Chapter 469: Cutting Trees, Selling Fish, and Raising Children
The next morning, after Lin Heng and Xiulan finished their exercise, they went to clean up the firewood room in the back mountain.
All the firewood in the woodshed had been sawed off, so they picked up the remaining dry firewood and piled it in the kitchen.
After they were done, Lin's father and mother came over with milk. They would definitely come to help with chopping wood today.
They made a simple breakfast for the child, and when the third uncle, third aunt, eldest uncle, third uncle, youngest uncle, and youngest aunt arrived, they made a bowl of sauerkraut noodles for the child and distributed the cooked milk tea to everyone.
After dinner, Lin Heng held up the diesel saw and asked with a smile, "Who's going to be in my group today?"
"I'll come and help you." Li Baiquan walked over and said.
"Okay, uncle and I will be in the same group." Lin Heng nodded with a smile.
The group went up the mountain and came to Lin Heng's forest, which was an oak tree forest on the back mountain. They liked to chop oak trees for firewood because this kind of tree is very durable to burning.
After reaching the top of the mountain, Lin Heng started the diesel saw and started sawing at an acorn tree in front of him. The acorn tree, which was as thick as an arm, was sawed off in just over ten seconds.
Then his uncle Li Baiquan lifted the tree up and used a saw to cut off the remaining branches, leaving only the main trunk.
The main trunk will be carried home by other people, then sawed into small sections and stacked in the woodshed to dry naturally.
The branches are tied together with kudzu vines and carried back to make good firewood.
"Dad, I'll buy you a gasoline saw later. This diesel saw has a too strong smell." Lin Heng said after sawing for a while.
"No need, one is enough. Buy another one when it breaks." Father Lin shook his head. Saws are not used every day, so there is no need to buy two.
"Okay." Lin Heng spread his hands and continued to saw the tree.
Soon they had sawed dozens of trees, and the others began to carry the wood back. Because they were on the top of the mountain, they didn't have to carry it all the time. There was a 'firewood slide' in the woods that was like a slide. Through the slide, they could easily transport the wood a long distance, and people only had to carry it a short distance along the way.
Lin Heng really likes sawing wood, especially using a diesel saw. It is not very strenuous. Watching the wood being chopped down gives him the same feeling as when he was a child and used a stick as a sword to knock down all the grass.
They cut down trees very quickly. After two hours, Lin Heng sat down to rest. Most of the cut trees had not been transported away yet.
"Lin Heng, please lend me the diesel saw later." Li Baiquan said with a smile after smoking a cigarette.
Lin Heng nodded: "Sure, my third uncle will probably need it too, you guys can discuss it and follow the order."
The working efficiency of hand saws and diesel saws are completely on different levels. After using Lin Heng's diesel saw, not only relatives wanted to borrow it, but some people in the village who had a good relationship with their family would also come to borrow it with a smile.
It can be said that his family's diesel saws have been running non-stop for the past two years. He is willing to lend out the saws to anyone he has a good relationship with, but those who have offended him will not even look at them.
"I'll discuss it with them later." Li Baiquan said with a smile.
After resting for a while, they continued to saw firewood. The work of sawing trees could be completed in one morning. They sawed an area of about 500 square meters, which was enough for use in the next year or so.
There is more work now and they are no longer short of money. His father hasn't burned charcoal for two years. He is not like many families in the village who still burn charcoal and sell it in winter.
In the afternoon, Lin Heng and his uncle continued to saw firewood at home. They sawed the wood they brought back into lengths that could be used for cooking and fireplaces, and then stacked them neatly.
I was busy until after four in the afternoon and still hadn't finished sawing. This was much more troublesome than just sawing it through.
After dinner was ready, everyone ate first. After dinner, his third uncle stayed in the old house of the Lin family and would continue to help tomorrow morning, and then go back with the diesel saw to cut firewood.
The next day they worked for another three hours to finish sawing all the firewood. The simple firewood shed on the back mountain could not hold all the firewood, so they temporarily chose a place to pile it up, and finally covered it with a rotten tarpaulin.
After having breakfast early, they went to Red Maple Mountain to cut down some trees. Lin Heng cut down some unwanted trees and gave them to his parents as firewood.
Because not much was cut and it took a short time, after lunch at four in the afternoon, his third uncle went home with the diesel saw.
His eldest brother did not participate in the tree cutting, and his family did not need to cut firewood this year. They cut a lot last year and haven’t burned it all yet.
Once the firewood is ready, the home can be said to be happy in winter, with all the necessary supplies, including firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea.
