My village can't be like this

Chapter 212 Summer Silkworm
Zhang An didn't come back last night, so he naturally wanted to call Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo at home to save them from worrying.

On the phone, Zhang An also briefly mentioned this matter.

At that time, Aunt Zhang and Aunt Zhang happened to be watching TV at Zhang An's house.

At this moment, everyone in the family knew that the matter between Zhang An and Su Ying was settled.

So today Aunt Zhang and Aunt Zhang went to find some silkworm eggs and came back, and started to make silk quilts for Zhang An.

"Auntie, it doesn't need to be so troublesome."

Zhang An's face was a little dumbfounded, he didn't really pay much attention to these things.

The two aunts finally had their slack off, Zhang An would rather they rest more than spend too much energy on it.

"It's nothing troublesome. The skills your grandma taught us before will be forgotten to her old man when we don't need them anymore."

Wang Fang and her three sisters-in-law, when they married into the Zhang family, the old lady Zhang taught them the technique of raising silkworms.

At that time, half of the family's income came from selling silkworm cocoons.

It's just that in the past two years, the people who came to collect the cocoons have disappeared, and the family has not continued to raise them for many years.

And in July and August, when the farm work is done, they have plenty of time to serve these little ancestors.

Summer silkworms are no more difficult to raise than spring silkworms.

Spring, summer and autumn are suitable for raising silkworms every year, but silkworms in summer are very difficult to serve.

Because the temperature is too high in this season, and there are still a lot of mosquitoes.

These are all factors that silkworms don't like when they grow.

Therefore, if summer silkworms want to grow well, they need to expend several times more energy than spring silkworms.

But here in Changqing, there is no need to worry too much about the high temperature when raising summer silkworms.

Because it is placed in the house, even if the temperature outside is high, the house is still very cool.

Speaking of which, at this time, it was neither hot during the day nor cold at night, and the temperature in the room was just right.

However, we still need to pay attention to the problem of mosquitoes, because there are more mosquitoes in the mountains than outside.

Moreover, these mosquitoes cannot be smoked, even a faint green smoke, because silkworms are more afraid of smoke than mosquitoes.

In Zhang An's memory, it was many years ago when the summer silkworms were raised at home.

At that time, Wang Fang had to put it under the mosquito net, for fear that mosquitoes would fly in.

As long as a mosquito flies in, the silkworm in the silkworm plaque is almost scrapped.

However, there are some advantages to raising silkworms in summer. Compared with spring, everyone will have more time.

Naturally, there is a lot of energy to take care of these weak guys.

After all, spring is busy harvesting and planting, always busy.

No matter how easy it is to raise, the crops in the field are more important to everyone.

Wang Fang saw the two sisters-in-law doing something, and wanted to raise some together.

After all, the three of them, sister-in-law, have always done everything together.

Moreover, she married into the Zhang family earlier than her two sisters-in-law, and she had learned the silk reeling and weaving skills from the old lady.

When the time comes, the silkworm cocoons raised can be used by the family to weave materials and make clothes for Su Ying.

"Other people go to the mother-in-law's house with big bags and small bags. I'm afraid they won't let them in."

Then Aunt Zhang saw that Zhang An had brought so many things back in the car, so she joked about Zhang An.

"Look at our family, Zhang An. He didn't bring anything with him when he went, and he came back as if he had bought goods. That's what he's capable of."

Watching Zhang An carry things, several people also helped hand over the handle.

"That doesn't mean that our Zhang An is liked by the mother-in-law."

Most of these things are supplements, tobacco and alcohol, and most of them are things that Chen Cheng honored in the past for Su Shaowen and his wife.

Every time Zhang An passed by, some of them would be brought back with him.

"There are still so many clothes, this set must be bought for my sister-in-law."

Holding these clothes bags, Aunt Zhang saw the women's clothing inside at a glance.

The sisters-in-law immediately took out the clothes and took a good look at them.

"Yes, Mom, these are the clothes Su Ying bought for you and my dad."

Hearing that the clothes were bought by his future daughter-in-law, the smile on Wang Fang's face became brighter.

"The young people have to be discerning. Look at the clothes, which look much better than the ones we bought. Sister-in-law, go and change them."

Usually, when the second aunt and the others buy clothes for themselves, they are most concerned about whether the fabric is good or not, and whether they can be worn or not.

