Gao Mingcheng met his group of ducks and five goats in the pear orchard.
As May approaches, the bleakness of winter has long gone, and the earth has been dressed in green. The strong and resilient weeds are growing vigorously, changing with each passing day, and quickly occupying large areas of land.
The roots of wild grass are very deep and they are extremely good at competing for water and nutrients, so they are the enemy of fruit trees. It is definitely unrealistic to rely on manual weeding. So Zhang Chengyuan drives the sheep and ducks into the mountains every day and lets the sheep and ducks eat the excess weeds.
During the Chinese New Year last year, Gao Mingcheng slaughtered cattle and caught fish, but did not kill the goats. Now the five goats are still alive and well, bleating and eating the fresh green grass.
"Brother." Seeing Zhang Chengyuan, Gao Mingcheng greeted him with a smile.
"Hey." Zhang Chengyuan responded dully, then he remembered something and said immediately: "Mingcheng, two ewes are pregnant!"
There was a smile on his face and his tone was more excited than usual.
As early as when Gao Mingcheng brought the goats back, Zhang Chengyuan felt that these goats, both male and female, could produce more lambs on their own. When Gao Mingcheng wanted to slaughter the goats for food, he strongly advised Gao Mingcheng not to do so.
Now, under his careful feeding, two ewes in the flock are pregnant!
The gestation period of goats is generally five months. When he discovered it, the goats had already been pregnant for one or two months. That is to say, by August or September, the two ewes would give birth to lambs!
Gao Mingcheng was very happy to hear the news. He had never raised a pregnant ewe and was afraid that Zhang Chengyuan didn't understand, so he asked Zhang Chengyuan to call the veterinarian from Junling if there was any problem.
If the ewe in your family gives birth to lambs for the first time and you don’t know much, you’d better spend money to hire a veterinarian to take a look and ask about the things to pay attention to. This way, you will have experience the next time the ewe gives birth to lambs.
Everything will be easy as long as you are not afraid of spending money!
The money was not paid by Zhang Chengyuan himself, so he readily agreed. In order to ensure that nothing happened to the sheep, he would find a veterinarian when necessary.
Gao Mingcheng looked at the dozen or so ducks again. The ducks actually preferred to forage in the water, but after being driven into the mountains, they were quite comfortable. They scattered in the woods and grass, leisurely eating their favorite grass, and making quacking sounds from time to time, adding a bit of liveliness to the quiet forest.
Peach blossoms bloom early, and when the peach blossoms are almost finished, it is the pear tree's turn to bloom.
There were still a few peach blossoms on the peach trees, but the pear blossoms had long since disappeared from the pear trees, because the pear trees he planted were early-maturing varieties, the Jinxi honey pears.
Jinxi County, their neighboring county, has a long history of growing honey pears. As early as the Song Dynasty, the honey pears grown there were called tribute pears.
It’s just that they were all planted on a small scale in the past, but last year, Jinxi County had developed more than 1,000 acres of high-quality early-ripening southern pears such as Huanghua, New Century, and Cui Guan, and the planting area will gradually expand in the future.
Gao Mingcheng purchased these pear trees from Shimen Village, but Shimen Village had previously purchased the seedlings from Jinxi, mainly the Huanghua and Cuiguan varieties. These are also the two varieties that Gao Mingcheng is planting now.
Compared with Huanghua, Gao Mingcheng prefers Cuiguan. He thinks Cuiguan pear tastes sweet and refreshing, crispy and tender, without any residue!
Last year, these pear trees did not bear fruit, but this year they are starting to bear fruit!
This is normal, because these fruit seedlings are not native species, but grafted! Grafted pear trees have a short planting cycle and high yield. Generally, they can bear fruit in two years and become normal in three years.
Gao Mingcheng was savoring the taste of the Green Crown Pear as his eyes swept across the branches of the short pear tree, looking at the small pears hanging on them.
The tree is not big, but it grows a lot of small pears. However, Gao Mingcheng has to be tough to pick the fruits!
This is the first year that the pear tree has produced fruit, so naturally, not too many fruits can be left on the branches. As the saying goes, "you can't eat too much." If there are too many fruits and the pear tree does not provide enough nutrition, then in the end all the fruits will not grow big or well, and the taste will be much worse.
In fact, he had already told Chen Dasong about the matter of thinning the fruits.
Chen Dasong is a serious worker, but he is too stingy. He is always reluctant to thin out the fruits. He thinks, why should we pick the good fruits? If we don't pick them, we can have one more fruit to eat when they are ripe!
Therefore, Chen Dasong would usually only pick the obviously inferior fruits and would not pick those that looked good.
Gao Mingcheng had no choice but to do it himself when he encountered the situation.
