Return to the small mountain village in 1986

"Brother." Seeing Zhang Chengyuan, Xuanyuemei and Gao Mingcheng greeted him together, and then asked about Xuanyueyu's situation.

Many of them are still in the confinement period, but in the village, there are not many women who can sit out the entire confinement period. For most people, it is considered good enough if they can lie down quietly for three days.

"Duoyu is a good girl. She has plenty of milk, and she has raised her child to be plump and fair. He is very beautiful!" When mentioning the word "beautiful", a hint of tenderness appeared on Zhang Chengyuan's honest face.

"That must be a pretty girl! She has delicate features!" Gao Mingcheng said with a smile. In her previous life, Zhang Chengyuan's daughter was considered the new generation of beauty in the village, and she was also one of the few college students in the village.

She is a woman who combines beauty and talent, so she has many suitors.

But because of this, the niece was overwhelmed by the choices and didn't finally decide to get married until she was 30 years old. But she was quite happy after marriage.

Xuanmei asked Zhang Chengyuan to take the meat and vegetables they brought back home because they would have lunch at Zhang Chengyuan's house.

I have pots and stoves at home, but they have not been used for so long that they must be covered with dust. If I want to use them, it will take a lot of time to clean and scrub them.

Xuanyuemei took Xiao Xuxu to Zhang Chengyuan's house, while Gao Mingcheng took several dogs from home into the mountains.

Instead of going to Niuweiling, we went to Xiaofushan.

Gao Mingcheng hasn't been back for a while. He is going to Xiaofushan to check on the growth of the fruit trees and the progress of the road construction.

In September this year, he bought a batch of navel orange seedlings from southern Jiangxi and planted them on the hillside on the other side of Xiaofushan. In order to make it easier to take care of the fruit trees in the future, Gao Mingcheng decided to repair the path leading to the hillside on the other side.

This matter was entrusted to Chen Dasong because he knew many people in the village and was more capable than Zhang Chengyuan.

The mountain road was difficult to walk on, but for Gao Mingcheng and a few dogs, it was a piece of cake. One man and five dogs walked very fast at the foot of the mountain.

The path was built around the foot of Xiaofu Mountain. The overgrown trees had to be cleared away, and the bumpy road surface had to be leveled to make it wide enough for traffic.

When building roads in the mountains, you can only level the ground. As for paving with cement, that is unrealistic.

But if it is not paved with cement, the road will be covered with lush vegetation in the spring of next year.

Mr. Lu Xun once said, there are no roads in the world, but when more people walk on it, it becomes a road.

This makes a lot of sense. After this road is repaired, Chen Dasong and his team will definitely pass by here every now and then. With long-term human trampling, the road surface will become solid and grass will not grow easily. Even if grass grows, no shrubs will grow.

Because when the shrubs are small, they can be trampled to death by people.

November is already early winter. Most of the leaves have withered and died, and annual herbs have also died. At first glance, it is in stark contrast to the vitality of summer.

Throughout the year, it's not just the plants that change, but people as well.

In the years, trees have tree rings, people have annual rings. Years seem to be invisible, but they are carving everything in the world with an invisible chisel, making them change.

It’s winter again, and in another month, it will be the year 91!

Judging from the international situation, many countries will be in turmoil in the next two years, and many major international events will occur.

Some people smelled business opportunities and became rich overnight.

Some people also suffer losses in international changes.

Gao Mingcheng recalled several major events, the one that he remembered most vividly was the collapse of the Soviet Union.

It was truly a grand carnival. As long as you had capital and courage, you could go to the Soviet Union and do something big!

Unfortunately, Gao Mingcheng was just an ordinary person in both of his lives. He might know some martial arts and some business skills, but that was all.

Jiangxi is more than a thousand miles away from the Soviet Union. The little money and connections Gao Mingcheng had were not enough to support him to go to the Soviet Union.

Gao Mingcheng was walking quickly on the newly repaired path, with all kinds of emotions flashing through his mind. But when he heard the sound of felling trees ahead, those vague little emotions disappeared in an instant.

Gao Mingcheng looked in the direction of the sound and saw Chen Dasong, his father and son, and two middle-aged men from the village working together to repair the road.

Some people use machetes to cut down the overgrown bushes and then throw them on the roadside to dry. After the moisture is dried, they can carry them home and use them as firewood.

Some people were digging the soil with hoes and shovels, leveling the hillock, and then filling the dug soil into the pit next to it. In this way, the ground could be leveled, and finally someone had to step on it hard a few times.