Secondly, when choosing, generally choose those colors that are resistant to dirt, after all, you have to work often.

The most important point is the price, they are reluctant to spend too much on clothes.

For them, although they also like to tidy up and dress themselves up.

But I will still consider the economic situation of my family, and I want to save more money.

Even if I buy some cheap clothes, I don't want to buy a few pieces a year, as long as I can wear them.

The clothes that Su Ying bought for Wang Fang were not cheap.

Not only is the workmanship good, but the material used is also the best fabric.

And the style is also very good-looking, and now people in the city are wearing it like this.

When Wang Fang heard what the second aunt said, she didn't refuse, and immediately went back to the room to change her clothes.

"How about it, does this dress look good?"

Soon, Wang Fang changed her clothes and came out.

"It's so beautiful. Once I put on this dress, my sister-in-law will look a lot younger. The clothes Xiaoying chose are very suitable for my sister-in-law. My sister-in-law has found a good daughter-in-law."

After seeing the clothes Su Ying bought for Wang Fang, Zhang An's two aunts looked envious.

I thought in my heart, if the sons of the family are like Zhang An and find such a daughter-in-law for them, that would be great.

"This light and fluffy dress is very comfortable to wear, and it's also cool."

Hearing what his mother said, Zhang An didn't even know why the clothes were so good.

It was also because Su Ying bought it for her, so it had some psychological effects.

But seeing his mother so happy, Zhang An felt that Su Ying's efforts were not in vain.

After the three sisters-in-law finished admiring the clothes Su Ying bought for Wang Fang, the two aunts went back with the silkworm seeds.

Then Wang Fang went back to the room and changed out of her new clothes.

"Mom, Su Ying bought this dress for you, so you can wear it."

Seeing his mother continue to wear old clothes, Zhang An couldn't help saying a few words.

"There are still things to do at home, what are you doing in such nice clothes?"

For Wang Fang, such good clothes are not usually taken out to wear.

Generally, you will wear formal clothes when you go out to visit relatives, or when distinguished guests come to your door.

"What are you afraid of? You just wear it. Su Ying will definitely buy it for you often in the future."

Back at home, Zhang An didn't even want to buy his own clothes, let alone choose clothes for his parents.

But with Su Ying around in the future, such things will definitely fall on her.

"Mom knows that it's enough for you to have this kind of heart. What do you buy so many clothes? It's a waste if you can't wear them all."

"It's all good now. When your father and I were married before, each of us could wear a suit, and the rest were all made from ragged clothes."

For Wang Fang, they used to live a life without enough food and clothing.

The days are very good now, and she doesn't expect anything more.

Just talking about now, being able to eat meat every day, she thinks it is the best life.

Not to mention the mountains, even some people in the city may not be able to catch up with the living standards of their family.

"Mom, don't worry, our family's life will definitely get better and better."

Looking at his mother's kind smile, Zhang An said solemnly for the first time.

"Yeah, mom knows."

Wang Fang had no doubts about what her son said.

Since my precious son came back from school, the family has become completely different from before.

Since Wang Fang decided to raise silkworms, she had to tidy up a room and use it as a silkworm house.

For Zhang An's family, it's not a big deal, after all, Zhang An's family has many rooms.

Silkworm is a kind of creature that is very afraid of cold, so generally everyone hears about spring silkworm.

It is said to be spring silkworms, but in the absence of external influences, silkworm farmers usually choose to start raising silkworms in April and May.

And after the spring silkworms came the summer and autumn silkworms.

As you can tell from the name, summer and autumn silkworms are silkworms raised in summer and autumn.

If you start raising summer silkworms at this time, you don't have to worry too much about the effect of temperature on silkworms.

After all, it is summer, even at night, there are still twenty degrees.

Therefore, the meals prepared by Zhang An's family only need to be cleaned up, and then the mosquitoes are expelled.

After tidying up the silkworm house, Zhang An followed his mother to the old house, and moved the racks where the silkworms were raised before.

Although the wooden shelf has not been used for many years, it does not show any damage.

It's just that the top is covered with dust, and it seems that the wood is not bad.

After some scrubbing, the wooden shelf was washed clean.

After it dries, it can be moved to the silkworm house.

The shelf has been washed, and there are gauze curtains next to it.

This is the mosquito net that Zhang An mentioned earlier, and it was specially put on the shelf.

