In the house, Lin Heng and Xiulan had just finished applying fertilizer to the strawberries and then laid a layer of plastic film.
After the plastic film was laid out, they tore the film a little bit together, dug out the strawberries underneath, and let them be exposed to the sunlight.
The previous greenhouse has been removed. The function of the film is to maintain the ground temperature and prevent the strawberries that will bear fruit later from falling to the ground and rotting.
The previous method of using tree branches to insert the fruiting branches was too troublesome, so we changed it to this.
"I think we can eat this strawberry in early May."
Xiulan said with a smile as she looked at the finished mulch.
"Of course, we can enjoy eating strawberries this year. There is a large area of them over at Hongfeng Mountain." Lin Heng nodded.
The two washed their hands and were about to go into the house when there was a knock on the door: "Brother Lin, are you home?"
Then Li Shiwei pushed the door open and walked in. When he saw Lin Heng, he quickly walked over and said, "There was a call from the city saying that the piglets you ordered, Brother Lin, have arrived and they asked you to go and get them back."
Lin Heng nodded and looked at him: "Is that so? I understand. Is there anything else?"
"Lin Hai said he has some other things to tell you. He has been in the factory for the past few days." Li Shiwei replied.
"I understand. You can play here, have dinner in the evening and go back tomorrow." Lin Heng looked at him and said.
Although he received a call from below, he was not in a hurry and asked the institute to raise the pig for a few days first.
"No, Brother Lin, I'm going to go home on the way to visit her and then go to town tomorrow." Li Shiwei said. He hadn't seen his wife for many days and missed her.
"Okay, then I won't keep you here." Lin Heng patted his shoulder and said with a smile.
"Okay, Brother Lin, I'm leaving." Li Shiwei nodded, pushed the bicycle outside the door in and put it here, then took his things and went home.
Lin Heng turned around and looked at Xiulan and said, "Let's have lunch. After lunch, we'll go to Red Maple Mountain in the afternoon."
"Are you sure that thing is really drinkable?" Xiulan stared at him with her bright eyes and smiled.
"Of course I can. Why would I lie to you?" Lin Heng patted his chest and promised.
"That's fine."
Xiulan nodded, then went back to the house to prepare dinner. Lin Heng went to her eldest brother's house to pick up the children, who had just been sent over to play.
Lunch was rice, two simple dishes and a soup, with both meat and vegetables.
After finishing the meal, Xiulan went into the house, put on a coat, and walked to Lin Heng. Then she hugged his neck from behind, leaned her head over and said with a smile: "Let's go, let's go to Hongfeng Mountain."
Lin Heng felt the amazing touch of Xiulan against his back, so he carried her on his back and said, "You scared me. Come on, I'll carry you on my back."
"Okay." Xiulan smiled and really lay on his back.
Lin Heng immediately carried her on his back and walked out. The three children chased after him, saying that they also wanted to be carried by their father.
As soon as they reached the door, Xiulan let go and got down. She just wanted to tease Lin Heng and be intimate with him, but she didn't want to go out and play like this, as the villagers would definitely make dirty jokes about her.
"Go on!" Lin Heng looked at him with a smile.
Xiulan raised her smooth chin, revealing a slender, snow-white swan neck: "Okay, you can carry me up the mountain for the next 100 days, and you are not allowed to complain about being tired when the time comes."
"No problem." Lin Heng said with a smile.
After saying that, he hugged the children who came over to him. After Xiulan went back to lock the door and took the transparent plastic pot, they set off with the children and Xiongba.
On the Hongfeng Mountain side, Father Lin was draining water into the shrimp pond and caught a lot of shrimps and eels.
Xiaoxia came over and shouted curiously: "Grandpa, what are you doing!"
Father Lin said quickly, "Grandpa is catching shrimps and eels. My dear grandson, don't go here. Be careful not to fall into the mud."
Xiaoxia didn't listen to him. She walked over to the side and saw the shrimps and eels in the bucket. She cheered, "There are so many. Grandpa is really amazing."
"So disgusting!"
"So disgusting!"
Lu Ming and Du Heng were also cheering. They ran over to look at the prawns and eels and poked them with their hands.
"Be careful." Lin Heng just gave a warning but did not stop them.
Falling in this place won’t hurt, but it will teach them a lesson.
For example, Xiaoxia once fell off a rock step while riding her bike, so now she won’t ride to dangerous places.
Xiulan walked over to take a look and was also a little surprised: "I didn't expect there were so many green shrimps. This yellow eel is weird, how did it get in there?"
The eels in this eel bucket are all very thick, weighing at least half a pound each. The big ones are as big as snakes, probably weighing more than a pound.
