Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Chapter 71 Mother's Kindness and Son's Filial Piety
  On the 26th of April in the lunar calendar, Lin Heng woke up from his sleep in the early morning.

Turning his head, he found that his wife Xiulan had just woken up. Because there was no electricity or any modern entertainment facilities, Lin Heng, a reborn person, had completely changed his routine.

I went to bed at eight o'clock in the evening and woke up at around five o'clock the next day.

"It sounds like the rain hasn't stopped yet." Lin Heng reached out and put his hand on his wife's waist.

Xiulan nodded: "Yes, but it should be a light rain, not much."

Lin Heng smiled: "Then lie down for a while and then get up."

Xiulan looked at Lin Heng's restless hands. Before she could say anything, Lin Yang hugged her waist and pulled her into his arms.

Xiulan pressed Lin Heng's chest with both hands, blinked her eyes, and said a little shyly: "I just came here last night. If you come again, you won't be afraid that you won't be able to walk."

"Are you kidding? You underestimate me too much. I have to teach you a lesson to let you know how powerful I am."

Lin Heng was so hungry that he had to let his wife see how powerful he was seven times a night.

Although I felt sorry for him, this was too provocative.

After eating muntjac meat recently, he is very energetic.

"Oh, since ancient times, heroes have always had a hard time with beauties."

Half an hour later, Lin Heng looked at his wife with her face pressed against his chest and said, feeling a little sore in her lower back.

Xiulan blinked her eyes and said nothing, as if she was listening to Lin Heng's heartbeat.

After resting for a while, Xiulan got up first, followed by Lin Heng.

As expected, it was raining continuously and sparsely outside, and there was heavy fog in the distant mountains. The trees seemed to be much more lush in this rain.

There is nothing we can do about it when it rains, we can only do some things inside the house.

After washing up, Father Lin and others got up. It started to rain relatively late.

"Let's go over and clean up the new house." Xiulan looked at Lin Heng and said.

Lin Heng smiled slightly: "Okay."

He has no future. Anyway, he is happy just staying with his wife. After he was born again, he never thought about going out to show off his talents and change the world.

Xiulan took the key and told Caiyun that if Xiaoxia woke up, go and call her.

Then, Lin Heng held an umbrella, and Xiulan was pulled close to him, and they went to the new house together.

The courtyard wall made of loess is two and a half meters high. The wall is covered with red clay tiles. There is a wooden gatehouse above the gate. It is made of iron pear wood and painted with tung oil to prevent moisture and corrosion.

Xiulan took out the key and opened the fir door.

Crunch! !
  A sharp but not harsh sound sounded. It was the sound of the wooden door rubbing against the door pillar.
  Because the door does not have metal hinges, but relies on door piers, the innermost piece of the wooden door grows a round wooden handle, which will be inserted into the circular groove of the door pier below.

There is also a wooden handle growing out from the top, which is inserted into a circular wooden hole. These two wooden handles are equivalent to bearings, allowing the door to be opened and closed.

It often makes this squeaking sound when opening and closing.

After opening the door and walking two meters away, there is a huge wooden screen, which completely blocks the view of the yard, making it impossible for outsiders to see into the yard while standing at the door.

The superstitious saying is to block wealth and prevent it from leaking out.

Behind the screen is a corridor connecting the door of the house, which is nearly 15 meters long. The corridor is two meters wide and can accommodate two or three people walking side by side. The ground is paved with bluestone dug from the mountain.

Nowadays, only the wooden frame is erected in this corridor. Because it has been raining, the rafters above have not had time to be installed, and the terracotta tiles are naturally not laid.

On both sides of the corridor is a yard with a total area of ​​[-] square meters. Most of it is currently planted with vegetables. There are several roses planted by Lin Heng near the gate.

On the east side of the yard wall are firewood cut into one-meter pieces. The cowpeas, green beans, and cucumbers planted in the ground have all sprouted, and the peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes have also grown a lot.

After taking a look, Lin Heng pulled Xiulan and quickly walked under the eaves. The earth wall in front was specially plastered with a mixture of loess and gypsum.

Therefore, it is flat and smooth, and your hands will not get dirty when you touch it. It is not as bumpy as ordinary earthen walls, and it seems to have an extra warmth and tranquility.

Open the door and you will find the main room, also called the living room, which is the dining area. It is 18 square meters in size. The wooden ladder to the second floor is also on the wall inside the living room.

On the left side of the living room is a 14-square-meter bedroom, and on the right is the kitchen, also 14 square meters in size.