Just as he was about to kill, Zhang Chengyuan on the side trembled, as if he wanted to persuade Gao Mingcheng not to pick so many.
But in the end, he didn't say anything.
Gao Mingcheng thinned the fruits happily, and felt relieved when he saw that there were only eight or nine fruits hanging on each pear tree.
In the first few years of planting pear trees, the main focus is on making the trees grow well, and the results are secondary.
He looked at the open space between the pear trees and recalled that in his previous life, someone had intercropped some vegetables in the orchard. These vegetables were mainly used as green manure to improve the soil.
The pear tree is still small and the open space has enough sunlight. Gao Mingcheng thought for a moment and said to Zhang Chengyuan, "Brother, do you have any soybean seeds at home?"
Zhang Chengyuan said: "There are still some."
Upon hearing this, Gao Mingcheng asked Zhang Chengyuan to scatter some soybean seeds in the pear orchard. There was no need to plant them carefully. He just needed to take care of the beans while fertilizing and watering the pear trees. The rest of the time, he could just let them fend for themselves.
Zhang Chengyuan listened to his thoughts, was silent for a moment, and finally nodded in agreement.
But he is different from Gao Mingcheng. He is actually very serious about his work. If he wants to plant, he must turn the soil, sow seeds, water and fertilize. He can't just ignore it!
Fortunately, the pear orchard is on the hillside, not far from the pond at the foot of the mountain, so it is convenient to fetch water.
Gao Mingcheng didn't know what Zhang Chengyuan was thinking. Since he had already started working, he might as well continue. He didn't do anything else but thin out the fruits!
Peaches and pears are already hanging on the branches, and it is a good time to thin out the fruits. The bayberries are also quietly hanging on the branches, but they are small now and still green in color. They are hidden among the lush branches, and if you don’t look carefully, you will miss them.
If you ignore the bayberry tree, it will grow taller, and picking bayberries will become a difficult task.
Therefore, Gao Mingcheng asked Chen Dasong to tie the branches of the bayberry tree with a rope, and the other end of the rope was tied to a boulder. With the pulling force of the boulder, the branches were pulled downwards. Over time, the branches would be shaped.
By then, the branches will spread out in all directions and the tree will be relatively short, making it easier for people to pick the fruits.
Gao Mingcheng could reach some low branches with just a stretch of his hand, and for higher ones, he could climb up the branches. He picked out some bad bayberries.
Xiaofushan is too big for Chen Dasong to take care of it alone. Although he would ask his two sons and Zhang Chengyuan to help him apply fertilizer and prune diseased branches, it was still not enough.
For example, in this bayberry forest, Chen Dasong did not have time to thin out the fruits.
Of course, Gao Mingcheng cannot force others to do things against their will. As long as Chen Dasong can take care of such a large orchard, that's enough!
Later, if there is more work to be done, I will hire a few more people.
Speaking of which, it’s time for Chen Dasong’s youngest son, Chen Duoxi, to become a formal employee of Xiaofushan!
Chen Duoxi had helped out a lot before, but she never received a proper salary.
So when Gao Mingcheng met Chen Dasong again, he mentioned it to Chen Dasong and said that Chen Duoxi would be paid starting from this month.
After hearing this, Chen Dasong was naturally overjoyed.
In big cities, the wages of ordinary workers are mostly more than 300 yuan. But in a small place like theirs, the wages are naturally lower. Gao Mingcheng pays Chen Dasong and his colleagues according to the wages of local factory workers, which is 168 yuan per month.
Of course, Chen Dasong has to sleep in the chicken coop at night, which is equivalent to keeping watch, and he gets extra subsidies for this.
In addition, Gao Mingcheng would also give some things during the Chinese New Year and other festivals. For example, if he hunted a wild boar, he would also share some meat with Chen Dasong's family and Zhang Chengyuan's family.
Speaking of which, as wages rise, betrothal gifts also rise! If you want to marry a wife now, you have to pay more, and families with better conditions will start to pay attention to the sense of ceremony, such as the bride will rent a wedding dress, put on makeup, the groom will wear a brand new suit, and then hire a photographer to record the whole process!
The total cost of a wedding is quite a lot of money.
When Gao Mingcheng and Xuanyuemei got married, they didn't have much money. At that time, at least in the village, wedding videotaping was unheard of.
By the time Deng Wanwan and Wang Xun got married, the wedding dress, suit, and wedding video were all ready!
But fortunately, for most families in the village, getting married is just a matter of having a banquet!
At least when Chen Dasong arranged a wedding for his eldest son, he just had to have a banquet and invite relatives from both families to come and drink and bear witness together.
