Ten acres sounds like a lot, but this field is long, almost 400 meters all the way to the end. Three people walking back and forth in the furrows can almost delimit six acres of land. Although the sowing speed is not as fast as that of a seeder, it is much faster than expected.
And this kind of sowing does not require bending down. You just need to lower your head and use your hands hard, and pay attention to whether there are enough seeds in the funnel above from time to time. It is actually very easy.
Li Long has no chance to make a roller-type jukebox, otherwise it would be faster.
This was enough. When they turned around and came over to watch on demand, there were already people watching on the ground.
The news that the Li family wants to plant melons has spread throughout the village. At this time, most people in the village didn’t even know what beating melons was.
After some knowledge popularization by knowledgeable people, these people realized that this thing is the same as watermelon, except that it uses seeds.
Li Long didn't care much about the spread of these news, and even deliberately contributed to the flames, because beating melons is no better than watermelons. Watermelons mainly sell melons, and melon beaters mainly sell seeds. This thing is not as delicious as watermelon, but it can only quench your thirst. Li Long welcomes people who want to eat melons, as long as they keep the seeds when the time comes.
For the villagers in the team, melon seeds are not easy to crush, so there is no use in taking them back.
Everyone came here just out of curiosity and wanted to see what the melons grown by the Li family looked like. Now it seems that more attention is focused on the jukeboxes in the hands of Li Long and the other three.
Tao Daqiang and the others also came over. He knew about jukeboxes and had used them before, so he gave everyone some popular science.
Yes, it is science popularization. This word was taught to him by Li Long. It means popularizing science, letting everyone know what science is. The principle of this thing is also a kind of science. Tao Daqiang has the consciousness of becoming a teacher.
“That jukebox is really good.” Someone saw the clue and praised it.
"It is inconvenient to use a large piece of land, but it is good to have some vegetables in the vegetable garden at home."
"It is also good to use private land. It is good to just plant these things that cannot be sown in large areas, and If we don’t have a special seeder, why don’t we have to use this one?” Some people are already thinking about what they will use it for later if they borrow it.
Li Long and the others came back and forth, and the sun had already risen to noon.
The original plan was to go home for dinner at noon after sowing, but now it seems that there is not much left, less than two people can go back and forth at one time, so Li Jianguo said:
"Xiaolong, you drive the tractor back and bring the food." Come here, let’s go back after we’re done.”
“What are you going to cook for?” Li Long waved his hand, “Let’s light it up for you three. We can pick it up from this end and I can pick it up from the other end. We can just go back and eat after we finish the work. Why do we need to make an extra trip?"
Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang have been following them on demand. After Li Long and others finished sowing, the two of them stepped on the sowing position to compact the soil on the seeds, which would facilitate the germination of the melon seeds.
Hearing Li Long’s words, Du Chunfang also said:
"That's right, why did you go there? Just chew a piece of dry steamed bun to cushion your stomach, drink two mouthfuls of water, and you'll be done with it in a while."
Li Jianguo knew that my mother would basically support her unconditionally no matter what she did. Li Long's, he looked at Liang Yuemei.
"Come back after you finish." Liang Yuemei also said, "The rest are not worth doing after dinner."
Li Jianguo looked up at the sun and said :
“That’s okay.” Then he turned to Li Qingxia and Du Chunfang and said:
"Dad, Mom, you two go and have a rest in the shade behind the tractor."
"What does the sun mean?" Du Chunfang waved her hand, "Come on, let each of you eat a piece of steamed bun, and then we're done. Hurry up and plant vegetables after you finish the work."
Liang Yuemei smiled as she knew that her mother-in-law was most concerned about the vegetables in Li Long's vegetable garden. My mother-in-law has been saying from time to time in the past two days that her vegetable garden is being taken care of. Li Long's yard is often unoccupied and the vegetables are not taken care of, so she has to go there often.
