Chapter 86: Finding the Cow's Tracks
In the evening, Yike and everyone had a lively meal around the table. Everyone was happily talking about the interesting and dangerous things that happened when they were clearing bushes and weeds today.
For example, a grass cutter was mixed with grass and almost cut by his own sickle; a bush cutter used too much force and almost fell on the root of the bush; when seeing a rabbit hole, one should remember that a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and not just surround one hole; when seeing a snake hole, one should look for a soft stick; when seeing a beehive, one should squat and walk away quickly. Let's sum up our experience and pay attention to these when we do it again tomorrow.
After a day's work, the body is very tired, but everyone is happy in their hearts. At the end, she poured everyone a small glass of wine to drink, which would help to restore physical strength for tomorrow. Ma Shoucai and Wang Feng were so happy that they shouted that the sister-in-law was the best.
The next day, everyone actively cleared the bushes and weeds. With the experience gained from the first day of work, they worked much faster today than yesterday.
Yi Ke did not go to cut the weeds anymore. Instead, he put on his bow and arrow, took the special knife and went to check if there was any prey in the trap.
Du Jiankang originally wanted to go with her, but Yi Ke refused to agree no matter what. It was a joke. If he followed her with his frail body, what if he encountered prey? Should he kill the prey or protect him?
Du Qingcang was worried about him going with him, and originally wanted to go with Yike, but Yike stopped him and said no one was allowed to accompany her. She could go alone before, and she could still go now.
Yike went alone with his tools to check the trap. I didn't expect that there really were animals, a pheasant, a little fox, and a big white rabbit. I was so happy. The happiest people were the four young men Ma Youcai, Wang Feng, Liu Bing and Dong Guoqing, because they had never eaten fox meat.
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After several days of land reclamation, four young men, Ma Youcai, Wang Feng, Liu Bing and Dong Guoqing, had blisters on their hands. Even though they were given medicine to wipe their hands every night, the blisters still increased.
Now the reclaimed land is getting closer and closer to the foot of the mountain, and there are more thorny shrubs. Unlike the side near the stream where there are more weeds and the bushes are not very thick, now the shrubs are not only numerous, but also thick. It takes a lot of effort to cut down a clump of bushes.
The four young men, Ma Youcai, Wang Feng, Liu Bing and Dong Guoqing, have never done such hard farm work outside the mountains. No, basically they don't do farm work. They are busy reselling on the black market every other day, so they have never suffered such hardship.
They decided to take a day off, but the four young men, Ma Youcai, Wang Feng, Liu Bing and Dong Guoqing, refused to agree no matter what. In their words, they had to catch the last train for sowing.
Liu Bing also said: "Before, we had no food and almost starved to death. It was my elder brother who bought me a big bun and took me to follow Brother Tang. From then on, I had enough food to eat. We helped my elder brother to open up wasteland, so a few blood bubbles are nothing."
Ma Shoucai also said: "Little sister-in-law, don't worry, if we really can't work anymore, we will rest without you telling us."
Yike had no choice but to agree to let them continue to open up the wasteland. However, Yike took out a piece of wolf skin that Ziyi had stored and made a pair of leather gloves for each of them. The fingers of the leather gloves were exposed so that they would be more flexible when using machetes and sickles. He also made a pair for Du Qingcang and others. Everyone was moved by Yi Ke's concern.
In the past few days, Du Qingcang's family ate with Yi Ke and his family. Du Qingcang took out the rice he bought, and ate wolf meat he had killed last time, or prey caught in traps. Du Qingcang's original intention was to pay the living expenses, because apart from the rice he bought last time, there was nothing else to eat at home. Thinking of the few hundred yuan from selling the wolf, he thought about paying the money and criticized Yi Ke severely.
"Godfather, am I your goddaughter?" Yi Ke glared at Du Qingcang and asked, as if he would get angry if Du Qingcang dared to say no.
"Of course it is. Whoever says it isn't will be punished by me." Du Qingcang answered affirmatively.
"Do you agree if your goddaughter lives in your home?" Yike continued to ask.
"I agree, of course I agree. You can stay as long as you want." Although Du Qingcang didn't know what Yi Ke was going to say, he still answered honestly.
"Then I want to eat your meals and drink your soup. Do you agree?" Yi Ke asked again.
"Of course, you are my goddaughter. In fact, your godmother and I treat you as our own daughter. When godfather builds the house, you can stay here as long as you want, and godfather will bring you whatever you want to eat." Du Qingcang felt ashamed when he thought that he was now eating and living in Ziyi's house.
"Godfather, you are trying to deceive me with your words. In your heart, you still treat me as an outsider." Yi Ke said pretending to be sad.
"No, no, absolutely not. Why would you think so? What do you want to believe it?" Du Qingcang was so anxious that he almost swore and called the police.
"But a father has to pay for a meal at his daughter's house. There is no such thing in the world. Only outsiders pay for meals. But if you say you have to pay for the meal, doesn't that mean you don't treat me as your daughter?" Yi Ke said deliberately in confusion
"This, this," Du Qingcang turned around on the spot, still unable to think of a good way to explain, and could only look at Yi Ke pitifully.
