Start as a farmer from an ordinary world

Chapter 113 Timely Rain

When work was over at night, the sky began to rain lightly.

By the time Wang Manyin rushed home, the rain had already started to rain heavily.

Spring rain is as expensive as oil!
Although this rain is a bit late, for the farmers on the Loess Plateau, it represents hope, at least it can relieve the dry crops on the plateau.

"Man Yin, you're back." Seeing the man entering the cave, Lan Hua immediately put down the needle and thread in her hand.

"Didn't I tell you not to do needlework if the light is not good?" Seeing the shoe samples on the kang table, Wang Manyin said helplessly.

Lanhua was busy all day before she got married, and she didn't want to be idle after getting married.During the day, the mothers-in-law and aunts in the village came to chat, and she couldn't read and study, so she did needlework with her.

From the beginning of spring to now, four pairs of mille-soled cloth shoes have been made for Wang Manyin.

This kind of pure handmade traditional thousand-layer cloth shoes is rarely seen in later generations. The method is very cumbersome. First, some thin batter or corn paste is used as glue, and the rotten cloth pieces are pasted layer by layer on the chopping board to dry in the sun, and then cut. Seamed to shape sole and waist.

Especially making soles is even more troublesome.It is necessary to constantly use an awl to pierce small eyes one by one, thread the needle back and forth, and if you are not careful, you will get stuck in your hand.

"It's okay, there are only two injections left, what shall we have for dinner?" Lan Hua neatly tidied up the kang table, got up and asked.

"Steam some rice, we haven't eaten for a while. Get a few more eggs and fry them with ground soft rice." Wang Manyin answered after thinking for a while.

It is raining outside now, and no one will come over at night, so I can finally have a generous meal.

It is said that every time he cooks at home, he feels like a thief.

But Lan Hua opened the jar of rice and took a look, hesitantly said: "Steamed rice? We don't have much rice at home."

"It's okay, I'll go to the market again in two days to see if I can buy some more." Wang Manyin replied nonchalantly.

Some time ago, there was a bumper harvest of rice in the space, and now there are more than 100 catties left, enough for them to eat for several months.

After hearing the man's words, Lan Hua's face was filled with worry immediately: "Man Yin, you'd better not go to the market anymore. Even if our family eat bran swallowed vegetables, I'm willing."

She had never been to the Shige Festival black market, but she kept hearing news about it from the women and aunts in the village.

Especially when the commune held a meeting some time ago, all members of the villages were required to attend. Lanhua saw with her own eyes those people doing business in the black market standing on the stage...

So she would rather eat poorly than have anything happen to her man.What's more, compared with other families in the village, the lives of the two of them are good enough, at least they can eat enough.

Lan Hua tried to persuade her many times in private, but unfortunately the man didn't listen at all.

"Don't worry, I have a good idea. Didn't I tell you last time, those people are actually very particular in private, they mainly catch people who sell things, and generally don't catch people who buy things... Many commune staff, also I often go shopping." Wang Manyin can only comfort in this way.

What he said was not entirely a lie. The reason why the black market can exist on a large scale and has never disappeared is naturally a set of unique operating rules.

But Wang Manyin is really depressed now, there is space, and he can obviously guarantee that his family can eat rice and white noodles, but he can only pick and choose, and let the black market take the blame every time.

But happiness comes from comparison... Lan Hua is right, compared with other families in the village, his family's quality of life is already very high.

Even compared to the urbanites of the same era, it is not much different.

At least you can eat eggs every day, and you can have meat every few days.

The rice produced in the space is chewy and has a unique fragrance, and it is served with eggs fried with lichen... Wang Manyin ate two big bowls happily.

After dinner, the couple sat on the kang separately as usual, reading by the kerosene lamp without interfering with each other.

At first, Wang Manyin's reading was purely to pass the time, but after a period of precipitation, he has completely calmed down.

After satisfying the needs of material life, people always have some spiritual pursuits.After all, there are still nearly ten years to come, and it is impossible for me to just focus on food and clothing and waste my time in vain.

What he said to persuade Liu Xiangyang is also suitable for him.Learning more knowledge to enrich yourself is always good for the future.

Wang Manyin has a clear understanding and has experienced the information explosion of later generations. His vision and insight far surpass most of his peers in this era.

Therefore, speaking in a different way, it sounded very reasonable, which attracted people around him to be convinced.

But Wang Manyin knew in his heart that his understanding of many things was only on the surface, and the depth of precipitation was not enough.

For Mr. Lu Xun's several books, Wang Manyin has completed three readings so far.The "Selected Records of the Historian" that he is reading now was obtained from the educated youth Shang Zhimin.

He heard from Liu Xiangyang not long ago that he knew that Shang Zhimin brought a lot of books when he jumped in line, and many of them were rare old editions of ancient books.

The other party was able to save it, obviously spending a lot of thought.

Of course, he was afraid of causing unnecessary trouble, so Wang Manyin didn't dare to borrow more, and only took one book at a time.

Turning to the "Biography of Huaiyin Hou" and reading it, he felt a bit sad in his heart.Han Xin definitely belongs to a legendary figure. When he was at a low point, he begged for food and was humiliated by his mother.

Once the storm rises, it will immediately shine brightly.Even the great ancestor Liu Bang said: "Even with a million-strong army, the battle must be won, and the attack must be captured. I am not as good as Han Xin."It's just that Han Xin later ended up with "the cunning rabbit dies, the lackey cooks; the tall birds are exhausted, the good bow is hidden; the enemy's country is destroyed, and the counselors perish."

