Defeat natural disasters with farming

After a whole winter, when Ye Yu saw the young and middle-aged people in the village again, he felt as if he had passed away. For some reason, their bodies were stronger, and they looked like bears from the back, especially Ye Yu. A young man like Hai Ye Zhou Yuan who is growing up, eats well at home in winter, has raised his head by half a head on average, and his body is extremely muscular, with a thick back and waist. Although the changes in the older ones are not so exaggerated, they are still stronger than before. He was much taller and stronger, and even an old man like Ye Laotou was visibly energetic, and the roots of his hair were black.

Moreover, they are not too afraid of the cold. They can go out in thin clothes when the temperature is more than ten degrees below zero. When they are working, their bodies are steaming and smoking, which is enough to show that their physical fitness is excellent.

But the price of growing up and being afraid of the cold is a huge increase in appetite. Taking Ye Hai as an example, he has to eat at least five catties of staple food every day to provide energy. He is not the strongest in the village. Ye Zhongcai is nearly two meters tall and has two arms It is full of muscles. According to his son Ye Shuan, he eats three bowls of rice every meal at home, and each bowl is nearly a catty.

The appearance of Ye Yu and Chu Xufeng has not changed much, but in detail, the two are still different. Chu Xufeng is a typical dress with style and undress with flesh. His body is not a big muscle, but a thin layer. Covered on the bones, but if you underestimate him just because of this, I'm afraid you will pay a heavy price.

Ye He has a lot to say about this. He once saw that Chu Xufeng was not strong enough, so he proposed to compete with him. Of course, needless to say, Ye He was beaten up by him, but no one felt sorry for Ye He, even Mrs. Ye They all felt that they deserved it, and she was obviously happy to see someone who could cure the growing Ye He.

Ye He has kept his mouth shut since then, and he no longer dares to show off in front of his family that he is a rare martial arts prodigy.

The weather is getting hotter and it's already June, and the whole village is busy farming. Although the harvest may not be very good this year because of the timing, it's better than nothing.

At this time, Old Man Ye led his family to start digging the ground. It would be easier for the family to have a donkey to help. The donkey pulls the plow to dig the ground. When encountering large pieces of dirt, it has to be smashed manually, which is very time-consuming. What's more, the donkey had to rest. In short, not many acres of land could be turned over in one day.

And don't think that it will be easy after turning over the land, it's just the beginning of the tiring work, and the seeds need to be sown next, the distance between the seeds should not be too dense, the Ye family are all veterans of farming, and the distance control is perfect. It took them seven days to do this.

In the process of farming, not only the farmers are tired, but also the family members are also tired. Mrs. Ye and her daughters-in-law take turns farming and cooking. In the last few days, they are so tired that they can’t even lift their arms. Fortunately, hard work pays off. , Tens of acres of land were planted neatly by them, which made people feel comfortable.

The Ye family worked hard to plow the land, and they were all very tired. After the spring plowing (maybe it was called summer plowing?), they slept at home for two or three days before recovering.

Although Ye Yu didn't go to the fields, she was still helping the family with housework, so she had a good rest for a while.

However, before he finished his rest, he started to plant vegetables in the vegetable bed again. The broken earthen pot that had been used all winter was finally able to temporarily retire. After being washed by Mrs. Ye, he put it into a wooden box. To prevent damage, she specially stuffed it Some straw leaves go in.

Cabbage, radish, spinach, winter melon, beans and other seeds are all planted in the vegetable bed.

It didn't take long for the villagers to clamor to go into the mountains. Ye Zhong said that they had held back their energy all winter and were just waiting to go into the mountains to hunt and eat meat.

Father Ye asked Master Wu for their opinions, and seeing that they agreed, he let them go into the mountain, but told him: "Now is the time when the animals in the mountains are in heat, you should pay more attention to safety."

Many young and middle-aged people in the village joined the queue to go up the mountain. When they returned to the village again, the prey behind them surprised the whole village. The wild boar was as big as a calf, and more than twenty pheasants and hares were caught. Dudu, at a glance, you can tell that the feathers are full of meat.

Originally, Ye Yu was still worried that spring and summer are the seasons for animal reproduction. If overhunting would cause ecological problems, he didn't feel relieved until he heard what Ye Hai said.

Ye Hai said: "There are much more animals on the mountain than before, and they are everywhere. You don't need to look carefully. Just find a place to set traps and you will get something."

Jia Yi then added: "They were all dumbfounded. I don't know if it's because we haven't seen anyone all winter. We all came to them, but they didn't react. Several pheasants were caught like this. .”

Ye Yu was a little surprised.

