Zhang Xiuxiang and Zhao Huifang kneaded the dough, and Yang Chunyan and her sister also went to help make the steamed buns. "Chunyan, the comic books you bought were rented to the children in the village for two cents each."
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan laughed and said, "Oh, which money-grubber came up with this? He has quite a financial mind!"
Zhao Huifang: "Well-off! The second son of the Lin Wu family asked him to borrow a book, so he came up with this idea to make money."
Zhou's mother said amiably, "Xiaokang is like the second child. He has been obsessed with money since he was young. When the second child was a child, his grandmother kept the New Year's money he got for him well, no matter how long it took. But the youngest child's hands leaked and it was gone the next day."
Zhang Xiuxiang laughed and joked, "Now that we have Chunyan as our money basket, we don't have to worry about the youngest losing money."
Several people chatted and laughed as they formed the dough mixed with pumpkin paste into steamed buns with the shapes of piglets, chickens and rabbits. They waited for Zhou's mother to take out the salty braised pork and steamed spareribs from the steamer and then put the steamed buns back into the steamer.
Zhou Huaijun went home dragging a few straight bamboos as thick as his thumb in one hand and a bundle of horsetail grass in the other. He shaved the branches off the bamboo joints, grabbed a handful of horsetail grass nearby, rolled it into a bundle, wrapped it around the bamboo, and polished it back and forth.
After moving back and forth a dozen times, the bamboo will be polished smooth, and you won't feel any bamboo thorns prick your hands when you slide your hands back and forth a few times.
Horsetail is a perennial upright herb that grows in wet places such as riverbanks and streams.
It is sweet, bitter, neutral, non-toxic and slightly cold in nature. It has many functions such as clearing the liver and improving eyesight, stopping bleeding, promoting diuresis and relieving stranguria; treating wind-heat cold, cough, red and swollen eyes, etc.
Because its stem has rough longitudinal edges, people used it to polish wood and gold objects, or to wipe off dirt on utensils before sandpaper, so some people called it filing grass, rubbing grass, and grinding grass.
What is particularly valuable is that most horsetail plants grow in areas with shallow groundwater levels, and they are also indicator plants for people to find groundwater sources and dig wells.
Several boys came back with fish hooks and fishing lines, while Zhou Huaijun was still polishing a few bamboo shoots.
"Wow!" Zhou Jiaming cheered and picked up a polished bamboo pole. "Second Dad, you are so awesome. Is this one made from knotweed?"
Zhou Jiakang looked at his old man with stars in his eyes. "My old man is very capable. He was the one who repaired my broken bench. My mom also asked my old man to help fix her broken wooden box."
"You're the only one who talks too much." Zhou Huaijun patted him with amusement, "Jialiang, take the bamboo tube and take Jiakang to the vegetable garden to dig some crickets. You want those with thin roots, not thick ones."
"Oh oh!" Zhou Jialiang pulled Zhou Jiakang and ran towards the backyard.
Zhou Huaijun rolled up two bundles of grass and handed them to Zhou Jiaming. "Help me polish the remaining two. I'll go find something."
Zhou Jiaming took it and said, "Second Dad, I remember that you need to wear a goose feather tube."
Zhou Huaijun: "I know. I'll go look for it in the backyard."
Zhao Xiaochuan thought polishing was very interesting and picked up a bundle of straw, "Uncle Zhou Er, I'll help polish too."
"Okay, I'll use the one you polished yourself as a fishing rod." Zhou Huaijun picked up a bamboo and handed it to him. "You're small, so this one will be perfect for you."
"Thank you, Uncle Zhou Er." Zhao Xiaochuan sat on the straw stool and started polishing the bamboo pole.
Zhou Huaijun went to the backyard to find some goose feathers and a piece of toothpaste tube, returned to the front yard, pulled a straw stool and sat down, and began to make a simple fishing rod.
First tie the fishing line to the polished bamboo pole, thread the cut goose feather tube on the line, tie the fish hook to the end of the fishing line, tie it tightly and tie a knot, and a simple fishing rod is ready.
Zhou Huaijun picked up the fishing rod and swung it twice, nodded with satisfaction, and continued to tie another one.
"Old man (Second Dad)," Zhou Jialiang and Zhou Jiakang came running over with bamboo tubes, "We dug a full bucket, all of them are fine, are the fishing rods ready?"
Zhou Huaijun: "It will be ready soon. Go call Xiaoqian and Mina and go fishing in the pond together."
"Oh oh!" The two of them ran out.
Zhou Huaijun took the fishing rod that Zhao Xiaochuan had polished, tied the fishing line, fish hook, and goose tube float, then picked up a straw stool, took the fishing rod he made for Zhou Xiaoqian and her sisters, and took the children to the pond.
Soon the fish pond was filled with children, shouting and yelling, "Your float moved!" and "You scared my fish away!"
When a fish is caught, they huddle together and cheer, planning whether to grill it or cook it with sauerkraut.
Zhou Huaijun reminded them from time to time not to go to the edge and be careful not to fall into the pond to feed the fish.
The children's laughter attracted Ma Chunhua's family to come and watch the fun. Passing villagers also squatted by the fish pond, and some even picked up fishing rods to help fish.
…
Zhou Huaian and two other people took turns carrying the sika deer to the foot of the mountain. Seeing that the backyard door was closed, they had to go around to the front yard. When they turned the corner, they saw a group of people, young and old, standing by the fish pond.
He never expected that so many people would come to his fish pond to watch him fishing during the New Year. Thinking of the time when he caught the python and the wild boar, he felt that the pheasants and rabbits in the back mountain would be in trouble again.
