Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 389: The Elders’ Thought Dispute

Chapter 389: The Elders’ Thought Dispute

In the summer, the entire forest area does not stop working, but logging is suspended because it rains a lot in the mountains and forests, the roads are muddy and difficult to travel on, and it is difficult for large vehicles and machinery to enter the mountains.

Moreover, the density of trees and plants is relatively high, and there are many mosquitoes, small bites, and grass creepers in the mountains. The vines and shrubs are entangled with each other and cover a large area, making it difficult to walk in the mountains, let alone transport wood.

Moreover, the summer is hot, which can easily cause fires and is not conducive to fire prevention. Therefore, workers in the forest area will withdraw from the mountains in the summer, go home to rest for two or three months, and then go back to work in the mountains in autumn.

But it does not mean that there is no work in the summer. The main work is to transport wood outside when the weather is good, or to transport wood from the small yard to the lumberyard. Donkeys, horses, cows, and mules are used for transportation, and cars are used for auxiliary transportation. The trees on both sides of the mountain road are overgrown, which obstructs the car's view and the branches can easily scratch the windshield, making it difficult to move forward.

Animal carts like donkeys and horses are much narrower. They can easily pass through extremely narrow mountain roads, but they still cannot pass on rainy days. Mountain roads are not asphalt roads, but gravel and mud. When it rains, the carts will get stuck and it is difficult to pull them out...

In addition to fire prevention, the forest ranger's job is to lead forest workers to cut down bushes, clear rocks on mountain roads, and fill potholes, which is road maintenance.

Winter is the golden time for timber production in forest areas. Due to the long winter, the ground is frozen solid. At this time, you don't have to worry about getting stuck when driving a fully loaded car on a mountain road. It is also easy to pass through muddy or swampy areas, which are also called "frozen cypress roads", but you need to be careful to avoid slipping.

When the temperature drops to below zero, the sap in the trees will freeze, making them brittle, making them easier to fell and less likely to get caught in saws. The branches of the felled trees will also be easier to break, reducing the tedious work of clearing the branches.

So, in a few days, the forest area will enter a leisurely period of more than two months. What to do during this time? Farming!

Although there is not much land in the forest area, there is no large-scale machinery nowadays, and the land is basically tended by hand. From turning the soil to harvesting in autumn, a lot of effort is required during this period.

Xu Ning felt that farming was even more tiring than running up the mountain! He was really working with his back to the sky, facing the black soil, bending over and working without a rest!

If Xu Ning were asked to farm, he would definitely not be willing to endure the hardship. After working hard for half a year, the little he earned was not enough to cover the family expenses, and he had to live frugally to avoid starving.

Some people say that if farming can make you rich, then farmers will lose their jobs. Whether this is true or not is not up for debate, but Xu Ning somewhat agrees. Farming by hand alone is too tiring. If there are large machines such as four-wheeled vehicles and harvesters, it can be easier. But how expensive are large machines nowadays? A Dongfanghong-28 costs about 1 yuan. How many families can afford it?

Even the well-fed and well-clothed old Xu family couldn't afford a new car. At best, they could only ask about the price of a used car...

In the afternoon, Wang Biao, Liu Tianen and Li Mantang were turning the soil, working hard and sweating profusely. It was not until after five o'clock, before Xu Laonian and Wang Erli came back, that they finally finished turning the soil over the three acres of land.

"Why did you come back so recently?" As soon as Xu Laonian entered the room, he saw Xu Ning lying on the kang.

"I came back this afternoon. Any news about the Lengchang incident?"

Xu Laonian sat on the edge of the kang, while Wang Erli pulled over a stool and sat at the head of the kang against the wall. "We just had a meeting the day before yesterday, and the city officially issued a document, specifying that we will open two more kangs near the 28 kangs, and then two more kangs near the 13 kangs."

Xu Laonian crossed his legs and nodded, "I have already talked to your uncle Guo and Grandpa Zhang about our family wanting to take over the farm. Your uncle Guo said that the forest farm can only make decisions for one farm, and the other three farms can't make decisions."

Xu Ning stood up after hearing this and said in silence for a moment, "Okay, I'll call Uncle San tomorrow."

