Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Chapter 244: Get up early in the morning to milk the cows

Before eating, Lin Heng took the bathtub to the bedroom, filled it with more than half of the water and left it.

Halfway through dinner, Lin Heng went to boil the hot water. After finishing the meal, the water was just hot to the touch. Lin Heng took off his clothes and submerged his head into the water.

When you can't hold it any longer, come out and take a breath again. Repeat this a few times, and your lungs will feel brand new.

Then he leaned his head on the edge of the barrel, closed his eyes and felt the erosion of the hot water on his body, listening to the whistling wind outside, his daughter talking to herself in the house, and the voice of his wife tidying up the house.

Slowly, the fatigue all over my body began to recede, as if it had been diluted by water. This feeling of tranquility also allows the spirit to relax and slowly return to calm.

After soaking for a while, he started to take a shower, and then went to bed wearing his autumn clothes and long trousers.

"Shall I press it for you?"

Xiulan looked at Lin Heng. Although she was asking, she had already started to take action.

"I'm here to give dad a massage too."

Lin Heng waved his hand: "It only costs thirty yuan in total. The more industrially developed the place, the cheaper it is. In Taibai City, it costs fifty or sixty yuan."

"Holy shit, you scared me."

Get up and tear up the calendar. Today is already the 14th of the first lunar month and the 2th of February in the solar calendar.

In fact, Lin Heng also bought her many small toys such as rubber balls, Rubik's cubes, puzzles, paper cuts, and plasticine, but he didn't take them out and would give them to her one by one later.

"Thank you dad!"

After his wife and daughter pressed him for a while, he felt much better and his body was no longer stiff at all.

Lin Heng told stories for a while, and he fell asleep first.

"it is good."

Lin Heng said with a smile, lying on the bed and enjoying it.

After getting out of bed, Lin Heng went to the main room to search, and quickly brought a large bag of things over and handed it to Xiulan: "The toiletries I bought for you are cheap over there, so I bought some more at once."

Lin Heng wanted to reach out and teach her a lesson, but for the sake of his daughter still sleeping, forget it.

“So comfortable~”

Xiaoxia kissed Lin Heng twice on the face and started playing with the frog with a smile.

Lin Heng took out another green-skinned frog, twisted the clockwork, put it on the bed and jumped up.

"Go to bed Xiaoxia, let's play again tomorrow, the frog needs to rest too." Lin Heng looked at her and said.

Xiaoxia looked at the frog, held Lin Heng's hand and said, "Then I'll sleep with dad tonight."

"it is good!"

Xiulan made a gesture to Xiaoxia and whispered in her ear.

It was already 7:20 after the two of them had washed up and finished exercising. When they opened the back door, a voice came out first: "Hiss!!!"

Lin Heng taught her twice and she knew how to play. She giggled next to the frog as he watched it jump.

If she took it out all at once tonight, she wouldn't be able to sleep.

Xiaoxia climbed onto the bed and imitated her mother's example of pressing Lin Heng's legs.

"Let's go get fodder for the cows and milk some milk to taste." Lin Heng looked at Xiulan who had already gotten up.

"Let me take a look first." Xiulan blinked and turned the things out to check one by one. She doesn't know much about makeup, so she usually puts on a moisturizer, lipstick and eyeliner. Tian Yan taught her how to use foundation.

She covered Xiaoxia with a quilt, took the kettle and walked out.

Xiulan turned on the light and rested wearing only her underwear as a habit.

"It will wake up when you wake up." Lin Heng picked up the frog and put it on the bedside table.

Xiulan finished reading the toiletries and placed them neatly on her makeup table, then climbed into bed and secretly kissed Lin Heng when Xiaoxia wasn't looking.

"Okay, I'll tell you a story while you sleep." Lin Heng nodded and asked her to sleep in the middle.

The contents here include two portions of foundation, cream, lipstick, etc. The facial cleanser, shampoo, ointment, and shower gel all come in large bottles, and they come in three packages, with different fragrances.

Xiaoxia looked at Lin Heng who was already asleep, and fell asleep soon after leaning against her mother.

Lin Heng smiled and said, "Do you think I'm very handsome, like Pan An?"

Xiulan opened it and was shocked: "This is too much. It will take more than a year."

"When will the little frog wake up?" Xiaoxia asked curiously.

Lin Heng arrived at dawn early in the morning, and it was just half past six when he got up. It was just dawn. Turning around, he saw that Xiaoxia was sleeping soundly and Xiulan was also awake, looking at him with big tender eyes.

"Shh, sleep now, your dad is tired."

Lin Heng and Xiulan were both frightened.

Xiulan chuckled softly: "It's important for people to have self-awareness, but it's a pity that you don't have it, and you're still pretty."

After saying that, he patted her hand and said with a smile: "If you want to thank me, just kiss me."

"Then Xiaoxia, kiss me, I bought you a jumping frog."

