Gao Mingcheng drove the car smoothly all the way to Gaojia Village, and then parked under the shade of a tree next to the Niuweiling house.
"We're here, let's get off! This is my house in the village. We have to walk a little further to the orchard."
Gao Mingcheng jumped out of the car and introduced the surrounding environment to everyone in a cheerful tone.
Although he has a wife and children, he is actually about the same age as Gao Yue and his classmates. Gao Yue is a few months younger than him, and Gao Yue's classmates are also about the same age.
We are all of the same age, so it is easier to get along with each other. There is no need to call each other brother or sister, just call each other by their names.
As soon as Gao Mingcheng got off the car, Black Tiger Elf and other dogs came running from a distance and gathered in front of Gao Mingcheng.
After not seeing each other for a few days, the black tiger circled around Gao Mingcheng enthusiastically, while the elf put its front legs on Gao Mingcheng's legs. It stood up and looked half as tall as Gao Mingcheng.
The two dogs ran in front, while Dahuang and his two puppies followed behind.
Although it is called a puppy, it is actually very big. After its fur grows out, it looks black, with only a small patch of light yellow fur on its chest.
These two puppies already have names. Gao Mingcheng asked Xuanyimei to choose them. Xuanyimei thought of many names seriously, but the ones she finally called out were Dahei and Xiaohei, two such vulgar names!
When asked the reason, she said that these two names are easy to say and remember.
Well, it's catchy.
Seeing five big dogs gathering around them, Song Xiaoxiao, Zhao Jing and the two girls hid behind in fear. Gao Yue, on the other hand, was not afraid and even greeted the elves.
The elf was given to Gao Mingcheng by Gao Yue. Later, Gao Yue also came here to stay for a while, so the elf still remembered him, and the black tiger did not growl at him.
Perhaps these people were brought by Gao Mingcheng, so the dogs did not bark fiercely and seemed to be easy to get along with.
Gao Mingcheng introduced his own dogs to Lin Ye and the others, saying, "Don't worry, Black Tiger and the others are very smart and won't bite anyone randomly."
It is true that black tigers have rarely bitten people, but if you think these dogs are not to be feared, you are wrong.
If it weren’t for these good dogs, it’s hard to say whether the chicken coop built by Gao Mingcheng at the foot of Xiaofu Mountain would be safe and sound!
There are many wild animals in the mountains, and even if the chicken coop is surrounded by a wall, they can still break in. In addition to those running on the ground, there are also those flying in the sky. Once, Chen Dasong almost caught an eagle.
The eagle swooped down and tried to catch the chicks, but fortunately the hen with her chicks reacted in time and quickly ran into the chicken coop. The eagle also chased in, but because the chicken coop was low, it could not take advantage of its own strengths.
Chen Dasong saw it from afar and wanted to go over and shoot the eagle. Several dogs also barked, trying to surround and capture the eagle, but unfortunately, the eagle found an opportunity to fly away from the open door at the critical moment.
But after this little episode, the eagle's hunting of chickens became less frequent.
"Let's put the vegetables at home first, then take the bamboo baskets, and I'll take you into the mountains to pick fruits!" Gao Mingcheng patted Heihu's head, signaling it to move aside, and then led Gao Yue and the others to put down the things they brought.
In the utility room, there were more than a dozen bamboo baskets piled up. They were all woven by Chen Dasong and Zhang Chengyuan in their spare time, and Gao Mingcheng bought them.
These bamboo baskets were big and small. The two girls, Song Xiaoxiao and Zhao Jing, quickly took two small bamboo baskets, while the boys, Lin Ye and others, took the big bamboo baskets.
After leaving the courtyard, looking around, there are mountains on three sides, and a wide area on the other side. The closer area is reclaimed land, and the farther area is the large reservoir connecting Gaojia Village and Shangfeng Village.
Gao Mingcheng pointed to the reclaimed land and introduced it to everyone: "These fields were reclaimed by me before. Now I have asked my brother to farm for me. My brother is good at farming. Look, these vegetables are growing well! If you want to eat any vegetables later, just pick them!"
"Well, that piece of land is planted with watermelons and cantaloupes. Let's go over there and take a look after we get down from the orchard."
"There's a pond in front of us where we raise fish and planted lotus roots this year. They're still blooming and lotus pods are starting to grow!"
