Return to the small mountain village in 1983

Chapter 325: Chicken Coop Water Storage Sunset Rain
Xiulan pulled up the hem of her skirt, gathered her white calves together on the bench, held them with both hands, and swayed her toes slightly.

She glanced at the last glimmer of red in the sky, then turned to look at Lin Heng: "Are you going to develop the mountains and grow forage grass next?"

Lin Heng nodded: "Yes, for now we will grow grass. If the cattle and sheep reproduce again next year, there will definitely not be enough food. Now that the dam is repaired, we won't have to worry about irrigation."

"Did you plan it a long time ago? Now Hongfeng Mountain has become a treasure land in the village." Xiulan asked curiously.

The soil here is relatively poor and particularly intolerant of drought. She was actually very confused and puzzled when Lin Heng chose this place.

I agreed to this because I thought he would stop running around.

But now, he has built this place into a gold mine step by step, and all the villagers are envious.

"I guess so." Lin Heng said with a smile as he held Xiaoxia in his arms.

He had made relevant plans in his previous life, but he was not very satisfied with the quality of the land.

But we chose this stream because it is a nice place and we can fence it off to prevent others from entering and looking around.

"Then you are really awesome." Xiulan's big eyes revealed admiration.

"Dad is so awesome!" Xiaoxia hugged his neck and praised him.

"Of course." Lin Heng said with a smile. He really liked the feeling of being appreciated and recognized.

After that, he went to light a mosquito coil and asked, "It will not be so hot in September. Do you want to move back to the village? It's more comfortable there after all."

In a few days, it will be September and the weather will gradually turn cooler and no longer be as hot as August.

Xiulan looked up and thought for a while, then looked at him and asked, "So do you want to go back or live here?"

"It's fine with me, but I think we should go back. It's not very convenient here. We need fire even to boil water," said Lin Heng.

It’s not that he hadn’t thought about pulling an electric wire across the mountain, but the project was too huge and would require a lot of wires.

After comprehensive consideration, I finally gave up.

"Since you want to go back, let's go back." Xiulan blinked and said with a smile.

She was really tired of living here all the time, the cabin was too small. It was okay to stay here occasionally, but it was a bit depressing to stay here for a long time.

"Then when are we moving out?" Lin Heng asked for her opinion.

"Let me clean up this place in a few days." Xiulan said after thinking for a while.

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded, and after a little exercise to digest the food, they went into the house. There were so many mosquitoes outside that mosquito coils were useless.

After chatting for a while and telling Xiaoxia a story, the three of them quickly fell asleep. They went to bed early and got up early now.

Since he didn't have to work anymore, Lin Heng didn't want to get up when he woke up the next morning. He stayed up from five o'clock until almost six o'clock, and listened carefully to the fetal heartbeats of the two babies in Xiulan's belly.

"Get up, I'm hungry." Xiulan got up first and put on her clothes.

"Get up, get up." Lin Heng also stretched and got up.

Because they sleep long enough, people are particularly energetic during the day and have bright eyes when exercising.

After breakfast, Lin Heng went to check out the situation at the dam, and then came back to start making bamboo clothes hangers.

This kind of clothes hanger is easy to make. Just shave the bamboo into smooth bamboo strips, about one or two centimeters wide.

Then use fire to soften it and bend it into the shape of a clothes hanger. Finally, install a bamboo or wire hook.

Lin Heng chose clothes hangers made entirely of bamboo. The green clothes hangers turned into light yellow after being boiled in a pot. After they were shaped again, the clothes hangers were ready, making them very convenient for hanging clothes.

Lin Hengyi made thirty in the morning. Xiulan watched her and did some needlework at the same time.

At noon, Lin's father came up, looked at him and asked, "Son, your mother insisted that we fence off the chicken coop. Where do you think is the best place to fence off the chicken coop? Today is a good day, perfect for breaking ground and building a chicken coop."

"Then let's go down and take a look." Lin Heng said, turned around and said something to Xiulan, then went down the mountain with his father.

On the way down the mountain, Father Lin said, "Our corn fields have also been damaged by wild boars. Do you have traps? Set a few in our fields."

"Yes, there are still quite a few. After we finish cleaning the chicken coop, we will set the traps and see if we can catch any pheasants or something." Lin Heng agreed.

After reaching halfway up the mountain, the two men investigated the location of the chicken coop. First of all, it couldn't be too far from the house, as it would be easily targeted by weasels and other creatures.

It's not good to be too close. It's not that we are afraid of the smell. There won't be much of a smell if there are only a few dozen chickens raised in an area of ​​one or two hundred square meters.

But there is no place nearby.

Finally, the two men chose a suitable place, which was an undeveloped area between the pasture and the cattle pen.

