Chapter 555: Grandma Lost a Tooth (asking for monthly ticket)
After Gao Mingcheng had made all the necessary arrangements, he led a few dogs towards Xiaofushan.
He planned to check on the beehives.
The shed at the foot of the mountain was originally built relatively large to facilitate the storage of fruits and goods. Now with plastic sheets hung on all sides, it has become a shelter that can protect against wind and rain.
There were more than forty beehives stacked here. Gao Mingcheng lifted the plastic sheet and walked in, and saw some bees flying in the shed.
The temperature today was relatively acceptable, so some bees flew outside through the air vents. However, it was icy and snowy outside, and there were no flower nectar sources nearby for the bees to collect nectar.
Gao Mingcheng randomly checked a few boxes and saw that the bees were fine, densely packed on the honeycombs.
In previous years, when Gao Mingcheng raised the beehives himself, he just let them run freely and would only check on the condition of the beehives when he had time.
This year we hired someone to take care of the bees, and the effect is quite good. The total honey production has increased this year, and the bees are not sick or anything.
It can be said that although Gao Mingcheng spent money to hire someone to do the job, the value created not only allowed him to earn back his salary, but more than enough!
It can be seen that when the boss asks employees to do things, he will inevitably deprive the employees of their surplus value.
Gao Mingcheng was quite satisfied, and then he went to check the condition of the chicken coop.
The few remaining roosters walked around with their heads held high, leaving bamboo-leaf-like footprints on the thin snow. The hens, on the other hand, looked lazy and didn't like to move much.
But these chickens seemed to be in good spirits. Some of the more active ones were pecking at insects in the soil, while others were eating chopped radish leaves.
Young radish leaves can be used to make sauerkraut, but old radish leaves are generally used to feed chickens and pigs. Zhang Chengyuan planted a large patch of radishes for Gao Mingcheng, enough for him to eat for the whole winter.
In previous years, these radishes would be cut into strips and dried, or pickled and eaten as spicy radishes. This year, there is no time to do that, and the first snow fell earlier than in previous years, so the fields are full of fresh radishes.
Gao Mingcheng went to the field and pulled out a dozen radishes and a dozen cabbages.
After the frost, this kind of cabbage is fried with lard and tastes sweet and delicious! After picking and choosing some edible vegetables, it was already past noon.
Gao Mingcheng agreed to go to his grandmother's house for dinner, so without any delay, he threw the radish leaves and old cabbage leaves into the chicken coop, then put the edible vegetables in the truck bed, went into the house to get some oranges, grapefruits and eggs, and then drove the tractor towards the old village, because after dinner, he would return to the county town.
Several dogs followed behind him, and even the two little black balls were running happily, but unfortunately they seemed to be unable to hold on halfway.
Dahuang naturally stopped and led the two dogs to play on the roadside.
Only the two male dogs, Black Tiger and Elf, didn't care about anything else and just followed Gao Mingcheng to get free food and drinks.
When Gao Mingcheng walked into his grandmother's yard with a few grapefruits in his hand, he just happened to smell the fragrance of food. In the kitchen, he could also hear the sound of frying food with a spatula. Green smoke was rising from the chimney on the roof. There was a thin layer of snow on the other tiles, but the snow near the chimney had melted, revealing the black chimney.
"Brother Mingcheng, you're here! Come in and sit down!" Gao Zhuang called Gao Mingcheng to go into the main room and sit down, but Gao Mingcheng walked towards the kitchen, intending to say hello to his grandmother first.
In the kitchen, He Xiuman was cooking, while Xi Nainai was sitting on a tree stump, adding firewood and watching the fire.
Little Yuanyuan snuggled up to her grandmother and was actually making things worse!
I saw her trying to carry firewood and pine needles, but she didn't accomplish anything and her face became like a cat's.
Children are prone to getting dirty, and village children are even dirtier. Even if adults watch them carefully, they will still be dirty at the end of the day.
But it doesn’t matter, you can still use it after washing!
"Haha, Yuanyuan, come here, let uncle hold you!" When Gao Mingcheng saw little Yuanyuan, he immediately put down the pomelo in his hand, happily stretched out his hand, and motioned little Yuanyuan to come over.