Of course, you have to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get the marriage certificate!
Thinking of this, Gao Mingcheng said, "Uncle Chen, when you have time, let Duofu go to Uncle Shouwang to choose two sets of clothes, one for him and one for the bride. It will be my gift to the newlyweds."
When people around Gao Mingcheng got married, he gave them clothes as gifts. Now that his employees are getting married, of course he has to give them gifts as well!
It would be a bit troublesome to take people to the county to choose clothes. It would be more convenient to choose them there in Xing'an Mountains!
When he gets back, he will tell Gao Shouwang and ask him to put the clothes on his account.
Chen Dasong knew that Gao Mingcheng was a generous person, so he did not hypocritically refuse, but happily accepted it.
"Okay, that's fine. I'll ask Duofu to go pick out some clothes tomorrow, and then I'll send the new clothes to Meilin!"
Chen Dasong's daughter-in-law is called Huang Meilin. She is pretty but a little short. When she stands next to Chen Duofu, there is the cutest height difference between them.
After a busy day in the mountains, it was already noon.
Chen Dasong carried a hoe and prepared to go down the mountain, and Gao Mingcheng followed him down the mountain.
During this period, Chen Dasong asked Gao Mingcheng to go to his home for dinner, but Gao Mingcheng did not agree because he had already agreed to go to his grandmother's house for dinner.
So after coming down the mountain, he took twenty eggs from the chicken coop, drove the tractor, and led the five dogs to the old village.
He hasn't been back for a long time, and the dogs have been following him closely.
When they arrived at the old village, people who had been busy in the fields for the whole morning were all returning to the village to prepare for dinner. When they saw Gao Mingcheng with five dogs, they thought he looked very impressive, so they came forward to talk to him.
Gao Mingcheng could chat with anyone and was in a good mood all the way until someone said that his elder brother had been beaten.
Gao Mingcheng looked at the person who was speaking, and that person seemed to be encouraged and told him what had happened.
It turned out that when Gao Mingpeng was buying prefabricated panels outside, he was sold inferior products as good ones. Gao Mingpeng definitely would not accept that, so a conflict broke out between the two sides and Gao Mingpeng was beaten.
"When Mingpeng came back with a bruised face, we asked him what happened. After listening, everyone felt sorry for Mingpeng! Later, Mingpeng led a group of people to find the person who passed off the inferior goods as the real ones and beat him up!"
The person who was speaking had a very cheerful tone, and he obviously felt that he had not suffered any loss, so he was very proud of himself.
However, another person said, "Although they beat them up, they also said that they would not let Mingpeng go! Mingpeng has been staying in the village these past few days and has not dared to go out."
"Yeah, it's not a good thing to stay at home all the time. Mingpeng has to take a group of brothers to take on jobs outside! Mingcheng, you are good at fighting, why don't you stand up for your elder brother so that the people over there won't keep staring at your elder brother."
"Yes, yes, Ming Cheng, go over there and beat that guy up again until he's convinced!"
When talking about this matter, everyone in the village urged Gao Mingcheng to help Gao Mingpeng.
This is not just about Gao Mingpeng, but about the reputation of the entire village!
Nowadays, if villages fight over water or land, the entire village will fight with real swords and guns!
The people nowadays have a strong sense of collective village honor.
Gao Mingcheng is very good at standing up for others and helping them fight! He has done this many times before!
But he did not agree to it immediately. Instead, he prepared to ask Gao Mingpeng carefully to see if his side was really right. If he was right, he would definitely stand up for him.
This is how a society based on favors works. Not to mention that the one in trouble is his eldest brother, even if it is other close relatives in the village who need his help, he has to show some appreciation.
"Okay, I'll ask my eldest brother about this first. Let's go home and have dinner first, I'm hungry too!" Gao Mingcheng said to everyone with a smile, and then quickly went to his grandmother's house.
Before I even stepped into the yard, I could smell the aroma of vegetables, which made my stomach growl.
"Brother Mingcheng!" When Gao Zhuang saw Gao Mingcheng, he immediately ran to Gao Mingcheng's side. He hadn't seen him for such a long time and he missed Gao Mingcheng very much.
Gao Zhuang has been Gao Mingcheng's follower since he was a child. After they grew up and got married, they got along better, but they only met from time to time. Unlike this time, he hadn't seen him for more than a month, and knowing that Gao Mingcheng had gone to the capital, he naturally missed him even more.
Gao Mingcheng was in a good mood when he saw Gao Zhuang. He reached out and patted Gao Zhuang on the shoulder, smiling and said, "You've become stronger!"
"Hey." Gao Zhuang grinned and quickly called Gao Mingcheng to come in and sit down. (End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
