Chapter 93 It’s over, I am surrounded by my wife’s tenderness
After a morning of simmering, the second pot of lard was ready. Xiulan fished out the lard and threw the wild boar lean meat in to fry it thoroughly.
After frying, you can take it out and make canned meat. Find a large clay jar, pour the lean meat in first, and then pour in the boiled lard.
After the lard cools down, the lean meat will be wrapped in the lard, isolating it from air and bacteria, and can be stored for one or two years without deteriorating.
The wild boar meat looked like a lot, but after it was refined into lard, there wasn't much, only one basin, one vat, and one small bucket, with a total of about 70 kilograms.
"Let's go and help thresh the wheat."
There is not much to do at home, Xiulan suggested.
"Okay."
Lin Heng felt a little nostalgic. The way of harvesting wheat by threshing seemed so ancient in his memory that he almost forgot how to do it.
After locking the door, the family of three came to the yard of the old house. They could hear the sound of slapping before they got close.
When we walked into the house, Lin's father and eldest brother were wearing straw hats and threshing wheat with flails.
The flail consists of a handle and a flail. The handle is usually made of three or four meters of bamboo, and is connected to the flail by a wooden connecting rod.
The flail is made of bamboo and a very dense and heavy wooden stick. It is rectangular, more than one to two meters long and thirty to forty centimeters wide.
By swinging the handle, the flail on the connecting rod will rotate and hit the wheat ears on the ground through human control. This requires certain skills.
"Dad, let me try." Lin Heng took the flail and tried to operate it himself. He couldn't do it the first few times. He couldn't make the flail fit the ground completely, so he couldn't thresh the wheat.
"It's so embarrassing that you can't even use the flail." Lin's mother laughed.
"Why don't you just give it to me." Father Lin said.
Lin Heng: "It's just that I haven't used it for a long time."
After practicing again, he quickly mastered the trick and was threshing the wheat with a crackling sound.
Threshering wheat is a very tiring job, but it is much better than harvesting wheat.
"Tian Baishun gave you a gift, did you accept it?"
Father Lin took a sip of water and asked while sitting under the eaves.
"Yes, what else can I do?" Lin Heng shrugged. There are many gifts that you have to accept, but you can't just take them directly. You have to be polite.
Fortunately, he is not young at heart and knows all about these things well and can handle them accurately.
"Just accept it. I'm just asking. If you don't accept it when someone comes to your door like this, you'll offend him." Father Lin nodded.
Lin Heng didn't want to talk more about this topic, so he changed the subject: "I'm going to the city to sell goods recently. Is there anyone who wants to come with me?"
"There's no time, go by yourself." Father Lin shook his head.
Lin Heng looked at everyone else, and even his wife Xiulan said she didn't want to go.
"Aren't you afraid that I'll hang out in the city and never come back?" Lin Heng was speechless.
Mother Lin glanced at him and said: "If you are willing to give up Xiulan, then you won't come back."
Father Lin also said lightly: "It's no big deal, you will come back one day, and I will break your legs when you come back next time."
Lin Heng: “…”
Xiulan couldn't help laughing beside him. Lin Heng glared at her fiercely and thought that he would teach his wife a lesson tonight. She was too bold to even laugh at him.
When the wheat was almost threshed, Lin's mother came over and used a fork to fork out the wheat stalks. Then she took a large sieve and sifted the wheat through it before piling it aside.
We had already harvested some wheat the day before yesterday and yesterday, so there wasn’t much today. In one afternoon, the whole family took turns harvesting wheat and we quickly finished it.
After beating the water twice, it is time to use the windmill. Lin Heng and his elder brother carried out the wooden windmill from home.
"Let me shake the windmill." Lin Heng took over this fun job.
The eldest brother Lin Yue brought the wheat, and Lin's mother received the wheat on the side.
The principle of the windmill is even simpler, which is to use the wind to blow away the light wheat husks and tiny leaves. This thing has existed in ancient China.
After passing through the windmill twice, you get clean wheat without any impurities.
"Come, weigh it and see how many pounds you harvested this year."
As the sun was setting, Father Lin took out a beam scale, his face filled with joy.
"Come!"
Lin Heng and his elder brother were arguing, and Lin's father spoke, and Caiyun took notes on paper.
"How many kilograms in total, Caiyun?" After weighing, Father Lin couldn't wait to ask.
"The day before yesterday I weighed 885 kilograms, yesterday I weighed 1,542 kilograms, and today I weigh 732 kilograms, a total of 2,959 kilograms," said Caiyun.
