Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 387: Dividing the Money to Raise Bees and Beat the Greyhound
Liu Lizhen originally wanted to grow more potatoes, sweet potatoes and soybeans in the backyard, and also grow some sticky corn for her own consumption.

But when chatting a few days ago, Xu Ning said that it would be better to plant more beans, eggplants, tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, lettuce and the like. The three acres of land in the backyard are completely self-sufficient. There are many people in the family, and if there are not enough vegetables, there will definitely not be enough to eat.

Just like that, Liu Lizhen listened to her eldest son and prepared to plant more vegetables. As for staple foods such as sticky corn and potatoes, they could be grown in the backyards of Wang Erli, Liu Daming, and Li Fuqiang's homes. It would be easier to manage them if they were planted separately, and there would be no need to go through the trouble of finishing one and then another.

Now it is not time to plant the crops yet, so Liu Lizhen thought of getting out the plow, hoe and other farm tools in advance and asking Liu Daming to sharpen them when he has time, so that it will be easier to plow the soil.

Just then, she saw a group of three middle-aged people pulling two sleds in, so she told them about sharpening the plow poles. Of course, Liu Daming didn't say anything. Then, she saw that there were only two and a half wild boars and half a bag of fish left on the sled, so she asked a question.

Liu Daming, Da Laba and Lao Jiang talked about selling wild boar meat, fish and black blind cats in Taiping.

It was mainly the loudspeaker who was talking. When he started talking loudly, the rest of the people seemed to be dimmed.

At first, Liu Lizhen, Han Fengjiao and others were happy and excited when they heard that they sold the two little black blind cats for 720 yuan, but they were a little worried when they heard that they were sold to the Fang family.

"Sister, don't worry about it. We signed the contract with Lao Fang in front of Lao Hu, Lao Deng and his gang at Taiping Village."

Lao Jiang said, "Guoxing, take out the contract and show it to my sister-in-law."

Dababa took out the contract, spread it out and said with a smile: "Auntie, nothing happened. Look here. In addition to my and Lao Fang's handprints, there are also Uncle Hu, Uncle Deng, Accountant Zhang, and Blacksmith Feng. This is the leader of Group 2..."

"Will this work?" Liu Lizhen asked.

Liu Daming said with a smile: "Of course it will work. If Lao Fang wants to cause trouble, Lao Hu and Lao Deng will not agree to it."

"Oh, that's fine. I'm just worried that Lao Fang will cause trouble again later."

"No, this idea was proposed by Erning." Lao Jiang said.

Han Fengjiao smiled and said, "It's Erning's brain that counts. Sister-in-law, are you relieved this time?"

"Why should I be relieved? He is also confused!" Liu Lizhen said behind his back, "You old bastard", but she had a smile on her face.

At this time, Da Laba took out a wad of money from his pocket, handed it to her and said, "Auntie, this is the money from selling the little black blind dog, a total of 720..."

"Why are you giving me anything to do? It would be better if you just divided it up."

Lao Jiang smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, Erning led us to find those two little black blind dogs, so we should give him two shares and each of us one share. We can talk about it after Erning comes back."

"There's no time to wait until he comes back, so let's break up now. Jiao'er and Shuhua are both here."

After Liu Lizhen finished speaking, she took the wad of money and asked, "Did Erning agree to give him two shares?"

"Why don't you agree? This is how it is usually divided."

Afterwards, Liu Lizhen started to calculate, but she still didn't understand it after five minutes, and Liu Daming, Lao Jiang and Da Laba were even more confused. It was difficult for them to calculate addition and subtraction within 100, let alone multiplication and division.

Wang Shujuan took a piece of scratch paper and calculated twice, but she couldn't divide it no matter how hard she tried. 720÷7=102.857142...

Liu Daming looked down at the draft paper and said, "Then let Erning take a loss and take 204 yuan. The remaining 516 will be divided among the five of us, and each of us will get 103 yuan."

Liu Lizhen waved her hand and said, "No, let's do this. Leave 200 yuan for him, and the remaining 520 yuan for the five of you, 104 yuan each."