This place is covered with shrubs and thatched grass, and the terrain is relatively flat, making it a good place to raise chickens.

Chickens can also help eliminate the thatch by trampling on it and constantly eating its leaves, which will kill it.

"Then let's go back first, and come back at two o'clock to dig holes and drive in stakes. Let's fence off this place first." Father Lin said.

"No problem." Lin Heng nodded in agreement.

After going back to have dinner, they waited until the sun was a little smaller, then they came here, one of them holding a chainsaw, pliers and wire, and the other carrying a pickaxe.

Try to make use of existing trees and then drive in the stakes yourself.

The entire chicken coop covers an area of ​​about 150 square meters. After nailing the wooden stakes, they went back and got the rope net to surround the edge. The bottom was pressed down with soil or stones, and the top was open. Domestic chickens basically cannot fly.

It was almost five o'clock when I finished all this, mainly because it was difficult to make the doors for entry and exit.

Father Lin looked at the chicken coop and said, "This is considered preliminary completion. Next we will build a place to shelter the chickens from wind and rain, and make a few nests for laying eggs."

Lin Heng said: "This is easy. Let's find a few wooden boards and make a chicken coop. We can put two layers of film on it to protect it from wind and rain. For the egg-laying nests, I suggest we just dig a few earthen nests."

"That's indeed possible. I'll go back and get the wooden planks while you dig the hole in the ground." Father Lin nodded and said.

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded in agreement.

He looked around and finally found four relatively suitable locations. There was a lot of yellow mud here, and there would be no problem of collapse if he dug a small hole diagonally along the mountain. However, he still put some stones in to reinforce it a little.

Then he cut some thatch and laid it inside, and a simple chicken coop was ready.

He dug a chicken coop and Lin's father also brought up boards and plastic paper. Then he went to cut down a tree. He used wooden boards on the top and tied the remaining five sides with wooden sticks.

By the time Lin Heng had finished building the four chicken coops, his father had also chopped a lot of wood.

"Let's make a suspended chicken coop, thirty centimeters off the ground." Father Lin said to his son.

"it is good."

Lin Heng took a look at the four trees his father had brought to serve as pillars, roughly measured them, picked up a hoe, dug four 30-centimeter holes, and buried the pillars in them.

After burying it, put a horizontal bar at a height of 30 cm, and add wood one by one. Soon a rectangular chicken coop made of wooden sticks is built.

Then use the wooden boards you brought to build a ceiling, cover it with film paper, and press it down with stones. Finally, fix the door and everything will be fine.

At this time, the sun had reached the western ridge, and because of the heavy clouds recently, half of the sky was a beautiful orange-red color.

"It's finally done." Lin Heng said with emotion. If his father hadn't insisted on working on it, he would have to come back tomorrow morning to finish it.

"Let's go catch some chickens and see the results." Father Lin looked at the chicken coop and urged. "Then let's go catch them." Lin Heng nodded in agreement.

There are only three big chickens left that my parents raised last year, and they and the four goslings are all raised here. Because they always damage the vegetables, they are kept under the bamboo frame.

The two men went down and caught all the chickens and geese and threw them in to see if they would fly out.

It turned out that these chickens and geese had no intention of flying out and all went into the grass to look for food.

"It seems to be okay. Let's catch the chickens from the old house tomorrow." said Father Lin.

"Then shall we go up the mountain to set the traps now?" Lin Heng looked at his father and asked.

Father Lin shook his head: "You and your eldest brother go, I'll take another look at the chicken coop. I told him this morning, he should be back by now."

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded and went up the mountain to get the bow and arrow, the clamp, and the noose made of steel wire.

Xiulan asked curiously, "Is the chicken coop finished?"

"Yes, I am so tired." Lin Heng nodded with a smile, and then said, "Now I am going to set a few traps in the corn field to see if I can catch a wild boar."

"Dad, are you going hunting?" Xiaoxia hugged her legs. Her father would go hunting for several days each time, and she was reluctant to let him go.

"We're not hunting. We'll be back soon." Lin Heng looked at her and explained.

Xiaoxia finally let go after Xiulan and Caiyun persuaded her.

"Be careful." Xiulan reminded.

"Do not worry."

Lin Heng waved his hand and took Xiongba away. He did not take the highway, but the path on the mountain.

As soon as Lin Heng left, Tian Yan came up from the road, took some snacks she made and went up the mountain to find Xiulan and Caiyun.

After chatting with Caiyun Xiulan for a few words, she said, "Let's go for a walk outside the woods. The sunset is very beautiful today."

"Okay, let's go for a walk, sister-in-law." Caiyun also said that it was really boring here in the cabin.

