Chapter 148 [Familiarity]
With the enthusiastic help of the villagers of Yeli Village, a nearby fishing village was built, but it gradually eroded the original arable land of Yeli Village, forcing the indigenous people closer and closer to the back mountain.
As a result, it gradually evolved into what it is today.
Many young people in Yeli Village could not bear the conditions offered by the nearby fishing villages, and accepted the orders of the people there in exchange for the opportunity to take a boat to live and work in the villages and towns on the north bank and Lingnan. After staying in those places, they never returned.
When everyone heard Uncle Zhou's story about the history of Yeli Village and thought about how they had risked everything to keep the villagers here, they felt a pang of sadness in their hearts.
If they had not settled in Yeli Village, it would probably have disappeared soon, and the elderly people in the village would not even have anyone to attend their funerals when they died.
"There are still 28 households in our village, but only eight of them have young people."
While Uncle Zhou was discussing housing allocation with everyone, he asked the new villagers in his village: "It's so late, everyone must have had a hard time traveling all the way. We can get some coconut meat and coconut water for you to eat."
After a busy afternoon, everyone felt a little hungry. However, they felt sad when they thought about the elderly villagers in front of them having to open coconuts for them. Many people advised, "Uncle Zhou, there's no need. I see that the coconut trees are so tall. With so many of us, we can consume a lot of coconuts at once. It will be difficult for you to pick them."
"It's okay. We old guys are getting a little tired of eating these things after so long. They just fell from the trees. If you don't eat them, they'll go bad easily."
As Uncle Zhou said this, the villagers nearby had already taken action, carrying out a large basket of coconuts from the village warehouse, and then took out a sharp chisel to chisel open the coconuts.
The only eight young people in the village joined in opening coconuts for everyone, and even some older men and women with silver hair were not to be outdone. Although the villagers were old, their spirits were just as strong as those of the young.
Xiao Wu also joined the team to help everyone.
The enthusiasm of the villagers made many people think of their elders at home. When they visited them as children, they would always take out the new delicious things from their homes to entertain them warmly.
Such a scene made new villagers like Jiang Lili feel warm. They felt embarrassed to just stand there and stepped forward to help.
Lu Yuansi wasn't very strong, and his delicate hand, like a civil servant holding a pen, finally cracked open a coconut, only for the coconut to fall to the ground, and the coconut juice inside gushed out. "Shh, the coconut juice leaked away so easily, what a pity!"
Jiang Lili was touching the backpack at this moment. Zhang Xiaopang knew that Jiang Lili was going to the island, so he had already wholesaled a box of coconut opening tools for Jiang Lili, and was waiting for Jiang Lili to arrive on the island to make fresh coconut water for him!
Jiang Lili: "Wait a minute, don't worry. My second brother designed a coconut-opening tool while he was in exile. It can easily make a hole in a coconut without much effort. Try it first and see if it works!"
Xin Cheng: "Ah...yes, yes!"
Xin Cheng has become accustomed to his sister-in-law using him as a shield every time she comes up with some gadget.
After whispering with Jiang Lili for a while, he quickly became familiar with the use of this coconut-opening tool.
Xin Cheng quickly realized the principle behind this coconut cracker. He explained it to everyone in a simple way: "This coconut cracker works in much the same way as when you drill rocks. You concentrate your force on a small point, then use a hammer to crack the entire rock."
When Jiang Lili heard Xin Cheng's explanation, she exclaimed, "Oh, this guy is good at physics!"
Jiang Lili was thinking about asking Xiaopang to send some physics and chemistry textbooks over so that Xincheng could figure it out on his own?
Textbooks that are too modern from the beginning will definitely not work, but modern early childhood science materials that are introductory to children are definitely suitable for Xincheng!
Moreover, Master Liao is a genius in science. If my second brother doesn't understand something, he can just ask Master Liao... Jiang Lili suddenly thought of this scene: a 20-year-old successor of Lu Ban's craftsmanship asking a one-and-a-half-year-old child for advice. No, it seems a bit outrageous!
This coconut-opening tool is made of stainless steel and looks a bit like an enlarged thumbtack with a plastic triangular fastener on it.
Uncle Zhou and the others had never seen such a rare thing before, and asked curiously, "Such a small thing can open a thick coconut shell? Young man, how do you use this thing?"
Xin Cheng took out a coconut-opening artifact to demonstrate. He pressed the triangular fastener into the point on the coconut where the force was best applied, aimed the coconut-opening artifact at this position and nailed it in. Then he picked up the coconut and hit the ground with the position of the coconut-opening artifact.
A few drops of coconut water seeped out immediately but they were blocked by the coconut opener and did not show through.
Xin Cheng took the artifact off again and easily opened a regular hole.
The villagers showed surprise on their faces, and then they couldn't wait to take a coconut opener to try it out, and it really worked!
Holes were drilled in the forty or so coconuts, and the coconut water was poured into the bowls brought by the convicts.
Zhang Xiaopang knew that Jiang Lili was going to the island, so he had already wholesaled a box of coconut-opening tools to Jiang Lili, and was waiting for Jiang Lili to arrive on the island to make fresh coconut water for him!
The sweet juice quenched everyone's thirst and also made some prisoners who were having trouble adapting to the local climate feel much better.
I heard that if you have acclimatization issues, drinking local water and eating local food can help your body slowly adapt to the new environment.
With this coconut hole, it is easier to crack the coconut.
Everyone worked together and divided the work, and soon they tasted the coconut water and coconut meat. Coconuts were once a rare commodity in the capital, but now they were particularly satisfied eating them, and began to develop a good impression and sense of belonging to Yeli Village.
During this collective coconut processing process, the relationship between the new and old villagers became more familiar and harmonious.
After a coconut meal, everyone followed the old villagers into the houses allocated for temporary rest.
The accommodation conditions were indeed very poor, almost like sleeping outdoors on the road of exile. We slept on the ground with a layer of hay spread out, and had an extra roof to protect us from the wind and rain, but the roof was leaking a little.
But even so, it did not affect everyone's mood, and everyone fell asleep quickly after a tiring day.
But the old villagers couldn't sleep all night.
While everyone was asleep, they tacitly stood guard at the door with hoes and other defensive objects, fearing that some animals would come to disturb the new villagers tonight and scare away the future hope of their village.
Although the eagle Liefeng who followed Jiang Lili missed Shuofeng who walked with Wen Qiao, after coming out of Haizhou and seeing the unfamiliar environment, it did not stay too far away from Jiang Lili. After seeing Jiang Lili and Xin Che follow a large group of people into Yeli Village, it let out a long howl, and its figure disappeared into the back mountain, where it found a big tree to rest.
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