Chapter 259: Qingming Festival
After looking at all the things he had grown, Lin Heng rode his horse on the road for a while and waited until the sun was a little scorching before returning home.
When he led the horse back to the stable, he found that his father was also in the back mountain. It seemed that he had just finished plowing the field and brought back the cows. He also cut two bundles of fresh grass to feed them.
Father Lin glanced at him and asked, "Did you go to see Red Maple Mountain?"
Lin Heng nodded and replied: "Yes, I went to check the cement solidification, as well as the growth of Chinese medicinal herbs and forage grass. Except for the ginseng, which has not yet sprouted, all the others have sprouted and are growing well."
"That's good." Father Lin nodded, and then asked, "Have you moved the machine you bought?"
Lin Heng shook his head: "No, there is no one guarding that place right now, I'm afraid it will be stolen if I move over there."
Although the fish pond was fenced off, it was impossible to keep people out. After a few days, he brought the shrimp fry back, brought the dog over, and then moved the machine over.
After feeding the cows, Father Lin came over and said with a smile, "Your mother and I will go there to live in a few days to experience what it's like to live in a building, and I'll show you the pond."
Although it was a small one-story bungalow, it was painted with cement and had sliding glass windows, so it was much more transparent than the mud house. He wanted to try living there.
"That's great. I'll go over there in the next two days to see if there's anything missing from the house and get it ready for you."
Lin Heng smiled and nodded. He and Xiulan planned to live here for the time being and didn't want to move elsewhere. He was just about to ask his father if he was willing to move over, but he didn't expect that he would ask for it himself.
Father Lin smiled and waved his hand, saying, "We already have the stove, bed, and table. I can make the rest myself, or just get them from around the house."
The stove was a cement stove made of red bricks, and the bed and table were made by Carpenter Liang, who was there watching. Having such basic configuration was enough.
"Okay then."
Lin Heng nodded and agreed. His father liked to tinker with these things himself.
"Then I'll ask someone to pick a good day to start the fire."
Father Lin smiled and nodded, then came over with some grass and fed some to the horse.
After a few more words, the two went out together. Lin Heng went to his eldest brother's house and told him to go to the back of Hongfeng Mountain to practice shooting after three o'clock in the afternoon.
After saying this, he went back home to rest.
"You're back, how's it going?"
Xiulan was picking vegetables in the main room. When she saw Lin Heng coming over, she asked with a smile.
“They’ve all sprouted.”
Lin Heng smiled and nodded, then walked into the house and told her everything he had seen and heard.
"It would be better if my parents could live there so you don't have to run back and forth."
Xiulan couldn't help but feel happy when she heard the last piece of news. She had been wondering how she could stay together with Lin Heng.
Lin Heng leaned in and smiled: "Why, you don't want to be separated from me?"
Xiulan pursed her lips and rolled her eyes: "I'm just worried that Xiaoxia won't have anyone to coax her to sleep at night."
"Besides, it's not certain who can't live without whom."
After saying that, she added with a hint of pride.
Just as Lin Heng was about to speak, Xiaoxia ran over with a Rubik's Cube in her hand: "Dad, teach me how to play with the Rubik's Cube."
"Okay, you watch it."
Lin Heng nodded, took the Rubik's Cube, looked at it, and demonstrated it to her.
After watching it three times, Xiaoxia took the thing and started playing with it herself.
Lin Heng looked at Jinbao beside him, reached out and held it in his arms. This guy was like a little tiger and weighed almost the same as Xiaoxia.
If you eat well, your hair will be shiny and glossy, and it feels very good to touch.
"Meow~"
After being touched twice by Lin Heng, it let out a comfortable cry.
I've fed it too much, and now it becomes too lazy to move when it sees that people don't motivate it.
After touching it twice, Lin Heng put it down. It looked around, walked over and jumped into the bamboo basket to continue sleeping. This little life is so comfortable.
Lin Heng poured a cup of tea and drank it for a while, then went out to the yard to train the two puppies.
The previous training had produced some results, but since there has been no training these days, they have forgotten everything.
After training for more than an hour, Xiulan prepared lunch. She made a simple bowl of scallion noodles and some leftover dishes from last night.
After finishing the meal, Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said, "I went to the back of Red Maple Mountain to practice shooting with my brother."
"You go ahead. I'll take Xiaoxia and mom to pick garlic later."
Xiulan waved her hand and said.
Lin Heng nodded, went into the house to get the compound bow, then went over to call his eldest brother to go to Red Maple Mountain together.
"Brother, do you think it's possible to encounter prey today?" Lin Yue was a little excited.
"No possibility." Lin Heng shook his head. If he could encounter prey, it would be like the sun rising in the west.
"Haha, that's right." Lin Yue laughed and felt that he was too excited.