Liang Yuemei didn't have any objections. What her mother-in-law said was true, and she was happy to see the vegetables in both yards grow well. You will certainly be able to eat it all, but whether you can eat it all is one thing, and whether you can sow it well is another matter. The women in the village are still comparing each other openly or covertly. Living a good life, growing vegetables well, taking care of children well, and how much money a man can make are all subjects of comparison.
Liang Yuemei actually competed with each other last year, but this year she has no intention of competing. The brother-in-law can earn money, and his family's livelihood has suddenly reached the first level in the village, and no one can compare with it.
Her husband is good at farming, has a high spirit, can raise pigs, and has won the honor of the village. This is enough for her to talk loudly and act confidently among other women.
It is normal for a mother-in-law to be partial to her brother-in-law. After all, she has not taken care of him for a long time. But Li Long is more concerned about his family. Although he has a family now, people's character will not change so quickly.
Obviously there are urgent matters in the mountains now, but Li Long still insists on planting all the melons here before leaving. Just this, let Liang Yuemei know that Li Long is still the same Li Long and will not get married. Now, he is separated from his eldest brother and this family.
A few people made a piece of steamed bun and gnawed it there with tea. Li Long regretted not bringing some pickled mustard, red tofu or something, even a bowl of salted leeks would have been nice.
But there is not so much emphasis here. I finish chewing the steamed buns with a bang in my mouth, take a sip of tea to moisten my throat, and then continue working.
The onlookers had already dispersed, they were just watching to see what was new. It takes four or five months from planting to harvesting melons, so there is no need to rush. When the melons have grown, you can come and eat them if you want. I don't think the Li family would refuse.
The sun in early April is not very poisonous yet, but Li Long has sweat on his head, so he doesn't feel tired. After all, he has experienced many things in the past year and has done many tasks that are much more tiring than this. It’s not bad to experience the life of farming once in a while. At least keep yourself from forgetting your roots.
When Li Long and the others finished their work and drove the tractor home, Chen Lirong was already a little anxious.
The two children, Li Xueping and Li Xueqin, had already eaten. They didn’t want to rest at home, so they went to preschool hand in hand. Although the preschool class has not yet started in the afternoon, several children have already gathered there to play, and they quickly joined in.
The two children have gradually changed to speak Xinjiang-style Mandarin. Children learn the language much faster, and they integrate into the environment much faster. Even after hearing from their mother's few words that they might go to school in the city, they all had reluctant thoughts.
After all, it’s so much fun here, and no one despises or bullies them. As outsiders, they are treated with different courtesy.
Listening to the sound of the tractor and seeing it turning at the end of the road, Chen Lirong breathed a sigh of relief. After waving, she quickly returned to the house and started to bring out the food.
She is not very good at stewing rice in a pot, steaming steamed buns at noon, stir-frying vegetables, and making soup.
The tractor drove into the yard. After turning off the engine, Li Long got down and helped his father and mother down from the back. Here, Chen Lirong had already filled the water and put out towels for several people to wash.
When you work in the fields in spring, you will inevitably be covered in dust. When harvesting in autumn, you will have some leaves or insects on your body. This is a habit.
After slapping the dust off my body, I washed myself thoroughly and then ate. I was so hungry that I was devouring everything, including Du Chunfang.
Li Long thought that it would be better to let my mother do less work like this in the future. My mother had little activity and little food in her life, but she lived to be over ninety. She always looked sickly, but in fact she never had any serious illness.
Now that you have changed your living habits, isn’t it bad?
With random thoughts in his mind, Li Long finished eating quickly.
"There is no more work in the fields. Xiaolong, you still have to do things in the mountains. Go ahead." Li Jianguo said while eating, "Just come back occasionally."
"Yes, Xiaoxia is in the county. Don't act like you two are living apart." Liang Yuemei also said while eating, "Married is different from not married. If you can be together, don't separate. Even if you have to work in the mountains, you We have a tractor, and we come back every few days, so that the two of us can live their lives together, especially when they are just married, so everything is different.”
Li Longshen thought it was normal.
