My village can't be like this

Chapter 707

Not long after dinner in the evening, Zhou Yang's father Zhou Shuanglin came over.

"Zhang An, Xiaoyang asked me to come to your place to catch some pigeons and old hens so that we don't have to buy them somewhere else."

After Zhou Shuanglin greeted Zhang An's parents and exchanged a few polite words, he directly explained the purpose of his visit. It seemed that Zhou Yang had already called him in the afternoon.

"It's late at night now. There's no need to rush. It will be the same if we come over tomorrow."

Zhang An poured a cup of tea and handed it over, saying with a smile.

"I have to catch the first bus tomorrow morning, otherwise there will be no one to take care of my family, so I came here to catch him first, so as not to disturb you so early tomorrow morning."

Zhou Shuanglin explained with a smile that he went to the county town just to deliver some things.

The child is not born yet, and there are two other children at home who need to be taken care of at school. He has to rush back after delivering the things.

They also have a few pigs and a flock of chickens and ducks at home, so it really can't be without someone at home.

The first bus from Hongyan Town to the county town departs at six o'clock in the morning. He takes the first bus and returns at noon, which is just the right time to feed the pigs at home.

"That's true. It won't work if no one is at home. In that case, Xiao An will take your Shuang Lin brother to catch him."

Wang Fang could understand Zhou Shuanglin's thoughts very well, because sometimes when they went to Zhang An's grandmother's house, they also wanted to come back quickly and could not leave the livestock at home.

"Brother Shuanglin, come with me. It's night time now and the pigeons are all back. You can catch whichever one you like."

After hearing what his mother said, Zhang An nodded and said to Zhou Yang's father.

The two men came to the chicken coop. Zhang An had just turned on the light inside when the chickens and ducks that had been squatting in their kennels and sleeping immediately became noisy.

When they saw the lights suddenly come on, they thought food was going to be distributed to them.

Zhang An ignored them and took Zhou Shuanglin up the wooden ladder and climbed onto the floor to check on the pigeons first.

"Look, now the pigeons are back. Brother Shuanglin, come and take a look. Which one do you want? I'll turn off the lights and catch it later."

Zhang An pointed at the pigeons in his pigeon cage and asked Zhou Shuanglin.

"How would I know this? You should be more familiar with it. Or you can help catch a few."

Zhou Shuanglin smiled and shook his head and said that if it was chickens or ducks, he might be able to pick them based on his experience, but it would be impossible to choose pigeons.

Because he is neither a chef nor a pigeon breeder, he doesn't know much about this area.

If he really had to choose for himself, he would definitely choose those pigeons that are fat and look energetic.

So he just let Zhang An watch and catch them. He felt that Zhang An would definitely not cheat their family.

"Then let's go downstairs and turn off the lights, and find a bag to come over, and I guarantee to catch some of the best ones for Brother Shuanglin."

Hearing this, Zhang An didn't waste any time and nodded and said to Zhou Shuanglin.

When he reached the lower floor, Zhang An quickly found a nylon bag, grabbed a pair of scissors and cut a few small holes in it, then turned off the lights before climbing back up to the wooden floor.

Zhou Shuanglin did not follow this time because it was too dark in there after turning off the lights.

But if you don't turn off the lights, if you try to catch one pigeon, the others will definitely be scared.

But Zhang An didn't care. In this pitch-black chicken coop, although he didn't have the ability of night vision, it was still no problem for him to see more clearly.

After going up to the floor, Zhang An approached the pigeon coop gently.

When the light came on just now, he had already chosen which ones he wanted to catch, and now he didn't hesitate at all and just started to catch them.

In just a few moves, four pigeons were caught.

Even though Zhang An usually feeds this group of guys, he paid special attention to it just now. However, the captured pigeons still made some noise, causing some commotion among the pigeon group.

However, because the lights were off and nothing could be seen, they only made a few noises. After Zhang An stopped doing anything, they calmed down.

It will probably take until tomorrow for them to discover that some of their usual friends and relatives are suddenly missing.

"Brother Shuanglin, I've caught four for now. This stuff needs to be fresh. I'll catch more later when I need it. Anyway, it's so close, there's no need to catch them all and leave them there."

