Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 414: I'm in a good mood

After Xu Ning introduced the people who were working to Chai Bing, he called Wang Hu and Guan Lei to come and unload the bricks. The cart of bricks that Chai Bing brought had grown some black dust and moss due to being exposed to the wind and sun outside, but it was still usable. After all, this was Chai Bing's intention, and he had said he would bring it for Xu Ning before the New Year, and he did not break his promise. From this, it can be seen that Chai Bing is a very down-to-earth person.

There is a special tool for unloading bricks, and its special name is clamp. Unfortunately, Chai Bing is not from the brick factory, so he doesn't have a brick clamp. Moreover, when loading the bricks at Wangxing, they all loaded them little by little with their hands, so Xu Ning and others also unloaded the bricks with their bare hands.

The two men sat on the bricks, holding four bricks in each hand and passing them to the people below, and then stacked the bricks neatly into stacks. People who work all year round have calluses on their hands, but Xu Ning's hands are too delicate. After unloading a truck of red bricks, both of them had blisters on their palms.

When Meng Ziyan saw this, her eyes were filled with heartache. She went to Yang Shuhua's house to get needle and thread, and pried open Xu Ning's hand to prick the blister for him.

Chai Bing laughed and said, "My sister-in-law is really good at this. There was no bleeding after one injection."

Meng Ziyan said shyly, "My needlework is just average. Third brother, why didn't your sister-in-law come with you?"

Chai Bing said with a smile: "Your sister-in-law has to stay home to take care of the children. Hey, Erning, I will leave after lunch."

Xu Ning looked up in surprise: "Why are you in such a hurry, Third Brother? Stay for two days."

"I can't stay here." Chai Bing waved his hand: "I just came here on the way. I still have to go to the city to handle the procedures for the winery."

"Ah, is the procedure easy to handle? My brother drives for the leader at the Forestry Bureau in the city."

"Da Long? Sure, I'll go drink with him that night. The formalities are easy to handle. My eldest brother has already made the arrangements."

"Then I won't keep you here. Don't drink at noon. Go to the city to drink with my brother. Otherwise, I'm a little worried about you driving alone."

"Haha, OK! There's news in the city that there are new ideas for protecting farmers this year. Do you know?"

Xu Ning smiled and nodded: "I know, but we will definitely go to Wangxing. Third brother, when have I ever broken my promise?"

Chai Bing clapped his hands and said, "That's fine! I was just worried that the city would mess up and ruin our agreement."

"It won't work, Third Brother. I've already informed them about this matter."

Chai Bing was startled, raised his hand and pointed at Xu Ning, and said with a smile: "Then I feel relieved."

At this time, Sun Lianfang and Guan Hua came over and said, "Brother! My aunt is calling you to go home for dinner."

Xu Ning raised his hand and looked at the watch. It was already past half past eleven.

Then, he asked everyone to collect the tools, and drove the three vehicles back to Old Xu's house. However, Sun Lianfang, Guan Hua and Meng Ziyan did not follow him. They had to stay to look after the tools and carts. Although these things were not expensive, they were all borrowed, and it would be difficult to explain if they were lost.

After arriving home, everyone lined up under the eaves to wash their hands and faces. Liu Lizhen chatted with Chai Bing while they had some free time, mainly about family matters, asking about Chai Bing's father's health and whether he was busy with housework...

Originally, Liu Lizhen wanted to keep Chai Bing for a few more days, but after Chai Bing explained the reason, Liu Lizhen stopped trying to persuade him and just said, "Let Dalong entertain you tonight. You two can just be friends. I won't care about it anymore."

The two rooms were bustling with activity and noise, but Liu Lizhen did not feel upset. Instead, she felt a sense of fulfillment and happiness.

Xu Ning, Li Fuqiang, Wang Hu, Chai Bing and others who did not drink went to the west room, while Yu Kaihe, Lao Wei, Liu Daming and others went to the east room. They all held wine glasses, but did not drink too much, just one glass each.

