Chapter 64 Hawthorn
The wound on Liang Kangshi's back had scabbed over, a large lump of hideous blood scab, and it was already foreseeable that a striking scar would be left in the future.
Liang Kangshi didn't take it seriously: "What's wrong with the scars on the man's body, I can't see them anyway. Besides, even if the scars are on the face, your mother won't dislike me." Zhen Min turned her face away: "Who
said I don't dislike it, you don't know how ugly that scar is, if it grows on your face, you will always wear a dust mask in the future, so as not to scare our mother and daughter." In the past two days, Ji Mingcen came to Liang Xianyue's house to pour it
out The broken wall was rebuilt. At that time, he had mentioned that he would help build the wall, Ji Mingcen said it casually, and Liang Xianyue also agreed casually. Unexpectedly, he really learned how to build walls, and he also brought cement and other materials with him. The final wall was neatly built, except for the fact that the cement was newer than the one next to it, and there was hardly any trace of the wall being repaired.
Liang Xianyue wanted to persuade him to wait until the sandstorm was over before repairing the fence, but Ji Mingcen said that he didn't know when the sandstorm would disappear, and if it started to snow heavily after it disappeared, the fence would have no chance to be repaired. The Yue family will not feel at ease.
What he said also made sense. The sandstorm weather continued to cover the sun, and the temperature was getting lower and lower day by day, and now only single digits remained. Liang Xianyue changed into thin autumn clothes in just two weeks, and then quickly changed into late autumn clothes. It was time to find out the winter padded jacket.
To reciprocate, Liang Kangshi was going to help Ji Mingcen in the kang. These days, Ji Mingcen has gradually moved his things from the classroom where he used to live to the small supermarket. The small supermarket used to be converted from a private house, and the middle walls were opened to make room for it. The original kang was also demolished, and now they have to be rebuilt if they want to live in it. Fortunately, the chimney is ready-made, which saves a lot of trouble.
"Have you prepared all the materials?" Liang Kangshi asked Liang Xianyue before leaving the house.
"I used the bricks left over from our house to build the wall. Huangni Xiaoji went to the back mountain to dig. There was nothing missing, but I, an experienced person, was missing the guidance." Liang Kangshi boasted.
Most of the bricks used by Liang Xianyue's family to repair the wall were intact bricks picked up by Huang Yifeng from the room in front of the small supermarket, because their family was not going to rebuild the warehouse, so they didn't need so much to repair the wall, so there were some left over. Brick moved around, and finally returned to the small supermarket.
"Okay, then go get busy." Liang Xianyue handed over the dust mask to Liang Kangshi.
Zhen Min who was in the room suddenly poked his head out and told loudly: "You are still injured, don't make big moves!"
Liang Kangshi repeatedly agreed: "I know! I said it was a guide, and I won't help you!"
———
Liang Kangshi After leaving, Liang Xianyue and Zhen Min came to the island to get busy. A few days ago, Liang Xianyue ate boiled edamame. Although the beans were plump at that time, their branches and leaves were still green, but now they have completely turned yellow in just a few days.
Red beans and mung beans were also harvested together. The pods of red beans and mung beans are slender, unlike soybeans, which only have two or three beans. Liang Xianyue picked a crisp pod and twisted it open, and saw that the red beans inside were large and plump, dark in color Red, there are not a few deflated beans in the whole pod, it seems that this crop of red beans is growing well.
Liang Xianyue and Zhen Min cut off all the beans with a sickle. The whole soybean plant has turned golden yellow, the lower half of the red bean leaves have turned yellow, and the pods are so brittle that they split open. The pods are still green.
After cutting the beans in this field, the two of them each picked up a large handful of yellow or green bean plants and dried them in the small yard of Baidao Island Villa. After the sun has dried all the pods, the beans inside can be easily peeled off.
When they harvested, many overripe pods burst open at the slightest touch, and many beans were dropped in the ground, and now they have to be picked up.