Xiao Yuanyuan immediately dropped the stick in her hand and walked towards Gao Mingcheng, grinning. Her dirty face made her eyes stand out clearly and her teeth were white and neat.
Having a set of white and neat teeth is a big advantage.
"Uncle!~" The little girl's soft voice sounded, and Gao Mingcheng's mouth corners curled up wildly.
"Hey! Uncle brought you some grapefruits! After lunch, uncle will open some grapefruits for you to eat." Gao Mingcheng teased her with a smile. There was no grapefruit tree at his grandmother's house, so he specially brought some grapefruits.
The flesh of this pomelo is edible and the skin can be made into pickles, which is quite practical.
Before it snowed, Chen Dasong picked the grapefruits for him, and now they are ready to eat.
If the fresh pomelo has just been picked, it is best to leave it for two days before eating. Otherwise, the skin will be hard and difficult to peel, and it will also taste hard and not juicy.
After grapefruit is picked, it has a relatively long shelf life. If you keep it in a cool place for a month, it will not go bad.
Even if it is stored for a longer time, only the skin will be a little dry, which will not affect the taste of the flesh.
Grandma Xi also looked over and said with a smile: "Mingcheng, this is the first year that the pomelo tree has borne fruit, right? Zhuangzhuang went to see it before and said that except that the fruit is a little smaller, it is not much different from the ones sold."
Gao Mingcheng said: "This is the first year that the grapefruit has grown, so the fruits are relatively small and few in number. I haven't tasted this grapefruit yet, so I don't know how it tastes."
"The grapefruit variety in Shimen Village is good. These are the fruit seedlings from there, so they should be of good quality." said the grandmother.
"I hope so!" said Gao Mingcheng. He also hoped that the taste of the pomelo would be better so that he could sell it at a good price when there is a good harvest next year.
As the fruit trees in Xiaofushan began to bear fruit, he also began to make some profits.
However, the current income is just a drop in the bucket compared to contracting Xiaofushan and hiring people to manage it.
Back then, he contracted Xiaofushan and hired people to cut down trees and level the land, which cost a considerable amount of money.
Later, Chen Dasong was hired to take charge of daily management, but additional temporary workers were also needed for fertilizing and picking fruits.
Painting the fruit trees white was actually a big project, but because there was not much work to do in the fields in winter, Chen Dasong and his son, along with Zhang Chengyuan, could slowly complete the work.
As they chatted one sentence after another, the last dish was served. He Xiuman immediately said, "Grandma, Mingcheng, let's eat first, otherwise the food will get cold!"
She took off her apron again, reached out to pick up Xiao Yuanyuan, and took her to wash her hands.
This little black hand has black spots between its nails!
No one was polite. Some served the dishes, some took the bowls and chopsticks. Soon, everyone had served their meals and sat at the table.
Xiao Yuanyuan also sat on a stool and ate with everyone. In front of her was a plate of steamed eggs and fried cabbage.
In addition to these two dishes, there is also a plate of wind-blown pork with celery, stewed taro with dried cuttlefish, and pan-fried dried fish.
The wind-blown meat and cuttlefish were what Gao Mingcheng had given to my grandmother’s family before. I didn’t expect that their family was so frugal and they still have them now.
Xiao Yuanyuan is also very easy to take care of and is not picky about food. Although her favorite food is steamed eggs, she will also eat other dishes that He Xiuman picks for her.
In an era of relative material scarcity, children were not qualified to be picky eaters because they did not have a variety of snacks and fruits to eat, so they would be very active when eating. They were not like the spoiled children in later generations who were picky eaters and needed to be chased after with bowls of rice in their hands to be fed.
Gao Mingcheng also ate with big mouthfuls, each dish had its own flavor. Although the dishes were cooked by He Xiuman, Gao Mingcheng could still taste the same flavor as before.
When he was young, when food was so scarce, he often ate at his grandmother's house. This place was like his second home, and Gao Guobing's house was like his third home.
While eating, Gao Mingcheng suddenly discovered a problem, that is, his grandmother had lost a tooth!
He quickly asked what was going on.
