On the 11th day of the third lunar month, Zhou Huaian went to Baicaoping. The villagers of Baicaoping and Bailingshan also delivered the collected herbs and wild honey at the agreed time.
This time he collected more than ten kilograms of Ganoderma lucidum, more than forty kilograms of wild honey, and more than ten kilograms of Paris polyphylla and Codonopsis pilosula. He made nearly two hundred yuan in one trip, which he felt was worth it.
12It was Qingming Festival. Early in the morning, Zhou Huaian and his brothers followed their father, mother, and the third branch of the family to the grave mountain to sweep the graves of their ancestors.
The younger ones included the Zhou Jiaming brothers and Zhou Xiaoqian who went together; Zhou Jiakang and the others and the old man did not go and stayed at home.
People here pay more attention to visiting graves on the second day of the Lunar New Year, but fewer people visit graves on Qingming Festival.
The weather was dry and people were worried about causing forest fires, so after offering sacrifices and worshipping, everyone waited until the incense, candles and paper money were extinguished before leaving the mountain.
The group met the eldest family only when they reached the foot of the mountain. They greeted them briefly and then went their separate ways.
Zhou Huaixing turned his head and glanced at Zhou Huaian and his group, thinking that the second branch had to deliver vegetables to Ning'an early in the morning every day. After returning, he would tell Xiong Laoya to go to Ning'an later tomorrow to avoid meeting anyone from the second branch.
After Zhou Huaian came down the mountain, he changed his clothes and washed his face before going to see Yang Chunyan and his son. Seeing his son become plump and white in just a few days, he was so happy that all his worries disappeared.
He leaned forward and kissed her a few times, "Xiao Jiu'er, little lazy pig, open your eyes and see that your old man is back."
"Don't kiss his face so often, or he'll drool." Yang Chunyan smiled and patted him, "Mom said to take him out to get some sun, so wipe his face with a towel."
"No, I won't be happy if I wash his face. It's better to keep it smelling like milk!"
The little guy is so clever when he is just a little bit old. He hums when you wipe his face with a handkerchief and doesn't move at all when his mother squeezes milk for him to wipe.
Pian Chunyan also said that pure natural food is the best, of course it is good! I didn’t even think about how much nutrition I would need to eat, and just put it on my face…
Zhou Huaian thought of this, and with a shameless face, he came forward and said to Yang Chunyan: "Wife, get some to wipe my face!"
Yang Chunyan didn't understand and pointed to the desk under the window, "The facial oil is over there, take it yourself!"
"Not that!" Zhou Huaian looked at her bulging chest, "Didn't you say that natural ones are the best? Give me some to rub on too!"
Yang Chunyan looked at him with a mixture of laughter and tears, "I really admire you. I don't know why a man like you is so conceited!"
Zhou Huaian came forward and said, "Just get some! Just a little bit will be enough."
"Get out!" Yang Chunyan pushed his head away with a flushed face, "Hurry up and take Xiao Jiuer out, remember to put his hat on him..." Day after day, I don't know what he is thinking in his mind!
"Got it. Let's dry it outside the main hall door. Don't let the sun hit his eyes..."
Zhou Huaian carried the child to the door of the main room, put the sleeping Xiao Jiuer in the cradle, took a hat and put it on the cradle to cover his head, then he curled up in the rattan chair and fell asleep in the sun soon.
The old man came back with ramie and mulberry leaves and said to him, "There are two rotten bamboo pipes for collecting water where the white hyacinth is planted. Go to Hongbing's bamboo forest and cut two old bamboos to replace them."
"Okay, I'll go talk to Hong Bing right away."
Speaking of bamboo, Zhou Huaian thought of Yang Chunyan's love for eating dried bamboo shoots. The bamboo forest in his own family was cut down too aggressively last year, so he didn't dare to break off bamboo shoots to eat this year. There were quite a few bamboo shoots in the forest where he dug bamboo rats last time.
He took the child back to the room and let him sleep next to Yang Chunyan. Then he went to get a machete and rode his bicycle to Xu Hongbing's house. He saw him weaving bamboo baskets in the yard. He sat on the bicycle and shouted, "Old Xu, give me two old bamboos from your house."
Xu Hongbing kicked the bamboo at his feet and said, "I just cut two bamboos. You can use them first."
"Okay!" Zhou Huaian parked the car and entered the yard, "Will you go into the mountains to pick bamboo shoots this afternoon?"
Xu Hongbing shook his head. "No! That thing is so heavy. No matter how many you break off, you can't carry much out. If you like to eat it, go to my bamboo forest and break off some, and take it back to eat."
Zhou Huaian thought about it and it was true. "Forget it then. I'll go dig herbs and bring some back later."
Xu Hongbing handed him two bamboo strips and took two to help tie the bamboos. "The Viola yedoensis in my house has bloomed. Should we wait until the seeds are harvested before digging them up?"
Zhou Huaian tied the bamboo strips, twisted them into a strand and stuck them in the gap between two bamboos. "Yes! The village will hold an election tomorrow. Who do you plan to choose as the brigade secretary?"
Xu Hongbing smiled and said, "If you want to run for election, I will vote for you!"
"Forget it! I'm not cut out to be an official. It's better to choose me to lead the others to fish and catch shrimps!"
"I saw Brother Huairong's name on the notice posted by the brigade. Why didn't he run for brigade secretary?"
"My brother is an honest man. It's good enough for him to be a team leader." Zhou Huaian said in a low voice, "Aunt Datian and Xiang Qunying are running for the Women's Director. Who do you choose?"
