Return to the small mountain village in 1986

Chapter 296 Going back to the village and selling pigs

As soon as the tractor entered the village, I felt that the atmosphere was different from before. The air was full of joy, and the children were all over the village. Of course, even if the children were mischievous, the adults stopped beating and scolding. The son became inclusive.

The tractor stopped at the entrance of the village, Gao Shufang and Gao Mingli got out of the car first, each carrying their own things, the bags were all bulging.

"Second brother, second sister-in-law, fourth brother and I are going back first." Gao Shufang obediently waved goodbye to Gao Mingcheng and the others.

"En." Gao Mingcheng responded, seeing them walking towards their parents' house along the path, he started the car and continued to drive to Niuwei Ridge. Along the way, he kept saying hello to people.

On the tractor's body, Many Mei sat quietly, her eyes were full of excitement looking at the long-lost village.

Since the opening of the clothing store, she hasn't been back to the village. She has been away from the village for nearly two months, and she still misses it in her heart.

When I got back home, the longing in my heart reached its peak.

Heihu and Elf had heard the sound early on, and rushed towards the tractor, welcoming the owner immediately.

"Black tiger, elf." Duomei stroked the heads of the two dogs, happily playing with them, but the two dogs were not satisfied, and kept rubbing against Gao Mingcheng's side.

Gao Mingcheng was moving the things in the cart into the house, but he didn't have time to pay attention to them. He just kicked the two dogs lightly with his feet and said, "Go aside, I will come to play with you later!"

Many beauties Gao Mingcheng moved heavy things, and he was not idle, helping to move the lighter ones out of the car, and also had to carry water for sanitation.

Although Gao Mingcheng would go back to the village every five or six days, especially when he stayed there for two days last time when hunting wild boars, the house would inevitably be dusty after a period of time when no one lived in it. , Naturally, it has to be cleaned inside and out.

There are traces of water on the edge of the wellhead, which may be Zhang Chengyuan or Gao Yuanjian came to lift the water.

This year's weather is dry, and there is a shortage of water everywhere. The public wells in the old village have to queue up early to fetch water. If they go late, there will definitely be no water to drink.

For this reason, Gao Mingcheng gave Zhang Chengyuan and Gao Yuanjian the key to his yard so that they could fetch water from their well.In addition, the key was given to Zhang Chengyuan to let him take care of the livestock at home. Zhang Chengyuan would come over every day to help him lead the sheep out to graze, and scatter a handful of millet for the chickens.

The chickens at home are only fed once a day. If they are not full, they can only go outside to find bugs and grass seeds to eat.

The husband and wife worked hard for more than an hour before cleaning the inside and outside of the house.

Gao Mingcheng put away the rice noodles, all kinds of candies and snacks, and a lot of wind-blown meat that he brought back, and then looked at the familiar mountain.

"How beautiful, I'll go for a walk in the mountains." After he said something, he strode towards the door. The black tiger and the elves were lying on their stomachs outside. When they saw him coming out, they immediately stood up and followed behind. behind him.

"Go, I'll take you to patrol the mountains!"

Gao Mingcheng took the two dogs to Xiaofushan first, most of Xiaofushan was still empty, only a piece of sugar orange was planted halfway up the mountain.

At the beginning, [-] trees were planted, but several died one after another. When Gao Mingcheng went up the mountain now, he found that another Shatangju tree had died, and the leaves were all withered. Most likely, it was dried to death.

He pulled out the dead sugar tangerine without any hassle, and threw it in the special pile of miscellaneous trees. When it was completely dry, he could carry it back and use it as firewood.

There is nothing to do in Xiaofushan now, but Gao Mingcheng still used a bucket to carry a bucket of water to the place where the sealwort seeds were buried. The sealwort seeds need to be stored in sand. After he collected the sealwort seeds last fall, he has been hiding them in the shade of Xiaofushan. location and keep the soil moist.

These seeds can be dug up and planted in spring.

Polygonatum is a nourishing medicinal material. It can be eaten directly as stew, or it can be processed and used as medicine. It has a wide range of uses. Gao Mingcheng plans to plant a batch of it on a large scale.

Of course, the seeds he has now are limited, and he can only slowly expand the planting range.

After walking around Xiaofu Mountain, Gao Mingcheng led the two dogs into Niuwei Ridge, but he didn't go into the deep mountain, just to check the situation of the beehives.

Beekeeping cannot be completely ignored. You must always pay attention to the situation of the beehives and take some measures in time. If the honeycomb is not good, you must replace it in time.

