Chapter 281 Double Surprise
"What happened that makes you so excited?"
Xiulan asked curiously. She was kneading the skin of the sika deer in her hands. Now that it had been processed and only needed to be softened, it could be used.
"I noticed that the musk deer seems to be about to give birth?" Lin Heng said excitedly as he looked at Xiulan.
"Really?" Xiulan looked up with surprise.
"It's most likely true, mainly because I've never seen a musk deer give birth," said Lin Heng.
Xiulan put the deerskin down, stood up and said, "Then let's go and take a look, maybe we need help."
Lin Heng nodded, went to the front yard to pick up his daughter and went to watch the musk deer give birth. Xiaoxia knew the rules and followed Lin Heng without saying a word.
"How many do you think it will give birth to?" Xiulan asked in a low voice while walking. This was the first time she saw a musk deer give birth.
"It is said to be similar to sheep, with one to three babies born per litter, and two being the most common," Lin Heng replied.
"Then let's hope there are two babies, preferably both females," Xiulan whispered.
Lin Heng thought so too. Although females do not produce musk, they can quickly expand the population size.
They have to observe the birth of animals quietly, and peek without disturbing them. They can clearly see the situation in the musk deer pen by standing on the hillside.
"It was dropped so quickly."
When Xiulan saw the situation in the circle, she couldn't help but look surprised.
"Wild animals give birth very quickly." Lin Heng was not surprised.
Only Xiaoxia opened her eyes wide; it was the first time she saw an animal give birth.
After the little musk deer was born, it was still twitching on the ground and couldn't stand up. The heavy amniotic fluid in its body seemed to be hindering its breathing.
The female musk deer didn't help but was also very anxious. Another musk deer seemed to be stuck and couldn't get out.
"Difficult labor?" Xiulan asked puzzledly.
"Because the second cub has not been born yet, the female forest musk deer is suffocating because she didn't have her fetal fluid licked off. She needs artificial assistance. Please help me."
Lin Heng nodded and put Xiaoxia down and let her stay where she was. Then he washed his hands in the bucket beside him, and went with Xiulan to help the female musk deer give birth.
Gently coming to the musk deer pen, the female musk deer shrank into a corner a little nervously. Lin Heng quickly stroked the female musk deer, and when it calmed down, he handed the soothing work to Xiulan, and he came to help with the birth.
He first lifted the baby musk deer's hind legs and removed the amniotic fluid from its mouth and nose to prevent it from suffocating, and then checked the condition of the mother musk deer.
The second musk deer's legs came out first. No wonder it was a difficult birth. Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said, "Hold its neck."
"Okay." Xiulan nodded and pressed the female musk deer on her legs.
Lin Heng pulled the little musk deer's legs with his hands and tried to help it give birth slowly. He had done this job many times, and he had learned veterinary knowledge in his previous life.
I should have worn gloves, but there were no suitable ones at home, so I had to use my hands.
With his help, the second musk deer cub was born successfully after a while. Lin Heng removed the amniotic fluid from its mouth and nose and placed it next to the mother musk deer.
The female musk deer has now begun to lick the amniotic fluid actively, which means that she will only give birth to two cubs this time. Lin Heng and Xiulan both showed disappointment on their faces.
"It is very rare to have three cubs. We should be thankful that we didn't have only one." Lin Heng smiled and shook his head.
Xiulan nodded: "Indeed, and both are female, which is already good news."
Lin Heng nodded. The two little musk deer will be able to give birth in October next year. Three female musk deer can give birth to five or six cubs a year, and the population will soon multiply and expand.
"I'll go back and cook some wheat bran for the musk deer. You take care of the placenta." Xiulan said again, and walked back with her daughter.
On the way, Xiaoxia asked all the questions that had been accumulating in her heart, which made Xiulan feel overwhelmed and regretful for not handing her over to Lin Heng.
Lin Heng waited for a long time until Xiulan brought the cooked wheat bran corn paste, but he didn't see the placenta being expelled.
"What should we do?" Xiulan asked worriedly. If the placenta is not expelled, it will cause great harm to the mother's body.
Lin Heng brought the food over, thought for a moment and said, "If it still hasn't been discharged in four hours, then don't worry."