"Not bad, it's a good harvest. After paying the public grain and other miscellaneous things, we still have about 2,100 kilograms left." Father Lin grinned, in a good mood.
In the 1980s, there were various agricultural taxes and public grain taxes in rural areas. When added together, they amounted to 100 kilograms of grain per acre of land.
Those who have money can also pay.
Grain can only be sold to or purchased from grain stations. Private individuals are not allowed to buy or sell grain.
Although the Lin family has thirty acres of land, after paying the taxes, it is only enough for their own consumption.
It's not just agricultural taxes. There is still a huge gap between rural and urban household registrations in this era.
That's why Lin Heng said he wanted to start a business and engage in breeding, which is much better than farming and the policies are more relaxed.
"Everyone help carry the grain into the house first, dry it in the next two days, and then take it to the town to hand it in."
Father Lin looked at everyone and said that he didn't see any problem with paying grain because farmers had to pay it since ancient times.
If you tell him that he doesn't have to pay it anymore, he might still find it strange.
After moving the things into the house, Sister Xiulan prepared the meal.
The family had the meal happily and shared the joy of the harvest.
"When the grain tax is paid in a couple of days, we will go to the village together and separate the household registrations. We will live our own lives from now on."
Father Lin said with a smile.
"There's no rush for these. It makes no difference whether it's divided or not." Lin Heng shook his head. It didn't matter whether it was divided or not. It had no impact on his family.
"It's better to separate." Lin's father insisted. He felt that since the family was going to be divided, it should be done completely.
"Then let's split up." Lin Heng spread his hands, not caring about it.
After dinner, the sky was already overcast, so Lin Heng hurried home with his wife and daughter to pack up.
He simply added a roof to the badger pen and fed Xiongba. Then Lin Heng worked on the fish pond, as he was afraid that a heavy rain at night would wash the fish fry away.
"roar!!"
While washing his feet, Lin Heng noticed that he seemed to have not fed the little wild cat today.
"What are you feeding?" Xiulan glanced at the caged wild cat.
"Give it some porridge. It doesn't deserve good food. It has a bad temper. If I hadn't rescued it and brought it home, it would have died on the slope."
Lin Heng took a look at the little wild cat. He was not interested in raising a cat as his ancestor.
If you are well behaved and lovable, you will be given something delicious to eat. If you are a mean person, just give him something to keep him from starving.
If you really make him angry, just throw him out and let him fend for himself.
"Okay, there's just a little bit of mixed soup left today." Xiulan nodded and went to the kitchen to put the remaining mixed soup into a bowl.
At night, Lin Heng and Xiulan had just fallen asleep when there was thunder and heavy rain outside.
It seemed as if God felt that it was not easy for farmers to grow crops, so he waited until the wheat was harvested before sending down the seeds.
The next morning, it was still raining, so Lin Heng and Xiulan didn't rush to get up. They just lay on the bed and chatted, enjoying a rare leisure time.
After getting up, Xiulan had a simple breakfast, fed the chickens and ducks, and then began to weave straw hats.
Lin Hengze was working on his purple bamboo fishing rod. He didn't finish it yesterday because Tian Baishun came over, so he continued today.
Xiaoxia stayed close to Xiulan, often causing trouble, but she was never idle.
"How much Coriolus versicolor did I harvest during the past few days of hunting?"
Lin Heng asked as he straightened the purple bamboo.
"We collected about ten kilograms. Not many people came to sell, so the things are all placed in the cabinet." Xiulan said casually.
Lin Heng had anticipated this result. He knew long ago that he wouldn't be able to gain much in the village. This was mainly because Lin's father, mother and others had just gotten used to it, so he would do some small things at first and then gradually increase the amount.
After chatting for a while, the room became quiet, with only the sound of my daughter Xiaoxia babbling.
Occasionally, they would think of something and start chatting for a few words, then fall into silence again. The sound of rain outside continued, and the sound of their daughter playing could be heard from time to time inside the house.
It was noon. Xiulan cooked while Lin Heng helped take care of their daughter. After dinner, the rain stopped and the two went out together to collect some grass to feed the sheep and badgers.
Life is simple and happy.
Before they knew it, it was already night. The two energetic people discussed the philosophical issues of human creation and deepened their understanding of each other.
Their love is deep, so they cherish each other especially. Xiulan has a gentle and delicate personality and takes care of Lin Heng in every possible way. Lin Heng feels guilty about his past life, and he dotes on his wife in his heart and shows his love in actions.
Love at night is intense and deep and relies on actions, while love during the day is delicate and warm and relies on the heart.
It rained for five consecutive days, until May 13th of the lunar calendar, which is July 1st of the solar calendar.
