Era: Started from raising livestock in the mountains

I don’t know how long I sat on the rocking chair. Happy times are always so short.

“You play with your daughter first. I’ll go prepare the food for lunch.”

After playing for a while, Xiulan got up from the chair.

“Okay, I’ll help you later.”

Lin Heng nodded.

He played with his daughter for a while, and stopped when the sun became dazzling.

“Baba, rock!”

Xiaoxia didn’t want to get off, so she grabbed Lin Heng’s hand and rocked like a spoiled child.

“Hahaha, then play for a while.” Lin Heng couldn’t bear to reject his baby daughter.

After playing for a while, he took Xiaoxia to feed the fish, and finally convinced her not to sit in the rocking chair for the time being.

Grab a handful of bran and go down, and the fish swam in front of him in groups, making the little girl laugh.

“Baba, rock!”

Xiaoxia wanted to sit in the rocking chair again after feeding the fish.

Lin Heng was helpless. She stayed stubbornly there when he pulled her away.

If you let go of her hand, she will run to the Yao chair by herself again.

"Come on, come on, I'll rock you somewhere else."

Lin Heng coaxed his daughter and picked her up.

When they got to the main room, he took out the basket from that day and used a rope to pass through the pillow to make a temporary cradle.

Putting Xiaoxia in it, she laughed again, and made excited noises when rocking.

Children's happiness is so simple.

With a creak, the gate of the yard was pushed open, and then a cute head poked out from the edge of the screen: "Second brother, do you welcome me?"

Lin Heng smiled and glanced at Caiyun: "If I say no, will you go out?"

"I originally wanted to help my second brother take care of the baby, but I didn't expect you to be so unkind, so I'll just leave."

Xiaoxia pretended to be angry and shrank her head back.

It seems that after she found that she could continue to study, she became much more cheerful.

Lin Heng ignored her and continued to help Xiulan pick vegetables and prepare to entertain guests at noon.

Soon, Caiyun came in from behind the screen again, looked at Xiulan and said, "Sister-in-law, although the second brother is unkind, you still have to welcome me. I'll help you."

"Of course, I will definitely welcome you and help you beat him." Xiulan smiled and patted Lin Heng.

Caiyun smiled even more brightly: "Sister-in-law is still the best, she loves her sister more than her brother."

She came over and teased Xiaoxia first, touched her little face and said, "Call her aunt."

"Coo, shake!"

Caiyun taught her this word many times, and Xiaoxia remembered it.

"Okay, let's shake." Caiyun smiled and pushed the basket and shook it.

"Have the eldest brother and his friends finished drinking?" Lin Heng asked while picking vegetables.

"Not yet, they are playing finger-guessing games, and it will probably take a while. I came out first after eating." Caiyun shook her head and said.

Lin Heng nodded, not surprised, drinking and bragging are also one of the few entertainment activities in the countryside.

The vegetables they picked were mainly early-ripening tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, some ferns picked by Lin's mother in the morning, and a few bamboo shoots picked from their own bamboo forest.

When they finished all these, the wine next door had not been finished yet.

Xiulan scooped some corn and went to the back mountain to feed the chickens, while Lin Heng led the sheep to the grass behind and tied them up.

After finishing, they were busy making the bed, and Caiyun took Xiaoxia to play in the backyard.

Although the things were moved in the morning, they were not cleaned up.

Lin Heng took out the straw for making the bed and built a rack in the backyard to dry it.

In this era, most places did not have Simmons mattresses, let alone rural areas.

The old-fashioned wooden beds here are filled with straw, a piece of cloth, a quilt, and a bed sheet.

As long as the straw is taken out and dried from time to time, the whole bed will be very soft.

"Help me lift this desk and move it to the window sill." Xiulan said.

"Okay." Lin Heng came over to help. His wife had the final say on how to arrange the furniture at home.

The desk was placed in front of the window, and Xiulan placed the dressing table next to it. Their bed was facing the window horizontally, with the bow against the east wall, and the wardrobe inside the bed, facing the window.

"Husband, our family's money is all in this small box. Now there is a total of 103 yuan in cash.

Seventy yuan of it is what I saved in the past few years, and thirty yuan is what you gave me when you sold turtles and eels.

I didn't bring the key to this box with me, but hid it under the desk."

After moving the things, Xiulan showed a tin box that was ten centimeters long and five centimeters wide. It was filled with valuables, including money and a pair of silver bracelets her mother gave her as a dowry.

