Chapter 337 Diligent Third Mother
"I'm not sure whether I want to go or not. Brother, if you want to play, you can try going with Old Man Tian and the others first."
Lin looked at his eldest brother and spoke.
"That's fine." Lin Yue nodded.
After a while, the two men cordoned off the ventilated area above the cowshed, and then shoveled the cow dung into the cowshed and re-laid some straw for the cows to rest.
After taking a look at the condition of the cows, the two men closed the fence gate at the back mountain and went home. His eldest brother's five black dogs were guarding the place, so basically nothing had happened.
It was just past four in the afternoon, the sky was overcast and the air pressure was very low, but there was no sign of rain.
In the backyard, Xiaoxia was watching her little turtle, and Xiulan was collecting clothes that were hung out to dry. When she saw Lin Heng coming back, she turned around and asked, "Is everything done?"
"Yes, everything is ready." Lin Heng nodded and walked in with an armful of dry firewood and said.
"There are some dried sweet potatoes drying in the front yard. Let's go collect them later. We never know when the rain will start." Xiulan said, looking at the sky.
"I'll go there later and get some firewood first. I think this rain will last for a long time." Lin Heng nodded.
After carrying the firewood back to the kitchen and stacking it up, he went to the back mountain to carry two more bundles of firewood, as it was raining and he would have to rely on dry firewood.
The dry firewood that we asked someone to help cut in the back mountain last year is running out, so we have to cut more this winter. We originally planned to try to build a biogas digester in Hongfeng Mountain, but later we thought it was too troublesome and gave up.
His parents also thought it was unnecessary. The thing that was most in short supply in rural areas was wood, and they thought firewood was just fine.
After the firewood was finished, Lin Heng got some fire starters and helped collect the dried sweet potatoes.
"Can these dried sweet potatoes be packed up?" Lin Heng asked after taking a look.
"It's okay. This is the third time drying it." Xiulan said as she took out a plastic bag.
After three steaming and three drying, the dried sweet potatoes were very soft, sweet and delicious to chew, and very tough. When Lin Heng and Xiulan were packing the bags, Xiaoxia's little hands would reach out from time to time to grab two and eat them secretly.
After finishing drying the sweet potatoes, Lin Heng took a hoe and tidied up the two vacated vegetable plots in the yard. He and Xiulan and Xiaoxia planted radishes, coriander and Chinese cabbage. They should sprout after the rain.
Lin Heng also thinned out the strawberry seedlings next to him, and planted the pulled out seedlings in the back hill. If they can survive, they will grow; if they can’t, that’s fate.
“Dongdongdong~~”
"Brother Lin, open the door!"
Lin Hengdi had just finished planting and returned to the house when he heard Lin Hai's voice calling from outside.
“Here I come.”
Lin Heng was a little confused as to why Lin Hai came over at this time.
When he opened the door, he saw Lin Hai standing at the door holding a gardenia tree with a small soil ball. When he saw Lin Heng, he smiled and said, "Brother Lin, this is the gardenia tree my mother asked you to dig. Didn't you say you wanted to plant a gardenia tree when you were threshing the grain a few days ago?"
Lin Heng thought for a while before he remembered that he had indeed said it before, but it was just a casual remark because he saw the beautiful gardenia trees planted by others.
"I just said it casually, but it really came out. A tree this thick must have grown for more than ten years, right?" Lin Heng said a little embarrassedly.
The main trunk of this gardenia tree is as thick as a wrist, and it is obviously a ten-year-old tree. If he had mentioned it casually before, even if he had asked for it in person, his third mother would not have given it to him.
Lin Hai grinned and said, "It's from my grandpa's family. He wanted to dig it up a long time ago. Now it's raining, so my mom asked my dad to dig it up and I brought it here. It's just right that it can survive if you plant it."
"Okay then, thank you very much." Lin Heng patted his shoulder and the two walked into the house.
Xiulan naturally heard their conversation and followed them to the backyard to watch Lin Heng plant trees.
"Brother Lin, the chrysanthemums you planted are blooming beautifully." Lin Hai said in surprise as he walked to the backyard.
Next to Lin Heng's fish pond, there are two lush clumps of chrysanthemums with one red and one purple flower in bloom, with at least two or three hundred flowers in total.
"I bought this in the city. It was very small originally, but now it has grown." Lin Heng smiled. His small yard now has flowers blooming all year round.
"Then where is this gardenia tree planted?" Lin Hai asked again.
Lin Heng shook his head and said, "Don't worry, I'll fix it first."
He went to get a small hand saw, looked at the gardenia tree that was more than two meters tall, and sawed it off at a height of forty centimeters, leaving only four or five small side branches.
"Maybe you sawed it too hard?" Xiulan said with some regret.
"That's good. It will grow up next year. It was too ugly before." Lin Heng said with a smile.
