"Then run a few more times and pick as many as you can." Lin Heng put the child down and said.
"Let's get started. Don't stay under the tree." Father Lin said without taking a rest.
Lin Heng first took a rope, tied the mouth of the bag, then tied one end around his waist and climbed up the tree. The persimmon tree was very fragile, so he only dared to stand on branches that were thicker than his arms.
After standing up, tie the bag to the tree and reach out to pick the persimmons nearby. Because they are all used to make dried persimmon cakes, a small part of the fruit stalk must be left so that it is easier to hang.
In order to pick them quickly, they are broken off branch by branch, put into bags, taken under the tree and trimmed with pruning shears.
Lin Heng was picking the fruits from the tree, while Lin's father and Xiulan were holding them under the tree with bamboo poles, and Lin's mother was watching the three children to prevent them from running around.
However, the three little guys didn't listen at all. They ran around happily, grabbing a piece of grass and breaking a branch.
Only when Xiulan came over with a small stick and gave them a good beating did they quiet down for a while.
After a while, Lin Heng's snakeskin bag was full. He put it under the tree with a rope and asked Xiulan to pour it for him so that he could continue picking.
The fruit picking process was quite fast. It only took two or three hours, and a large pile of golden persimmons were placed under the tree. Xiaoxia, Luming and the others each ate two or three persimmons.
"It seems that it is impossible to pick all the persimmons today." Lin Heng looked at the tree and shook his head. They had picked at least five or six hundred kilograms of persimmons, but there didn't seem to be much left on the tree. It was estimated that they could pick another thousand kilograms of persimmons.
Father Lin looked at his watch and said, "Take these back first, and pick the rest tomorrow. It's getting late."
Everyone nodded and started packing persimmons. Lin Heng and his father carried the most. Not only were their backpacks full, but they also placed a snakeskin bag horizontally on top. Together, they weighed about 120 to 130 kilograms.
Lin's mother and Xiulan only need to carry 40 to 50 kilograms, because they also have to carry the children on the road.
On the one hand, I take the children to the mountains to let them run and play, and on the other hand, it is because it is not safe to keep them at home. Not only do I feel uneasy, but it is also not good for the children.
It was not too tiring to go down the mountain. If you walked slowly, you would get home in half an hour. After getting home, they put the persimmons down and asked Xiulan and her mother to prepare dinner. Then Lin Heng and his father went up the mountain twice more.
They brought all the fruits home and weighed them on the scale. They found that they had picked 632 kilograms of persimmons in one afternoon, which was not bad.
We used a sidecar to transport 300 kilograms of dried persimmons to Hongfeng Mountain and asked my parents to make them into persimmon cakes tomorrow. The wind is strong over there in Hongfeng Mountain, which is better than here in the village, so the persimmons are not likely to get moldy.
I had a simple dinner of noodles and then went to bed early. It was quite tiring to climb the tree to pick persimmons.
The next morning, they got up early, had breakfast, and then started making persimmon cakes. Lin Heng soaked the dragon beard grass in water and rolled it into a straw rope about 1.5 meters long.
Xiulan first selected the persimmons and discarded the bad ones. She would eat the rotten ones when they were soft, or use them to make persimmon vinegar later.
After selecting the persimmons, making persimmon cakes is also very simple. Just peel off all the skins and then hang them on the straw rope, just make sure they are not touching each other.
The next step is to hang it in the sun to dry. After the surface is dry after five or six days, you need to use your hands to slowly knead it into a pancake shape.
Generally, it takes half a month to a month to dry in the sun. What you need to pay attention to is not to expose it to rain, otherwise it will be particularly prone to mold.
Put the dried persimmon cakes and persimmon peels in bags and cover them for half a month. Snow-white frost will appear on the persimmon cakes, which look very attractive with a rosy white color. They can be stored for several years without going bad.
But generally speaking, they are completely wiped out before the spring of the following year.
Although it was simple to make, Lin Heng and Xiulan were still busy for a whole day. They simply had fried rice for lunch and continued to peel persimmons in the afternoon.
It was two o'clock in the afternoon when they finally finished peeling all the persimmons. The process was not tiring at all. The two of them chatted while peeling the persimmons, and the children played nearby and occasionally came over to help.
"How many did you make in total? Did you count?" Lin Heng asked as he looked at the large wooden basin full of peeled persimmons.
Xiulan shook her head: "No, but there should be about 500."
Lin Heng smiled and said, "Then count them when they hang up. I'll go boil some water first."
"Okay." Xiulan nodded, washed her hands and went into the house with Lin Heng to boil the water. They rested for a while, drank a pot of tea, and then went out to hang persimmons.
