My village can't be like this

Chapter 638 Sheepfold Expansion
In the rice fields at the entrance of the village, people who arrived early had already released their kites into the sky. They looked very small, as big as sparrows.

And those naughty kids who had just arrived were running in the fields, trying to fly their kites into the sky.

There are also some children who don’t have kites and can only play with other things in the fields, looking at the kites hanging in the sky with envy from time to time.

Just when Li Yao had found the right wind direction and was about to release his kite into the sky, Zhang Bao beside him shouted at him a few times.

"Li Yao, look at how high my Nezha is flying."

Zhang Bao shouted while pointing at his kite that was already hanging high in the sky, his tone full of boasting.

This is a very normal thing. Rural children get together to fly kites and they just like to see who can fly higher.

Although Zhang Bao was calling Li Yao, many children around were attracted. Even some children who bought kites were still envious of Zhang Bao who flew the kite very high.

On the one hand, Zhang Bao’s Nezha kite is already the largest kite sold in Changqing Village, and is on the same level as Li Yao’s Monkey King kite.

You have to know that Zhang Bao is different from other kids. Others need to spend money to buy dogs, but Zhang Bao, a big dog owner, doesn't need to, because his family runs a store.

On the other hand, I naturally envy the height to which Zhang Bao flies the kite. After all, a kite can only be flown high and far if it has a string. It is useless without a string.

The string that the children in the village use to fly kites is fishing line, but a roll of fishing line is not cheap, and it costs at least one dollar.

So many of the children present had kites, but due to their economic conditions, they only had two rolls of string in their hands, which they made themselves from wooden boards.

But Zhang Bao was different. Not only was his kite big, but he also had four or five rolls of string on it, which was something that ordinary children couldn't do. So his kite was much higher than others.

"Humph, you just came earlier than us. It won't be long before I, the Monkey King, can also put it up there. By then, it will definitely be taller than yours."

Zhang Bao looked up at the sky when he heard this, but he did not feel envious. He just snorted and said to Zhang Bao.

If we were to ask who among the many children in Changqing Village could compete with Zhang Bao, the prince of the store, it would probably be only Li Yao, the rich kid.

Zhou Lan might be strict with her children at ordinary times, but during the Chinese New Year, she will naturally be more relaxed.

Only when his financial situation improved could Li Yao expand his equipment arsenal.

He asked his godfather Zhang An to help him make the wire board, and there were five or six rolls of wire on it.

That’s not all, if he wants, he can continue to add more.

So Li Yao didn't envy Zhang Bao at all. He was very confident that his kite could fly high and far.

As he finished speaking, a breeze blew across the fields.

Li Yao immediately seized this opportunity and kept releasing the fishing line from the fishing line board.

In a short while, the Monkey King, who had just flown into the sky, had already flown far away with the wind.

Seeing that the line was almost released, Li Yao stopped releasing the line and instead grabbed the line board, spooling the line and slowly raising his kite.

"See? I told you mine would definitely be taller than yours."

Seeing that his kite looked smaller than Zhang Bao's, Li Yao immediately gave him a provocative look.

When Zhang Bao heard this, he felt a little unconvinced and also put down his own wiring board.

As a result, after he did this, Li Yao followed him in laying out the line.

However, when they reached a certain height, the two little guys stopped.

Because at this moment their own kites have been flown very high, and the tension of the strings in their hands is getting stronger and stronger.

If they continue to let it go, they might not be able to pull it out.

Moreover, at this time, if a strong wind suddenly comes, the two kites are very likely to get tangent.

By then, the kite in the sky will really fly away. Even if the two little guys are very pampered at home, such a loss will make them feel sad for a long time.

Seeing the two kids bickering over the kite, Zhang An sat on the edge of the field and watched with some amusement.

This scene reminded him of his childhood.

But time is unforgiving. In the blink of an eye, he, Huang Ming, Zhou Yang and other childhood playmates have become husbands and fathers and pillars of the family.

"Dad, I want to play too."

While he was reminiscing about the past, little Siqi, who was sitting in his arms, pointed at the kite flying in the sky and said.