"Sister-in-law, isn't this going to put Erning at a disadvantage?"

"Why are you losing money? Why are you so ruthless about this little money? Besides, it was the three of you who contributed to selling the little black blind boy. Who gets more or less? What does it matter?"

Sitting on the edge of the kang, Liu Lizhen first found out 200 yuan, and then found out five portions of 104 yuan, which she handed to Lao Jiang, Liu Daming, Da Laba, Yang Shuhua, and Han Fengjiao respectively.

Everyone who got the money was very happy. Yang Shuhua and Han Fengjiao had never expected that they could earn more than 100 yuan by just going to Nanshan. It was really unexpected. This was really like what those mountain hikers said about picking up mountain money...

"Let's eat here tonight. Shuhua has prepared some fish balls, and we can make some pancakes when the time comes."

Lao Jiang opened his mouth and said, "Sister-in-law, I have something to do at home..."

Liu Lizhen waved her hand: "What can you do? Try the fish balls here, and you'll know what to do with them when you take some home. Otherwise, how do you know how to eat them? Since you're here, don't be polite. Even the little balls are not as twisted as you."

Old Jiang smiled when he heard this: "Okay, sister-in-law, I won't be polite then."

"Aunt, we still have to sell pork and fish..."

"Go quickly, and be back at dinner time."

"Eh."

It was past two o'clock at this moment. The middle-aged trio pulled the sled to sell pork and fish again. The fish sold quickly, but only a little more than one wild boar was sold. There was still a whole pig, a piece of hind leg, and a rib left.

The pork was sold for 51 yuan and the fish was sold for 8 yuan, for a total of 23 yuan, which was divided equally among the three of them, with each getting 5 yuan. None of the money was shared by Xu Ning and the other two, because this was the money they earned in the mountains themselves and had nothing to do with Xu Ning.

In the evening, everyone gathered together. Lao Jiang looked radiant these days. In the past, he was worried almost all day long: where to get some money?

Now I don’t have to worry about money anymore, and I can drink more vigorously than anyone else! This is the change that money brings.

When Xu Laonian heard that the two little black blind cats were sold for 720 yuan, he was so shocked that a chill ran down the back of his head. After asking carefully, he realized that it was Lao Fang who had set the wrong price, and Da Laba just went with the flow and made a little more money.

Xu Laonian commented on the loud speaker, "You guys, those who are hanging out with that little bastard are all dirty tricks!"

"Hahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter.

Old Xu's house was full of laughter and joy, but Xu Ning, Wang Hu and Ma Liu in the cellar on the east mountain were quite quiet.

Why? Because there was no electricity in the mountains, they could not light a lamp in the cellar, so they could only use candles to illuminate it. So after dinner, the three of them went to rest.

When Xu Ning and Wang Hu arrived at Dongshan in the morning, they saw that Ma Liu had already built the shack. The shack was made of six wooden sticks and could just accommodate two people. There was a bed made of wooden boards in the shack.

Xu Ning took out the tarpaulin and Wang Hu covered the shack with it, which could protect it from rain and moisture. However, it was still a bit cold that day, so Ma Liu took down the cast iron stove in the cellar, placed it in the shack, and made a chimney out of iron sheets. Lighting the stove could at least make the shack a little warmer and not too damp or cold.

Before they had time to make the bed, Ma Liu dragged the two of them to feed the overwintering bees. So what do the overwintering bees eat? The answer is syrup or honey. Honey is a naturally stored food, while syrup is artificially prepared. This is to ensure the safety of the overwintering bees. Sufficient syrup must be prepared to prevent the bees from starving to death.

Ma Liu told Xu Ning many precautions, as well as feeding methods, syrup concentration, feeding amount, and that the syrup concentration should be adjusted according to the temperature. In short, there were many things to learn, and in order to prevent forgetting, Wang Hu specially prepared a small notebook and took notes while listening to Ma Liu's story.

Wang Hu's handwriting was like dog crawling, and only he could understand it. Xu Ning had no choice but to take out his notebook, so he summarized Wang Hu's notes and made annotations before dinner.