He hung the persimmons one by one on the straw rope, counting them as he hung them, and finally determined that there were 521 persimmons.
There are two ways to make persimmon cakes. One is to hang them directly under the eaves and leave them there, which will eventually cause a lot of them to mold. The other is to dry them during the day and bring them back home at night, which is the best way.
But Lin Heng and his friends didn't have to do that. They had a pavilion built in their backyard. He used ropes to hang three horizontal bars under the pavilion, and then hung the persimmon cakes on them.
Surround it with mesh to prevent birds from stealing food.
However, before hanging it up, you need to blanch it in boiling water to kill the bacteria and then hang it.
By the time we finished, it was already dusk. It was too bright to see the road clearly, and the last ray of red afterglow lingered on the mountaintop in the west.
"It's finally done." Lin Heng hugged Xiulan's shoulders and squeezed them, saying with emotion.
Xiulan looked at the persimmon cakes, then looked at him, and said with a smile, "We made a lot this year, so let's not make persimmon cakes with the rest, let's make persimmon vinegar instead, it's simpler."
If it were in previous years, we would definitely make it if we could, because persimmon cakes can be sold for money, but now it doesn’t matter, we just need to make some for our own consumption.
"It's better to make persimmon vinegar." Lin Heng nodded.
To make persimmon vinegar, use a clay jar and scald the persimmons with boiling water to sterilize them. After drying, put them into the jar. Then cover it with film paper and seal it for fermentation for six months. In April or May next year, filter out the original persimmon vinegar juice and process it again before eating.
"What are we having for dinner tonight?" Xiulan asked as she walked into the house.
"Let's just cook some noodles. There's still some sauerkraut left from the previous stir-fry. Let's keep it simple." Lin Heng said to Xiulan.
Xiulan nodded: "Then I'll just use the electric stove, it's all ready."
They returned to the main room, where the three children were all on the sofa. Xiaoxia was lying down playing with little frogs, while Luming and Duheng were crawling around. It was obvious that they were finally tired after playing all day.
Lin Heng went to make a pot of Dendrobium tea, and he and Xiulan drank two cups. They rested for a while before going to cook.
While Xiulan was cooking, he put away the children's toys, then lay on the sofa and played with the children. The day ended like this.
This is the case in rural areas most of the time, one day is spent doing one thing.
After eating and washing up, Lin Heng told the children stories to put them to sleep, and then he used the leftover milk to make honey milk tea for Xiulan to share.
They read a book while lying on the bed, and only lay down to rest after they finished their milk tea.
The weather is getting colder and colder, and the two of them have to lean against each other to keep warm. After a few days, they can light the fireplace to keep warm.
After lying down, the two of them put their shoulders together, lie on their backs, empty their minds and brains, and gradually fall into a deep sleep. When they fall into darkness, they can feel the body temperature of another person, and their hearts will be at peace.
When they woke up again, it was already dawn. They looked at each other, and Xiulan snuggled into Lin Heng's arms and stayed in bed for a while. The birds' chirping was crisp and melodious in the quiet morning.
The two changed their clothes and walked out one after the other. White and golden chrysanthemums were in full bloom in the yard. There was some white frost on the leaves of plants such as pine, cypress and sugar oranges, and birds were chirping on the courtyard wall.
Obviously they were attracted by the persimmons, but they couldn't fly in because of the netting.
The two completed their morning exercises at their original locations. Lin Heng practiced with the compound bow for another twenty minutes before going to Red Maple Mountain to get milk.
When I came here, I saw persimmon cakes hanging under the eaves of the warehouse from afar. It was obvious that my parents were also busy all day yesterday.
"Son, are you going to continue picking persimmons today, or to sell apples?" Seeing Lin Heng coming, Lin's father asked with a smile.
Lin Heng said, "Sell the apples. The persimmons will be picked in two days. If you don't want to make wine, you can make persimmon vinegar."
"Okay, then let's make persimmon vinegar. I'm going to make some jujube wine this year, so I won't use persimmons." Lin Heng said with a smile.
Lin Heng nodded, took the bucket and went to milk the cows with his father. After milking, they put the cows into two bottles, one for his own family and one for his eldest brother's family.
When he got home, the children were all up. Xiulan had boiled eggs and was frying potato pancakes. He poured out the milk and heated it up, then looked at Xiulan and asked, "After dinner, I'm going to sell apples. Do you want to come with me?"
"Where is the child?" Xiulan turned her head and asked.
Lin Heng said: "Bring Xiaoxia with you, and let mom take care of the two sons."
"That's fine." Xiulan nodded. She hadn't been out to play for a long time and wanted to go for a walk.
