huaian didn't even turn his head. "Come tomorrow? Do you think it's just the two of us looking for beehives? Cut some more mugwort to smoke them away. I'll go up the tree to collect honey!"
The bees that produce honey are called black bees. They are also a kind of bees. They have a strong ability to guard the hive, while the worker bees are more irritable and fierce.
Even during the busy collecting season, the guard bees that protect the hive never leave the hive exposed.
When a storm hits a beehive or the sun shines too brightly, the worker bees will clump together and pile on the hive to guard it.
The worker bees of the small black bee are alert and ferocious by nature. When people approach, the guard bees under the hive immediately become alert and will fly out and attack if the hive is disturbed.
Xu Erchun was a little scared. "I think I'd better forget it. If I go up there, I'll get stung by the little black bees a dozen times!"
"Pah~" Zhou Huaian spat, "You crow mouth, if I have to sting me, I'll sting you!"
"Okay, okay, sting me, sting me!" Xu Erchun searched around with the medicine hoe, cut some wild chrysanthemums and mugwort, and carried them back to the tree and piled them up.
Zhou Huaian had already cleared away the vines and shrubs under the tree with a machete. "Tie a bunch of mugwort to a bamboo pole and hold it up to smoke out the little black bees."
"Yes!" Xu Erchun tied up the mugwort, and Zhou Huaian lit the dry mugwort he brought and placed it under the pile of grass. Soon, thick smoke spread everywhere.
The guardian bees hanging in layers on the big beehive on the tree fork became agitated, buzzing and flapping their wings, and flew away in all directions.
Zhou Huaian tied the urea bag around his waist and climbed up the first tree fork in a few seconds like a clever monkey. He sat astride the fork and drove away the remaining small black bees on the hive. Suddenly, one of them stung him on the lip.
Zhou Huaian's mouth twitched in pain, "You old crow, I was stung by a bee!"
Xu Erchun held up the mugwort and looked at him sympathetically, "Hurry up and harvest the honey, or the little black bees will come back soon!"
"Old Crow, there are a lot of bee pupae. Let's keep them and come back to get honey next time!"
"Okay, hurry up, or you'll be a black bun when the little black bee comes back!"
Zhou Huaian glared at him, and reluctantly hung the rope tied to the urea bag on a branch. He then lay on the fork of the tree, and carefully cut the honey combs one by one and put them into a sack. After the honey combs were cut, the amber nectar exuded an attractive sweet smell.
"Oh my god, it's so comfortable. This piece weighs three or four pounds!"
Xu Erchun smiled so hard that his teeth were showing. "Youngest brother, cut them all. There should be about 6 or 7 kilograms, right?"
"You should say less, but there are so many!" Zhou Huaian smiled with his white teeth showing, and was stung again in the corner of his eye, "Fuck! Here it comes again, I'll *your ancestors, you see I have delicate skin and tender flesh, you stung me to make me feel comfortable, right!"
(End of this chapter)
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