Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 408: The Difficulty of Measuring the Homestead
In the afternoon, at two o'clock.

At Old Xu's house, the three people lying on the kang in the west room woke up one after another. Xu Ning, Sun Liansheng and Guan Lei rubbed their faces to refresh themselves, and then sat in the east room to drink some tea.

There was no other sound in the house except the voices of three people chatting, because Sun Lianfang followed Wang Shujuan, Liu Lizhen and others to Wu Qiuxia's house to prepare some micro-vegetables.

This micro vegetable is also called Niumaoguan. Its processing is the most difficult of all wild vegetables. Niumaoguan looks very similar to monkey legs and cucumber.

The price of Niumaoguang is not high now. The supply and marketing cooperatives buy dried vegetables at 3-5 cents and then export them to the little devil country. This Niumaoguang is rich in nutrients, bitter in taste and cool in nature. It has the effects of calming the nerves, lowering blood pressure, fighting cancer, clearing away heat, and losing weight. It has a significant inhibitory effect on diseases such as influenza and Japanese encephalitis.

But now many people in the area do not recognize it. Why? Because it is too difficult to process. To process the cow hair, you need to blanch it in water first, then clean the hair on the stems, and then spread it flat on a dustpan to dry. During the drying process, you have to rub it until the water is dried and it is rubbed into a ball shape.

If it is cloudy or rainy during the period, the glutinous rice that has not dried thoroughly will become sour. Once it becomes sour, the dish will be ruined and all the previous efforts will be wasted!

Although there are supply and marketing cooperatives that buy it, the price is really too low. If a poor family works hard for a month, they can probably earn more than 50 yuan, but this thing is seasonal, and they can only work for two months at most...

The price offered by the second-hand dealers from other places is extremely low, basically the same as that of the supply and marketing cooperatives, and their attitude is that it is up to you to sell it or not, otherwise it will rot in your hands. Therefore, mountain runners nowadays are not very keen on Niumaoguang. Even if they want to make money, the whole family has to work together, with five or six people taking turns to work for two days and two nights without sleep. This is hard-earned money, and if the family is not too short of money, they are almost unwilling to touch this thing.

But Liu Daming, Lao Jiang and Da Laba went into the mountain with the attitude of not wanting to come back empty-handed. When the three of them did not pick other wild vegetables, they could not walk when they saw Niumaoguan. Even if the processing was a bit cumbersome, it was better than going down the mountain empty-handed. So the three of them would rather take some effort and picked nearly three sacks.

These three sacks together can weigh about 50 to 60 kilograms. After being rubbed and dried, only 20 to 30 kilograms are left. These vegetables can be sold to the supply and marketing cooperative for more than ten yuan.

Such a small amount of food seems pitiful. If it is carried to the supply and marketing cooperative to sell, it will not be worth it, so it can only be kept at home for eating. It is also very delicious when stir-fried with meat. But when thinking about the process of processing it, Liu Lizhen and others must be gritting their teeth, and they wish they could throw it into the pigsty to feed the pigs!

But as time went by, Niumaoguan became quite popular in later generations, especially in the 1990s. For some reason, it was exported to the Little Devil Country in large quantities. At that time, groups of people went into the mountains to collect Niumaoguan. They ate and drank in the mountains. After collecting, there were special people to transport it down the mountain, and the old women and children left behind in the village would deal with it.

Moreover, he was sitting at home waiting for middlemen to come and buy the hair. If the price he offered was not right, he would not even let the middlemen see the hair of Niu Maoguang...

"Niumaoguan is worthless now..."

Sun Liansheng drank a sip of tea and said, "You often hunt animals, but you don't know how hard it is for these people to hunt vegetables. Now the whole village of Sandaohe is waiting for Niu Maoguang to come down the mountain. If he does a good job, each family can get 60 or 70 yuan."

"It's mainly because it's too troublesome to deal with. Otherwise, I would have gone into the mountains to fix it."