Soon they arrived at Red Maple Mountain. Walking in the forest, the shadows of the trees were mottled, and the leaves of the trees were too small to block the sunlight from coming in.
But the air is very fresh and the leaves on the ground are like a carpet, which makes people feel comfortable.
After a while they arrived at a deserted ditch at the back.
This area in the ditch, which is about fifty meters long, is very open and there are few trees around it.
Lin Heng found two pieces of rotten wood in the ditch as targets, one set at 30 meters away and the other at 50 meters away. The size of the rotten wood was about the same as that of a pastoral dog, and the prey usually hunted in the mountains was about this size.
"Let me tell you about the precautions for using this gun. First of all, do not point the muzzle at anyone at any time. Also, when firing, there must not be anyone within a 120-degree range. The shotgun has a very large killing radius and can easily injure someone."
"Also, the recoil of this gun is very strong, you have to be very careful when shooting..."
Lin Heng first talked about the precautions, and then began to explain how to use the gun.
Double-barreled shotguns are divided into types with barrels arranged vertically and horizontally. The one that Lin Heng bought is the one with barrels arranged horizontally.
Bullets can be fired individually or in pairs.
After explaining the basic principles, Lin Heng began to explain how to use it.
This kind of shotgun actually only needs to be roughly aimed, the lead pellets in the bullets have a wide killing range. Generally, only special lead-head bullets need to be accurately aimed.
"Okay, now you load the ammunition and try it yourself." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Don't you want to try it?" Lin Yue said with a smile.
"No need, there's nothing to try." Lin Heng shook his head, took out toilet paper and blocked their ears first.
Lin Yue followed Lin Heng's instructions, loaded the bullet, took aim, took a breath, and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!!"
With a bang, the bullet flew out, and a large number of lead balls broke through the bullet head and shot out.
Lin Heng glanced sideways and knew that the shot had hit the sky.
"That's a lot of recoil."
Lin Yue was shocked. It was much bigger than he had imagined. Not only did his shoulder hurt, but he also couldn't hold the gun steadily.
"That's normal. Just try again. Don't be afraid of wasting bullets."
Lin Heng said with a smile.
"good."
Lin Yue nodded, loaded another bullet, and tried again. He shot at a target thirty meters away.
There was another loud bang, and the echo echoed throughout the valley.
"Hit it!" Lin Yue excitedly put down his gun and ran towards the target.
"Brother, there are five bullet holes!" Lin Yue shouted at Lin Heng.
"It's OK, but there's still something wrong with your gun-holding technique."
Lin Heng nodded and said that this kind of shotgun loaded with shotgun shells is very easy to hit.
Especially the birdshot, which has dozens of small lead balls in one bullet. Even someone who has never touched a gun can easily hit the target after learning a few times.
Five hits showed that he still couldn't control the gun.
"Well, tell me and I'll revise it."
Lin Yue nodded. The hit just now gave him confidence.
Lin Heng learned all the skills related to firearms from Grandpa Gao. He had a good memory and remembered them all, so he was able to teach his brother.
"Let me make you a practice plan."
Lin Heng looked at him and said.
"Okay." Lin Yue nodded.
"The plan is very simple. Practice holding the gun for three hours every day, and then shoot ten rounds at the target. Hold the gun more often when you have time. Once you get used to it, you can tie a sandbag to the gun head and continue practicing holding the gun. Over time, you will not shake easily when shooting, and you will be able to control the gun when shooting."
Lin Heng looked at his elder brother and said, this was also taught by Grandpa Gao.
Generally speaking, the accuracy of this kind of hunting rifle can be greatly improved after practicing like this for half a month.
"Okay." Lin Yue nodded. Since he had already bought the gun, he had no chance to regret. He could only practice hard.
Two hundred dollars was definitely a huge investment for him, and he couldn't let it go to waste because of his own reasons.
Lin Yue immediately began to practice aiming the gun. Lin Heng guided him for a while and then ran to dig orchids.
His brother is a determined man and doesn't need his supervision.
He just noticed that there were a lot of orchids on the hillside here, so he planned to come over to take a look and transplant two of them back.
"Chunlan!"
After taking a closer look, Lin Heng gave up because he already had several of these orchids at home.
I continued searching in the woods, but found only spring orchids and no other orchids nearby.
I was lucky enough to find a wild lily, but it was a little small so I didn't dig it up because I already had quite a few planted at home.
Just as he was about to turn around and go back, he saw several half-meter-high shrubs growing on the stone next to him.
"This goat milk fruit tree has just sprouted."
Lin Heng walked over and took a look, and found that they were several goat milk fruit trees.
Goat milk fruit is also called crotch fruit. It tastes very good and was one of Lin Heng’s favorite foods when he was a child.
Lin Heng tried to pull it out and it came out surprisingly easily. It turned out that the stone bark on which the tree grew was a whole piece and it was impossible for it to take root.