After dinner, he drove the tractor and added water and oil. After finishing other things that needed to be done, he handed the house key to his mother. Li Long put the 56 semi-automatic rifle in the back of the truck. I hid in my clothes, took some changes of clothes, and drove the tractor to the county.
Although Chen Xingbang was told to leave the day after tomorrow, he can go to the county now, purchase food and the like tomorrow, and stop by the animal husbandry team to see Harimu and his children, and then he can go into the mountains the day after tomorrow.
Well, that’s it.
The tractor went very fast and running in fifth gear was easy. The tractor seemed to be able to feel Li Long's urgent mood. It made a sudden sound and rushed forward without even smoking. There were not many people along the way. Even if there were people, they would avoid the road when they heard the sound of the tractor in the distance. side, and then looked at the tractor curiously.
There are no more than ten private tractors in the township now, which is quite rare.
Driving all the way to the county, Li Long saw that it was still early, so he went to the market. The grain sold here is more expensive than grain stores, but the advantage is that no tickets are required.
Li Long bought two bags of rice and two bags of noodles. It could be seen that the entire bags of rice and noodles most likely came from the grain store, and the stitches were not removed. It's a few cents more expensive per kilogram than the grain store, but it's worth it.
He went to the department store again and bought notebooks, pens, schoolbags, pencil cases, erasers and other school supplies. Thinking that Yushanjiang's children were old and should use pens, he bought two more pens and four bottles of ink. At this time, students still used sky blue ink, or pure blue ink.
After buying the things, Li Long saw that there was still time, so he simply drove the tractor to the animal husbandry team.
The animal husbandry team is located not far from Qingshui River and parallel to the foot of Nanshan Mountain, but it is still several kilometers away from Nanshan Mountain.
The road was newly built and paved with gravel, and the houses in the residential area were old and new. The first thing Li Long saw when he arrived was the school with the national flag erected.
The school is not a new building, but it occupies a large area. There are children playing football on the playground, and the shouts are loud. It seems that from this time or earlier, the children of these herdsmen like to play football.
Li Long looked at the time. School should be over by now. He originally asked someone to go directly to Harimu's home, but now he changed his mind and drove a tractor to the elementary school.
The churning sound of the tractor attracted the children on the playground. Li Long straightened up, stepped on the page board, and searched hard among the children to see if he could find Nathan.
He is a bit face-blind. Although these children don't wear the same clothes, their faces are about the same shape, and they are still a bit far apart. Li Long didn't notice it.
He was a little disappointed. When he came down and planned to start the tractor to ask someone, a child suddenly ran out and shouted:
"Uncle, uncle!"
Then another bigger one came out.
When Li Long came up and recognized him, wasn't this Harimu's other son Sasken?
There is another one, that should be Yushanjiang’s child. Li Long remembers that his name seems to be Ye Erjiang?
"Have you finished school?" Li Long asked with a smile.
"Come on, uncle Li Long, are you here to see us?" Susken climbed onto the back of the tractor and asked.
"Yeah, I don't know where your home is."
"I'll take you there." Ye Erjiang said loudly.
“I can take it too!” Susken also rushed to say.
"Come one by one, come one by one, whose home is closer?"
"My home is close!" Ye Erjiang's voice was loud and full of pride.
Li Long remembered that Yushanjiang's son was still a bit honest and didn't talk much. Was it different after he arrived at the animal husbandry point?
"Are you in junior high school?" Li Long asked.
"Yes, we will start from the first grade of junior high school." Ye Erjiang is actually old enough to go to the third grade of junior high school. It should be that he needs to make up for the previous courses.
Under his guidance, Li Long arrived at Yushanjiang's courtyard not far away.
The old courtyard is quite big, but it is rather dilapidated, which is normal when you think about it. After all, the animal husbandry point was only re-established last year, and some things will take some time to recover. Li Long thought that he would have to take the time to build this place up later.