"Then you watch, I'll go back first." Xiulan blinked, patted Lin Heng and turned back.
After the musk deer finished eating and replenished its nutrition, it finally started to produce the placenta. Lin Heng used his hands to help carry it out and took it home.
This musk fetus, like the deer fetus, is a very precious traditional Chinese medicine. Lin Heng picked it up only to chop it up, cook it and feed it to the female musk deer. If the musk deer were to eat it directly, there might be problems.
After all, the musk deer's stomach can only digest grass, and it definitely can't handle such a large piece of meat.
There won't be any problem if you cook and chop it in several batches.
"I'll go tell my parents and make them happy." Lin Heng said with a smile after returning to the house.
"Go ahead, and take Xiaoxia with you." Xiulan nodded.
Lin Heng took out the red dates that he hadn't ridden for a long time and took them for a ride, then took Xiaoxia for a ride.
"Okay, riding a horse is great!!"
Xiaoxia was sitting on the horse's back, happy like a little fool.
When they arrived at the breeding base, Xiaoxia couldn't wait to shout, "Grandpa, grandpa, the musk deer have given birth to cubs."
"The musk deer has gone down?" Lin's father asked in surprise.
Mother Lin picked up Xiaoxia and asked, "My dear granddaughter, how many baby musk deer have been born? Male or female?"
"Two." Xiaoxia held up two fingers and tilted her head to continue, "Dad said they were both female forest musk deer."
"Two females, that's great." Lin's mother said happily.
Father Lin also nodded and said, "Our musk deer enclosure is almost finished. We'll move them over here when we find a good day."
"I thought so too." Lin Heng said with a smile.
These days, he and his father have preliminarily built a 30-square-meter musk deer pen. His father is making wooden rafters. After a few days, he will finish building the pigpen and cover the roof.
Lin Heng went into the house and looked at the shrimps carrying eggs. He found that a lot of residue had accumulated in the water. He used a pipe to siphon away the residue, and then let some clean water in.
The shrimps incubating eggs consume more oxygen, so the oxygenators have been running non-stop these days.
After looking at the prawns, Lin Heng went to look at the grass. Each one was incredibly lush, yet only one or two acres of land was used to feed the cattle and sheep.
These pastures can be harvested, chopped with a lawn mower, dried and stored.
"Dad, there are blackberries over there." Xiaoxia said crisply, pointing to the bushes above the pasture.
"You need to open your eyes." Lin Heng touched her little head and took her to eat cranberries.
Almost all the cranberries are red now, and if you don’t eat them now, they will be out of season.
Xiaoxia has eaten a lot these days. Her grandma and grandpa always bring her a lot of cranberries when they come back from the mountains, but she still hasn't eaten enough.
Summer evenings when the sun has set are great for walks, and it would be even more perfect if there was a breeze like now.
They were eating raspberries. In the bushes in the distance, a lot of green beetles were flying around. This year, Lin Heng was not interested in shooting them.
After eating the raspberries, Lin Heng brought Xiaoxia downstairs. He looked at his mother and said, "Mom, I want to buy you two more lambs. What do you think?"
"Sure, you have to release them anyway, two more or two less doesn't make any difference. I suggest you buy another heifer for breeding." Lin's mother said with a smile.
"Then I'll go check out the situation in a few days and buy two good varieties." Lin Heng nodded. There is no shortage of forage now, so the number of breeding can be expanded.
In addition, with his veterinary knowledge, he can help with minor illnesses.
Then he added, "By the way, Mom, don't herd the cattle tomorrow. I'll ask Xiaoxia to come over and help cut the grass, dry it and store it."
Ryegrass and alfalfa are now about to bloom and bear fruit, which is the time when they are most nutritious and very suitable for cutting and making feed.
"Okay, then I won't go over to milk the cows tomorrow morning. Just bring me the leftovers." Mother Lin nodded.
After playing for a while, Lin Heng took Xiaoxia home and took a walk to enjoy the beautiful scenery on both sides of the river.
At night, the female musk deer was fed some porridge made from wheat bran, to which part of the placenta was added.
The next morning, after exercising and having breakfast as usual, the two took Xiaoxia and three dogs to Hongfeng Mountain.
"Mom, I've brought you the milk. You can drink it directly after it's heated up." Xiulan walked into the house and said with a smile.