It is to prevent mosquitoes from getting into the silkworm frame.

After it was done, it was considered a rest.

At night, you can start preparing to hatch silkworm eggs.

In a week or two at most, those very small, dark eggs will hatch into tiny silkworms.

When they just came out of the silkworm eggs, they were gray-brown and very tiny.

At this time, they have a proprietary name called ant silkworms.

"By the way, where's my dad?"

When Zhang An came back, he didn't find his father at home.

And just now he went to the pen to take a look, Dahei and his family's sheep were all in the back grass dam.

So Zhang An was sure that his father didn't go out to herd sheep.

"Second Grandpa is going to the Purple Bamboo Forest to chop some bamboo and come back to make a bamboo bed. After dinner, he went over to help."

"Then I'll go and have a look and help out by the way."

Zhang An went home and changed into his working clothes, then took Xiaohu to the Zizhu Forest.

Purple Bamboo Forest is also a mountainous area, but it is full of bamboos, just opposite to Wild Boar Rock.

It's not too far from the village, just two or three 10 minutes' walk away.

In the past, Zhang An heard from the old people in the village that there was no bamboo in the purple bamboo forest a long time ago.

It was because later, a Taoist on the mountain over there brought back some purple bamboos when he came back from his wanderings in the distance.

In this way, what used to be a large area of ​​slopes turned into the current Bamboo Sea after many years.

I don't know that since then, this place has been called Purple Bamboo Forest.

No one doubted the story told by the old people.

After all, there is a Taoist temple on the mountain behind the purple bamboo forest.

Zhang An is not too familiar with it, because he often went there when he was a child.

The thing is, because of Wang Fang's health, Zhang An is considered a premature baby.

When Zhang An was born, he was very small and thin.

The little one weighed less than five catties, and many people shook their heads when they saw it.

In their view, Zhang An is not easy to support, especially in the mountain village where the conditions are difficult.

But at that time, Mr. Zhang did not give up on Zhang An, the eldest grandson.

He spent all the money in the family, soliciting accounts everywhere, buying milk powder and supplements for Zhang An, and insisted on supporting Zhang An.

It wasn't until three or four months old that Zhang An was considered a normal baby.

But even so, I still get sick from time to time.

Later, one of the oldest grandpas in the Zhang family said that Zhang An was like this because he was not protected by a bodhisattva.

If you want him to grow up safely and healthily, you have to find a godfather for Zhang An, which means godfather.

But ordinary people's lives are not hard enough to protect Zhang An, so they have to find someone with a harder life.

After asking around for the last time, the most suitable candidate was the Taoist on Zizhu Forest Mountain, called Zhang Xingxing.

After Mr. Zhang found out, he hugged Zhang An and brought the whole family to the door.

I want to ask Zhang and his party to accept Zhang An as a godson.

And Zhang and his party are also very kind-hearted, after listening to the cause and effect of Mr. Zhang.

Without any hesitation, he agreed to Mr. Zhang's request and accepted Zhang An as his godson.

It's strange to say, since Mr. Zhang carried Zhang An to give a salute to Daoist Zhang Xingxing.

Zhang An was no longer the same as before, with a fever every three days and a cold every two days.

Although she is still relatively thin and small, she has grown into a healthy adult.

After Zhang An was four or five years old, he often went to Taoist temples to find Taoist Zhang.

Daoist Zhang Xingxing also liked him very much, and told him some stories from time to time, and caught him a few squirrels and birds.

In this way, Zhang An developed the habit of climbing trees and catching birds.

It is said to be a Taoist temple there, but in fact it is just a few earthen houses, thatched houses, and a few fields beside them.

But later, when Zhang An was seven or eight years old, Taoist Zhang Xingxing went out to travel.

Until later generations, Zhang An never saw Daoist Zhang Xingxing come back again.

Zhang An has heard Zhang Xingxing say that Zhang Xingxing is an orphan since he was a child.

When he was very young, he was picked up by the previous old Taoist priest and brought here to be raised as a disciple.

And the places he most wanted to go were Mount Qingcheng and Mount Wudang.

In later generations, Zhang An also went to these two places specifically, but he never saw his godfather again.

So for Zhang An, Zizhu Forest also took up a lot of space in his childhood.

Zhang An went straight along the mountain road, and Xiaohu was already exploring the way ahead.

(End of this chapter)