A table of steaming hot food, warm rice wine, and the host's warm greeting set the atmosphere for a lunch.
At the dinner table, Gao Shouwang said, "Originally I was planning to have my two sons go into the mountains to hunt a wild boar for me, but unfortunately the weather is bad. It's snowing and icy, and the mountain roads are difficult to walk on. So I decided to give up."
Before, Gao Shouwang always saw Gao Mingcheng going into the mountains to hunt wild boars, so he hoped that his son could also hunt a wild boar for him so that he could gain face.
Unfortunately, the weather was not good.
Gao Mingcheng smiled and said, "The weather is indeed bad. I haven't gone into the mountains to hunt for a while. But if it's snowing and there's little food in the mountains, I'm afraid wild boars will come down from the mountains in the middle of the night to eat vegetables."
Gao Shouwang said immediately: "Don't worry! I didn't plant any vegetables this year. I only planted some near the house. I asked my eldest brother to plant the wasteland that was too far away."
Dong Feixia also said: "After the experience of the previous year, the villagers took the vegetables they planted at the foot of the mountain back home early, and most of the other vegetable plots were also protected by fences."
When Gao Mingcheng heard Dong Feixia talking about the fence, he just smiled slightly.
Most fences are made of wooden sticks or bamboo branches inserted around the ground and then tied up with ropes. This kind of fence can only keep chickens at best.
Want to stop wild boars? You're dreaming.
Gao Shouwang felt that Gao Mingcheng was the one who needed to worry about this, so he asked, "Mingcheng, you live in Niuweiling, which is close to the mountains and has more wild boars. Have you brought back all the vegetables from your vegetable garden?"
Gao Mingcheng said: "Most of them have been taken back, but some are too small and need to continue growing."
At this time, Gao Shouwang's eldest son said, "Mingcheng, I haven't been back to the village for a long time. This time I came back, I haven't been to Niuweiling for a walk. In the afternoon, I will go there for a walk and visit your house by the way."
His brother immediately said he wanted to go together.
Gao Mingcheng naturally agreed and invited Gao Shouwang and his wife to come along.
Niuweiling is located in a remote area. Before he went there to build houses, villagers rarely went there except to collect firewood. Even if someone wanted to build a house, they would build around the old village and would not think of building in such a remote place.
But Gao Mingcheng had just obtained gold foil paper at that time and needed a quiet environment. After much deliberation, he finally chose Niuweiling.
Later it turned out that he had chosen a good place, because the Xiaofushan he contracted was not far in front of the house. Standing at the door of his house, he could see the mountain of fruit trees on Xiaofushan.
The herbs and game from Niuweiling were as easy for him to get as candy from his pocket.
After the meal, everyone chatted for a few more words, and then went to Gao Mingcheng's home. Not only Gao Shouwang's family, but also his daughter and son-in-law's family, went over to take a look.
Gao Mingcheng came here on a tractor and was able to take them there together. They sat in the carport, and except for the dim light, everything else was fine.
Soon, they arrived at Gao Mingcheng's home.
As soon as the tractor stopped, the two brothers who had joined the army jumped out of the vehicle nimbly.
They looked around and saw the scenery in front of them, which felt both familiar and strange.
A new house was built here and a road was repaired. Xiaofushan, not far away, has undergone earth-shaking changes.
The once messy and barren hills have now become orchards!
At the foot of the mountain, there is a pond of several acres on one side and a chicken coop built of bricks and tiles on the other side.
Although it is winter, the cold-resistant chickens are still active outdoors, occasionally pecking at ice water.
"Huh? Why is there a chimney in this chicken coop?" Gao Shouwang's eldest son exclaimed, quite surprised.
Gao Mingcheng took them to see the kang in the chicken coop.
There were no sparks at the stove mouth of the kang, but it was obvious that the ashes had just burned. This was because Chen Dasong would light a fire when he got up in the morning, and after piling up the firewood, he would return to his home.
If the entire stove is filled with firewood, it can burn for about two hours, which is enough to raise the temperature of the chicken house. When it is evening, Chen Dasong will light another fire, and then people staying in the chicken house will feel warm.
Gao Mingcheng briefly explained the structural principle, and then said: "When the temperature of the chicken house rises, the hens are willing to lay more eggs. You can see that although there are chickens outside during the day, most of them are roosters, and only a few hens."
Hens that are ready to lay eggs will never go outdoors in the freezing cold.
After checking the condition of the chicken coop, the group followed the mountain road to Xiaofushan.
However, there is nothing to see in the orchard at this moment. Although the bayberry, orange and other trees are still green, they have no flowers or fruits, and lack interest.
The pear trees, peach trees, persimmon trees, chestnut trees, etc., lost their leaves early, leaving only bare trunks.
