Chapter 419 Contentment
Lin Heng turned to look at his father, wondering what he was going to say.
"I will go to the mountain with you tomorrow, and your eldest brother and your uncle will not go." Father Lin said.
“Well, any of you can go with me.” Lin Heng said with a smile.
“What time should we set off tomorrow?”
"Just leave at eight or nine tomorrow. If we go there, we will definitely not be able to come back until the day after tomorrow. It will be almost dark when we go up the mountain and tidy up tomorrow. We will get up early and come down early the day after tomorrow. We will probably not be able to come back until dark."
"I understand." Father Lin nodded.
Back with the musk, everyone sat together and chatted for a while, basking in the noon sun.
During the chat, Lin’s mother told Lin Heng something. She lent ten yuan to his fifth aunt in March this year, and said she would pay it back before August 15th, but she has not heard from him until now.
“Didn’t you ask someone to bring you a letter asking for money?” Li Baiquan asked from the side.
Mother Lin spread her hands: "Why didn't you bring the letter? You didn't see the reply even though you brought the letter. I don't know what's going on." Get up." Lin Heng looked at his mother and sighed.
Borrowing money, especially borrowing a small amount, is the most troublesome. If you ask for it, people will think you are not generous enough, but if you don’t, they will treat it as nothing.
Often the situation when borrowing money is that everyone smiles when asking you to borrow money, but when you pay back the money, everyone is impatient and treats you as an enemy.
A lot of people in the village came to him to borrow money, but he only had two words... none. Unless it's someone with whom he has a deep friendship and there's something big going on at home, he won't lend it to him.
Father Lin shook his head: "Oh, some people will pay you back the money when the due date comes, and even come to your door to tell you the reason in person if you don't pay. Some people just treat it as if it's nothing if you don't ask them. And this kind of Uneducated people are often the most annoying."
Li Baiquan also echoed: "The most annoying. It's the kind of thing that you say well when you borrow money and have no trace of it when you pay it back. Murakami's Liu Qichang is like this. It took me half a year to pay back three yuan."
Lin Heng didn't have much. What to say, after staying at Hongfeng Mountain for a while, Xiulan and Xiulan took their children home.
Lin Heng looked at Xiulan on the way and said, "When are you going to go to your parents' place for the Chinese New Year this year?"
Xiulan raised her head and thought for a while and said, "Forget it, I'll take the three with me." It’s inconvenient for them to be young, and they can catch cold easily due to the long journey.”
"Let's go once. I haven't seen our mother for a long time. My parents and Caiyun can take care of the child then." Lin Heng said, knowing that Xiulan still missed her parents.
Xiulan looked at Lin Heng and smiled, and said softly: "Then let's go on the first day of the new year. Let's go in the morning and come back in the afternoon."
Lin Heng understood her heart, and she also He understood Lin Heng's accommodation to him.
Back at home, Lin Heng made some lime water to degrease the brushes. He made six bundles of brush bristles using weasel tail hairs on the mountain, and four bundles of brush bristles using wolf skins. Hair, if nothing else happens, it can make ten brushes.
He knows the ancient method of making brushes, and has tried it twice, and feels that the effect is pretty good.
"Dad, look at the little bunny I drew." Xiaoxia showed her father her work with a piece of paper, which her mother recently taught her to draw.
"A very talented little drawing expert, this head is very beautiful..."
Lin Heng held his daughter and communicated for a while, not only praising her in a perfunctory way, but also He expressed his thoughts and suggestions, both good and bad.
There is nothing to do at home, so he is happy to spend this time educating his children.
Xiulan was doing needlework next to her, and she watched it with great interest, because she taught painting.
After playing with Xiaoxia for a while, Lin Tao, Yang Qing and others came to play with her. A few people were pulling a wooden cart in the yard and playing house. The big guy who looked like a husky was caught working and pulled the wooden cart for them. .
Lin Heng teased his son, sat next to Xiulan and watched her sewing, and then quietly felt the passage of time.
"The cows will give birth soon, so we will have fresh milk to drink soon." Xiulan said suddenly.
Lin Heng then remembered that the cows had been weaned for two months and it was time to give birth.
“I hope it’s not the next two days,” Lin Heng said.
Xiulan smiled and said: "If this calf is also a female cow, our family will have three female cows and one male cow."
"This cow should be eliminated next year, as long as we let ourselves It’s enough to have milk at home, and I’m too lazy to sell milk powder.” Lin Heng said.
Cows are like this. It is generally difficult for them to live beyond the age of five.
"I'm tired, let's go for a walk." Xiulan put down her needle and thread and said. Pulling the soles of shoes is not an easy task, it is very labor-intensive.
