Good farming at the foot of Changbai Mountain

Chapter 58 The New Pickaxe

Two days later, Wen Han got the pickaxe back from the town.This pickaxe needs a pick handle, so Wen Han went to his father and asked him to get a pick handle and put it on.

Zhixin looked at this strange thing and knew it was a pickaxe, "Wenhan, what did you get? What can such a wide pickaxe do?"

Wen Han was also a little uncertain, and said softly, "Daddy, this is for digging ginseng soil. You install a handle, and then try to see if it works. It will be much faster than the original one."

Zhixin looked carefully at the new pickaxe and thought it might work. "Okay, then I'll look for wood. It looks like it can make a living. I just don't know if it's so wide, will it be too heavy?" Zhixin muttered, looking for a pick handle , I measured it, trimmed it a little with the plane at home, and put the pick on it.The households of the farmers will prepare some handles for various household items, so there is no need to chop wood now.

Zhixin carried the pickaxe and walked to the ginseng field of his home, Wen Han followed behind, and the two of them came to the ginseng field.Zhixin picked up the pickaxe and started digging the soil.When planing the soil, it is generally necessary to plan the soil on the ground together with the grass and tree roots above it into a clod of one and a half to two feet square, and the thickness should be at least eight inches or more.Turn the clod over, with the soil inside facing up, out of the sun.When it's almost dry, you have to use a three-toothed bar to open it and pick out the grass and tree roots.

The new pick is wider than the old one. It used to take four or five strokes of a foot and a half, but now it can be done with two strokes, which can be done much faster.Moreover, the pickaxe didn't sink much when picked up, basically the same as before.The more Zhixin worked, the smoother he got. After a while, a large area was dug out. "Oh, this thing is really useful, Wenhan, you can come up with such a good idea." Zhixin praised.

"Father, I didn't come up with this idea, it was Jinghan. I don't know how she could come up with this idea. I was worried at first. This pickaxe cost me a tael of silver. If it doesn't work, the money will be lost." It's a waste of money." Wen Han still feels distressed when he thinks about it now.This pickaxe is twice as expensive as the ordinary ones. The blacksmith told me that this kind of thing is not easy to make, and it costs more money by hand.

Zhixin frowned when he heard his son's words, and said in doubt, "Jinghan? She thought of it? This ghost girl, she doesn't know how to dig dirt, so how did she come up with such a good idea? You also Didn't you ask her?" Zhixin felt a little strange.

Wen Han smiled, "Daddy, what's so strange about this? My little sister is already smart. Didn't you see that she studied with us faster than Wen Cheng? Besides, my little sister likes to use her brain. For these farm tasks, I'm particularly interested. I think she figured it out because she saw that you used too much effort to use the old pick." Wen Han said, admiring his sister in his heart.Jinghan seems to know more about the work in Shendi than herself.

Zhixin nodded, feeling that what his son said made sense, so he relaxed his brows. "Wenhan, you go to town tomorrow, and come back with another pick like this. Your third uncle and I will each have one, so we can do it faster. After buying this pick, it can be used every year. One or two Silver is not expensive. Besides, if you dig it out earlier, you can do something else, so you can earn it.” Zhixin thought it was a good deal. "Okay, you go back first, I'll be here for a while, with this pickaxe, it's much faster than before." Zhixin waved his hand, telling Wenhan to go back to the house.

Wen Han saw that there was nothing he could do, nodded to his father, and then went out to find Jing Han and Wen Cheng.

There were a few villagers who were digging the soil. After working for a while, they inevitably had to straighten their backs, just in time to see the pickaxe in Zhixin's hand. "Brother Xu, what are you using? Why is it wider than the pickaxe we used? It looks very easy to use, oh, let me try it." The person on the side came over and took it from Zhixin's hand. Pickaxe, tried to plan a few times. "Oh, it's so easy to use. It's much faster than our original one. Brother, where did you get it? Help me get one too." This person is from a family surnamed Qian in the north of the village. , and he is quite a solid person, not too good with the Xu family, but not too bad.

Zhixin looked at the pickaxe, "My son specially made it at the blacksmith's place, just for digging the soil. Do you think it's much faster?" Zhixin didn't say it was Jinghan's idea, he also I didn't think much about it, I just thought it shouldn't be known that it was my daughter's way.

"Then you can ask Wen Han to bring one back for me too. I'll give him how much it is." Qian Dayong looked at the pickaxe and liked it very much.People who work are like this, and they will like it very much when they encounter the same handy tool. "I guess this thing won't be cheap, big brother. I didn't bring any silver today. I'll come early tomorrow morning and bring you the silver. Don't forget to ask Wenhan to bring me some."

