Chapter 132 Disguise
When Chen Lie and his group returned to Yun Valley with their food supplies, it was already February 20th.
At that time, everyone had just opened up the land to the outer periphery, which was the section at the entrance of the valley. Sang Luo and the others who were cutting grass in the front seemed to hear some noise vaguely. They all stopped what they were doing, listened carefully, and counted the days. In fact, they all guessed that Chen Lie and the others had returned, but they all held their breath and no one dared to speak.
The rocks moved, and Sang Luo's heart almost jumped out of her chest. She waved to the people behind her, and holding the hoe in her hand, she tiptoed towards the edge of the canyon closest to the entrance as quietly as possible.
The two large rocks that were blocking the inner entrance were just stuck to the wall. The upper one was pushed inward and rolled down. The second one was then picked up by a pair of hands, and the entire half-person-high stone was lifted up.
The hands were familiar, and the fabric and style of the clothes on the arms were also familiar to Sang Luo. She relaxed completely, her hands and feet felt a little weak, and she called out, "Chen Lie?"
Chen Lie had just carried the stones in when he heard the sound. He turned his head and saw Sang Luo holding a hoe, nervously sticking to the stone wall near the entrance. Behind her were Grandma Chen, Grandma Lu, Aunt Shi, Aunt Zhou... All the adults left in the valley were there, each holding a farm tool in their hands.
There was a large group of kids further back, and looking at the cultivated fields, there was nothing unclear about it. Chen Lie had no doubt that if a stranger broke in at this moment, Sang Luo would hit him on the head with a hoe.
"Did it scare you?"
Sang Luo nodded with lingering fear: "I calculated the time and guessed that it might be you who came back, but someone suddenly moved the stone at the entrance, so I am still worried."
Chen Lie didn't expect that everyone was at the entrance of the canyon. If he were in Sang Luo's shoes, he would be scared. He thought for a moment, "Next time we come back, let's make a signal. I'll knock on the stone twice, three times fast and two times slow?"
Sang Luo nodded quickly: "That's good. This way, we don't have to worry about accidentally hurting our own people and not daring to take action."
Shen Lie laughed out loud when he heard this, and sure enough, he was just about to use the hoe.
Mrs. Chen at the back breathed a sigh of relief. After listening to the serious matter of the secret code, she saw that the young couple was still chatting. Chen Lie was still laughing, still laughing, still laughing?
She looked at the big rock in his hand strangely, and finally couldn't help but remind him: "Alie, isn't your rock sinking? Let's put it down first."
Chen Lie finally reacted and his face turned red. He was talking to Sang Luo and forgot about the stone. He quickly turned around and put the stone down on the side of the entrance.
Chen Dashan, who followed Shen Lie in, almost couldn't help laughing out loud.
He was acting stupid because of his wife. Chen Lie was only acting stupid in front of Sang Luo.
Come to think of it, I really envy his brute strength. How did he grow up? I haven't heard that his ancestors in the Shen family were particularly strong.
When he was fleeing, he had seen Shen Lie's grandparents, parents, and second uncle and second aunt. Shen Lie's father was quite brave, but he was not so strong, otherwise he would not have died halfway.
Look at Chen An, he is quite normal, except for Chen Lie, who seems like he grew up eating powerful pills.
If it were him, even if he wanted to act silly while looking at the person he liked, would he be so silly while holding such a big rock? His strength wouldn't allow it.
It is already difficult for others to carry two stones of grain, but Chen Lie can carry three stones of grain with ease. How can they be compared?
After this episode, Chen Lie was too embarrassed to talk to Sang Luo any more. He waited for the people behind to deliver the first batch of food, then hurriedly went out to move the food.
The children also joined in the fun, dropping their work and running outside to help carry things in. If they couldn't carry the grain, couldn't they help carry the small things in?
The women were busy clearing out shelves in the big cave, and soon only Sangluo was left at the entrance.
Sang Luo also found it funny. In fact, she didn't notice that Chen Lie was holding the stone and talking to her at that time.