After dinner, they took the children to Hongfeng Mountain. Lin Heng first went with his father to load the truck, spread a layer of straw on the bottom, and then loaded half of the truck with apples in snakeskin bags. The other half was poured out and spread on the straw, and the surroundings were also covered with straw. Then, they covered it with tarpaulin and set out to sell the apples.
After loading the car, Lin Heng first let Xiulan and Xiaoxia get in. He recorded the sound of selling apples in exchange for apples on the loudspeaker and put it in the back of the car and then he was ready to set off.
Both sides of the road were filled with the colors of late autumn. The military green Dongfeng 140 moved slowly towards the villages, stopping and waiting for a while at each village.
The first village Lin Heng came to was Baima Village. He had been staying in the residential area in the center of the village for less than ten minutes when many people came. There were old men and women with their grandchildren, women with their children, and some bachelors who came to join in the fun.
"How do you sell these apples?" someone asked.
"It's the same as what the loudspeaker said, 30 cents a pound, one dollar for four pounds, or you can exchange it for something else." Lin Heng said with a smile, the price he was selling at was very cheap.
It's enough to make some money. He can go out with his wife and children for a stroll. Besides, the cheaper the price, the products can be sold faster.
When everyone heard the price, they immediately thought it was a good deal. Someone asked, "Can we exchange it for food?"
"Food is fine, Chinese medicinal herbs are fine, and anything else you think is valuable is fine." Lin Heng nodded and said, he accepted everything. As he spoke, he took out an apple, cut it in half and gave it to the onlookers. After hearing Lin Heng's words, everyone turned around and went back, but some people took out money to buy it on the spot. Lin Heng let them choose by themselves, and after weighing it, he gave the money to Xiulan.
"Hey, isn't this Boss Lin? Come to my house and have a seat!"
Lin Heng was selling things when suddenly a cry of surprise came from the front.
Lin Heng looked and saw that it was Carpenter Liang who came with his granddaughter.
"Uncle Liang, I'm just selling apples. Forget about it today. I'll do it next time when I have a chance." Lin Heng handed over a cigarette and said with a smile.
"You can go over and have a drink." Liang Gui said politely, then looked at the brand new Dongfeng truck and said, "I heard that you bought a big truck. Now it seems to be true. You have developed so well in the past few years."
He was actually very shocked and envious. It was only a few years ago, but this young man had become a big boss. This truck looked so majestic.
"I bought it with gritted teeth. This is also the way to buy things in business." Lin Heng was a little modest, and then said, "Uncle Liang, you can pick any apple you want. It's free."
"That won't work." Liang Gui shook his head.
Lin Heng directly filled a big bag with food and handed it to him without accepting a penny. Carpenter Liang felt Lin Heng's respect and was touched. Since the other party refused to accept the money, he went home and took out a beautiful newly woven bamboo basket for Xiulan.
After someone specially gave it to Lin Heng once, Xiaoxia took it away. She liked the small bamboo basket very much and carried it around with her.
The villagers bought apples with envious expressions. Lin Heng was very kind and often gave one or two more apples. Sometimes, when he met a poor old lady, he would give four or five more. This greatly won the favor of the villagers, who felt that he deserved to be rich.
When no one came gradually, Lin Heng packed up his things and got in the car. Most of what he exchanged for the apples were food, and next were some Chinese medicinal herbs. There was nothing valuable.
However, Xiulan and Xiaoxia both had a lot of fun. Xiaoxia would give apples to children who could not afford them, and Xiulan would also give a few more to the old lady. Doing good deeds made them very happy, and it was a very spiritual enjoyment.
"Which village are we going to next?" Xiulan asked with a smile in the car.
"Let's go to Xiaoxiugou, and then go to other places after we finish there." Lin Heng thought for a while and said that he planned to go to all the villages in Huangtan Town that were accessible by car first, and then go to other towns.
"Okay." Xiulan nodded, fastened her seat belt and hugged Xiaoxia. Xiaoxia wanted to stick half of her body out of the car window, but was stopped. She could only stick her head out a little bit.
On the dirt road in the countryside, the car was like a cradle, swaying from time to time. Xiulan and Xiaoxia had to open the window and stick their heads out from time to time, otherwise they would feel carsick.
However, the scenery outside the window is very beautiful. Some sections of the road are covered with cotinus coggygria. When you walk in, you will see a sea of orange-red, as if you are in a fairyland.
Before they knew it, they had already visited three villages. There were only a few apples left in the truck, so they stopped in a village in Xiaoxiugou to sell them.
As they were about to leave, an old man came and shouted at them, "Can the golden nanmu be exchanged for apples?"
Lin Heng was stunned: "Jin Si Nan, how big is it?" (End of this chapter)
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