Zhang An showed the four captured pigeons to Zhou Shuanglin and explained.

"I thought so too. It's not clear if we can take these pigeons away and lock them up. We also need people to look after them, so I'll just catch a few first and come back to catch more later."

Zhou Shuanglin immediately nodded in agreement. His idea was actually similar to Zhang An's.

If we catch so many pigeons and take them to the county town, not only will the house be someone else's, but we will also have to feed and water them regularly. Otherwise, they will either starve to death or become skinny, which is not worth it.

Moreover, Zhou Yang must have focused his energy on Chen Wenwen who was waiting to give birth in the hospital these days, so he had no time to take care of these things.

Zhang An caught one and asked Zhou Shuanglin to try it.

“Although these pigeons are not the fattest, their meat is definitely the most nutritious.”

The reason why Zhang An dared to say this was not because there was anything special about these pigeons.

This is because the other female pigeons in the house are laying eggs, and although these ones have laid eggs before, they are not in the egg-laying period now. After all, laying eggs consumes the mother's nutrition, and the female pigeons that do not lay eggs must be more nutritionally sound.

Zhou Shuanglin held the pigeon in his hand. Although he couldn't figure out what was going on, he felt quite satisfied.

Because these pigeons feel solid when you hold them, unlike the others, where the most noticeable thing you can feel when you hold them is their feathers.

After catching the pigeons, it was the old hens' turn to be unlucky.

However, when catching chickens, there are not so many restrictions. Zhang An just turns on the lights and lets Zhou Shuanglin choose whichever one he likes.

Zhou Shuanglin didn't waste any time. He took a quick look around and then reached out to pick two. Zhang An grabbed them on the spot.

The hens in Zhang An's family are not very heavy, only about three or four pounds each. Two hens plus four pigeons are actually enough.

But when passing by Zhang An's white chickens, Zhou Shuanglin took a fancy to the white chickens that their family had just raised this year.

"Zhang An, can we catch a white-flowered chicken? Or catch one for me too."

Everyone has eaten the small native chickens, but the white chickens are different. Not to mention eating them, it is even difficult to see a few more, because there are very few white chickens raised here.

So when Zhou Shuanglin first saw the white flower chicken that was different from the small native chickens, he wanted to catch one and take it over as a change of taste for his daughter-in-law.

"Why can't we catch them? We raise chickens for their meat."

Zhang An smiled and said, and immediately went to catch a white hen that had laid eggs for Zhou Shuanglin.

Because they have only been raising them for a short time and are still in the initial stage of breeding and expanding the scale, there are not many white chickens in their family, only a dozen or so.

This is including the roosters, otherwise if it is just hens, there are only a few. Although Zhang An agreed to Zhou Shuanglin so readily, if it were someone else, Zhang An would definitely not be willing to sell it, and would keep it to lay eggs and then hatch chicks.

But Zhou Yang's family is different. The relationship between the two families is so good that even if the amount is small, Zhang An will give it to their family.

"Brother Shuanglin, we still have the crucian carp. Let's catch it and bring it over after the baby is born. After all, we can't use it now, and we can't keep it for more than a few days."

Zhang An told Zhou Yang that he would give her the crucian carp, but it was a bit too early to bring it over now.

When the baby is not born, it is not a good thing for pregnant women to stimulate lactation too much.

However, if Zhang An didn't explain, he was afraid that Zhou Shuanglin would misunderstand and think that he was reluctant to let go.

"It's all right, it's up to you. After all, you need some experience."

Zhou Shuanglin took over the conversation and had no objection.

In his opinion, all of Zhang An’s opinions were good, because little Siqi was only a few years old.

Although their family has three children, that was many years ago, and having children was not taken as seriously as it is now.

After seeing Zhou Shuanglin off, Zhang An discovered that the naughty monkey who had just slept in the yard was nowhere to be seen.

So he called out a few times, but there was no response. He was probably out playing again, and Zhang An was too lazy to pay attention to him.

However, the little ferret that was still confined in the cage started to cackl again when it saw Zhang An approaching.

However, the sound was not as urgent as it was in the afternoon. After all, he had never been put in solitary confinement before, but now he had it, so he was probably used to it.

Seeing its pitiful appearance, Zhang An let it out.