Mother Lin took the milk and said with a smile: "You know what, this milk is nutritious. Your father and I have only been drinking it for two months and we have a lot more energy to work."
"That's natural. We could only barely survive before, but now we can truly be considered living." Lin Heng said with a smile.
People who eat steamed bread every day and don't eat meat for three days must be weak. It's God's blessing that they don't get sick.
"Well, I should have beaten you a few more times, maybe you would have come to your senses sooner." Father Lin said with a smile.
Lin Heng: “…”
After his parents finished breakfast, Lin Heng and his father went to build the unfinished pigpen, Xiulan and Lin's mother went to cut grass with sickles, and Xiaoxia played with Xiongba and his three dogs in the yard next to the warehouse.
In one morning, they built the pig pen. Father Lin looked at the remaining bricks and said, "Son, why don't you go buy some cement and build a cow pen and a sheep pen. There are too many cows and sheep in the back, and the old house can't accommodate them."
Lin Heng nodded and said, "I thought so too. I am also planning to build a small dam on the stream to store water and try to raise plum fish at the same time."
He has done some careful research these days and found that there is an area in the mountain stream that is very suitable for building a small dam, which is about seventy to eighty meters long and five to six meters wide.
It doesn't need to be built very high, about three or four meters will be enough, which is equivalent to a small fish pond.
"Sure. There's less farm work this year, so I can help you." Father Lin nodded.
"That's fine, let's go back and build it slowly." Lin Heng agreed with a smile.
The two discussed the location for building the cowshed and finally decided to build it more than 30 meters above the pasture, close to the west, that is, away from the mountain stream.
There is a flat area of 30 meters long and 5 to 6 meters wide at this location, which is more than enough to build cattle and sheep pens after cleaning.
Then the nearby hillsides can be reclaimed and used to grow forage, so there is no need to worry about fodder issues.
Lin Heng is no longer planning to follow the previous plan to transform the 80-acre hillside above the warehouse into a pond.
The original decision was a bit hasty. It would be too difficult to transform this place into a pond without an excavator. It would be better to reclaim the land and plant forage grass or medicinal herbs.
When I make a lot of money in the future, I will build a villa on the mountain and then decide how to transform this place.
After the place was chosen, Lin Heng and his father first used axes to clear a suitable path, and then slowly renovated the rest later.
Of the eighty acres above, sixty acres are relatively easy to transform and can be slowly converted into land.
People of this era like to have more children because children are the labor force. When they grow up to be five or six years old, they can help with the work. When they grow up, they can help to reclaim wasteland in the mountains, and the family business will grow little by little.
It is a very typical small peasant economy and has been like this since ancient times.
However, this economic situation will gradually be eliminated with the explosion of modern productivity.
It was already noon when they cleared the three-meter-wide road. Xiulan and her friends had only mowed more than half an acre of grass because Xiaoxia disrupted the mowing and they couldn't mow fast enough.
"Go back and rest."
Lin Heng shouted. It was already eleven o'clock and the sun was so bright that it was irritating.
After returning to the house to wash up, everyone drank some water and took a good rest for a while. The breeze blowing under the eaves made people stretch their necks comfortably.
Lin Heng suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Xiulan: "Xiulan, today seems to be the 18th of the Gregorian calendar, right?"
Xiulan was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, "If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten. It's really already the 18th."
"What happened to number 18?" Lin's father asked curiously, and Lin's mother also looked confused.
Lin Heng walked up to Xiulan and asked, "I remember your relatives are number 16 or 17."
Xiulan blushed and nodded, "If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten. I really didn't come. I'm usually very punctual."
Lin Heng said in surprise: "Doesn't that mean you are pregnant and I have a child again!"
Mother Lin slapped him in the face: "You just remembered such an important thing now, and you let Xiulan do the work. You really deserve to be beaten."
"That's right. Xiulan forgot about this kind of thing, but how can you forget it?" Lin's father also said angrily.
"Don't blame him. I didn't notice it myself." Xiulan shook her head, and then said, "Besides, it's not certain. Sometimes it's not impossible that it's a mistake."
"He should be blamed." Mother Lin snorted, and then pulled Xiulan and said, "From now on, you should stay in the house and don't do other things. Don't cut grass in the afternoon."
