After Yang Chunyan and her husband finished their meal, the mother-in-law and the daughters-in-law were already sitting on the steps, picking red mushrooms and gossiping.
The topic has turned from Xiong Laosan and Zou Cuifen to someone in the village, and how someone discovered them hiding in a haystack one day.
And there's a kid in the village who doesn't look like him at all, but looks like someone from a certain family...
After listening to this, Zhou Huaian said, "Mom, it's still early. Go to the master's and ask for a peace amulet for me. I have to pay my taxes tomorrow!"
"Yes." Mother Zhou untied her waist and went into the house to get a flashlight. "Come with me."
"Yeah!" The mother and son walked away together.
Yang Chunyan pulled over the backpack and, following the instructions in the book, removed the Chuanxiong that she had dug up yesterday afternoon, those that had been bitten by insects, had no buds, or had already sprouted buds.
Cut into sections about an inch long, leaving a lingzi in each section. Soak more than twenty cut lingzi stalks in clean water and spread them out for planting tomorrow morning.
Then pour out the red-root wild broad beans, and take out the Chuanxiong from the basket, and place them upright next to the stone slab beside the well to absorb water.
Zhang Xiuxiang held up a red-rooted wild broad bean and said, "Sister-in-law, look, this thing is also a herb!"
"It looks a bit like what we saw on the mountain yesterday, huh?"
Li Qiuyue took it and looked at it. "Yes, it is this thing. The flowers are exactly the same."
Yang Chunyan put the Chuanxiong away and came back. "Sister-in-law, where did you see it? Go and cut off the seed heads tomorrow, and then dig up the roots."
"We saw it at Fangtian Brigade. We'll dig it up tomorrow when we go to pick red mushrooms."
"Hmm! How many red mushrooms did you pick today?"
"Not much. Xiaoxue and her husband picked up about ten kilograms. Aunt San and Hongmei picked up about the same. The three of us were better off, but we only picked up less than twenty kilograms."
"Alas!" Li Qiuyue stood up and sighed while holding Zhou Xiaolin, who was groaning. "The mushrooms we found are not as many as the herbs we dug."
"There will be less and less as time goes by." Yang Chunyan took out a winnowing basket, poured the flower spikes of the red-rooted wild broad beans into it, and then squeezed open the pods, and the seeds, which were smaller than sesame seeds, fell into the winnowing basket.
She remembered hearing Wang Zhen say before that the seeds of red-root wild broad beans cannot be exposed to the sun and must be placed in a cool place to dry.
Since the flowering and fruiting cycle of red root wild beans is 1-2 months, the maturity and fullness of the seeds vary, making them difficult to collect.
It takes more than ten kilograms of fresh seeds to collect one kilogram of seeds that are very mature and full, so the price of the seeds is also very high, and one kilogram can be sold for several thousand yuan.
Yang Chunyan spread the seeds in a dustpan and placed them on a bamboo rack under the eaves of the backyard. The seeds of red-rooted wild broad beans cannot be exposed to the sun, but should be placed in a cool and ventilated place to dry, and must be prevented from getting moldy and affecting the germination rate.
The sisters-in-law cleaned the red mushrooms, spread them thinly in a winnowing basket, took them to the backyard and put them on a bamboo rack to dry, then washed the herbs. Only then did Zhou Huaian, his mother, and his brother Zhou Huaishan return home together.
Zhou Huairong said, "The backyard embankment will be finished tomorrow. The mason said the house walls will be finished by the end of the month at the latest. I'll ask you to find a yin and yang master to choose a day for the beams to be put up."
"The master said that there will be a good day in early September. After the embankment is built, we will ask the craftsmen to build the animal pen in the backyard in the first few days of the month." Zhou's mother paused, "We will also need to hire someone to dig a pit toilet by then."
Zhou Huaian remembered that Yang Chunyan asked for a bathroom, "Brother, build another one next to the pig pen for showering. It doesn't need to be too big, just a small one will do."
Zhou Huairong nodded readily, "Yes! It saves me from having to go to the toilet."
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan said, "Brother, buy a few more slates and use them to cover the shower room. Slates won't slip when wet, but cement floors can make you fall if you're not careful."
"Okay!" Zhou Huairong agreed readily.
Zhou Huaijun thought about it and said, "Youngest, you said the other day that we should dig a well in the back mountain and use a pipe to bring water home. How do we do that?"
"This!" Zhou Huaian thought about what Yang Chunyan said, "Dig the well deeper, bury the water pipe in the water, bring the water back home, install a faucet like the one in the city, and when you need it, turn on the faucet and water will come out."
Mother Zhou frowned and said, "To bring water down from the mountain through pipes, we need to buy iron pipes and dig trenches to bury the pipes. That would cost a lot of money, right? Wouldn't it be better to just dig a well in the yard?"
"Mom, this is so convenient. I don't have to go out on rainy days. Water will come out as soon as I turn on the faucet. I don't have to carry clothes to the ditch to wash. And I don't have to worry about the manhole cover not being closed properly..."
Zhou Huaian didn't say anything unlucky, but everyone in the family understood what he meant.
Every few years, there would be a well cover in the village that was not properly closed, and children would fall into it. At the big well in the team, adults would accidentally fall in while drawing water.
Zhang Xiuxiang nodded in agreement and said, "I think this is a good idea, youngest brother. We can divert the water down and install a washboard in the bathroom so that we can wash clothes at home on rainy days."
Li Qiuyue also said: "I think it's okay too. This way, we don't have to worry about Xiaoru being unable to fetch water at home when we go out to work."
Zhou Huaian looked at his mother with a smile, "Mom, let me tell you, once the water pipes are buried, we can turn on the tap and have water to drink. By then, our family will be the first family in the village to have running water."
Zhou Huaishan took over and said, "Yes, wait another two years and renovate the old house, and dig a well in the back mountain to bring water down."
"We are all old now, and this house is still habitable. Why spend that money?" Zhou's mother was happy, but she was still a little hesitant when she thought about the extra money she would have to spend. "No one has ever done this before. What if the pipes are buried but the water doesn't flow to the house? That money would be wasted."
"No, think about it, doesn't the water in the ravine flow downwards? The pipe is buried in the well, and the terrain is higher than the bottom of the mountain, so the water will naturally flow downwards." Zhou Huaijun frowned and said, "I just don't know if we can find a good water vein on the mountain?"
Zhou Huaian glanced at Yang Chunyan and said, "Mom, just ask the teacher to look for it and you'll know."
"When I ask the fortune teller to calculate the date tomorrow, I'll tell him about finding the water vein."
Seeing that the discussion was completed, Zhou Huairong said, "Pack up and go to bed early. I have to go to the town with the youngest brother to pay the public grain tomorrow."
After the discussion, several people helped to dry the herbs in the sieve, then washed up and went back to their rooms to rest.
After returning to the room, Zhou Huaian picked up the small triangular red cloth bag on the cabinet. "This is the amulet given by the master. The master also said that this thing is for peace of mind. I have to be careful in what I do."
Yang Chunyan took it and looked at it. "Sir, you are right. As the old saying goes, 'Better safe than sorry.' You should drive the tractor slowly, too. Don't rush around. If something goes wrong, you won't be able to brake in time."
"Got it!" Zhou Huaian buried his head in her neck, hugged her and said, "Wife, I feel uncomfortable all over, please rub it for us!"
Yang Chunyan looked at him with amusement, thinking that Zhou Huaian was just like a big child. "Go to sleep quickly and stop making trouble here!"
"Humph! Foolish boy, you can't even listen to me. Go to sleep, go to sleep." (End of this chapter)
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