Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Chapter 73 Novice Protection Period

Walking into the new house, the carpenter Liang was at work. He was planing wooden boards to make furniture today.

"Want me to help?" Lin Heng asked with a smile.

"No, I'm just finishing the boards these two days, not assembling them. I'll assemble them together in two days." Carpenter Liang shook his head.

"By the way, all the wood for the pavilion and corridor you want to build has been processed. Now we just need to install the tiles. Your corridor and pavilion are complete."

Carpenter Liang pointed to the wood placed under the eaves and said, these are all pine wood, pillars and boards made of old pine trees cut down on the mountain.

"Okay, when my dad and my brother come back in the afternoon, let them help install it."

Lin Heng put Xiaoxia down and went into the house to get tung oil, preparing to preservative the wooden boards. Those in the open air were more likely to be eaten by insects and rot.

"Baba~"

Xiaoxia watched Lin Heng brushing tung oil and stretched out his little hand to play with it, thinking it was a game.

"No, you can't play with this. Mommy will spank you if your clothes are dirty."

Lin Heng warned her.

The little girl opened her mouth and looked at Lin Heng with her big, pure eyes, stunned for a moment: "Mom... hit me, I'll hit... her."

After saying that, she reached out to grab the brush. Thanks to Lin Heng teaching her to recognize objects and speak every day, at only one year and two months old, her speech was already relatively clear.

Although he still only speaks one or two words.

"I hope you can say it in front of your mother." Lin Heng was speechless, being made unable to do work by his daughter.

After thinking about it, he went back and got the reins for plowing and a basket with a rope.

Thread the rope through a pole and hang the basket half a meter above the ground.

Xiaoxia looked on stupidly, and when Lin Heng was about to pick her up and put her in, she suddenly grabbed his clothes and refused to let go.

"Wow wow..."

The little mouth was deflated at that time, and she cried when she opened her mouth.

"Why are you crying? It's so fun."

Lin Heng pulled up the basket and waved it gently in the air. Xiaoxia cried and found that it seemed quite interesting. She grabbed the edge of the basket with her little hands and looked outside stupidly.

“Hehe(=^▽^=)”

All of a sudden, the whole person suddenly smiled again.

"Sure enough, the swing is a surefire weapon for children." Lin Heng shook his head and turned to apply tung oil.

"Bahba!!" The little girl yelled after a while.

"Here we come, shake it and fly to the sky!!"

Lin Heng knew that the swing must have stopped, so he turned his head and shook it twice.

After a while, Xiaoxia learned the word shake and shouted: "Dad, shake!"

In this way, for a whole morning, Lin Heng painted all the wooden structures with tung oil.

Xiaoxia fell asleep under the warm sun and the shaking feeling. There was a small bubble on her nose, which grew bigger and smaller.

"You are really good at raising children." Carpenter Liang praised after seeing this scene.

"Haha, the swing is a surefire move." Lin Heng smiled slightly.

When he was a child, he always wanted to have a swing of his own, so he and his elder brother Lin Yue built one in the woods behind.

It's just that the rattan used was worn out after not playing for a while, so it had to be remade.

At 12:[-], Xiulan and the others came back from the mountain.

"It's so crazy. Zhushaoya is full of people breaking bamboo shoots."

Father Lin shook his head.

"How many did you get?" Lin Heng looked at Father Lin. He didn't even have a full basket today.

"Your mother and I didn't get much, just forty or fifty kilograms of bamboo shoots. It depends on your brother and Xiulan's harvest."

Father Lin shook his head and said, the wild bamboo forest is now full of people breaking bamboo shoots.

There were too many people on the mountain in the past two days. They were either breaking bamboo shoots or picking mushrooms and honeysuckle. The pheasants did not dare to approach. Lin Heng had no chance to hunt.

"Xu'an, you handle the bamboo shoots, and I'm going to cook." Mother Lin knew it was a little late, so she put the basket down and entered the kitchen.

"okay."

Father Lin sorted out the bamboo shoots that had been processed in the forest and put them in a wooden barrel to soak.

These are small bamboo shoots about the thickness of your thumb. After soaking in water, they taste better than thick bamboo shoots.

Not long after, elder brother Lin Yue and elder sister-in-law Liu Juan also came back. They went to pick honeysuckle again today. There were many more honeysuckle than yesterday, with only a few fungi and bamboo shoots.