Lin Heng nodded, stood up and joined her, letting Xiong Ba watch from home.
After leaving the main room, it was cold in the backyard. Xiulan held Lin Heng's hand.
The backyard is as always, with strong pines and cypresses, green calamus, elegant orchids, and budding wintersweet.
All year round, the small backyard has extraordinary scenery.
Walking around the back hill and looking at the cows, Xiulan looked at him and said, "I will prepare the ingredients for hot pot in the past two days and make some meatballs. When you come back the day after tomorrow, we will have hot pot."
“Okay.”
Lin Heng nodded in agreement and watched the wind blow her hair.
After returning home, Xiulan started kneading the dough and prepared to make steamed buns in the evening. Some of them would be eaten at night and some for Lin Heng to take to the mountain to eat tomorrow.
For dinner, Xiulan cooked venison pie. You can eat three large pieces of this delicacy without side dishes.
After it is cooked, add a large pot of vegetables mixed with various vegetables to eat together. It looks a bit strange, but it actually tastes very good.
It's just them tonight. My uncle Li Baiquan has returned to Mujialiang, and he didn't come down until later.
After eating and cleaning up, Lin Heng fell asleep quietly leaning against Xiulan without doing anything else.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, he took his father and set off for Xiaozhuo Township.
Before setting off, he first went to Huangtan Town and looked at his shop, where Caiyun and Father Lin often came to visit.
Lin Heng met with Wang Zhou and asked him to go to the river to get some shells and come back. After reading the account in the store, he left.
It was already two o'clock in the afternoon when they arrived in Xiaozhuo Township. After storing the car, the two of them walked towards the mountains.
This time he didn't carry anything on his back, because there were basically no other good things in the two villages in the mountains, and he was too lazy to do any exchanges.
"It's so far away, haven't we arrived yet?"
After four o'clock, Father Lin asked.
"It's almost there. We'll be there in a few kilometers." Lin Heng looked at the direction and said.
Father Lin nodded and said with emotion: "No wonder you can catch so many prey, this is too remote."
"The more remote the place for hunting, the better." Lin Heng said with a smile. This thing is just like fishing. It has not passed through areas where humans have severely beaten, and all kinds of creatures are always stupid.
They arrived near the camp at around five o'clock, and Lin Heng from afar shouted: "Uncle and third uncle, are you there?"
"You are here, you can count." Come, if you don’t come we will run out of food,” Lu Honggang shouted with a smile.
"Big brother and third brother, you have worked hard for keeping guard for so long." Father Lin shouted with a smile.
Hearing Father Lin's voice, Lu Honghai made a sound of surprise: "Hey, Xu'an, you're here."
Soon the four of them gathered together and exchanged pleasantries over the fire. After it was warmed up, Lin Heng asked: "Uncle and third uncle, have you caught any prey in the past two days?"
Lu Honghai shook his head: "I only caught a white one." Mizi, your trap has not yielded any results."
Lu Honggang said: "I gave up. I dug thirty or forty kilograms of yams in the past two days. Let's take them back to eat."
"That's it. Then I'll go and collect all the traps. Let's go home early tomorrow morning." Lin Heng said.
After saying that, he was about to get up and do it. He had to hurry up or it would get dark.
"I'll go around with you." Father Lin stood up and said.
"That's okay." Lin Heng agreed.
The two of them were walking in the forest, and Lin Heng took a slingshot. This time he didn’t take anything, not even the dog.
Looking at the traps one by one, he dismantled each one he saw. He took away all the clamps and ropes, and destroyed all the wooden traps such as bridge pairs to ensure that no one else would be hurt in the future.
After finishing the lap, it was already dark. Lin Heng looked at the clip in his hand and shook his head with emotion: "I thought there would be prey, but it seems I thought too much."
This is just a slight regret. He had gained enough from his first trip into the mountains, and he was satisfied.
"You have to be content." Father Lin patted him on the shoulder and said.
Lin Heng smiled and returned to the camp with his father.
In the camp, they stewed some ribs and yams at night, as well as the steamed buns that Lin Heng brought over. This was also a rare meal.
After finishing their meal, they packed up their things one last time and went into the shelter to rest.
I got up early the next morning and ate the meat and the last bit of rice from last night, leaving some steamed buns for the way back.
“Let’s go.”
After finishing the meal, he put out the fire, and Lin Heng picked up something and said.
The shelter will not be demolished. If people who go into the mountains see it, it can still be used.
"Let's go."
The other three people also nodded, picked up their things and walked out.
