Chapter 76 Unlocking New Species of Prey [5,000 words]
"Time flies so fast. It's already been a month."
Early in the morning on May 1st of the lunar calendar, Lin Heng woke up and suddenly sighed while looking at the ceiling.
Today is June 18th in the Gregorian calendar, and it has been a month since he was reborn.
"Yeah, it's been a month."
Xiulan also looked at the ceiling, feeling a sense of unreality in a trance.
There have been great changes in the family in this month. Her husband has turned over a new leaf and gone hunting in the mountains. Now he has earned three hundred yuan, which was something she could not even imagine before.
There was meat to eat at home every day, and she had gained a lot of weight.
A new house was also built, and my husband made it warm, comfortable and full of style.
Tomorrow we will be completely separated from the family, and from now on I will live with my husband, daughter and our family of three. The foreseeable future seems to be full of happiness and beauty.
“It’s a bit like a dream.”
Xiulan moved closer to Lin Heng, and the two hugged each other, listening to each other's heartbeats, without saying a word or taking any other action.
After a while, Xiaoxia woke up and Xiulan put on her clothes and picked her up.
Lin Heng lay down for a while before getting up.
While washing his face, he found that Lin's mother had soaked tofu. When there was something festive, Lin's mother would always make tofu.
"We have tofu pudding to eat tonight." Lin Heng felt a little nostalgic. It was different from the smooth and tender tofu pudding sold in later generations.
The tofu pudding of this era was very rough, because the cloth used for filtering was coarse cloth with bean dregs left on it, and it carried the unique flavor and imprint of the era.
In an era of backward productivity, a bowl of tofu pudding was considered a feast.
"The last time I ate it was during Chinese New Year. I miss it too." Caiyun said longingly.
"Who eats cicada monkeys?"
While having breakfast, Lin's mother took out a pot of cicada monkeys.
"Did you go to pick up cicada monkeys last night?" Lin Heng was a little surprised.
"My mother and I went there. We fell in love with it the last time we ate it," said sister-in-law Liu Juan with a smile.
It was obvious that they had been waiting for Carpenter Liang to leave for a long time, and they immediately went to catch him as soon as he left.
"There are a lot of them recently, so it's no problem to eat them every day."
Lin Heng picked up two and said with a smile.
After breakfast, Lin Heng went to take the lamb he bought yesterday and tied it in front of the door, letting it eat the grass on the roadside.
It is not difficult to release a sheep. Just pull the rope and move it to another place after a while.
No one in the family went to do farm work today. Father Lin was digging a road to the new house and leveling the road outside the yard.
After Lin Heng tied up the sheep, he and his wife cleaned up the new house.
The main thing is to tidy up and put the furniture in place so that it will be convenient for moving in tomorrow.
After finishing all this, Lin Heng said, "Go back and cut the red paper. I will write the couplets."
"Okay." Xiulan nodded.
Back at the old house, Xiulan took out a pair of scissors to cut paper, and Lin Heng found the old brush at home and soaked it in warm water.
The ink used was Caiyun's fountain pen ink, but I didn't have any ink at home, so I had to make do with what I had.
After a brief gesture, Lin Heng started writing.
First Couplet: The new house is like a polished jade.
Second line: The old dream is washed away by golden sand.
Horizontal banner: Good luck in moving to a new house.
When Lin Heng was writing, Caiyun and Lin's mother were watching.
"Brother, your calligraphy is really good." Caiyun was a little surprised.
Although these characters are not particularly stunning, they are square, well-organized, and not ugly.
In his previous life, as a sixty-year-old man, he naturally had some knowledge of this kind of senior sport.
I have taken classes in drawing and Chinese painting, but my level is very amateur and I can only entertain myself. However, I am still very capable in the countryside in this era.
"What does this mean?" Lin's mother was not well educated. She knew every word, but couldn't understand them when they were put together.
"I know. The general meaning is that a new home is like uncut jade, which will shine brightly. The second line is a metaphor that old dreams are like gold sand, which will shine when they are washed clean."
Caiyun raised her hand and translated.
"Lin Heng, please write one for me too." Sister-in-law Liu Juan said.
"Of course."
Lin Heng nodded and wrote a simpler one for his elder brother and sister-in-law.
First couplet: Moving into a new house brings joy to heaven, earth and everyone.
Second line: The new home brings prosperity, wealth, longevity and happiness.
Horizontal banner: Good luck.
After writing the couplets, he wrote a few characters for "Fu" and a few small banners wishing everyone good luck and prosperity.
After doing all this, the next step is to pack up the things in the old house and pack them all up so that we can move tomorrow.
