Chapter 171 Dayan
In the early morning, Wang Susu sat in the courtyard and sifted wheat to prepare for grinding flour in two days. After a while, the chickens, ducks, and quails heard the noise and thought they wanted to be fed, so they gathered around her, stretching their necks and squealing in a ball, asking for food from her.
Wang Susu tried to drive her away twice but could not drive her away. Instead, she attracted the pigeons.
I had no choice but to go back to the house and get two bowls of grain and scatter them on the ground. Only then did these guys settle down, each one shaking their heads on the ground to eat.
It’s cold and it’s hard to find food. Only the ducks go out for a couple of walks when the weather is fine, go to the weirs and ponds to swim, and catch some small fish and shrimps to eat. The chickens and quails rarely go out. When they go out, they just hang around the yard. Pigeons are freer, but food is hard to find.
Fortunately, we have food dug from mouse holes as a base. Otherwise, with so many mouths, we would have to eat a lot in autumn and winter.
Seeing how much they were eating, Wang Susu took advantage of this time to pick out the newly laid eggs, duck eggs, and even the quail eggs. After the weather cools down, quails will stop hatching eggs and will not start hatching them again until the next spring when it gets warmer. It happens that they pick them out every day and save them. If they save too much, they boil quail eggs and eat them.
"Auntie, has Uncle Fugui gotten up? I came to see him to milk the goat."
As soon as I put the eggs I picked up in the kitchen, I heard someone at the door of the courtyard. call.
"Get up. I took your little aunt to the fields to pick vegetables. Come in and wait for a while. I'll be back soon."
Wang Susu smiled and waved to them.
These little scoundrels swarmed in, and each one of them actually brought pecans. Wang Susu couldn't help laughing after looking at them for a while, thinking that these little scoundrels were actually honest with their rich uncle. .
A few minutes later, Chen Ling and Wang Zhenzhen came back, and they immediately gathered around excitedly, chattering like a group of little ducks.
Chen Ling asked Wang Zhenzhen to take them to wash their hands and get a bucket, while he went to the woodshed to pull out the sheep. After washing the goat milk bag with warm water, he let these little ones who couldn't wait for a long time The baby started to squeeze.
In fact, at this time every day, he and Wang Susu also milk the goats. Their own dairy goats alone produce six pounds of goat milk every day. The milk is quite abundant, and there is still a lot leftover every time. If squeezed, the lamb wouldn't be able to finish the drink.
These children came over today to help solve some problems.
While they were milking, Chen Ling lit a fire in the kitchen. After the little guys squeezed half a bucket of milk clumsily, the firewood was already burning. He poured the goat milk into the pot and soon it was ready. Just boil it, bubbling, and the air is filled with a rich milk aroma.
Afraid that some children might not be used to drinking it for the first time, Wang Susu also prepared sugar next to it.
“Auntie, please come and drink milk too.”
Among the little kids who come to the house, Xizi likes to be close to Wang Susu the most, and the other kids, both boys and girls, like to be around her. When Chen Ling made a fuss, she was the only one who would stay quietly in front of Wang Susu, watching Wang Susu work and saying a few words to her.
Now I saw that Wang Susu had just finished washing the vegetables and came to put sugar for them, so I pulled up a stool for Wang Susu to sit down and came to drink milk.
"Good boy, you drink it, Auntie will serve it later."
Wang Susu smiled and touched her little head, went to the house and brought out a new fence, and came back At that time, I quietly stuffed a few pieces of toffee into the little girl's pocket.
Wang Zhenzhen had sharp eyes. When he saw it, he stuck out his tongue at his sister, and then smiled and winked at Xizi. She also liked this well-behaved 'little sister' who looked like a little rabbit, even though she was not a younger sister according to seniority.
Then he stood up and ran to Chen Ling in a hurry, saying that the goat milk had been squeezed out more and more in the past two days at home, and he couldn't finish it. How about making some toffee. This girl came up with the idea after seeing the White Rabbit toffee that her sister took out.
Chen Ling immediately blew his beard and glared, "Good guy, you think too highly of me."
I also have to know how to make toffee.
Actually...
If he can't finish the goat's milk, he can make some yogurt. Forget about toffee, it's too troublesome and tiring. He doesn't want to do it anyway.
"Uncle Fugui, what kind of milk is yogurt? Is it delicious?"
Hearing what Chen Ling said next to them, the little kids became energetic.
I didn’t forget to stir the bowl with my chopsticks.
The goat milk has just been boiled and is too hot to drink, so I can only let it cool down quickly.
"It tastes good. I'll make it another day. Let your little aunt bring more when she goes to school. You can drink together then."
"Hey, Uncle Fugui is so nice. From now on, aunt will When my younger brothers and sisters were born, I protected them.”
"Me too, I won't have to worry about you and auntie taking care of sending them to school."
Listening to the shouts of the dolls, Chen Ling and his wife looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.
"Okay, okay, it's still early for my younger brothers and sisters. Let's drink the milk quickly and taste it. Are you used to it?"
