Chapter 296 Return to the Village and Sell Pigs
As soon as the tractor entered the village, one could feel that the atmosphere was different from before. The air seemed to be filled with joy, and the children were playing all over the village. Of course, even if the children were naughty, the adults no longer beat or scolded them, and seemed to have become more tolerant all of a sudden.
The tractor stopped at the entrance of the village. Gao Shufang and Gao Mingli got off the vehicle first, each holding the things they carried with them. The bags were bulging with stuff.
"Second brother, second sister-in-law, fourth brother and I will go back first." Gao Shufang waved goodbye to Gao Mingcheng and the others obediently.
"Yeah." Gao Mingcheng responded, and when he saw them walking along the path toward his parents' house, he started the car and continued driving towards Niuweiling. Along the way, he kept greeting people.
On the tractor bed, many beauties sat quietly, their eyes full of excitement as they looked at the long-lost village.
She hasn't returned to the village since the clothing store opened. After being away from the village for nearly two months, she still misses it a little.
When I returned home, the longing in my heart reached its peak.
Black Tiger and Elf heard the sound early and ran towards the tractor, welcoming their master as soon as possible.
"Black Tiger, Elf." Xu Manyi stroked the two dogs' heads and played with them happily, but the two dogs were still not satisfied and kept rubbing against Gao Mingcheng.
Gao Mingcheng was moving the things in the truck bed into the house, but he had no time to pay attention to them. He just gently kicked the two dogs with his foot and said, "Go away, I'll come back to play with you later!"
Many bees saw Gao Mingcheng moving heavy things, but they were not idle either, helping to move the lighter things off the truck. They also had to fetch water and do cleaning.
Although Gao Mingcheng would return to the village every five or six days, especially when he went hunting wild boars last time and stayed there for two days, the house would inevitably be covered in dust after being uninhabited for a while. During the New Year, it naturally had to be cleaned inside and out.
There are traces of water on the edge of the wellhead, which may be where Zhang Chengyuan or Gao Yuanjian came to fetch water.
The weather is dry this year and there is a water shortage everywhere. Even at the public well in the old village, you have to queue up early to fetch water. If you go too late, there will definitely be no water to drink.
To this end, Gao Mingcheng gave the key to his yard to Zhang Chengyuan and Gao Yuanjian so that they could fetch water from his well. He also gave the key to Zhang Chengyuan so that he could take care of the livestock. Zhang Chengyuan would come over every day to help him lead the sheep out to graze and feed the chickens with grain.
The chickens at home are only fed once a day. If they are not full, they have to go outside to find insects and grass seeds to eat.
The couple worked for more than an hour before they cleaned the house inside and out.
Gao Mingcheng put away the rice, flour, various candies and snacks, and a large pile of wind-blown meat that he had brought back, and then looked towards the familiar mountains.
"How beautiful! I'm going to take a walk in the mountains." He said this and strode out the door. Black Tiger and the Elf were lying outside, and when they saw him come out, they immediately stood up and followed him happily.
"Come on, I'll take you to patrol the mountains!"
Gao Mingcheng took the two dogs to Xiaofushan first. Most of Xiaofushan was still empty, with only a patch of tangerines planted halfway up the mountain.
One hundred and eight trees were planted initially, but several of them died one after another. When Gao Mingcheng went up the mountain now, he found that another tangerine tree had died and its leaves had all withered. It was most likely killed by thirst.
He pulled out the dead tangerines and threw them into a pile of miscellaneous trees. When they were completely dry, he could carry them back and use them as firewood.
There is nothing to go around in Xiaofushan now, but Gao Mingcheng still carried a bucket of water to the place where the Polygonatum sibiricum seeds were buried. The Polygonatum sibiricum seeds need to be hidden in sand. After he collected the Polygonatum sibiricum seeds last autumn, he had been hiding them in a shady place in Xiaofushan, keeping the soil and water moist.
When spring comes, the seeds can be dug out and sown.
Polygonatum sibiricum is a nourishing medicinal herb that can be stewed directly with meat or processed for medicinal purposes. It has a wide range of uses. Gao Mingcheng plans to plant a large batch of it.
Of course, the seeds he has now are limited, so he can only slowly expand the planting area.
After a tour around Xiaofu Mountain, Gao Mingcheng led the two dogs into Niuweiling, but he did not go deep into the mountains. He just checked the condition of the beehives.
Beekeeping cannot be completely ignored. You must always pay attention to the condition of the beehives and take timely measures. If the beehives are not good, they must be replaced in time.