It was already noon when he finished cleaning up. Lin Heng tied the lamb to another place and went home to eat.
In the afternoon, he took Xiongba up the mountain, wanting to see if he could hunt some prey to eat tomorrow.
I don’t know if it’s because the novice protection has expired or because there are too many people going up the mountain to pick mushrooms recently.
Lin Heng took a walk around the back mountain. It was better than yesterday. He found a few squirrels, but they ran away from a distance.
"This feeling is so familiar." Lin Heng sighed.
It was the same when I fished in my previous life.
“Woof woof!”
Xiongba let out a call, but no one knew what he meant.
"No, if we can't get it here, we'll go to Sanyegou. We have to get some prey today."
Lin Heng shook his head and said that he had to bring back some prey when moving to a new home.
I brought Xiongba down from the back mountain, walked up the road for three kilometers, walked more than one kilometer into the mountain, and came to a ditch full of vines.
This is Sanyegou.
The ditch is full of various vines, forming small green hills.
The main ones here are Schisandra vine and Actinidia vine, and the most common one is the 'pot vine' which is often used as a rope.
Lin Heng didn't know its specific scientific name, but he knew that its vines were very tough and were generally used to bundle things in rural areas. Its leaves could also be used to feed pigs.
By the time he reached the ditch, Lin Heng was already hot all over and sweating profusely because the road was too long.
"Fortunately, there is no one here." After walking a few steps and not seeing anyone, Lin Heng finally felt a little relieved.
I went to the stream and washed my hands. The mountain stream was icy cold, and washing my hands in the summer was really refreshing and refreshing.
“Woof woof!”
Xiongba saw that Lin Heng had finished washing, so he rolled in and got his whole body wet.
"Let's rest for a while. When it gets darker, there should be signs of prey."
Lin Heng found a shade under a tree to rest and enjoy the rare moment of coolness.
On the branches above my head, Schisandra vines are intertwined and bunches of green Schisandra berries hang down.
They are just beginning to bear fruit at this time, and will not mature until around the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Looking at the sky, he estimated that it was already 4:50 in the afternoon, and he still had nothing.
"Come on, let's go up and take a look."
After resting for more than ten minutes, Lin Heng touched Xiongba dog's head, and the man and the dog continued to climb the mountain.
Along the side of the trefoil ditch, looking for prey.
Not long after walking up the mountain, Lin Heng suddenly heard the crisp sound of stepping on leaves.
"It's really heavenly music." Lin Heng took a deep breath and tried to lower his steps and move forward.
Soon, the source of these sounds were seen - a group of little pheasants.
It was estimated to be two or three months old, weighing about 120 grams, and was playing in the woods.
"You little chicken." Shaking his head, Lin Heng gave up attacking. It was not worth wasting even one arrow.
"Awoo~" Xiongba was eager to catch up.
"That's unnecessary. Making any noise will alert the enemy."
Lin Heng shook his head and stopped Xiong Ba.
After climbing for a while, we reached the halfway point of the mountain, each taking a bite. We didn't gain much along the way. Once we got here, the birds' calls were particularly sharp, which made people a little irritated.
Lin Heng shook his head and sat down: "Rest, wait a little longer."
Anyway, he has a flashlight, so he is not afraid of the dark.
“Oh my god!!”
As soon as he sat down, Lin Heng was so scared that he stood up and quickly changed his seat.
Because next to the place where he had just sat, on the branch of a wild mulberry tree, there was a beautiful green snake.
The green snake is a non-venomous snake, but he was still scared when he saw it suddenly.
This green snake is eating the newly hatched chicks in a bird's nest on a tree branch.
"No wonder I was wondering why the birds were chirping so shrilly. It seems my son was killed in the whole nest."
Shaking his head, Lin Heng sat in the distance and watched the scene quietly, with no intention of offering help.
He even felt that the green snake was more attractive. This might be because he liked this snake more and had raised one when he was a child.
It slowly swallowed the chick into its stomach, then climbed down the tree, crawled into a crevice and disappeared.
The shrill and sharp bird calls in the distance lasted for a while, and then there was no follow-up, as if the bird had obviously accepted its fate.
“Gugugugu!!!”
The sky gradually darkened. At around five o'clock, a golden rooster crowed unexpectedly from the hilltop not far away opposite Lin Heng.
At that time, Lin Heng stood up quickly. After half a day, he finally caught some decent prey.
Picking up the bow and arrow, Lin Heng quietly moved over, listening to the sound, and it took him more than twenty minutes to get close.
At this time, only fiery clouds can be seen in the sky, and the sun cannot be seen.