"Over there, there's a shed. Usually I put farm tools, bamboo baskets, fertilizers, etc. in it. In winter, I put plastic sheets around it and move the beehives in. Oh, I have more than 40 beehives, but now the beehives are placed somewhere else. Today is not the time to shake the honey, so I won't take you to see it."
"There is a chicken coop near Niuweiling, which houses more than a hundred chickens. If you want to pick up eggs, you can go over and take a look later."
Gao Mingcheng introduced the guests as they walked. Gao Yue was okay as he had been here several times before, but Lin Ye and the others were here for the first time and couldn't help but look around, feeling as if they couldn't see enough.
A breeze blows across the pond, and the green lotus leaves sway in the wind. Lotus flowers hide among the green leaves, blooming freely in the sunshine.
Occasionally a dragonfly flies over the water, and there are frogs lying on lotus leaves, making croaking sounds from time to time.
There were also a few ducks floating on the water, swimming leisurely, and occasionally poking their heads into the water, as if catching small fish and shrimps.
The scenery is beautiful and there is a sense of leisure in the mountains.
The entire Xiaofushan was once surrounded by Gao Mingcheng with barbed wire, but the barbed wire was prone to rust after being exposed to wind and rain, and the vines around it were also easy to climb on it. Over time, the barbed wire was prone to collapse.
Although it has not fallen down yet, the entire wire fence has been covered by green vines.
Among these vines, there are golden cherries and honeysuckle planted specially by Gao Mingcheng, but most of them are unknown vegetation.
Gao Mingcheng opened the reserved mountain gate and invited everyone to go into the mountain.
Xiaofushan covers an area of 300 acres. The whole mountain is a square hill. Among all the hills in Gaojia Village, it is the most suitable hill for contracting and planting.
The mountain was artificially dug into layers of terraces, but compared to the terraces used to grow crops, the terraces here are not as standardized. They are just slightly regularized to make it easier to plant trees and pick fruits.
From a distance, it does look like terraced fields. Each layer is planted with a row of fruit trees, and each type of fruit tree is planted in a large area. From a distance, the different fruit trees present different styles.
The entire Xiaofushan is like a huge canvas, painted with different colors.
But when people walk in the mountains and look around, they can only see the scenery around them.
Gao Mingcheng led them to the peach and pear orchards.
The peach trees have not grown very tall yet, and there are not many fruits on the trees. Some have a dozen or so, and some have only three or four.
Because the tree is not tall, it is convenient for people to pick peaches. They can just reach out and pick the peaches.
Gao Mingcheng looked at these peaches and felt that if he picked them again today, he would be able to pick them all.
So he said, "There aren't many peaches left. Let's try to pick them all today!"
Gao Mingcheng also took a large bamboo basket. In order to take care of others, he deliberately picked the fruits in places with steep slopes or tall trees.
While Gao Mingcheng was busy picking peaches, the others also dispersed. Gao Yue picked the reddest peach, rubbed it on his clothes casually, and started eating it with a crunch.
Although Gao Yue had been here several times, this was his first time to pick fruit. When he came back before, the fruit trees were still bare.
There is strength in numbers. In just half an hour, all the remaining peaches in the peach orchard were picked.
Gao Mingcheng was very happy and took them to pick pears again.
At this time, the Cuiguan Pear and Huanghua Pear are both ripe. When hanging on the trees, they look green in color, but when you take a bite, the pear flesh inside is juicy and sweet.
Gao Mingcheng is very satisfied with his batch of fruit trees. Basically, there are no bad ones and they are all high-quality fruit trees.
Pick the ripe pears, and leave the smaller ones growing in the shade for now. They will taste much better when you pick them a few days later.
The July sun was pouring down warmly, making people sweat. However, these college students living in the county town were unaware of it and still enjoyed the joy of picking fruits. They picked fruits while chatting and laughing, and even compared who picked the biggest and best fruits.
It was not until the baskets were full and needed both hands to carry them that everyone realized they could not pick any more.
"We have almost finished picking, let's go down the mountain first!" Gao Mingcheng carried a basket of fruits easily and prepared to take them down the mountain first.
He walked in front, choosing the path that was easier to walk on, but the mountain road was still a little difficult for Lin Ye and the others, especially when they were carrying a full basket of fruits.
As the ancients said, it is easy to go up the mountain but difficult to go down.
When going up the mountain, I had good physical strength and was full of anticipation for the upcoming picking activities, so I didn’t feel tired at all.
But when going down the mountain, you have already consumed a lot of physical strength and still need to carry heavy weights, so naturally you will feel a lot of difficulties.