The main seasons for beekeeping are spring and autumn. Because of the large temperature difference between morning and evening, the honey and pollen sources are scarce. The bee colonies in spring have just experienced a long winter and are weak and prone to disease. Therefore, it is necessary to choose a suitable beekeeping site, disinfect the bee farm, place beehives and beehive barrels, and pay attention to keeping warm...

Ma Liu also has his own experience in beekeeping. He said: Beekeeping is about raising queen bees. What we raise are medium-sized bees, that is, wild bees, so apart from keeping them warm and feeding them, there is no need to interfere too much.

Beekeeping is different from raising dogs, because bees are not pets, they are workers who collect honey. If you want to get honey, you have to serve them wholeheartedly and be their servant. If you feel that the bees want to build honeycombs, give them a foundation and they will build them naturally. If they don't want to build honeycombs, then you force the foundation into them, and they will never build honeycombs until they die.

For example, if they want to split up, let them split up, don't stop them.

Ma Liu also said: There are weak queen bees and strong ones, but no matter how strong or weak, as long as the worker bees do not abandon the queen bee, the queen bee is a normal queen. Do not abandon any queen bee easily, even if it is a disabled queen!

From this we can see that Ma Liu is teaching Xu Ning with all his heart. He wants his skills to continue, so whether it is experience or breeding methods, he teaches Xu Ning without reservation.

Living in the shack, it was quite cold in the second half of the night. Fortunately, my mother brought a thick blanket and lit the stove, otherwise Xu Ning and Wang Hu would definitely get sick. In the morning, the tarpaulin was a little damp. Xu Ning rubbed his nose when he got up. Wang Hu grinned and said, "Second brother, you froze my little nose."

"Then hide your nose tonight."

"Ha ha……"

The two men put on cotton jackets and trousers and went to the cellar. Smoke was coming out of the chimney. Ma Liu got up before dawn.

The two boys couldn't cook, so they had to be served by the old man Ma Liu. However, Xu Ning brought a lot of food, enough to feed the three of them for more than half a month.

Although Ma Liu is old, he has a big appetite. He can make three cornmeal cakes and two steamed buns made with leavened dough in one meal, which is a normal amount. He also eats all kinds of meat.

After dinner, Ma Liu dragged the two of them around the apiary and went to a lime forest where the bees collected honey.

Tilia is a tree plant of the genus Tilia in the Malvaceae family. It is about 20 meters tall, with gray bark and cracks. The leaves are 7-14 cm long and 5-9 cm wide. The front end of the leaves is short-pointed or gradually pointed, and the tail is heart-shaped or obliquely truncated...

Basswood trees are suitable for growing in deep, fertile and moist soil. They can grow on hillsides and valleys. Basswood trees like light and a warm, cool and humid climate. Single trees are often scattered in mixed red pine and broad-leaved forests. They have very strict requirements on soil and prefer fertile, well-drained moist land. They are cold-resistant, resistant to toxins and have few insect pests.

The flowering period of the lime tree is in July. Each flower consists of five petals and contains shiny nectar in the middle. The bees collect this nectar. The flowers can also be dried and made into tea, which can have a calming effect.

Basswood honey can be brewed with egg water, milk, etc. It is also the main raw material for making Chinese patent medicine pills. After being used as medicine, it has the effects of replenishing qi, relieving cough and moistening intestines, detoxifying and aiding digestion, and has the effect of treating high blood pressure, heart disease, constipation, insomnia and many other diseases.

"If you want to raise bees, you must pay attention to the water and nectar sources. Have you seen it? There is a small spring less than a mile away from my bee farm. I built a reservoir around the spring with stones. Don't think that bees don't need water. All plants and animals need water. They can't survive without water. Do you understand?"

"Understood, sir."

Ma Liu smiled and said, "Let's go downstairs. I have almost finished processing the five beehives you sent me. I can use them this year. I think they should be better than the beehive barrels I use. It is convenient to remove the honeycombs!"

Xu Ning nodded: "This thing is to take out the wax board, put it in the honey bucket and shake it, and the honey will be collected."

