Rebirth in 1984, starting from beekeeping in the mountains

Chapter 92 Something is wrong!
Lanxi Village.

It is an absolutely prosperous village at the foot of the eastern ridge of Tianmang Mountain.

According to legend, the history of the village is more than a thousand years.

On the east side of the village, there is an ancient archway that has been passed down since the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Further east of the archway, there are several houses scattered around.

Among them, the most eye-catching is a large red brick and tile house facing the main road.

This large red brick and tile house not only has a large construction area, covering an area of ​​more than 200 square meters, but is also taller than several nearby houses.

There is a large area of ​​more than 200 square meters at the entrance.

It starts with the rising red sun, casting its golden light on the yard in front of the house.

This area of ​​more than 200 square meters has become a busy scene.

At the westernmost position, two shirtless men were building a large stove with mud bricks.

Next to them, there was a square table, on which was clearly visible half a fat pig. A shirtless burly man with a fat waist and thick neck was cutting up the half of the fat pig, which weighed more than 150 kilograms, with a sharp machete.

Going further in, several aunties in their fifties were gathered together, washing dishes, vegetables, onions, garlic and other things in several large basins filled with water...

Da da da……

dong dong dong...

The sound of footsteps mixed with voices, coupled with various busy sounds, created a lively and bustling picture.

It was in this bustling atmosphere that people began to walk into the gate of the big tiled house, carrying things and shouting blessings.

Celebrating a sixtieth birthday is a big event.

All relatives in the village would come to celebrate the birthday, and close relatives from other villages would naturally be no exception.

at this time.

In the main room of the big tiled house.

Lan Zhenshan, wearing new clothes, was standing near the door of the main hall. He looked energetic and greeted the guests who came to celebrate his birthday with a happy face.

As the birthday boy today, he is undoubtedly very happy to see people coming to celebrate his birthday one after another.

However, every time after welcoming a wave of guests, the birthday man would unconsciously stand on tiptoe and lean forward to look outside the door.

One time after another.

At this time, the woman who was helping to receive the birthday gifts and pour tea could no longer hold back. Seeing that there were no guests outside the door for the time being, she walked over to her husband who was pasting red paper and stretched out her hand to poke him:
"Jianjun! Jianjun! Look what dad is looking at? I've seen him several times!"

The Jianjun the woman mentioned was Lan Zhenshan’s eldest son Lan Jianjun.

This woman was none other than Lan Jianjun’s wife, Lan Zhenshan’s eldest daughter-in-law, with a surname of Xue and a given name of Fen.

Lan Jianjun had just finished pasting the red paper on his hand. After hearing what his wife said, he hurriedly looked in the direction of his father.

When he looked up, he happened to see Lan Zhenshan leaning forward to look around.

The expression on his face suddenly darkened: "Who else could it be! It must be Wenxiu and her man!"

He pouted: "Humph! The old man says he doesn't care! But he's actually thinking about it a lot!"

"I see!" Xue Fen nodded. "Then...is there any news from Wenxiu? Will she come back?"

"Of course I will come back! Didn't you see that mom packed two bags of rice last night? They were prepared for them! Some time ago, the news that Fang Hongan was borrowing grain from everywhere reached our Lanxi Village!

To put it nicely, they are here to celebrate birthdays, but to put it bluntly, they are here to borrow rice!
Humph! What era is this? A grown man can make a woman pregnant and leave her without food! What use is a man like this! "

Lan Jianjun pouted, his face full of contempt.

Xue Fen listened to her husband's words, but did not respond. She just looked enlightened and said, "I was wondering why I didn't see Jianhui this morning. Did he hear the news and go to pick up Wenxiu and the others?"

"Yes!" Lan Jianjun raised his eyes coldly, "I don't know what kind of magic potion Fang Hongan gave him in the first place, he really cares about this brother-in-law!"

"This... should be because of Wenxiu! Didn't you say that he has listened to Wenxiu since he was a child?"

Xue Fen blinked her eyes and immediately couldn't help but hold her husband's arm: "Then Jianjun! Today is Dad's birthday! Be patient! Don't say such harsh words like you did last time!"

"Did I say something unpleasant?" Lan Jianjun glared at him. "I said he was giving him face! He married my sister, but he couldn't even get enough food to eat, and he still didn't allow me to speak? I didn't slap him in the face, so that's good enough!"

Recalling the scene a few months ago when Fang Hongan threw his bowl and left at the dinner table, Lan Jianjun became angry.

Seeing this, Xue Fen hurriedly started to persuade them again.

After a while of persuasion, the stubborn Lan Jianjun finally gave in:

"Forget it! For the sake of my old man's birthday, I won't argue with this kid. Let's wait and see how Fang Hongan performs!"

"If he is willing to bow down to me, I will let him go today!"