While there was no one around, she tried to hug the stone, but there was no response. She pushed it again, but it didn't move at all. She took a step back to look at the size of the stone. Well, she really couldn't estimate its weight. So, how strong is Chen Lie?
With this strength, if he encountered a wolf in the forest, even if he had no weapons, wouldn't he be able to knock one away with one punch? When they led a large group of people before, they had to avoid a single beast when they saw it, but when they encountered a group, the young and strong men like Shen Lie would directly use poison arrows and knives. Sang Luo had never seen Shen Lie fight with his bare hands.
Her thoughts were a little scattered, and just then Chen Lie came in. Sang Luo took a casual look at him. He was tall, yes, but he looked quite youthful. He was not the kind of horizontally strong strongman in her impression. So, where did he get his strength?
The Zhou brothers also came in carrying things. Sang Luo didn't look at them again. She waited for another group of people to come out of the alley, then hurriedly followed them out to help carry the things.
In addition to transporting grain, the Xu family's bedding, pillows, pots, bowls, seeds and other items were also delivered first, as well as medicines and a large cage of chicken and duck seedlings.
When the women and children saw these things, they were as happy as if it were New Year. They held old lady Xu’s hands and expressed their gratitude profusely, saying that these were such great gifts.
You can grow your own vegetables in the valley, but if you want to eat meat you have to hunt. It’s not so bad now that there are not many people in this area, but if someone comes in the future, you won’t dare to come in and out as you please. It’s better to eat less than a bite or two, rather than let the valley be discovered by others.
Now, if we don’t want to eat the chickens and ducks, don’t we have chicken and duck eggs? If we can’t keep the rooster, don’t we have the ducks to brood on later?
This really touched everyone's heart.
Old Mrs. Xu was also happy. People like Chen Lie and Chen Dashan had some hunting skills. The other families followed them all the way. They had no problem protecting themselves. Their hunting skills were not so good, but they could do it. But in their family, between her and Qinghe, which one could do it?
I was originally worried that it would be difficult for the children to have meat in the future. But now, even if there is no meat, chicken eggs and duck eggs are good things too, so I don’t have to worry about it.
And when she saw that her son didn't just prepare some for his own family, but also prepared one for every family, the old lady's smile never faded, as she felt that her son had done a great job.
After learning from Wei Qinghe about the delivery of food and medicine, Old Lady Xu nodded and said, "That's the way it should be."
When she heard that several families were unwilling to collect grain, Old Mrs. Xu was not surprised. After getting along with them for more than 20 days, although she was not familiar with Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu and others, she was familiar with Old Mrs. Chen, Old Mrs. Lu and the women of each family. Birds of a feather flock together, and she can tell a lot by looking at the behavior of the old ladies, women and children of the heads of several families.
"Then do as they say. We'll keep it for ourselves first and take it out when it's really useful."
If the situation outside is really chaotic and the other five families can't survive, it's impossible for the Xu family to survive alone. Having come to this point, they have to advance and retreat together and work as a team.
Moreover, in the eyes of Old Mrs. Xu, all the families are capable. Those who are not very capable are at least honest, obedient and will not cause trouble. With such a group of people working together, they will have no worries about making ends meet.
…
The cages containing the chicken and ducklings were not small, so they naturally could not be carried into the valley. Each family carried a basket to bring the chicks in. After everything was moved, Chen Lie sealed the passages on both sides before entering the big cave.
The chickens and ducks were brought in, but they were troubled about how to raise them. These were not things that could be put on a wooden rack. They were not as good as the six chickens and ducks that Sang Luo's family had brought in. This time, Manager Xu bought a total of 72 chickens and ducklings. He really picked good ones. After so many days, they were sent to the mountain. Old Man Chen and his family took good care of them along the way, so there were no losses.
But it is impossible to raise too many chickens and ducks together. If one is sick, the whole flock will easily become sick. Therefore, if possible, they should be separated as soon as possible.