After Gao Mingcheng inspected them one by one, he killed some wasps. Wasps would eat bees, and sometimes they would follow the bees to the beehives, and then wait for an opportunity to attack them. Therefore, bee corpses can often be found near the beehives.

Gao Mingcheng was walking around in the mountains. Before he knew it, it was already noon, and he was a little hungry. Gao Mingcheng didn't stay in the mountains for long, and went down the mountain with his two dogs.

Before entering the house, I smelled the aroma of vegetables, and the sound of frying with a spatula also sounded from the kitchen.

"Are you back? It's time to eat. Mingcheng, go get the bucket of water, it's almost out of water." Seeing him coming back, Duomei gave orders immediately.

Gao Mingcheng responded, carrying a bucket to the well.

The well on their side is not equipped with a pump. They tie a thicker hemp rope to the handle of a bucket, then throw the bucket into the well, and then pull the bucket up with the hemp rope.

It takes a lot of strength to lift water like this.

The well in Cheng's house in Gaoming was well drilled. The water quality was good, and even if the weather was dry this year, there was still water in the well, but the water level was lower than in the first half of the year.

At the head of the well, because no cement was used to harden it, some ferns grew. This fern is also a kind of herb, and it will not affect the well and water quality, so no one cares.

Gao Mingcheng walked into the kitchen carrying water, and the last dish was just ready to be cooked.

At the dinner table, Duomei and Gao Mingcheng said: "I went to see my second sister before, and she said that someone went to the village to collect pigs a few days ago, but this year the pigs in the village have not been raised well, and they are not big. I wanted to lower the price, but no one in the village was willing, and finally decided to come to collect the pigs tomorrow morning. My second sister asked me if there was any bran at home, and said that she wanted to borrow a few catties of bran. Cook a big pot of pig food for the pigs to eat."

"Just borrow it." Gao Mingcheng said casually.

Like this, the day before the pigs are harvested, the pigs are starved for a day, and then the pigs are opened to eat the next day, so that they can eat eight or nine catties of pig food in one meal!
If the pig is bigger, it can eat more than ten catties in one meal!

And these pig foods will naturally increase the weight of the pigs, resulting in more money for selling pigs.This kind of operation can be regarded as a routine operation in the countryside. Even the people who collect the pigs know it well, but they can't say anything clearly.

But this method also has a small disadvantage, that is, the pig will howl when it is hungry, and if it is noisy, you will not be able to rest well.

Gao Mingcheng doesn't raise pigs because he finds it troublesome.

After lunch, the husband and wife were going to the village for a visit, but the places they went were different. Duomei first brought the bran from the house to her second sister, and then went to Dong Feixia's house.

As for Gao Mingcheng, he went to his parents' house first, and then went to Grandma Xi's house. By the way, he chatted with other people in the village and talked about the current situation.

As soon as Gao Mingcheng talked with people, he realized that other people in the village would also sell pigs tomorrow. Well, it seems that the old village must be very lively tonight!

When your pigs have finished braying, my pigs will bray again, one after another, which can make people sleep badly all night.

But in order to get more money from selling pigs, everyone must be happy.

Everything is fine at Grandma Xi's house, except that He Xiuman is about to give birth, her belly is already very big, and she often feels labor pains, according to Grandma Xi, this is a sign that she is about to give birth.

Women in the village almost never go to the hospital to give birth at home. Some women don't even call for midwives, and the female elders in the family directly help give birth.

Fortunately, pregnant women at this moment have enough exercise, and most of them give birth quickly. Even primiparous women will not delay for too long.

But this also has a certain risk, that is, if the fetal position is not correct and there is no way to give birth smoothly, it may lead to dystocia, and in severe cases, it may even kill two people.

In fact, the hospital already has caesarean section technology now, and people in the county will choose to go to the hospital to give birth. Even if they don't go to the hospital, if something goes wrong, they can be sent to the hospital immediately, which is more secure.

Gao Mingcheng considered this, so he pulled Gao Zhuang aside, explained the situation in a low voice, and then said: "Gao Zhuang, if there is anything wrong with your wife, you can come and call me immediately, and I will drive her to Hospital."

"Okay." Gao Zhuang had never experienced this, and had never heard of such a risk, so he became a little nervous.

Gao Mingcheng patted him on the shoulder and comforted him: "Don't be nervous, I'm just in case. Now that I have a car, it's very convenient whether I go to the health center or the county hospital. Nothing will happen. of."

Gao Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief as if he had taken a reassurance.

Yes, it is indeed much more convenient to have a tractor. Although the tractor cannot provide shelter from the wind and rain, and it is strangely cold to sit in the car in winter, as long as the heat preservation measures are taken well, there will be no major problems.