"His ha..."
< br>“Wow, it’s still hot. My tongue is numb and it’s burning to my heart.”
"But this milk tastes so good, I'll take another sip."
"You are stupid, look at me, like me, you just drink it while it's hot."
Chen Ling held up the bowl, Suck it along the edge of the bowl to show them.
"Hey, uncles, we know how to drink it at home, but when we come to your house, we forget about it."
One by one, the silly boys started sucking, and soon, they drank from the bowl I drank all the milk.
I was just a little full from the drink, so I sat in the yard, noisily patting my belly and shouting that it was delicious.
"Uncle Fugui, we won't go to the mountains to hunt walnuts today..."
"I heard from Third Grandpa that there are many crabs by the river. We want to catch crabs today. At noon I'll bring it to you. You can cook it for your aunt."
"No, you can take it home and eat it yourself. Your aunt can't eat crabs."
Chen Ling shook her head.
"Ah? Auntie can't eat it, so I'll bring you some fish. Auntie loves fish, so you don't have to fish for them."
"Haha, you guys, why are you so polite? . ”
“Okay, just go wherever you want to play, just don’t go to deep water.”
They left noisily.
... As the saying goes: "When the white dew comes and the frost comes, don't panic when planting wheat; when the frost comes at the beginning of winter, don't relax when planting wheat."
After the frost, winter wheat has been planted one after another, and the soybeans and peanuts in the field are about to be harvested at this time.
After Wang Zhenzhen took a group of kids out, Wang Susu told Chen Ling about the situation of peanuts and soybeans in the fields. Today Chen Ling got up early and went to the fields just to see how they were doing.
Generally speaking, these two crops can be harvested forty to fifty days after fruit setting. It is almost time now. It will take another week at most before they are fully mature.
“The soybeans are not bad. I pulled out a few peanuts and looked at them. Some of the peanut kernels have not grown well. I pinched them with my nails and found that they were still deflated and full of water. But the quantity was not large. "It's not a big problem."
Hearing what Chen Ling said, Wang Susu raised her head and glanced at him: "The temperature is still reaching 20 degrees in the afternoon, but it's a bit cold at night, otherwise we'll be late. Harvest it after a few days and try to let it grow for a few more days?”
"Well, there's no need to deliberately delay a few days..."
Chen Ling shook his head and smiled at her: "Let's wait and see how it goes after this week. If it doesn't grow well by then, it really won't grow. Okay. After all, we have reached this period, no matter how late we harvest, it will not work."
Wang Susu hummed softly and said no more. She also understands that Qiuhuasheng has this virtue.
But grain and oil prices are high this year, and it would be a bit distressing if peanut production is reduced too much.
In fact, even if we don’t talk about this year.
Usually peanuts and soybeans are also quite valuable. They are not considered food, but are cash crops.
Usually it is mainly used to extract oil and sell it for money, and is rarely willing to eat it.
When they were in school, they would dig mouse holes after the autumn harvest. If you were lucky enough to find a peanut barn and a soybean barn in the mouse hole, it would be no less than a small treasure. After returning home, parents will know about it and will not hesitate to reward it.
You can see how valuable this thing is.
Looking at the tight demand this year, it feels a bit like before.
Actually, when Chen Ling sent Wang Zhenzhen to school, he also went to the market several times to inquire.
Since the autumn harvest has passed, food prices have dropped.
Meat and eggs also declined, but not by much.
Only cash crops such as peanuts and soybeans, which can extract oil, are still very expensive and in short supply.
This is mainly due to the shortage of goods. The autumn harvest is also mainly about grains. There are very few such economic crops. Without large quantities of goods entering the market, prices cannot drop at all.
Chen Ling knew what his daughter-in-law was thinking, so he changed the subject and said, "How do you feel about the gourds you picked yesterday? Does it taste good?"
"It's pretty good. The cooking smells so good. "
"How about we make some melon shredded dumplings for lunch today?"
"Okay, I'll put them together later and put them on early, um... let's make some vegetarian fillings. It’s stuffed with meat.”
"It's alright. I'll buy the meat and we'll talk about it. You and Zhenzhen can eat whatever you want."
Chen Ling looked at the time, pushed the cart out to buy pork, and asked various questions on the way. What are the prices of building materials?
Before leaving the village, I met families in twos and threes walking towards the dam at the entrance of the village, talking and laughing while walking.
When he saw Chen Ling, he smiled and greeted him.
“Why do you want to be rich?”
"Let's go to the county town."
"If you don't have a market but a temple, what are you doing so early? Let's go and hunt wild geese with us!"
"Ah? Wild geese are coming to the reservoir? "
"Isn't it? There are many more birds flying south recently, not only geese, but also cranes."
"Oh, then I have to go and take a look."< br>
"Hahaha, let's go, let's go together."
So Chen Ling also got off the bicycle and pushed him towards the dam with them.
Before I got closer, I heard the faint chirping of various birds.