Moreover, this time, except for Shi Da, Lu Er, Lu San and Zhou Dalang who were left hiding in the cave of the first grain storage point to guard the grain and items that had not yet been transported, everyone else came back with grain, including the two daughters-in-law of the Zhou family who had stayed at the grain storage point to recuperate.
Because it was almost the end of February, they were all anxious and thinking about farming. They were in no hurry to leave after returning this time and had to stay to work for a few days. After that, the young and strong people like Chen Lie would continue to carry the grain. The two daughters-in-law of Zhou Cunzheng's family would not leave, and the old hands who had been farming for many years, such as Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu, and Zhou Cunzheng, had to stay as well.
That is to say, most people are now in Yun Valley these days, there are more than 40 people, men, women, young and old. With the food and things they brought back this time piled up in the cave, there is no place to even step into the big cave. So not only do the chickens and ducks have to be raised separately, but the people also have to go back to their own caves.
Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu and Zhou Cunzheng walked around the valley together. When they came out, they said, "Let's go and clean up the caves first. You can put the things and food in the caves first, but we have to arrange a place to stay tonight and later. Don't let it get dark without a safe place to lie down. After this is done, we can discuss how to plant the land."
Everyone laughed and brought their own farm tools, hoes, shovels and so on. Young and old went to their own caves. The children were so excited that they all rushed into the valley.
Chen Lie was not in a hurry to leave. He had seen his own cave on his previous trip. Now looking at the progress of the land development in the valley, he knew that everyone's cave should still be the same. The others didn't matter. If someone wanted to live there tonight, the first thing he had to do was to have a door.
Even if it's just a door like the one in the big cave, made directly from freshly felled, unplaned and unprocessed tree trunks, it can at least keep out snakes, rats and the like, so that you can sleep peacefully.
He went over and asked Old Man Chen, "Grandpa Chen, each family should build a door first, otherwise they will not be able to sleep well at night. I see there are many trees in the valley. If we open them up to plant crops, will it affect the sunlight? What do you think of the plan? Should we cut some trees directly from the valley or cut them from outside and bring them in?"
This is also what Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu and Zhou Cun are worried about.
Old man Chen sighed, "If we cut down the trees, it will be better to grow crops later. There are too many trees, and the sun can't reach the ground. How can we grow good crops without the sun? Not only will the seedlings grow slowly, but they may even turn yellow. But I'm also worried that it will be too conspicuous to look down from the top of the mountain after we cut them down. That's exactly what I wanted to ask you. You and Dashan have been to the top of the mountain. I see that this mountain is very high. Can you see clearly from the top?"
Chen Lie thought about it and said, "It is indeed very high. If we build a house, the roof should be visible and it will be quite eye-catching. The trees and grass will be dark and light green, and it will be hard to see clearly. It will be difficult to see people walking around. But I think we should pay attention to one thing. We can't plant them too neatly. If we plant them neatly like in Shili Village, it will be a bit eye-catching when looking down from above. If we plant them a little denser, I don't think it will be a big problem."
Zhou Cunzheng heard this and asked Old Man Chen and Old Man Lu, "Then don't divide them into plots. Except for a canal that draws water from the mountain, the fields of the six families are connected together. Whose fields belong to? Just mark the edge of the field and put a boundary stone."
That's no problem, both Old Man Chen and Old Man Lu have no objection.
Old Man Lu said, "It's OK to plant densely. This valley is deep and narrow, and there are many trees. The sunshine time is not long. According to the experience of the older generation, we should plant densely, otherwise the sun will shine on the ground, and it will be wasted. As long as it's not too dense, it's OK. We should plant densely than we did in Shili Village, right?"
They are all old hands. Even if they haven't planted rice in their own fields, they have seen some geological features of other people's fields. Old Man Chen and Zhou Cunzheng thought about it and said, "That's right. The sunshine time in this valley is short. The rice planting period will probably be longer than outside. The rice seedlings have to be planted in March, and the seeds have to be soaked before Qingming Festival."