"If he continues to be as ungrateful as last time, I will not allow him to even sit at the table today!"

After Xue Fen heard her husband say this, she felt relieved.

He is a man with a foul mouth and a bad temper, but he is not a bad person at heart.

To be able to say this, I have already retreated a lot in my heart.

……

……

Just when the big tiled house was bustling with activity.

After leaving Lanxi Village, we headed onto a bluestone road on the mountain.

A boy of seventeen or eighteen years old.

He was squatting on a big rock by the road, scratching the ground with a branch out of boredom.

It was Lan Jianhui who was ordered to pick someone up.

He was excitedly waiting here to pick someone up, but after waiting for more than half an hour, no one showed up.

Out of boredom, I simply picked up a branch and began to write down some English words I had just memorized last night on the ground.

This time he took a leave to come back for his father's birthday.

This round trip will delay at least two days of classes.

The final exam will be here soon.

I heard that this time the No. 1 Middle School in the county will recruit outstanding students from high schools in each town. Once selected, they can enter the county high school to study in the third year of high school and receive food subsidies.

Lan Jianhui really wants to seize this rare opportunity.

He also analyzed it carefully.

There are no major problems with other subjects.

The only trouble is the English.

The English teacher in the town was transferred from the original Russian teacher.

The teaching attitude is impeccable, but the level is really hard to describe.

He originally wanted to ask his eldest brother to help him think of a way to buy some books for self-study, but this eldest brother, who usually boasted about himself, went to the county town several times and did not bring back a single page of books.

Lan Jianhui thought that he could only rely on his own hard study.

Let’s work on English first and see if we can give it a try.

If I can really get into No. 1 Middle School this time, I heard that the English teacher there has studied English seriously.

The study materials can also keep up.

This way, he will have more confidence in getting into university.

The more knowledge you learn, the more you gain, and the broader your horizons become.

He really wanted to get out of the mountains and see the outside world.

Although he was copying silently, whenever he heard the sound of footsteps, he would immediately raise his neck and look towards the intersection with great anticipation.

I looked several times and they weren't my sister and brother-in-law.

This made Lan Jianhui a little worried that his sister and brother-in-law might not come back this time.

after all……

What happened last time.

What my eldest brother said was harsh and really hurt the self-esteem of my brother-in-law Fang Hongan.

If this doesn't happen...

Thinking of this, Lan Jianhui couldn't help but frown!

But that's it.

At the intersection, the sound of footsteps was heard again.

Occasionally, there were sounds of talking and laughing.

Lan Jianhui quickly turned his head and looked over again.

When he saw this, the first thing that came into Lan Jianhui's sight was the figure of the woman walking in front of him.

The floral short sleeves, the ponytail, and the way she walked...

Although he couldn't see the woman's face clearly, Lan Jianhui had already recognized her as his sister Lan Wenxiu.

"sister!"

Lan Jianhui shouted excitedly, waving his arms and running up quickly.

He was running quite excitedly, but he had only run a few steps.

When my eyes fell behind the woman, I saw a figure carrying two baskets.

My body suddenly stopped involuntarily.

"This……"

"This isn't right!"

……

Lan Jianhui stood there in a daze on the winding village road.

He stared blankly at the man's figure.

It’s not that the man’s figure didn’t look like his third brother-in-law Fang Hongan in his impression.

It seems really similar.

There's something wrong with his shoulder.

Why are you carrying two baskets?

Moreover, judging from the degree of curvature of the carrying pole, the basket definitely does not look like an empty basket.

Did you see it wrong?

Lan Jianhui rubbed his eyes and looked over again.

As the two figures came closer, they could be seen more clearly.

But when he saw it clearly, the shocked expression on his face became even more severe.

The two baskets were brand new, with red paper pasted on them, which vaguely looked like the Chinese character "寿" (longevity).

That means these things should all be birthday gifts.

Lan Jianhui was in a complete trance.

"Jianhui! Jianhui!"

Just at this moment, the voice of my third sister Lan Wenxiu seemed to ring in my ears.

When I looked again, the two figures were less than thirty meters away.

Without a doubt, it was his third sister and brother-in-law.

"Ai!"

This shout instantly cleared all the messy thoughts in Lan Jianhui's mind.

He responded subconsciously, and seeing his sister and brother-in-law quicken their pace, Lan Jianhui also hurriedly trotted over to meet them.

"Sister! You're finally here! I've been waiting for almost an hour!"

……

"I came out to pick you up! You don't need me at home anyway!"

……

"I miss my sister! How are you doing lately, sister?"

……

After talking to his sister for a while, Lan Jianhui remembered that his brother-in-law Fang Hongan was right next to him. He quickly turned around and called him "brother-in-law" enthusiastically with a grin.

As he turned around, he was startled again.

The brother-in-law in front of him still looked the same, but he looked more energetic and completely different from his previous impression.

