Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

Pour out the rubbed ginseng seeds and rinse them in a large basin. Those that are not good will float away with the water, and the rest will naturally be good ginseng seeds with full seeds. Zhixin poured the washed ginseng seeds into the sieve and drained the water. "Okay, everything is washed, let's go back."

The children were unwilling to go back and had to play by the river for a while. Zhixin had no choice but to tell the children to pay attention, and then he and Zhiming took back the washed ginseng seeds. This thing needs to be dried quickly, otherwise the seeds inside will rot. However, it should not be dried under the too hot sun, but should be done in the afternoon or morning, so as not to burn the ginseng seeds to death. It was already late, and it was a good time to dry the ginseng seeds next, so Zhixin and the others did not delay and hurried back to find a housekeeper to dry the ginseng seeds.

Jinghan had taken off her shoes when she was stepping on ginseng seeds, and now she was playing in the shallow water of the river with her bare feet. On a hot day, soaking in the water is definitely a pleasure. There were many fish in the river, and some were swimming around Jinghan's feet. When Jinghan moved, the fish ran away. After a while, the fish came back, which made Jinghan laugh.

Jingwan and Jingxian saw the fun and took off their shoes and socks, got into the water and played with Jinghan. Jinghan rolled her eyes, bent down to pick up some water, and threw it towards her sister. Suddenly, Jingwan was wet.

"Second sister, you are so mean, my clothes are wet." Jingwan was not to be outdone and splashed water on Jinghan. Naturally, Jingxian helped Jingwan, so the two sisters splashed on Jinghan.

Wenhan and Wencheng took a look and hurried over to pull Jinghan away, but unexpectedly they were splashed all over. "Okay, I'm here to help you, but you splashed on me instead." Wen Cheng looked at his wetness and said helplessly to Jinghan.

"Second brother, it's such a nice day today, how wasteful it would be not to play with water? Come on, it will cool down even if your clothes get wet." Jinghan didn't care about that and poured water on everyone.

It was good now, and all the boys went into the water to have a water fight. For a while, the clear laughter of children rang out from the riverside. Everyone was splashing water and laughing at the same time. In the end, everyone stopped laughing and their bodies were soaked. They were all as embarrassed as a drowned rat.

"Jinghan, you madman, why are you going to be scolded when you get home soon?" Wenhan looked at the embarrassment of the big guys and said in confusion.

"What's the point? I'll probably wash the clothes later. It's okay. I'll do it for you." Jinghan was still smiling. It’s rare to relax for a while after working every day. Children are supposed to be naughty and playful, right? Although I have the soul of an adult, I also had a cheerful and playful personality in my previous life. Now that I have so many peers together, it is normal for me to be playful.

Wenhan was speechless. He looked at the sky. It was probably late. "Let's go home. It won't be so hot after a while. Be careful of catching a cold." With that, he dragged Wenchang and Wenxuan ashore. Wen Cheng pulled Jingwan and Jingxian ashore, but Jinghan walked to the shore without them. Everyone put on their shoes and socks and went home.

As soon as they entered the ginseng market, Mrs. Xue and Mrs. Zhu happened to be picking vegetables there. When they saw a group of water ducks coming in, the two sisters-in-law laughed. "Are you crazy for going to the riverside? Look at each of these, go back to the house quickly, change clothes, and throw all the clothes into the big basin. I will wash them for you tomorrow." Mrs. Xue was not angry. The children They are all very sensible and help with this and that every day. I finally relaxed for a while today, so there is no need to be angry.

Naturally, the water ducks quickly changed their clothes. After a while, they came out one by one wearing dry clothes and helped Xue and the others with their work.

"Okay, your third aunt and I can make this order. You should go play or read, don't gather here." Mr. Xue dismissed them. So Wenhan led his younger brothers and sisters into the house to study. After a while, the sound of reading came from the house.

In the next few days, people in the village also came to pinch ginseng seeds. It takes a certain amount of time for ginseng seeds to mature. Ripe ginseng seeds will fall off if touched lightly. Therefore, you should not pinch the ginseng seeds too late, otherwise you will lose a lot. Naturally, people in the village can't go directly to the river to wash like the Xu family. They usually take it home, scrub it, and then dry it in the sun.

Wenhan still had to go to town every morning, and Wencheng followed. Sometimes Zhiming asked Wencheng to get the medicinal materials for them and send them to the drug store. Jinghan, Jingwan Wenxuan and the others took the time to go to the woods to pick herbs and mushrooms. At this time, there will be very delicious mushrooms such as pine mushrooms, elm mushrooms, and tree chicken grinding mushrooms on the mountain. Generally, there are more pine mushrooms, which grow in forests with dense pine trees. They have reddish-brown caps and fat stipes, and there is often a sticky layer of mucus on the caps. This kind of pine mushroom is very delicious. If you pick it back home, remove the soil and leaves on it, blanch it in boiling water, and then fry it. It tastes smooth and tender. It would be even better if you add some soybean paste and chili pepper.

