This naturally grown forest is the designated logging site for Linshui Village and several nearby villages to build houses or make furniture. There are many tree stumps in the forest, and from the gaps you can see several hilltops on the opposite side, which are also covered with dense and lush forests. There is a deep ravine between the mountains. If these trees can be cut down and transported out of the mountain, it will be an inestimable fortune. There may not be a need for this at present. After several years, people will definitely develop this deep mountain, open a road from the bottom of the ravine to transport the wood out, which will just mean taking a longer detour.

I just hope that no accidents happen during this period. Forest fires are terrible. It is very unlikely that a mountain fire is caused by human factors. I am just worried that it might be caused by lightning, which would be a pity.

At noon, after eating their steamed buns and taking a short break, people continued to cut trees. Even Meng Tao volunteered to help cut down a few trees. They not only cut down the trees they needed to carry today, but also cut down more trees and shaved off their branches so that the trees would have less water when they were carried the next day and the day after tomorrow, saving some effort.

At three or four o'clock in the afternoon, everyone carried a piece of wood and went down the mountain along the original route. They kept a distance from each other to avoid bumping into each other, and shouted to each other to be careful. Especially when they reached dangerous sections, they had to wait for everyone to gather before continuing. Among the educated youth, except Zhao Ming, Xu Guoliang and Jiang Xiaodong who insisted on carrying the wood across deep ravines and cliffs, Sun Yutang and Qian Liang were helped by local young men in turn.

Meng Tao carried it through by herself. Although she felt a little scared when crossing the deep ravine, she had the strength to keep steady.

When we returned to the village, the sun had already set and the timing was just right.

After coming back from dinner, she boiled water to prepare for a bath, went into the room to get some clean clothes, peeled a piece of candy and stuffed it into her mouth. In fact, she didn't eat enough at the Lin family. She only scooped up half a bowl of high-grain porridge to drink. There were many people, and a big pot of porridge should be enough for everyone. But the steamed bread and meat dishes looked very little, and she didn't touch them because she was afraid that they would not be enough.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Meng Tao and Zhao Ming came back from the literacy class. The yard was quiet. The educated youth were tired after a day's work and were resting in the house. Zhao Ming also went back to the dormitory to sleep.

Meng Tao didn't want to make any noise and disturb other people's sleep, but she couldn't resist her hunger, so she took the kerosene lamp into the kitchen, cooked a bowl of noodle dumplings on a small stove, took out a few slices of cabbage from the space, cut half a sausage and cooked them together, and added some homemade chili tomato sauce, and had a delicious midnight snack.

After eating, I cleaned up the kitchen, washed up and went back to the room, closed the doors and windows, turned off the lights, listened to the noise outside, and quickly entered the sea of ​​clouds.

There are no four seasons in this space. Now it is full of greenery, flowers and fruits. It is hard to tell whether it is spring, summer or autumn. Anyway, it is not winter, because there is no ice and snow and it is not cold. It seems that Meng Tao's stone platform is surrounded by layers of green plants, and occasionally the clouds and fog in the sky will dissipate, revealing a little golden sunlight.

The two peach trees had already bloomed a long time ago, and it seemed that the flowering period was a bit long. The other pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and cabbages had all been harvested, and the chrysanthemums had been picked and bloomed again. Later, the bitter melon and bottle gourd seeds that were thrown down had also grown and climbed up. The peach blossoms had bloomed but had not withered. Meng Tao began to wonder if this was a male peach tree that could only be viewed but not bear fruit.

After many times of going up the mountain to chop firewood, the firewood has been cleared out, but the space still seems cramped and small. There is nothing we can do about it because there are so many things. Plus, a batch of fruits and vegetables need to be harvested every three to five days, and we can’t eat them all, so we can only preserve them and pile them at the very edge... I can only say that this space is a bit miserable, and it has encountered a greedy and vulgar person like a hamster like Meng Tao.

The same is true for pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers. They are too beautiful to be sold in the black market. You know you will be questioned, especially in the local area. What do rural people want most? High-quality seeds. If they really want to track you down, they can find them.

So Meng Tao could only store these vegetables for the time being. She made some of them into kimchi or sauerkraut, and tomato and chili sauce. She went to the commune supply and marketing cooperative several times and bought more than a dozen ceramic jars of various sizes. As the space was too small to hold them, she placed seven or eight more ceramic jars and locked them in the small storage room behind the main hall.

Meng Tao entered the space and sorted out the herbs she had dug during the day. There were actually five or six small bundles. Except for Panax notoginseng and Liangmianzhen, which were a little less, each bundle of the other herbs weighed three or four pounds, which was considered a small harvest.

The next day, it was the Liang family who asked for wood and thatch.

Three members joined the team going up the mountain today. They didn't come yesterday because they said they had something to do at home.

The two girls, Yu Xiaomin and Zhou Cuimei, also wanted to follow the men into the mountains with Meng Tao to carry wood. Bao Shunfeng felt that the mountain road was basically open and women could also go into the mountains, so he let them follow and keep Meng Tao company.

The three girls were usually students in a literacy class and had a lot to talk about. They chattered all the way, their laughter so sharp and crisp that the whole forest became lively.

When they got to the forest, the men began to cut the wood they would carry the day after tomorrow. Meng Tao had two female companions, so she did not go to join in the fun. Zhou Cuimei was Zhou Cuiling's cousin. She said that she had come to the forest with her father in the winter two years ago and knew a place with wild hawthorns and wild pears. The fruit of one of the wild pears was particularly delicious. After frost, it was crispy and sweet. If you take some home and cook them, they will be even sweeter. They are also soft and sticky with a unique flavor. So the three girls saw that Bao Shunfeng was not paying attention, slipped out of the forest, crossed the lawn and entered the dense forest on the right.

Following Zhou Cuimei, we walked down the slope in the woods. We first encountered two wild pear trees. As expected, they were full of wild pear trees the size of eggs. There were really a lot of fruits, but the trees were too tall and a little difficult to climb.

Meng Tao asked the two of them to move away, and she grabbed the hatchet and made some moves, then threw it hard at the tree. Immediately, a rain of mountain pears fell, causing Yu Xiaomin and Zhou Cuimei to cheer.

(End of this chapter)