"Haha~"

"hiss!!"

Seeing the two of them like this, Hongzao shouted proudly again. It seemed that he was complaining that Lin Heng had forgotten his old love after having a new love, and gave his horse pen to the cows.

"It's blaming you!" Xiulan laughed.

"You boy!" Lin Heng gave it a slap in the face. He just let you sleep on the eaves for a night. It won't freeze.

"hiss!!"

After being hit by Lin Heng, it became even more unhappy. It raised its head high and barked again.

"Okay, okay, I'll let you out of your horse pen in a moment." Lin Heng was helpless, he still had to take good care of this guy, otherwise he would be in trouble one day while riding a horse.

After raising this horse for a long time, it seems to be a psychic, and it can also express emotions and emotions.

The two went up to see the cows first. They had also gotten up and were gnawing on the dry corn stalks next to them.

"Let's go to the fields and cut some wild ryegrass to feed, and then milk the cows."

Lin Heng said something, and then walked out with Xiulan. The sickle and rope were already in his hands, and Xiulan also brought a small basket.

There is nothing to eat in winter, only wild ryegrass, wild buckwheat, barley, and cabbage are green. However, Lin Heng once again bought some rye grass, elephant grass, and alfalfa seeds, and went back to find a place to plant them.

"Dad was already here."

Xiulan pointed to the distance and said, Father Lin has already cut a lot of grass.

"Of course the newly bought cows need to be fed a good first meal. I also want to taste fresh milk today."

Father Lin stood up after hearing the voices of the two people and said, this was the first time he had seen a creature like a cow, and he felt very distressed.

"No problem, this cow can produce more than ten kilograms of milk a day. I will teach you how to milk it later." Lin Heng said with a smile.

While talking, the two of them went to the edge of the field to mow the grass. Xiulan wore gloves to pull out the sausages, and Lin Heng cut green rye grass, barley, buckwheat, etc. everywhere. It’s hard to find them in winter, there are trees here and there.

However, the three of them worked together very quickly, and they harvested two large bundles of cow grass in half an hour.

Lin Heng talked about the seeds of his pasture, and Lin's father said that he would find some scraps and plant them in the past two days.

In half an hour, they picked up two bundles of rye grass and a basket of goosegrass. They carried it back and as soon as they reached the back mountain, the red dates began to scream.

"You are really sharp-eyed."

Lin Heng shook his head and threw some to it. Ask Lin's father Xiulan to feed the cows, and he will go back to get a bucket to milk the cows.

When he brought the bucket over, he found that his mother's eldest brother Caiyun had all come over, and Li Caifeng from next door was also watching.

Cows are so rare in such a big mountain. Several people pointed at the huge milk-producing organs of the cows and talked about them. They were much larger than the cattle they raised.

"Mom, Dad, Xiulan, you are all optimistic about this."

Lin Heng said something, and first took out a rope to connect the two hind legs of the cow together to prevent it from kicking people accidentally.

This cow that has given birth to milk is very docile, its udders are enlarged, and there is a lot of milk at first glance.

"Expressing milk is very simple. Just squeeze it one by one. Wash it first and then hold it from above with the palm of your hand. Use your thumb and index finger to push it to the bottom. The force should not be too strong or too weak."

Lin Heng said as he started to operate. The first two squeezes were squeezed out, and the bucket was used to catch them later.

As Lin Heng continued to exert force with his hands, streams of white milk were squeezed out. After a while, the bottom of the small wooden bucket disappeared, and a faint milk fragrance wafted out.

The cows were motionless and very comfortable eating rye grass. They were already used to being milked.

Lin Heng squeezed for a while, looked at his parents, Xiulan and others and said, "Have you learned everything?"

"I'll give it a try." Xiulan came over and squatted down next to Lin Heng. She looked at Lin Heng's gestures and squeezed a little, but not much milk came out.

"Try a little harder, you are too gentle." Lin Heng said.

"Okay." Xiulan gradually increased her pressure, and soon a stream of milk was squeezed out. It was not difficult for those with strong hands-on skills.

Xiulan squeezed for a while, Lin's mother, Caiyun, Liu Juan and others also took turns to try, and they all mastered it quickly. Only Lin's father and Lin Yue were not good at it. They were so strong that they hurt the cow and almost kicked someone.

"I have worked too much and my hands are too strong." Father Lin smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, I didn't expect it to be so simple." Lin Yue also nodded.

"You guys will take turns to try again and today's milk will be almost finished." Lin Heng said while touching the milk-producing organs of the cow.

Holstein cows produce a lot of milk, and they can give birth when they are pregnant, but they do not produce as much milk as when they give birth to calves.

"Is it enough to just feed the cows grass?" Father Lin asked.

Lin Heng shook his head: "You can't feed too much grass, you have to feed hay. You have to feed a little bit of sea cornmeal, wheat bran, bean cakes, etc. every day."

