Busy Farmhouse
Lao Qin's family's land is considered first-class good land in the entire Xiaogou Village. Not only are they all concentrated and contiguous terraced fields, they are also located next to the main road of the village, not far from Lao Qin's home.
Unlike some other families, whose houses and plots of land are either separated by a ditch or half a mountain, it takes an hour to go back and forth.
These lands were also the source of repeated clashes between Chen Xiulian and Hu Yufeng, and between Hu Yufeng and her sister-in-law.
Chen Xiulian believed that Hu Yufeng and Secretary Lao Gou were doing something shameful, which was why they provided these conveniences for their family. Aunt Wang was angry because these fields belonged to her before liberation, but now they were given to Hu Yufeng for nothing. She felt sick to her stomach!
But Hu Yufeng also had to cry out that it was injustice. God and heaven swear by it, she got the nomination by drawing lots, and she could only say that it was the blessing of her ancestors.
Why didn’t your family get caught? It must be because your family was disrespectful to their ancestors. What does it have to do with me?
Anyway, now, Qin Wenli drives his three-wheeled vehicle without even having to climb a slope, and reaches his own field in less than five minutes.
In those days, three-wheeled truck beds were still unloaded manually, unlike the self-unloading type that was later developed, where the bed could be slowly raised by pressing a button.
He stopped the car and lowered the rear gate, and Qin Shengtian stood on the manure and pushed it down with a shovel.
The manure that was brought in had to be poured into rows of small manure piles on the ground. The manure in a small manure pile would cover about two meters around it when spread out.
There was a shovel every four meters. When Qin Wenli saw that the manure pile was about the same size, he drove forward, then stopped the car and Qin Shengtian continued to shovel.
After unloading all the manure from a truck, there are exactly six small manure piles, which means that this truck bed can carry six trucks at a time. Qin Shengtian was very excited. If he had to use six carts and oxen to pull them, he would have to go back and forth six times, which would take more than an hour. Emma, tricycles are great. So what if you’re in debt? Tricycles are great! ! !
*
That morning, Yang Xiu and Hu Yufeng were digging at home. The father and son pulled the rope back and forth until ten o'clock. Finally, their stomachs growled with hunger, and the diggers could not dig anymore, nor could the pullers.
Hu Yufeng leaned on her hair and said, "It's almost done. We'll be done tomorrow morning. Let's call it a day and have dinner..."
Qin Shengtian was more active than anyone else. He wiped the shovel in his hand clean with dry grass, put it away, and went straight to the kitchen.
"It's like a starving ghost reincarnated. He doesn't even bother to wipe the rest off..."
Hu Yufeng cursed and packed up other farm tools in the back.
Qin Wenli swept the manure scattered around into a pile with a broom. This was the lifeblood of the crops and must not be wasted.
Once she got busy, Hu Yufeng no longer cared about the old lady's filthiness. I arranged for the old lady to prepare breakfast, which was simply heating up the steamed buns and臊子, and cooking some porridge.
Yang Xiu washed her hands, quickly cut a few vegetables, and simply mixed them together to make a most delicious home-cooked meal.
Five adults and two children slurped down the porridge, ate some steamed buns with臊子, and sighed with comfort!
*
After a simple meal, Qin Shengtian went out to graze.
After the first month of the lunar year, the snow on the sunny side of the mountains melts, revealing dead grass and leaves, and the sheep can go out of the mountains to look for food again.
Qin Wenli, Yang Xiu and Hu Yufeng continued to cultivate manure.
The most labor-intensive task, pulling manure, has become the fastest job at this morning's speed, while cultivating manure has become the most time-consuming.
While Qin Shengtian was grazing sheep, the three of them took a break and then started working again.
They took a break when they were tired and drank water when they were thirsty. The three of them worked until three o'clock, and then Yang Xiu went to cook.
Qin Wenli began to clean up the cowshed, pigpen, and weeds, and feed the cows, pigs, and chickens...
Hu Yufeng carried a basket and heated the kangs one by one. This is also a big project. Lao Qin's house has three rooms and four kangs, and each one needs to be equipped with a basket of dry cow dung and a small bundle of hay.
Why are there four kangs?
Generally, the door of a kang is located in the middle, and the temperature of the kang is highest in the middle, then decreases towards both sides.
The kang in the main room where Hu Yufeng and Qin Shengtian lived was very big, big enough to sleep seven or eight people. But the relationship between the two people was not harmonious. One was at one end and the other was at the other. As a result, although the kang was heated, the hottest part in the middle was emitting heat alone, while neither of the two people on the kang could feel the heat.
Because of this, Qin Shengtian and Hu Yufeng even separated. It's easy to say, but do you dare to separate without even considering how many rooms there are in your house?
Qin Wenli was so angry that he simply blocked the middle door of the kang, and then opened one on each side. Now both of them were satisfied.
Before that, Hu Yufeng only added firewood to her own side. As for Qin Shengtian, you can burn it or not. Of course, the same goes for Qin Shengtian. Anyway, it all about non-aggression.
Didn't they just talk about the need for unity last night? Hu Yufeng thought that it was just a matter of a piece of firewood, and the old man had performed well this year, so there was no need to make trouble.
Of course, if this old man dares to be shameless and doesn't burn it for her next time, she will have to talk to him.
*
In the evening, Qin Shengtian came back from herding sheep. After the family had finished their meal, Qin Shengtian would take the basket and go to heat the kang.
Qin Wenli called him and said, "Dad, my mom will heat the kang for you."
What? Qin Shengtian was startled and turned to look at Hu Yufeng with a look of disbelief:
"Why are you burning my kang?"
Hu Yufeng looked at the defensive old man and said disdainfully, "What's the matter? There is gold on your kang. I can't burn it..."