"Godfather, I know what you mean. You just feel like you're taking advantage of us by having meals with us every day." Yike analyzed, and Du Qingcang nodded repeatedly. "Then let's think about it from another perspective. You see, godmother comes back to help feed the chickens, ducks, and pigs, and she also has to help in the vegetable garden to water, weed, and fertilize, and she also helps with the laundry. Godfather is also not idle, didn't you pick up those dry firewood? You helped with so much work, and none of us took advantage of us, right? What's more, I'm your goddaughter. In your daughter's home, even if you do nothing, you should still be given meals. So, if you really treat me as your own daughter, then get rid of that idea that eating meals with us is taking advantage of you. If brother Jiankang has no objection, I'm willing to take care of you in your old age." Yike gave a long speech, and she didn't believe that she couldn't convince them.
"Sister, your brother is still here! Don't even think about taking care of your parents." Du Jiankang said, pretending to be angry.
"Yes! Forget about the retirement care, we will eat together with you for the time being. I won't give you any money, but the rice and flour we bought last time can be put in the kitchen for use." Du Qingcang said with tears in his eyes.
"That's right, godfather, we have an agreement. You have to live with us until your wasteland is harvested." Yike hugged Du Qingcang's arm and acted coquettishly: "Actually, I have my own selfish motives. I don't like to clean the chickens and ducks every day. It's great to have godmother to help me!"
"Sweet talk! Don't think I don't know that you and your godmother do it together every time. If you really don't like it, let your brother and your godmother do the cleaning in the future." Du Qingcang knew that this was a way to reassure him.
"Okay! Brother Jiankang, from now on you will be the one to smell the stinky things." Yike said with a smile.
"Everything is up to my sister. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west." Du Kang deliberately made a fuss.
"Okay! Brother, listen to my command now, turn left and move forward, don't stop."
"Okay! Turn left and move forward." Du Jiankang took the machete and put on a backpack filled with the lunch ingredients prepared by Zhang Yuling. He walked towards Tunnel No. 2, and the day's land reclamation began again.
Yi Ke did not go with the others to reclaim the wasteland today. She had other plans, a plan she started thinking of yesterday when she was digging tree roots in the wasteland with a hoe.
When she dug with a hoe, the hoe was only halfway into the soil. The soil was too hard. If she dug with human power, how long would it take to dig out the wasteland? Not to mention catching the last bus for sowing, I'm afraid I won't even be able to touch the back of the bus.
So Yi Ke decided to go to the forest to see if there were any cows, horses, donkeys or other animals that could help pull the plow. Of course, she didn't tell anyone else about her plan. She just said that she was going to set out to the trap today to see if there were any prey. Everyone believed her and told her to be careful before going out to open up the wasteland.
One can bring a bow and arrow and a knife, smear powder on his body to cover up the human odor, wear a medicine bag to protect against poisonous snakes, insects and ants, and carry a homemade mountaineering bag with a bundle of nylon ropes and a net in the bag. The most important thing was the big jar of chili powder and several packets of poison and drugs, which made people who didn't know the truth think she was going to do something bad. Finally, she left a letter on the table, which roughly said that she was going into the forest to take a look and might not be back for three or two days. After doing all this, Yi Ke headed towards the inner area of Longshan.
The route she took this time was not the same one she had taken before, but she was also walking towards an area with abundant water and grass. Because cows eat grass and need to drink water from streams, she only goes to places where there are streams.
Yike's body has recovered now. He is much stronger than last year in both physical strength and height. When I escaped last year, I was so skinny that I would feel dizzy after walking for half an hour. Now I can walk for a whole day and still feel energetic. I have also grown a lot taller.
Now when she walks in the forest, she cuts down the bushes and thorns that block her way with a knife. She also cuts down the tall and dense weeds with a sickle. They will no longer drill holes under her like they did last year.
After walking for about four hours, Yike heard the sound of rushing water. She walked over happily and found that it was actually a small waterfall. There was a pool under the waterfall and many messy footprints around the pool.
You can lie down in the weeds, listen carefully to the sounds around you, and carefully observe the dense weeds to see if there are other animals hiding in them.
The surroundings were so quiet that even the rustling of leaves in the wind could be heard. Yike then dared to go forward to check what kind of animal footprints there were. Yike recognized at a glance the heart-shaped footprints that were the size of an adult's palm. These were cow footprints, indicating that a cow came here to drink water.
Following the cow's footprints, we saw a group of cows in a valley, at least thirty of them, big and small. There are unknown wild grasses growing in the valley. The weeds look very soft, no wonder cows like to eat them. From the piles of cow dung in the valley, we know that this is a place where cows often come, and this may be the cow’s home.
Finding the cows should have been a happy thing, but I was worried because there were too many cows. She couldn't deal with them alone, and she didn't want to alarm them. What if they ran away and didn't come back, where would she find them?
Yes, I wanted to catch them all in one fell swoop, but in the end I came back empty-handed.
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