There is also white snow piled up on the bare branches.
The trunks of each tree were painted with white lime water, and even the ground at the roots of the trees had some white marks.
Gao Mingcheng introduced the plan for his orchard to everyone and said that he was planning to introduce orange trees in the future.
Xiaofushan has a total of 300 acres, but only 200 acres are used now. In addition to the fruit trees he planted, there are some native tree species in the mountain, such as fir, tamarisk, tea trees, etc. Especially on the top of the mountain, he also specially transplanted some tea trees from Niuweiling.
Everyone just walked around the foot of the mountain and then returned to Gao Mingcheng's home.
It is freezing cold, and if people stay outside for a long time, their hands and feet will become stiff.
When we got home, many beauties had already prepared a fruit plate for the guests, filled with all kinds of melon seeds and candies.
Seeing people coming into the house, Xuanyuemei brought a thermos and poured tea for everyone.
Gao Shouwang looked around and said with emotion: "I have been too busy this year and have rarely visited you. Now it seems that you are living a good life, better than I thought."
Gao Mingcheng smiled and said, "Uncle, being busy is a good thing! We are not afraid of being busy, but we are afraid of being idle. Only by being busy can our lives prosper."
These words touched Dong Feixia's heart. She smiled and nodded, saying, "Ming Cheng is right. Although this year is busy, it is also a busy and steady one! This year, I have earned more money than I did in several years before! I plan to work for a few more years, and then take a break when I have time to take care of my grandchildren."
Gao Shouwang also nodded in agreement with his wife, and looked at his two sons and gave them a look.
Both of his sons are promising and have good marriages, but it is precisely because of their good marriages that Gao Shouwang decided to open a garment workshop, so that at least he would not lose too badly in terms of financial resources.
Otherwise, if the woman is stronger, her son will definitely suffer and will not be able to stand up straight in anything he does.
It can be seen that parents worry a lot about their children.
After chatting and laughing for a while, Gao Shouwang and his friends did not stay long and decided to go back.
Gao Mingcheng wanted to invite them to have dinner at his home, but Gao Shouwang did not agree.
Gao Shouwang said, "We have to go to my uncle's house in Dongjia Village for dinner tonight. My two sons don't have a long vacation, and the round trip will take several days. They will leave early on the fourth day of the New Year. We can't visit them on the third day of the New Year, so we can only go there tonight."
When Gao Mingcheng heard this, he immediately said, "Do you want to borrow my tractor? It's snowing, so it's not very convenient to walk or ride a bicycle."
Gao Shouwang looked at everyone, then stepped forward to borrow Gao Mingcheng's tractor.
As for the person to drive the tractor, naturally both of his sons can do it.
So they drove a tractor and went directly to Dongjia Village.
After they left, Xiao Xuxu also woke up. Xuanyuemei put on Xiao Xuxu's coat and said to Gao Mingcheng, "My second sister came just now and said that if we have nothing to do tonight, we can go to her house for dinner."
"Okay." Gao Mingcheng agreed immediately.
Xuanyuemei said, "Let's go there later, otherwise we might not be able to eat dinner until nine o'clock in the evening."
They can be hungry, but the children cannot be hungry!
So Xuanyuemei decided to go there early and help her second sister cook.
Gao Mingcheng just smiled when he heard this.
Eating at around eight or nine in the evening is something that many people often do.
Seeing that there was nothing to do at home, he might as well go there early. Xuanyuemei would help with cooking, and he could chat with Zhang Chengyuan or Chen Dasong next door.
When they went over, Gao Mingcheng saw Maozi and his younger brother Yangyang at Chen Dasong's house. It turned out that Maozi was seen by Chen Dasong while he was strolling outside, so Chen Dasong simply asked them to have lunch at his house, and after lunch, they stayed here and chatted.
Maozi had noticed that Gao Mingcheng had led a group of people back home a long time ago. Fearing of disturbing Gao Mingcheng's entertaining guests, he simply continued to stay at Chen Dasong's house.
Now that Gao Mingcheng had also arrived, everyone became lively again.
Right now, the hot topics in Chen Dasong's family are building a house and getting married!
Chen Duofu had met the girl several times and they had a good impression of each other, so he asked a matchmaker to come to their house to inquire about the gift price and wedding date. In the end, they settled on a gift price of 680 yuan, in addition to other gifts such as tea, cigarettes, and alcohol, as well as new clothes for the girl.
As for the wedding date, it will be after the spring plowing is over.
After the spring plowing was over, Chen Dasong also decided to build a house!
Chen Dasong had already made plans to build a house. It was indeed cheaper to rent a kiln and make bricks himself, but it was also very tiring. Now there were two people in his family who had salaries, and Gao Mingcheng also said that he would ask Chen Duoxi to do some work after the New Year, so all three of them would have salaries.
