Dad's Pastoral Life

Chapter 190 Burning Charcoal
Cheng He was really infected by these innocent children.

Their excitement came so easily.

The children were very happy when they had caught enough worms and dug up some roots.

However, there are still some discordant voices:

"Oh, I haven't gone back yet. If my father finds out that I sneaked into the mountains, he will beat me to death!"

"Then you go back, my father is not at home, so he can't call me."

"No, I haven't dug a big one yet, so I won't go back."

"Give up, you won't be able to dig it."

"Hahaha...quickly give up."

It was like this every time, after one child was taunted, the rest came and taunted him.

When the wind changed and another child was taunted, the rest of the people would taunt that person again.

Feng Shui takes turns, one by one enjoys it.

Cheng Zhizhuo dug up a thick kudzu root, peeled it and wanted to eat it raw.

In the cold weather, Cheng He said: "Boys, do you want to eat kudzu root from barbecue?"

The children looked at each other in blank dismay, that's right, the grilled ones taste better.But they didn't bring a lighter, so what should I do?

Cheng He said: "It's not for you to bake it yourself. I know a place where it can be baked soon."

"Okay, okay, where is it?"

"where is it?"

"where is it?"

Several children asked one after another, with excitement in their eyes.

Sneaking out to dig things was fun enough.Eat something barbecue again, tsk tsk tsk, don't be too good.

Cheng He took the lead and said, "Come with me."

Now, he became the leading brother, followed by a large number of younger brothers.

The little guys followed in a mighty manner.

Cheng He remembered that there used to be several charcoal-burning caves here.

People in this area have the habit of warming themselves by a fire for the winter.

On a cold day, when there is nothing to do, I light a pot of fire at home, and a guy sits by the fire, either playing cards, baking something, lying down to play, watching TV, etc.

Anyway, in places without heating, you always have to figure out your own way to survive the winter.

Roasting by the fire for the winter has become an indispensable habit in this area.

What firewood do you use for the fire?
Ordinary dry firewood will smoke when burned. After a while, the whole house can be burned with smoke, and the eyes can't be opened due to choking.You have to use charcoal.

Charcoal wood is wood that has been half burnt by fire.

The kind of wood that has been half-burned by the fire has been dried out, and there will be no smoke when it is burned again.

Where there is this demand, there is a market, and when there is a market, someone will provide it.Therefore, in mountain villages where there is nothing to make money, there are also people who do this kind of business.

It is to set up an earthen kiln in the mountains to cut down some trees, burn them into charcoal, and sell them to those who want to warm up.

This line seems to have existed in ancient times. This is what "The Charcoal Sellers" is about.

This is actually a very hard job.

Selling charcoal is only available in winter, but they have to start preparing in summer.Not ready, what to sell in winter?
When it was hot as hell, they were building a cave and preparing wood for burning.The earth and stones for the kiln must also be dug out of the mountain.

In addition, firewood has to be chopped before moving to the cave dwelling.

It can be said that making money is also hard-earned money.

In Cheng He's memory, not long before he walked, there were several cave dwellings.Where there are cave dwellings, you can bake and eat them by the way.

The fire is very big, and it will be cooked in a while.

But when I got to the place, I found that the cave dwellings here had long been abandoned.

Cheng He thought for a while and understood.

Now many young people have gone to the city to buy a house.The lowest is in the counties and towns, and in the counties and towns it is not allowed to warm up, and now all use heaters or air conditioners.

There are not many people who need charcoal, the most are the old people and children left behind in the village.

Moreover, many elderly people are afraid of spending money, so they are reluctant to buy charcoal. They can just chop some firewood and warm up casually when they come back.

Let’s smoke it, let’s make do with another winter.

If the demand decreases, no one will make charcoal anymore, right?
With the development of society, many industries are slowly disappearing.

A smarter child said to Cheng He, "Uncle Heizi, are you looking for a cave dwelling? I know, there is another one over there..."

Over there... Cheng He saw that it was a little far away.

"Do you all want to go?" he asked.

Several children nodded firmly.

Then go for it.

After the last cave dwelling disappeared completely, no one knew that it was possible to bake food in the cave dwelling.

Now is the time to grab the tail of the line and scoot the last of the fun.

You can see the smoke ahead, that's where the kiln is fired.

Before I got close, I saw a pile of firewood in the distance, and two people were busy there.

The firewood has not been put into the cave dwelling yet, it may be the next batch.

Cheng He knew the people who fired the kiln, but he didn't expect them to still be in this business now.

They were Cheng Dazhu and his wife from Taohua Village.

The two of them are really like those described in "The Charcoal Seller", their faces are dusty and smoky, their temples are gray and their fingers are black...

Their seniority was a generation higher than Cheng He, and Cheng He called out, "Uncle Da Zhu, are you busy?"

"Hey...Heizi, are you here? Hehehe..." Cheng Dazhu replied enthusiastically, and his wife also smiled in this direction.

The couple did not learn the craft of bamboo weaving, so they could only do these rough jobs.But his old father can make up some to make up for it.