Behind the kitchen is another bedroom, 3.5 meters long, 4 meters wide, also 14 square meters. This bedroom is located in the southwest corner.

To the south of this bedroom is a passage to the backyard, and a utility room close to the living room, measuring six square meters.

Coming to the southeast corner is Lin Heng and Xiulan's master bedroom. It is five meters long and four meters wide, totaling [-] square meters. It is the largest room in the house.

As for the toilet, it was placed in the southeast corner of the backyard and dug outside the courtyard wall. There were only two squatting positions inside the courtyard wall, so there was no smell.

"Let me clean up the room." Xiulan said after entering the room.

The main room is full of wood and planks. Carpenter Liang works here. Xiulan has to clean up other rooms.

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded. He noticed that Carpenter Liang had already finished his swing chair and just needed to install it.

While his wife was cleaning up the house, he went out to look in the backyard, took a handful of wheat bran and sprinkled it into the fish pond. All these small fry suddenly swam over to grab food. There were at least [-] to [-] fish left alive in this dark group.

The irises and ferns that were planted were all alive, but the moss on the stones was partially dead. Only the side near the water was still alive.

A small wooden bridge one meter wide has been erected above the fish pond. Walking onto the small bridge and looking down from the edge of the guardrail, you will see a completely different scenery.

The wooden pavilion next to the small wooden bridge has not been built yet, otherwise it would be a wonderful enjoyment to watch the rain in the pavilion on a rainy day.

After watching for a while, he sprinkled a handful of wheat bran on the fry. Lin Heng went in to help his wife.

"Brush the wooden bed and floor with tung oil. I can handle these things on the floor," Xiulan said.

"If you didn't tell me, I almost forgot about this." Lin Heng nodded, but he still felt a little uncomfortable looking at the bluestone floor of the bedroom.

Because there is still loess in the gaps between the bluestones, I thought I would wait and find an opportunity to make them all into wooden floors.

As soon as Lin Heng went upstairs, Carpenter Liang came. When he saw Lin Heng, he smiled and said, "The rocking chair you want to make will be finished soon. You can see if it fits in a while."

Lin Heng nodded: "Okay, I feel like there's nothing wrong with it."

Taking tung oil and a brush, Lin Heng painted the wooden boards upstairs bit by bit. The smell of tung oil was very unpleasant, but there were no other better anti-corrosion materials. There was no such thing in the town where he wanted to buy waterproof paint.

But it's okay, just let it dry for a few days and it'll be fine.

After finishing painting the wooden boards upstairs, Lin Heng went downstairs and planned to paint the bottom of the wooden boards from below, so that the anti-corrosion effect would be better.

"Look, what does this swing chair look like?" Carpenter Liang saw Lin Heng coming down and showed him the finished chair.

This is a [-] meter long chair. The main component of the chair is made of yellow willow (cotinus cotinus), and the backrest and other small components are made of pine. Its backrest is made of a structure similar to that of a Taishi chair. A piece of wood is bent It is folded into an arc-shaped structure.

Therefore, its style looks very Chinese, and when Lin Heng first told Liang Carpenter, he described it according to the Western structure.

Sure enough, what you said may not be the same as what others heard.

However, Lin Heng found that compared to the angular Western-style structure, this round and smooth Chinese-style structure is simple and grand.

"It's perfect. It's exactly as I thought. It will be perfect if I hang a chain on it and it can sway slightly when I sit on it." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"I've already drilled the holes for you. Just install them when the weather clears." After receiving Lin Heng's approval, Carpenter Liang grinned.

He came on the 18th and has been staying at the Lin family for [-] days now. It is estimated that he will have to stay for another three or four days before all the work can be completely completed.

After chatting for a while, Lin Heng continued his work of applying tung oil.

By the time the work was finished, it was already past nine o'clock, and Xiulan had also swept the floor. When Lin Heng went to find her, she was looking at the soap on the bedroom window sill.

The soaps made by Lin Heng have been stored for four or five days and have become very hard. They are gray-white in appearance and exude a faint fragrance of gardenia.

"It's easy to know whether it's successful or not. Just take one and use it." Lin Heng said with a smile.

Xiulan felt a little moved and stretched out her hand to buckle. Lin Heng came over, picked up the wooden board, knocked it down, and all fifteen pieces of soap fell out.

Xiulan took a piece to the backyard, dipped it in a little water, rubbed it a few times, and small white bubbles suddenly appeared.

"You succeeded!" Xiulan raised her head and stretched out her hand, with a surprised smile on her face.

