Early the next morning, while Old Uncle Luo was still making breakfast, Li Long, Tao Daqiang, and Yang Yongqiang were already on their way to Dongdagou.
The weather is still very cold, but several people are in high spirits, mainly Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang. They feel like they have a backbone again.
At this time, the entire village, including the wilderness, was silent. There was no sound of birds. Li Long only heard the squelching sound of three people stepping in the snow.
When they walked to Dongdagou, the three of them were panting, their hats were all white, and their breath turned into mist, like the breath of an immortal.
Li Long followed the terrain and began to look for the trap he was playing.
He walked to one side, where the traces of footprints were very shallow. Although there was no snow during this period, before the sun rose every day, the wind would blow up the nearby snow powder, and then fall down again, similar to snow, which would cover it up. trace.
"Huh? Brother Long, did you also set up traps there?" Yang Yongqiang was a little surprised, "I remember there weren't any there."
"Yes, you must have set up seven or eight traps. "Li Long vaguely remembered, "It seems that when I was patrolling the trap the next day, I caught a rabbit."
In fact, there are no new rabbit marks here, and the old rabbit marks have also been snowed. Gives slight coverage and cannot see clearly. Li Long found a condom next to a red willow tree based on his memory.
There is nothing on it.
In fact, this is expected. After patrolling so many times, there is a high probability that it will be taken away. If it is not taken away, then it may be that it is not in the place where the rabbit must pass. If the rabbit does not come here later, it will not be harnessed.
Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang did not follow Li Long. They each had their own division of labor, and they had to put away the rabbit trap. No matter whether there was a rabbit or not, they would take it to another place to set off.
But they looked at Li Long from time to time to see if Li Long had gained anything.
After all, they have never patrolled the rabbit trap here.
As expected, Li Long found that a big rabbit was trapped in the second rabbit trap. Unfortunately, it was bitten by something unknown, leaving only half of its body.
Because it was messy, Li Long didn't want it, but just took off the thin wire.
"Brother Long, are there any rabbits there?" Yang Yongqiang kept watching, watching Li Long's movements, and started shouting from thirty to forty meters away.
"Half of a rabbit will be eaten by a fox or a badger." Li Long responded, and then continued to move forward.
The third one is a little far away from the second one, about ten meters. There is another rabbit here, smaller, about three kilograms, frozen and hard. Li Long picked it several times before he removed it. Pick it out from the ice and snow.
But you are always happy when you get something. Li Long held the rabbit in his right hand and the condom in his left hand, and continued to move forward with a smile.
After the rabbit tying tour here, Li Long already had two rabbits in his hands. He carried the rabbits and walked over there. Seeing that both Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang only had condoms in their hands, he shouted:
< br>"It seems that this condom needs to be moved to another place. Look at my place!"
The three people took out more than a hundred condoms. Over there, Yang Yongqiang found a rabbit. It was not big. More than two kilograms.
"Go back later, let's take back one of the three rabbits each." Li Long said, "Go back and eat, come here tomorrow to pick up these sets, maybe there will be more."
"No, no, no, keep it and sell it for money, three or five yuan each." Yang Yongqiang was the first to disagree, "We have eaten a lot of rabbits, and this one is not enough."
"That's right, Brother Long, don't eat it." Tao Daqiang also said, "Save it and sell it."
"Okay." Li Long followed suit, "Then just save it and sell it. Let's go. Let’s walk south along this big ditch, and go a little further. There are probably no rabbits if we get closer, so the team members have all chased them away.”
The three of them walked all the way along the east ditch. When they were more than a kilometer away, Li Long saw that there were a lot of red willows and white thorns here, as well as a lot of rabbit marks, and they all stepped out of the way, so he said:
"Okay, let's go down here."
The three people split up and each found a direction to set off the rabbit trap. Half an hour later, the three people met at the front and walked back with the rabbit in hand.
"Brother Long, did you get those melon seeds when you went out this time?" Yang Yongqiang asked.
“I got some, about twenty kilograms.” Li Long said, “I heard from an expert that you can plant ten acres of land.”