After the meal, Chai Bing, Xu Ning and others drank some tea, chatted for a while, and then got up to leave. Xu Ning, his mother and others sent them to the door. After watching Chai Bing leave, Xu Ning and Guan Lei went to the garrison. He had to call Xu Long to tell him that Chai Bing had gone to the city, and ask Xu Long to treat him well in the evening. After all, Chai Bing came all the way here and didn't even have a sip of wine. It was indeed a bit of a poor hospitality.

Xu Long naturally agreed without hesitation, and asked them whether they had been to Sandaohe and how the house was being built. Xu Ning told them the truth and asked, "How is Uncle San?"

"Very good! I've been to a lot of dinners recently, so I've completely integrated into the team. So after Dad and Second Uncle finish their work at the end of the month, they can take a leave, right? I'll go back then."

"Okay, then you can prepare some food. We've been eating wild vegetables these days. Luckily, we killed two wild boars the day before yesterday, otherwise we wouldn't have any meat at home."

Xu Long was stunned. "Why don't you see any meat? Didn't you go hiking?"

"I don't have the time. I went to the city right after coming down from Dongshan, and I started to think about building a house when I came back. Hey, you're always busying yourself!"

"Well, I understand. If there's nothing else to do, just hang up. There's someone outside..."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Ning chatted with Du Shoucai for a while, then went directly to Beitou with Guan Lei. They had to go and get the three women to go home for dinner.

When he got closer, he saw Sun Lianfang leading Guan Hua and Meng Ziyan playing in the water in the creek. They were jumping up and down on the shore, which made Guan Lei sweat on his forehead.

"Brother, what should I do with a woman like this?"

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Just do what needs to be done. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Lianfang for you. She is just a little playful. Everything will be stable once you get married."

Look, they are indeed father and son, he and Xu Laonian said exactly the same thing.

When they reached the wooden bridge, Xu Ning waved and said, "You three can go home and have dinner."

"Okay! Brother, I have something I want to ask you..." Sun Lianfang said, scratching his cheek.

"What's the matter?"

"Aren't you going hiking in the next few days? Take me with you!"

Guan Lei glared and asked, "What are you going to do? Are you going to cause trouble?"

"Hey, my shooting skill is better than yours. Who of us will cause more trouble?" Sun Lianfang said with her hands on her hips.

Xu Ning waved his hand and said, "Let's talk about it in two days. You three should go back quickly."

After the three men left, Xu Ning and Guan Lei sat in the shed and chatted, mainly about what to buy in Sandaohe.

Gifts are not important if they are too small, but too big is not good either, as it can easily put pressure on people. Although there is a saying that small gifts are more meaningful, if you are not of high status, will it be okay to give small gifts? But if you are a department-level cadre, and you go to your father-in-law's house and give him half a pound of tea, your father-in-law will praise you for being sensible...

Twenty minutes later, the tractor and the Dongfeng 140 drove slowly over, followed by two old Jiefang trucks loaded with red bricks. Everyone jumped off the trucks and started to pick up shovels and pickaxes.

Xu Ning walked over to the workers unloading bricks and asked them if they had eaten lunch. The old foreman said, "They just ate in the car! Boss Xu, our Director Li has said that he will send you steel bars, cement, and two mixers..."

"Okay, thank you very much."

In just three days, the foundation of Old Xu's family had been almost dug, and the cellar was three meters deep. However, this depth was not acceptable in the Northeast. It had to be at least four meters deep to ensure that the potatoes, sweet potatoes and radishes were not frozen. As the cellar got deeper and deeper, problems arose.

Since there is a stream in front of the homestead, when the cellar was dug 3.5 meters deep, moist soil was seen. What does this mean? It means that the cellar will leak water!
"This job definitely needs waterproofing, Erning, ask your friends to buy some waterproofing materials in the city, otherwise water will accumulate during the rainy season. And you have to do the waterproofing quickly because it's going to rain in two days..."