Of course, the people who went up the mountain did not forget to look for salt, but there was no harvest. No one saw any animals licking the stones.

But this is a long-term matter. Ye Yu is not disappointed that he has not found any salt for the time being. Anyway, the villagers will continue to go hunting in the mountains. Let's look slowly. If you can't find it, then go to the seaside to dry salt. find a way.

After entering the mountain once, there will naturally be a second or third time. In the second time, besides the hunters, there are also some daughters-in-law and children. They will pick on the mountain, and Ye Yu is among them. He thought Go to the bamboo forest and cut some bamboo back to make bamboo foil and paper-making raw materials.

Strictly speaking, the bamboo forest is not on the mountain, but at the foot of the mountain, a slightly undulating slope, so their family is separated from other people here. Mrs. Ye wants to help Brother Bao cut bamboo and pick some bamboo shoots. Mushrooms go home to eat.

This is also Ye Yu's first visit to the bamboo forest after the snow stopped. As soon as he entered, he found that the height of the bamboo had exceeded 50 meters.

When he was surprised, Ye He and the others had already started, even Chu Xufeng and the guards brought by him were no exception, and everyone buried their heads in chopping bamboo with machetes.

They didn't choose the grown bamboos, they cut all the young bamboos that grew this year, and the green and white appearance was extraordinarily tender.

All the people worked until the evening before walking to the village with a bundle of bamboo on their backs. On the way, Ye Yu carried a basket of bamboo shoots on his back. The weight was so heavy that his shoulders were numb.

Only after they got home did they realize that the hunters and gatherers had returned long ago, and they were the only ones left. Father Ye said, "If you don't come back again, I will go find you."

As he spoke, he took what Ye Yu and Ye Mu carried on their backs.

Ye Yu breathed a sigh of relief, stretched his shoulders and said, "I didn't expect it to be so late."

"Let's go, go home and have dinner first." Father Ye didn't say much, just patted Ye Yu's head.

In the evening, Pandi brought the two sisters Taohuahehua to cook. Because the family got a lot of meat, and the family members were working recently, they were exhausted, so everything was meaty, including a big piece of meat. The staple food is to steam the remaining white rice at home.

A pot of braised pork made of pork belly. It is rare to add sugar. The sugar juice is rich and full-bodied. Ye Yu pours the juice on the rice. Every bite of meat and rice is delicious, and he doesn't even bother to talk.

It wasn't until the stomach finally had food on the bottom that he said with emotion: "My sister-in-law's braised pork tastes a bit like my aunt's."

It may be because she is used to frugality in Wu's family, so Pandi's sister-in-law is not willing to put seasonings in cooking. She even cuts the meat into pieces and stir-fries it with vegetables, so that she can't taste the meat at the end.

However, after Mrs. Ye's teaching, she finally stopped shaking her hands recently, she is willing to put seasonings, and she can cook large pieces of meat.

Pandi blushed when she heard the words, "It's all well taught by mother."

"I just teach casually, but Pandi knows a little bit, she is really smart." Aunt Ye said with a smile: "And she is quite good at making cold dishes, and today's cold wild vegetables are also very refreshing."

Indeed, sister-in-law Pandi's vegetarian dishes are delicious.

After dinner, the family didn't do anything. After washing, they lay down on the kang and fell into a deep sleep, dreamless until dawn.

The next day Ye Yu was thinking about making paper and woke up early.

Chu Xufeng also came to help, and Ye Yu prepared two types of materials, one was straw and bark for making straw paper, and the other was bamboo for making bamboo paper.

The production methods of the two types of paper are basically the same, with only minor differences. For example, bamboo is split into bamboo pieces, and then the green parts of the skin are cut off, and the remaining bamboo pieces are smashed by vigorous beating.

The subsequent process is similar. Prepare two large wooden barrels and soak the straw and hammered bamboo slices in them respectively. After the soaking is soft, you can put lime powder on the stove and cook while stirring. This process takes about two hours. After three days, the final form is similar to mush.

In order to make the paper soft and smooth, the two buckets of paste had to be manually ground into fine pieces. This was a long and laborious job, not only done by Ye Yu's family, but also by other people in the village when they were free. come to help.

In this way, the pulp gradually becomes fine and smooth, and then the pulp is cleaned and then covered on a bamboo curtain to dry, and the finished paper is what is uncovered.

The straw paper made from straw is yellowish-brown, rough in texture, and a thick stack is quite hard in the hand. It is excellent to use as toilet paper, and it is not troublesome to make, and the raw materials required are also cheap. Every household They can all be taken out.