One day passed like this, and Gao Mingcheng went to the old village early the next morning, ready to help catch pigs.

The person who collected the pigs knew that everyone would give the pigs a full meal, so they came very early, so that the pigs would not have time to eat up.

But some smart people get up as early as four or five o'clock in the morning to cook pig food, and let the pig eat with its belly open. Only some lazy people procrastinate until late.

His own parents raised two pigs, but he didn't need his help. Although Gao Mingwan was still working in the transportation company and didn't come back, with Gao Mingpeng and Gao Mingli around, it was no problem to catch two pigs.

But Zhang Chengyuan's family and Grandma Xi's family may need his help.

Although Zhang Chengyuan's house is not big and the living conditions are not good, but he is very hardworking and he raised two pigs, while Grandma Xi's family only raised one pig.

When he passed by, he found that He Xiuman's complexion was not very good, and he was not energetic, so he asked a question.

Grandma Xie immediately said distressedly: "I didn't feed the pig yesterday, and the pig barked non-stop. The noisy Xiuman couldn't sleep well. It was hard to sleep with a big belly, so she made a noise! ​​Then in the middle of the night , I called Zhuang Zhuang to feed the pigs, but the pigs at home stopped barking, and the pigs at other people’s houses were still barking, there was no way, Xiuman didn’t sleep well all night.”

"Now the village is full of noise, and she can't sleep. She can only sleep quietly for a while after the pig collector leaves."

After hearing this, Gao Mingcheng also felt that He Xiuman was pitiful.

Almost every household in the old village raises pigs. Some of them can raise three to five pigs, and some of them can raise one. Think about it, with so many pigs barking at the same time, it is estimated that the whole village cannot sleep well!

It's just that if others haven't slept well, they can still persevere. He Xiuman, a pregnant woman, didn't sleep well, and her physical condition is not good.

Soon it was Grandma Xi’s turn to sell pigs, so Gao Mingcheng stepped forward to help, he and Gao Zhuang entered the pigsty with the rope, Gao Mingcheng quickly held the pig down, he was so strong that even wild boars Able to hold down, let alone a domestic pig.

After he held down the pig, Gao Zhuang took the opportunity to tie up the pig's four feet, and then the two carried the pig out.

The pig collectors stood under the most spacious camphor tree. They brought a large scale that could weigh the pigs. After each pig was weighed, it was carried directly to the truck. This is an old truck specially loaded with pigs. There were traces of rust everywhere, and pig manure was piled up inside the carriage, and there was a smell.

Someone is in charge of weighing, and someone is in charge of recording the money. The villagers who got the money are counting the money, with smiles on their faces.

After raising pigs for a year, it's finally time to harvest.

For some people, one time is not enough, and they have to count two or three times. When the fingers are dry, they will put their index fingers in their mouths to soak some saliva, and then continue to count money.

But this year, due to the dry weather, in the second half of the year, people will be short of food to eat, let alone pigs, so the pigs in Gaojia Village are generally not big.

Taking out the money for buying piglets, and taking out the money for eating pig grass in a year, in fact, I didn't make much money.

But there are not many ways for rural people to make money. As long as they can earn some, they are willing to work hard for it. In many people's minds, the labor they pay and the pigweed that they don't pay for are not considered capital. So in their calculations, they still made money.

Some people's family members are short of hands and can't carry a pig. Gao Mingcheng lends a hand to help out. They all have the same surname, so everyone is inevitably related.

After a lively morning, the pigs in the village were finally sold out.

After the loss of these pigs, the whole village has become a bit quieter. The faces of the adults are full of smiles, and the faces of the children are also full of smiles.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. On New Year's Eve, the children in the village will receive red envelopes, which can then be used to buy candy.

Just ask, which child would not look forward to the New Year red envelope?

In the afternoon, Gao Mingcheng decided to go for a walk in the deep mountains. He planned to see the animals and plants in the mountains.

The black tiger and the spirit finally looked forward to their master's return, so naturally they followed behind their master all the time, and followed Gao Mingcheng into the deep mountains.

Gao Mingcheng ran fast all the way. In the winter mountain forest, there were many dead branches and leaves, and the weeds had withered long ago, so the whole forest seemed a little empty.

When people walk in the mountains, they feel that the mountains are much cleaner. Some small animals that we used to see, such as hedgehogs and snakes, have hid and hibernated.

When I came to the place where I used to catch bullfrogs, I didn’t see any traces of bullfrogs, because bullfrogs and frogs also need to hibernate. They will dig holes and hide in them. It will wake up from the cave and make a croak to welcome the new year.

Everything looks so quiet, but everything is accumulating strength for the coming year.

(End of this chapter)