Xiulan did not refuse, and took Xiaoxia with her and followed the two of them out of the forest. The halfway point of Hongfeng Mountain was an excellent place to watch the sunset.

Tian Yancaiyun was discussing intensely and noticed that Xiulan was looking at the flowing mountain stream in boredom.

"Isn't the sunset beautiful?" Caiyun asked curiously.

"It's pretty, but just take a look at it twice." Xiulan spread her hands.

Tian Yan took her hand and asked with a smile: "What if you watch it with your Lin Heng? Is it still interesting?"

Xiulan said without hesitation: "You can take a look, it's probably quite interesting."

"Oh my, you really don't even want to pretend. Lin Heng is just that good." Tian Yan teased with a smile.

Caiyun smiled and helped Xiulan: "Teacher Tian Yan, if it were you and Brother Lin Hai, you would do the same."

"No, he's just a terrible chess player and has no interest at all." Tian Yan raised her chin and said deliberately.

"Then we won't call him for you next time." Xiulan said with a smile.

Tian Yan couldn't argue and started to play dirty: "I don't want to play anymore. You guys are bullying an outsider like me."

"What? When you marry my brother Lin Hai, we will be a family."

……

While the three of them were chatting and laughing, Lin Heng and his eldest brother had already reached the mountain and set up several traps in the cornfield that was infested by wild boars.

Lin Yue looked at the steel wire rope as thick as an oil pen and said worriedly, "Brother, will the wild boar break this steel wire rope?"

"It's possible. Big wild boars are very strong, but small wild boars weighing less than 100 kilograms should not be a problem." Lin Heng explained.

Lin Yue said happily: "That's fine, those big wild boars can run away, the meat won't taste good anyway."

Life has been much better this year, and he has begun to dislike those old pork.

"Then let's go back and see if there are any pheasants, rabbits or anything like that on the way." Lin Heng said after setting the trap.

He was already very tired today and didn't feel like running in the mountains.

Lin Yue nodded, and the two of them walked back with the dog. On the way, they saw a pheasant, but it was startled and flew away, so they had no chance to attack it.

After returning to the old house in the village, Lin Heng went into the house and picked the old fruits and vegetables. He then caught all the twenty chickens that he and Xiulan had hatched this year and put them into a bag, ready to take them to Hongfeng Mountain.

As for the remaining seven big chickens and two big ducks, they were left here. When they came back to live here, they could catch them whenever they wanted to eat.

After thinking about it, he left the little black-feathered rooster that Xiaoxia cared about here, and then went to Red Maple Mountain, carrying fruits, vegetables and the chicken.

"Did you bring these chickens here too?" Father Lin asked curiously when he heard the chickens crowing.

"Yes, it's on the way." Lin Heng nodded.

"Then just put it in the cage and I'll let it out tomorrow." After saying that, Father Lin went to get some feed.

Lin Heng went to pour the chickens into the cage. Father Lin fed them and closed the door. After feeding them like this every night, they would know to return to the cage to avoid being harmed by weasels and the like.

After everything was done here, Lin Heng took a look at it, went downstairs and poured out the vegetables he had carried over, took some good ones to eat, and asked his mother to feed the rest to the animals.

After going up the mountain, we had lunch and rested early. The next morning, the sky was overcast and it looked like a storm was about to come.

After breakfast, Lin Heng liked to stroll around. He and Xiulan went to see the bees in the ginseng garden, and then went down the mountain to see the newly built chicken coop. The chickens and geese were pulling at the thatch, and the originally lush tips of the thatch had disappeared.

These guys were digging for bugs and earthworms everywhere, and it was really fun to watch them chasing each other. Xiulan and Xiaoxia were having a lot of fun watching them.

"Son, do you think the small dam can be used if it rains today?" Father Lin came over and asked worriedly.

"There shouldn't be any problem. The dam has been repaired for two days." Lin Heng nodded. He thought that if it was going to rain, it would be tomorrow.

Father Lin said, "Why don't we take advantage of the rain to store water?"

"That's what I decided too." Lin Heng nodded.

After accompanying Xiaoxia and Xiulan on a walk, he put on a waterproof suit and went to the cattle and sheep pens to help clean out the manure.

When he returned in the afternoon, he took two plastic pipe covers and blocked the two plastic pipes at the bottom of the dam, and then the water flow began to accumulate slowly.

Although there is some small water seepage, it is not a problem as long as the water storage rate is greater than the water loss rate.

After standing on the shore and watching for a while, they found that the water flow was accumulating slowly, so the three of them returned to the house.

This gloomy weather lasted for several days until it stopped raining in the early morning of the first day of September.

"It's finally raining, and it's not light."

Lin Heng woke up early in the morning and looked out the window and sighed.

(End of this chapter)