The grandmother laughed and didn't seem to care. Instead, He Xiuman gently tapped Xiao Yuanyuan's forehead and said helplessly: "A while ago, the little one said she wanted to eat sugar cane. The sugar cane was so hard that her little teeth couldn't bite it. So grandma helped her bite off the skin of the sugar cane. As a result, her tooth fell out after taking a bite!"
Little Yuanyuan was already very well-behaved and sensible. She immediately looked at her grandmother with concern and said in a baby voice, "Grandma, I will never let you bite sugar cane for me again."
The thin grandmother sighed and said, "I am old now. Even if I want to help you bite, I can't do it anymore!"
When she bit down, her whole tooth fell out and a large amount of blood flowed out, which scared her terribly.
But after a few days, it won't be a big deal. Apart from being a little ugly and inconvenient to chew, there's nothing wrong with it.
This person is old and his teeth are no longer useful, so it is normal for him to lose a few teeth.
After Gao Mingcheng knew the reason, he immediately said, "With a missing tooth, it's inconvenient to eat. Let's put it this way, grandma, come with me to the county today, and we'll go to the hospital to get a tooth fixed. Don't worry, it's not expensive!"
Gao Mingcheng knew what the old man cared about, so he emphasized that the price was not expensive.
Of course, for Gao Mingcheng, it is indeed not expensive.
When Gao Zhuang heard that the hospital could fill teeth, he immediately persuaded his grandmother to go get her teeth filled and said that he had money.
"Grandma, after you lost a tooth, you won't be able to eat some delicious food, so you should go to the hospital to get the tooth fixed!" Gao Zhuang said, and decided to accompany his grandmother to the hospital to get the tooth fixed.
He Xiuman also supported it. She felt guilty because her grandmother lost her teeth while letting Xiao Yuanyuan chew sugarcane.
He Xiuman said, "Gao Zhuang, you accompany grandma to get her teeth fixed, and I'll stay at home to take care of Xiao Yuanyuan."
There is not much work to do in the fields nowadays, so the only things that need to be taken care of are the pigs and chickens at home.
But who would have thought that Xiao Yuanyuan actually said that she wanted to go to the county and said that she missed her aunt and Xiao Xuxu.
When Gao Mingcheng heard this, he knew he had to take Xiao Yuanyuan with him!
With everyone's support, the grandmother who originally didn't want to get her tooth fixed finally decided to go. She knew that her grandson, granddaughter-in-law and Gao Mingcheng would not harm her.
They all want the best for themselves.
If I refuse to go, I will hurt their feelings.
So it was decided. After dinner, Gao Mingcheng asked Xi Nainai and the others to get dressed. Although the sun was out today, the temperature was still relatively low. Sitting on the tractor bed, it was very cold with the wind blowing all the way.
This made Gao Mingcheng think that he should find time to modify the tractor. He should install a few iron pipe brackets on the truck bed and then cover it with tarpaulin so that it could serve as a windblock.
Although the idea is good, it cannot be realized immediately, so I have to bear with it for now.
Soon, Xi Nainai and others were dressed in new clothes. Even Xiao Yuanyuan changed her clothes and wore a thick woolen hat on her head.
"Xiuman, you are home alone. Remember to close the doors and windows when you go to bed at night! We will be back tomorrow." Before leaving, Gao Zhuang looked at He Xiuman and reminded her carefully.
There were chickens and pigs to feed at home, so He Xiuman couldn't go.
He Xiuman patted her chest and said confidently: "I'm at home, you can go without worry!"
Then he watched Gao Mingcheng and others walk towards the pond at the entrance of the village.
The tractor was parked beside the pond, and all kinds of vegetables were in the truck bed. The atmosphere in Gaojia Village was relatively good. Except for the children who would steal fruits from the fields, the adults rarely did anything sneaky.
And the tractor was parked here, and everyone knew that it belonged to Gao Mingcheng. Out of fear of Gao Mingcheng's reputation, no one dared to take it.
Gao Mingcheng moved the vegetables into a pile, making a large space for people to sit.
In order to make it easier to sit, Xi Nainai and Gao Zhuang both brought small stools.