"Mingcheng! You're back now that you have time!" Chen Dasong first noticed the movements of the five dogs, and then he saw Gao Mingcheng. He placed the hoe in his hand on the ground and leaned part of his body weight on the hoe to take a short rest.

"Well, I came back to take a look. How many days have you been repairing the road? We have already repaired half of it, and the progress is good." Gao Mingcheng greeted the people who were working, and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. After opening the cigarette box, he gave a cigarette to everyone.

After someone took the cigarette, he took out a match from his trouser pocket and lit the cigarette. Seeing this, the people around him handed over their cigarettes for light.

But some people don't smoke for the time being and put their cigarettes on their ears.

This action is often done by smokers because putting cigarettes in pockets can easily damage them, but pinning cigarettes to ears can avoid this risk.

Moreover, the more expensive the cigarette is, the more you should pin it on your ear, because it is also a kind of silent show-off!
If you get a good cigarette and don’t put it on your ear for half a day before smoking, you would be wasting the money on it!
Chen Dasong took a deep puff of the cigarette. The taste of the cigarette instantly refreshed him, as if it had taken away all the fatigue in his body.

Smoking can relieve fatigue, and that’s not just talk.

Chen Dasong said, "We have been working for three days. If we finish today and work for another two days, it should be almost done."

This was similar to what Gao Mingcheng had expected, so Gao Mingcheng said, "You guys keep working, I'll go take a look ahead."

After saying goodbye to Chen Dasong and others, Gao Mingcheng led the five dogs and continued to move forward.

What’s different from before is that the road ahead is much more difficult to walk on, and you need to use your hands to push away the overgrown bushes while walking.

Among these shrubs, the most common are the small bamboos. They are small and inconspicuous, but they are so dense that people may accidentally get their skin pricked when walking among them.

Gao Mingcheng moved nimbly through the crowd and soon arrived at the hillside where navel oranges were planted.

The foot of the mountain is surrounded by barbed wire, but every few steps there is a reserved door, and through the door you can enter Xiaofushan.

Trees such as citrus, oranges, and grapefruits are evergreen species, so in November, the leaves of these navel oranges are still green.

The growth of the tree can be seen from the leaves. Gao Mingcheng looked at the newly grown leaves and felt quite satisfied. Except for a few trees that died at the beginning, no more trees died later.

Gao Mingcheng looked around the navel orange grove, and then did not go down the mountain and continue back from the foot of the mountain. Instead, he crossed Xiaofu Mountain and went directly to the chicken coop.

Xiaofushan covers a total area of ​​nearly 300 acres. Even though the straight line is the shortest distance between two points, it is not an easy task to cross Xiaofushan.

Fortunately, there are no other trees on the mountain except fruit trees, and there are many empty spaces reserved between the fruit trees. These empty spaces are covered with various weeds, but some of the grass has withered, while some is still green. There is even a large patch of Viola yedoensis, but the Viola yedoensis has not yet begun to bloom.

When the viola blooms, it will add a touch of color to the monotonous winter.

Gao Mingcheng walked quickly and soon saw a large area of ​​orange and pomelo trees.

At this time, there are only green leaves on the top of the orange tree, and no orange-red oranges!

Gao Mingcheng did not sell any oranges this year. The orange production in Xiaofushan was not particularly high. He ate some, gave some away, and wholesaled some to Huang Dazhi. Before he knew it, the oranges were almost consumed.

Of course, there were no oranges on the orange tree, not because they had eaten them all, but because they had been picked in advance and stored in the utility room.

If they are not picked, birds in the mountains will come to peck at them, and once frost occurs, there is a risk of them turning black and rotting.

However, compared to peaches, pears and other fruits, oranges are already considered good because at least they have orange peels to protect them.

As for the grapefruits with thicker skins, they can still hang safely on the treetops even now, because their thick skins are not afraid of birds pecking them!

When Gao Mingcheng came back last time, he saw the grapefruit was still green, but now when he looks at it again, he sees that the grapefruit has turned orange-yellow.

Each pomelo is as big as a ball and constantly emits the tempting pomelo fragrance.

This fragrance is not precious at all, but when people smell it, they will immediately be attracted by the fragrance of grapefruit, because it is refreshing and has the effect of refreshing the mind.

Gao Mingcheng was also attracted. He picked two grapefruits and planned to take them back to eat.

It is best not to peel and eat the freshly picked pomelo immediately. Leave it in a corner for a while and the skin will be easier to peel and the flesh will be sweeter.

