Chapter 121 Black Bear Steals Honey
Early the next morning, the well digger Lao Zhang came with his son. His son was about twenty years old, and looked about the same age as Gao Mingcheng, but he was also very silent and did not have any youthful vigor.
He stood behind Lao Zhang the whole time without saying a word.
Gao Mingcheng received them warmly. He first took them for a walk in the yard, then took them to the mountain, and stood on a hill, looking down at the yard.
Old Zhang and his son did not use any geomancy or feng shui instruments. They just relied on their eyesight and experience, and looked at the terrain to determine where to dig a well.
Back in the yard, Lao Zhang thrust a shovel into a certain spot and said in a hoarse voice, "The well is here. There is a spring underneath."
Gao Mingcheng did not question it. Professionals should do professional things, so he let Lao Zhang and the others start working.
The location chosen by Lao Zhang is just to the right of the courtyard gate and is also very close to the kitchen, so it is very convenient to use water in the kitchen.
Lao Zhang and his son are both taciturn people, so Gao Mingcheng didn't chat with them, but just watched them work.
The father and son had a very good understanding of each other. They worked together to dig a hole, which was then turned into a round hole. The soil produced from the hole was then carried to the location designated by Gao Mingcheng on a shoulder pole.
Although there were only two people, they worked very efficiently. After a day, water began to seep from the bottom of the well, and there were stones mixed in it.
But this is not enough, we have to keep digging deeper.
The wells in Gaojia Village are generally about fifteen meters deep, so the water quality is much better.
However, there is an old well in Gaojia Village, which is only seven or eight meters deep at most. There is a lot of water in the old well. In spring and summer, the water is almost overflowing, flowing out from the gaps around it to form a small ditch, which leads directly to the pond at the entrance of the village.
Old Zhang and his son came with their quilts on their backs and temporarily lived in the empty room of Gao Mingcheng's house. However, when the house was being built, Gao Mingcheng did not ask the carpenter to build two beds, so the only bed in the whole house was the one they slept on.
But problems can always be solved. Gao Mingcheng got a lot of clean straw from his grandmother's house and spread it on the ground in a thick layer. It wouldn't be too cold to sleep there for a few days.
The next day, Lao Zhang and his son continued to dig a well. Today was not as easy as yesterday. The shovel could not dig much, so they had to change to a steel chisel. Not only did they have to transport the soil, but they also had to continuously transport the mud and water that seeped out.
The father and son took turns working, one digging soil and filling water at the bottom of the well, and the other using a rope to lift up the soil and muddy water from the bottom at the well mouth and take it out to the yard to dump it.
A simple wooden support was built above the wellhead, and a pulley was installed. The pulley was used to transport the soil inside out, which would save manpower.
Seeing how hard they were working, Gao Mingcheng asked Xuanyuemei to cook better meals so that others would not suffer from the loss.
All the stored meat at home was eaten up on the wedding day, so Gao Mingcheng had to go into the mountains to hunt.
With the arrival of spring, fresh wild grass grows in the wind, giving the dry and yellow earth a new look. Wild rabbits are also much more active than in winter and can often be seen in the woods.
There are many wild rabbits, and they are the easiest prey to catch.
Gao Mingcheng did not go out with the musket, but just took a dagger with him. He had good throwing accuracy and great strength, so as long as he found the trace of the hare, he could always hit it.
Since they were already in the mountains, Gao Mingcheng was not satisfied with just shooting a few rabbits, so he decided to check on the condition of the beehives.
Ever since I got married, I have been busy with various things and I haven't visited him for nearly half a month.
As soon as he walked to the place where the beehives were placed, Gao Mingcheng's face couldn't help but tremble. In front of him, a beehive fell to the ground, and the wooden lid was opened, revealing the beehive inside, and the beehive had been destroyed!
At first Gao Mingcheng suspected that someone had come to steal the honey, but after a closer look, he realized that it was not done by humans.
There are several huge footprints next to the beehive.
Staring at the footprints, Gao Mingcheng felt depressed.
If he guessed correctly, those should be the footprints of a black bear.
Gao Mingcheng bent down and picked up the beehive that had fallen on the ground. The beehive made of fir wood was quite sturdy and not broken. The black bear was also quite smart. It opened the wooden lid of the beehive and took the honey from inside to eat.
Just by doing this, the beehive suffered heavy losses!
Originally, there were still some bees defending their homes, but the sweet honey exposed to the outside attracted wasps and hornets, which not only robbed the honey but also killed the bees.
Gao Mingcheng was very upset.
He placed the beehives deep in the mountains to prevent them from being stolen by villagers and to have more sources of nectar, but they actually fell into the hands of a black bear!
The misfortune that had befallen the first hive had made him worry about the others.
So he didn't bother looking for the hare and continued to move towards the second beehive.
He usually places the beehives on dry rocks or under big trees. One of them is even placed in a cave-like groove to avoid rain.
After checking, we found that five or six beehives had been damaged!
This is a huge loss!
We were just waiting to harvest honey and sell it in April, but this happened? ?
Gao Mingcheng gritted his teeth in anger, but he suddenly realized something. His body instinctively stood still, while his eyes slowly looked in one direction.
There was a bamboo forest ahead. The shadows of the bamboos were swaying and there were sounds coming from inside. Through the gaps between the shadows, one could see a big black bear picking up bamboo shoots in the forest, pulling them out and putting them into its mouth to chew.
Black bears are omnivorous animals that eat a variety of plants and small animals, but they basically will not actively attack humans. They will only attack humans when they feel threatened or to protect their cubs.
But despite this, it is best for humans not to provoke them, because they are very strong and ordinary people are no match for them.
Even if you shoot them with a gun, it is difficult to kill them with ordinary bullets.
Therefore, when Gao Mingcheng discovered the black bear, he instinctively chose to remain motionless and try not to attract the black bear's attention.
But the black bear, which has lived in the wild for many years, still discovered Gao Mingcheng. However, when it suddenly saw Gao Mingcheng, it was frightened and instinctively ran away, making a lot of noise.
Looking at the black bear's back as it left, Gao Mingcheng breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he was in good physical condition, he did not intend to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the black bear, as he might get injured.
He frowned, somewhat confused.
In his previous life, he had never heard of black bears in the mountains. When he wandered around the mountains last year, he did not find any traces of black bears. How come he encountered a black bear in the early spring this year?
He looked at the beehive that was stolen by a black bear not far away and wondered if it was because of this?
Black bears like to eat honey. After waking up from hibernation, there is not much to eat in the mountains. But his beehives are relatively concentrated here. The sweet smell of honey must have lured the hungry black bear here.
Gao Mingcheng was now in a dilemma. Should he keep the beehive deep in the mountains or move it to the foot of the mountain? What if the black bear came down the mountain due to this?
So sad!
(End of this chapter)
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