Guan Lei said: "If it's two yuan per pound, I can live in the mountains!"

Xu Ning said: "We have high standards and don't care about small amounts of money. My uncle and his two brothers are the same. A few days ago, they made a lot of money by selling wild boar, deer, roe deer and bear meat. Now they don't even bother to sell wild vegetables worth three or four cents."

The price of Niu Mao Guang has been rising since then, from 20 to 30 yuan at the lowest to more than 100 yuan at the highest! Some mountain runners who sell Niu Mao Guang can earn 30,000 to 40,000 yuan a month, but the whole family has to work hard for a whole month, so the money they earn is hard-earned.

At this time, Wang Hu climbed over the wall carrying a bundle of wooden pegs and entered the house. He lifted the door curtain and said, "Second brother, the pegs are ready. Shall we go?"

The three of them put down their teacups and stood up. Xu Ning waved his hand and said, "Let's go! How many pegs do you want?"

"More than twenty of them, that should be enough. If not, just chop more. I have an axe with me."

This wooden peg is used to mark the boundaries of the homestead. When the time comes, we can use the wooden peg to know where is Old Xu's house...

At the village headquarters, when Du Shoucai saw Xu Ning come in, he turned off the radio, took the door key and leather measuring tape and walked out. After saying hello to a few people, Du Shoucai turned around, locked the door, and then walked towards the back mountain.

The mountain behind is a bit desolate, because the houses in the village are built two or three hundred meters away from the mountain, but the new housing site of Old Xu's family is sixty or seventy meters away from the mountain. However, the mountain is not steep, but a gentle slope with rocky cliffs. There are pine and oak trees growing on the slope, but the trees are sparse and not dense.

When passing by Yu Kaihe's house, Du Shoucai said, "We have to call Old Yu. He has good eyesight and can spot where the rocks are."

Xu Ning said: "I'll go and shout..."

After that, he stood at the door of Yu Kaihe's house and shouted twice, but Yu Kaihe did not come out. Instead, the old lady came out with bow legs and said enthusiastically: "Erning, come in quickly!"

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Auntie, I won't go into the house. Is my uncle at home? I want to ask him to help me look for the homestead."

"Ah, he's not home. He went for a walk up the mountain early in the morning and didn't come back until noon."

Du Shoucai, Guan Lei and others walked to the door. Du Shoucai said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, I wonder if my brother has good eyesight. Let him help look at the rocks and cracks. If he doesn't have them at home, forget it."

The old lady suddenly realized and said, "Then wait until he comes back, and I'll ask him to come look for you."

"Okay, let's go first."

"Hey, if you have time, come inside and have a drink of water."

"OK."

Everyone turned and walked towards the north end. Since Yu Kaihe was not at home, Du Shoucai did not look for anyone else, because no one else could understand the trend of the rocks. So why should they look at the trend? It was very simple. They were mainly afraid that they would dig up large rocks when laying the foundation. If they could not dig them out, the foundation would not be able to be laid firmly.

After leaving the north of the village, all you can see are farmlands. When you look up, you can see the back mountain. If you walk about 200 meters ahead, you will see a C-shaped stream. This stream is a fork of the Xiaoshi River. The stream water flows down from the mountain and will not freeze in winter. It is quite convenient for the nearby mountain people to get water from it. However, there are several wells in the village. Usually, they mainly draw water from wells. For example, the well used by Lao Xu's family is in the backyard because this well was dug by their family...

Du Shoucai pointed to the creek and the mountain and said, "This is a typical jade belt waist, with the mountain behind it. This is a really good location."

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Of course, I like this place."

"You are quite honest. We need to build a bridge here, otherwise when it rains and floods, you won't be able to get out."

"Well, we need to build a two-meter-wide bridge."

After crossing the stream and walking another fifty or sixty meters, Du Shoucai pointed to the empty space on the left and said, "Huzi, your house is over there, how is the location?"