"Of course, you try to see if it works." Lin Heng said with a smile. After it is formed, there is basically no possibility of failure.

"Okay!" Xiulan nodded, washed her hands, and found that they were cleaner than ever before, and the effect was better than using soap locust.

Xiulan said with some surprise: "As expected of soap, the effect is great."

"This soap gets better as it gets older. Now is not the best time to use it." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Then I'll leave it alone."

"It's not necessary, just take it over and let mom and the others use it. I'll hand over the technology to you later and you can do it yourself." Lin Heng said.

"Is it difficult? Can I learn it?" Xiulan took the soap and looked at it carefully. It was amazing.

"Of course you can learn it, it's not difficult at all."

While chatting, the two walked towards the old house. The rain stopped at about eight o'clock, and the sun came out.

"The soap you made looks like that, but I don't know how to use it." Mother Lin was as tough as ever, and went to apply some oil on her hands with a rag before coming over to wash them.

After applying a little soap and rubbing it twice, she found that the greasy feeling on her hands disappeared.

After washing it in water, your hands become refreshed, no greasiness at all, and there is a faint floral fragrance.

"Mom, do you have nothing to say now?" Lin Heng asked with a smile.

Mother Lin curled her lips and said calmly: "It's just so-so. I haven't wasted my lard."

"Hey, a duck still has a tough mouth." Lin Heng shook his head and sighed.

The next moment, Mother Lin slapped her across the face: "When I'm your mother, I can't touch you anymore when I'm old, right?"

Lin Heng had already stepped aside to hug Xiong Ba's daughter.

Xiaoxia woke up and Mother Lin was taking care of her.

Sister-in-law Liu Juan looked at Lin Heng and didn't know what to say. She also wanted a piece of soap and wanted to learn the technique of making soap.

She was so envious of the effect of the soap just now. She could use it herself or make some to sell.

But it’s hard for her to ask for this kind of technology. After all, she can make money.

And they will be separated soon.

This made her feel more and more that there was no benefit at all in separating the family.

Lin Heng didn't notice this. The piece given to his mother was also used for experiments.

At around ten o'clock, Mother Lin started to make brunch. Since she didn't make breakfast today, she had lunch earlier.

The rice cooked is still corn mixed with rice and potatoes. The food is good. It is pork and badger meat stir-fried with shredded radish. It is a perfect dish for rice.

It was sour and spicy, appetizing, and had the aroma of fat and meat. It made his mouth slurp as he ate, but he still couldn't stop. Lin Heng ate two large bowls of rice before he stopped with satisfaction.

"Give me your daughter. You can eat." Lin Heng took his daughter over and fed her.

After eating, the hot summer sun dried the dew. Lin Heng came over and looked at Caiyun who was sitting at the door and taking a nap: "Caiyun, please help take care of Xiaoxia. I will give you a piece of soap in a few days."

Caiyun smiled: "Actually, second brother, if you just tell me, I will bring it for you, but if you are willing to give me a piece of soap, then I will thank you."

"I don't know you yet. If I directly asked you to take Xiaoxia, you would definitely say that you have work to do, and in the end you would not ask me to bribe you with soap."

Lin Heng rolled his eyes, he was here to get to know his sister.

"Second brother, I'm not that kind of person." Caiyun defended with his eyes wide open.

"Then Xiaoxia will be given to you." Lin Heng handed Xiaoxia to her. The soap was actually given to her. This was just a joke between brother and sister.

"Go ahead, go ahead." Caiyun waved her hand. She was at home alone and could read freely, which was great.

"Let's go, Caiyun is at home today, and the six of us are all going uphill. Once it rains, porcini mushrooms will come out in large numbers, and there will also be honeysuckle, which must be very beautiful."

Father Lin said with a smile.

"Dad, are you going to Shibadang ditch?" Lin Heng asked.

"Of course, that ditch has the most honeysuckle, so it must have gone there." Father Lin nodded and said.

After everyone packed up, Lin Heng and others were all carrying large baskets that could hold fifty or sixty kilograms of food. Father Lin was even carrying an extra-large basket that could hold one hundred kilograms of stuff.

Everyone also took some extra snakeskin bags, just like restocking.

"Let's go, Xiongba!"

Lin Heng untied Xiongba's rope and took it out.

Eighteen when the dog is on the river, that is, on the east side, the ditch is a tributary of Shiban River. Honeysuckle grows in patches on both sides of the ditch, attracting a large number of people to pick it every year.

