Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Chapter 103 Set off again, the father and son go to the mountains

It was already afternoon when the two returned home. Lin Heng walked into the yard carrying flour and wheat bran, and his daughter was lying on the fence of the pig badger pen, feeding the pig badgers with vegetable leaves.

"father!"

Seeing Lin Heng walking in, Xiaoxia's face suddenly showed a smile, she ran over and hugged his thigh, acting coquettishly and begging for a hug.

"Here you candies!" Lin Heng took out a coconut milk-flavored White Rabbit toffee and handed it to his daughter.

"Candy!!" Xiaoxia's eyes widened immediately, she couldn't wait to take it, opened the candy wrapper and threw it into her mouth, her cheeks bulging like a little hamster.

After giving his daughter a candy, Lin Heng carried the flour into the house and put the things on the big cabinet.

Xiulan was in the kitchen blanching the bamboo shoots she broke yesterday. Seeing her little man coming back, she wiped her hands and walked out of the house.

Picking up a towel and wiping Lin Heng's sweat, he asked, "How much flour did you use?"

Lin Heng looked at his wife's pretty face and couldn't help but twist it, and said with a smile: "One hundred catties of wheat are mixed with seventy catties of flour."

"That's not bad. Last year's wheat could only be used to make sixty-seven pounds of flour." Xiulan nodded and asked Lin Heng to dry himself. She then went to bring him some boiling water to cool down.

"From now on, our family will mainly eat rice and wheat. We can eat cornmeal occasionally. We don't need that little money." Lin Heng sat down and took a sip of water, looking at his wife and said.

Xiulan looked at him and smiled: "Anyway, the small money your wife and I earn is not enough to eat flour and rice all year round. If you have money, we will eat it. If you don't have money, we will eat cornmeal."

Lin Heng smiled, patted his chest and said, "That's not a problem. From now on, I'll be tired of all the delicacies from the mountains and seas."

"Then I'll be waiting." Xiulan smiled.

After saying a few words, Xiulan went to handle the bamboo shoots again.

Lin Heng looked at her drying the bamboo shoots and felt a little pity, so he said, "Honey, you can try pickling them and eating them."

Xiulan turned to look at him: "It's well pickled. The sour jar has soaked a lot."

Lin Heng shook his head: "I mean pickled with vinegar."

"I don't know how to do this." Xiulan shook her head.

"Save some of your blanched bamboo shoots for me and I'll do it," Lin Heng said.

"Okay." Xiulan nodded.

Lin Heng first found an earthenware jar, cleaned it and scalded it twice with boiling water, then put it aside to control the water.

Then I picked some Chaotian peppers and chopped them, cut some ginger slices, and got some green onion roots.

Cut the fried bamboo shoots into three-centimeter-wide strips through two passes of cold water, and place them on a bamboo sieve to control the moisture.

After the water is dry, you can pour it into a jar and add chopped peppers, ginger slices, green onion roots, and some Sichuan peppercorns.

Then he poured in two packets of white vinegar he just bought from the town, a lot of salt, and then added some cold boiled water to cover the bamboo shoots, and finally poured a little white wine to sterilize it.

"Is this good?" Xiulan looked at Lin Heng, wondering how he learned such a strange way.

"Yes, cover it, put it in water along the edge of the altar for three days and then you can eat it. This is called pickled pepper bamboo shoots." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll taste it in three days." Xiulan nodded curiously.

After finishing the bamboo shoots, Xiulan made lunch, a salad of shepherd's purse and gray vegetables, and a plate of shredded potatoes fried in lard.

The sun was too strong at noon, so Lin Heng asked his eldest brother to take his three nephews to swim in the river. The two of them lived by the river and naturally knew how to swim. It was good for the children to play in the water with adults watching.

After playing in the water for more than an hour, a few people went home.

"You're still knitting straw hats. You really can't take any time off." Lin Heng looked at his wife and said.

Xiulan smiled: "I can't sleep at noon, so I am idle."

Lin Heng didn't sleep either. He was taking care of his daughter while watching the "Tiangong Kaiwu". He really wanted to make a waterwheel built on the red maple mountain, and he was currently researching how to make it.

This book is quite good. Many wooden tools are very practical for making. After studying it for a while, as soon as I understood the general idea, my daughter snuggled into his arms and said, "Dad, I want to see it!"

"What are you looking at? If you don't recognize the words, I'll read you fairy tales." Lin Heng reluctantly put down the Tiangong Kaiwu and found a copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales to read to his daughter.