"Very good! Is it close to my second brother?"

"It's close, but it's hard to climb over the wall. There's at least 30 meters between your two homes. This residential land is wider than the village. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Wang Hu asked.

"The land in the village is arable land, and all the houses are built on good farmland. This side is sandy and belongs to the mountainous area, so the residential land area is slightly larger than normal."

“Ah, there is such a saying.”

Du Shoucai smiled and said, "If it weren't for this, how much would you two have to pay? The homestead here plus the front and back yards and two side gardens would take up one mu and four fen of land. How big is the land we live in now? At most seven or eight fen..."

"Uncle, can you open a small path here?" Xu Ning pointed to the left. If a small path could be opened, it would lead directly to Taipingtun.

Du Shoucai shook his head: "You can't open the road. If you open the road, you will have to occupy other people's land. Who would be happy? If you want to pay, how much do you have to pay? You will be exhausted if you walk a few more steps."

Xu Ning pointed to the empty land on the left and said, "Then measure the land for my second uncle's home first, and then measure mine when you're done."

"Okay, let's go."

Du Shoucai pointed to the back mountain and said, "You have to move forward at least fifty meters, and pull the pine tree to the south..."

Afterwards, Wang Hu and Guan Lei stretched out a leather tape measure to measure and found that his homestead was also one acre and four mu, about 933 square meters.

Because this place is next to the mountain, the land is not fertile, and only crops such as corn and soybeans can be grown. However, Xu Ning plans to pull a few carts of good soil to spread in the backyard to solve the problem of growing vegetables. After measuring the two homesteads, Wang Hu nailed the pegs to the four corners, and under Xu Ning's command, nailed the other pegs to the edge of the homestead, forming two rectangular outlines...

"From this piece of land, the back window is exactly 88 meters away from the back mountain. Even if there is a flood in the front, it will not reach the door of the house. Then we can raise the main house and the front..."

"Brother, I'm thinking of building a bridge in two days, since it's going to rain soon."

"Well, build it as soon as possible so that we can haul the wood after it is completed."

After strolling around the new residential area for a few rounds, everyone headed back towards the village.

Du Shoucai returned home at the fork in the road, and Xu Ning and others also went home. They happened to meet Liu Lizhen, Wang Shujuan, Sun Lianfang and others who were also returning home.

"Have you finished measuring the homestead?"

Xu Ning put his arm around his mother's shoulders and, instead of talking about the homestead, he gave her a general idea when they reached the door of the house.

"Then tomorrow ask your uncle and the others to go with you to pull wood and build a bridge quickly. Don't wait until the work starts to build it."

"Of course. I have to do things in advance. My uncle hasn't come back yet."

"He came back at around three o'clock. He and Lao Jiang were at home making micro vegetables. Otherwise, how could we come back to cook?"

Xu Ning suddenly asked, "Why didn't my brother come over these two days?"

"I came here and looked around. He and Li Feng were dealing in venison. Today, only your uncle and your uncle Jiang entered the mountain. They didn't know how to sell it. Guoxing was good at talking, so I gave him the job."

"The division of labor among the three of them is quite clear. Li Feng must have made a lot of money recently, right?"

Han Fengjiao said: "I heard Guoxing earn more than 20 yuan, otherwise why is he so enthusiastic? He gets up early and goes to Qingli and Nanbeitun to collect meat. When the weather gets hotter, he can't do this job."

It's really not possible, the cost is too high.

"Your uncles and their two uncles have made a lot of money. I think they make more than your father and his uncles do at work. So speculation and profiteering really do make money, right?"

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Mom, this is not called speculation, this is a legitimate retail business..."

Sun Lianfang interrupted and said, "Brother, how come your brain works so well? When I heard that it was you who came up with the idea, I was stunned!"

"Oh, I figured it out by scratching my head."

Sun Lianfang laughed: "Hahaha, brother, you are so funny!"