Zhen Min took two small baskets in her hands, and the two of them walked to the field in the backyard together. Da Qing and Xiao Hei tiptoed behind them. Just now they wanted to go out to play with them, but Liang Xianyue found them in time and locked them in the small courtyard.
This time Liang Xianyue mercifully let the two dogs follow him. She squatted on the ground to pick up beans, and unknowingly walked a long way, leaving the basket far behind. Liang Xianyue clapped his hands, Xiao Hei looked up immediately, Liang Xianyue pointed to the basket, Xiao Hei ran over knowingly with the basket in his mouth, Liang Xianyue threw a handful of red beans picked up in his hand into the basket.
"So cute." Liang Xianyue rubbed Xiao Hei's head.
"Let's plant some corn next crop." Liang Xianyue said to Zhen Min.
"It's time to grow corn." Zhen Min agreed, "There are not many people in the village who still have corn, and we can't change it even if we want to. I'm afraid we will have to grow the feed for our chickens and ducks in the future." Liang
Liang Xianyue has not grown corn on the island yet, and has been raising chickens and ducks for more than half a year, and the feed has always been corn kernels exchanged in the village. Liang Kangshi took advantage of the large population of the city to find a way to get a small electric mill back. Instead of dry corn kernels, he would use the electric mill to crush them to make feed. It took a lot of effort.
"Shouldn't it be more varied?" Liang Xianyue was thinking. Since the flood, natural disasters have come more frequently. Although last year's winter was long, there were few waves. Unlike this year after the snow melted, floods, high temperatures, insect plagues, earthquakes, and sandstorms followed one after another in more than half a year, making people breathless.
Even if there is no new test, it is difficult to have a good harvest in the field when the corn is wiped out due to the corn armyworm this year, and the insect plague will come back next year.
Liang Xianyue looked at the field she had opened up. The area was more than three acres. It had been cultivated for a long time and hadn't been fully planted with crops, and there was still a large area vacant. Now the accumulated materials are slowly being consumed, and they need to plant them by themselves. In addition, Liang Xianyue has planted some local crops on the island, occupying a large area, and now this field is full.
Zhen Min stood up and measured the size of the vacant bean field, and said to Liang Xianyue: "This field seems to be insufficient. It is convenient to manage multiple types of land at one time." Liang Xianyue thought the same way: "
Wait After digging out the roots of soybeans, I will reclaim the adjacent land to plant corn together."
They picked up the beans left in the field for a while, and their squatting feet were a little numb. The small basket next to them was also filled with half a basket of red, yellow, and green beans. They were all mixed together, which was quite beautiful.
"These can be cooked and eaten with rice." Liang Xianyue said.
Carrying the basket and walking two steps, Liang Xianyue found scattered red fruits in the nearby strawberry field, not ripe strawberries.
These are strawberry seedlings brought back from my aunt's house. There are only a dozen of them in total, and they are planted in a small field. I usually don't notice them when passing by, but after the strawberries grow, the little red lanterns are particularly conspicuous.
The aunt also taught Liang Xianyue how to use strawberry vines to propagate strawberries, and it can be started when the strawberries set fruit. She first picked the strawberries that had turned from blue-white to red, not many, only a small handful, and the first ripe strawberries were not very big. The strawberries are ripe, maybe you can pick some more.
"Mom, go back and eat strawberries!" Liang Xianyue greeted Zhen Min.
The two of them walked towards the yard together with the dog.
——During
this period of time, several people died quietly in the village. Some said they had a lung attack, and some said they were choked to death by dust.
It's really quiet. In the past, even if it was buried two floors in the snow, the villagers never gave up blowing and blowing at the funeral. Even if it is a short blow to the burial, it is also a kind of farewell. Even this cannot be done now, and there are several more grave mounds in the back mountain silently, and there are not even tombstones.
Just when everyone thought that the sandstorm would last for a long time and there was no hope of returning to their previous life, it suddenly rained.
The raindrops carried the dust in the air and fell on the windows, making the glass that was not very clear even more mottled. It was a rain of mud, smearing everything outside in a mess.