Not only did he become stronger and taller, but his expression also had a heroic air.

Fang Hongan smiled, reached out and patted his brother-in-law on the shoulder.

Sensoryly, he felt a natural affinity towards his brother-in-law.

"hey-hey!"

Lan Jianhui touched his head and smiled embarrassedly.

His eyes unconsciously fell on the two baskets beside Fang Hongan.

Fang Hongan specially covered the two baskets with red paper, so Lan Jianhui couldn't see what was in them.

But from the new basket and the fact that it is filled to the point where it exceeds the height of the basket mouth, it is obvious that there is a lot of stuff inside.

The weight is not light either.

Lan Jianhui hesitated and repeated it several times, but finally couldn't help asking:

"Brother-in-law! This is..."

Fang Hongan narrowed his eyes and smiled: "A birthday gift for our father!"

"This... is this so much?" After getting confirmation, Lan Jianhui couldn't help but sigh.

Fang Hongan smiled faintly: "Not much! Not much! They are just small things!"

"little things?"

Lan Jianhui took a glance and couldn't help but look suspicious.

Now...what small things can the mountain village take out?
It doesn’t look like those local mountain products!

He couldn't ask directly, so he could only suppress his curiosity.

Fang Hongan couldn't help but smile when he saw how he was trying hard to hold back his anger. He slowly took off the cloth bag hanging on his body, took out something wrapped in newspaper from it and handed it to him.

At first, Lan Jianhui was a little confused when he saw Fang Hongan taking out the cloth bag. But when he saw Fang Hongan take something out of the bag and hand it over, he was startled and asked in astonishment, "Is this... for me?"

"Yeah!" Fang Hongan nodded. "You'll be a senior in high school soon, so these are the school supplies for you!"

"school supplies?"

Lan Jianhui took it hesitantly, held it in his hand, and couldn't help but squeeze it through the paper.

I just felt that one of them seemed to be a book, and the other seemed to be a... bottle-shaped object.

This……

Lan Jianhui felt a strong sense of curiosity.

In the past, my brother-in-law Fang Hongan also brought some small gifts.

But most of them are some small specialties from the mountains or some small handmade items.

Like school supplies...

Still the first time.

The key point is the current situation of my sister and brother-in-law's family.

What exactly are these school supplies I bought for myself?
Book?
notebook?
Lan Jianhui was really curious.

"Open it if you want to see it!" Fang Hongan patted his hands again.

"Really?"

There was a gleam of excitement in the boy's eyes, and then the excitement immediately turned into action.

呲——呲——

The newspaper was torn, revealing its contents.

The first thing that catches my eye is a book. Looking from the side, the book is very thick, about six or seven centimeters thick. The pages are slightly yellowed, and it can be seen that it is an old book.

Lan Jianhui turned to the front and his eyes fell on the front cover.

I couldn't help but read the title on the front of the book: "Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Modern English-Chinese"

"English-Chinese...dictionary!"

He repeated the sentence with bright eyes, then turned the page of the book with great excitement.

Looking at the densely packed English translation, his expression suddenly became extremely excited:
"Sister...Brother-in-law! Where did you get this book? It's so...so amazing!"

Excited, Lan Jianhui involuntarily took two steps forward and grabbed Fang Hongan's sleeve, his eyes full of excitement and gratitude, and a bit of worship.

Lan Jianhui had heard about this English-Chinese dictionary a long time ago.

This was also the reference book that I had tried every means to buy before.

Unfortunately, I tried many ways but failed to buy it.

I heard from his English teacher that only one simplified version of this dictionary has been printed so far.

There are only about 100,000 copies nationwide.

Soon after it was printed, it was sold out.

Not to mention that it is difficult to buy, even as a teacher, he couldn't buy it after trying many ways.

After hearing this, Lan Jianhui no longer had any hope.

Unexpectedly, this time his third brother-in-law, who was usually looked down upon by his family, actually helped him buy it.

Looking at the excited expression in his brother-in-law's eyes, Fang Hongan couldn't help but smile and explained, "I happened to see it when I went to the county town two days ago. I thought you might need it, so I bought it!"

By chance?

Lan Jianhui widened his eyes, completely unconvinced.

Can I buy this book by chance?
Not likely!
I guess it's just a humble statement made by my third brother-in-law!
Holding the book in his hand, Lan Jianhui felt his whole hand become heavy.

"Brother-in-law!"

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much! Your book saved my life!"

There was a bright light in the young man's eyes, and he was as excited as a three-year-old child who had just been given candy.

Even Lan Wenxiu, who was standing by, was stunned by this scene.

The book that Hongan bought turns out to be... so important?
For a moment, Lan Wenxiu couldn't help but stretch out her hand and took the initiative to hold Fang Hongan's other hand.

This situation lasted for quite a while.

In the end, it was Lan Jianhui who broke the situation.