"I'm also surprised. There's none in the mountain spring water. This stuff has been dirty for thousands of years now. It occurs every year." Father Lin said helplessly.
"It's normal. Even if there is nothing in the mountain stream, the birds will bring it." Lin Heng said with a smile.
Then he showed off a little knowledge to everyone that eel eggs, like fish and shrimp eggs, could be taken away by birds.
The same principle applies to many ponds that suddenly form on the mountains and will have fish and shrimps after a while. Some fish eggs stick to the legs of birds and will be brought over by chance.
This made the three children admire Lin Heng a little bit. They thought he was so amazing and had so much knowledge.
Father Lin looked at Lin Heng and said, "Son, do you want to join us in catching them? There are so many big eels here. You are better at catching eels than I am."
"Wait a moment, I have to go up the mountain now. Isn't my mother here?" Lin Heng said.
"She went with the villagers to get Xiaosuan, and she should be back soon," said Lin's father.
"Okay, I'll go up first." Lin Heng nodded.
The breeding shrimps they needed had already been selected, and now all the shrimps taken out of the pond were eaten, and it was difficult for them to survive this year.
However, we still need to hire people to clean the pond this year. Once the mud at the bottom of the pond has dried up a little, we can ask someone to help shovel it out.
After several years of accumulation, there is already a lot of silt in the pond.
"The grass is growing really well." Xiulan said with emotion as she looked at her lush green grass.
"It's really good. A lot of cow and sheep manure has been added to the grassland this year. It will grow very quickly and there is no need to spread compound fertilizer." Lin Heng nodded. The tender green color was pleasing to the eye.
As spring comes and flowers bloom, the mountain gradually becomes more beautiful. The fields between the mountains are green, the roses on the fences are growing buds, and the rape flowers in the fields are golden. The scent of revival of all things is as intoxicating as wine.
However, as they reached the top of the mountain, the spring atmosphere gradually faded. The only tall trees that were green early on were the poplars and white poplars; the other trees were still bare.
"Oh! Here is a beautiful flower!"
“I have this too!”
After reaching the mountain, the children started exploring everywhere and had a lot of fun.
The snakes haven't come out of the mountain yet, and with Xiongba next to them, Lin Heng is not worried about their safety.
Xiulan took off her coat and held it in her hand. Underneath was a white tight sweater, which clearly revealed her curvy figure.
"Mom gives you flowers!"
Xiaoxia picked a bunch of purple flowers and gave them to Xiulan.
"I also have flowers for Mom." Du Heng ran over and handed over a white wild flower.
"I want this for my dad." Lu Ming gave Lin Heng a bouquet of yellow flowers.
Both were amused by the children and took it and kissed them.
Lin Heng held the flowers and smiled at Xiulan, "The kids have taken my job."
"Then I'll give you the flowers too, dear. Take them well."
Xiulan gave the flowers to Lin Heng with a bright smile, then walked briskly in the woods.
Soon they arrived at the back hill of Red Maple Mountain, where there were more than a dozen birch trees. The largest one was only 30 centimeters in diameter, while the smallest was only as thick as a human thigh.
Four of the medium-thick trees had a thin bamboo stick inserted into them, and drops of crystal clear juice flowed out of them and fell into the bottle below.
All four plastic bottles were full and the liquid had flowed onto the ground.
"It seems that it is flowing faster than I thought." Lin Heng walked over and picked up the bottle.
"Let me taste what it tastes like." It was the first time that Xiulan knew that birch sap was drinkable, so she took out the disposable cup she brought with her.
Lin Heng poured her a cup, and the children ran over and looked at her pitifully.
Xiulan took two sips and passed it to the children, shaking her head and saying, "I don't taste anything special, just a little bit of tree flavor and sweetness."
"It doesn't have any taste, but it's cheaper and more nutritious than water. But it's also good for making tea, it has a special taste." Lin Heng nodded.
"That's not bad." Xiulan nodded and took the cup from Du Heng. The children drank two sips and threw it away because it was not sweet enough.
Then they poured the birch sap into the large plastic jugs they had brought and returned with the children.
After looking at the cabin, they went down the mountain. There was really nothing fun to do on the mountain.
After coming down the mountain, Xiulan took the children to pick up eggs. There were only 14 chickens left here. During the New Year, Lin's mother sold some of them and killed and marinated a lot more for her grandchildren.
And this year they decided to raise some other three kinds of yellow chickens, not just black chickens.
Now that spring has arrived and flowers are blooming, the chickens are laying eggs more actively and I can collect four or five eggs every day.
Lin Heng put on his water pants and went to catch eels with his father. There were many big eels in the pond, and Lin Heng quickly became immersed in the joy of catching eels.
They stopped when the sun was about to set in the afternoon and weighed the eels they had caught, and found that they weighed a total of 28.6 jin.
