Chapter 71: Loving Mother and Filial Son
On the 26th day of the fourth lunar month, Lin Heng woke up early in the morning.
Turning his head, he found that his wife Xiulan had just woken up. Because there was no electricity and no modern entertainment facilities here, Lin Heng, who had been reborn, had completely changed his schedule.
He went to bed at 8 o'clock in the evening and woke up at 5 o'clock the next day.
"It sounds like the rain hasn't stopped yet." Lin Heng reached out and put his hand on his wife's waist.
Xiulan nodded: "Yes, but it should be a light rain, not too heavy."
Lin Heng smiled: "Then lie down for a while before getting up."
Xiulan looked at Lin Heng's restless hands, and before she could say anything, Lin Yang hugged her waist and pulled her into his arms.
Xiulan pressed Lin Heng's chest with both hands, blinked her eyes, and said shyly: "I just came last night. If you come again, you are not afraid of not being able to walk."
"What a joke, you underestimate me too much. I must teach you a lesson and let you know how powerful I am."
Lin Heng pounced on food like a hungry tiger. He must let his wife see how powerful he is seven times a night.
Although I feel sorry for him, this is too provocative.
He has been very energetic after eating deer meat recently.
"Oh, heroes have always been unable to resist beauties."
After half an hour, Lin Heng looked at his wife with her face pressed against his chest and said, feeling a little sore in his lower back.
Xiulan blinked her eyes and didn't speak, as if listening to Lin Heng's heartbeat.
After resting for a while, Xiulan got up first, and Lin Heng got up later.
It was indeed drizzling outside, sparsely, and there was heavy fog in the distant mountains. The trees seemed to be much more lush in this rain.
There was no way to deal with the rain, so I could only do some things in the house.
After washing up, Lin's father and others got up. It was raining and they got up late.
"Let's go to clean up the new house." Xiulan looked at Lin Heng and said.
Lin Heng smiled slightly: "Okay."
He didn't have much ambition. Anyway, he was happy to be with his wife. After rebirth, he didn't think about going out to show his strength and change the world.
Xiulan took the key and told Caiyun that if Xiaoxia woke up, she would go to call her.
Then, Lin Heng held an umbrella, and Xiulan was pulled by him to lean against him, and they went to the new house together.
The courtyard wall surrounded by loess was 2.25 meters high, and the wall was covered with red pottery tiles. There was a wooden gatehouse above the gate, made of iron pear wood and painted with tung oil, which was moisture-proof and corrosion-resistant.
Xiulan took out the key and opened the gate made of fir.
Creak! !
A sharp but not harsh sound was heard. This was the sound of the wooden door rubbing against the door pier.
Because the door did not use metal hinges, but relied on the door pier, the innermost piece of the wooden door grew a round wooden handle, which would be inserted into the round groove of the door pier below.
There is also a wooden handle growing on the top, inserted into a round wooden hole. These two wooden handles are equivalent to bearings, so that the door can be opened and closed.
This creaking sound is often heard when opening and closing.
After opening the door, walking two meters inside, there is a huge wooden screen, which completely blocks the view of the yard, making it impossible for outsiders to see the yard from the door.
The superstitious saying is to block the wealth and prevent it from leaking out.
Behind the screen is a corridor connecting the door of the house, which is nearly 30 meters long. The corridor is two meters wide and can accommodate two or three people walking side by side. The ground is paved with bluestone dug from the mountain.
Now, there is only a wooden frame erected in this corridor. Because it has been raining, the rafters above have not been erected yet, and the tiles have not been laid.
On both sides of the corridor are yards with a total area of 200 square meters. Most of them are planted with vegetables. There are several roses planted by Lin Heng near the gate.
There are also firewood sawed into one meter by the wall of the yard on the east side. The cowpeas, green beans, and cucumbers planted in the field have sprouted, and the peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes planted have also grown a lot.
After taking a look, Lin Heng took Xiulan and walked quickly under the eaves. The earthen wall in front was specially smeared with a mixture of loess and gypsum.
Therefore, it is flat and smooth, and it will not make your hands dirty when you touch it. There are no potholes like ordinary earthen walls, which seem to have more warmth and tranquility.
Opening the door is the main room, also called the living room, where you eat. It is 18 square meters in size. The wooden ladder to the second floor is also on the wall inside the living room.
On the left side of the living room is a 14-square-meter bedroom, and on the right side is a kitchen, also 14 square meters in size.
Behind the kitchen is another bedroom, 3.5 meters long and 4 meters wide, also 14 square meters, located in the southwest corner.
To the south of this bedroom is an aisle leading to the backyard, and a utility room next to the living room, which is six square meters in size.
And in the southeast corner is the master bedroom of Lin Heng and Xiulan, which is five meters long and four meters wide, a total of twenty square meters, and is the largest room in the house.
As for the toilet, it is arranged in the southeast corner of the backyard, and the toilet is dug outside the courtyard wall. There are only two squat toilets inside the courtyard wall, so there will be no odor.