In fact, she couldn't understand many things now, so she just listened to them for fun. Lin Heng read them to pass the time, but instead read them to his wife, a big friend.

If there is no entertainment, reading a storybook is also a very good way to spend time. My daughter fell asleep while reading.

When Lin Heng stopped, Xiulan looked up: "Keep reading, why don't you just let your daughter read it and not me?"

"Okay, I'll read it to you." Lin Heng said with a smile, not bothering to change books and continued reading this Grimm fairy tale.

I read from the time my daughter fell asleep until she woke up. I paused for ten minutes and asked Lin Heng to drink two large glasses of water.

In the afternoon, Lin Heng and Xiulan took their daughters uphill with hoes to help plant corn. They helped finish the planting early so that Lin Heng could take them up the mountain to hunt.

It's easy to grow corn on freshly plowed land. Just make a nest thirty centimeters apart, throw in two corn seeds and cover it with soil, and you're done.

"Lin Heng, come to my house for dinner tonight." The eldest brother shouted while working.

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded without refusing.

After returning from planting, Lin Heng looked at the pheasant that was kept alone in a bamboo cage yesterday. It would still crow when people came, but the corn on the ground had disappeared, indicating that it was still eating.

I weighed it yesterday and found that this pheasant weighs three pounds and two taels. It will not grow at more than four pounds. It will not be long before I have to kill it and eat it.

In the evening, I had dinner at my eldest brother Lin Yue's house. The fried eel on a plate was very good. In addition, they also had beans and peanuts made by themselves.

After eating, Lin Heng and Xiulan coaxed their daughter to sleep and went up the mountain together, of course to catch cicada monkeys.

"There are a lot of cicada monkeys tonight." Xiulan said with emotion. She had already caught ten of them after only a few minutes in the mountain.

"July and August are the most popular months." Lin Heng nodded and said. If he shined his flashlight, he would be able to see one or two.

In this era, wild species resources are quite abundant.

After a while, Lin Heng had caught forty or fifty. Just as he was about to attack a white cicada, he suddenly saw a scorpion, grabbing a small insect and running into the hole.

"It's a pity that there is no ultraviolet light." Lin Heng shook his head. Whether you catch scorpions yourself or sell them for money, they are very good.

A pound of scorpions costs fifty or sixty yuan, but they are so hard to catch. They are khaki in color. You can’t spot them if you shine them with a flashlight and they don’t move.

But if you use ultraviolet light, the scorpion will be the brightest firefly in the dark, glowing green all over.

Often it doesn't know this yet, thinking it hasn't been discovered, so it grabs it with pliers to get it right.

Lin Heng plans to go to the city next time to see if there are any ultraviolet lamps. Buying one and catching scorpions can definitely make a small fortune.

In this era, wild species resources were abundant, and the number of scorpions was also large.

After taking one look at the scorpion that got into the hole, Lin Heng continued to catch the monkey.

There is no moon tonight, and the stars in the sky are bright, like countless pearls hanging in the sky.

After catching the cicada monkey, Lin Heng took his wife home. Xiulan seemed a little unhappy.

"Let's fry it now, otherwise it will spoil tomorrow morning." Lin Heng said and went to light a fire in front of the stove.

"Okay." Xiulan nodded. If you fry it directly, you don't need to drown it in water. You can just throw it in.

The fire was raised, and some rapeseed oil was poured. After burning, Xiulan threw the cicada monkey in. Along with the sizzling sound, the burnt smell came instantly.

Even though he had just eaten, Lin Heng was still a little thirsty and his appetite was whetted.

It was fried quickly, Xiulan scooped it up and poured it into a small basket made of bamboo to control the oil.

Lin Heng buried a piece of wood in it as fire, poured a bowl of cicadas, and said, "Come on, my wife, I'll take you to the backyard to watch the stars and eat cicadas at the same time."

"I don't want to go." Xiulan said reservedly.

"If you don't want to go, you have to go." Lin Heng hugged his wife's waist and walked out.

"Ah, the lid of my oil bottle hasn't been closed yet." Xiulan exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter."

Lin Hengcai didn't let go. He took his wife to the backyard and sat on the rocking chair under the grape trellis.

There are no vines yet, and billions of stars can be clearly seen.

Xiulan was hugged by Lin Heng and could only lean on him obediently. While looking at the starry sky, she fed each other cicada monkeys.