Afterwards, friends and relatives asked his family to go over for help, and mostly his parents went because he had gone to the city to work.
The first thing to do was to go into the city and look for merchants and workshops that sold grass carp. They didn’t have many grass carps, so it was easy to sell them.
After making sure, he came back to pull the fish and called his father, eldest brother and third uncle to help. After a busy morning, they caught all the grass carp.
After weighing, Lin Heng was a little surprised when he calculated the total weight: "Guess how many fish there are?"
Lin Heng Sandie smiled and said, "I guess it should be about three thousand kilograms."
"That's too much. I guess two thousand kilograms would be good enough." Father Lin shook his head.
"I also think it's around two thousand kilograms." Lin Yue said.
Xiulan said from a distance with her child, "I guess three thousand five."
Lin Heng showed a hint of surprise: "How did you know? You guessed it so accurately."
"I watched you weigh it and roughly calculated it." Xiulan said with a smile.
Lin Heng said: "Okay, your guess is correct. It adds up to a total of 3,528 kilograms of grass carp."
"So many!" Lin Hengsan's father was a little shocked.
"Indeed, if you calculate it this way, then this grass carp can be sold for a lot of money." Lin Yue said in surprise. This grass carp is easier to raise than it looks.
"Are you sure you didn't make a mistake, son?" Father Lin didn't quite believe it.
Lin Heng nodded: "Of course I didn't make a mistake. Grass carp are usually around 10 jin, so more than 300 of them means more than 3,500 jin. At the price of 1.2 yuan per jin, that's more than 4,200 yuan."
The wholesale price of grass carp is already quite good, and it only costs one dollar and fifty cents on the market.
"That's a good deal, even if you keep it for three years." Lin's father said.
"Yes, it seems that raising fish is a good idea." Lin Xutao said with a smile, and he began to have confidence in the fish he raised at home.
"It's okay." Lin Heng nodded.
After settling the bill, he kicked the bucket of 25 grass carps and said, "Brother, help me carry them to the mountain stream and keep them there so we can eat them during the New Year."
He plans to raise these grass carps in the large pond below the reservoir waterfall, so that he can eat the slimming fish during the Chinese New Year and also give some to relatives and friends.
"Where are those two big silver carp?" Lin Yue pointed to two big silver carp kept in another plastic barrel. These fish were even bigger, each weighing about 15 or 16 kilograms.
"I originally wanted to kill them all, so I'll just take one back and raise it." Lin Heng said after thinking for a while.
We caught eight or nine silver carp, kept two and put the rest back into the water. These fish are very effective in purifying water.
He was originally planning to eat both, but after thinking about it, he decided it would be okay to eat one first.
Two people carried the bucket and put it into the pond, then surrounded it with stones.
Because there are only big fish that no birds can eat, there is no need to put out the net.
After releasing the fish, Lin Heng and his father turned back. Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and his father and said, "My brother and I will go to the city to deliver the fish first. You guys prepare dinner. Make the silver carp into fish head with chopped peppers. Make the meat into fish balls. The children like fish balls."
"Okay." Xiulan nodded in agreement.
"I'll make the fish balls for you. Come back early for dinner." Father Lin said.
"Don't worry." Lin Heng said, pulling on his water pants, he and his eldest brother got into the car and drove towards the city.
Because everything had been negotiated in advance, all we had to do when entering the city was unload the goods, which was very quick.
It was just getting dark when they got home after finishing the work. Xiulan had already prepared the meal, which was served on the table as soon as they got back. The chopped pepper fish head was extremely fresh and fragrant, the fish balls were chewy and smooth, and there were other dishes as well. Everyone enjoyed the meal very much.
After dinner, Lin Heng helped to clean up the dishes. After telling a story to lull the child to sleep, he briefly calculated the bill and said with a smile: "Except for the money we paid for the astragalus, we now have another 40,000 yuan in our hands."
Xiulan nodded and asked, "Will this amount of money be enough to raise pigs next year?"
"Selling some sheep should be enough." Lin Heng said after thinking for a while.
He was planning to raise 2,000 pigs. If the money was not enough, he would have to sell some antiques. For now, the only valuable things he had were the antiques he had collected.
"I think we should raise fewer. Having more will increase the risk." Xiulan thought for a moment and said again.
"I understand. I know my limits. Don't worry." Lin Heng said, holding her hand. He understood Xiulan's worries.
The saying "a fortune doesn't count if it comes with fur" is true. There are still great risks in breeding fish, and even if there are no natural disasters it does not mean everything will go smoothly.
"As long as you understand." Xiulan nodded.