The rain stopped in the morning, and thick fog spread from the mountains to the riverside, and Lin Heng's yard was covered in white.
"It's over. I'm surrounded by your tenderness."
Lin Heng stood in front of the gate, stretched and said with a smile.
Xiulan glanced at him and said, "You are saying such things in broad daylight again."
Lin Heng grinned: "I'm telling the truth, how would you know if I didn't tell you."
"Then speak softly next time and whisper in my ear." Xiulan looked at him.
"Okay." Lin Heng leaned over and said again.
Xiulan's face suddenly turned red and she glared at Lin Heng: "You are so bad."
Not only did Lin Heng say some embarrassing words, he also bit her ear.
"Okay, let's go up the mountain quickly. There will definitely be a lot of honeysuckle after this rain." Xiulan said again, carrying the backpack up the mountain.
Lin Heng carried his daughter and Xiong Ba up the mountain. They got up early today. It was only half past five and the road was full of fog with visibility less than three meters.
But even so, there were still many people in Shibadanggou. Especially when he saw Lin's father and mother, Lin Heng was even more shocked: "Dad, Mom, you got up before dawn?"
"What do you think? Haven't you heard that the early bird catches the worm?" Lin's mother seemed to dislike him.
"It's crazy." Lin Heng shook his head and turned to help his wife cut the honeysuckle vines. This time was not as much as the first time, but it was still a lot.
"Dad, it's here!" Xiaoxia also imitated the others and called him by pulling the vines.
Lin Heng was mowing the field while Xiaoxia was leading her, while Xiulan was searching everywhere at a very fast speed.
“There are a lot of places there, but they’re too high.”
Xiulan pointed to a high ridge and said there was no way up and she couldn't get up.
"I'll do it." Lin Heng handed his daughter's hand to Xiulan, grabbed the stone steps and climbed up in one go. It was too easy for him.
"Be careful." Xiulan said worriedly.
While she was talking, Lin Heng had already climbed up and cut all the vines in a few strokes.
"That's amazing, but it's unnecessary. It would be bad if people got hurt." Xiulan said, looking at the flower vine.
"Don't worry." Lin Heng said with a smile. He came here just for his wife's praise.
In two hours, I harvested two baskets full of plump honeysuckle vines.
It was a foggy day without rain and it was quite refreshing. It was such a pleasure to be in the mountains. Xiaoxia ran around holding the flower vine.
Seeing that the backpack was full, Xiulan said, "Let's go. It's almost full. Let's go home to make breakfast and then go to other places to pick mushrooms."
As the fog cleared, more people came, but luckily they had enough.
"Okay." Lin Heng picked up his daughter, whose shoes were covered in mud, and followed Xiulan home through another path in the forest.
"Dad, what is this?" Xiaoxia asked, pointing at a tree.
"That's a chestnut tree. You can eat chestnuts from it."
"What about this?"
“This is also a chestnut tree.”
“And this!”
"This is a medicinal tree, it's poisonous!"
Xiaoxia was very curious. The voices of the father and daughter's questions and answers echoed in the quiet woods in the early morning. Xiulan walked in front, listening to the conversation between the father and daughter with a slight smile on her face.
"Dad, what is that?"
Xiaoxia pointed at a tree.
"Chestnut tree." Lin Heng answered helplessly. He couldn't remember how many times he had answered this question.
"No, it's that one! Chong Chong!" Xiaoxia shook her head and pointed her little hand upwards.
Lin Heng raised his head and looked in the direction Xiaoxia's little hand was pointing.
"Oh my god, it's a bee!"
It doesn't matter if you don't look, but once you do, you'll be shocked. On the branch of a chestnut tree above your head, countless bees are gathered there, forming a bee ball with a diameter of more than ten centimeters.
Obviously, this is a hive of bees that has just been separated and has not yet found a new nest.
"Bees?" Xiulan turned her head curiously.
"Xiaoxia is really my lucky baby." Lin Heng couldn't help but kiss his daughter twice. If it weren't for Xiaoxia, he would never have discovered this nest of bees.
The bees after the rain are almost silent. They curl up into a ball and stay high in the air, making them impossible to be seen by ordinary people.
"Bees, bees!" Xiaoxia hadn't yet figured out how to connect bees and honey, but she was waving her hands and thinking it was very fun.
"It's really a bee." Xiulan couldn't help but show a look of surprise.
Lin Heng looked at the bees and made a decision immediately: "Xiu Lan, you take your daughter and wait here, so that they won't be snatched away by others. I will go back and find someone who can collect bees to help collect them."