Jinghan likes to eat this kind of pine mushroom very much, so she goes into the forest every morning. If she picks more, she will dry them in the sun. Although the dried one doesn't taste as good as fresh, the stewed chicken is quite good. Furthermore, there are not many vegetables in winter, so any dried vegetables will be good.

On July 15th, the old man asked Zhixin to go back to the village to pay homage to his ancestors. Zhixin met Zhide at the cemetery. When Zhi De saw Zhi Xin, he became sad, and kept saying that he had no choice at the time, but he didn't expect that his family even sold the house and went to the mountains to see ginseng.

"Fourth brother, you don't have to be like this. Over the years, you have received a lot of benefits from the Han family. It is inevitable that you will not be tough at home. Now your sister-in-law has the final say. We don't blame you for this. Over the years, we I can't help you, so forget it if you don't want to help me. But my father and mother have been going to the mountain for several months, and you don't even want to go to see me. What's going on? You don't even want me anymore, right? Fourth, how uncomfortable do you make our parents feel? A son like you is really better off." Zhixin also felt resentful in his heart. Although it was good to be in the mountains now, it was not a long-term solution after all. If Zhide could help, where would he end up selling his house and land? The younger brother of the same mother-in-law is not even as good as an outsider. Anyone would be sad if he changed it.

Zhixin's words made Zhi feel extremely regretful, "Brother, I, alas, eldest brother went back and told my parents to just forget about raising my son." With that, he turned around and walked down the mountain.

Zhixin looked at his younger brother's back and felt very uncomfortable. Over the years, the five brothers had never had any disputes. Now that the second child is gone, the fifth child is traveling far away, and the fourth child is like this again, Zhixin couldn't help but feel sore in his eyes and almost shed tears. "Oh, the blisters on your feet are caused by yourself. It's up to you to decide what happens next. I can't help you." Zhixin said in a low voice.

When Zhixin returned to Shenchangzi, he happened to see his wife leading the children at home cutting beans and eggplants and drying vegetables. It’s past the beginning of autumn, and this is the best time to dry vegetables. If you go too early, it will be useless, and if you dry them in the sun, the hair will grow and become damaged. But it will be different after the beginning of autumn. Dried vegetables will not grow hair easily and can be stored. Living in the mountains this year, I also planted a lot of eggplants, beans, etc. in the spring. I couldn’t eat them all in a while, so it was best to cut them and dry them. In this way, by next spring, we will still have some food to eat.

Mrs. Xue is cutting beans. These beans are very wide and flat, so they are best cut into shreds. While Mrs. Xue was cutting it, Jinghan and the others took the basin and poured it on the broken mat, then spread it out to dry. Zhu's cut is an eggplant, cut into two types, one is a single piece, dried in the sun and stewed. The other type is made like an eggplant box, with two pieces connected together. After this type is dried in the sun, it can be taken out to fry the eggplant box during the Chinese New Year.

As soon as Mrs. Chen saw her eldest son coming back, she asked, "Zhixin, how are you? Nothing has changed at the other end of our cemetery, right? It's far away, so we can't take care of it. Don't miss anything there." ”

"Mom, it's okay, everything is fine. I brought a sickle and a shovel. The grass was cut and the soil was added. Don't worry, Mom." Zhixin hesitated to tell what happened to the fourth child.

She knew her son better than her mother, so as soon as Mrs. Chen saw Zhixin's hesitant look, she knew that he had something to say. "Is there anything you can't tell your mother about? If you look like that, if the children see it, why don't you laugh at you?"

"Mom, I saw the fourth child today, him." Zhixin didn't know what to say.

"Boss, stop talking. You don't have to make things right for me. I don't know what he is like? He has been manipulated by the Han family for a long time. Forget it, don't think about it, just treat it like this. Never mind having a son like that. Don't tell your father, he has a bad temper and he will get angry if you tell him. Your father is not young anymore, so don't bother him if you can. "Ms. Chen heard that it was Zhide. Zhixin will not let Zhixin talk about it anymore.

Zhixin nodded, "Mom, I understand. Then you can get busy, and I'll go take a look at the ginseng field. It's time to grow the mallet in another month. The mallet grows fastest at this time, so we have to be more careful. In previous years There are also people who come to steal sticks at this time. This thing is too valuable, so be careful." With that, Zhixin went for a walk. In broad daylight, you just need to look around to see if there are any loopholes or the like. The main thing is to see if there are any idle people around the outside of the venue, in case someone comes to step on the plate in advance.

Mrs. Chen sighed, stretched out her hand to wipe her eyes, and sighed in a low voice, "Oh, how great would it be if everyone were like the boss? Why would you give birth to such a heartless person? He doesn't even want his own parents. , I only care about my daughter-in-law and my husband’s family.”

"Grandma, we don't have enough mats, what else can we find?" Jinghan shouted over there.

Mrs. Chen heard this and turned around quickly, "Then just use a fork. Use the fork to dry the eggplant and put shredded beans on the mat. Isn't that enough?" After saying that, she went to find the fork.