"Hahaha, you're still too young to play with those. When you grow up to be as old as Brother Li Yao, Dad will buy them for you."

Zhang An laughed and said, it’s not that he was reluctant to buy one for his son, but little Siqi is too young now, and he can’t hold a kite even if he is given one.

"Uncle An, I'll give you some vegetables."

At this time, little Tangyuan ran to Zhang An with clothes in his pocket.

And the pockets of her clothes were full of freshly picked baby cabbage sprouts.

"This is good. Where did you get it?"

In this kind of weather, it is most appropriate to eat some cabbage.

Ercai itself is a kind of vegetable that can be eaten raw. Just peel the skin and it will be as crispy as melon.

"Hehe, I picked it from my field."

After giving Zhang An a few small dumplings, he sat beside them and peeled them to eat.

Zhang An did not refuse and peeled one and handed it to his son.

The little fellow who was clamoring for a kite just now was now completely attracted by the tender baby cabbage in his hand.

The weather was very good in the following days. While many kids were having fun flying kites, February quickly came to the end and the day for registration for middle schools and elementary schools arrived unknowingly.

Early in the morning, Zhang An found a group of children gathered in his yard.

When I walked over, I found that they were lying on their flower bed, trying hard to finish their winter vacation homework.

Seeing them writing furiously as if possessed by god, Zhang An couldn't help but sigh: the more fun they had during the holidays, the more miserable they must be now.

"Ermao, why don't you stay at home and come here?"

Zhang An was no longer surprised by the naughty kids making up their winter vacation homework. After all, this happened every year and he had gotten used to it. What surprised him was why they all came to his house this year.

"Uncle Xiao An, uh, uh, because everyone is here."

Ermaohai started to speak hesitantly when he heard Zhang An asking.

As the saying goes, if a child is quiet, he must be up to something. Seeing Ermao hesitating and his eyes wandering, Zhang An was sure that there was something he didn't know.

Sure enough, when he went over to check, he found a few naughty kids huddled together copying the same winter vacation homework.

Only then did Zhang An realize why Ermao looked like he had something to hide.

These days, holiday homework is all distributed by the school, and the answers on the back have long been torn off by the teachers.

Registration has already started. It is impossible to finish writing in such a tight time, so I can only find a ready-made book to copy.

Taking the winter vacation homework that they were copying, Zhang An found that it was Li Yao's.

I guess this is the reason why they gathered here. Seeing Zhang An taking away their reference answers, the naughty children stared at Zhang An nervously, looking so pitiful.

"Alright, alright, I won't say anything to you today. Hurry up and finish your homework and go register. But don't copy homework anymore in the future. Do you hear me?"

For Zhang An, copying winter vacation homework is not a big mistake. After all, everyone has had this experience when they were young.

"Okay, Uncle An, we won't copy anymore."

After hearing what Zhang An said, the nervous kids finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then buried their heads and started copying seriously again.

"Okay, don't stay here any longer. Go back to the house and get a chair to use as a cushion for writing."

Zhang An couldn't help but shake his head. If these kids were so serious in their daily lives, they would have finished this homework long ago.

Before noon, before Su Ying came back, all the children, whether they had finished their homework or not, had already run away with their winter vacation homework.

After all, everyone knows that Uncle Xiaoan’s aunt is a teacher and is usually very strict.

If she finds out that I copied homework, I will definitely be punished.

Time flies, the two days of registration passed quickly, February slipped away quietly, and March followed.

"Wife, get up quickly, you have to supervise the morning self-study class today."

When he woke up early in the morning, Zhang An looked at his wife who was still sleeping soundly in his arms, and finally decided to wake her up.

Whether for students or teachers, holidays are the most draining time.

Look, Su Ying used to get up very early every day, but after just over a month of winter vacation, she has already gotten used to sleeping in.

"Ah, what time is it?"

Su Ying was woken up and asked while rubbing her eyes in a daze.

But his eyelids were not open, and he looked like he was going to fall back to sleep.

"It's already 7:10. If you don't get up now, you won't have time to eat later."