After the display, she locked the box, put it in a drawer in the closet, covered it with something, and wrapped the only key in plastic paper and pressed it under the desk.

Before, she was reluctant to tell Lin Heng where the money was hidden and where the key was, because he was too unreliable. If he took the money away and something happened at home, there would be no emergency money at all.

But now, she trusts Lin Heng unconditionally.

"There is no need to tell me, just keep the money I give you." Lin Heng shook his head.

"I must tell you, this is our common property." Xiulan blinked her eyes. She hoped that the two of them would run the family together, instead of managing everything by themselves.

"Lin Heng, let's go to the river to shake fish and catch crabs."

At this time, the voice of the uncle came from the front yard.

"I guess I've finished drinking." Lin Heng said and walked out quickly.

Seeing his uncle and third father walking in one after another, he smiled and said, "Okay, are you sure you don't want to take a rest before going?"

He didn't care, he was just a little worried that it would be dangerous for them to get drunk and go into the river.

"No problem. It's just a pound of wine per person. It's okay at all." The uncle waved his hand and said nonchalantly.

"Are my uncle and the others going too?" Lin Heng asked again.

"They can't go. They have already slept at your brother's house and are all drunk." Lin Heng's father said with a smile.

"Okay, wait while I get a tool." Lin Heng turned around and picked up a plastic bucket he just bought, said to his wife, and left with his third father and uncle.

They both have the big hammers in hand, so they can just set off.

"You two are trying to catch the crabs." When we arrived at the Shiban River, my uncle Li Baiquan said this and took the lead in getting into the river, with his pants and shoes soaked in the water.

"I'll give him a try first!"

Snapped!

boom! !

With a low cry, Uncle Lin Heng rounded the hammer and smashed it down hard. First there was splashing water, then there was a muffled sound, and a stone the size of a washbasin in the water suddenly fell into pieces.

Immediately afterwards, five or six fish turned white and were shocked to death.

"The effect is not bad, I'll do it too!" Lin Heng's third father chuckled, found a stone and swung it down with a hammer.

Bang bang bang! !

"It killed a yellow peppercorn, this is good!" The third father picked up a more than ten centimeters long yellow peppercorn from the water and threw it to Lin Heng.

"It's indeed a good thing. If you shake the fish, I'll pick it up." Lin Heng said with a smile.

Playing with water in summer is so fun. With a muffled sound, Lin Heng happily picked it up from behind.

"I fished you out of kindness that day, but I didn't know what was good or bad. Do you realize your mistake now?" Lin Heng looked at the fish in the basin, smiled, shook his head, and sighed.

While picking up fish, he also caught river crabs. When he turned over the small stones in the river, he could see small crabs with black shells. The small ones were only the size of sparrows, and the big ones were as big as fists.

The big ones are usually old crabs, the shells and claws are yellow, and they are not as delicious as the smaller ones.

Catching crabs is either fast or slow. If you are not fast or slow, you are most likely to get caught.

If you have fast hands, you can hold it down with the pliers before it is still running away and throw it into the bucket. If you are slow, you have to catch it from behind. It is not efficient and is suitable for beginners.

A veteran like Lin Heng naturally relies on his hand speed to make a living. Although he sometimes makes mistakes and gets caught, 90% of the time.

He flipped the stone open with one hand, and grabbed it with the other hand before the crab could react.

The fish and crabs in Shiban River have been destroyed one after another by people on both sides of the river. Fortunately, pesticides are very expensive in this era, and no one uses them, so they are available every year.

Around 2000, many small rivers were cleaned up by electricians and fish poisoners, and they could not recover for several years.

"Is it enough?"

An hour later, my uncle Li Baiquan looked into the bucket.

"Enough is enough."

Lin Heng said that the total amount of fish and crabs was less than half a bucket, weighing three to four kilograms.

"No more." The uncle nodded.

Before they knew it, the three men were playing in the river for another two hours. Hunting was as addictive as fishing.

After saying that enough was enough, he always wanted to shake another stone. After shaking this stone, he felt that this fish dared to swim in front of him. It was so disrespectful and he had to shake it to death to teach him a lesson.

Anyway, I just can’t stop.

"Okay, it's almost done. The bucket is full. It adds up to more than ten kilograms."

There were not only fish and crabs in the bucket, but also a lot of snails picked up by Lin Heng. These were also good things and tasted delicious.