“Not much.” Tao Daqiang was there The side said, "It's not good to break melon seeds now." Do it?"
"It's not easy to do. This thing is grown in a small area, and it's not grown in large quantities in the place of origin."
"Can you give us some? Yang Yongqiang asked.
"That's right." Tao Daqiang also thought, "Seeds from one acre of land will do..."
Li Long looked at the two of them and smiled.
"You two should go back and discuss it with your dad first. Growing melons is not like following me to catch rabbits and sell fish. Those are all extra. If you can talk it through, your dad is willing Let you try planting, that’s fine.”
Yang Yongqiang stopped talking.
Tao Daqiang also lowered his head.
Their families would certainly not object to following Li Long. After all, Li Long had made money with them, and a lot of it.
But if you follow Li Long and switch to melon farming, something the team has never grown before, that’s not necessarily the case.
Take a melon, that’s not a watermelon. As for watermelon, even if the team members have never grown it, they have at least eaten it. At least this thing is quite popular in summer and the yield is large. In fact, it doesn’t mean that people in the team have never planted crops. Last year, after the household quotas were distributed and rations were allocated, many people would plant a few melons of various types on or near the fields.
So I still know a little bit about growing watermelons.
But Dagua is purely out of understanding.
Farmers, especially the older generation of farmers, are still very cautious about accepting new things, and not many are willing to try, change and make breakthroughs.
This is why Li Jianguo is actually one of the more advanced-thinking people in the village. He already had the idea of growing cash crops at the beginning of the land distribution and contracting - because only growing food cannot be done unless it reaches a certain scale. Otherwise, you won’t make money.
And Li Long gave him an analysis of the pros and cons of growing melons, and with the guidance of an expert, he immediately decided to take out ten acres of land to try.
Do others dare?
If the planting is not good, what will happen to the public grain that will be handed over next year? What is an old snack? How can I explain it if I can't sell it and pile it up at home?
The main reason is that my confidence in taking cover is too low. The family is not rich and cannot afford to make trouble. This is also the reason why it is best for ordinary people not to open a store directly - there is no harm in setting up a stall and losing money, but if you want to open a store directly, you will have to throw in the cost and you may not be able to turn around in a few years.
Of course, it also has something to do with the general environment. When there is a wind outlet, pigs can fly. When the sea is calm, whales can only make small circles of water when they come out of the water.
Li Long had no intention of attacking them, and said:
"Actually, it's good. After all, melons can't be grown in any land. This year, I happen to be growing one at home. The team will give it a try. Then we will show you what to pay attention to when planting this thing, how to prepare it after planting, and where to sell it after harvesting. "
He said, Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang are balanced. Li Long is telling the truth. Only when someone in the team is successful and makes money can their family members try.
Just like growing cotton, not all cotton was grown in northern and southern Xinjiang at the beginning. Only when the growers make money, will others follow suit - of course, some will make money by following the trend, and some will only lose their lives by following the trend.
For example, red dates, snow chrysanthemum, black wolfberry, etc.
The three people returned to the team. Li Long returned to the old horse number with three rabbits, and Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang went home.
When Yang Yongqiang returned home, breakfast had been prepared and his sister filled a bowl of porridge for him.
When he sat down to eat, Yang Yongqiang was still a little unwilling to give up and asked his father:
"Dad, Brother Long said that they want to grow melons at home. Can our family grow some melons?"
"Gourds? Plant a little? How many?"
"I'm thinking of planting some melons. "Yang Yongqiang's family is allocated 20 acres of land. In his opinion, one acre of land out of 20 acres is not much to grow melons.
"Planting one ditch is okay, but one acre of land? No." Yang Hua immediately dismissed his son's idea, "It's okay for Li Long to make money, but when it comes to farming, then he Far worse than his brother.”
“But his brother Li Jianguo also agreed to grow melons.” Yang Yongqiang didn’t understand why his father didn’t want to grow melons.
"Then it is good to grow melons? His family has a big business and can afford to pay, but what about us? We have to invest dozens of dollars from planting to harvesting an acre of land. We have no seeds and no skills. How can we grow it? I don’t know who to sell it to, so why would I plant it?” Yang Hua has his own logic.