Zhang An reminded again that although he knew his wife didn't wear makeup normally, she still had to comb her hair and dress up simply after getting up. She couldn't get up on time like some male teachers.

"Mom, get up and eat noodles."

Just when Su Ying wanted to linger on the bed for a few minutes, Xiao Siqi had already run to the door and knocked.

"Okay, okay, mom will get up right away."

As soon as she heard her son's voice, Su Ying forced herself to get up even though she was still sleepy.

Zhang An didn't expect that his son could also serve as a wake-up call.

"Okay, mom is leaving. You should listen to grandpa, grandma and dad at home."

After breakfast, Su Ying rubbed her son's short flat head before going out to school contentedly.

"Come here, son, let daddy rub it too."

Because he had seen his wife rubbing his son's head these past two days, Zhang An also wanted to try it.

Sure enough, he felt very comfortable after just a few rubs.

Because my son has a crew cut, the feeling of that short hair rubbing against my palms is quite addictive.

But no matter how comfortable it was, Zhang An immediately threw this idea out of his mind the next moment and had to stop his wife.

Because he suddenly remembered that in the NBA, Yaodao was originally a handsome young man with long flowing hair, but was eventually rubbed bald by the Stone Buddha.

My son is just this young, it’s not allowed for him to do this.

After playing with his son for a while, Zhang An went to the vegetable garden with a watering can.

Because the vegetables planted at home some time ago have already grown out of the ground.

I have to say that this spring is great. These newly grown seedlings are full of vitality.

Seeing that the vegetables growing in the vegetable garden were getting fewer and fewer, Zhang An had to hurry over to water them.

He doesn't want the previous crop to be eaten before the next crop grows out.

At noon, Zhang Jianguo, who had gone out to graze, came back with his flocks of sheep, large and small.

"Xiao An, we need to build another sheep pen."

While eating, Zhang Jianguo suddenly mentioned.

"Are our sheepfolds not big enough?"

To be honest, the family's sheep have been managed by his father in recent years, and Zhang An really hasn't paid much attention to it.

"We have more than 40 sheep now. Since the deer pen is empty, it is enough for now. But in a few days, many ewes will give birth. There are quite a few ewes with calves, about a dozen. When they all give birth, even if we add the deer pen, it will not be enough."

Originally, Zhang An’s sheep pen was about to be out of space last year, but later their herd of deer was loaned to the village deer park by Zhang Jianwen, so the deer pen was vacated, relieving a lot of pressure.

But now the family is adding new lambs, and the territory is becoming increasingly tight.

"In that case, let's build it. Let's build a bigger one this time."

After hearing what his father said, Zhang An realized that the dozen or so sheep he bought at the beginning had grown to such a large scale.

This time, more than a dozen sheep will give birth, and there will be at least a dozen lambs.

But according to past practice, there will probably need to be at least twenty sheep, so the sheep pen should be expanded.

"Then look for where it is, and then go tell your uncle."

Zhang Jianjun has been working for the village these days, and it seems that he has finished the work these days, so we can ask him to help build a sheep pen.

"Yeah, I know."

Zhang An nodded. Even if Zhang Jianguo didn't say it, he would have thought so too.

Building a sheep pen was not particularly urgent, but there was nothing busy these days, so Zhang An planned to finish it early.

After dinner, the father and son spent a long time at home considering where to build a sheep pen.

"Xiao An, do you think it's okay to build it over there next to the old house? There's still half a piece of land left there."

The first thing Zhang Jianguo thought of was the vegetable field behind the old house. Although half of it was exchanged by the village to build a reservoir, there was still half of the space left, which was enough to build a sheep pen.

After listening to this, Zhang An thought carefully for a while, and finally shook his head.

"Forget it, Dad. If we build it there, we'll have to send people to guard it every day. Let's just build it behind our big circle. There's plenty of space there, so we can build a big one."

The old house is indeed a suitable place, but it is a bit far from home.

Although things have been much more peaceful in the past two years, thefts of cattle and horses still happen. If the sheep pen is built over there, someone in the family will have to live there permanently, so Zhang An still prefers this side of the family.

(End of this chapter)