That evening, Qin Xiaozhou took out the soap he had bought and dragged Lu Yan to take a bath. Bathing could only be done indoors, and they had to carry water in from the kitchen. After washing, they had to take it out and throw it away. There was no large wooden tub at home, so they could only wipe themselves, which was very frustrating.
Qin Xiaozhou washes her hair and takes a bath every day or two. Wang Lan can't help but grumble that she's too fussy. People who make a living in the muddy countryside don't need to be so particular.
However, Qin Xiaozhou didn't care. She had washed her hair several times, and this time, after using soap, she finally managed to lather it up. After rinsing with water, her hair was finally clean, her scalp felt relaxed, and her hair was clean, short, and easy to manage. No more clumps of hair would fall out when she combed it. She was wearing clothes that Wang Lan had altered for her. Although they were worn out, she could wear them for another ten days or half a month. Once she lost a little more weight, she would ask Lu Yu to make her new clothes.
Early in the morning, the chicks in the yard were chirping. The Lu brothers went to build a chicken coop behind the house. Qin Xiaozhou followed them and walked around the Lu family's house twice. They still moved the chicken coop a little further into the mountains.
Lu Yunxing asked, puzzled, "Sister-in-law, this place is nice too, why is it so far from the house?"
The distance from the chicken coop halfway up the mountain to the Lu family's house at the foot of the mountain is about 200 meters, and the chicken coop is also about 50 or 60 meters away from the house.
Qin Xiaozhou looked at the lonely house at the foot of the mountain with great satisfaction, "Because we're going to build a house."
"Build a house?" Lu Yunxing was stunned and stammered, "Our family is going to build a house?"
Lu Yunfeng was also unsettled, "When?"
After being poor for two years and living in this leaky old house for two years, it would be unsettling for anyone to suddenly hear that a new house was to be built. Moreover, he did not expect Qin Xiaozhou to be so generous as to want a house built for him.
Qin Xiaozhou did the math and said, "It's still early, probably in about six months."
She earns money even faster.
However, the news of building a house gave everyone in the Lu family something to look forward to. They were full of energy and enthusiasm all day long. In just one afternoon, a small chicken coop was built. The chicks were moved from the yard. After the spring rain, light green wild grass appeared in the fields and some wild vegetables under the fruit trees began to sprout. The chicks on the hillside were let out to eat grass every day.
Every morning, Lu Yan gets up full of energy to boil water and eat breakfast. She carries a bamboo basket to dig for wild vegetables and releases the chicks from the hillside. She digs for wild vegetables while letting the chickens out, and occasionally chases away the eagles.
The chicks and ducks scurried about on the grass in the orchard, basking in the sun, looking quite content. Lu Yu and Zhao Fen would release the chickens and ducks into the orchard every afternoon. Water plants appeared by the pool in Qingzhugou, but they were quickly pecked bare by the geese. So Zhao Fen would change the location for releasing the ducks, herding them into the bamboo forest one day and into the pool the next, giving the wild grass space to grow.
With many chickens and ducks at home, the Lu family's main job revolves around them. Few people come to this side of the village, so Lu Yu and Zhao Fen spend their days mending shoes and clothes at home, unafraid of being robbed.
Wang Lan's complexion improved day by day. Since she no longer needed to take medicine, she probably felt relieved and more energetic, no longer a burden to her grandchildren. Now she can make shoes, cook, and pickle bamboo shoots every day.
Zhao Fen is now able to cook, making bamboo shoots and fish, and also cooking rice porridge for her youngest son. Now, Xiao Si is being nourished with rice porridge, fish soup, and eggs every day, and he no longer cries day and night.
On the second day of the second lunar month, the dragon raises its head. Wang Lan is an elder in the family. That noon, after the Lu family finished lunch, they boiled water in a large pot. Everyone washed their hair and asked Wang Lan to cut it. This was the only day of the year when they could not abide by the principle that their bodies and hair were given to them by their parents and could cut their hair.
The brothers Lu Yunfeng and Lu Yunxing can have their hair cut a bit longer; for men, it's usually cut to the shoulder blades, which is easier to manage. Zhao Fen took off the headscarf she always wore, and after washing and combing it, it was surprisingly long, reaching her buttocks. However, it was a bit sparse, not thick. She touched her hair, and finally gritted her teeth and said, "Mother, let's cut it a bit longer this year, just to the waist. My hair is falling out a lot."
Seeing that her daughter-in-law's hair was easier to manage and didn't fall out much after the haircut, she decided to be bold and cut her hair too. However, she wasn't as unconventional as Qin Xiaozhou and wouldn't cut her hair that short; she had been growing her hair for decades.
Wang Lan took the scissors and helped her daughter-in-law cut her hair, then Lu Yu and Lu Yan in turn, and finally even Xiao Si had a few strands cut from the back of her head.
Only Qin Xiaozhou's hair was cut by her. It was too short for a woman to cut, so she could only cut a little bit at her forehead and temples for good luck.
As February arrived, the winds grew warmer, and the weeping willow in the middle of the village was the first to sprout tender green buds. The gentle breeze rustled through the willow, creating a unique and pleasant scene. The seven peach trees planted in front of the house and along the roadside had all taken root. Since the spring rains, the withered branches had become plump, and flower buds had appeared on the tips of the branches. They were not very noticeable up close, but a hint of pink could be seen from afar.
It might be a bit colder in the back mountain than in the village. The fruit trees in the orchard haven't shown such obvious signs of life yet, but the branches no longer look as gray and withered as they did in winter; they're showing a hint of green.
Qin Xiaozhou's Sichuan pepper seedlings have sprouted six or seven small buds, each with only two leaves. She treasures these Sichuan pepper seedlings very much. When cultivating the buds, she carefully places them in a corner near the kitchen stove, where it is the warmest place. As long as there is enough water, it is the most suitable place to cultivate seeds and promote germination. After they sprout, she moves the bamboo tubes into the house, just in case these Sichuan pepper seedlings freeze to death one morning.
The Lu family members all liked the taste of Sichuan peppercorns after trying them, so they all took good care of the seedlings, and Xiao Si would carry them away from a distance.
With the warm weather, the five hens laid eggs diligently. The chicken and duck droppings that were swept up the first time had fermented for more than ten days and turned into manure. Taking advantage of the good weather, they used a rake to spread them out and dry them in the sun. The Lu brothers then carried the manure to the orchard, dug up some soil half a meter away from the roots of the fruit trees, poured the fertilizer in, and then covered it back up.
The area around the chicken coop became bare. The wild grass was eaten up by the chickens, and the land was dug up. Every day, Lu Yan would drive the chickens a little further away so that they could eat grass under the fruit trees further away.
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