The bowl of cicada monkey was finished by the two of them not long after, and then the two of them stared at the starry sky silently for a while.

After a while, Lin Heng pulled Xiulan's head over and looked at her oily red lips and wanted to bite her.

"You just ate, stop it!" Xiulan held him down.

"What are you afraid of? It's the same in your mouth and mine." Lin Heng smiled and nibbled on it.

"No~"

Xiulan didn't want to, but her body became soft again and she was no longer under control, and her eyes widened.

The open-air environment made her particularly shy, so she quickly closed her eyes, pretending not to know anything, and cooperated with Lin Heng's movements.

Deep in love, Lin Heng hugged his wife directly.

"what!"

Xiulan groaned, then put her arms around Lin Heng's neck and entered the house.

The bright starlight shone in, and Xiulan's skin looked extremely white, like an egg that had been peeled.

...     The process of creating life is always indescribable, and the two of them did not rest until midnight.

Xiulan held her husband in her arms and wanted to hit him. She didn't let him come yesterday, and she still holds grudges to this day.

In the middle of playing, he lay down and stopped moving. It was disgusting to let her take the initiative.

This novel experience made her neck turn red with embarrassment, and she wished she could punch him twice now.

But looking at Lin Heng who was already asleep, she still couldn't do anything. After thinking about it, she decided to put him in her arms and suffocate him to death.

But, the man in her arms was pretending to be asleep, pretending to be in a dream and returning to her mother's arms when she was a child. Her cheeks turned red and her whole body felt soft, and she had to push him away.

After a silent night, it started to rain heavily again early the next morning. Within an hour, the rain poured down and the water in the river was muddy.

By about nine or ten o'clock, the rain stopped again, the sky was blue, and the sun was high in the sky. In less than half an hour, it was so hot that people could sweat even if they stood still.

Lin Heng held the bowl and watched this magical weather change.

In the afternoon, I went to help plant corn again. This lasted for several days. It was not until the [-]th day of the seventh lunar month that the corn in the wheat field was finished.

"Brother, Dad, corn is not enough for farming. Why don't we go to the mountains and try hunting?"

On the way home in the afternoon, Lin Heng looked at his father and eldest brother and asked.

"Okay, if you're not busy recently, you can definitely give it a try." Lin Yue nodded and wanted to try his luck.

"Okay, let's set off together tomorrow." Father Lin nodded.

Lin Wei, who was walking behind, hesitated to speak. He failed to meet the standards in the final exam this time, with [-] in Chinese, [-] in Mathematics, and [-] in Ideology and Morality.

So he was embarrassed to ask and said he would go too.

Lin Heng glanced at his eldest nephew out of the corner of his eye, looked at his eldest brother Lin Yue and said, "Lin Wei is on summer vacation too, so let's take him with him to play, or let him show him things."

"Dad, I can show you something. I promise not to run around." Lin Wei said quickly. He looked at Lin Heng with a look that was extremely grateful.

Lin Yue glanced at his eldest son, nodded and said, "You can go, but if you disobey and run around, you will come back immediately."

"Dad, don't worry. If I want to run around, I am your grandson... just beat me to death."

Lin Wei patted his chest and said.

"You kid!!" Lin Yue raised his hand and gave it to him.

Lin Heng looked at his eldest nephew and warned him again: "The wilderness is very dangerous, there are venomous snakes, venomous insects and wasps everywhere. I actually don't want you to go.

But considering that you worked very hard to pass the exam, consider it a reward for you, but you must abide by the rules. "

"Okay, Second Dad, you can tie me up and beat me if you think I'm disobedient." Lin Wei also worked hard to go hunting with the adults.

"You've decided, let's get ready. Finish it tonight and leave tomorrow."

Father Lin looked at the three of them and said.

"Dad, and brother, please prepare more brown ropes and hemp ropes. Hunting in summer requires traps. It's too difficult to find them in the forest by yourself." Lin Heng looked at his father and elder brother and said.

None of them can hunt, but they can still make some traps.

He planned to go there for ten days and a half this time. The time period was long, so traps were naturally the most useful. The probability of catching prey was definitely higher than that found by humans.

"I understand, don't worry, I'll rub some overnight." The eldest brother Lin Yue said with a smile.

When he got home, Lin Heng started to pack up. He had been preparing ropes and other things for a while. All the things he used for hunting last time were still put together.

Now there are two new things, one is a pot, a small iron pot he bought in town yesterday, which can cook meals for four people.

One is a kettle for drinking water, which is suitable for filling water and wine.