If this old stump is not trimmed, it will look very out of place with the rest of the backyard environment. Cutting it down like this will not only ensure its survival, but also allow it to be trimmed into a beautiful gardenia bonsai.
"And the remaining ones will not be wasted, they can all be grown by cuttings." Lin Heng said again.
He asked Lin Heng to help saw the rest into 30-centimeter sections. The main trunk was sawn into six sections, and some thick branches were sawn into nine sections.
If it wasn’t so much, I could have sawed off some more.
Lin Heng found a suitable location to plant an old gardenia tree stump, then wrapped the upper part of the sawn branches with plastic paper and buried them in the sand.
Gardenia trees are easy to grow. Basically, as long as the sandy soil is kept moist, there is a high probability that they will not die.
Lin Heng likes to make some bonsai. The process of transforming trees is very interesting. The most beautiful ones in the yard now are the black pine and the Japanese cypress.
Lin Heng has transformed it into the desired appearance through hanging, pruning, wire shaping and other techniques. At first glance, one can feel a sense of vigor and vigor, with branches arranged in an orderly manner and beautiful shapes.
"Brother Lin, I'll leave once I'm done. If it rains, I won't be able to go back." Lin Hai said with a smile.
"Okay." Lin Heng sent him out and gave him two cantaloupes.
After sending it away, I returned to the backyard, picked up the branches on the ground, and scooped some water from the fish pond to water the old gardenia tree.
"You can also prune the tangerine tree and don't let it grow too tall." Xiulan said as she fed the fish. Watching Lin Heng working was also a very interesting thing for her.
Lin Heng walked over and trimmed the tangerine tree in the corner, top-pruning a branch that was fighting with each other. The tree will definitely bear fruit next year.
After they finished, the sky started to blow. Lin Heng sat in the pavilion and watched the fish playing on the lotus leaves for a while. Because Xiulan and Xiaoxia fed them frequently, the koi had grown a lot bigger.
Some of the smaller ones were eliminated by carnivorous fish such as the giant salamander and the golden catfish, and those that survived are very strong and agile.
After feeding the fish and enjoying the breeze for a while, Xiaoxia crawled into Lin Heng's arms and acted coquettishly: "Dad, I'm hungry."
"Then let's go back to the house and cook." Lin Heng nodded, stood up and pulled Xiulan into the house together.
"Let's make some sauerkraut noodles in the afternoon. I'm kind of craving for it." Xiulan turned her head and said.
"Okay." Lin Heng went to boil water and cook noodles. He and Xiulan ate sauerkraut noodles, while Xiaoxia ate noodles with scallion oil.
It was only six o'clock when we finished dinner. There was no sun at all today, and no sunset either.
The three of them sat in the yard, enjoying the breeze and playing the after-dinner puzzle game Go on the stone table.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, there was a huge flash of lightning, followed by a loud thunder.
"It looks like it's going to rain." Xiulan looked up and said.
"It's already there, mom. It's on my face."
Xiaoxia pointed at the raindrops on her face.
"Then go home."
Lin Heng nodded and put away the Gobang game.
Just as the three of them were walking into the house, it started to drizzle, then quickly became heavier, and finally turned into a heavy rain.
Within a minute or two, water began to flow on the ground. The rain hit a bubble, forming and bursting it. The whole world seemed to be covered and washed by a huge net.
The cool breeze came, and the three of them sat on the sofa to watch the rain. The rain here was considered to be considerate, as it only started when the crops were almost harvested.
Tired of watching the rain, Lin Heng took a book and read it to Xiaoxia and Xiulan. Xiaoxia held Jinbao on the sofa and listened, while the two dogs Xiongba and Fengshou lay on the ground.
Although there are dog kennels, they don't want to stay there and prefer to stay with people.
He read until dark, then Lin Heng ran with a flashlight to check on the milk and the calf. He also made a bowl of corn paste for the cow and fed it a bag of silage.
The little cow looked very cute now that its fur was dry. It looked at Lin Heng timidly, and occasionally shrank behind its mother cow.
Back in the house, Lin Heng took out the cooked potatoes from the pot, peeled them, and mixed them with jam as a bedtime snack.
After eating, the three of them fell asleep quickly amid the sound of continuous rain.
Every autumn rain brings a chill, and it’s so cold at night that you need to cover yourself with a blanket.
It was obvious that the rain would not stop the next morning, so Lin Heng opened the window and stayed in bed with Xiulan to watch the rain.
"Get up, you can drink fresh milk today." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"I haven't had fresh milk for a long time. I do miss it." Xiulan nodded and got up.
After the three of them washed up, Mr. Lin Heng boiled some water, then took a small bucket to the back mountain to milk the cows.
He squeezed out more than six pounds of milk, took it home and heated it in a water bath, and the rich aroma of milk wafted out.
"This fresh one tastes better than powdered milk." Xiulan exclaimed after taking a sip.