"Okay, let's go back." The uncle grinned and was satisfied.

By the time they got home, the clothes of Lin Heng and the others were all dry, and the Jiefang shoes on their feet were almost done.

His three uncles were all sober and were chatting in the yard.

Seeing the three people coming back with buckets, his second uncle first praised: "You three have done a great job, you have got so many things."

"Hey, the fish in the river have been very strong these past two days." My uncle immediately started blowing.

"Let's have some drinks later." Lin Heng said with a smile, went into the house and got a wooden basin, and poured the fish into it.

"Get a knife and let us help." The uncle shouted.

"Okay." Lin Heng got two knives and they handled the crabs and fish.

He picked out the snails and put them in another basin, then picked up some coarse sand with more pebbles and poured it in and shook it vigorously.

This is much faster than using a brush, and is the same as sandblasting.

After shaking for a few minutes, all the moss on the snail shell disappeared and became clean.

"Lin Heng, your method is smart." His second uncle praised, saying that they used to wash by themselves little by little with a brush, but they never thought that it could be done like this.

"Hehe, I also suddenly thought of it."

Lin Heng smiled, took out the snail, cleaned it, and went into the house to get pliers.

"Carpenter Liang just asked someone to give a bamboo basket to my family and my eldest brother's family."

Lin Heng entered the room and Xiulan pointed to the bamboo basket placed on the cabinet in the main room.

This is made of three millimeters of thin bamboo filament. It takes a lot of effort and can last for more than ten years without breaking. It takes a day to compile one, and it costs two or three yuan to sell it.

"This guy is really thoughtful. I thought he was just being polite." Lin Heng was a little surprised, but it was not a big deal. He could find him if he needed carpentry work.

When he got to the yard, Lin Heng used pliers to handle the snails. He cut off the tip of the snails, and the internal organs were pulled out, so that the meat could be easily pulled out when eating.

Under the sun, Lin Heng quickly handled the snails, soaked them in salt water and left them there, waiting for his wife to cook.

"Here, the fish and crabs are also ready." The uncle-in-law smiled and brought the fish and crabs in and handed them to Lin Heng.

"Today we have something delicious." Lin Heng smiled and took the fish. These are perfect dishes to go with wine.

The grouper and crabs can be fried directly, or they can be fried with flour and eggs. After frying, the crab shells are crispy and you can eat them all.

"Then I'll start cooking." Xiulan had also prepared the vegetables.

"You do it. I'll go call my eldest brother and mother." Lin Heng nodded and turned to go out to call people.

Not far from the door, Lin Heng saw Li Caifeng coming towards him. Just when he was about to say hello, she handed over two bundles of spinach in her hand and spoke first: "Lin Heng, congratulations on moving. My family has grown a lot of spinach. I pulled some for you."

"Oh, no, no, thank you, I have some at home." Lin Heng waved his hand and said hurriedly. He felt that the sun was rising from the west. Li Caifeng actually sent vegetables to his family.

"Oh, it's not a good thing. There are plenty in the field. Just take it." Li Caifeng forced it into Lin Heng's hand.

Lin Heng was about to speak, and she added: "What's the matter, you don't look down on me, do you?"

"No, no."

"Then you take it. I'm going up the hill to see the cows first."

"Come in and sit for a while."

"No, no, I'll come later. We live close." Li Caifeng waved her hand and left.

Lin Heng was still a little stunned when he looked at the spinach in his hand, so he had to turn around and put the spinach down.

Xiulan looked at Lin Heng bringing back two bundles of spinach and asked curiously, "Where did you get the spinach? I remember we don't grow spinach at home."

"Li Caifeng sent it to me. Isn't that strange? No, come here, you idiot." Lin Heng looked at his hands, not knowing what to say.

"Of course, it must be because of you." Xiulan seemed to understand.

"Me?" Lin Heng was puzzled.

"Of course, when my mother and I walked on the road these days, people greeted us more enthusiastically."

Xiulan glanced at him and continued, "The reason is too obvious. It's because you gave Wang Cuilian a beating. The villagers think you are a capable and cultured person, and they respect and fear you."

Lin Heng was stunned and laughed again, "Okay, I didn't notice this."

It seems that there are really more people greeting you recently.

If you think about it carefully, it seems to be the same no matter where you are. If you are weak and kind, everyone will shit on you. If you are tough and arrogant, you will be respected and feared.

Turning around, he returned to the old house to find Lin's mother.