There were also many people on the dam at this time. They all came to watch the birds just after breakfast. There were men, women, old and young. There were also many adults with their children and slingshots and bows and arrows to shoot birds. The scene was Very lively.
Chen Ling tied up the car and walked to the dam to take a look.
The blue waves of the reservoir are rippling, and there are hundreds of geese playing and looking for food on the water in the distance, flying up and down...
They have gray and brown feathers all over their bodies, and they look a bit like big white geese. They are moving in groups on the water, some bending their long necks to comb their feathers, and some flapping their wings to play. They are densely packed and numerous, and the Wuyang Wuyang ones almost fill the entire reservoir.
Not only the wild geese, but also several egrets competing for food in the reed swamps on the other side, as if dancing gracefully, with strong and agile postures and light and beautiful dance movements.
Unfortunately, when they saw people at the dam, they all stayed far away and did not dare to approach easily.
This made the adults and children who wanted to hunt birds anxiously scratch their heads and get together to discuss ways to lure a few of these wild geese over.
There is also a local tradition of hunting wild geese in autumn and winter.
Regardless of good or bad, I have relied on this thing to survive for many years in the past.
If you are lucky, you can eat stewed wild geese for a month.
If you are unlucky, you can only pick up wild goose dung and eat it.
In those days, people generally did not have enough to eat, and famines occurred during bad times.
When the wild geese come in late autumn, teams are formed to hunt wild geese and pick up wild goose dung. There will be undigested grain or nuts in the wild goose dung. After simple processing, it is a good thing to fill the stomach.
There used to be a saying in the local area, which was called: "The north eats eggs, the south eats geese, and the ones in the middle are dry." Eggs reproduce. People in the north can eat the eggs laid by wild geese. Wild geese fly south in autumn and winter and overwinter in the warm south, and people in the south can eat their meat.
And among them, the wild geese were just passing by and would not stay for long at all, so they could only watch.
Although the local area has mountains and rivers, migratory birds such as wild geese will stay here for a month every year, and tens of thousands of them fly there every year, but it is not easy to hunt them. thing.
It's good to have a gun. If you ambush and shoot, you can hit some. Without a gun, if you just rely on a holster, it's hard to say what you will gain. You can only leave it to luck.
The distance was too far, and Chen Ling had no intention of hunting geese. He walked up and down the dam admiring it with his hands behind his back. At this moment, other migratory birds flew over, including white cranes and black-necked birds. There are many types and numbers of cranes, wild ducks, cormorants, etc., chirping on the water surface, and their calls are so lively that they can be heard from a long distance away.
The sun is good today, the weather is fine, and the water is warm. Therefore, large groups of migratory birds gathered from the mountains to forage, play and exchange feelings on the vast water.
Chen Ling was admiring it here, when suddenly a large number of birds flew up from the water.
Looking around, it turned out that it was to the west of the reservoir. Wang Zhenzhen led a group of little kids from the village to shout. Below, Heiwa Xiaojin and a group of local dogs had rushed into the reeds and attacked the birds. attack.
This group of monkeys originally went to the river bend to catch crabs, but halfway there, they discovered that there were so many birds in the reservoir today, and they immediately became interested. I heard adults say that wild geese are delicious, and they were all very greedy, so they brought their dogs to chase them away.
The native dog in the village can swim. Every summer, he secretly goes to the river to take a bath with the little baby, and he has long been familiar with the properties of water. So after getting close, I rushed towards the water with my head down.
There are many migratory birds such as wild ducks and cormorants hidden in the reeds. Among them, mallards like to live near the water the most. If they pounce in, they will stir up a flock.
The mallard flew high, but with Heiwa Xiaojin leading it, the dogs managed to catch two or three of them.
After harvesting, these child soldiers were very motivated. They shouted loudly, and the birds nearby were frightened away, so they ordered the dogs to chase the geese on the water in the distance.
But soon he became extremely happy and sad, and he was carried away by his parents, grabbing his ears and taking him home.
The villagers were afraid that their children would run to the water, but luckily they would be caught red-handed.
In fact, looking at the flocks of big birds on the water, not only the little children were envious, but many adults in the village were also very envious.
No, Chen Ze and Yu Qiang stopped Chen Ling: "Fugui, how about we borrow two guns from Uncle Wu and go out to hunt geese at night?"
< br>“With so many wild geese flying over every year, we can’t just watch them every year, don’t you think so!”
When I go out to hunt geese at night, I hunt for wild geese flying in the sky.
When it is dark, if you hear the cry of a flock of wild geese passing by, it is easy to hit them with a shotgun.
Sometimes it’s easier to fight than during the day.
Chen Ling shook his head and smiled: "Uncle Wu returned the gun a few days ago, and now the team only has the same number of shots as before. It's not a big deal, it's just for hunting wild geese, why are you willing to lend it to you... ..."
"If you want to hunt geese, why don't you set up a trap and put a trap? Okay, I have to go to the city, do you need to carry something?"
Several people even said no, and went to the side to discuss the matter of hunting geese.
(End of this chapter)