Lin Heng saw the golden rooster standing under the acorn tree.
A beautiful male golden rooster, also called a red-bellied pheasant, has a touch of golden hair on its head. Its back is covered with peacock green, orange, and blue-green feathers. The feathers on its belly are all red, which is the origin of its name, the red-bellied pheasant.
Behind it, the beautiful tail feathers are more than fifty centimeters long, with blue and green stripes mixed in the pattern. It looks extraordinary just standing there, as if it doesn't belong to this world.
After measuring the distance, Lin Heng estimated that it was more than thirty meters, and the chicken had not discovered him yet.
Stealthily, he took five or six steps forward, but not daring to move forward any further, he raised the bow, put the arrow on it, held his breath for a second, and then shot out with the bow at full strength.
With a whoosh, the sharp arrow made a whistling sound as it rubbed against the air. Before the Golden Rooster could react, the arrow pierced through its chest and stuck into the ground behind it.
“Gada!!”
Its legs and wings twisted slightly, and then it completely lost its life.
“Woof woof!!”
Xiongba ran over excitedly and circled around the golden rooster. This was a completely new species.
“Unlock new species.”
Lin Heng pulled out the arrow that was stuck in the ground, and chicken blood flowed out along the arrow.
After weighing it, he estimated that it was only a little over one pound, and after plucking the hair, there would probably be only seven or eight ounces of meat left.
This is normal. An adult golden pheasant weighs only two kilograms at most, and only such a light body is conducive to flying.
However, the quality of its meat is really amazing, it is even more delicious than pheasant, and the bones can be chewed directly.
After pulling out the arrow, Lin Heng picked up the golden rooster and continued searching.
The most difficult part about hunting in summer is finding. There are too many leaves, and it is really hard to find without relying on calling.
In the woods, you can only see ten meters in front of you.
Only when the leaves fall in winter is it a good time to hunt.
After waiting for a long time, I didn't hear any more pheasants or golden roosters.
"Let's go down the mountain." Lin Heng shook his head, feeling hopeless.
Walking down the stream with a flashlight, Lin Heng hoped to find a turtle or a tortoise in the stream.
Unfortunately, this mountain stream is much smaller than the stream in Baishigou. There are only a few stream groupers, and no turtles or tortoises were seen.
"I ran up two hills and finally caught a golden rooster. It's really hard."
After getting down the mountain, Lin Heng rubbed his sore legs and complained that hunting was really not an easy thing.
This is still considered good for him. Sometimes he would run for two or three days and come back empty-handed.
Of course, it is impossible for him to come back empty-handed. As long as his thinking does not slip and he does not despise the small size of the prey, he will not come back empty-handed.
Back at Shiban River, Lin Heng walked down the river with a flashlight.
The only catch was a yellow eel lying on the riverbed, which he grabbed.
When he got home, he smelled the fragrance of beans from afar and quickly quickened his pace.
"Second father, did you get anything?"
Seeing Xiongba coming back first, the eldest nephew Lin Wei was the first to run out.
"Unlucky, I ran around all afternoon and only caught one golden rooster."
Lin Heng raised the golden rooster in his hand.
"This is so beautiful. You are so awesome, second dad." Lin Wei took it and looked at it again and again.
"That's enough. Hunting is not that easy. You are lucky enough."
After entering the house, Lin's father comforted him and said that he had thought Lin Heng would return empty-handed today.
"Yes, it's already very impressive. Go eat the tofu pudding quickly. It's all locked up for you. Let us take care of the Golden Rooster." The eldest brother Lin Yue patted Lin Heng on the shoulder and said.
"Pull off all the feathers. I'll keep them for use." Lin Heng said.
"Okay, don't worry." Lin Yue nodded.
Before Lin Heng entered the house, Xiulan brought out a big bowl of tofu pudding topped with patchouli, garlic and chili.
Sugar was too expensive in that era, so all we ate was salty tofu pudding. Sweet food only appeared later when life got better.
"It's so delicious." Lin Heng said intoxicatedly after taking a bite.
He felt that this thick tofu pudding was much more delicious than the thin and creamy tofu pudding, especially when paired with the soul-enhancing ingredients of patchouli, garlic and chili.
Mother Lin glanced at him and said: "No matter how delicious it is, there is only that bowl, the rest have been made into tofu.
We have bean curd cakes tonight, would you like some?"
Bean dregs were used to feed pigs in later generations, but in this era, steamed corn bread was eaten by people, let alone bean dregs.
Of course, it is mixed with some flour, put in the pan and fried into bean curd cakes, and almost no oil is used.
"Give me one." Lin Heng nodded. He hadn't eaten this for a long time.