"Is it so complicated? You also need cornmeal and wheat bran." Mother Lin was curious.

"That's for sure. If you produce milk every day, you have to feed it. But you don't need to feed it too much. As long as the grass is of high quality, it won't cost much in general." Lin Heng explained.

"That's it." Several people nodded, understanding.

Soon the barrel was full. Lin Heng took the milk and looked at his family and Li Caifeng, who was still watching, and said, "Come here, let's have a taste of the fresh milk."

He carried the milk and walked into the house. Mother Lin and others pulled Li Caifeng into the house.

After entering the house, Lin Heng took out the charcoal that had been burned in the fireplace just before milking and put it into the earthenware stove. He then set up a casserole in the main room and poured the squeezed milk into it to cook.

Fresh milk contains a lot of bacteria, so it needs to be boiled at 60 or 70 degrees Celsius.

The milk was cooked in two minutes. Lin Heng poured a bowl for everyone and brought some biscuits.

"Try it and see if you are used to drinking pure milk." Lin Heng said with a smile.

Everyone nodded, picked up the bowl, blew on it and took two sips.

"It's a bit weird." Mother Lin couldn't stand it the most and was ready to put it down.

"Mom, please drink two more sips. No matter how bad it is, it's still better than traditional Chinese medicine." Lin Heng looked at her and said.

Pure milk doesn't have much sweetness, and it feels weird at first, but after a few sips, you can feel the strong milky aroma, and the more you drink it, the more you want to drink it.

After everyone drank half of it, they began to appreciate the charm of pure milk. It would be better for Xiulan and Caiyun to imitate Lin Heng and make some biscuits to eat.

"It tastes good. This pure milk is really good."

Li Caifeng drank a little bit in one gulp and nodded repeatedly. I was envious from the bottom of my heart. Lin Heng’s family could drink such delicious milk every day from now on.

"It's indeed good. This cow is good except for feeding a little more." Mother Lin also nodded. After a few more sips, she gradually became able to accept it.

"It's delicious, so delicious. It's the best thing I've ever tasted." Caiyun nodded fiercely.

"Then drink some more, there's still more." Lin Heng poured some more for everyone.

This cow can only produce more than ten kilograms of milk a day. One kilogram of milk is 500 milliliters, which is probably not enough for the eleven people in the room to drink.

Lin Heng bought the cow mainly for Xiaoxia and other children he would have in the future. If he couldn't finish it, he would give it to others, and he was not planning to sell it.

After drinking this time, everyone said they didn’t want it anymore. Lin Heng estimated that each person drank half a catty at most, and there was still half a bucket left.

"Even if Lin Heng, Xiaoxia and the others drank a little of the rest, they wouldn't be able to finish it all." Lin Heng looked at the crowd and said.

"It doesn't matter, you can keep it and drink it slowly." Lin Yue waved his hand and smiled.

Father Lin pointed to the sapling next to him and asked, "Should we start planting this thing today?"

Because we discussed it last year, a lot of land is vacant, so we can do this directly now.

"It's just a matter of how to plant this thing. The land is good and bad, far and near." Mother Lin said looking at the saplings.

When Li Caifeng saw that the Lin family was still discussing these issues, she quickly got up and left. Xiulan went to see her off.

Lin Hengze answered Mother Lin's question: "I have thought about this. Kiwis and grapes are planted on the relatively flat land near the river, and apple trees are planted on the slopes."

"Kiwi fruits and grapes cannot be exposed to the sun during their ripening period, and anti-bird nets need to be laid. It is easier to operate on flat ground." After that, he explained.

"Okay, let's go plant after breakfast." Mother Lin nodded.

At this time, Lin Yue took out an IOU and handed it to Lin Heng and said with a smile: "Brother, this is the IOU I wrote yesterday. The 500 yuan I paid for the saplings this time plus the 100 yuan you said to support me in buying the shotgun, a total of six I’ll pay you back within five years, and I won’t pay you any interest.”

After he finished speaking, he handed the IOU to Xiulan. Although he and Lin Heng were brothers whose blood was thicker than water, they were both married after all, and they had to consider what the other's wife thought.

Xiulan shook her head and said, "We are all one family, so what kind of IOU is this? Just remember it."

Lin Heng took it and tore it into the trash can: "That's right. I told you not to want it. Just pay it back slowly. I don't lack the money."

"If you do this, my dad won't have any money to give me, so do I have to write an IOU?" Lin Heng asked again.

"Yes, as long as the accounts are settled, we all bear witness. There is no need for IOUs, and it will make people laugh if we tell them." Mother Lin nodded.

"Okay." Lin Yue nodded.

Father Lin looked at Lin Heng and said with a smile: "Son, dad can't afford to pay back the saplings, so why don't I just give you the land?"

(End of this chapter)