It was only stuck in a thin layer of soil on the surface, so it came off with a slight pull.
Lin Heng pulled out all three small trees that were connected together and prepared to take them back to plant. For this kind of shrub, one tree is a clump, and with six or seven main trunks, three trees are enough.
There were no traces of pheasants or other birds on the mountain. There were only a few green-bearded crickets chirping, but Lin Heng was too lazy to deal with them.
After getting down the tree and returning to the ditch, Lin Yue was still practicing with his gun.
"Brother, my arm really can't take it anymore. I'm so sleepy." Lin Yue said with a wry smile.
"In the military, it takes at least an hour to practice holding a gun. Just practice more and you will get better."
Lin Heng laughed, and it was quite easy for him to talk while standing.
But the fact is, how can you make money without suffering?
"Let me practice." Lin Yue did not give up and still held the gun.
Lin Heng ran around the mountain with a compound bow, but did not find any prey.
He simply found a place to sit down and rest. After a while, he heard gunshots from downstairs. He knew it must be his eldest brother.
After practicing for nearly two hours in the afternoon, Lin Yue couldn't hold on any longer and called Lin Heng back home.
Lin Heng took the goat milk fruit tree home, planted it on the back hill, and then went back to the house to rest.
Xiulan picked a lot of garlic cloves and greens in the afternoon. Lin Heng drank a sip of water and helped pick the vegetables.
In addition to eating garlic directly, you can also pickle it and then eat it.
In the evening, Xiulan made some cold mixed gray vegetables for Lin Heng. He finished more than half of it by himself. He was inexplicably obsessed with the taste.
After coaxing Xiaoxia to sleep, Lin Heng started his sowing career again. Since he had decided to have a second child, he would try a few more times.
In the next few days, in addition to helping his father plant early corn and early soybeans, Lin Heng spent the rest of his time practicing shooting with his elder brother and digging wild vegetables with Xiaoxia and Xiulan.
Of course the most important thing is that he and Xiulan work hard for a baby every night, and not having to use contraception makes him a little indulgent.
In the blink of an eye, it is already April 3rd in the Gregorian calendar, which is also the third day of March in the lunar calendar.
There is an old saying that goes "On March 3rd, snakes come out of the mountains", which means that from this day on, snakes come out of their holes and start moving around.
And this is also the day before Qingming Festival.
Lin Heng opened his eyes early in the morning, but he didn't want to get up at all. It wasn't because of his indulgence these days that he was physically tired. He exercised every day and ate well, so he wouldn't be physically tired in just a few days.
He simply didn't want to get up.
He turned his head and stared at Xiulan's face for a while. Xiulan had woken up and saw Lin Heng's expression and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Lin Heng said softly: "It's nothing, just lean on me and sleep for a while."
"Okay." Xiulan nodded and agreed.
It was not until a while later that Xiaoxia got up to go to the bathroom and then the two of them got up.
After breakfast, Lin Heng and Xiulan taught Xiaoxia how to cut paper. What they cut were naturally Qingming hanging paper, which would be used for ancestor worship tomorrow.
They almost all cut their own paper money here, some are simple, some are complicated. Lin Heng knows two types, both were taught by his grandfather when he was alive.
Lin Heng and Xiulan cut two in a short while, but Xiaoxia still didn't learn how to do it for a long time. She looked around blankly with the unfolded paper in her hand.
"Come, mom will teach you how to cut it, Xiaoxia."
Xiulan realized that this kind of complicated paper cutting was too difficult for her daughter, so she folded it herself and then held her hand and started cutting.
In a short while, a beautiful paper-cut was made.
"Yeah, I can also cut paper!"
Xiaoxia was running around the yard holding a small Qingming hanging paper.
"This is for visiting your great grandfather's grave. Stop playing with it."
Lin Heng called out, pulled her over, and while cutting paper he told her about the traditions of Qingming Festival and the origin of hanging paper.
The Qingming paper hangings were cut and the three of them got up early the next morning to go to the grave. The eldest brother and parents were also there, and everyone was talking and laughing.
At this time, the trees on the roadside are basically all light green. Walking in the woods with fresh air and pleasing trees is very enjoyable.
When you arrive at the grave, you burn paper money and hang Qingming hanging paper, then kowtow a few times to complete the worship.
The grave had been repaired during the Chinese New Year, so now it was just a matter of pulling out some weeds. Mr. and Mrs. Lin said many words of request for blessings and prayed for their son and grandson.
Lin Heng fulfilled his promise and scattered a few perilla seeds on the soil beside the grave.
"Brother, I feel like I've perfected my marksmanship. When are we going to go bear hunting?"
On the way home, Lin Yue said with a smile.
It’s already four thousand today. I’ll take a couple of days and think about how to write the rest.
(End of this chapter)
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