Many people in the village were digging soil in the ginseng field. Just now, Dayong's voice was not low, so many people heard it and came over one after another. Everyone tried this new pickaxe and thought it was very good. "Brother Xu, bring one to my family as well. This thing can last a lifetime, so it's worth it even if it's a bit more expensive." All of a sudden, many people asked for such a pickaxe.

"I think so, whoever wants this pickaxe, why don't we go to the blacksmith together later. The big guys go together, and they want more. I guess the price can be lower, so we can save some money. Just don't I know if the blacksmith can be busy, so I just asked." Zhixin heard this, and quickly expressed his opinion.For this kind of thing, it's better for them to discuss it with the blacksmith themselves.

"Brother Xu, you are really careful. Okay, as you said, let's finish work early this afternoon and go to the blacksmith." Erlin said.

Everyone also felt that what Zhixin said was right, and they all agreed, and then went to work separately.When work was over in the afternoon, everyone went to the town together without mentioning it.Since then, people in the village have used this new pick to dig the soil, and the digging is much faster.Generally, the twenty-foot-long ginseng soil used to take seven or eight days to dig, but now it saves half the time, which is quite powerful.Everyone praised Wen Han for coming up with such a good idea, but no one thought that this idea would come from a little girl.Regarding this point, the Xu family didn't say much. After all, Jinghan is a girl, so it's better if she doesn't show off a little.

Jinghan naturally didn't have time to pay attention to these things, she was still busy with Gastrodia elata.The Gastrodia elata has already bloomed, which means that the tubers underneath are starting to become empty and have little value.So everyone stopped going into the woods to look for gastrodia elata, but took out all the gastrodia elata at home and dried them again, so as not to dry them out and easily break them.Jinghan looked at the Gastrodia elata hanging on the fork, and estimated that all of them were dried, and they would weigh about forty catties, which could be sold for more than three taels of silver.These are quite a lot for them, after all, they are just a few children.Jinghan secretly sighed in her heart, if it was in the village, she would have no chance to dig Gastrodia elata anyway, so she could only pick some jujubes at home.Thinking about it, I decided to come to the mountain. Although it was a helpless move, this step was very correct.
Now Wen Han delivers fish and crayfish to the town every day, and earns 15 taels a month. Although half of them buy things for the family, they can save some after all.In addition, they dug medicinal materials, and they could sell some money, and in the traps around the ginseng field, they could pick up prey from time to time, so they could make some money.Now it seems that this mountain is not bad except that it is inconvenient to go to the town and there are often ferocious beasts in the forest.

While thinking about things, Jinghan didn't stop her hands, pinching the gastrodia elata that were dug up yesterday one by one.When Gastrodia elata is boiled and dried in the sun, it needs to be pricked frequently with a needle, and then squeezed with hands to release the air inside, so that it can be completely dried.Jinghan is doing this job now.

"Sister, we won't dig Gastrodia, what shall we do next?" Wen Xuan asked from the side.During the days on the mountain, the children had a very happy time, rowing and pulling things at home every day, that feeling was really good.

Jinghan looked at her younger brother, Wenxuan was white and fatter, so he looked tiger-headed and tiger-headed, very cute.Jinghan put down the Tianma in her hand and patted her younger brother on the shoulder. "What's the rush? There are good things on the mountain. Gastrodia elata has passed, and there are mushrooms. I don't know if there will be pine mushrooms in the nearby forest, but pine mushrooms should come out. There are many kinds of mushrooms in this forest. , when the time comes, you will be too busy." I couldn't help but pinch Wenxuan's white and tender face, and became an unscrupulous and bad sister for a while.

Wenxuan covered his cheeks and couldn't help jumping up, "Sister, don't pinch my face." Then he ran away.Leaving Jinghan there laughing.

Jinghan really likes the current life. Although she is far away from the village, this kind of tranquility is something she couldn't get in her previous life.It would be nice if it could be like this all the time.Even though she knew it was impossible, Jing Han couldn't help but look forward to it.

"Jinghan, let's go into the house for dinner, just let the Gastrodia elata dry in the sun, you don't need to keep watching. It's too hot today, be careful of getting dizzy from the sun." Xue shouted at the door of the house.

"Hey, mother, I'll come right away, you guys eat first." Jinghan agreed, put down the gastrodia elata in her hand, and trotted into the house.

"Hurry up, girl, there's meat for lunch today, hurry up and eat more. I've lost weight these days, come on, hurry up and eat some." When Chen saw Jinghan sitting down, she hurriedly put some meat into Jinghan's bowl A piece of meat, looking at the little granddaughter with a smile.After being exposed to the wind and the sun all day, the little girl's fair face turned into a light honey color, and with her flushed face, she looked healthier.A pair of big black eyes, very agile, one can tell at a glance that he is not a law-abiding master.

(End of this chapter)