"Hey! Brother-in-law... this?"

Lan Jianhui raised the glass bottle in his hand with curiosity and asked Fang Hongan.

Fang Hongan just said to give him two sets of school supplies.

This English-Chinese dictionary is naturally an excellent learning supply, but what's in this glass bottle is not really a learning supply.

Lan Jianhui has looked at it. The glass bottle contains just a bunch of small black balls.

If you look closely, this little black ball seems to be made by mixing black sesame seeds and walnut kernels together.

Sesame walnut balls?
Then this should be considered food, how can it be considered school supplies?

Fang Hongan smiled faintly: "Honey sesame walnut pills! They are good for the brain! They can also be considered... school supplies!"

"..."

Lan Jianhui found it very strange at first.

But when I think about it carefully, I don’t know how to refute it.

Just looking at those little black balls, I couldn't help swallowing.

Honey, sesame, walnuts.

These three, except sesame, can be eaten often.

The other two are considered rare items.

Lan Jianhui has only had the chance to eat it a few times in his life.

The meatballs are round and look delicious.

"I didn't make much this time, so you can eat it first. If you like it, I'll bring you some more when I go to your town later! Eat a few while you read at night! It can replenish your physical strength and nourish your brain!"

These black meatballs are made by boiling brown sugar, adding honey, mixing with roasted sesame seeds and walnut kernels, and rolling them into balls.

Fang Hongan has honey, sesame seeds and walnut kernels, which he bought at the supply and marketing cooperative when he went to the county town last time.

Originally, Fang Hongan made this thing for his wife Lan Wenxiu.

It is easy to feel hungry during pregnancy, so I made some snacks like this for my wife Lan Wenxiu so that she can eat them whenever she is hungry.

and……

According to tradition, sesame and walnuts are not only tonic foods, but also can make your hair darker and your brain healthier.

Good for pregnant women and fetuses!

As for the brain-boosting property, it also applies to students.

So, Fang Hongan brought a bottle for his brother-in-law first.

This batch is indeed not much. This glass bottle is full, weighing more than two kilograms and close to three kilograms. If Lan Jianhui eats two a day, it will be enough for him to eat for a while.

If the young man really wants to eat it, Fang Hongan will just bring some to him the next time he has the chance to visit their town.

After hearing what Fang Hongan said, Lan Jianhui expressed his gratitude again.

However, when he excitedly took the two things in his hands and his mood calmed down a little, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

Just honey, sesame, walnut kernels...

Those are valuable things.

And that book... not to mention.

This……

Since the little gifts I bring to myself are so precious.

Then the birthday gifts in these two baskets must be...

Isn’t it said that this third brother-in-law’s family is so poor that they can’t even afford to eat?
How is this going?

Lan Jianhui was completely confused.

However, the two baskets of birthday gifts were covered with red paper, and he was too embarrassed to open them.

He just looked at it curiously for a few times, then couldn't help but look away.

"Let's go!"

He shouted loudly and grabbed Fang Hongan's pole without saying anything: "Brother-in-law! You must be tired! I will help you carry a part first. Once we pass the archway and can see the door of our house, you can come over!"

After saying that, he carried the load skillfully and walked forward.

The heavy weight he felt on his shoulders confirmed his guess.

This birthday gift...

It's not just empty talk, it looks like a lot, but it really is...very substantial.

Lan Jianhui couldn't help but quicken his pace.

Now... he can't wait to see what birthday gift his third brother-in-law has prepared for his old father.

After walking a few steps forward, they soon arrived at the stone where Lan Jianhui and others had been waiting.

Lan Jianhui glanced at him and his expression froze.

Next to the stone was the birthday gift his mother had asked him to bring for his brother-in-law Fang Hongan.

When his mother asked him to bring the child over, she was doing it for her brother-in-law's sake and out of kindness.

Lan Jianhui also agrees with this approach.

But the current situation is that my brother-in-law has already prepared a large load of birthday gifts!
At this time, the two things that the mother prepared not only seemed redundant, but also a little embarrassing.

If my brother-in-law saw this, wouldn't it be obvious that his family looked down on him?

Lan Jianhui's face was stiff and he didn't know what to do for a moment.

At this moment, Fang Hongan followed Lan Jianhui's gaze and saw two things beside the stone.

In an instant, he guessed that it must be his father-in-law or mother-in-law who asked Lan Jianhui to bring it over.

Fang Hongan walked over and picked up the two bottles of wine and two bags of candy.

He smiled at Lan Jianhui, who was so flustered that cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and said, "Let me take it first! When we get to the memorial archway, you can take it back first!"

"Ok!"

Lan Jianhui saw that Fang Hongan was not angry at all, but was very understanding.

At the same time as feeling relieved, he had an even greater respect for Fang Hongan in front of him.

(End of this chapter)