"It tastes good~" Xiaoxia drank the warm milk with a squeak.
Fresh milk, an egg and potato pancakes make for a perfect breakfast.
After eating, Lin Heng bottled the remaining milk and gave it to his parents, telling them the good news that milk could produce a child.
"The heifer is good. It can breed more cows." Father Lin was very happy when he learned about it.
"Yes, I'll bring some silage over later." Lin Heng nodded.
After helping his father here for a while, Lin Heng turned around and went home.
The rain continued for the next five days. The continuous autumn rain was very annoying.
In addition to taking care of the cows these days, Lin Heng also has to pair Xiongba and Lai Fu.
Both of them were in heat, so Lin Heng locked them in a room for two days before making sure they were successfully paired.
Early in the morning of October 7, the moderate rain that had been falling for five days first turned into a drizzle and then gradually stopped.
Thick fog appeared on the opposite hillside, and the green mountains looked like emerald green.
"I guess the Matsutake mushrooms and morels are out, but it's a pity we can't go up the mountain to pick them." Xiulan sighed while sitting on the sofa.
She is now in the late stage of pregnancy, and her belly is so big that she needs help to stand up, so it is impossible for her to go up the mountain.
"I'll find time to go check on you in the afternoon, but I'm worried about you being alone in the house." Lin Heng said to Xiulan.
"I'm not going out. I have nothing to do in the house. Go get some Matsutake mushrooms and we'll make mushroom soup." Xiulan looked at him and said.
Lin Heng thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll look for it nearby. The place I went to last year was too far away, and I don't want to go alone."
"That's fine. Let's let those places on the mountain grow for a year and then we can go there again next year." Xiulan agreed.
After chatting for a while, Lin Heng went to the yard to take a look. The vegetables planted before the rain had already emerged, and the plump little seedlings were very pleasing to the eye.
I lay lazily on the sofa until noon, and the sun came out and dried a lot of the moisture outside.
After making lunch, Lin Heng took Xiongba to the mountain to look for mushrooms.
He first went to Shuijinggou to look for it, but there was no hope of finding Matsutake mushrooms. Unexpectedly, he also didn't find morels.
Just when I was about to go back, I was pleasantly surprised to find seven or eight red Ganoderma lucidum growing together, which was an unexpected surprise.
Xiongba was not as excited today as before. He didn’t play around or cry out. It seemed that he was a little tired from the mating a few days ago.
After a round, I found only a few coral fungi in Shuijinggou besides Ganoderma lucidum, but no pine fungi were found.
"Let's go to Hongfeng Mountain." Lin Heng glanced at Xiong Ba, and instead of going home, he went directly to Hongfeng Mountain from a small path and picked up a few pine mushrooms along the way.
In fact, we found quite a few mushrooms, but they were all rotten. At that time, there was still a kind of delicious yellow-ringed mushroom in the forest, but they were all infested with worms.
Because he couldn't pick any good mushrooms, Lin Heng picked up those with worms and took them to Hongfeng Mountain to feed the pigs.
His mother has picked up a lot of acorns to feed the pigs these days. The two pigs at home are eating well, and Lin Heng is looking forward to the quality of their meat.
Seeing Lin Heng coming back, Xiulan asked curiously, "How was the harvest?"
"I picked up some Ganoderma lucidum. There are about two kilograms of good mushrooms in total." Lin Heng spread his hands and sighed.
"They're all rotten, right?" Xiulan probably guessed it. Even on rainy days, mushrooms are hard to pick and almost all of them are infested with worms.
"Yes, they were all infested with worms. I picked up more than 30 kilograms of rotten ones and fed them to the pigs."
Lin Heng nodded, took another basin, poured the mushrooms into it and said, "I picked up two matsutake mushrooms, the others are more mixed."
"Let's make soup with the matsutake mushrooms, and stir-fry the rest with bacon." Xiulan said, and asked Lin Heng to pick up the basin and put it on the table so that she could help with the process.
"If you want to go hunting, that's fine." Xiulan looked at him and said.
Since the last time he went looking for ginseng, Lin Heng has not gone into the mountains again, and he only hunts near his home.
"No, if I want to go, I'll wait until the leaves fall." Lin Heng said with a smile.
Now is not the best time, and he doesn't want to leave Xiulan.
And he had other things to do next. He had to find a new seller for the shrimps and take people to the city to clean up the factory.
If he fails to buy a suitable house for the time being, he plans to clean up the apartment building in the factory and live there temporarily.
"Okay then." Xiulan nodded, still feeling happy.
"By the way, I also brought you some plums. Try them." Lin Heng took out a few orange-yellow wild plums from his pocket.
This is bigger and tastier than the purple wild plum.
Xiulan tasted one and said, "This tastes pretty good. Didn't you pick a few more?"
"They have all been picked, except for these few." Lin Heng spread his hands.
(End of this chapter)
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