Xiulan said helplessly: "Mom, even if you are pregnant, you can't stay in the house every day. You need proper exercise."
Lin Heng also said: "Yes, mom, don't worry about it. I will take Xiulan to the city hospital for a checkup in a few days. It will be easy to confirm."
Mother Lin was unhappy and said, "You know nothing. What do you mean I don't have to care? How can I not care about my grandson?"
Lin Heng said helplessly: "Mom, you should go cook. There's nothing to be excited about now. Let's talk about it after you get pregnant."
Hearing this, Lin's mother calmed down and nodded, "Then I'll go cook."
"Dad, Mom, are you going to give me a brother?"
After Lin's mother left, Xiaoxia took Lin Heng's hand and asked curiously. She could roughly understand what the adults said.
"It could be a younger brother or a younger sister." Lin Heng looked at her and said.
"Okay, I want a younger brother and sister." Xiaoxia jumped up excitedly and said.
Xiulan said quickly: "Be careful, don't fall."
Xiaoxia came over and pulled her mother and asked, "Mom, when will my brother and sister be born?"
"It's still early." Xiulan pinched her little face and smiled.
Xiaoxia tilted her head and thought for a while, then said to herself that she wanted to play various games with her younger brothers and sisters.
Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said, "I'm going to buy a calf and a lamb in a few days. Come with me to check them out."
"There's no need for that. You'll know the answer in a few days." Xiulan shook her head.
"It is definitely necessary. Just come with me when the time comes." Lin Heng said without letting anyone refuse. Although there is no B-ultrasound now, it is still necessary to go to the hospital.
Xiulan pursed her lips and said nothing more. She wanted to go in to help Lin's mother cook but was driven out. She could only sit in the chair and stare blankly.
After a while, Lin's mother prepared the meal. At the dinner table, Lin's mother kept picking up dishes for Xiulan. Vegetarian food was okay, but fatty meat would be too much for Xiulan.
Lin Heng said, "Mom, the book says that you should eat light food during pregnancy, so don't let her eat fatty meat."
"Then it's okay to eat more lean meat." Lin's mother said with a smile, and picked up another piece of lean meat for Xiulan with chopsticks.
"Thank you, Mom." Xiulan picked up the bowl helplessly and started eating. Fortunately, they didn't live together now, otherwise it would be too difficult for her to eat like this for every meal.
After dinner, Xiulan wanted to help with the work, but Lin's mother refused to let her.
"It's okay, Mom. Exercise is good for your health." Lin Heng said.
"Let's wait until the sun sets completely." Lin's mother insisted.
Xiulan had no choice but to stay at home with Xiaoxia.
In the afternoon, Lin's father and Lin Heng went to help cut the hay, leaving only three acres of fresh hay, and cut all the rest.
As for the cattle and sheep pens, there is no need to rush. There is plenty of time to take care of them.
Without Xiaoxia's interference, the three of them mowed the lawn much faster and finished more than half of it in two hours.
"Oh my god, what a big black snake!!"
Suddenly, Lin's mother screamed.
When Lin Heng and the other man looked over, they saw a black snake as thick as a wrist crawling into the uncut grass.
"This must be about three or four pounds. It's a good medicinal material." Lin Heng wanted to catch it. The meat of the black-necked snake is quite delicious.
"Forget it, don't catch it." Father Lin waved his hands, not wanting to catch such a thing.
Lin Heng did not insist and continued to bend over and mow the grass. They finished mowing the grass at exactly 4:30.
After transporting the hay down, Lin Heng went to the warehouse and took out a lawn mower. He threw the hay into the warehouse, chopped it up, and dried it to make hay that can be stored for a long time.
Lin Heng started the machine to chop grass. Lin's father was telling Xiaoxia a story from a distance. It was the story of Huang Long asking for a title, a mythological story about their place.
It is said that a cowherd once met a talking snake with feet on its head. The snake asked the cowherd what it looked like. If the cowherd said it looked like a snake, then his request for a title would fail. If the cowherd said it looked like a dragon, then it would transform into a dragon and repay the cowherd.