Ye Yu himself was the first user of straw paper, and he was very happy after using it. He was finally able to get rid of the embarrassment of using leaves to go to the toilet. Although this kind of straw paper is not as white and soft as modern ones, he is already able to make it The best ever.

The whole village is curious about straw paper, and since they got some used, they are full of praise, especially some women, they have menstruation every month, and it is very inconvenient to go to the toilet. Now that they have so-called straw paper, Don't worry about getting it outside, just throw it into the latrine after use, which is convenient and clean.

Ye Yu then taught the villagers how to make straw paper. Some people found it troublesome and didn't want to do it by themselves, so they bought it with grain from those who were willing to do it. This is considered a free trade, and no one stopped it.

Another kind of bamboo paper is different from grass paper. It has moderate hardness, soft texture and strong toughness. In addition, it has strong water absorption, which is very suitable for writing and painting.

When Ye Yu brought a stack to Ye Tongsheng, Ye Tongsheng immediately wrote a few words on the paper. After finishing writing, he said happily: "Although it is not as good as Xuan paper, it is still considered high-quality paper."

"Since the master likes it, you can use these first, and when you use them up, you will find your disciples, who will make some more." Ye Yu replied with a smile.

Ye Tongsheng didn't refuse, and accepted him generously. After all, he was Ye Yu's mentor, so he didn't feel bad about accepting it.

In addition to the ones left by the family and those given away, Ye Yu also used needles and threads to sew a stack of bamboo paper into a book for Father Ye, in which he could record some situations in the village.

Now that he has a notebook, for the convenience of writing, Ye Yu also tossed out charcoal pens. Speaking of which, making charcoal pens is much simpler than making paper. You only need to burn willow branches.

The characters written by charcoal pens are mainly black, mixed with ochre-brown. It is very convenient to use. Father Ye fell in love with it after using it only once. He has never used a brush again. Without a casing, it is easy to stain the handle black.

Ye Tongsheng was not used to it, but he turned a blind eye to it. After all, there are no imperial examinations now, so why stick to the rules.

-

Ye Yu took a cloth bag and went out alone. Someone greeted him on the way, and he also greeted him politely.

Walking all the way to the door of Chu Xufeng's house, he looked at the plaque and raised his hand to knock on the door.

It was Jia San who opened the door. He opened the door immediately after seeing Ye Yu, and said with a smile, "Come in quickly, the young master is inside."

Chu Xufeng was practicing calligraphy in the room at this time, and Ye Yu didn't hear the sound outside, so Ye Yu wanted to wait for him to finish writing before going in, so he sat on a stool in the yard and chatted with Jia San and the others.

Jia San was washing the pears, and after washing, he took a piece of toilet paper from the side to wipe his hands, "This toilet paper is really useful, I don't need to wash towels anymore, I can just throw it away after wiping my hands."

Ye Yu nodded and said, "It's convenient."

He took the sorbet that Jia San handed over and gnawed slowly, the juice burst in his mouth after one bite, with a unique fragrance of fruit.

After he finished his last bite and just wiped his hands, Chu Xufeng in the room just put down his pen, and when he raised his eyes, he saw Ye Yu sitting outside. He was stunned for a moment, and then came out quickly, "Why didn't you call me?"

Ye Yu clapped her hands and stood up, "It's not a big deal, it's not worth bothering you."

The two walked into the room together, and after closing the door, Ye Yu handed him the cloth bag in his hand, "Open it and have a look, it's this year's birthday present."

Chu Xufeng heard that his eyelashes drooped slightly, and he took the cloth bag after a while, and said in a hoarse voice, "You still remember."

"I can't forget your birthday." Ye Yu said with a smile behind his back, "Open it and see if you like it."

Chu Xufeng pursed his thin lips lightly, and carefully untied the tie. Inside the cloth bag was a delicate book-like thing. After opening, each page was pressed with various flowers, including wild chrysanthemums and lily of the valley. , Hyacinth... It is pressed inside when paper is made.

Each flower corresponds to a blessing, and if you smell it carefully, you can smell the faint mint aroma.

"This is my own handwriting, it's not very pretty." Ye Yu said while rubbing his nose.

"It's very well written. When I was your age, I couldn't write as well as you did." Chu Xufeng pressed his white fingertips against the petals.

Ye Yu's handwriting is now quite strong, and the strong character is hard to explain, but you can feel it at a glance.

"Then do you like it?" Ye Yu asked expectantly.

"I like it very much." Chu Xufeng replied solemnly holding the flower note.

The author says:

I went to the movies and drank milk tea. When will the epidemic really end? I miss the days when I don’t have to wear masks.