Spring scenery in the fields

Chapter 384 Building a shed

The doctor's medical skills are not as good as the ones in town. It's ok to ask him to treat minor colds and abrasions, but he can't treat anything more serious.

I sent him home, cleaned up the stove, and returned to Shenjia Village.

The two twins stood in the main room, taking the shopping items out of the basket and placing them on the table.

Ji Wenhe walked into the room and said, "Wenshan, can you make a cabinet with about six drawers, and make the space inside bigger to put these things in."

"Or a box like that, where the roasted food can be put so that it won't get damp, and you can make it with a few more layers."

"Sure, I'll make one in the next two days." Shen Wenshan took out the salted duck eggs and said, "Sister-in-law, where should we put these?"

"Put them in the kitchen cabinet, and put the roasted nuts and cakes in the main room. Take them whenever you want to eat them. Don't be reluctant to part with them. Wait until the middle of the month to buy some more."

She tasted a piece of Fuling cake, which was sweet but not greasy, just to her taste.

"Put away the things you bought. I'm going to discuss something with Brother Liang."

The two brothers nodded.

After going out and looking to the west, the door of the pigpen was open and Shen Liang's figure flashed inside.

Arriving at the pig pen entrance, he said, "Brother Liang, I want to build a shed next to the pig pen and a big pot to cook pig food. Where do you think it would be best to put it?"

Shen Liang pointed to the empty pigsty nearby and said, "Sister-in-law, why don't we build it over here?"

She walked to the empty pigsty: "Built inside the pigsty?"

"Well, the east side is close to the edge of the field, so there's no way to put up a shed. We'd have to build two more pig pens on the west side, so either we go west or the back."

Ji Wenhe thought for a moment and said, "Let's put it behind the pigsty, right next to the pigsty. Use straw to build a small shed and leave a door for entry and exit."

In winter, you can go in to make a fire and cook pig food without any drafts.

"Okay, when will it be built?"

"Let's start today. I'll call Wenshan and the other two over. The four of us will work together and we can build the shed in two or three days. Does Brother Liang know how to build a stove?"

He nodded: "Yes."

"Okay, I'll go back and get the shovel."

Just do it.

Shen Liang took an axe and went to the mountain to chop down trees. The two twins followed him to help, and Ji Wenhe dug out the pit.

After four holes were dug, the branches brought back were tied up with vines, and the dried straw was passed through the gaps and through the gaps on the sides. When it was almost to the end, more straw was taken out and added.

Make the walls. I heard from the villagers that this is how the simplest straw houses were built in the past.

As long as it is made thick and tight, it will be warm and airtight, but it will not last for a few years.

"Ah~"

Ji Wenhe looked up and saw Zhao Sanniang coming over with the child in her arms.

"Aunt Zhao."

"Hey, what is this for?"

"Build a shed and a stove, and cook pig food in it."

"Make the stove bigger and buy a big pot. The pot at home is too small. I have to cook several pots so that the pigs can eat hot food."

When Miao Zhaodi's family was making pig food, I went to their house to see that they found the small pot was too troublesome.

Ji Wenhe nodded: "Yes, I didn't think of this. If Aunt Miao hadn't said it, I wouldn't have thought of this aspect."

"You've never raised pigs, so of course you don't know." Zhao Sanniang squatted down and put the child on her lap. "My ex-husband's family used to raise pigs, but they only raised one pig."

"It can be cooked in the pot at home, so there is no need to build another big pot. The pigs they raise love to eat pumpkin, but they are reluctant to feed them, so they only feed them grass and keep the pumpkin for themselves."

"Yes, my pigs also like to eat pumpkins. We planted a lot this year. We plan to plant more next year and plant less winter melon."

Pumpkin is rich in dietary fiber and is a good choice for pig farming, mainly because the seeds are cheap and can be planted in large quantities next year.

"Oh, Wen He, buy some wheat bran and mix it with winter melon and pumpkin to feed the baby."

Ji Wenhe asked: "Do we need to go to town to buy wheat bran?"

"Yes, go to the grain store and buy it. If you buy a lot, the owner will give you a discount. Wheat bran is not expensive to begin with. Now that everyone is doing well, the price has dropped. Only farmers will buy wheat bran."

"Aunt Zhao, during the famine a few years ago, the price of wheat bran went up?"

"Of course." Zhao Sanniang stood up, holding the throbbing child in her arms. "We really don't have any food at home, and we don't have any money, so we went to buy wheat bran and mixed it with black flour."

"You don't know how difficult it was back then. Going east from Baiyun Mountain, I heard that people starved to death in a village. I don't know if it's true or not."

She also heard about it from the villagers.

"I also heard from people who fled famine that they had no money to buy food, so they ate Guanyin soil, and many of them died of bloating. Compared with Guanyin soil, wheat bran is considered delicious."

"I was so hungry that I didn't care if it was for pigs or not. I was dying. I ate whatever I saw as long as it filled my stomach. After all, no one wants to die."

"The older generation also said that some people eat their children in turn, which is scary to think about."

Ji Wenhe frowned. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to cook a child in a pot or eat him raw.

He stood up and clapped his hands: "Aunt Zhao, please wait here for me."

I ran home, took two pieces of maltose and grabbed a handful of dried red dates.

Children cannot eat other things. Brown sugar is as expensive as white sugar and fine salt. If you give them too little, they will feel shabby, and if you give them too much, they will feel reluctant to give them.

She didn’t buy much, and planned to save it for making dumplings and steamed buns at the end of the year.

"Aunt Zhao, dissolve the maltose in hot water and give him a little bit of the syrup. Boil the red dates until they are soft, so he should be able to eat some. I don't really understand, but if he can eat it, give it to him. If he can't, you can eat it."

Zhao Sanniang shook her head repeatedly: "I can't accept this, you can keep it for yourselves."

"Aunt Zhao, this isn't for you, it's for him." She stuffed it into the child's clothes. "When will Uncle Ping be back?"

"Just these few days. He came back at the beginning of last month and said that he would come back early after finishing his work, instead of waiting until the end of the year, and buy the New Year's goods for his family, so I don't have to go to town."

"By the way, Wen He, are you going to buy some pork this month to sell? I didn't ask your uncle Ping to buy the pork because I thought it would be cheaper to buy it from your house than in town."

"Yes, I plan to go to town on the 25th and buy more pork on the 26th. I will sell it on the 27th, New Year's Eve on the 28th, and Chinese New Year on the 29th."

"We also bought a few more pounds of spare ribs. I estimate that there will be a lot of people buying them this year. We won't buy anything else. We only sell a lot of fat pork."

After selling rice twice and wheat once, every family has saved some money, so this year's New Year will be better than last year.

"Aunt Zhao, Wen He." Zhao Xiaoxi walked over. "I saw you in the yard and came over to talk to you."

He clapped his hands and said to the child, "Xiao Zhengming, come here, give me your hand."

Zhao Sanniang said with a smile: "He doesn't know how to give his hand to others yet, but he will understand after a while."

"Aunt Zhao, give me a hug."