When they used to have a lot of work, they also helped cut bamboo at home, boiled water and boiled bamboo strips, and beat some hands.

Now that winter is here, they set up a kiln to sell some charcoal.

You can sell as much as you can, anyway, you can't make money if you are idle.

However, the house at home was redone with Cheng He's money, and they were grateful to Cheng He from the bottom of their hearts.

Cheng He pointed to the group of boys behind him and said, "They dug up a few kudzu roots..."

"Oh, you want to eat barbecue, don't you? Hehehe... Little guys, come secretly to the mountains, are you afraid of being beaten when you go back! Come on, I'll grill you, hurry up and go back..." Cheng Dazhu said enthusiastically.

The boys immediately took out some things from the bag, all of which they dug up today.

Cheng Dazhu took a look and laughed again: "What did you dig these for? It's useless, they can only be dried in the sun and used as firewood... These two are okay, I'll bake them for you... "

The children looked at each other in blank dismay, alas, only these two can be used in such a big pile, isn't it too miserable?

But there is no way, so just bake those two.

During the barbecue, the children were not idle, digging east and west with hoes and shovels.

Cheng Xinxin also dug with a plastic shovel. After digging a small piece of tree roots—it might not have been dug out, but picked up on the ground. What can her plastic shovel dig out?
Holding something smaller than her own finger, she handed it to Cheng He with a sense of accomplishment.

"Dad, I dug this!"

The little guy motioned Cheng He to put it away, that was her job.

Big brothers can do it, so can she.

Cheng He took it with a serious face, then put it in his pocket solemnly, and said, "Baby is awesome! Go back and cook chicken soup today."

It is always right to encourage children more.

The little girl smiled happily and accomplished.

Then a child came over and told Cheng He: "Uncle Heizi, this is not edible. The heart is not dug properly, this is too small to eat."

Cheng He: "..."

Is it okay for me to lie to a child?
Cheng Xin retorted righteously, "I dug the right thing!"

"Wrong, you dug it too small. It's not edible, it's very bitter." The child reasoned with her honestly.

"My father said that it's edible." Cheng Xinxin didn't show weakness.

Cheng He held back his smile and said, "Okay, okay, don't argue, I'll watch it when I go back later."

This is the end of the quarrel between the two brats.

Cheng Xinxin turned around, and explained again carefully: "Father, what I dug is good."

Cheng He nodded vigorously: "Well, yes."

So, Cheng Xinxin started digging seriously again.

Not long after, the two kudzu roots were roasted, and Cheng Dazhu picked them up.

There were only two that were baked, and the children had a bunch, so he ran to the kitchen where he was cooking, took a knife, and cut them into several pieces.

Fearing that they would not enjoy the food, I brought out a bottle of sauce.

During the charcoal-burning season, they have to work day and night, and they are afraid that the fire in the cave will go out, and they are afraid that the fire will be too hot, and they will burn out the firewood.

So, they set up a shed here, one side is for living, and the other side is for cooking.

The stove is actually made of stone blocks, which is very simple.

On the other hand, living here is a little more particular.In addition to a few fixed piles made of wooden stakes, two layers of thick plastic film were laid on the top and sides.

The bed is also made of trees, with four stakes nailed into the soil, and a few boards are used to spread it on top, which is at least a meter high from the ground. Instead of sleeping next to the ground, a quilt is spread on top.

The environment is very simple.

It is not easy to earn this little money.

Cheng He asked, "Is it cold to live here?"

Seeing that the sky is going to snow.

It has been raining in the north for several months.

Those two layers of plastic cloth can block the wind at most, but they certainly cannot block the cold.

Cheng Dazhu chuckled and said, "It's cold...it's still a bit cold."

He took some sliced ​​kudzu root and a bottle of sauce, and said, "Baby, come and eat. Eat quickly, go back quickly. It's getting late."

Otherwise, it will be dark, be careful to get lost.

Fortunately, there was an adult named Cheng He following him, otherwise, Cheng Dazhu thought, would he send these children back.

Several children dug up something again, and when they heard the shout, they all ran over.

They didn't dislike Cheng Dazhu's black hands, so they ate them after taking them.

Some children also dipped in chilli sauce to eat.

While inhaling so hotly, he giggled.

Cheng Xin was not hungry, so she also got a share.

Anyway, she likes sharing food with others, grabbing food and so on.

After eating everything, Cheng He also urged: "Okay, okay, hurry up and get ready to go back. It's getting late."

It gets dark early in winter.

A group of young and middle-aged children happily walked back, carrying their harvest today, very proud.

On the way back, there was naturally a lot of noise, the one in front scolded the one behind as a wild boar, and the one in the back scolded the one in front as a dog, said they were in a hurry and would scuffle for a while, and then laughed for a while.

At this time Cheng Xinxin and Cheng Ximei were both tired, Cheng He hugged them both alone, Cheng Xinxin didn't make any more trouble this time.

(End of this chapter)