After Gao Mingcheng finished checking one by one, he killed some wasps. Wasps eat bees. Sometimes they follow the bees to the vicinity of the beehive and then wait for an opportunity to attack. Therefore, the bodies of bees can often be found near the beehive.
Gao Mingcheng walked around in the mountains, and before he knew it, it was already noon. He felt a little hungry, so he didn't stay in the mountains for long and went down the mountain with the two dogs.
Before entering the house, I could smell the aroma of the food and the sound of frying food coming from the kitchen.
"Are you back? It's time for dinner. Mingcheng, go get a bucket of water, we're running out of water." Xuanyuemei saw him coming back and immediately gave him an order.
Gao Mingcheng responded and walked to the well with a bucket of water.
The wells here do not have water pumps installed. They tie a thick hemp rope to the handle of a bucket, then throw the bucket into the well and pull the bucket up using the hemp rope.
It takes a lot of strength to lift water like this.
The well of Gao Mingcheng's family was well dug, with a spring and very good water quality. Even though it was dry this year, there was still water in the well, but the water level was slightly lower than in the first half of the year.
At the mouth of the well, because it was not hardened with cement, some ferns grew. This fern is also a kind of herb and will not affect the well and water quality, so no one cares about it.
Gao Mingcheng walked into the kitchen carrying water, and the last dish was just ready to be served.
At the dinner table, Xuanyuemei and Gao Mingcheng said, "I went to see my second sister a while ago. She said that someone came to the village to buy pigs a few days ago, but the pigs in the village were not well raised this year and were not big. The person who bought the pigs wanted to lower the price, but the villagers refused. Finally, they decided to come to buy the pigs tomorrow morning. My second sister asked if I had any bran at home. She said she wanted to borrow a few pounds of bran, so that the pigs would starve for a day, and then cook a big pot of pig food for the pigs tomorrow morning."
"Just borrow it." Gao Mingcheng said casually.
In this case, the pigs are starved for a day before being harvested, and then allowed to eat as much as they can the next day. In this way, they can eat eight or nine kilograms of pig food in one meal!
If the pig is bigger, it can eat more than ten pounds in one meal!
These pig feeds will naturally increase the weight of the pigs, resulting in more money from selling the pigs. This operation is considered a common practice in the countryside, and even the pig collectors know it, but they don't say it out loud.
But this method also has a small drawback, that is, when the pigs are hungry, they will howl, which can disturb your rest.
Gao Mingcheng doesn't raise pigs because he thinks it's too troublesome.
After lunch, the couple went to visit relatives in the village, but they went to different places. Xuanyuemei first gave the bran from her home to her second sister, and then went to Dong Feixia's house.
Gao Mingcheng, on the other hand, went to his parents' home first, and then to his grandmother's home, and chatted with other people in the village to talk about their recent situation.
When Gao Mingcheng talked to someone, he found out that other families in the village would also be selling pigs tomorrow. Well, it seems that the old village will be very lively tonight!
When your pigs finish squealing, my pigs will start squealing again, one after another, which will make people unable to sleep well all night.
But in order to earn more money from selling pigs, everyone must be happy to do it.
Everything is fine at Xi Nainai's house, except that He Xiuman's due date is approaching. Her belly is already very big and she has frequent contractions. According to Xi Nainai, this is a sign that she is about to give birth.
Women in the village rarely go to the hospital to give birth. They all give birth at home. Some don’t even call a midwife, but have the female elders in the family help them give birth.
Fortunately, most pregnant women now give birth quickly because they exercise enough. Even first-time mothers will not be delayed for too long.
However, this also has certain risks. If the fetus is in an incorrect position and cannot be delivered naturally, it may lead to dystocia, and in serious cases, it may result in two deaths.
In fact, hospitals now have caesarean section technology, and people in the county have begun to choose to give birth in the hospital. Even if they do not go to the hospital, if something goes wrong, they can be sent to the hospital immediately, which is safer.
Gao Mingcheng took all this into consideration, so he pulled Gao Zhuang aside, whispered about the situation, and then said, "Gao Zhuang, if there is anything wrong with your wife, come and call me immediately, and I will drive her to the hospital."
"Okay." Gao Zhuang had never experienced this and had never heard of such a risk, so he became a little nervous.
Gao Mingcheng patted his shoulder and comforted him, "Don't be nervous, I'm just in case. Now I have a car, whether it's going to the health center or the county hospital, it's very convenient. It'll be fine."
Gao Zhuang also felt relieved, as if he had taken a reassurance pill.
Yes, it is indeed much more convenient with a tractor. Although the tractor cannot shelter you from wind and rain, and it is quite cold to sit in the car in winter, as long as you take proper warming measures, there is no big problem.