Lin's mother brought him one, and Lin Heng took a bite and nodded reluctantly: "It tastes as bad as always."
The rough bean dregs have a light sweet taste when eaten directly, but the texture is rough and unpalatable, making it difficult to swallow. You still need some spicy food to eat it.
Mother Lin rolled her eyes and said, "I really should let you experience the life we had when we were kids, eating tree bark. Even if you starve for three days, pig food will still taste delicious."
Lin Heng chuckled: "This is just a complaint, I'm still eating."
The dinner was bean curd cake, and there were three dishes: hot and sour potato shreds, tofu with garlic and chili, and sour shredded radish with fried bacon.
There is also a potato dumpling soup.
Eaten with vegetables, bean curd cake is not particularly difficult to swallow.
After eating a cake, Father Lin put down his chopsticks, looked at his two sons and daughters-in-law and said, "We're moving to a new house tomorrow, so let's divide the property today."
"I don't have much property to share with you. Building the house cost more than 700 yuan. Yesterday I gave you 100 yuan to buy things. There is nothing left from the money I sold the ginseng.
I still have 400 catties of rice at home, and I've packed 100 catties for each of you. I also have 300 catties of wheat, and I've also given 100 catties to each of you, which is enough for us to have until this year's harvest.
There is nothing else for you, the main thing is to divide the mountains, forests and land."
He paused for a moment, ate some tofu and drank some potato dumpling soup.
Father Lin then continued, "Our family has a total of 600 acres of forest and 30 acres of land. These were originally divided according to population, and you already have a share.
Now you can choose for yourself, take 200 acres of forest, 10 acres of land, and paddy field. One family cannot take all of it, you can only take one third.
Now think about it. I guess you must have thought about it before. If you have made up your mind, you can separate your household registration in a few days. "
The eldest brother Lin Yue nodded and looked at Lin Heng: "Brother, you choose first."
His words made his wife Liu Juan unhappy immediately: "You are the eldest, why do you always let your younger brother choose first?"
Lin Heng is already capable, and if he takes the good land away from them, how will they live in the future?
Lin Heng looked at his eldest brother, then at his parents, and said with a smile: "Xiu Lan and I have already discussed this."
"What did you want to discuss?" Father Lin looked at him and Xiulan.
"The forest is the entire Red Maple Mountain to the west of the village, which is about a little over 200 acres, and the land is the ten acres at the foot of the Red Maple Mountain."
Lin Heng said with a smile.
When he said this, everyone except Xiulan was stunned.
"Are you sure?" Father Lin looked at him, thinking he was joking.
Lin Heng's brother and sister-in-law also looked incredulous. There are so many good places in the house, why did Lin Heng choose the lowest place?
"Sure, it's that piece." Lin Heng nodded.
"That piece of land is all sandy, which is far inferior to loess and black soil. If you don't pick two good pieces of land, you might not have enough food to eat later." Lin's mother reminded.
"It's okay. We have chosen that piece of land, definitely the one on Hongfeng Mountain." Lin Heng shook his head firmly.
"Okay, now that you've confirmed it, you can't change your mind." Father Lin glanced at him, not knowing what he and Xiulan were thinking.
At this point he cannot be biased and has to choose what he wants.
"What about you two?" Father Lin asked again.
“We want eighty acres of forest on the Shuijinggou side, sixty acres on Erlanggou, and sixty acres on Daliang.
As for land, we want the three acres of sloping land on the other side of the river, the two acres of paddy fields on the upper river, the four acres of land opposite Hongfeng Mountain, and the one acre of sloping land near my third father. "
Lin Yue spoke up, and it was obvious that this was something they had discussed long ago.
Compared to Lin Heng, their choices were much more normal. There were forests both near and far, mixed woods, and pure pine and oak woodlands.
The same goes for the land. Not all the good land was taken. Three-fifths of the land was good, and two-fifths was poorer.
Originally they wanted to take another piece of less barren land, but after Lin Heng took over all of Hongfeng Mountain, there were few pieces of barren land left.
"Now that you've made your choice, Lin Heng, take a pen, write a note, and put your fingerprint on it. I'll take it to the village to get it stamped someday to avoid any conflicts over this in the future.
As for the support of your mother and me, you don't have to worry about it for now. Let's wait until we are too old to work."
Father Lin looked at the four people and said that although he only had an elementary school education, he understood things very well.
No matter what, even if they are brothers, they must settle their accounts to avoid disputes in the future.
"Okay." Lin Heng thought this was a good idea and turned to get paper and pen.
Please give me a monthly ticket.
(End of this chapter)
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