Xu Laonian frowned, tilted his head and asked, "No, do you have to book two places? We don't have that many people at home."

"The opportunity is right in front of you. You can't just grab it if you want to. So you have to move forward! Why don't we use it when we have someone at home?"

Xu Ning put on his shoes and went to the floor cabinet to drink some water. He continued, "My uncle is idle at home. He can pay for insurance by using the quota of the workshop. Workers... can be recruited if you have money. You can talk to my uncle Guo and ask him to leave us a few more chain saws, and it would be best if he could equip them with a winch."

"Why does your Uncle Guo like you so much? Can you please have some shame?"

Xu Ning smiled and said, "What's the point of having face? Can it make money or let our family live a good life? When my brother came back, did he say anything?"

"He didn't say anything. He just stayed at home for one day and then left... Or you can go to the city when you have time. If you keep doing this, how will your sister-in-law get pregnant? Your mother is already dissatisfied. Talk to your third uncle..."

Xu Ning turned around and looked at his father, frowning and said, "Dad, my brother finally settled down in the city, why are you dragging him back? People go to high places and water flows to low places. I can't get pregnant now. When my brother officially starts working, will my third uncle treat him badly? He will definitely approve a house for him! Then let my sister-in-law go there again."

"What do you mean? You want to divide the family? Your mother and I are not dead yet!" Xu Laonian was a little angry.

Xu Ning said, "When did I say we were going to split up? Can you please stop thinking too much? My brother finally went to the city, and I dragged him back for a child. What future can he have in this broken mountain valley?"

Xu Laonian glared and said, "You bastard? I didn't raise you to this age? Did I give you clothes and food?"

Wang Erli felt something was not right the more he listened. If the father and son continued to argue, they might even start fighting. He quickly stood up and blocked Xu Laonian's way, saying, "Alright, alright, what are you arguing about..."

Liu Lizhen, who was cooking in the outer room, also lifted the door curtain and came in. She scolded, "What are you making such a fuss about!"

"I'm not arguing... I'm just chatting with your old son." Xu Laonian sat down again, lowered his head and took two puffs of his cigarette.

Xu Ning drooped his eyelids and said, "Mom, nothing happened. I'm just chatting with my dad."

Liu Lizhen glanced at the father and son, dragged Xu Ning to the outer room, and pushed him into the west room. Then, her mother whispered, "I accidentally mentioned to your father that your sister-in-law was pregnant. Mainly, your sister-in-law was also worried. Your brother only comes back once every ten days or half a month. If this is the case, how can she get pregnant?"

"Why are you in such a hurry? Logically, I shouldn't tell anyone about my sister-in-law's pregnancy, but this is the only chance I have. My third uncle thinks highly of my brother. Our family is well-connected. Maybe my brother will be able to settle down in the city in the future. When he has a child, the child's schooling conditions will be better."

"Well, the family needs to build a house and open a workshop, so there are many places that need money, and your father is worried too..."

"What is he worried about? I always tell you not to worry about money. Whether it's building a house, getting married, or opening a business, I know everything."

Liu Lizhen looked back at the door curtain and said, "When are you going to the city?"

"My third uncle didn't come over on May Day?"

"No, he said he went back to the provincial capital."

"...Then I'll go the day after tomorrow and visit you tomorrow."

When Xu Ning returned to the east room, Xu Lao's eyelids drooped and he didn't look up. Wang Erli said, "Erning, you need a car to go to the street, right?"

"Well, I'll take Lao Lin's car to the street first."

"Who's going with you?"

"Hu Zi and I are going. We can go to the agricultural machinery station to see if there are any suitable four-wheelers. If they are cheap, we will buy one."

Xu Laonian still didn't look up after hearing this, but muttered: "I want to buy everything..."

"Selling four-wheeled logs?"

Xu Ning said: "It's convenient to have four wheels for collecting wood or hauling anything."

"Well, it's more convenient..."

In the evening, Li Fuqiang, Liu Daming and others gathered at Old Xu's house. The meal was very rich. The staple food was dumplings made of mountain celery, and there were also various wild vegetables. In addition to prickly ash sprouts, there were also micro vegetables (Niumaoguang), Acanthopanax senticosus, and garlic root...

