After dinner, Chen Ye had no plans to rest. He took on another ten-centimeter task, hoping to finish it early and go home early. He couldn't possibly eat at his grandfather's house in the evening, right?
That won’t work. There isn’t much food at her grandfather’s house, and she feels embarrassed to always go there and eat for free.
By mid-afternoon, Chen Ye had finished twenty work points of work. She didn't try to do more, but she still managed to do more than most of the male laborers in the village.
She asked Aunt Chuncao to record her work points. Aunt Chuncao married well and had attended elementary school, so this easy job fell on her.
"Ye Zi, you're working too fast. It's only what time is it? Do you want to get another five work points?"
"No, these are enough. I have to go back and cook for myself."
"That's right. You have to do everything on your own. It's okay to take it easy. You're still growing and you can't get too tired."
"Okay, you can go," Chuncao gave a rough check. Now it wasn't like the seedlings had all grown out and needed a careful check, so just a glance would be enough.
Chen Ye walked around the area and saw the little grandfather and went over to say hello.
"I heard from Shuanzhu that you've been assigned heavy work again?" Chen Shengli's face was full of disapproval. How old is this kid? Is it okay for him to work like this all the time?
"No, I'm just turning the soil. Can your legs handle it? How about I do it for you and you go back first?"
"No, this job isn't tiring. Go back and take a rest. There are many people here and we can chat."
Chen Ye nodded without any reluctance and left. She planned to go to the back mountain to take a look and set up some traps to see if she could get some rabbits, pheasants or something to fill her stomach. It would be bad if she did not get enough nutrition when doing hard work.
When she got home, she took the rope and went up the mountain. There were some wild vegetables on the mountain now, but they were not big. However, she could not eat much by herself, so a small handful was enough.
She had never been to Xishan before, so she had made all the preparations and planned to just take a walk outside.
Maybe that's why almost no one comes to Xishan. The trees at the foot of the mountain here are denser than those in the back mountain forest where villagers often go. There are no paths that are often walked on, and there are weeds everywhere.
Fortunately, this season is not the time when weeds grow wildly. They are still dry, so it is relatively easy to walk. As you walk further in, you can encounter many small animals that are not afraid of people.
It seems that the resources here are much richer than those in the mountains behind the village. Why don’t the villagers come here? She is so old, but she has never seen any dangerous animals coming down the mountain!
It seems I have to ask about it later. I guess the old people in the village should know what happened.
She took the rope and set four or five traps in the places she had chosen. This way, she only had to come up and check every day. She rummaged through the small cloth bag around her waist, which contained the snake repellent that Grandpa Luo had taught her to prepare.
It's quite useful. She often goes up the mountain but seldom encounters snakes. However, there are not many poisonous snakes here.
Chen Ye moved his ears and heard the sound of flowing water. Is there a stream here?
After walking for about twenty minutes following the sound, I found a small stream. It looked about two or three meters wide, but the water was not deep and was quite clear.
The mountains and rivers at this time seemed to be more gorgeous than those in later generations. Chen Ye stopped and admired the scenery for a while. This was a purely natural scenery without any traces of artificial carving.
The area beside the stream was quite open, with almost no plants, just a pile of gravel. She observed carefully and found that this side was open and there were no animal footprints.
This means that small or big animals do not come here to drink water. It is a very safe place. After looking around, she found that this is a really good place, just right for her to build an earthen kiln to bake something.
When I have time, I will come up and dig an earthen kiln. There is clay nearby that is suitable for firing some pots. I don’t have to go out to find materials. The place is open enough and next to a water source, so I don’t have to worry about starting a fire.
After taking a look at the sky, Chen Ye hurried back without delay. It would be dark if he was any later, and it would be very uneasy in the mountains at night.
On the way back, she picked a bunch of freshly grown wild vegetables. She planned to cook them together with tomorrow's meals tonight to avoid wasting food from her grandfather's house.
There is no rest once spring plowing begins. Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye. Chen Ye's life has been quite fulfilling during this period. She can get off work early every day and go to the mountain to check on the traps she has set up.
At the beginning, there was a harvest every day, but later the little animals seemed to have become smarter, and sometimes there was only a harvest every two or three days. However, this was enough for Chen Ye to eat herself. Occasionally, when there was a good harvest, she would send some to the four grandfathers.
The earthen kiln she found by the stream on the mountain has been built. Now all that's left is to start the fire. She also used the big trees in the mountains to build a small shed to shelter from the rain. When the time comes, she will find the materials for the kiln and temporarily put them under the shed.
We can have a short rest today, and we will start transplanting rice seedlings tomorrow. Transplanting rice seedlings is a tiring job. They mainly grow rice and corn here. Now that the corn has been planted, only rice is left.
Chen Ye slept in for a rare time. Fortunately, his home was far away from other residents in the village and they didn't raise a rooster. Otherwise, he would not be able to sleep in in the morning because the rooster was punctual and would crow at the appointed time.
Chen Ye had just finished washing up and was about to sit down to eat when he saw the door of his house opened. Ershuang came in with sweat on his face, carrying a large bag.
Chen Ye quickly put down the dry food in his hand and went to take it: "Did you walk here?"
Ershuang wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "No, I can't walk far with all these things. I first took a bus to the commune, and then took a bullock cart from another village. Fortunately, it's not far from your village, otherwise I would be in a lot of trouble."
"Why are you carrying so many things? Just tell me when you come over. It will be the same if I bring them back next time." Ershuang has never done any physical work, so it is really difficult for him to carry so many things.
Ershuang didn't hesitate to scoop up a bucket of water and gulp it down. "Oh my god, I'm so tired. Next time, I won't bring so many things. I thought I could carry them all."
"Everything you want is in there. Take a look and see if you're missing anything."
"There's no cotton this season. We have to wait until the weather gets cooler. As for the scraps of cloth, my brother said he'll bring them back for you in a while."
"Okay, don't worry. I was thinking that when I have some free time in a couple of days, I'd plant some in the backyard. I've never planted anything before, so I don't know if it would work."
"I've already said hello to Lao Hei. You can just grow your own crops. Do you think you have too much of that stuff?" In Northeast China, cotton is an indispensable commodity.
"And the wheel you asked me to find, my brother said he found it, but it's broken beyond recognition. He asked if you still want it. If you do, he'll bring it back to you next time he comes back."
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