Dried honeysuckle costs three yuan per pound, and three pounds of wet honeysuckle can be used to dry one pound of dried honeysuckle. The price is not very expensive, but it is everywhere on the mountain, and the quantity is sufficient.

There are people on the road carrying big backpacks, all going to pick mushrooms and honeysuckle.

"It seems that today is another flower-grabbing battle." Lin Heng looked at this scene very familiarly. It happens several times during this time every year.

"Let's walk faster, many people are going uphill." Mother Lin said, and her steps became faster.

Lin's father and Lin's mother were both the best in the flower-grabbing battle. Not to be outdone, the eldest brother and sister-in-law all hurriedly headed into the mountains.

"Let's go faster." Xiulan said.

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded, and the two of them changed directions, staggering away from their parents and eldest brother.

"It's so scary, these people came here in the morning in the rain."

Entering the ditch, Lin Heng saw the honeysuckle with their vines cut off on the stone ridge. It was too slow to pick the flowers one by one. Everyone just cut the flowers and vines back home.

This thing won't die anyway, it will grow vines again in two days.

"I'm late, I should have come in the morning in the rain." Xiulan said with regret.

"Let's go up and have a look. Maybe there are more. If not, we can only pick porcini mushrooms." Lin Heng was helpless. The people in the village were too crazy to make money.

It had just rained, and the ravines were filled with mist. It felt like a fairyland. The road was filled with the aroma of honeysuckle. Inhaling it made you feel refreshed physically and mentally, and extended your life.

"Lin Heng, you just came here, please change the place, it's not there anymore."

After walking halfway up the mountain, Liu Lan came down carrying a basket of honeysuckle vines on her back with a smile on her face.

"It seems that we can only go up to collect the fungi." Xiulan looked a little helpless.

The two of them went up the mountain, but only a few flower vines were cut on the way. It was also the kind of nook and corner where no one goes, and all the large flower vines were cut off.

It wasn't until he reached the top of the mountain that Lin Heng finally saw two untouched bushes.

"It's delicious."

Lin Heng said while cutting.

"Wang Wang~"

Xiong Ba opened his mouth and took two bites of the flower, tasted it, then vomited it in disgust, and started to have fun among the flowers.

"Go, go away."

Lin Heng drove it away, quickly cut off the flower vines and put them into his backpack.

He wanted to find one, dig it up and plant it in the yard. Honeysuckle can also be used as a bonsai, but unfortunately it grows in cracks in rocks and cannot be dug out at all.

"It seems that the only option is to go up the mountain to collect mushrooms. Go over the mountain and see if there are any more."

Xiulan finished cutting her bush and said a little depressed.

"Let's go then."

Lin Heng nodded. Before he entered the forest, he saw a delicious porcini mushroom.

"There are a lot of fungi."

Lin Heng looked up again and saw four or five more flowers in the distance.

The largest of the delicious porcini mushrooms can grow larger than a plate, the diameter of the cap can reach [-] centimeters, and each one weighs two to three kilograms.

This season, they are everywhere on the mountain. Lin Heng and others guessed that they were all about the size of a palm, with a cap of about ten centimeters in diameter. They were too big to taste.

There are not many poisonous ones in the Boletaceae family, and they are easy to identify, and most of them are gastroenteritis toxins or hallucinogens such as Jianshouqing, which will not kill people.

It is very simple to identify whether boletus is poisonous. If you are not sure about the appearance, just tear a piece off and taste it. As long as it is not bitter, it is not poisonous.

"Husband, I guess my hands are blue."

Xiulan suddenly turned around, holding a light red boletus in her hand. Its cap and stipe were both light red.

Because he was injured by Xiulan, the wound instantly turned blue-green, which is also the origin of his name Jianshou Qing.

"What a good thing. Look for it again and put it away separately." Lin Heng recognized that it was a red onion porcini, and he saw that it was one of the more delicious ones among the green onion mushrooms.

Lin Heng quickly picked the delicious porcini mushrooms he had here and walked over to help find them.

"It seems they are gone. I only found four flowers, which add up to a pound." Xiulan said with some pity.

"It's okay, we have relatively few here." Lin Heng was not surprised. There are not many of them in the Qinling Mountains, only in Yunnan.

"Keep picking up porcini mushrooms. I feel like I can't even fit them in my backpack today." Lin Heng said with a smile.

In the woods now, porcini and red mushrooms can be seen everywhere, especially red mushrooms. You can trample several of them to death with just one step.

"Wang Wang!"

After stepping on it for a while, Xiongba called to him.

(End of this chapter)