Guan Lei said, "Stop doing this. Your words are too blunt."

"You can do it? I'll teach you without hesitation." Sun Lianfang turned her head away.

Sun Liansheng said, "Keep those two tricks for yourself. Leizi and I will learn more from Erning."

"Aiya..." Sun Lianfang twisted her shoulders, walked to Liu Lizhen and said, "Auntie, look, they always scold me!"

Liu Lizhen glared and said, "All of you, hurry up and go inside! Don't let me kick you! Lianfang is such a good girl, why are you asking us for anything?"

Xu Ning was a little confused and said, "No, Mom, I got it for you in just two days?"

"Get lost! Why are you so annoying?"

Liu Lizhen hugged Sun Lianfang's shoulders and protected her wholeheartedly. Xu Ning felt a little strange. Why did Sun Lianfang capture these old ladies in just two days? Was her blunt flattery so effective?
After entering the east room, everyone took their seats, drank some tea and chatted.

There was a noisy sound at the gate of the courtyard. She knew it was Xu Feng who came back without looking back. She went into the house, threw down her bag, and dragged Sun Lianfang to the yard to play skipping rope. When Liu Lizhen saw this, she didn't care at all. Instead, she asked Xu Feng to accompany Sun Lianfang and have fun.

When hearing that Sun Lianfang was leaving the next day, Xu Feng was reluctant to let her go and flattered her, making Sun Lianfang laugh out loud. Li Jinyu, Li Mantang, Wang Biao and Liu Tianen at the side also praised her appropriately. This surprised Sun Lianfang. She didn't expect that these kids were so good at flattery and were on par with her.

Just as they were dancing happily, Xu Laonian and Wang Erli walked in. They were in a very good mood and jumped twice when passing by the rubber band. Then, at Xu Feng's "Ahhh", they laughed and jumped onto the tractor.

"Get ready! Go out for a walk!"

Xu Laonian smiled and said, "I'll feel uncomfortable if I don't take a walk!"

Wang Erli took the crank and ran to the front of the car. At this time, Liu Lizhen came out with a long-handled spoon, pointed at them and said, "Don't show off! Hurry up and get inside! Can't I speak to you?"

“It works!”

"Sister-in-law, did Erning measure the land today?"

Laonian Xu smiled shyly, and Wang Erli changed the subject and asked.

"We have already measured it. Both our families have one acre and four mu of land."

"Oh, that's quite the boss."

In fact, Xu Laonian and Wang Erli already knew what was going on. After all, Du Shoucai was their eldest brother, and any problem would definitely be communicated among the brothers first before things could be settled.

After entering the house, Sun Liansheng handed them a cigarette. Xu Laonian asked, "When did you go to pull wood? I have to tell someone."

"It will take six or seven days. We have to build a bridge tomorrow."

"Okay, let your uncle come and help you. Oh, Hu Zi and Lei Zi are gone, so you're the only one left?"

Guan Lei said: "Uncle, I will be back in two days."

At this time, Li Fuqiang rushed in and asked, "Uncle, what do you mean there's only one person left?"

Xu Laonian repeated it, and Li Fuqiang said with a smile: "What's there to worry about? I will go with my brother to build the bridge tomorrow."

"You're not going to work? Hey, you're back early today."

Li Fuqiang nodded: "Yes, we will only make two trips today. We will go early in the morning. I know Hu Zi and Lei Zi have to leave tomorrow. I just told Lao Lin that we will not go after tomorrow."

"Ah, it's okay if you don't go. Lao Lin never reported any absences for you in any month. You always worked full time..." Xu Laonian is an accountant and he can see the attendance report.

Wang Erli said: "Old Lin is quite particular."

"Yeah, Lao Lin also said that he would help haul wood in the next few days, and asked if we needed to haul red bricks, cement, etc. I said the brick factory would deliver them directly, otherwise he would like to help haul bricks."

(End of this chapter)