Chapter 348: Arrogant at First and Respectful Later
This year's autumn seems to have passed particularly quickly. The mountains and forests quickly changed from emerald green to red and yellow, and then became naked under the tearing of the cold wind.
To this day, the goddess of the mountains and forests puts on a white dress every morning, and then is forced to take it off under the pressure of the sun.
In this small village located at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains, every household uses a stove and heats the earthen kang, and the curling white smoke rises lonely into the sky.
Lin Heng's family had already started using a fireplace and had put on thick cotton clothes.
In the main room, Lin Heng hugged Xiaoxia and called out distressedly, "Xiaoxia, are you feeling better?"
"Dad~ I'm so hot!"
Xiaoxia pulled at her cotton coat, trying to take it off.
"Don't take it off, be good." Lin Heng grabbed her little hand.
It was November 28th. Xiaoxia had caught a cold two days before. She had a high fever and her throat had become hoarse. Lin Heng took her to the city to see a doctor that same day, but her condition suddenly got worse again after they came back.
Xiaoxia had not been ill this year, but this time it was very serious. Xiulan took out the thermometer from her armpit and looked at it, and said worriedly: "The fever has reached 39 degrees again, should we give her some more medicine?"
She used a gauze scarf as a mask to cover her mouth and nose. This was made by Lin Heng for her. She couldn't get sick as she was pregnant, otherwise it would be more troublesome.
"Let's wait until tonight. The antipyretic medicine was just given to me not long ago." Lin Heng shook his head.
"Then I'll make her some honey and ginger juice." Xiulan turned around and took out honey from the drawer of the coffee table, and went to the kitchen to get some ginger slices.
But after I finished, Xiaoxia had fallen asleep and I didn't dare wake her up.
"Drink it as a precaution. You must not catch a cold." Lin Heng looked at her and said.
Xiulan poured ginger juice and brown sugar water into two bowls and said, "You should drink some too. We can't catch a cold."
After it cooled down a bit, she brought a bowl to Lin Heng, and they drank it together. Then she went to cook a pot of soup for Xiaoxia and added two pears to it.
After drinking the water, Xiulan looked at Xiaoxia, who was sleeping on the sofa and sweating, with a worried look on her face, and reached out to wipe the sweat off her face.
She sighed and said, "He was still full of life a few days ago. How come he suddenly got sick, and it's so serious."
Lin Heng looked at his daughter's face and said, "If the fever doesn't go away in the afternoon, I'll take her to the city for treatment."
Xiulan looked at him and said, "You have to go to the county town for a meeting tomorrow. If you go in the afternoon, won't you be able to go tomorrow?"
"Xiaoxia is not good. I don't care about the big or small things." Lin Heng shook his head.
"Wouldn't this be a bad idea?" Xiulan asked worriedly.
Lin Heng waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter."
If he doesn't go, he will just have one less opportunity to interact with other people, and he doesn't really care.
Xiulan nodded and said, "Then you go and cook. I'll take care of Xiaoxia. We can't skip dinner."
Lin Heng agreed, went outside to pick a handful of green onions, and made a simple sour noodle soup.
After they finished eating, Xiaoxia suddenly woke up and said in a hoarse voice, "Mom, I'm so hungry~"
"I've got some pears for you. I'll feed you."
Lin Heng poured the stew in the enamel pot into a small basin and fed him the cooked plow.
After eating, she went to the toilet and fell asleep again. Lin Heng settled her down and went out for a walk.
Around 3:00 p.m., Lin's mother came over, holding a lucky charm and said, "I asked for this for Xiaoxia at the Guanyin Temple. You can give it to her."
"Okay." Although Lin Heng knew it was useless, he did not refuse, because it was his mother's intention after all.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Heng took Xiaoxia's temperature again. He spent a lot of money to buy this thermometer, which was not easy to buy in those days.
"How is it?" Xiulan asked from the side.
Lin Heng took a closer look and said in surprise: "The fever has subsided, it's only 38 degrees."
Xiulan smiled and said quickly, "That's great. Give her another pill right away."
Lin Heng nodded and said, "Give me another one in the evening. The medicine is so potent that I dare not give me more."
Xiaoxia's fever subsided, and both of them felt relieved.
Lin Heng went to the yard to breathe in the cool air, then ran to Hongfeng Mountain to tell his parents the good news.
On the Hongfeng Mountain side, the workers hired by the village are still helping to open up the wasteland. Now the total area of land reclaimed here has reached 30 acres. Among them, 10 acres are planted with ryegrass, which is as green as wheat.
Upon learning that Xiaoxia's fever had subsided, Father Lin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "She's finally better. I'll get Xiaoxia some good food to nourish her these few days."
"I know." Lin Heng nodded.