"I'll prepare something for you. What do you want to eat?" Xiulan finished feeding the pig badger and walked in and asked.

Lin Heng shook his head and said: "No need, this time I will just bring the rice and noodles and make them myself.

This time I plan to stay for ten days and a half, but the time is too short to catch anything.

So you don’t have to make food. I bought some noodles, some flour and rice, some oil and salt, and went up and made it myself. "

"So long." Xiulan was a little surprised.

"It's not that it's inconvenient to go outdoors, so I'll take you with me." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Then I'll stir-fry sauerkraut for you, get some chopped peppers and molded tofu, and it'll be delicious for you."

Xiulan said again.

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded.

Xiulan went to the kitchen to work while he continued to pack things.

After I packed my things, I played games with my daughter. She could play whatever she wanted. She would no longer be able to see her soon, so I still missed her a little.

Xiulan prepared the things on the mountain for Lin Heng, and fried his favorite bacon, fried pickled radish shreds, and cold gray vegetables.

Add in cold cucumbers, fried green tomatoes, and egg yolk soup, and you have four dishes and one soup.

"By the way, you forgot the bamboo shoots you soaked. I'll get some to eat."

The dishes were all put on the table. Xiulan thought about this and went to the kitchen again.

After a while, the light yellow soaked bamboo shoots were brought to the table.

"There's plenty of food today."

Lin Heng chuckled, took a bite of soaked bamboo shoots, and couldn't help but nod his head: "That's the taste, hot and sour, crispy, and endless aftertaste."

Xiulan also curiously took one and tasted it, her eyes lit up: "It's really good, it's different from the sour ones pickled in a sour jar."

After eating another one, Xiulan continued: "I'll make some more later, and you can tell me the secret."

"Dad, I want to eat!!" Seeing how enthusiastic the two were eating, Xiaoxia also wanted to taste it.

"It's very spicy. If you don't believe me, try it." Lin Heng took a small piece and gave it to her.

After tasting it, she suddenly stuck out her little tongue and shook her head like a rattle: "Don't eat it, don't eat it, it's spicy!"

"Here, have a bite of gray vegetables." Lin Heng fed another vegetable to his precious daughter.

While feeding his daughter, Lin Heng said: "Just do what I did that day. Pay attention to scalding the jar with boiling water twice to disinfect it, and finally add a little white wine to sterilize it."

"Okay." Xiulan nodded and took note of it.

Lin Heng buried his head in eating.

Tonight's meal was very appetizing, but the cost was a bit high.

After eating, Lin Heng took a bath and had a good rest to recharge his batteries. He would go hunting in the mountains tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Xiulan heated up the leftovers from last night. After Lin Heng ate them, he brought Xiongba to the old house.

Lin's father, eldest brother, and eldest nephew were all eating noodles in hiding under the eaves.

"Lin Heng, have you eaten? If not, there is still some in the pot."

Mother Lin looked at him and asked.

"I ate at home, you eat slowly, don't be in a hurry." Lin Heng shook his head and said.

Lin Wei finished the noodles in two mouthfuls, looked at Lin Heng and said, "Second father, what prey are you targeting this time?"

Being able to go hunting in the mountains was so exciting for a five or six-year-old child.

"I don't have any goals, just hit whatever I encounter." Lin Heng said with a smile.

His target is forest musk deer, but hunting is very luck-based, so it’s better not to lie.

"My goal this time is to hunt one pheasant and two hares." Lin Wei said, patting his chest.

"I hope you can accomplish this goal." Lin Heng smiled. His eldest nephew thought hunting was fun. After he went there this time, he would probably never want to play again.

"Let's go."

Soon Father Lin and his eldest brother Lin Yue had finished eating, and set off with their baskets on their backs.

"Be careful." Mother Lin warned.

"Don't worry." The three of them waved their hands and walked out from the back mountain, through the forest to the west of the village, trying not to let the villagers know that they all went hunting.

Otherwise, it is inevitable that some people may have bad intentions and want to break into the house and steal things.

"Should we go to the place where you last hunted wild boars?" Father Lin asked as they walked.

"Yes, it's not far from Taibai Mountain over there." Lin Heng nodded.

"Dad, is that where you dug your ginseng?" Lin Yue asked.

"No, it's another direction, but it's not very far from Sanchagou." Father Lin shook his head.

"Then you can look for them this time. Maybe you can find others."

Several people were chatting while heading towards the mountains.

(End of this chapter)