"Grandma, please take your time getting in the car." Gao Mingcheng and Gao Zhuang helped Grandma get in the car and sit firmly, then they carried Xiao Yuanyuan in, and finally Gao Zhuang.
Gao Mingcheng said to Gao Zhuang, "Sit with your backs to each other, it will protect you from the wind. Sit tight and don't fall down."
"Oh, I understand. Don't worry, Brother Mingcheng." Gao Zhuang nodded and took on the responsibility of taking care of grandma and Xiao Yuanyuan.
Fortunately, Xiao Yuanyuan was well behaved. She didn't move around while sitting in the truck bed, but just looked around curiously.
Children are always curious about the outside world and are unwilling to be confined to a small house. They are eager to see more scenery.
After the people in the truck bed sat firmly, Gao Mingcheng started the tractor. Along with the sound of the engine, a cloud of black mist gushed out, driving the vehicle towards the county town.
The snow on the road melted and turned into dirty water, which gathered in the potholes. When the wheels passed over them, the water in the potholes splashed everywhere.
Even though Gao Mingcheng drove fast and steadily, it was already 3:30 in the afternoon when he arrived at the county town.
It would be possible to rush to get the teeth implanted, but no one was in a hurry. Besides, after being blown by the cold wind all the way, the elderly grandmother looked in very poor condition.
So Gao Mingcheng first sent them to the clothing store.
The new house only has one bedroom, but there are two empty rooms on the second floor of the clothing store. Grandma and her family will be eating and staying here tonight.
After Gao Mingcheng dropped the people off, he let them go into the house to warm up while he unloaded all the things from the truck.
"Duomei, you treat grandma well. I'll go outside to fix the car." Gao Mingcheng said to Duomei.
At this moment, Xiao Yuanyuan had already got off the car to look for Xiao Xuxu.
Xiao Xuxu just woke up and was sitting there drinking milk.
Because of the cold weather, Xuan Xiumei did not wean her baby. But Xiao Xuxu was already one year old, so there was no need to breastfeed him day and night. Therefore, during the day, Xiao Xuxu was given milk powder, and she was only fed breast milk at night to coax him to sleep.
Little Xuxu recognized Xiao Yuanyuan, and he immediately handed over the bottle, indicating that he wanted to share the milk with Sister Yuanyuan.
Seeing this, Manyu Meile smiled and took a cup to make a cup of milk for Xiao Yuanyuan.
He asked Xi Nainai if she wanted some drink. When she found out that she didn't want any, he poured her a cup of hot tea and asked Xi Nainai and Gao Zhuang to drink the hot tea to warm their hands and stomachs.
"Grandma, there's a brazier over here, come over and warm yourself by the fire." Manyuei enthusiastically pulled Grandma over to the brazier to warm herself by the fire.
There is a brazier in the store. When there are no customers, many beauties will take turns to warm themselves by the brazier. There are wooden racks around the brazier. Putting your feet on the racks can warm both your hands and feet and keep your whole body warm.
Seeing that Xuanyimei treated the guests very well, Gao Mingcheng drove away on his tractor. He planned to go to the transportation company, where there were some car repair tools that he could modify himself.
After arriving at the transportation company, Gao Mingcheng went to look for Xiao Jinfeng, but learned that Xiao Jinfeng was not there, only Xiao Jinfeng's father was there.
Xiao Jinfeng's father said generously: "The tools are all in the warehouse, and there are extra tarpaulins. See if you have enough. If you do, just use them!"
Gao Mingcheng immediately said, "Uncle, thank you. I'll go look for it now."
Xiao Jinfeng's father took Gao Mingcheng to the warehouse, where a lot of things were piled up, including various car repair tools and a lot of tires.
These things were not available in their county. Xiao Jinfeng bought them from the provincial capital and piled them here so that if the company's car broke down, they could repair it themselves.
These days, supplies are scarce and there are few people who understand technology. At critical moments, you still have to rely on yourself!
Gao Mingcheng picked and chose in the warehouse, selected a few suitable iron pipes, and found a large piece of tarpaulin. He measured the size and found that it was a little big, so it had to be cut.
(End of this chapter)
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