"Mom, where's my dad?" Lin Heng asked his mother, who was chopping pig grass.

"Your dad and your brother went to the field to weed and fertilize the corn. They will probably be back soon." Lin's mother looked up and said.

"Then I'll wait for my dad. You can ask my sister-in-law to go over and help cook for Xiulan." Lin Heng said.

"Got it. I'll chop this little pig grass and go." Lin's mother pointed to the mulberry leaves in the basket and said.

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded and went to wait for his father outside the cowshed.

In this era, chemical fertilizers were not popular. Rural areas used farmyard manure, pig manure or cow manure for fertilizing corn, and wood ash for fertilizing sweet potatoes.

This is also one of the reasons why the Lin family's 30 acres of land can only provide for the food and clothing of their 11 people every year. The yield is too low.

"Lin Heng, why are you standing here?" Yang Zhaotao walked by him and talked with a smile.

"Waiting for my dad, he went to apply fertilizer." Lin Heng said casually, and he felt that Yang Zhaotao's tone had become much more friendly.

After chatting for a few words, he even gave him a cigarette.

Lin Heng took the cigarette and asked with a smile: "By the way, do you have Coriolus versicolor at home?"

Yang Zhaotao didn't know why Lin Heng asked this, and nodded and said: "Yes, I was lucky a few days ago and picked up more than a pound. I plan to store more and sell it later."

Lin Heng smiled: "So, you can sell it to me. The Liu family in the town charges 80 cents per pound, and I will also charge this price."

"Why do you collect this? Take it to the city to sell?" Yang Zhaotao didn't understand. You are the same price as the town. Unless you sell it in the city, you won't make any money at all.

And it's not worthwhile to collect a little and run to the city.

"You don't have to worry about this, just promote it to me. Collect as much as you can, and you can bring it all to me to sell. I will pay cash, and I won't owe you." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Okay, I know, I will promote it to you when I meet someone later." Yang Zhaotao nodded. He didn't know what was wrong with Lin Heng to do this thankless job.

He couldn't understand the way rich people do things.

Not long after Yang Zhaotao left, Lin's father and eldest brother Lin Yue came back carrying dung baskets.

"Dad, brother, stop it, go and eat, the meal has already started." Lin Heng said.

"It's okay, we'll pick it up twice more before going." Lin's father shook his head and said.

"Yes, it will take a while to eat, don't rush." ​​Lin Yue also said.

"Well, then I'll call you later." Lin Heng was helpless.

After another half an hour, the meal was ready, with a table of dishes, and Lin's father and eldest brother Lin Yue were also called over.

At the dinner table, Lin Heng first raised his wine glass and thanked everyone solemnly. These relatives helped a lot in building the house, and they came to give gifts today. They were really enthusiastic.

As everyone drank a glass of wine, the banquet immediately became lively.

"This crab is so delicious, so crispy." said the uncle.

"This snail is more fragrant, spicy and fresh, it's simply delicious after a bite." His second uncle prefers snails.

Lin Heng also likes this snail. Although there is less meat, the taste is really good, and it is simply amazing with this wine.

"Uncle, I toast you a glass." After eating for a while, Lin Heng raised his glass again.

After holding it together for a while, Lin Heng still had to pass a level. Today he was at his house and had to entertain him well. Fortunately, the alcohol content of the wine was not high.

"Come on." His uncle ate a crab and also raised the glass with a smile.

After a round, Lin Heng was already dizzy. Lin's father took over the job of entertaining and continued to drink. Everyone saw that he was not going well, and no one forced him to drink.

Lin Heng sat down to eat crabs and snails, watching everyone bragging and chatting, and occasionally drinking a sip.

The drinking lasted from 5pm to 7:30pm before it was over.

Except for his uncle who had no family and stayed to wait for Lin Heng to go hunting in the mountains, everyone else went home.

Lin's mother took Lin Heng's uncle and his father to the old house to rest, and his sister-in-law also helped his brother away. Caiyun stayed to take care of Xiaoxia and cleaned the table with Xiulan.

"I'll go get the straw for the bed, otherwise it will get damp." Lin Heng stood up and said.

"You're drunk, I'll get it later." Xiulan said.

"I'm not drunk, I'll walk straight for you to see, I just started drinking a little." Lin Heng said with a smile, he was still very confident in his alcohol tolerance, and he would never drink himself unconscious.

Right and wrong, success and failure are all in vain, but the green mountains are still there.

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