May is a good time to eat wild vegetables. Not only are they tender, but there are also many varieties. A diligent person can bring back more than 50 kilograms of them by going into the mountains. However, if you take them to the street to sell, they will be worthless because the street is surrounded by mountains. If anyone wants to eat them, they can go into the mountains and get them.

The next day, Xu Ning went to Old Meng's house carrying two greyhound meats. Meng the Cripple was resting at home. When it was almost noon, Liu Fenfang refused to let Xu Ning leave no matter what, so he stayed for a meal. In the afternoon, he went to Old Chang's house for a visit.

Chang Da Nian and Li Baoquan went into the mountains several times these days and picked a lot of wild vegetables and mushrooms. Although Li Baoquan was not very good at hunting, he was a good mushroom picker because he had good eyesight. Now the vision in the mountains was not far, and the branches and leaves were gradually lush, so he could only see 20 to 30 meters... On the way home, he happened to see Da Laba, Lao Jiang and Liu Daming. The three of them were carrying three bags of elm yellow mushrooms and entered Lao Xu's house.

The three of them only picked up more than ten kilograms, but the elm yellow mushrooms were not heavy enough and there were many of them spread out on the ground.

"Why did you make him look so old? Oh, it makes me feel itchy!"

Xu Ning looked at the delicate elm yellow mushroom and said while scratching his chest.

Liu Daming grinned and said, "It's in the nest south of the 28-corner field. There's a big tree with two rows of trees! The yellow ones are so beautiful."

"Are these all made from the big tree?"

"No, there are still two fallen trees..."

It is not uncommon for a fallen or standing tree to produce five or six kilograms of elm yellow mushrooms. There are also cases where a tree can produce more than ten kilograms, but it is not common.

Lao Jiang and Da Laba picked up two kilograms of mushrooms, left the rest of the elm yellow mushrooms, and then the two of them left in a hurry.

Now that the elm yellow mushroom has been brought back, it must be eaten fresh, so Liu Lizhen once again called the old ladies together and gathered in the outer room to discuss how to eat it.

Yang Shuhua suggested: "Auntie, how about we fry some batter and make some dumplings?"

"I think it's okay! Fry more. These kids will like to eat them."

"to make!"

The elm yellow mushrooms need to be blanched in water first, dried, coated with batter and then fried in oil. The fried elm yellow mushrooms are crispy! If you stir-fry them with chili peppers, it will become dry-fried elm yellow mushrooms, and the taste is not much worse than dry-fried tea tree mushrooms.

As for how to make stuffing with elm yellow mushrooms? Liu Lizhen has her own opinion. She likes to use eggs with elm yellow mushrooms. People like Xu Ning, Xu Long and Xu Feng are all happy to eat it. Others use pork as stuffing, but the taste... Xu Ning thinks that the stuffing without eggs tastes better.

When Xu Laonian came back, he saw that the family was making dumplings again. He muttered, "Didn't we just finish eating dumplings yesterday?"

"Do you want to eat?" Liu Lizhen didn't have any bad habits.

"Eat, what's the filling? Oh, yellow mushrooms! Where did you get them? I have to make two plates of this!"

Seeing Xu Laonian's expression change quickly, Liu Lizhen said unhappily, "The three of them from Daming were doing this in the mountains."

Xu Laonian lifted the door curtain and entered the room. He saw Xu Ning lying on the kang. He sat down and rolled a cigarette, then said, "I talked to your uncle Zhang today. He said that he can reserve a place for you in the forest farm. When the contract is signed in August, he will reserve five chain saws and a winch for you, but you have to prepare 1000 yuan."

Xu Ning opened his eyes and said, "Okay, didn't you ask how much it would cost to cover the venue?"

"Last year, the subcontract of the 13-row yard cost yuan, which was the price of a lot of wood. The empty row yard after cleaning up was about yuan... less than yuan."

It is not easy to open a shed. There is no need to explain the formalities. Secondly, roads need to be built, trees need to be cut down and the site needs to be cleared. The vacant land is not small, and a shack needs to be built with a large kang and two stoves. However, the shack forest farm does not care about it, so you need to spend money to build it, and there are also fees for renting saws, axes, hooks, etc.