Father Lin pointed to the mountain and said, "I plan to finish the work on Hongfeng Mountain on the 31st. In the last two days, please help me nail some railings and fence this area off."
"It's up to you. You can do it as long as you want," said Lin Heng.
Father Lin said, "If we continue, there will definitely be work, but there are enough acres of land to grow grass. I think twenty acres of land will not be enough for cattle and sheep to eat. The rest can be used to grow crops or medicinal herbs."
Lin Heng nodded and said, "Then plant 20 acres of grass first, and plant something else with the rest depending on the situation."
Twenty acres of pasture are indeed enough, and even if the number of cattle and sheep increases three or four times in the future, it will be more than enough.
Lin Heng remembered something and added, "Oh, by the way, on the last day, ask someone to chop some firewood and bring it back. There is not enough wood at the old house."
"Okay." Father Lin nodded in agreement.
After saying this, Lin Heng didn’t go up the mountain, but turned back home.
After opening the freezer and looking inside, Lin Heng took out the last piece of beef he had bought.
"How about making some coriander beef to nourish Xiaoxia in the evening?" Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Then you should get him some shrimps. Shrimps are easy to digest." Xiulan said after thinking for a while.
“That’s right.”
Lin Heng put the beef back and took out a plate of shrimps. These shrimps were processed before being frozen.
By the time it got dark, Xiaoxia's fever had completely subsided, but her cold and runny nose were still there.
Lin Heng gave her a bath and made her favorite candied sweet potatoes and garlic shrimps.
After dinner, Lin Heng played games with her, but Xiaoxia fell asleep after a while.
"Dad, tell me a story." She held Lin Heng's hand and pouted.
"good."
Lin Heng took her to the bedroom, where the fireplace was burning and it was warmer than the main room.
Lin Heng had just told the first half of a story when Xiaoxia fell asleep.
Lin Heng covered her with a quilt and went to heat a cup of milk and brought it to Xiulan.
Now that the weather is cold, milk can be stored for longer periods of time. Fresh milk can be boiled and left for two or three days without going bad.
Xiulan took the milk and said, "You should go to bed soon, as we have to go to the county town tomorrow."
"Okay." Lin Heng took off his clothes and got into bed naked.
Xiulan was also naked in the bed. When Lin Heng came in, she suddenly said, "Your feet are so cold. Don't put them on my legs. Put them on your feet and I'll warm them up."
She finished drinking the milk and lay down to warm Lin Heng's feet.
After a while, Xiulan said helplessly: "You are poking me again."
"I didn't mean it." Lin Heng said embarrassedly.
"Really? I just helped you two days ago." Xiulan breathed a sigh of relief and stretched out her little hand.
This was a physically demanding job for her and took a long time to complete.
But there's nothing I can do. I have no other way to help him solve the problem now.
"Did you do this on purpose?"
After half an hour, Xiulan whispered with gritted teeth.
Lin Heng hugged Xiulan with a refreshed look on his face and said with a smile, "This is really unfair. You know how powerful I am."
"Go, go to bed."
Xiulan patted him shyly and leaned into his arms again.
She also knew that she couldn't blame Lin Heng, but she was used to sleeping naked and liked to hug Lin Heng, and she didn't want to change this habit.
Even if she had to help him solve his problems from time to time, she didn't want to change this habit. She slept best when she held him in her arms.
The next morning, Lin Heng got up early and walked out of the yard. There was white frost everywhere and the birds were singing less frequently.
The grapes had withered long ago, leaving only the black pine, juniper, tangerine tree and the lollipop rose grafted by Lin Heng green in the yard.
After the rose stems he dug in the summer survived through cuttings, he found four kinds of roses and grafted them on top. When they bloom next year, there will be four colors, just like a bouquet of flowers.
The lotus leaves in the fish pond have long since withered, and only the orchids and calamus by the water are still green.
Lin Heng exercised for a while while breathing the cold air, then went back to the house to add some firewood to the fireplace, and asked Xiaoxia to take his temperature.
"You don't have a fever anymore, do you?" Xiulan asked while lying in bed.
Lin Heng nodded and said, "No, it has returned to normal."
"That's good." Xiulan felt completely relieved.
Lin Heng helped her up, prepared the milk and eggs, and went next door to call his eldest brother to go to the county town together.
He could go alone, but it was a bit inconvenient, so he asked his eldest brother to go with him.
"This seems to be the first time we drive to the county town." Lin Yue said while breathing out white air while sitting in the car.
"Yes, we have to walk faster." Lin Heng nodded.
The county town is about the same distance as the city, but it is more difficult to get there because the roads are not good enough.
It took several attempts to start the motorcycle, and then the two of them walked towards the county town in the cold.
It took more than two hours, and they finally arrived at the county town at nine in the morning when the sun was just warm.