"Well, the more I think about it, the more novel it seems to me. If they grow well this year, you can get me another twenty next year."

"Okay! As many as you want."

Suddenly, Wang Hu pointed at a jumping little animal in front of him, pulled Xu Ning's arm, and shouted, "Second brother, gray dog!"

"Oh my god?" Xu Ning was also quite surprised. Although there were many small animals in Dongshan, he hadn't seen a gray dog ​​since he came back. He did see a dense dog and a big skin.

Ma Liu smiled and said, "There are quite a few here. When you two have time, come and play with them. Those two air rifles are for shooting greyhounds, right?"

"Well, my dad bought them secretly and then pinned the blame on me, so I got the two air rifles naturally."

"Hahaha, you two have a good relationship."

"It's ok, let's torture each other."

In the evening, Ma Liu and Wang Hu had a drink, during which Ma Liu told Xu Ning stories from the past. Ma Liu had a miserable life and was now a lonely man. Before he met Xu Ning, he had always kept his emotions closed and had no intention of talking to anyone. Unfortunately, Xu Ning and he were a good match, and Ma Liu did not expect that he could get along so well with Xu Ning.

If it were anyone else, hanging around the cellar, Ma Liu would have to draw his sword. If the other party was a scumbag, he would dare to shoot with his gun. After all, he was so old, what would it matter if he killed one person?

Although he is a person with such a personality, he is very cheerful and smiling every day when getting along with Xu Ning and never loses his temper.

For five days in a row, Ma Liu taught the two how to keep bees. On the sixth day, he relaxed and let Xu Ning and Wang Hu go to shoot greyhounds with their old I-shaped air guns. Why? Because in Ma Liu's mind, no matter how smooth Xu Ning was in his work and how funny he was in his chats, he was still a kid in his early twenties.

Since they are children, they have a playful heart, and they should also combine work and rest during the period of study.

Snapped!
With a gunshot, the lead bullet hit the grayhound that was squatting on a tree stump and looking around in front.

Xu Ning calmly put away his gun, opened the barrel and compressed the air, at the same time took out a lead bullet and pressed it into the chamber, then walked forward slowly.

Wang Hu carried Lao Gongzi on his back and ran quickly to the front. He picked up the dead gray dog ​​under the tree stump and tilted his head to glance at the place where the gray dog ​​was shot.

He laughed and said, "Second brother, you hit me on the head again!"

Xu Ning walked over and said, "It's only about 20 meters away. Isn't it normal to hit someone in the head? You should practice more. What are you keeping these old lead bullets for?"

"I'm afraid I might miss the target and let the greyhound get away."

"What are you afraid of? The more you fear, the more doomed you will be. You can't be timid when doing things, understand?"

"Well, then look for the greyhound and I'll beat him later."

"Well, just play for fun. If you hit it, you earn ten dollars. If you don't hit it, there's no loss."

At half past four, the two returned to the cellar. Ma Liu saw Wang Hu holding five greyhounds in his hands and said with a smile, "You really played a lot. How was your fun?"

"It was so cool! My second brother killed four and I killed one. It's more satisfying to kill this than to kill wild boars."

Ma Liu said: "Do you know why I feel a sense of accomplishment?"

"Why?"

"Because you've never hunted a greyhound before, imagine what it's like to hunt a wild boar for the first time? Wouldn't it be more exciting?"

"Yeah!" Wang Hu agreed deeply.

Ma Liu changed the subject and looked at Xu Ning and said, "It's the same with beekeeping. You watch the bees grow from nothing to a colony, and the beehives become bigger and bigger. When you harvest the honey and take a bite of the sweet honey, it's quite exciting. The sense of accomplishment is no less than the first time you hunt greyhounds or wild boars..."

Xu Ning nodded: "That's for sure. Everything has a first time, and the impression is the most profound."

"That's enough. We'll steam some egg cakes tonight and stew some pickled cabbage in the pot... Tomorrow you two can take the quilts outside to dry in the sun. I felt it was a little damp just now."

"okay."

(End of this chapter)