Xu Ning called Xu Long directly after hearing what he said. After he finished explaining the matter, Xu Long pondered for a while and said, "I'll go get some waterproof materials tomorrow and come back the next day!"

"Okay, Third Brother is gone?" "He's gone. He came here to finish his work before he came to see me. He'll stay here for the night. We'll eat alone at Yanbin Hotel and drink Wuliangye liquor. Don't worry."

In the past two days, the brick factory delivered twelve truckloads of bricks, two mixers, and steel bars, lime and sand. However, there were lumps in the sand, and it had to be sieved with a sieve before it could be used. However, Xu Ning was not in a hurry. Building a house is not a matter of a day or two. It would be fast if the five main rooms, two lower rooms and a warehouse could be completed in a month.

Besides, the Xu family and the Wang family were building their houses at the same time. If there were many people helping, it could be completed in one and a half months.

It was noon that day.

Liu Lizhen and others steamed eight pots of buns, some stuffed with pickled cabbage and bear fat, some stuffed with radish vermicelli, some stuffed with elm yellow mushroom and some stuffed with prickly ash. The group ate very happily. Each person had at least five or six buns, which were bigger than a fist. Children like Li Mantang and Wang Biao ate more than adults, and only felt eight-tenths full after eight buns...

Xu Feng and others were on holiday, and when they had nothing to do, they went to the north end to help with the work. Wang Biao, Liu Tianen, Huang Lin, and Li Mantang were able to lift pickaxes and shovels, but Xu Feng and Li Jinyu did not have much strength. Xu Ning assigned them a job, which was to use a gourd ladle to scoop water from the creek into the water tip, and then pour the water onto the red bricks. This job was not easy, with one trip after another, and Xu Feng and Li Jinyu were so tired that they did not want to eat at night, and fell asleep at a little after eight o'clock.

Xu Laonian sat on the edge of the kang, holding a cigarette in his mouth, and said, "You can go hiking tomorrow. Your second uncle and I have called more than ten people from the forest farm."

"Okay, then we'll take the dog into the mountains and try to get more livestock. If we can't get any, we'll just get some wild vegetables. My brother will be back tomorrow and he should be able to get some vegetables. Let my mom make do with what she has for now."

Liu Lizhen said, "If we don't buy vegetables now, we'll have nothing to eat. Why are there yellow elm mushrooms and prickly ash sprouts today? They were sent by your uncle Chang yesterday."

"My Master Chang is here?"

"Yes, he came over yesterday, dropped off his things and left. I heard from your sister Juan that he had shoulder and head pains these past two days, and it seemed like he had rheumatism."

Xu Ning frowned and said, "This old man... don't we have any medicinal wine to treat rheumatism?"

"Where else is there? If there was any, wouldn't you have taken it from your uncle Chang? Go up the mountain and pick some herbs you see, then bring them back and dry them for two days before soaking them in water."

The Xu family's anti-rheumatic medicinal wine was no longer available last year. Xu Ning has been very busy recently, and even if he still had memory, he would have forgotten it. The medicinal wine has a secondary ingredient called Gastrodia elata, which is also known as the King of Hell's Pen. It looks like a brush, with a big head and a straight stem.

But one thing must be remembered, all external and internal medicines and alcohol for treating rheumatism cannot get rid of the root of rheumatism. Even if you eat lynx bones... it cannot get rid of the root cause, it can only have a alleviating effect, because rheumatism is difficult to treat, and there is no magic medicine that can get rid of the root cause.

"Daming, go change Qiangzi tonight and let him have a good sleep at home. We have to go up the mountain tomorrow."

Liu Daming nodded: "Okay, I said yesterday that I would live in a shack, but Qiangzi insisted on arguing with me."

Xu Laonian said with a smile: "You are about the same age as him, but you are the elder. Can he let you sleep in a shack? If he wants to argue with you, just say I gave the order."