Gao Mingcheng had no choice but to let them walk and rest while they slowly made their way down the mountain.
Among all the people, only Gao Yue has better physical fitness and can keep up with Gao Mingcheng's speed, but this is also the case when Gao Mingcheng deliberately slows down. If Gao Mingcheng pulls Gao Yue to climb Niuweiling, then Gao Mingcheng climbs to the top of the mountain, and Gao Yue is probably still working hard halfway up the mountain!
After getting down the mountain, no one was in a hurry to go home. It still took several minutes to walk from here to home!
Fortunately, a shed was built at the foot of the mountain, and at this moment, the shed showed its advantages!
"It's so hot! Let's cool down first!" Zhao Jinghe quickly ran to the bottom of the shed. The cool air that hit her face made her feel like she was finally alive.
Xiaofushan is planted with fruit trees, and they have only been planted for three or four years. Each tree is not very tall and people cannot hide from the shade.
The scorching sun shines on the skin, causing stinging pain.
Zhao Jinghe was wearing a straw hat, but he still felt sunburned. As the sweat flowed down, the small wounds on his hands that were cut by the weeds also felt stinging.
Huh, she took off her straw hat and felt her head instantly cooled down by several degrees.
“It’s too hot!”
"Yes, the sun is so strong today, it's so sunny!"
"It's my first time to pick fruit in the mountains. I didn't expect it to be so tiring. I feel my arms are so sore."
"I shouldn't have worn sandals! I feel like the grass has cut several tiny wounds on my ankles! They're itchy and painful!"
"I'm fine, I wore sneakers!"
Everyone stood under the cool shed, chatting to each other. Although they complained a little about the weather and environment, their overall expressions were still full of joy.
Lin Ye looked at Gao Mingcheng and asked curiously, "You've planted so many fruit trees, that's really amazing! But it's also very hard, right? Just picking the fruits is very tiring."
Gao Mingcheng smiled and said, "We pick these fruits for ourselves. If we want to sell them, we have to get up at four or five in the morning and go into the mountains to pick them. We have to pick the fruits of the day before the sun rises, and then send them to the county to sell."
"My fruit trees have only been planted for a few years. Next year or the year after, they will bear more fruit. By then, I will have to organize people to go into the mountains early in the morning to pick them."
"Since you are all tired, you can rest here. If you want to pick up eggs, let Gao Yue take you there." Gao Mingcheng patted Gao Yue's shoulder, indicating that Gao Yue should take good care of his friends.
"Where are you going?" Gao Yue asked curiously.
Gao Mingcheng said, "I'll go pick some watermelons and cantaloupes and cool them down with well water. They'll be delicious later."
Seeing that they were all so tired that they were almost out of strength, Gao Mingcheng simply went to pick the watermelons himself.
The watermelon field is quite far from here. A big watermelon weighs more than 10 to 20 kilograms, and a small one weighs 7 to 8 kilograms. It may not be possible for these college students to carry it.
Gao Mingcheng walked with big strides and soon walked away.
Lin Ye said enviously: "Gao Mingcheng's physical fitness is really good!"
"Yeah, but being a farmer really isn't easy. I've only been working for a short while and I'm already exhausted!"
"Yeah, I think I can study harder when school starts!"
"Ha ha."
The college students laughed happily, and when they had rested for a while, they picked up peaches and pears and walked towards the pond.
They plan to wash it before eating.
As soon as I walked to the pond, I saw a duck that seemed to have defecated, and the duck feces sank directly into the water.
After seeing this scene, the college students froze and felt that they could no longer use this water to wash the fruit and eat it!
Just as they were about to back out, Song Xiaoxiao pointed at a duck and exclaimed, "Ah! It! It laid eggs! How can it lay eggs in the water?"
Song Xiaoxiao knew that chickens would lay eggs in the chicken coop, and she had picked up eggs before, but she really didn't know that ducks would lay eggs in the water!
Gao Yue looked in the direction of her finger and saw an egg floating in the water, which had not yet completely sunk.
Seeing this, he immediately took off his shirt and shoes, dived into the water, and swam towards the duck eggs. The sound of him falling into the water frightened the ducks, and they quacked and swam away quickly, which made it convenient for Gao Yue to pick up the duck eggs.
Soon, Gao Yue reached out and got the duck egg.
He held up the duck egg in his hand and said proudly, "Look!"
"Amazing!" People on the shore praised the scene as they witnessed it. (End of this chapter)
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