After putting the things on the bedside table, they turned off the lights, lay down, and chatted for a few more sentences before finally falling into a deep sleep.
The next morning, after getting up and exercising, the two came to the pavilion. After more than half a month of drying in the sun, the persimmons had changed from round persimmons to small persimmon cakes.
Except for a few that were moldy due to rain, the others were dark red, soft to the touch, and had a sweet smell.
"The weather is nice today, we can pick them, wash them and dry them." Xiulan said, looking at the blue sky.
Lin Heng nodded: "I'll go get the milk first, and we'll get started after breakfast."
In the morning, there were potato pancakes, milk and eggs. After eating, Lin Heng and Xiulan went to take the bunches of persimmon cakes, washed them lightly in boiling water, and then hung them in the sun to dry.
It got a lot of dust during the drying process, and after washing, the color became much brighter red.
"Mom, I want to eat this!"
“I want to eat too!”
"I'll eat!"
While washing the persimmons, three children gathered around and begged with their heads tilted.
"I'll give it to you later." Xiulan said and drove them away.
The hung persimmons were quickly dried in the sun. Xiulan picked a few and roasted them on the fireplace before handing them over to the children.
Lin Heng also ate one. The persimmon cake that had been dried in the sun was as sweet as honey and tasted very good.
“I want more!”
“I want more!”
…
After eating one, the three children surrounded their mother and asked for more. Xiulan gave each of them another one, but this time there was no more after they finished eating.
But the children were very greedy and ran out to pick them themselves. After being fed with a bowl of noodles, they behaved themselves and went back to play with their own things.
Many times what you say to a child is not very effective. For example, if you tell him that fire is hot and that nettle leaves can sting people, it will be useless no matter how many times you tell him. After he gets burned or stung once, he will never touch such things again.
Sometimes education still requires beating, beating can make them remember. Those who advocate only teaching with words are talking nonsense, they will only raise a scum or a waste. Only by beating and reasoning can a child be educated well.
Xiaoxia would fall down while riding in the yard, but she would stand up by herself, and no one would keep pulling her up. She could now turn on her bike, and her skills were getting better and better. She was practicing the S-bend that Lin Heng had drawn for her. Once she had learned how to ride on the single-sided bridge, she could ride on the road.
Lin Heng would not stop her, but would only take her to a less dangerous place to let her practice first and get familiar with the environment.
There are too many dangerous things in this world, and we cannot simply stop children from doing them. Lin Heng thinks they should be made to understand that experiencing the danger once is more effective than being taught a thousand times.
What parents need to do is to make their children less dangerous in the process of perceiving and experiencing danger. For example, when riding a bike on the road, it is good to choose a section with low cliffs and no stones at the beginning. After falling a few times, she will understand and the injuries will not be serious.
After two simple days, Xiaoxia completed the project he mentioned and couldn't wait to go riding her bike on the road. Lin Heng kept his promise and took her to the highway, letting her wear protective gear and ride by herself.
"Wife, I'm going to Ancheng in the next two days. You can come with me then." Lin Heng said as he called the children to ride the bike.
"Leaving the day after tomorrow?" Xiulan looked at him and asked.
"Yes, we're leaving the day after tomorrow. I want to finish things quickly and then come back to the mountains to hunt for a few days." Lin Heng said, holding her hand.
Xiulan thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then we'll tell Xiaoxia about it. Once she understands, she can bring her brother and grandma along."
Xiaoxia is almost five years old and is very sensible most of the time.
"I thought so too." Lin Heng nodded. Although the two sons were already two years old, they were fine no matter what you said. But once you told them that both of them were leaving, they would not listen to you and would just hug your legs and cry.
Anyway, I can't leave mom and dad.
After the discussion, Lin Heng went to the front to take care of Xiaoxia. She was having a great time riding the bike now.
"Dad, can I ride the bike by myself?" Xiaoxia stopped the bike and threw herself into Lin Heng's arms and said.
"You can ride a bike with your parents and grandparents by your side. You can't ride alone. You can ride a bike independently after you grow up." Lin Heng pinched her little face and said.
"How long will it take?" Xiaoxia asked while hugging his neck.
"About 12 years old. It's not safe to ride a bike if you're too young. You'll be caught by bad guys. If you're caught, you won't be able to see your parents anymore for a long time." Lin Heng said, looking at his daughter.
He always tells his children knowledge about how to prevent abduction. There are too many human traffickers these days and he is very scared.
"Then I won't ride the bike alone. I want my parents."
When Xiaoxia heard that the bad guys were going to take her away, she immediately shrank into Lin Heng's arms.
(End of this chapter)
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