When Lin Heng asked, he found out that they had gone to Sanyegou.

The rice was almost ready when Xiulan and Caiyun came back from outside. One of them was carrying a basket of bamboo shoots, and the other was carrying a basket of mushrooms.

"The mushrooms you picked up are pretty good, so many good things."

Lin Heng saw that there were more than a dozen egg mushrooms and many chanterelles in the basket, but there were relatively few porcini mushrooms.

"I'm lucky today. I picked up all the egg mushrooms. Sister-in-law Xiulan picked up a lot of chanterelles."

Caiyun held her chin up, feeling quite proud of a fisherman who had caught a rare species of fish.

"Then we're going to take advantage. Let's get the egg mushrooms in and let mom fry them."

Lin Heng was a little greedy.

The people in the mountains are so poor that they can only survive by eating mushrooms.

At noon, we served dried noodles, made of egg mushrooms. The taste, the hot and sour noodles paired with the smooth egg mushrooms, was fresh and refreshing.

Adding some garlic chili and mixing it with the noodles, Lin Heng didn't care about burning it and put it into his mouth in big mouthfuls.

Only that smooth and satisfying feeling went straight to the depths of the brain, and the whole person breathed out a sigh of relief, and the hunger and fatigue all over his body were immediately swept away.

Immediately afterwards, there is a stronger desire to eat, and he will not stop until his stomach is full.

Lin Heng, who usually eats noodles but not soup, drank all the soup today.

"Cool, so cool!"

Lin Heng couldn't help but admire.

Mother Lin glanced at him and was speechless: "No one is grabbing it from you, so just pour it into your mouth, right?"

The others had just finished half a bowl of noodles, and Lin Heng had already finished two bowls of noodles.

"I can't help it, I'm born to eat so fast."

Lin Heng chuckled. In fact, this was a habit he developed when he was hungry when he was a child.

After dinner, Lin Heng told his father and elder brother that the materials for the corridor and pavilion were ready.

"After it's done, help build it." Lin's father nodded. After resting for a while, the three men came to Lin Heng's new house together.

"Lin Yue, don't tell me. You said your brother's house looks different with this decoration."

Father Lin looked at Lin Heng's backyard. It seemed ordinary before, but now that it has been repaired, it is indeed very artistic.

"Yes, it feels like sitting here and drinking tea is a pleasure. I will also build a pavilion in the yard later." Lin Yue nodded.

"It's okay, what's mine is yours, you can come over at any time." Lin Heng smiled. His original idea of ​​building this house was to be a beautiful farmhouse.

"Okay, let's start building." Father Lin said, and the three of them went to the front to move the wood.

This is a small pavilion measuring three by three and nine square meters. The four main pillars were buried a few days ago. The pillars are made of pine wood with a side length of 9 centimeters. The parts buried in the soil were carbonized and brushed with tung oil three times.

"Lin Heng, please hold the ladder up. Your brother and I will build the beam." Father Lin said, leaning the ladder against the pillar and climbing up with the beam in one hand.

There are holes punched in the columns, and the beams are passed through them, and the four columns are connected together to form a stable three-dimensional structure.

With a banging sound, all the wooden beams passed through. Father Lin added some wooden wedges to completely fix it, and then rode on the beam.

"Give me the short upright."

Father Lin said again.

The next step is to install columns of different lengths in the middle and on both sides of the beam. The middle is higher and the two sides are lower. A triangular frame is formed. Then the beams are set up and the rafters are set, and the laying of terracotta tiles begins.

Since all the wooden beams were done in advance, the direct installation was very fast. It took one and a half hours to complete a small square wooden pavilion.

Facing the small wooden bridge over the fish pond, sitting in the pavilion you can watch the gurgling stream and fish playing in the water. After putting some lotus flowers in the fish pond, the artistic conception will be more intense.

Father Lin stood in the pavilion and looked around, his eyes scanning the yard. He had been a farmer all his life and rarely put any effort into enjoyment.

Because he carries the burden of a family on his shoulders, the most common thing he says is that when I get old, I need to take a good rest, make a fish pond, build a fish pond, be self-sufficient, and travel around. But this is always just chatting. He can never be idle. Working seems to be the inevitable fate of his generation.

After raising his son, he still thinks about his grandson. When he can no longer do heavy work, he picks up garbage. He is busy all his life and completely burns himself for this country and his children and grandchildren.