There was no gate, so Li Long simply drove the tractor into the yard. When he heard the noise, the people in the house had already come out. Yushanjiang's wife, and her daughter Ganaguli.
Seeing Li Long, their expressions were also very surprised. They probably didn't expect that Li Long would come.
"Okay," Li Long greeted after getting off the tractor, "I heard you were here, so I came over to take a look and bring some things with me."
Ye Erjiang was in the car. Li helped carry rice, noodles, and other things.
"You have gone to school. Each of you has one school bag. It contains a pencil case, pencils, ink, notebooks, etc. It is a gift for you."
Li Long gave each of Ye Erjiang and Ganaguli a schoolbag. He also bought some brick tea, sugar cubes and other daily necessities for herdsmen, one for each family, and moved them down.
"Thank you, thank you!" Yushanjiang's wife knew Li Long. She reacted at this time and hurriedly said thank you, and then invited Li Long, "Come in and drink milk tea!"
“No, I have to go to Harimu’s house, and then I have to rush back to the county." Li Long smiled and waved, "You are not far away. I will come over and see if you need anything."
< br>The family of three watched with emotion as Li Long drove away on the tractor.
Their family moved here newly, and the only acquaintances they knew were the Harimu family.
To say that something is lacking, it is definitely lacking, but I am used to it in the mountains, so if it is missing, don’t use it. But this place is different from the mountains. After all, the children have to go to school, so they can't have nothing. When I first arrived, Yushanjiang brought some things to buy. I basically had all the necessary items, but some bits and pieces were still missing.
Now that Li Long is coming, they feel confident.
This is a friend you can have a heart-to-heart relationship with.
Sasken pointed to Li Long and quickly drove to his home.
The yard of Harry Mu's house is similar to that of Yushan Jiang's house. They are both quite dilapidated. However, the door of his house has wood erected on both sides, and then two pieces of wood are sandwiched horizontally to block it and use it as a door. Although it can't stop a thief, it means someone is at home.
The sound of the tractor also alerted Harimu's mother and Nathan, who was playing in the yard. When he saw it was Li Long, Nathan's exclaimed voice was full of surprise.
Li Long parked the tractor on the side of the road, greeted Harimu's mother, and began to move things down.
Sasken had already gotten his own schoolbag. Li Long handed another schoolbag to Nathan and asked him to open it and look at the school supplies inside.
“Better than mine, much better than mine!” Nathan shouted loudly as he looked at the schoolbag. He turned to his grandma and said, “Apa, Apa! Look, the schoolbag my uncle bought for me. ! There is also a beautiful pencil box inside..."
Grandma smiled happily, and Li Long picked up the rice and noodles and put them into the house.
This house is quite shabby and seems to be barely habitable. This made Li Long even more sure that he would bring people over after a while to repair the place. It's not okay to live like this.
After putting away the rice and noodles, Li Long brought in other things from the tractor. After entering the house, he chatted with Nathan and the others for a few words, and greeted the old lady through Nathan's translator. Nathan's grandma wanted to cook, but Li Long refused, saying that he would go back to the county after dark, and that he would come over often in the future and asked them to tell him directly if they had anything to do.
When Li Long drove away on the tractor, many children had gathered outside the courtyard, many of whom had just played football. Nathan and Ye Erjiang were already showing their friends the gifts Li Long had given them. .
This makes other children envious. Most of them have parents grazing cattle in the mountains, and they either follow their grandparents or their mother in the animal husbandry team. They are the first group of left-behind children. They also hope that someone will come to see them and bring them gifts.
When Li Long drove the tractor back to the county, the sun had completely set for a while. Gu Xiaoxia must have gotten off work. Li Long went to the big meat canteen and bought a bag of buns and a few steamed buns, packed two more dishes, and happily drove the tractor to the compound.
He looked a little impatient.
Well, that’s understandable.
When the tractor arrived at the door of the compound, Gu Xiaoxia had already heard the noise. When she opened the door and saw Li Long, she was startled at first, and then smiled. (End of this chapter)