There is another story that says there is a three-cornered mountain inside Shimen Village, with two caves on it, one is the Yellow Dragon Cave and the other is the Black Dragon Cave. A man rewarded the Yellow Dragon with golden chopsticks when he was building a temple. Then the man asked for golden bowls and basins, which finally angered the Yellow Dragon and swept away all the gold.
Lin Heng had heard his grandfather tell this story many times when he was a child, and he even went to Shimen Village specifically to look for it, but unfortunately it was just a legend.
After hearing this, Xiaoxia asked many questions, just like Lin Heng did when he was a child. However, many of them were not answered by Lin's father, as they were just legends.
"Let me help you." Father Lin stood up and said.
"Okay." Lin Heng told his father the precautions of using the lawn mower, then let him use it. He used a fork to spread the chopped grass.
We worked until seven o'clock when the sun set. Half of the sky was dyed red by the blood-red sun. The afterglow of the sunset deep in the mountains also had a unique artistic conception.
"Let's chop the rest tomorrow. When they're almost dried, we can pack them up." Lin Heng said, pointing at the chopped grass.
In addition to dry forage, there is also silage, which is simply piled up and fermented for a month. Under the action of lactic acid bacteria, these forages can be preserved for a long time and the nutrients will not be lost.
However, the production of silage requires sealing with plastic bags or building silage towers for sealing, which is troublesome after all.
The advantage is that nutrients are not lost, and cattle and sheep prefer to eat silage than dry grass. Lin Heng plans to buy some plastic bags and try making them himself.
Although it is very difficult to do without a silage machine, you still have to learn it. Silage is indispensable for raising cattle and sheep, and good silage is as nutritious as concentrated feed.
"I'll chop it up tomorrow morning when I get up." Father Lin nodded.
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded. In fact, hay also needs to be stored in a sealed manner, otherwise it will easily grow insects and mold.
Then he went into the house to check on the shrimps, fed them, and then carried a large bundle of hay and walked back with Xiulan and Xiaoxia.
Xiulan, Xiaoxia and the two dogs were strolling slowly on the road, while Lin Heng quickly returned to the house carrying some grass on his back.
The reason why there are two dogs is because the blue wolf dog Lai Fu is tied up to guard the Red Maple Mountain. The four-month-old and almost five-month-old dog is now ready to carry out his mission. Lin Heng has also taught him some basic commands these days.
He had given up on teaching the two dogs more advanced commands; even routine training like shaking hands and squatting took him a long time.
In fact, they are pretty good. They are purebred dogs and are relatively easy to train. But compared with the genius dog Xiongba, it is inevitable that people are a little disappointed.
Lin Heng now only hopes that Xiongba’s sons and daughters in the future can inherit some of his intelligence.
"hiss!!"
“Mee-mee-mee!!”
“Moo!!”
As soon as Lin Heng arrived at the back mountain with the grass, a group of animals started calling out, and their eyes lit up as they looked at the grass Lin Heng was carrying.
"We have both." Lin Heng said with a smile, and fed the cow first. The cow's belly was gradually getting bigger. It had been bad for more than a month when it was bought. It is expected to give birth in September or October this year.
Thanks to the careful care of the whole family, it lives a good life.
Next to the cow were a female musk deer and a female sheep, and Lin Heng also fed them together. The young musk deer can now stand up and seemed a little timid in the pen.
On the ewes' side, the three lambs are also very healthy. Although the little ram was very weak at first, it is now as big as the other two sheep after careful care.
Then Lin Heng fed the musk deer, red dates, large yellow cattle and small male dairy cows.
"hiss!!"
As if it was dissatisfied with Lin Heng's slow feeding, it plucked a handful of grass and threw it over its head, making it spread everywhere.
"That's all we have. If you waste it, you'll starve." Lin Heng patted the beast's head.
Hongzao neighed again, looking quite dissatisfied. In the past, Lin Heng would bathe it once every three to five days, but now it is only once every ten days or so, and three times a month is considered good.
The main reason is that now I have a tricycle, so I use it less often.
Lin Heng fed the livestock. Xiulan and Xiaoxia had not returned yet. He guessed that they were walking around the village. He immediately took a bucket to water the fruits and vegetables at home. It hadn't rained for several days and the ground was a little dry.
"Look what I got, bro!"
Suddenly, Lin Yue's voice came from outside.
(End of this chapter)
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