"Dad, in two years I will build you a villa. You will drink tea and walk in the villa every day. It will be more beautiful than this and more chic than the previous landlords."

Lin Heng looked at his father and said with a smile.

Hearing this, Father Lin's slightly tired brown pupils first showed a hint of longing, and then turned into a faint smile on his face. He patted Lin Heng on the shoulder: "You kid, don't let me worry about you for you." Okay, don’t be unable to afford food by then, and your mother and I will still have to support you.

After building a new house, we will live a good life with Xiulan, and our family will work hard slowly. "

"Dad, I believe what I said. Let's make money together to build a big house for you and my mother." Lin Yue also said with a smile.

Hearing this, Father Lin smiled and said, "Live your own life first. Let's go to the corridor in the front yard."

Although I knew it would be difficult to realize what my sons said, I still couldn't help but long for it.

Lin Heng was also very happy. The best thing about this family is that everyone is of the same mind. Even though his sister-in-law Liu Juan is shrewd and careless, she is also very filial to Father Lin and Mother Lin.

It is also such a harmonious and warm family that makes him yearn for and full of motivation.

If it were like his eldest father's family, where the son and the father thought about sucking each other's blood every day, and one despised the husband and the other despised the wife, life would be meaningless.

When we came to the front yard, the work was done in the same way, including installing beams, erecting pillars, installing main beams, installing rafters, and installing terracotta tiles.

Lin Heng originally wanted to use straw to repair the roof of the corridor in the front yard, but he thought it would be too troublesome to replace it every year. Since there were a lot of terracotta tiles left, he could just use terracotta tiles.

"Okay, good luck and success!"

After Father Lin laid the last tile, he smiled and blessed before climbing down from the ladder.

"Do you still need to lay stones?"

Father Lin asked again, he was always like this and couldn't take any time off.

"Yes, but it's not much. I can just do it myself." Lin Heng nodded and said.

"Then let's go, we will help you until the end." Father Lin said as he took tools and went to the mountain behind to get stones.

The eldest brother Lin Yue also patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "It's not much. The three of us can finish it in a while. It will take you a long time to do it alone."

"Okay." Lin Heng was not polite.

While walking, he discussed with his elder brother about penning the pigs behind the house.

"I don't think it's a problem. It really stinks to be placed in the yard, especially in summer, when mosquitoes are everywhere. I plan to move the pigsty in our yard outside next year."

Father Lin nodded and said that he thought this proposal was a good one.

"Then wait for a good day in two days, and let's build pig pens, chicken and duck pens together." The eldest brother Lin Yue nodded, it is indeed better to build outside.

"There is no need to find a special day. Tomorrow is the right day to start building the pig pen. When I asked people to check the dates before, the first day was tomorrow.

But since the carpentry work will definitely not be finished tomorrow, it was postponed to May [-]nd. "Father Lin turned around and said.

"Okay, we'll do it tomorrow." The eldest brother nodded and said.

After the stones were moved and laid, it was almost seven o'clock. It didn't get dark until eight o'clock these two days. Back at the old house, Mother Lin was already cooking.

Sister-in-law Liu Juan is chopping pigweed, Xiulan and Caiyun are collecting mushrooms and bamboo shoots. The porcini mushrooms picked up yesterday were sliced ​​and dried completely in the sun today.

Xiaoxia was training Xiongba and playing a stick throwing game. When she saw Lin Heng coming back, she quickly threw the stick away and staggered over: "Dad~"

"Come on, baby, give her a kiss." Lin Heng picked up his daughter and stretched out her face.

"Come on!"

The little girl's pink mouth kissed Lin Heng's face. Lin Heng, who was satisfied, put his daughter on his neck and trotted around the yard.

"You just know how to show off your daughter." The eldest brother Lin Yue was extremely envious. Among his three sons, he didn't have a daughter.

Although I am very happy, sometimes I also want a caring little cotton-padded jacket. Look at Xiaoxia, how can she be like his son who only knows how to be naughty and extremely well-behaved.

But there is nothing I can do. With family planning, I have to pay a fine for having three children, and I don’t dare to have a fourth child.

And now it is impossible to have a baby. His wife Liu Juan has already had a sterilization ring.

Lin Heng chuckled: "It's okay, I'm also your niece. I'll give you a hug."

"I won't hug him." Lin Yue shook his head. He was afraid of hugging him for too long and couldn't help but deal with his three naughty boys.