"Yongqiang." Yang Hua put down his chopsticks and said earnestly, "I don't object to you following Li Long to catch fish and chase rabbits to make money, but it won't last long. You are still young, so take advantage of this moment to be energetic. It's okay to have fun, but you have to understand that for us farmers, farming is the foundation.
If your girl can pass the exam. If you go and become a state cadre in the future, let's not talk about it. If you haven't had a good time in school and you can't study well, then you can do your duty as a farmer. Now the country has allocated land to us, and there is quite a lot of land here. My hometown is much better. If you farm well and have enough food, there will be no problem. Stop thinking and messing around." Yang Yongqiang lost his temper at his father's words.
But he can't say that what his father said is wrong. According to Brother Long, he can only say that his position is different and his thoughts are different.
Maybe, you can only make your own decisions after you get married - getting married doesn't seem to be an option. According to the rules of the team, if there is only one male in the family like him, he will not divide up the homestead or separate the family.
Alas, at this moment, Yang Yongqiang felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
Forget it, go make holes in the ice as soon as you finish your meal.
For a moment, Yang Yongqiang had the idea of running away from home.
I wonder if Tao Daqiang’s father is willing to use the land to grow melons?
"It's not easy to grow melons." Seeing that his son stopped talking, Yang Hua picked up his chopsticks and said, "The requirements for land, fertilizer, and water are very high. Not everyone can grow them..."
< br>Yang Yongqiang didn't listen for a while. He didn't feel that his father knew a lot about Dagua.
Seeing that his son did not ask any more questions, Yang Hua stopped talking.
After dinner, Yang Yongqiang talked to his family and walked to the horse number with his tools and pockets.
"Brother, wear thicker clothes." Yang Yongqiang's sister shouted at the door, "Don't get frostbite."
"Okay, I understand. Come in quickly." Yang Yongqiang waved with his hand wearing rabbit skin gloves and strode out of the courtyard.
He met Tao Daqiang at the horse gate.
"Is your dad willing to grow melons?" Yang Yongqiang couldn't wait to ask this question after seeing Tao Daqiang.
"No. My dad said, whatever you plant, it's better to plant food. We've only had enough food for a few days..." Tao Daqiang's tone was full of dissatisfaction.
Yang Yongqiang immediately felt the same way:
"My dad said the same thing, that we can't afford to pay."
At this moment, the two of them felt that they were in the same boat.
Hearing the noise, Li Long came out, looked at the two of them, and said with a smile:
"You came very quickly. Wait for me for a few minutes and I will come out soon."
He entered the house, put on thick clothes, a hat and gloves, locked the door behind him when he went out, and then went to the idle house to get a net, a shovel bag.
"Let's go." Li Long said, "I haven't been there for a few days. Let's see how Xiaohaizi is doing now."
"It's been cold and freezing these days, and there's less air below. But the fish are not as active as last year. "Tao Daqiang followed Li Long from beginning to end to catch fish through holes in the ice. He knows how to catch fish when he caught fish last year.
I really miss it.
The three of them chatted all the way. When they were approaching Xiaohaizi, Yang Yongqiang finally couldn't help but asked:
"Brother Long, why don't you ask my family what they say about planting and beating melons? What about ”
He kept holding it back, thinking that when Li Long saw them, he would ask them, and then he might even say that his guess was accurate.
I originally thought that Li Long would laugh at them like a joke, but Li Long didn't ask from the beginning to the end, and ended up holding him back.
"What are you asking?" Li Long went up to the embankment of Xiaohaizi and looked forward, and found that there were already three groups of people digging holes in the ice in Xiaohaizi.
Even in such a cold weather, there are still people doing this, which shows that many people are really motivated.
This is a good thing. It at least adds energy to the team members and also increases their income.
"Just ask my family if they won't allow melons to be planted." Yang Yongqiang was a little downcast. It was obviously a good thing, so why didn't his family agree?