These are all included, and the 4,000 yuan is not for one year, but for three years! The average cost is more than 1,000 yuan per year.

Cheap? It is indeed cheap, but isn’t this because I know people and have strong connections? If I didn’t know people, I wouldn’t even know how to contract a venue with 5,000 yuan.

Xu Laonian took two puffs of his cigarette and continued, "I've told your uncle Zhang and uncle Guo to let me buy it on credit first, and then deduct it from my salary. I'll make up for it when I have more money."

Xu Ning nodded: "Why did my Master Zhang retreat?"

"In July and August, it was you, Grandpa Zhang, who signed the contract for the Lengchang site. If anything goes wrong, we won't be able to blame your Uncle Guo."

"Nothing will go wrong. If I work well in a year, I can pay it back."

Now Xu Laonian has also accepted the reality. He finds that ever since Xiaobieduzi stopped himself from doing what he wanted, his words at home are no longer effective. Liu Lizhen does not accept his opinions at all, and Xu Long and Wang Shujuan have also betrayed him and supported Xu Ning.

Last night, Liu Lizhen said a lot of things to him in bed, with the purpose of persuading him to listen more to Erning and accept his age, as the ideas of the older generation are no longer acceptable nowadays.

"Okay, go ahead and do it. If anything goes wrong, I'll back you up."

No matter how long, he will still be my biological father. These words sounded very pleasant and Xu Ning felt relieved.

"Hey, why worry about those things? I'm sure I can figure it out. I'm going to go to the city tomorrow, and then I'll go talk to the people at the brick factory on the street and build the house first..."

Before dinner, the two chatted a lot, and it was rare that there was no quarrel.

Originally, Wang Erli had walked to the door, but when he heard the conversation between the father and son, he turned around and called Wang Hu to the west room to chat with Wang Biao, Xu Feng and others.

Whatever happens, these dumplings stuffed with elm yellow mushroom and eggs are really delicious. To describe them in Northeastern dialect, they are: fresh and delicious.

Xu Laonian is no longer as able to eat as he was when he was young. He couldn't swallow after eating just one plate of dumplings. However, Xu Ning, Wang Hu and Li Fuqiang made one and a half plates of dumplings, with about twenty dumplings in one plate. The dumplings were as long as an index finger and as thick as two fingers.

The ones who ate the most were Li Mantang, Wang Biao, and Liu Tianen. Each of these three guys made about 40 of them. It looked scary, didn't it? But Wang Biao said that this was only enough to fill him up...

"Then you can clean up the rest." Xu Ning said with a smile.

"Hey, second brother, I'll save some for tomorrow morning."

"Hahaha, this is such a mess..."

In the past two days since I returned home, there have been wild vegetables on the table for every meal, fried elm yellow mushrooms, cold dishes mixed with prickly ash and garlic, stir-fried meat with micro vegetables, etc.

After dinner, everyone was drinking tea and chatting in the east room. Xu Ning walked to the rice jar in the outer room and took a look. There was only half a jar of rice left. He turned around and asked, "Mom, how much rice and flour is left?"

"There's quite a lot left. There are still two bags of rice that haven't been opened. There's only half a jar left. There are still three bags of flour. The jar is almost empty."

Xu Ning was puzzled: "We didn't eat much noodles at home, so why is there less noodles left than rice?"

"Have you forgotten? Didn't Nian Gen Lao San, Hai Quan, and Yuan Jun also bring rice and flour to the house? Later, your uncle also brought some rice and flour to the house, and your second uncle and Qiang Zi also brought a bag. Otherwise, the ones you bought before the New Year would have been eaten up long ago."

"Ah, then are you still going to buy it? Don't we have to provide food when we build a house?"

Liu Lizhen put down the rag in her hand and asked, "Didn't you say you would pay someone to do it?"

"At first I was thinking about hiring someone, but then my security brother-in-law, Huang, Uncle Jiang, Old Wei, and Uncle Yu all said they wanted to help. How could I hire someone?"

"Of course you have to provide food. If you hire people, you don't have to provide food, you just have to pay them wages."

(End of this chapter)

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