One day passed like this, and early the next morning, Gao Mingcheng arrived at the old village early to help catch the pigs.
The people who collect the pigs know that everyone will give the pigs a good meal, so they come very early so that the pigs don't have time to finish their meal.
But some smart families get up as early as four or five in the morning to cook pig food and let the pigs eat their fill. Only some lazy families drag their feet until very late.
His parents raised two pigs, but they didn't need his help. Although Gao Mingwan was still working in a transportation company and hadn't come back, with Gao Mingpeng and Gao Mingli around, it would be no problem to catch the two pigs.
But Zhang Chengyuan's family and Xi Nainai's family may need his help.
Although Zhang Chengyuan's house is not big and his living conditions are not good, he is very hardworking and raises two pigs, while his grandmother's family only raises one pig.
When he went over, he noticed that He Xiuman didn't look well and didn't look very energetic, so he asked her.
Grandma immediately said distressedly: "We didn't feed the pigs yesterday, and the pigs kept squealing, disturbing Xiuman's sleep. It was hard to sleep with a big belly, and it was disturbed by the noise! Later in the middle of the night, I called Zhuangzhuang to feed the pigs, but the pigs at home stopped squealing, while the pigs at other homes were still squealing. There was nothing I could do. Xiuman didn't sleep well all night."
"The village is so noisy right now that she can't sleep. She can only wait until the pig collectors leave before she can have a quiet sleep."
After hearing this, Gao Mingcheng also felt that He Xiuman was quite pitiful.
Almost every household in the old village raises pigs. Some raise three to five pigs, while some raise just one. Just imagine, with so many pigs squealing at the same time, I guess everyone in the village would have trouble sleeping!
It’s just that other people can still hold on even if they didn’t sleep well, but He Xiuman, a pregnant woman, didn’t sleep well and her physical condition was not good.
Soon it was Xi Nainai's turn to sell the pig, so Gao Mingcheng stepped forward to help. He and Gao Zhuang went into the pigsty holding ropes. Gao Mingcheng quickly held the pig down. He was so strong that he could even hold down a wild boar, let alone a domestic pig.
After he held the pig down, Gao Zhuang took the opportunity to tie up the pig's four legs, and then the two of them carried the pig out.
The people who collected the pigs stood under the spacious camphor tree. They brought a large scale to weigh the pigs. After each pig was weighed, they carried it directly to the truck. This was an old truck specially used to load pigs. There were traces of rust on the corners and the car was also full of pig manure, and there was a smell in the air.
Some people were responsible for weighing, some were responsible for keeping accounts and paying, and the villagers who received the money were counting it with smiles on their faces.
After raising pigs for a year, it is finally time to harvest.
For some people, counting once is not enough, they count two or three times. When their fingers are dry, they put their index finger in their mouth to dip it in saliva, and then continue counting the money.
But this year, due to the dry weather, people were short of food in the second half of the year, let alone pigs, so the pigs in Gaojia Village are generally not big.
After deducting the money for buying the piglets and the money for the pig feed they eat in a year, there is actually not much profit left.
But rural people don’t have many ways to make money. As long as they can earn some, they are willing to work hard for it. And in the minds of many people, the labor they put in and the pig feed they don’t pay for are not considered costs, so in their calculations, they still make a profit.
Some people were short of manpower and could not carry the pigs, so Gao Mingcheng would lend a hand. Since they all had the same surname, it was inevitable that they were related.
After a busy morning, all the pigs in the village were finally sold out.
Without these pigs, the whole village became a little quieter. The faces of the adults and children were filled with smiles.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. On New Year's Eve, the children in the village will receive red envelopes, which they can use to buy candy.
Just ask yourself, which child would not look forward to New Year’s red envelopes?
In the afternoon, Gao Mingcheng decided to take a walk in the deep mountains. He planned to see the animals and plants in the mountains.
The black tiger and the elf finally waited for their master to return, so they naturally followed their master all the time and followed Gao Mingcheng into the mountains.
Gao Mingcheng ran fast all the way. In the winter forest, there were many dead branches and leaves, and the weeds had long since withered, making the whole forest seem a little empty.
When people walk in the mountains, they feel that the mountains are much quieter. Some small animals that they used to see, such as hedgehogs, snakes, etc., have hidden away for hibernation.
When I came to the place where I used to catch bullfrogs, I didn't see any trace of bullfrogs. Bullfrogs and frogs also need to hibernate. They will dig holes and hide in the holes. When the weather gets warmer and there is rain in the spring of the following year, they will wake up from the holes and croak to welcome the new year.
Everything seems so quiet, but everything is accumulating strength for the coming year.
(End of this chapter)
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