But everyone was happy for the rain, because as the heavy rain continued, the sky revealed its original true appearance and gradually took on a blue color.
When the rain stopped, Liang Xianyue immediately opened the windows and doors of the house to let in fresh air from outside. It's been a long time since I've breathed such a transparent and cool air. The dust-laden air is always turbid and choking. Standing outside for a while can make people's tears and snot flow.
After opening the window for a while, Liang Xianyue closed the window again, leaving only a small gap, it was a bit cold.
"Go out for a walk?" Liang Kang greeted Liang Xianyue with great interest.
Liang Xianyue grabbed a coat, "Let's go!"
It's been a long time since I strolled in the village, and they were not the only ones who were also confined at home. The villagers came out one after another, some seemed to seize every minute, and ran up the mountain with an ax as soon as the rain stopped, ignoring the muddy mountain road at this time, while some relaxed like Liang Xianyue and the others, picking off I put on a mask and gauze for almost a month, and took a bench to sit in front of and behind the house.
"It smells so good?" Walking past the outer wall of a house, Liang Xianyue suddenly smelled a meaty smell on the tip of her nose, but she couldn't tell what kind of meat it was.
Liang Kangshi pulled him away, and said in a low voice, "Rat meat."
"Huh?" Liang Xianyue opened his mouth wide, thinking it made sense. "It is true that people seldom eat meat." At this time, if there are two hens in the family, it is a very wealthy family. Not to mention how to get the chicks, just raising the chickens requires a lot of feed. The villagers have experienced successive reductions in corn and potato production, and have been unable to produce much food.
When exchanging coal, Liang Xianyue found out that there are still a few people like their family who have exchanged the full amount of coal. After thinking about it, many people decided to keep more grain in their hands and exchange less coal. They can also cut trees and burn them. There is not enough food to eat, so I can't chew on the bark.
"It's not just rat meat. I also heard that after some people cut trees from the mountain and brought them back, they split open the tree trunks to find fat white worms to roast and eat. The taste is even more delicious than this."
This Liang Xianyue wasn't too surprised. Many children who grew up in the countryside had eaten bugs. Liang Xianyue himself is said to have eaten grilled bugs. This is said, of course, according to Liang Kangshi, there is often a yellow-green hairy bug on fruit trees, the size of a fingernail, but if it crawls on a person, it will immediately swell a large piece of skin, and the pain is like a needle prick. And not for a long time.
This kind of bug with burrs all over its body is not like this in early spring. They sleep in a small oval "eggshell" with white and dark brown stripes all over the eggshell. If you break the "eggshell" at this time Grab it, it's a very soft little ball that has no thorns yet, the whole body is bright yellow.
More than half of the people in Liangjia Village have tasted roasted insects that have not yet broken their shells, and it is said that the taste is particularly good. Liang Kangshi insisted that he had baked it for Liang Xianyue, and Liang Xianyue insisted that he had absolutely no impression.
In the end, Liang Kangshi said: "You are avoiding the facts, you have brainwashed yourself, you just ate it."
Liang Xianyue curled her lips: "Maybe you also brainwashed yourself, you may have a second daughter, I didn't eat it."
Seeing that Liang Xianyue didn't admit it, Liang Kangshi still had a smiling expression on his face, and he said to himself: "I used to eat roasted cicadas when I was young, and I know there is a big piece of meat on Cicada's chest."
"At that time, I was really greedy. I wanted to roast meat the size of a fingernail." He looked into the distance with some melancholy, "I thought that we would never have such a hard life in the future.
" Feeling a little depressed, Liang Xianyue found that Liangjia Village was much deserted along the way, and many collapsed houses were left there. The owners of the houses either moved to relatives' homes, or received the qualifications to go to the base. The originally bustling Liangjia Village quickly fell silent in less than a year, the population withered, and it was desolate.