After all, it has been several hours since I was locked up.

Putting the little ones in solitary confinement is just like beating their children in the village. You can't beat them too lightly, or they won't remember their lesson and the beating will be in vain.

But you can't hit too hard. If you hit too hard, it might get hurt somewhere, which would be bad.

The same goes for solitary confinement. If it’s too short a time, the little one will definitely think it’s just a game and it’s completely useless.

But if it is kept locked up for too long, it will get used to being caged, which is not Zhang An's ultimate goal.

After escaping from the cage, the little snow ferret didn't go anywhere. It immediately climbed onto Zhang An's shoulder and kept calling out in a low voice, as if telling how wronged it was.

But it didn't know that Zhang An was teaching it a lesson not because it had fought with the monkey, but because it was disobedient.

"Is Zhou Yang's father back?"

Zhang An returned to the room and Wang Fang asked him.

"He has already gone back. He has to catch an early bus tomorrow, so he probably needs to pack some things to take with him."

Zhang An nodded and said to his mother.

The little ferret on his shoulder saw little Siqi washing his feet and ran over directly.

When Xiao Siqi saw Chou Chou, he was no longer as angry as he was in the afternoon, which fully demonstrated what it meant to be a person who does not hold grudges.

"Mom, many families have already finished planting their seedlings. Why don't we get a few people to come tomorrow and fertilize our cherry trees."

Zhang An wanted to do this a few days ago, so that he wouldn't forget it later.

But no one had much free time in the past few days, so it was not easy to hire people.

The situation has been much better in the past two days. Most people have already planted the seedlings in their fields, and many people have some free time.

The corn in the field has only been planted not long ago, and it is not yet time to fertilize and weed for the first time, so it would be easier to find people.

"Our cherry trees are growing well, why do we suddenly need to apply fertilizer?"

When Wang Fang heard about hiring someone to do the work, she subconsciously thought that it would cost money, so she habitually wanted to save money.

After all, in her subconscious, fruit trees are not as good as crops in the fields, so she feels that there is no need to fertilize the fruit trees.

Moreover, it is not cost-effective to hire people to apply fertilizer.

But just as she finished speaking, she remembered how much income those cherries and peaches had brought to the family in the past two years.

"The trees are growing well, but the cherries they produce this year are not as good as they were last year, and it's time to apply fertilizer, otherwise the fruits will be smaller next year. Besides, we have so much oil residue at home that if we don't get rid of it, it will be useless by then."

Oil residue actually has a shelf life. Because it is just put in a bag and left in the air, the fertilizer in it will evaporate over time and its effect will be greatly reduced.

Of course, Zhang An only said this to his mother, because he had already dealt with the oil residue at home.

"Why don't I go look for it now? If I wait until tomorrow, it will take time."

When Wang Fang heard that the fruits might be smaller next year, she stopped thinking about saving money and immediately wanted to go out and find someone.

"There's no need to be so anxious. Wait until tomorrow morning. It's already late at night. If you go, Qiqi will definitely follow you."

Zhang An was not in a hurry. It would be okay to go there tomorrow morning.

After all, there are more people who have time now, so it won’t take much time to find someone, and it’s not too late to go tomorrow morning.

Besides, it's already evening. If Wang Fang wants to go out, little Siqi, who has always wanted to go out and play, will definitely go with her.

It's not like the time when it just gets dark, so it's okay for children to go out.

But it has been dark for so long now, and the elders in the village said that it is not advisable to take children out at this time.

"Then let's go tomorrow."

As soon as Wang Fang saw her grandson, she decided not to go either.

The next morning, Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo got up early.

Because he needed to apply fertilizer to the cherry trees, Zhang Jianguo got up and picked up a sickle to go to the orchard to cut grass.

After all, at this time of year, the grass in the orchard is still very tender and crisp, so it is just the right amount to cut and feed the sheep and deer at home, thus saving waste.

While Xiao Siqi was still sleeping, Wang Fang went out to the village to look for someone.

Although it was still early, many people in the village had already gotten up. Wang Fang just went out for a walk, and in about ten minutes, she found four or five people.

When Zhang Anye and Chen Ze's mother went out to look for someone, they took out the processed oil residue from the space.

(End of this chapter)