"Okay, I'll go over then."

"I'm going out for a while too. I have to tell Lei Zi."

"Okay, you guys go there tomorrow and pack up the animals so you can take them home."

In the past two days, Yu Kaihe, Da Laba and others basically sat in the house for half an hour after dinner and then left, because the work was really too tiring and even sitting made them feel uncomfortable all over. It would be better to go home early and go to bed.

It is worth mentioning that Du Manzhi came back early yesterday afternoon. He came to help with the work for the whole afternoon and was exhausted, panting and sweating. Although his work at the post office is not busy, it is also a job that requires people to work. It was thoughtful of him to come back early.

June 1984, 6, the fourth day of the fifth lunar month.

Six o'clock in the morning.

Xu Ning, Wang Hu, Li Fuqiang, Guan Lei, Sun Lianfang and Sun Liansheng had just finished their breakfast and were sitting on the edge of the kang tying their leggings. There was a lot of dew on the mountain and they couldn't wear rain boots, so they could only wear rubber shoes into the mountain. When Xu Ning and the other three tied on their leather belts, Sun Lianfang's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Brother! Where did you get the belt?"

"Uncle Yu made it for me. How is it?"

"Great! Oh, it can also hold bullets? Oh! There's even a scabbard!" Sun Lianfang's voice got louder and louder.

Guan Lei knew what she meant, and said helplessly: "Why are you wearing this of mine?"

"That's so embarrassing... why don't you take it off!"

Sun Liansheng smiled and said, "Why are you wearing a belt? Stop making trouble."

"Among us, except for my brother, who else is good at shooting? It must be the right one for me!" Sun Lianfang said shamelessly.

"I'll give it to you, I'll give it to you quickly... I want to see what you can get today. I'm telling you, you have to listen to my brother when you go into the mountains. If you don't listen, don't blame me for getting angry."

"Oh, don't worry, I will definitely listen to the boss!"

After Sun Lianfang put on the belt, Xu Ning checked the gun, bullets and cloth bag, and seeing that nothing was left behind, he told everyone to leave quickly.

They took two 56-and-a-half rifles and four old jue-bare hunting rifles. The 56-and-a-half rifles were borrowed from the village headquarters and Du Shoucai. In addition to the three old jue-bare rifles that Old Xu's family originally had, the remaining one belonged to Old Jiang...

After the six of them sent the dog gang into the car, they drove the Dongfeng 140 straight to Ximaduozi.

At around 6:30, Old Xu's house was full of people again. In addition to Yu Kaihe, Old Wei and others, there were also thirteen people that Xu Laonian called from the forest farm.

Xu Laonian looked at Xiao Liu in the reception room and said with a smile, "Liu'er, did your brother Li go directly to the yard to get timber?"

"Yes, he went there with my brother Zhuang. Brother Li told you to find a vacant lot, otherwise there would be nowhere to store all the wood..."

"Okay, let's eat first and then go over to clean up the place."

The meal that needed to be prepared for this afternoon was not for twenty people, but for forty people, because there were two more trucks going to the yard to pull wood, with a total of six people. Liu Lizhen was under a lot of pressure to cook for so many people, but this was her own family matter, so she had to use all her strength.

"Sister-in-law, I'll go to Lao Qin's house to pick up some tofu."

"Okay, ask them if they have vermicelli. Qiuxia, take Juan and Hua over to get some pickled vegetables. Let's try to have six dishes for lunch."

"OK!"

It stands to reason that with so many people waiting to eat, four dishes would be enough, because the canteen at the forest farm usually only serves three dishes. Why did Liu Lizhen insist on serving more dishes? It was not for the sake of face, but because the people who came were all relatives and friends, and she would not do anything to fool them!

Just like Xu Laonian said, men have men's things to do, and women have women's things to do!

The whole family should work together.

(End of this chapter)