***
The heavy rain lasted all night, and in the morning Wang Manyin pushed open the kiln door, and suddenly felt a breath of damp soil blowing towards his face.

Nearby, the leaves of the trees and weeds are becoming greener and greener. In the distance between the Taiyuan Mountains, the faint rain and mist are like strands of silk, which rarely makes the rough Loess Plateau delicate.

In this kind of weather, the construction site will definitely not be able to do work, just take a good rest today.

After breakfast, Wang Manyin saw that the rain was getting smaller and smaller, so he used the excuse to go to Dongla River to catch fish, planning to go to the space to catch a few small fish for a tooth-making sacrifice.

As a result, as soon as he came up with an idea, Lanhua immediately said that he would go to the river with him.

So, the two put on raincoats, barefooted, and walked out of the village with rhubarb.

The so-called raincoat is made by Lanhua from the layer of plastic sheeting in the salt snakeskin bag, which just wraps all the clothes inside.

When passing through the cliff ditch along the way, you can also see a series of turbid streams flowing, and finally merged into the Dongla River.

When Wang Manyin rushed to the river, he realized that many villagers were already guarding there.Apparently, they also wanted to take advantage of the rain to catch a few fish to fight their teeth.

Wang Manyin looked at a few fish baskets and found that there were some harvests.Most of them are loach and miscellaneous fish, only a few crucian carp sporadically.

He even saw a lot of loach seedlings three to four centimeters long... This result made him feel unspeakably happy.

My previous judgment was correct, the vitality of fish is far stronger than imagined.As long as there is water, they can survive tenaciously and reproduce.

If the Dongla River can keep flowing, there will definitely be more and more fish in the water.

It's a pity that this kind of wish is difficult to realize, and the Loess Plateau has suffered nine droughts in ten years.In Wang Manyin's memory, almost every summer and autumn, the Dongla River would fall into a semi-drained state, as thin as hemp rope.

Therefore, only digging ponds to raise fish is the kingly way.

According to Xie Gong's design, as long as the Dongla River is not completely cut off, the water pump can guarantee the water supply of more than ten acres of rice fields.

Seeing that there were too many people in the nearby shallow water, Wang Manyin was just about to take the orchids to catch fish upstream when he heard the startled cry of a broken baby not far away.

Then, someone yelled: "It's not good, come quickly, Qiu Sheng's hairy egg was bitten by something strange!!"

"Let's go over and see what's going on?" Wang Manyin yelled at Lanhua, and rushed downstream.

When the two arrived, there was already a circle of villagers around the scene, each of them exclaimed again and again.

"Damn it, what is this thing? I haven't seen it before. Why does it have four legs and a tail?"

"It looks fierce, it won't bite Maodan's fingers off..."

"Let the broken babies stay away from the water, don't be bitten again,"

Wang Manyin couldn't help but widen his eyes when he saw the thing biting Maodan's finger.

There is an old turtle in the Dongla River!

This was definitely a big surprise.

It is now April and a half in the lunar calendar and May in the Gregorian calendar. According to the seasons, the old turtle should have just finished hibernation.

"I saw a head in the water. I thought it was a loach, and I wanted to dig it out..." Maodan was crying and talking intermittently.He shook his hand hard, trying to shake off the strange thing.

It's a pity that once the old turtle bites its prey, it never lets go.Mao Dan continued to struggle, probably pulling off a piece of meat.

Wang Manyin hurriedly said: "Damn, this is an old turtle, it is very valuable. Don't drag it, I will help you get it."

While the rest of the people watched, Wang Manyin put Maodan's palm into the river together with the fish basket.

Then, he pulled a grass stalk from the bank and pierced it into the old turtle's nostril.

Under the pain of eating this thing, he immediately let go of his mouth.

Maodan took the opportunity to retract his fingers, and continued to cry from the pain.

Seeing that there was no danger, Wang Mancang moved to the fish basket curiously and looked at it: "Man Yin, this thing is called the old turtle? Turtle essence, is that what the turtle essence is talking about?"

"That's right, bastard is also it," Wang Manyin nodded in response.

This old soft-shelled turtle with a bowl-sized mouth has completely become a rarity, and a group of people gathered around to look at it.

Soon, several educated youths also rushed over after hearing the news.Shang Zhimin offered three yuan to buy the old turtle on the spot.

Wang Qiusheng hesitated, then excitedly nodded in agreement.No matter how good the old turtle is, it is only a few bites of meat, but with three yuan, his family can eat salt for half a year.

At this time, the people fishing by the river were completely boiling.One by one, their eyes widened and they searched around the water, hoping to catch a second old turtle and sell it for money.

Even the orchids were no exception, and they took Wang Manyin to search upstream.

Soon, she began to shout excitedly: "Wow, Man Yin, look... I caught a big crucian carp."

Seeing the innocent smile of his mother-in-law and aunt, Wang Manyin was a little crazy.

Thinking about it, Lanhua is just nineteen this year, and in future generations, she hasn't even graduated from university yet.

Women on the Loess Plateau, as long as they get married, will quickly become old. Mothers-in-law and aunts in their 20s are even much older than 40-year-old women in later generations.

Wang Manyin sincerely hopes that her orchid will be happy forever...

　Sorry, it's still an update today.

　　Water delivery started years ago, and it hasn't stopped until now.Something even more depressing happened today, and I started to have diarrhea.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)