This is going to happen again! Qin Wenli quickly stepped in and said:
"Dad, my mom helped you burn the fire today because she saw you were busy. Next time my mom is busy, you should help burn the fire on her side. We are a family, why do we have to be so divided..."
At worst, you can just keep a record of it. If you help her once, she will pay you back!
Qin Shengtian then relaxed his vigilance: As long as he has no ulterior motives, it’s fine! ! !
Hu Yufeng glanced at him with disdain: You smell like sheep, but you treat yourself like a treasure!
*
The next day, four people worked together and finally delivered all the manure to the field. Qin Shengtian could do the rest of the work by himself, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mom, there is not enough manure this year, and there are still two plots of land without it. I'm afraid we need to buy fertilizer..." Qin Wenli came back to discuss with his mother.
"Then buy it. It's up to you whether to buy urea or diamine. It depends on when you are free to buy it. Once the ground thaws, we have to plow the land."
Qin Wenli nodded, maybe farming is difficult. Fertilizers and seeds cost a lot of money every year. Then when the crops are harvested, we have to pay for the public grain purchase and reserve seeds for next year. The remaining grain has to be saved at home.
Especially for families with a large population and little land, they can barely eat the new grain without adding some coarse grains.
Under such circumstances, only the prodigal son would be willing to sell the grain, but of course even if he did, he would not be able to get a good price.
"What should we plant in our autumn fields this year?"
Last autumn, my family planted more than ten acres of wheat, and there are only a few good fields left. In previous years, the crops were either corn or millet.
"What do you think?" Hu Yufeng asked her son for his opinion.
"How about growing sesame and corn? Our family consumes a lot of oil, so if we grow it ourselves we can buy less." Not to mention corn, we have cattle, sheep, chickens, and pigs at home, so who isn't a big corn consumer? Even with this, we still have to feed them sparingly to survive until the corn comes in next year.
"Okay, then let's plant these two..." Hu Yufeng agreed.
"I'm out of sesame seeds. I bought them with the fertilizer. Should I exchange them with someone?"
Hu Yufeng thought for a moment and said, "Let's buy it. If the quality is not good, it will be a waste of effort if we can't grow it."
Qin Wenli also smiled and said, "I'm thinking of buying one too. My eldest brother exchanged half a bag of seeds last year and planted more than one mu of land. In the end, he only harvested one bag..."
Hu Yufeng was surprised: "Who did you exchange it with?"
Qin Wenli pointed to the side, and Hu Yufeng understood immediately that she had been tricked by her own family.
It can’t be said to be a scam. After all, you can only know the germination rate of seeds after you plant them. Farmers in particular adhere to the principle of not spending money if they can avoid it, and do not care about the best combination and selection. They choose seeds from old grains in previous years that look full. If you are lucky and have a high germination rate, it means God has a favor. If the germination rate is not good, you can only blame yourself for your bad luck.
The Qin family can’t afford to gamble. Sesame is a necessity for our family and cannot be left to God.
"Buy, buy, buy...it's still safe to buy..." Hu Yufeng immediately decided that in the future, she would buy everything related to seeds from the country, and she would definitely trust it.
*
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival.
But in Lao Qin's family, it was just an ordinary fifteenth day of the first lunar month, without even a bowl of dumplings. Because Xiaogou Village, or the entire Qingyuan City, does not celebrate the Lantern Festival. Instead, all celebrations of the Lantern Festival are postponed to the 20th day of the first lunar month and held together with the traditional temple fair.
As for why it was celebrated on the 20th day of the first lunar month, Qin Wenli also asked Qin Wenjun. According to him, it was another Hui Muslim uprising during the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing troops launched a large-scale attack to suppress it. The people of Qingyuan suffered heavy casualties in the war. By the time the war subsided and everyone returned home, they had missed the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. So, people celebrated the fifteenth day on the twentieth day to make up for it and celebrate peace, and this tradition continues to this day.
So on the fifteenth day, everyone in the Qin family performed their duties. Qin Wenli and Qin Shengtian were grinding tofu, while Yang Xiu started frying twisted dough sticks in preparation for the New Year's opening tomorrow.
At noon, Qin Wenli finished pressing the tofu and took a basin of hot water to wash his beloved little car.
After all, I have just pulled out the manure, and next I have to pull out the pots and pans for cooking, so I’m afraid that others will feel uncomfortable.
After all, I met a lot of people when I was pulling manure and I even said hello. If people go out and say: Hey, that old Qin’s tricycle just pulled manure and now it’s pulling pots and basins, it will affect their reputation.
Qin Yu also liked this job and came to help after throwing down a rag. After just two wipes, my hands were so frozen that I wanted to go on strike.
Qin Wenli glanced at her calmly and said, "At the beginning, I told you that your hands would be frozen, and asked you to think it over. You said you were not afraid, and then you went on strike after doing it for a while. Can you do whatever you want? Not to mention the distant past, Lingling is only one year older than you. Why would she do things like you?"
It's not likely that your hands will get frozen. After all, it's the first month of the year and there's hot water and sunshine. The main reason was that after Qin Wenli observed Qin Yu for a few times, he found that Qin Yu had developed a bad habit of giving up halfway through doing things.
She doesn't want to do anything after doing it for a while. A few days ago, she was clamoring to go to school, but recently she has not persisted in reading books or learning to read. If you ask her what she wants to do, she can't tell you. She just has a monkeyish temper and has been doing this for a while.
To put it simply, it is a lack of interest, and to put it more generally, it is a problem of willpower and concentration.
After all, it was not a minor problem. Qin Wenli was just looking for an opportunity to correct it, but he ran into it today.
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