Escape from the desert

Jiang Yan looked carefully at the finished Jiangdong plow. It was the same as she remembered, only a little rough, and it would be smooth after polishing.

"It's not difficult to make this thing. We were in a hurry yesterday. We haven't tried it when it's done, but it should be fine." Uncle Lame's voice was hoarse. A little cautious.

It has been a long time since no one in the village asked him to do carpentry. During this time, he made a lot of money from making dustpans and drawers for Aunt Jiang to wooden basins, barrels and even wooden screwdrivers. Scolding, how ugly it is to speak, although I don't swear now, but the aura is also a bit domineering, making people afraid to approach people even more than before.

Jiang Yan smiled, and seeing Uncle Lame looking at the boss, she softened her voice and said: "I have done a good job, I have troubled Uncle Lame to do a lot of things during this time, if this plow does not problem, I have to trouble Uncle Lame to continue to do it later.”

"How do you calculate the price of this plow? According to how many pairs?" The things I made before were often made in the village, and the fee charged by Uncle Lame was not high, which was cheaper than in the town. .

The lame uncle patted the sawdust on his body, and the calluses on his fingertips rubbed against each other quietly. He looked at the plow frame and frowned: "It's also the first time I've made this thing. You can give me the price. It's been a while. Thanks to your blessing, our family can have a full meal, if you only need these two sets, I don't plan to charge you any money."

"Auntie, come in and sit first." The crippled uncle's daughter-in-law moved a few benches back and forth, poured several bowls of water and put them on the table, seeing that Jiang Wen was going to sit on the low stool with a broken leg, she hurried He hurriedly changed to a better one, and wiped it with his sleeve before handing it over.

Jiang Wen's temperament and humility were incompatible with them. Just looking at this person, he knew that he was not in the same world as them, so they were all a little uncomfortable, and subconsciously looked at him when they spoke.

After thanking him politely, he continued: "I drew a blueprint this morning, it's an abacus, uncle cripple, can you see if you can do it?"

The cripple uncle dragged his shrunken leg, holding an old bong in his hand, the mouthpiece was stuffed with not tobacco, but a handful of green sawdust, he took two puffs, a fresh fragrance wafted out, hoarse The old voice said: "I can do this abacus. It's the size you marked. It's a bit small. I haven't made such a small one before."

When he smiled, the flesh on his face piled up, and his thin figure became more and more slender, but his eyes were shining when he looked at Jiang Wen, this is rare for a scholar.

He has always hoped that there will be scholars in his family. He used to go to the town to learn carpentry to save money for his children to study. Who knows that in the past few years, every family in the village has not been able to eat enough for three meals. He lost his family fortune, let alone studying.

The more I thought about it, the more the old man felt that Jiang Wen was rare, and he said enthusiastically: "You are so obedient, you can draw pictures, read books, and dig the ground with a hoe on your shoulders. My son can't do anything, but he has a big mouth. Fan, your abacus, even if I don't know how to do it, I will figure it out for you!"

Jiang Wen smiled subtly: "Thank you Uncle Lame, I will trouble you, I will stay here today to help scrape the wood, and make this plow sooner."

The old man took another two puffs with a smile on his face, and said cheerfully, "The autumn harvest at home in the past two days, there is still some rice left. When my family Dalang Erlang comes back, I will go to the mountain to cut some hard trees."

"What kind of plow is this Jiangdong? Yesterday, everyone made these two pairs together. Your Dongzi also helped a lot. These two pairs are not counted as money. If you have to do it later, it will be three hundred yuan a pair." It takes four or five days to cut the tree and scrape it into shape. The two pairs can be made so quickly because they use pre-prepared wood.

Jiang Yan nodded. The price is already very cheap. Uncle Lame gave a discounted price. If it was done in the town, it would cost at least [-] Wen. Carpentry is very hard. Just look at Uncle Lame's black fingers. , The nails are rubbed flat, and the wrinkled hands with rough skin will know it.

Jiang Yan thought for a while and said, "Uncle Lame, you can calculate the price of this plow at five hundred renminbi. It takes a lot of effort to make this thing, and you have to make money. It will be promoted to other people in the future. If someone comes to you to do it, you I will also give it at this price."

The lame uncle looked at Jiang Yan in shock, and almost choked his nose with a puff of dry smoke. The price he asked for three hundred yuan was really not high. If the firewood didn't go up the mountain to cut it, it wouldn't make any money at all. He had seen bargaining, but this was the first time he saw a price increase price.

He made up his mind, and said with some hesitation: "Then if you say that...it's not impossible for me. In this way, the speed will be faster, and I can order firewood, saving my family Dalang Erlang from going up the mountain to cut firewood." effort."

Jiang Yan pursed her lips and nodded, seeing Uncle Lame's look of surprise and joy.

After chatting for a while, Lin Dong finished the finishing work, carried the plow and led Jiang Yan and the others to the field. Lin Xi had already borrowed a buffalo at this time and was waiting in the field early.

In the past two days, two fields have been turned over. Lin Xi went to drain the water this morning to divert the water to the fields. Besides this, he also had to put farmyard manure and humus in the fields. The humus is fine, and the smell is not so bad above.

Farmyard manure is different. If you don’t surround your mouth and nose, it can give you fumigation directly. But this is the only fertilizer in this era. People in the village are very expensive, and every family keeps their own land, especially It is a family with cattle in the village, and the cow dung will be kept to dry in the sun, either as fertilizer or as firewood, so it will not be wasted.

Jiang Yan looked at the pile of black and stinky feces in the field. I tried to help Lin Xi several times but was driven away by the stench. Farmyard manure sounds like fertilizer, but in fact it is all kinds of feces and urine. , I don’t know how long it has been piled up together, she forced herself to persuade herself several times but failed to get close, neither physically nor psychologically could accept it, in the end she could only watch Linxi from a distance leading a few people from the village in the field busy.

The Jiangdong plow is very easy to use. With this, an adult man can plow several acres of land in one day, and the family's five acres of land will be plowed the next day. Few people in the village are willing to spend money, so they lend their farm tools to Used by villagers.

Because there are still [-] acres of land that need to be reclaimed, and this land is far away from the Lin family village, Jiang Yan plans to order more farm tools first. People came to help turn the ground and plant rice seedlings.