When the villagers met, they were not as rosy and energetic as they used to be when they lived a prosperous life. They were all in a hurry and busy with their livelihood. Even if they talk, most of them are full of sorrow, talking about the difficulties at home. The long-term sandstorm weather has left many people with sequelae. They always cough, sometimes cough up blood, and their eyes are tearing in the wind. There are not a few people with this symptom.
Fortunately, because Liang Xianyue's family seldom went out, even if they had to leave the house, they paid great attention to protection. In addition, they often drank Chinese herbal soup that nourishes the lungs, and some discomfort symptoms only appeared for a short time and then recovered quickly.
Liang Xianyue took her father's arm and said softly, "When we are together as a family, our days will always be better."
———————————
Ji Mingcen tidied up the small supermarket thoroughly, and moved in with his mother. Now this place should not be called a small supermarket, it should be called Ji Mingcen's home.
In order to celebrate his happy housewarming, the two families who knew him well expressed their wishes. Huang Yifeng's was even more grand. As a landlord, he rented out a house that even had to be repaired by himself, and he also wanted to make extra compensation to Ji Mingcen. He was given a large iron pot for the stove and a coal stove.
Although this is the unsold inventory of the small supermarket, it is also very valuable. Although the small supermarket smashed the kang and a few walls of the house before, it still has the heaters, and in order to make the room warmer in winter and attract the villagers to play cards, the radiators are installed more than ordinary people. Well, Huang Yifeng gave him a coal stove, also for him to use it in the coldest winter. If one stove is not warm enough, then two.
Liang Xianyue also came to her new neighbor's house, knocked on the door and brought him her congratulatory gift.
Two packs of dried noodles, ten eggs, and a piece of honeycomb in a bottle.
Originally, she wanted to bring him a winter melon, but Liang Xianyue vaguely remembered that Ji Mingcen's cooking skills were average, so she didn't give him any difficult ingredients.
Ji Mingcen asked Liang Xianyue to come in, he smiled and looked very happy: "You came just in time, I roasted sweet potatoes in the stove, it should be cooked now." Liang Xianyue sat in the new room of Ji Mingcen
's Yang Shulan was sitting by the window, fiddling with a vase with branches. The leaves on this branch are a little withered, but the most eye-catching thing is the fruit on it. Red hawthorns hang on the branches, and they fall heavily with the branches.
Yang Shulan likes these bright things, even Liang Xianyue knows it. She called auntie, Yang Shulan knew she was calling her, turned around and held the vase for Liang Xianyue to look at, Liang Xianyue praised a few words, although Yang Shulan lowered her head and didn't answer, she still had a smile on her face .
Ji Mingcen came over with a tray, on which were two steaming roasted sweet potatoes. The sweet potato was not roasted in a fire hearth, which would only char the outside of the sweet potato, leaving it raw inside. It should be buried in the burned coal ash and baked slowly. When the outer sweet potato skin is slightly charred, the inside is also completely cooked.
Ji Mingcen handed one to Liang Xianyue, and helped to peel off the sweet potato for Yang Shulan. The flesh inside was golden, and a sweet fragrance came out immediately.
After Ji Mingcen put the peeled sweet potato in his mother's hands, Liang Xianyue picked up the roasted sweet potato for herself, broke it in half, and handed it to Ji Mingcen.
Sweet potatoes are as sweet as honey, Liang Xianyue looked at the room while eating, because the middle wall has not been rebuilt, the room looks very spacious, there are some cardboard boxes piled up beside the wall, Liang Xianyue Guess it might be sweet potatoes, which are afraid of freezing. Not far away was a table, although it was covered with a tablecloth, Liang Xianyue still found that there were many table legs under the table, and many small tables were put together.
"This is the school's wooden table and chairs?" Liang Xianyue became more certain when she saw the chair next to her.
"That's right," Ji Mingcen led Liang Xianyue to look at the piles of wood in another small room. They were all boards and slats chopped up by tables and chairs. "These are also piled up in the backyard.