Aunt Liu has to take care of the food and clothing of the whole family, as well as the rice and vegetables in the fields. Therefore, their family has no energy to spend time and effort on making bricks. It would be better to spend some money to buy bricks.
Although there is not much money left in the family after the eldest son got married, it doesn’t matter. Gao Mingcheng said he could lend them money.
Chen Dasong planned to build a two-story building with three rooms on the upper and lower floors, for a total of six rooms. He also wanted to build a kitchen, pigpen, toilet, and bathroom.
All in all, it would cost about five thousand.
Gao Mingcheng said straightforwardly: "When we are ready to build the house, uncle, you should do the math first to see how much we need to borrow. The money will be deducted from your salary. Do you think we should deduct the full amount every month until it is all deducted, or only deduct half of it every month?"
Chen Dasong and his son Chen Duofu looked at each other and chose the latter without hesitation!
If you can deduct only half, then definitely deduct only half, after all, the people at home still have to live!
Although the cost of living in the village is not high, at the end of the year, there are always headaches, fevers, and the need to tailor new clothes.
Gao Mingcheng was indeed a kind and humane boss, and he agreed with a smile.
While the men were chatting happily, Xuanyuemei and Xuanyue sisters were busy in the kitchen.
Xuanyuemei hadn't worked in this kitchen for a long time, and she was shivering with cold.
The kitchen has fallen into disrepair, some of the tiles on the roof beams are broken, and there are some small holes in the walls, which allow air to leak in.
Xu Xuanmei rubbed her hands and stamped her feet, trying to dispel the chill in her body, and quickly said, "Second sister, what are you going to cook? You wash the vegetables, I'll cut and fry them, and you'll be in charge of lighting the fire later. Hey... we're out of firewood, you'll have to go get some first."
“The water is running out!”
Many beauties' eyes widened slightly. It's New Year's Day, why aren't water and firewood prepared properly?
Many people complained: "Little Stone ran to the yard to play in the snow this morning. Not only did he freeze his hands red, but he even wet his pants! He was wearing open-crotch pants, but he still wet his pants!"
Xu Xuanyu became more and more angry as she spoke, her voice gradually getting louder. She continued, "There was no other way. I could only boil water to wash his butt and change his pants. I also washed my hair at the same time. That used up a lot of water - Chengyuan, there's no water in the kitchen, go get some!"
Zhang Chengyuan was watching the children. When he heard Xuanyu calling him, he didn't say anything. Instead, he walked silently to the kitchen, took the bucket and shoulder pole, and walked out of the house.
In the past, they had to fetch drinking water from the well in the old village, which required a long walk. But now they fetch water from the well in Gao Mingcheng's yard, which is more convenient.
But soon after he left, they heard little Xuxu crying. When Xuanyue heard it, she immediately put down the work in her hands and hurriedly ran towards the place where the crying came from.
In the main room, little Xuxu sat on the ground, crying loudly.
Little Stone stood beside him, eating a piece of candy, his mouth and hands full of saliva and sticky candy.
Xuan Mei first picked up Xiao Xuxu, and then asked what happened. Unfortunately, Xiao Xuxu was inarticulate and couldn't speak clearly. He pointed at Xiao Shitou and cried, "Push me!"
Manyi looked at Little Stone and asked, "Little Stone, did you push your brother?"
Little Shitou was eating candy and refused to speak at first. Later he said that Xiao Xuxu pushed him because he stole his candy.
Xuanmei felt uncomfortable after hearing this, but Xiao Shitou was still young and it was hard to reason with her, so she decided to separate the two children.
So she carried Xiao Xuxu to find Gao Mingcheng and handed Xiao Xuxu to Gao Mingcheng.
Aunt Liu saw that her eldest son was about to get married, and maybe she would have grandchildren soon, so she loved little Xuxu very much and would not let go of him once she held him. Fortunately, little Xuxu was not afraid of strangers, and it didn't matter who held him as long as he was not hurt.
Aunt Liu coaxed little Xuxu with candy, saying, "Xiao Xuxu, come and have some candy! Or do you want to eat some water chestnuts? By the way, Mingcheng, do you have any water chestnuts at home? A relative of mine gave me ten kilograms of it, and I still have seven or eight kilograms left after eating it till now."
Gao Mingcheng asked Xuanyuemei if he wanted to eat it. He didn't like taro because it was small and needed to be peeled before eating. Eating taro in the middle of winter would make one's hands very cold.
Manyu Mei was about to speak, but saw that Xiao Xuxu refused to take the candy, and said seriously: "I can push!"
No one else understood this, except Xuanyuemei. A trace of embarrassment flashed across her face, but it was common for children to guard their food. (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