"Dad, second dad, I found the rabbit!"

As soon as he mentioned his son, his eldest son Lin Wei ran in with his younger brother one after the other.

"Rabbit, where is he?" Lin Yue looked at his son and asked curiously.

"On the other side of the river, in the thatch at the head of the field, I was shooting a green-bearded fool with a slingshot. Suddenly I saw a rabbit. I wanted to hit it, but after taking two steps, it ran into the grass and disappeared. "

Lin Wei pointed in that direction and said excitedly.

"This is interesting. Let's get up early tomorrow morning and go take a look." Lin Heng nodded and said.

"Can I come with you?" Lin Wei didn't believe that his second father would take him with him.

"Of course, don't you have class at eight o'clock? We will go there at six o'clock in the morning." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Okay, second daddy, I like you the most." Lin Wei jumped up excitedly, he really wanted to experience hunting up close.

"Is it okay if he follows you? He won't scare the rabbit away, right? It's a surprise." Lin Yue was very worried.

"Definitely not, I'm very quiet." Lin Wei shook his head quickly.

Lin Heng also smiled and said: "It's okay, just hunting rabbits. If he wants to go, he can go."

Such novices often have good luck, just like those first-time fishermen who can catch big fish just by throwing their fishing rods into the water. There is really a mystery in it.

When Lin Heng said this, Lin Wei felt that his second father was closer to him than his biological father.

"I...go~"

Xiaoxia opened her mouth and waved her dirty little hands, indicating that she wanted to go too.

"Go, go, I'll take you there." Lin Heng threw his daughter up and caught her, making her laugh.

But after throwing it for a while, he couldn't hold on anymore and his back hurt.

"Bring it to me." Xiulan said after packing her things.

"Brother, do you want to catch eels tonight?" Lin Yue suggested while washing his hands.

Because of delays in building a house, they only caught eels once this year.

"Take dad with you. He is also good at catching eels. My legs hurt." Lin Heng changed the pain in his waist to pain in his legs.

"It's okay, then the two of us will go." Father Lin nodded. He was also very interested in catching eels.

"Let's eat first, it's already done." Mother Lin walked out of the kitchen and looked at everyone and said.

Dinner was pickled cabbage noodles, stir-fried six butterfly vegetables, and I drank some wine before cooking the pickled cabbage noodles.

Lin Heng went to rest after eating, lying on the bed playing with the big bad wolf and teasing his daughter. Father Lin and his eldest brother Lin Yue went to the fields to catch eels. Father Lin took an eel clip made of bamboo.

When the two left, they vowed that their target tonight was fifteen kilograms of eels. Lin Heng estimated that it would be good if they could get ten kilograms.

"We will build a pigsty tomorrow..." Lin Heng lay on the bed and told Xiulan the work he had done today.

Xiulan also told Lin Heng what she saw and heard on the mountain today, confiding in each other's feelings and chatting about tomorrow's plans.

Most days in the countryside are ordinary, eating, working, going up mountains and rivers, nothing more than that. But if two people are harmonious, ordinary days can also be warm and happy.

At around twelve o'clock, Lin Heng heard the courtyard door being pushed open and put on some clothes.

"How was it? How was the harvest?" Lin Heng asked with a smile on his face.

"Hehe, son, you will suffer a big loss if you don't come today. I caught a good thing." Lin's father smiled and said a little bit.

"What is it? What else can there be besides a turtle?" Lin Heng didn't care. Even if it was a turtle, it wouldn't be bigger than the old turtle he raised.

"It's not a turtle, it's a small tortoise." Father Lin shook his head and took out a palm-sized tortoise from behind. There were gold threads on the tortoise shell and it was all black, very iconic.

"Where was this found?" Lin Heng was a little surprised. This thing is rarer than a turtle.

"It's in the ditch next to the field. It probably ran in from the river." Father Lin said with a smile.

"It's amazing. Although it can't be sold for much, it's great to keep and play with." Lin Heng was a little envious.

"Where's the eel?" Lin Heng asked again.

"The eel is not much, only five or six pounds, and some of it ran away." The eldest brother Lin Yue said with some pity.

Lin Heng was not surprised by this: "That's good, let's go to bed quickly."

After saying that, he went back to the house, told Xiulan about their harvest, and then slowly fell asleep.

(End of this chapter)