Arrived at Liba Village at noon, Lu Honghai stopped and said: "Lin Heng, please wait for us here. Your third uncle and I will bring some bacon to my cousin's family."
< br>He came here to receive a favor from someone. Although he said he had received the gift, he should have said hello when he left.
Lin Heng and his father stopped and waited for a while, and saw Lu Guancheng's family chasing his uncle and his third uncle out, insisting on bringing everyone back for dinner.
This is basically the case here. It is impossible for guests to leave with an empty stomach. As farmers, everyone knows how it feels to be hungry. It doesn't matter whether the food is good or not. The sincerity in hospitality must be shown.
“It’s really not possible!” Lu Honghai smiled and shook his head.
After a long while of talking, after everything was explained and some white lies were told, everyone was able to leave.
But even so, they were stuffed with some persimmons and dried sweet potatoes, indicating that they could eat them on their way.
“You can’t drink this wine. If you drink it, it will be dark today.” Lu Honghai said with a smile on the way out.
"That's for sure. It's already dark after drinking so much." Father Lin nodded and said.
“You have to speed up now, otherwise you’ll have to go home in the middle of the night.” Lin Heng looked at his watch and said.
Father Lin also looked at his pocket watch and quickened his pace. Although he said it was a waste of money, he actually liked it very much.
It was already four o'clock in the afternoon when they arrived at Xiaozhuo Township. After packing their things, four people and one dog headed home in a hurry.
However, the load was too heavy this time, and I managed to make it back after stumbling. By the time I got home, it was already almost 9:30 pm, almost 10 pm.
"You are finally back."
As soon as they stopped on the road, the gate of the courtyard on the road opened, and the eldest brother's family, Xiulan Caiyun and her mother all came out.
Obviously, they knew that Lin Heng and others were coming back today, and they were all waiting for them.
"Let's all go in the house. The food is ready. Let's talk about other things after eating." Mother Lin came over and said.
Xiulan also smiled and said: "The hot pot is ready, just waiting for you to come back to eat."
"So many animal skins, so many!" Liu Juan said in shock as she looked at the animal skins placed on the car.
"Go back to the house first." Lin Heng also nodded and handed things to everyone.
When the things were almost moved, he drove the car into the yard, packed up the things, and then everyone washed their hands and prepared to eat. The copper pot in the house was already cooking very fragrantly.
"Are Xiaoxia and the others asleep?" Lin Heng asked after washing his face and looking at Xiulan.
"I just fell asleep. Xiaoxia said she was waiting for you and then fell asleep after waiting." Xiulan said with a smile.
Lin Heng thought for a while and said, "Should you wake her up to eat something?"
Xiulan shook her head: "No, let's eat. Children can easily get upset if they eat at night."
Lin Heng nodded in agreement and sat on the table with everyone. Except for his uncle, all the other hunting people were here tonight.
“Come, let’s start eating.”
After sitting down, Lin Heng didn’t care about anything else. He poured some venison in it first, and then raised his rice wine glass to signal everyone to drink.
There is no need to divide the spoils tonight. We can do it slowly when we sober up tomorrow.
The hot hot pot makes people quickly forget about the cold winter, and the various hungry ingredients make people immersed in the enjoyment of delicious food.
Lin Heng mainly eats meat when he eats hot pot. Even if he doesn’t eat it himself, he will give Xiulan and others a pair of chopsticks from time to time.
With his stomach a little full, Lu Honghai said with a smile: "The hunting this year was very successful. Do you want to go again next year?"
"I also think we can try again. Once, I made a lot of money this time." Lu Honggang looked at Lin Heng and said.
They all looked at Lin Heng. Whether they wanted to go or not mainly depended on him. If he didn't go, it would be difficult for them to act.
"Let's talk about this later. I may not have time to continue running." Lin Heng said with a smile. Hunting in the mountains is a matter of luck. He likes hunting and taking risks very much.
But he understood better that in this era, he couldn't just think about hunting. If he wanted to make a lot of money, he had to be in the city of Shakugan.
"Okay, let's see next year." Lu Honghai nodded. Everyone was a little confused and felt that Lin Heng was not as excited as they thought.
"But even if I can't go then, I can still send you there." Lin Heng added.
"We understand, let's talk about it then." Lin Yue said with a smile. He knew that Lin Heng had a lot of things to be busy with.
“Come on, let’s continue eating meat.” Father Lin said with a smile, trying to smooth things over.
It was already early in the morning after dinner. After cleaning up, he arranged for his uncle and uncle to rest in an old house. Lin Heng and Xiulan also went to bed. He was very sleepy and would not wake up tomorrow. It’s the final harvest.
(End of this chapter)