"Of course I'll vote for Aunt Datian!" Xu Hongbing curled his lips. "I heard that Xiang Qunying had told Secretary Xu that she was quitting the job a long time ago, but she was planning to do it again just before the election. I think she probably couldn't bear to give up the money paid by those families who wanted to have more children!"
"Of course!" Zhou Huaian picked up the bamboo, "Help me carry it out and tie it to the bicycle."
Xu Hongbing smiled and nodded, "It's more convenient at your place. You can just scoop water from the well and pour it into the bamboo tube. This way, it's much more convenient for watering."
"There's nothing I can do. The water in the ditch these days is only as big as urine. It's impossible to get it to my house."
The two of them tied the bamboo together, and Zhou Huaian stepped on it and sat down, "Thanks!"
"Two bamboos are still being polite to me!"
"You're welcome. I won't come." Zhou Huaian smiled and pedaled away.
After bringing the bamboo home, they used steel bars to pierce the joints and used an iron pin to iron a row of drainage holes before carrying it up the mountain. They then cut the broken bamboo into pieces and replaced them with the broken ones.
The white hyacinth in the field has grown to one foot tall, and some of the sunny locations have already produced flower buds.
Zhou Huaian waved to the old man beside the well, signaling him to fetch two buckets of water and pour them into the bamboo pipe over there, to see if the water can flow smoothly over here.
He waited for a while and saw water flowing out of the water hole. He waved his hand, picked up the saw and walked down the mountain.
Zhou Huaishan came after dinner, "Youngest, I asked Secretary Xu to get a letter of introduction for Zhang to go to Mou County. I will send Qiuyue to the county the day after tomorrow."
He thought Secretary Xu must have seen it, but he didn't say anything because of the relationship between the two families! He also indirectly reminded him to leave early if he wanted to, saying that the higher-ups wanted to check or something!
After he visited the yard, he felt that the place was secluded, but there were too many shady alleys passing by.
Huang Yongcai and Wang Zhen both said that it was difficult to find a house in the county town, and they could only wait for the government to release land and then buy it and renovate it themselves.
I was still a little hesitant and wanted to wait and see, but after hearing what Secretary Xu said, I had to leave quickly.
Zhou Huaian nodded, "You guys just move in. Tell Third Sister-in-law that it's better to go in and out from the road side, as there are fewer people over there."
"Alas!" Zhou Huaishan sighed, "How dare she go out with such a big belly? I can only bring her some food when I go there. I went there yesterday and bought a coal stove and 500 coal balls, cotton wool, pots and pans, and everything else."
"I have something to do in Ning'an tomorrow. If I can't make it back for the election, please vote for me and Chunyan."
"I came here to tell you this. Qiuyue is so hungry that she dare not go to the brigade to vote. I will go to Ning'an to deliver vegetables tomorrow. Then I will say that Qiuyue went to Ning'an with me to sell things."
"Okay, you go to Ning'an to deliver the vegetables, and I'll go after I vote." Zhou Huaian thought that even he could see that Li Qiuyue was a pregnant woman, and the women in the village could tell at a glance.
"Okay!" After Zhou Huaishan agreed, he left with a heavy heart.
…
The next morning, the loudspeakers of the Funiu Brigade sounded again, and after a while, Secretary Xu's voice was heard, "Comrades, the election will officially begin at 8:30 this morning. Everyone try to be present and actively participate..."
Yang Chunyan smiled at Zhou's mother who was washing her child's buttocks and said, "I haven't heard the sound of a horn for a long time. It sounds quite familiar."
Zhou's mother smiled and nodded, "Yes! In those years, when the horn sounded, everyone picked up their hoes and carried buckets of manure to the fields. They worked hard all year round and couldn't even fill their stomachs in the end. Now that the land has been divided into households, there are more wastelands than before, and the slack season is more than before."
Zhou Huaian laughed after hearing this, "In the past, there were many people like me who would slack off when they got to work!"
Zhou's mother glared at him and said, "How dare you say that! Other young men your age earn full work points. What about you? You can only get eight points at most."
"Getting full work points is just to fill your stomach!" Zhou Huaian pointed his finger and threw the diaper into the basin, "Fuck! You're just a little grown-up, but your poop is so smelly!"
Mother Zhou wiped the child's butt with a soft, dry cotton cloth, changed him into clean clothes, and looked at little Jiuer lovingly as he kept moving now that his hands and feet were free.
"Tell your husband, what they eat is good, of course it stinks!"
While she was talking to the baby, she gently wrapped him in the blanket, tied it loosely with a strap a few times, and handed it to Yang Chunyan, "I'll bring you the Yinmi Egg, it's just right for you to feed it."
"Well! You bring it over and put it on the stool, I can do it myself."
Mother Zhou walked to the door, then walked back and said to her, "I had a dream last night that Xiang Qunying and his men took Qiuyue to town to induce abortion. When the tractor reached the bridge, Qiuyue jumped into the river from the tractor. I was scared to death."
"Don't worry, dreams are the opposite of reality!" Yang Chunyan smiled and comforted him, "Maybe you've been too worried these days. Everything will be fine once they leave tomorrow."
"Alas!" Zhou's mother sighed heavily, "There are still more than four months left! I just hope that the ancestors will bless them to have a smooth life in these few months. I'm going to buy a big pig's head to pray!"
Yang Chunyan looked at her with some sadness, "Don't worry, everything will go smoothly!" (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com