Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

Busy days always pass quickly, and in a blink of an eye, it’s the twelfth lunar month again. The weather was getting colder. At the end of winter, Jinghan asked Zhiming to tell the restaurant that the mushroom production might not be so good in the twelfth lunar month. Sure enough, by the time we entered the twelfth lunar month, there were not as many mushrooms as before. Jinghan also understands that this is because of the cold weather. Even if there is a lot of heat in the house, the warmth of the house is too poor, so the temperature still cannot rise. This cannot be solved for the time being, so this is the only way. It just so happens that these fungus trees have been producing mushrooms for almost two months, so it’s time to stop for a while. In the past two months, she has earned almost thirty taels of silver just from selling mushrooms, which makes Jinghan very happy.

Wenhan and his school had been on holiday since the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and Jingya and others all returned to the mountain. Huixin was concerned about the mother-in-law, and Jinghui was getting older, so Huixin asked Jingya to come back for the New Year. Jingya has been in town for almost a year and only comes back occasionally, so when she meets her family, she is naturally very affectionate. It was the first time that Wenxuan and Wenchang had been away from home for such a long time, and when they returned home, they hugged Mrs. Chen and never let go. Mrs. Chen looked at these grandchildren and felt happy and sad at the same time.

"Okay, don't bother with your grandma. Your school doesn't start until the 20th of the first lunar month. You have plenty of time at home. Let's make these new clothes first. It's the Chinese New Year and I'll make two new clothes for you all. ." Ms. Xue was making clothes for the children with needle and thread in her hand. The family also has plenty of money this year, so the old lady said that she would make two sets of clothes for everyone, especially the children, who must make good materials.

Wenhan looked at his two younger brothers and said, "Didn't you say you want to see the mushrooms grown by Jinghan? Why don't you come with me and have a look?"

When the two little guys heard this, they quickly went to the ground to see the mushrooms with Wenhan. When they arrived at the two houses, Jinghan happened to be lighting the fire wall inside. Wenxuan immediately hugged Jinghan and said, "Sister, I'm back."

Jinghan looked at the advertisement and saw that this little fat guy was still the same, and he didn't seem to have lost much weight. "Wenxuan, Wenchang, how are you in school? What have you learned?" Jinghan rubbed Wenxuan's face. The fleshy feel was so fun.

When Wenxuan saw that he had become a toy delivered to his door, he quickly ran to the side and said, "Second sister, why do you always play with my face? It's disgusting." Wenxuan looked at the fungi and there were sparse little mushrooms on them. , each bright yellow little head looks so cute. "Sister, is this the mushroom you grew? It's quite fun."

Wenhan, Wencheng, and Wenchang are also looking at those mushrooms. Wenhan looked at the mushroom wood carefully, then looked at the mushrooms on it, and touched the small mushrooms with his hands. "I didn't expect you could actually grow mushrooms. These mushrooms should be easy to sell, right?"

Jinghan nodded and talked about the benefits of these mushrooms, "Brother, next year I want to get a few more mushrooms, and also plant fungus. Planting this way is much better than going out to find it elsewhere." The fungus is large and we don’t need to grow it in the winter. If we dry it in the summer, we can sell it in the winter.” Jinghan said her thoughts.

Wenhan looked at his sister, Jinghan, whose eyes lit up whenever she talked about making money. Wen Han couldn't help but smile. It was said that the children of poor people became rich early, and Jing Han could say that this was the case. Because her family was poor, the first thing this little girl thought of when she saw something was to change it for money. It is precisely because she is thinking about making money all day long that she can come up with such good ideas. "Jinghan, you've lost weight again. Our family is gradually getting better now, so you don't have to worry too much. Eat well and gain more weight." Wenhan looked at Jinghan's slight weight loss with some distress. cheek.

Jinghan's heart warmed when she heard her elder brother's words, "Brother, why have I lost weight? I'm greedy for growth. Haven't you seen that I'm taller again?"

Wenhan rolled his eyes at Jinghan and said, "It's just that you talk a lot of weird things and are too long-winded. Okay, come back to the house with us over there. Jingya is back too. You haven't seen each other for a long time. Jingya misses you very much." Wenhan rubbed Jinghan's hair and said.

"Eldest sister is back, why didn't you tell me earlier? I miss eldest sister so much." When Jinghan heard that Jingya was back, she didn't care about anything and walked out.

"You're so hairy, why don't you put on thick clothes first? Are you going to catch a cold if you go out like this?" Wen Han grabbed Jinghan and put the hanging clothes on Jinghan, and couldn't help but mutter With. "You, you are always doing things in a hurry, can't you be more steady? You won't be allowed to do this in the future. It's such a winter, what will happen if you get frozen?"

Jinghan listened to her eldest brother's words with a smile, knowing that her eldest brother felt sorry for her. He put on his clothes and fastened the buttons on them, and then he went out with everyone else, closed the door, and returned to the house where he lived. As soon as Jinghan entered the room, she saw Jingya, who was making clothes with Mrs. Xue and others on the kang. Jinghan suddenly jumped onto the kang, hugging her eldest sister and not letting go. "Sister, you are back. I miss you so much."