" Tables and chairs, why didn't I see you when I went to look for you before?" Liang Xianyue was a little surprised. He went to No. 6 Junior High School more than once to look for Ji Mingcen, and he also passed by the classrooms where other people lived. They were all empty, except for the blackboard that could not be removed and the heavy iron podium table.
"Those tables and chairs were taken home by nearby villagers as firewood early on. I found them in the abandoned warehouse behind the school. Many tables and chairs were broken and were eliminated before."
Liang Xianyue had a guess: "Now there are fewer and fewer school-age children in the two nearby villages, and the No. 6 Junior High School can no longer be run, and plans to combine schools. I think the desks and chairs in the warehouse should be because the students have been together. The old tables and chairs that have been eliminated every year are less and less."
She was quite happy for Ji Mingcen, with these tables and chairs, the firewood for winter is also available.
Ji Mingcen went on to say: "After I discovered the warehouse where the tables and chairs were stored, I found Uncle Huang and moved all the tables and chairs here. Uncle Huang took a quarter of it and said that together with the wood and furniture they had accumulated before, The coal is enough for the winter, and I have the rest."
Now even Huang Yifeng doesn't have to go up the mountain to cut trees, and Liang Xianyue joked: "You saved him so many things, so you won't take the opportunity to let him go. He will help you reduce your rent for several months."
"Yes," Ji Mingcen also smiled, "It's been reduced for three months." "
Then have you saved enough food for winter? I remember you were not in Ancheng last year, we are here There are four months in winter, and the weather is so cold that you can't go out at all, you have to save enough food for you and your aunt."
Ji Mingcen took her to see the small warehouse where he kept the food, and counted them one by one .
"There are more than 30 catties of rice and noodles left. I brought them from the city and haven't finished eating them. The rest are my wages from working in the construction team. There are more than 100 catties of potatoes, 40 catties of sweet potatoes and Some radishes and cabbage."
If you count these things, you shouldn't be hungry until next spring, even if you eat several things over and over again, and they are all rice noodles and miscellaneous grains, I'm afraid it will be hard to swallow after a few meals.
But that's good enough. Ji Mingcen was able to go from not even living in a place to having a house, firewood, and food for the winter in just over a month, which is already very impressive.
So Liang Xianyue said: "If the situation this year is similar to last year, you should have enough food. Brother Mingcen, are you still working in the construction team?"
Ji Mingcen shook his head: "Not anymore, I have my own things to do, the weather is getting colder, and I have to make some preparations for winter."
Before Liang Xianyue left, Ji Mingcen took a bag and handed it to him. Liang Xianyue opened the bag and saw that half of the bag was full of round red hawthorns.
"I picked it on the back mountain. It's a bit sour. When you eat it, don't eat too much at once." Ji Mingcen instructed.
There are hawthorns in the back mountain, and Liang Xianyue knows it too. But she thought that these wild fruits would be picked off by the villagers who went to the mountain to cut trees for firewood as soon as they were ripe, but she didn't expect that they still exist now.
"The hawthorn will not be so sour after steaming. If you are not used to eating like this, I just brought you honey today. The hawthorn water boiled after adding honey is very appetizing." Liang Xianyue taught Ji Mingcen several ways to eat hawthorn Finally, she asked with bright eyes: "Are there any more on the back mountain? I want to pick them too." "
There is a big hawthorn tree, and there were still many hawthorns on it when I picked it, but," Ji Mingcen said somewhat Difficult, "It's very far away."
"It's okay, just tell me the general direction. I often went to the mountains to play when I was young, and I can find the way."
Seeing that Liang Xianyue was really interested, Ji Mingcen thought for a while and said: "It just so happens that I also want to go into the mountains, let's go together."
Liang Xianyue looked at him suspiciously: "You really plan to go into the mountains, not because you want to show me the way, it doesn't need to be so troublesome, I I am much more familiar with Houshan than you."
"Really." Ji Mingcen reassured.
"If it's fake, let me eat a hundred hawthorns at a time, and my teeth will be sour."