This is a small basin embedded in a valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides and with a river running through the middle.
There are a few high-rise buildings scattered throughout the county town, most of which are red brick houses, and only a few houses in the most central area have painted exterior walls.
"This county town is so small!" Lin Yue sighed.
"Of course it's smaller than the city, but it's much bigger than our town." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"That's true." Lin Yue nodded.
"Let's go into the city. Time is running out." Lin Heng said as he got into the car. The wind was quite strong in this location.
Because they often went to the city, the two of them were not very curious about this small county town.
Compared to the city, there are far fewer bicycles on the road here, and motorcycles are relatively rare. The sidecar driven by Lin Heng attracted Ping Ping's attention.
In Lin Heng's memory, the development of their county has always been poor. Due to its geographical location, it is the poorest among the ten major counties in Taibai City.
After taking a casual look, Lin Heng rushed to the center of the county town to report. There was a large square there and many people had already arrived.
Lin Heng took his ID and quickly entered the venue, so his elder brother could only wait outside and watch from a distance.
The commendation meeting starts at 10 o'clock, and we are afraid that some people who live far away will not be able to make it.
Lin Heng's seat was relatively close to the front, in the third row. After he sat down, people nearby looked at him curiously because he was so young and so well dressed.
There were not many people as young as him around him, most of them were in their thirties or forties.
"Little brother, where are you from?"
As soon as Lin Heng sat down, someone next to him asked.
"I'm from Huangtan Town, my name is Lin Heng, and I'm engaged in breeding. Where are you from, brother?" Lin Heng opened a cigarette and handed it over.
"You're too polite. I can't smoke now."
"It's okay. If you can't smoke, it's the same if you hold it and smoke it later."
"I'm from Ziye Township, and I have a small brick factory."
"That's great. The brick factory can make money."
After Lin Heng got to know this person, he passed out cigarettes to other people around him. At this time, the meeting hadn't started yet, so he wanted to be outgoing and get to know everyone he could.
Those who can come and sit here are all invited activists. He first makes himself familiar with the crowd and introduces himself, which makes it easier to do business later.
Through his understanding, he found out that not many people agreed to engage in breeding, and most of them opened various small workshops, such as small brick factories, cloth shoe factories and the like.
There are only about ten people like him who make money from breeding. This business seems easy to get started, but it is very difficult to master.
Without relevant experience, whether you want to make money depends entirely on God's mood.
Lin Heng is not afraid of being rejected. Shamelessness is one of the necessary qualities to make money.
"There's nothing to know about the little business you're in. Let's go now. There's no need for us to communicate. I don't smoke this kind of cigarette."
A middle-aged man with a mustache glanced at Lin Heng indifferently and threw away the cigarette he handed over.
He simply looked down on people like him who were just small-time millionaires and was unwilling to talk to them.
"That's right, a group of people who got lucky and made some money, and really think they are successful. When they open a factory, they will get to know us."
Another big-bellied man in a leather jacket sneered. He felt that sitting with a group of people like Lin Heng would lower his status.
As long as there are people, there will be circles and chains of contempt. People like Lin Heng who make money by running small workshops are looked down upon by those who make big money by running large brick factories and doing construction.
"I'm sorry, I don't have enough self-awareness." Lin Heng glanced at some people and walked towards his seat.
"That's right. People should understand their place." Seeing Lin Heng walking back, someone laughed.
A group of millionaires similar to Lin Heng in the back were indignant, but they did not dare to provoke these wealthy bosses, so they could only hold their anger in.
"Hey, you are Xiaolin, right?"
At this time, a gentle and slightly surprised shout came from behind.
Lin Heng turned his head and recognized the man. He smiled and said, "Hello, Secretary Gao."
This was one of the people introduced to him by Grandpa Gao, his nephew. Lin Heng was a little surprised that he still remembered him.
Secretary Gao nodded, thinking that this young man Lin Heng was interesting. He was familiar with everyone here, yet he never bothered him.
And he didn't try to associate with him in public, which was very tactful.
Secretary Gao nodded and said, "Come to my office after the meeting. I'll talk to you about something then."
"Okay." Lin Heng quickly nodded in agreement.
After Secretary Gao left and went to the podium in front, the people who had just spoken to Lin Heng were a little at a loss for a moment.
"Little...little brother, do you know this Secretary Gao?"
The middle-aged man with a mustache asked with a smile on his face.
Lin Heng glanced at the cigarette thrown on the ground and smiled: "How can a small businessman like me dare to talk to big bosses like you?"
The mustache man quickly picked up the cigarette on the ground and said with a smile: "What are you talking about? I was just joking just now. Don't take it to heart."
"Yeah, I was just joking, don't think too much about it, little brother." The middle-aged man with a big belly wearing a leather jacket also became amiable.
(End of this chapter)
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