“Then what’s there to ask? If you want to plant, then plant. If you don’t want to plant, then wait and see.” Li Long said, “It’s not a big deal. You have to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. , if you were in your father's position, you might not be able to farm a hundred crops per acre. Many kilograms of wheat can be ground into flour to feed your girl for a year. If you can’t sell the melon seeds you grow, you won’t be very hungry. You can’t eat melon seeds every day.”
Li. Long's words made Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang laugh. Think about it, this is actually the case. They have become "superstitious" about Li Long's abilities, but it does not mean that Li Long really knows everything and is right about everything. Their parents might have seen it more clearly as onlookers, and it might have been right to wait.
The three people walked to the ice cave in the south and found that there was indeed a layer of ice on it, which looked quite thick. Li Long looked at this layer of ice and knew that if the holes in the ice were broken, all he could get out in a short time were some small crucian carp. The actual fishing would have to wait until the afternoon.
But the good thing is that there is fresh fish soup to drink in the evening.
Before Li Long could take action, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang each occupied an ice cave and started smashing it.
Li Long had to take turns with both sides of the shovel to shovel the broken ice cubes. After shoveling, he would use a net to fish out the ice cubes, and he would have no more work to do.
After he removed the ice cubes on both sides, Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang had already started fishing in the ice hole with a dip net.
There were really no fish in the first few nets. Occasionally there were a few small crucian carp, which would freeze hard after being fished out and jumping around twice.
Li Long picked up the fish for a while, then stopped picking it up. He went to find some reeds from a distance and lit them. There was already ashes left from the fire here, so he lit the fire directly on the spot. When the fire started, he After running quite far, Wei Zi's fire was very strong. If he didn't run, his eyebrows would be burned off.
Seeing that it was boring, Li Long turned to the three brothers of the Liang family.
I learned from Li Jianguo yesterday that even if he is not here, the three Liang brothers will send the fish they catch every day.
"How are you today?" Li Long asked.
Actually, he could see that there was a little bit of it in the bag. He also knew that it was like this after the newcomers smashed holes in the ice.
“It’s just a big one, we still have to wait and see in the afternoon.” Liang Laoer said while picking up the fish, “The big one is carp, more than one kilogram, not big, but it looks pretty. ”
As he spoke, he opened his pocket and let Li Long see it.
Li Long saw a carp inside with red and yellow scales, its mouth opened and opened, and there were beards on both sides. The fish was not completely dead. It twisted its head there, but it couldn't survive. How long.
“Beautiful, so beautiful!” Li Long admired sincerely.
Whether the fish is delicious or not, the image is really good. No wonder it has become an auspicious sign in ancient Chinese civilization.
It feels different when you look at it.
"How's it going over there?" Boss Liang took out a piece of net and found three or five pike. He was a little disappointed, and then asked Li Long.
“A few small crucian carp. The ice cave over there has been frozen for several days. There will definitely be no fish at first. It depends on the afternoon. It has been cold these days and the fish are not moving well. ”
“That is.”
< br>"Li Long, I heard that you want to grow melons?" Liang Laosan was digging in the other hole and asked, "What are melons? Is it the same as watermelon or winter melon?"
His voice was a bit loud, and the Zhao family and his son were listening in the distance.
Li Long was a little surprised. Has the news of growing melons spread throughout the village? Even the Liang family knows?
The Liang family lives in Old Zhuangzi, not far from the Li family’s New Zhuangzi. He believed that his eldest brother Li Jianguo was not a talkative person. This shows that the whole village may know that they are going to plant melons.
However, this is not something that needs to be concealed. After all, it will still be spread when the spring planting begins. He said:
"I am preparing to plant melons. These melons It's a bit like a watermelon, and the melon seeds are also similar, but they are larger than the watermelon seeds. "Is the melon sold as a whole?" Liang Laoer asked from the side. He didn't have the nerve to ask before, but now his brother. After asking, Li Long was willing to answer, so he continued to ask.
"No, you need the seeds inside. These seeds are used for roasted seeds and nuts. Some people like to crack them." Li Long explained, "And the flesh of the melon is not as delicious as the watermelon. It is not as sweet and not as red. , Most of them are yellow or white."
"That's right." The second son of the Liang family nodded, and he had some understanding. (End of this chapter)