Tian Cai looked at the panda for a while and then went home. It was definitely too late to go to the county today, so she went home and took some cabbage leaves to feed the little panda. Today, the little guy was obviously in much better spirits. He was not lying quietly in the nest, but kept looking out.
After feeding the animals, Tian Cai changed into work clothes, carried a bamboo basket, took a sack and tools and went into the mountains.
It's already the end of October, and judging by the weather, it will snow soon. She needs to go into the mountains to get more firewood before that.
Tian Cai walked all the way towards the mountains. Nowadays, most of the villagers cut trees from the mountains for firewood. Don’t think that with so many people cutting trees, all the trees will be cut down in a few years. The rule left by our ancestors is that if you cut down a few trees in the mountains this year, you must plant a few more trees in the spring of next year. Therefore, after all these years, Beishan is still lush and green.
Tian Cai picked a tree of similar thickness in the woods and started sawing it directly. When he sawed to the point where only one point was connected, he kicked it and the tree, as thick as a thigh, fell down with a loud bang.
She measured the length of the trunk, then used a saw to cut it into four long sections, cut off the extra branches, and placed them aside in a haphazard manner.
Tian Cai took out a hemp rope from a bamboo basket and tied it to one of the tree trunks. He then did the same with the second one and dragged it back using the two ropes.
This place was not far from Tian Cai's courtyard. She quickly transported two tree trunks to the outside of her backyard fence and returned to transport the remaining two.
Tian Cai pulled out two fence posts and carried a few logs into the backyard. Then he put the bamboo basket on his back and ran towards the pine forest in the mountains.
There was a thick layer of pine needles on the ground in the pine forest, which could be used to start a fire when dried. Tian Cai took out a sack and filled it up, then filled the bamboo basket he was carrying, tied the sack tightly on top, and carried it back home.
After two more trips, four large sacks of pine needles were stacked against the wall in Tian Cai's kitchen, enough to start a fire for the whole winter.
In the next two days, Tian Cai went up the mountain several times and cut down three trees plus a pine tree in total. He sawed the cut trees into half-meter-long sections and placed them in the backyard to dry. There is a lot of pine oil in the pine trunks, which is particularly easy to ignite and is also a good material for starting a fire.
Tian Cai had previously thought that the remaining corn stalks after harvesting would be distributed to the villagers to use as burning firewood, but in reality the team still wanted to keep them as feed for livestock in the winter.
Tian Cai had someone build a stove next to the fire wall before. Since there was no coal to burn, they would have to burn wood all night. It was not certain whether these trees would be enough, so it was better to prepare as many as possible.
Thinking that there was no place to store things except the kitchen, Tian Cai turned his attention to the open space behind the house.
But this time she didn't plan to trouble the villagers. It was just a simple shed and she could handle it herself.
Tian Cai first cleared the land behind the house. This place was probably used for growing crops before, and the ground was not very flat. Tian Cai borrowed a shovel to level the ground bit by bit, and then went to the mountain to cut bamboo.
Bamboos fell one by one, and the ground was soon covered with bamboo poles as thick as arms lying in all directions. Tian Cai cut off the excess branches and leaves, dragged them home and threw them in the backyard to wait for them to dry naturally.
While drying the bamboo and firewood, Tian Cai filled a bamboo basket with mountain products and carried two pheasants and two rabbits to the county town.
When she arrived in the county, she went straight to her eldest sister's house. It had been a week since her last visit, and her eldest sister was at home when Tian Cai knocked on the door.
Just like last time, she couldn't eat so much by herself, but the difference was that she bought everything she wanted first before calling her sisters. When they arrived, Tian Cai's things were all sold out.
"Sister, when will you come next time?" said an older sister with a round face and who looked very friendly. The chestnuts she bought last time were so delicious after being cooked at home that the families next to her were all so greedy that they came over to ask where she bought them.
Tian Cai thought about the undried wood at home and said, "I think we can get another batch tomorrow."
After hearing this, several women's eyes lit up and they all said that they would come and wait at this time tomorrow, and ask him to sell more to them then.
As usual, Tian Cai carried a diabolo basket and went to the state-owned restaurant to eat, then went to the supply and marketing cooperative. This time she wanted to buy some cotton. She had tried the original owner's cotton-padded jacket from last winter a few days ago, and it was too short. She had to find someone to help her dismantle it and make a new one, and then add some new cotton to it.
When Tian Cai returned to the village, he suddenly remembered that he had said before that he wanted to find someone to exchange food. He had been busy storing firewood for the winter and had forgotten about it. It was mealtime now and it would not be a good time to go there. It would be better for him to come back early tomorrow to exchange it.
On this side, Tian Cai was thinking about forgetting to exchange food, and on the other side, the Luo family was also muttering why the person Tian Cai said he would exchange food had never come.
"His father, you said that Tian Cai has not come to exchange. Has someone already exchanged with her?" Aunt Du couldn't help but ask after holding back for a few days. Then his family would be at a loss. They could have exchanged for more money at the beginning, but they chose to ask for food.
Luo Fuli took a sip of the barley tea and smacked his lips. "Probably not."
"Then why didn't she come?" Aunt Du moved the shuttle of the loom and started it clicking again.
"The day before yesterday, I saw her busy stockpiling firewood, bringing it home from the mountains," Luo Xiuyan continued. Her family doesn't need her for these chores, and her two brothers' marriages won't prevent them from returning to work. Besides, she still has her parents. "I haven't felt comfortable visiting her these past few days."
Aunt Du couldn't help but stop her loom when she heard this, frowning and muttering, "All you think about is playing, playing, playing. Don't you see how old you are? You're almost getting married, and you're still thinking about playing all day long!"
Luo Xiuyan fell silent instantly. She was pretty and her family was well-off in the village. Many men came to her house to propose marriage. Before, she had eczema on her chest and she had never agreed, and her mother had let her do it. But now that the eczema was cured, her mother began to consider the next proposal.
These days, someone introduced her to a young man from the High-Production Brigade, who was said to be good-looking and well-mannered. She thought he was too far away and had not agreed to meet him. Then her mother kept complaining for three days about his nose and eyes, which scared her so much that she didn't dare to eat more, for fear that her mother would drag her out and talk about him again.
"Well, Tian Cai asked me to help make a pair of cotton shoes, and I haven't finished sewing the soles yet!" After saying that, he quickly ran away.
Aunt Du was about to continue speaking when she disappeared. She was so angry that she hit the loom and said, "You said you didn't care about her. Who would not ask for marriage when they see a good girl who is nineteen years old?"
Luo Fuli pretended not to hear, lay down on the kang and began to snore.
"The one with the surname Luo!!" Aunt Du became even angrier.
Seeing his wife about to get angry, Luo Fuli quickly changed the subject, "What do you think we should exchange for some pills from Doctor Tian?"
Aunt Du's attention was diverted, and she slowly calmed down. She also followed her husband's line of thought, "Just use the common ones. It's just for a headache or a fever. Is there any other magic medicine?"
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