Xiulan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll wait for you here."
Lin Heng nodded and hurried back home, with Xiongba following him happily.
Lin Heng passed by Wang Jin's home at the entrance of the village while carrying honeysuckle on his back. Wang Jin's family was also one of the thousand-yuan households in the village, and he raised more than twenty barrels of bees.
When he came over, Wang Jin was just at the door. Lin Heng quickly smiled and said, "Uncle Wang, could you please help me?"
Wang Jin is a middle-aged man in his forties, of the same generation as Lin Heng's father. He has a pair of green bean eyes, a small mouth, and a fat face. He has gained some weight due to eating well.
"What's the matter?" Wang Jin turned his head and looked at Lin Heng, taking a good look at the young man, who had become quite famous in the village recently.
After taking a closer look, he felt a little jealous. The Lin family members were all good-looking, so how come they were rich?
"It's like this. I found a nest of newly separated bees on the wild slope. Uncle Wang, can you help me collect them?" Lin Heng said with a smile. It was natural for him to be very humble when asking someone for help.
When Wang Jin heard this, he asked quickly, "Where is the swarm? Could it be that it was swarmed from my beehive?"
Lin Heng frowned, thinking that bees in the wild have always belonged to whoever found them, so why did this person want to claim them as his? But he still didn't say it, but smiled and said, "Uncle Wang, I won't let you do this in vain. I'll give you 30 cents as a travel fee."
Wang Jin waved his hand and refused: "I won't do it for you. Tell me the location and I'll give you thirty cents to collect them. It would be a waste if you don't know how to raise bees, and who knows, they might have escaped from my house."
Not only did he refuse, he also tried to take advantage.
Lin Heng was stunned for a second. He didn't expect Wang Jin to be so shameless.
"Forget it, I'll find a solution myself. No need to bother you." Lin Heng said, turned around and left.
"To be honest, you still don't listen. Hunting is different from collecting bees. If you get stung, don't blame me for not reminding you." Seeing Lin Heng leave, Wang Jin was dissatisfied and sarcastic.
Lin Heng shook his head. He could see that this person didn't want other families to have bees. He was afraid that every family would have their own honey and would not be able to sell it.
The pattern is too small.
"If they don't want to help, I'll collect it myself." Lin Heng shook his head, too lazy to look for anyone else.
Fortunately, his uncle had talked to him about how to collect bees before, so if he just followed his instructions, there shouldn't be any problem.
When he got home, he first sawed some wood boards and nailed a beehive together. In the countryside, people who raise bees at home usually use barrels or boxes.
Unlike modern times where we need to have honeycombs or something, the bees raised here are self-sufficient. We may just take some care of them in the winter to prevent them from starving to death.
The beekeeping method is more inclined to the traditional method.
After half an hour of nailing, Lin Heng finally managed to build a solid rectangular beehive, 50 cm long, 30 cm wide and 30 cm high. There were also some small holes on it for the bees to enter and exit, but they were currently blocked.
After finishing, Lin Heng found a bamboo pole, took out the honey at home, tore a piece of cloth, a rope, and took the bamboo basket for controlling water, as well as a handful of dry pine needles.
That was all the tools he had, so Lin Heng put them all in a backpack and went up the mountain to find Xiulan.
Xiulan was sitting on a backpack with her daughter in her arms, identifying flowers, plants and trees. When she saw Lin Heng coming over alone, she asked in confusion, "Why did you come here alone?"
"We can't find anyone, so Wang Jin won't help us. He's afraid that we'll collect the bees and he won't be able to sell the honey." Lin Heng shook his head.
"So you plan to collect it yourself? Or not, it's very risky." Xiulan said worriedly. She didn't expect Wang Jin to be so petty.
"It's okay, take your daughter away. I'll try it. If it doesn't work, forget it." Lin Heng said.
Xiulan knew she couldn't persuade him, so she could only nod and say, "Then be careful. If it doesn't work, forget it."
"Got it." Lin Heng said and started to operate.
He tied the bamboo basket to a bamboo pole and tied a cloth strip inside the bamboo basket. Then he smeared honey on the bamboo basket, the cloth strip, and the beehive.
There should be less on the bamboo basket and cloth strips, and more in the beehive.
After applying the solution, Lin Heng piled dry pine needles on the stone. If he accidentally caused a riot of bees, he could light this thing to protect himself.
"I'm starting now, you and your daughter should stay away from me."
Lin Heng said this, holding a bamboo pole and handing the bamboo basket tied to it to the pile of bees on the tree trunk.
(End of this chapter)
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