The two sisters hadn't seen each other for a while, so they chatted together. Jingwan and Jingxian also came over, and the four girls returned to their rooms, laughing and joking.

With the Chinese New Year coming up, the family will naturally be busier. This year they are all celebrating the New Year in the mountains, so Zhixin and the others often go to town to buy New Year goods. Life at home is good this year, so Mrs. Chen said that she wanted to have a prosperous year and prepare everything. At this time, the children were all extremely beautiful. The girl wanted flowers, the boy wanted guns, and each one shouted for what they wanted.

Mrs. Chen and the old man looked at the children and nodded to satisfy their small requests. The family is doing well this year. The children want some small things, so naturally they buy everything they can. So Zhixin and Xue went to town and brought a lot of things home.

This year we have two pigs at home, and Ms. Chen said she would kill one during the New Year and wait until spring to kill the other. Zhixin knew how to kill pigs at home. On the 16th day of the twelfth lunar month, the elders grabbed the bigger pig from the pigsty and tied it to a long bench.

Living in the mountains, naturally we can't invite relatives and friends to eat butchered vegetables. Mrs. Chen left some meat or something and asked Zhixin to take it to the town when he had time to give it to Zhide and Huixin.

On the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, several people suddenly came outside, driving a carriage. Wenhan and Wencheng went out to take a look, and it turned out that Zhixiang had sent people to deliver New Year gifts. The people outside are still the same people who gave gifts last year.

Wenhan quickly let people in, and everyone moved the things out of the car together. Then the leader went in and saw the old man and the old lady. "Old man, old lady, Mr. Xu is very good in the south. The county magistrate has been there for almost three years. He is expected to be promoted next year. So Mr. Xu asked us to bring a message back, saying that if there is a chance next year, he will definitely come back to see you two. . He also told you to take care of yourself, Mr. Xu often said this outside."

The old man felt relieved when he heard that his son was doing well outside. "Okay, you go back and tell him and let him work hard there. A man is naturally going to have a career. You don't have to worry about the family. We are all fine."

The old lady had already prepared the money and asked Zhixin to give it to these people. "It's hard work for you all to come all the way back. Just a little thought. Let's have a glass of wine during the Chinese New Year," the old lady said.

Those people had all been here last year, and they didn't refuse this time. They thanked the old man and Mrs. Chen directly, and then left. Zhixin sent them out of the venue and then came back.

There are several large boxes on the ground, which still contain various southern items. Everyone looked at the items one by one, and then Ms. Chen asked everyone to pick a few items. The rest, Mrs. Chen, stayed behind, preparing to leave the favor or something. "We live in the mountains and have little contact with other people. The few families in the village who get along well are waiting to go back and see each other when they have time. In addition, the Yue family in the town and the manager of Baiwei Building should send them to We don’t have these things here. They are all rare things. I think they are good things to keep and give away.”

The old man nodded after hearing this, "Yes, you should be more thoughtful. You must not neglect these favors. Okay, just take care of these things. No need to give too heavy a gift. They are all wealthy people. Besides, Is it expensive enough to be from someone else? Just use the novelties and local products from our mountains, and don’t let people think we are trying to fawn over you,” the old man asked.

The next day, Zhixin and Wenhan drove the bullock cart to the town. We went to the Yue family first. When Yue Pengcheng's father, Yue Siyuan, heard that they were from the Xu family, he quickly invited Zhixin and his son to the living room, and then asked for Pengcheng to come too. When Zhixin and his son came in, Yue Pengcheng's father entertained them very warmly. "Brother Xu, please come and take a seat. Come and serve some good tea."

Zhixin and Wenhan both sat down, and Wenhan handed over the gift list. Yue Siyuan took the order and looked at it, then smiled and said, "Brother Xu, look at you, why are you bothering with all this? Pengcheng came back last time and brought back so many good things. You are also suffering in the mountains. Very, don’t spend so much money in the future.”

"It doesn't matter, they are all things from the mountains, and they don't cost much money. They are all things we get in our daily life. They are not expensive things." Zhixin smiled, "By the way, there are ten of them sent this time. "Kilograms of fresh elm and yellow mushrooms are grown by my daughter in my spare time, so I can keep them for Brother Yue to taste. Don't leave this outside, it will be bad if it freezes," Zhixin reminded.

Yue Siyuan just glanced briefly, but he really didn't see it. After hearing what Zhixin said, he quickly asked someone to go out and take a look and bring in the mushrooms. When the servants brought the mushrooms in, Yue Siyuan was quite surprised when he saw them. "Brother, this is really amazing. It's so strange that we can grow such fresh mushrooms in the middle of winter. I think the mushrooms sold in Baiweilou these days are gifts from your family, right?"