Zhou Xiaoqian was the first to see the group. She looked at the red deer they were carrying in surprise. "Dad, you're back! What are you carrying? Is it a goat? Its head has been gnawed by wild animals."
Zhou Huaian made up a story, "Yeah, it was very scary in the woods. Fortunately, we brought dogs and guns with us to scare away the wild animals."
The three men didn't have a saw, so they sawed the place where the antlers grew, leaving bumps and holes. In addition, they fired two shots at the same time, so the elk's head looked like it had been gnawed by something.
Zhao Xiuna pointed at the sika deer's neck and said, "Xiao Qian, look, it's so scary. It almost bit off the neck."
Zhou Jiaming and his friends stopped fishing and came to see the sika deer they were carrying. Zhou Huaijun also hurried forward to take the basket from Wang Zhen's back, and the old man hurried to open the gate.
The older ones immediately recognized it as a red deer. "Youngest Zhou, you shot a white deer. Why are the horns on its head gone? That thing is very valuable!"
Zhou Huaian: "It was like this when we saw it. It might have been broken when fighting with wild animals!"
"Hey, why don't you look for it carefully? A pair of antlers can be sold for at least a few hundred yuan."
"Even if the antlers are gone, the meat of the white buttocks is not cheap. It can be sold for three or four hundred yuan, right?"
One person said enviously, "Yes, Zhou Laoyao, where did you find it? I'll go get the antlers back."
Ma Chunhua sneered, "We haven't found Zhou Laoyao yet, and you're still trying to find him? Have you forgotten the last time the youngest bear had his intestines pulled out by a wild boar? If you don't have the diamond drill, don't think too much, or you'll end up in the hospital on New Year's Day."
Lin Wu nodded repeatedly, "That's right, the New Year isn't over yet! We'd better stay calm and wait until the eighth day to go up the mountain to dig truffles and sell them for money."
Ma Chunhua thought of Lin Wu's recent head injury, so she chased after him and said, "Zhou Laoyao, I heard that venison is very nutritious. My old Lin got hit by a stick some time ago, and he still feels dizzy sometimes. Can you sell me two pounds of meat and stew it for him to nourish him?"
As soon as she opened her mouth, some of the people around her said they wanted to share some venison to try, while others said they wanted to buy two pounds to take home to nourish their families.
Ever since the Zhou family started collecting herbs, red mushrooms and truffles, they are a diligent family and have some spare money in their hands. During the holidays, they are willing to spend the money to buy good food and new clothes.
Zhou Huaian readily agreed and asked them to come to his doorstep in an hour or so to buy meat, which would only cost them two yuan per pound.
Everyone thought that pork now costs RMB 1.56, and venison, which is very nutritious, costs RMB 2 per pound, which is not expensive at all.
Those who didn’t bring any money went back to get it, and those who brought money stayed there to watch the kids fishing and wait for the venison to be cut.
After Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding carried the sika deer into the yard, they went to the backyard. The three of them were tired and thirsty. They put down the things on their shoulders, picked up the cups on the table and drank a glass of water before they recovered.
Zhou Yiding wiped the water stains on the side of his mouth with his sleeve and said, "Next time, no matter what, you must not pour out the water."
Zhou Huaijun asked curiously, "Why did you pour out the water in the kettle?"
Zhou Huaian pointed at the kettle in the backpack and said, "It's filled with deer blood. Who dares to drink something as nutritious as water?"
Zhou Huaijun looked at the three people and shook his head, saying, "It turns out that smart people can also do stupid things."
Zhou Huaian was stunned for a moment before he said, "Brother, go call my eldest brother to help get the white butt out. I still have to go to the back mountain to place the beehive."
"Okay." Zhou Huaijun agreed and left.
Wang Zhen looked at the dog lying listlessly on the ground and said, "Brother-in-law, take out the iodine and gauze. I'll clean the dog's wound and bandage it. In fact, it's better to take it to the city so that I can sew a few stitches. It will heal faster this way."
Yang Chunyan and Yang Dongmei heard this and walked over to ask worriedly, "Who are you stitching? Are you injured?"
Zhou Huaian pointed at Lai Fu and said, "It's not us. It's Lai Fu who got stabbed by a deer antler. Go get the gauze and iodine, and I'll wash and bandage it."
"Oh, let's go now." Yang Chunyan hurried towards the front yard.
Zhou Huaian picked up the bee trap in the basket and said, "Dingding cat, wait for your sister-in-law to come out, you filter the honey combs, I'm going to the back mountain."
"Go!" Zhou Yiding stood up and picked up the honey bucket, ready to filter the honey.
Zhou Huaian carried a bee-luring bucket and went to the newly built forest on the back mountain. The reeds, flowers, and ramie that were sown years ago have all grown.
When he saw bees collecting pollen from the vines and purple flowers in the woods, he was delighted, thinking that wild bees must have made this place their home.
He strode over to a bee-luring hole built years ago, and sure enough, there were little bees flying in and out of the hole. He happily lifted the stone slab covering the bee hole and took a look. What moved in was a nest of small black bees, only a small group, and it seemed that they had moved in just years ago.
He checked the little bees in the beehive because he was worried that giant wasps, hornets, and other things would enter the hive and kill the bees and steal the honey.
Once you see these bad things, you must destroy them, otherwise all your efforts will be in vain.
Zhou Huaian came to a beehive that was not inhabited by bees. He opened the lid and put the bee-luring bucket from his backpack into the beehive. Many bees were still crowded outside the bee-luring bucket. He avoided them and gently put the bucket into the beehive.
"This is your new home. The nest I made for you is no worse than a cave. Settle down and collect flowers and produce honey. In a few years, my forest will be filled with the fragrance of honey." He muttered to himself as he lifted the stone slab and covered it. (End of this chapter)
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