"There are only three ponds. If we catch shrimp from all 15 ponds, we can catch more than 100 kilograms." Father Lin said in shock.
"Indeed, there are more of them than the remaining shrimps, and they are all good eels that grow up eating shrimps." Lin Heng nodded.
"This thing can nourish the body. Keep some for ourselves and sell the rest." Mother Lin said as she looked at the two of them.
"Of course, you can't finish it all by yourself." Lin Heng nodded. This is too much.
"Do you want to make some and grill it tomorrow?" Xiulan asked.
They decided to go for an outing tomorrow, have a barbecue and have fun.
"Okay, my dad and I will go kill them first, eat some in the evening, and then grill some tomorrow." Lin Heng nodded.
Immediately, he and his father went to kill the eel, nailed it to a wooden board, and quickly removed the internal organs and the head and tail.
Because they are not eating shredded eels, they did not remove the spine.
If you know how to cook eel, it will taste tender and fragrant, and you can't stop eating it. It is a great dish to go with wine.
Xiulan’s cooking was very skillful and Lin Heng enjoyed the meal with relish. There were green shrimps, yellow eels, pork and the shredded potatoes that the children liked. The whole family enjoyed the meal very much.
After talking to his parents, Lin Heng and Xiulan took the child back home.
After returning home, Lin Heng went to ask his eldest brother and his family whether they wanted to go with him. It would be fun and lively if there were many people, but it would not be possible if there were few people.
Unfortunately, his eldest brother couldn't go, although he agreed to go to help someone, but his sister-in-law Liu Juan could go and said she wanted to bring her youngest son to play with her.
Lin Wei and Lin Tao wanted to go very much, but they had to go to school, so they could only envy.
The next morning, Lin Heng and Xiulan got up early to prepare, and Li Shiwei was also called to join them.
After breakfast and preparing everything, Lin Heng drove the car to the gate and set off with everyone.
This time we went to Huangtan River instead of Heihe River.
We first arrived at Huangtan Town, then walked down the national highway for seven or eight kilometers, turned onto a dirt road and walked two kilometers to an uninhabited river valley.
The river valley is covered with bluestone and grass, and there are many willow and peach trees growing on the river bank. At this time, the tender green willow branches sway in the wind, and the purple-red peach blossoms are in full bloom on the branches, and a layer of them has fallen on the ground.
The water here is not turbulent, but calm like a jade belt. On the mountains on both sides farther away, some small shrubs are covered with white flowers.
"How about it? This place I found is good, right?" Lin Heng stopped the car and looked at everyone and asked.
"This place is amazing, it's great for barbecue." Li Shiwei gave a thumbs up.
"Does anyone live here?" Xiulan asked curiously.
"There are people there. Go half a mile further down. There are no people here." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Oh, it's so beautiful!"
"I'm going to pick flowers!"
The children got out of the car and rushed out like wild horses.
"Let's go and have some barbecue." Father Lin said, holding the barbecue grill.
"Come and help carry the things." Lin Heng also went to unload the goods from the truck. He took not only charcoal, food and barbecue racks, but also fishing rods, beer, drinks, teapots and many other things.
With their things in hand, they quickly found a suitable place, which was under a big willow tree. The place was flat and perfect for barbecue.
They first unfolded the picnic mat and then put down the ingredients.
Then everyone worked separately. Li Shiwei started a fire and burned charcoal, Lin Heng set up the barbecue grill and iron plate, Xiulan, Liu Juan and others were responsible for organizing the various foods they brought, and Lin's mother and father set up the wooden folding table and stools.
After a while, everyone was ready. Lin Heng brought two barbecue tools, one was an iron rack for grilling skewers, and the other was a round iron plate with a concave shape in the middle, which was used for teppanyaki.
"Should we start the barbecue first, or go fishing and play around?"
Lin Heng looked at everyone and asked with a smile.
"It's already eleven o'clock. Let's have a barbecue first and then go out and play." Xiulan said, looking at her watch.
"I agree. I'm hungry." Father Lin nodded.
"Okay, let's have the barbecue first." Lin Heng nodded immediately.
He naturally went to the barbecue grill and started grilling. Although he had eaten barbecue many times, he was still the best in terms of skills.
He grilled twenty skewers of lamb, ten skewers of pork, some gluten, potato slices and green vegetables at one time.
The children were already playing nearby, and Xiongba, who was brought along with them, was also having fun nearby.
Xiulan and her friends walked around, feeling the breath of spring. They were talking and laughing, with joy on their faces.
While barbecuing, Lin Heng looked at the green mountains and clear waters and the laughter of his family and friends, and felt completely satisfied.
(End of this chapter)
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