"Where's the tree? Do you think it can be cut down?" Zhou Cun was looking at Chen Lie.
The fact that Chen Lie came to ask about this meant that he had some ideas, and he had been to the top of the mountain and was familiar with the situation there.
Chen Lie nodded: "I think we can pick and choose, cut down some and keep some, cut down those with lush branches and leaves that block the light, and keep those like fir trees that don't take up much space, so that it doesn't look empty and doesn't take up too much light for the seedlings in the field."
After hearing this, Old Man Chen and the other two relaxed their frowns and their minds became clear. They just needed to disguise themselves.
Old Man Chen was inspired, and following Shen Lie's words, he said, "That's right. From this height, there will be grass under the trees. It should be no different from other mountains when viewed from a high altitude. Well, the fields will store water, so ordinary trees may not be able to survive because their roots will rot."
As he spoke, he turned his gaze towards the small waterfall in the middle of the inner circle. "That's just right. I see that there are many water-loving and flood-resistant Metasequoia and Chinese cypress trees growing by the pool of water left by the small waterfall. There are also some unrecognizable trees that can grow well there, so I think they also love water. Why not cut down some of the fir trees in the middle of the plot, dig them out with their roots, and transplant these flood-resistant trees there? In a few days, pick up some soil and make it thicker. Then, dig a canal along the mountainside to bring the water from the waterfall pool into the field. It won't be long before the field stabilizes."
Old Man Lu was delighted when he heard this: "That's a good idea. If there are too many branches and leaves, we can trim them ourselves."
Then he asked Chen Lie, "Ah Lie, there are several ponds along the way. Can we move a few dozen trees from the nearby ponds?"
The most difficult part is the entrance to the valley, as the trees are too big to fit in.
Chen Lie said, "Just move some trees that are taller than a person. Anyway, you can't tell the height of the trees from a high place, just know that they are trees. It's easier to move tall trees in. I'll take people out to get a few more in a few days. Plant more trees that are a bit messy, and it's better to mix big and small trees. That way, no one can tell it's a field."
Sang Luo had not left yet because she was a little slow in packing up. She was listening to the whole thing from the side. She almost wanted to give a thumbs up to these guys. These grandpas and uncles were so amazing. One should not underestimate the wisdom of the old farmers.
Of course, Chen Lie is not bad either, just as the saying goes: Four cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang.
Zhou Cunzheng also laughed: "Then I will go call Shi Erlang and Wei Langjun to come over, and we will look at which plots of land are easy to turn into fields. After we have discussed it, we will call people to come and cut down trees together."
The reason why we say to see which plots of land are easy to develop into fields is because the valley is so small, and we have to leave area for people to move around. We also need land to grow vegetables and raise chickens and ducks, right?
Where to keep and how much to keep is something that needs to be discussed by each family.
Mr. Wei is Wei Qinghe, the only adult male in the Xu family. So he is the one to be called for such matters, even though he may not understand anything at all. He is just there to listen, as a gesture of respect.
Chen Lie smiled and said, "I think we should call the grandmothers and aunts and sisters-in-law over as well. We will be staying here for quite a while, so we should listen to their opinions."
Zhou Cunzheng thought about it and realized that this was not just about farming. He smiled and said okay. Sang Luo took over the job and said, "Go to the houses on the right and I'll go call them."
She raised the shovel and dustpan in her hand and said with a smile, "I just happened to be on my way to the cave, so I stopped by."
Zhou Cunzheng smiled and said, "Okay, I'll notify the people on the left."
Chen Lie looked at what Sang Luo was holding, and took it from him: "Let's go, I'll go with you."
Seeing the look on Mrs. Gu's face, Old Man Chen and Old Man Lu's eyes were filled with laughter. Even Zhou Cunzheng, who was walking in front, turned around to look, then walked on with a smile.
Old Man Chen smiled and said, "Come on, let's go inside so that we don't have to run outside again."
The two old men smiled, put their hands behind their backs and walked into the valley.
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