Gao Mingcheng doesn’t know the scientific basis for this, but he knows the result.

It was already eleven o'clock when we returned from patrolling the mountain.

Gao Mingcheng returned home and found that Chen Duofu and his wife had moved out of the guest bedroom, so the door was ajar. When he opened it, he saw an old sheet on the wooden bed to keep out the dust.

Chen Dasong's new house has been built, but the wedding banquet has not been held yet. In order to ensure that the guests have time to come for the banquet, Chen Dasong scheduled the housewarming banquet before the New Year.

Gao Mingcheng entered the guest bedroom and picked up a bag of tea seeds from the wooden shelf inside.

He has a total of five and a half bags of tea seeds, which after shelling and drying can be sent to the workshop for oil extraction.

However, before pressing the oil, Gao Mingcheng still needs to take the tea seeds away.

Gao Mingcheng carried two bags at a time, and after three trips back and forth, he finally moved all the tea seeds under the eaves.

The winter sun is pouring down, and although the heat is average, the midday sun still makes people feel warm.

After opening the bags of tea seeds, Gao Mingcheng placed them under the eaves to dry for a while. He touched Heihu's dog head and said, "Let's go and eat some meat!"

Black Tiger seemed to understand and immediately barked, wagging his tail. He looked very happy. Seeing this, the other dogs also started wagging their tails.

Gao Mingcheng led the five dogs and walked towards the Manyu family in a mighty manner.

Before reaching the hillside, I could smell the rich aroma of meat from a distance.

When Gao Mingcheng smelled the smell, he knew that there must be bone soup stewing in the big iron pot.

Sure enough, when Gao Mingcheng arrived, he saw Xuanmei cutting winter melon. After the winter melon was cut, he opened the lid of the big iron pot, and a white mist instantly hit his face.

After the white fog dissipated, people could see clearly what was in the big iron pot. There was indeed bone soup stewing inside. In addition to the bone soup, there was also a large piece of pork belly cooking in the pot.

It turns out that many people stew the pork belly and bones together, and then take it out and chop it up when the meat is almost cooked, preparing to make braised pork.

Doing this can save time and effort.

After taking out the pork belly, Xuanmei puts the chopped winter melon into the big iron pot. When the winter melon is cooked, it becomes a pot of winter melon and bone soup!
"Duomei, are you tired of standing? Let me cut the meat and cook." Gao Mingcheng stepped forward, ready to take over cooking from Duomei.

But Xuanmei did not appreciate it. Although her belly was slightly bulging, she felt that her physical condition was good and she did not feel very tired.

"No need. The dish is simple. Just a big pot of soup, some braised pork and lettuce." Xuanyue pointed to the washed lettuce on the side. It was grown by Zhang Chengyuan. The lettuces were not very big, but they were edible and the leaves were very tender.

When seeing lettuce, many people think of the fried chicken and hamburgers made by Gao Mingcheng.

So many people asked Gao Mingcheng when he planned to open the fried chicken shop.

Gao Mingcheng had made arrangements for this. In order to open a fried chicken shop, he had already bought freezers to store the goods, but those freezers were only temporarily placed at the kindergarten.

Gao Mingcheng said: "White-feathered chickens are easy to buy. Jin Ling's family also started buying white-feathered chicken chicks to raise not long ago. I heard they are doing well. In about 20 days, they will be ready for sale."

"Lettuce is also easy to buy. This time I asked my brother to grow a lot of lettuce for our family. Judging from the size of the lettuce, it will be ready to eat soon."

"I've also thought of a name for the store, but..."

Gao Mingcheng's words came to an abrupt end, immediately attracting many beauties to look at him curiously.

Gao Mingcheng smiled helplessly and said, "As long as we have the raw materials and the formula, we can open a store at any time, but I haven't found a suitable store and staff yet!"

Gao Mingcheng was too busy to handle everything, and he was not as enthusiastic about doing business and making money as he was in his previous life. Due to his laziness, the fried chicken shop had not yet opened.

Many beauties thought that they had to rely on themselves for this matter!
So she said, "I've picked a storefront that's right over there by the county party committee. The store is owned by a student from the kindergarten. I overheard her mention it last time. She said the previous tenant no longer wants to rent it, so it's now vacant. I heard the location is good, but I haven't been there to see it myself yet."

Since many people have picked a store that they like, it will be easy. Gao Mingcheng immediately said that he would go to the store tomorrow to take a look. If the store is suitable, he will rent it first, and after decorating it, he can open a fried chicken shop. (End of this chapter)