"I'll clean up the floor of the room." Xiulan said after entering the house.
The main room is full of wood and wooden boards. Liang the carpenter works here, and Xiulan is going to clean up other rooms.
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded. He noticed that Liang the carpenter had already made his swing chair and just needed to install it.
While his wife was cleaning the house, he went out to the backyard and sprinkled some wheat bran into the fish pond. All the small fish swam over at once to grab the food. They formed a huge black group, and now there were at least 10,000 or 20,000 of them alive.
The calamus and ferns planted are alive, but part of the moss on the stone is dead, and only a few are still alive on the side near the water.
A small wooden bridge with a width of 1.2 meters has been built above the fish pond. Walking on the small bridge and looking down from the side of the guardrail, it is a completely different scenery.
The wooden pavilion next to the small wooden bridge has not been built yet, otherwise it would be a wonderful enjoyment to watch the rain in the pavilion on such a rainy day.
After watching for a while, Lin Heng sprinkled a handful of wheat bran on the fry, and went in to help his wife.
"You can brush tung oil on the wooden bed and the floor, I can deal with these things on the ground." Xiulan said.
"If you didn't say it, I almost forgot about it." Lin Heng nodded, but he still felt a little uncomfortable looking at the bluestone floor of the bedroom.
Because there is still loess in the gaps between the bluestones, I thought I would find an opportunity to make them all wooden floors.
As soon as Lin Heng went upstairs, Liang the carpenter came. Seeing Lin Heng, he smiled and said, "The rocking chair you want to make will be finished soon. You can see if it fits."
Lin Heng nodded, "Okay, I think there is no problem."
Holding tung oil and a brush, Lin Heng brushed the wooden board upstairs little by little. The smell of tung oil was very bad, but there was no other better anti-corrosion material. He wanted to buy waterproof paint, but there was no such thing in the town.
But it's okay, just let it dry for a few days.
After brushing the wooden board upstairs, Lin Heng went downstairs and prepared to brush the bottom of the wooden board from the bottom, so that the anti-corrosion effect would be better.
"Look, how about this swing chair?" Liang the carpenter saw Lin Heng coming down and showed him the finished chair.
This is a 1.5-meter-long chair. The main component of the chair is made of yellow willow (Cotinus coggygria), and some small components such as the backrest are made of pine wood. Its backrest is made of a structure similar to that of a master chair, which bends a piece of wood into an arc-shaped structure.
Therefore, its style looks very Chinese, and when Lin Heng first told Carpenter Liang about it, he described it according to the Western structure.
As expected, what you say may not be the same as what people hear.
However, Lin Heng found that compared with the sharp-edged Western structure, this round and smooth Chinese structure is simple and elegant.
"It's perfect, exactly as I thought. It will be perfect if I hang an iron chain and sit on it and it can shake slightly." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"I have opened the hole for you. Just install it when the weather is clear." After getting Lin Heng's affirmation, Carpenter Liang grinned.
He came on the 8th. He has been in the Lin family for 18 days so far. It is estimated that he will have to stay for another three or four days before all the work can be completed.
After chatting for a while, Lin Heng continued to work on his tung oil.
When the work was finished, it was already past nine o'clock. Xiulan also swept the floor. When Lin Heng went to find her, she was looking at the soap on the windowsill of the bedroom.
The soaps made by Lin Heng have been stored for four or five days and have become very hard. They are grayish white in appearance and emit a faint scent of gardenia.
"It's very simple to know whether it is successful or not. Just take a piece and use it and you will know." Lin Heng said with a smile.
Xiulan was a little tempted and reached out to knock it. Lin Heng came over and picked up the wooden board, knocked down the wooden strips, and all fifteen pieces of soap fell out.
Xiulan took a piece to the backyard, dipped it in a small water tank, rubbed it a few times, and white bubbles appeared immediately.
"You succeeded!" Xiulan raised her head, stretched out her hand, and had a surprised smile on her face.
"Of course, try it to see if it works well." Lin Heng said with a smile. After it is formed, there is basically no possibility of failure.
"Good!" Xiulan nodded, washed her hands, and found that they were cleaner than ever before, and the effect was better than using soap pods.
Xiulan said with some surprise: "It is worthy of being a soap, the effect is good."
"This soap is better as it gets older. Now is not the best time to use it." Lin Heng said with a smile.
"Then I'll put it there."
"No need, give it to mom and the others. I'll teach you the technique later, and you can make it yourself." Lin Heng said.
"Is it difficult? Can I learn it?" Xiulan took the soap and looked at it carefully. It was amazing.
"Of course I can learn it. It's not difficult at all."
While chatting, the two walked towards the old house. The rain stopped at around 8 o'clock, and the sun came out now.
"The soap you made is quite similar, but I don't know how it works."
Mother Lin was still stubborn as always. She wiped a little oil on her hands before washing them.
After applying a little soap and rubbing it twice, she found that the greasy feeling on her hands disappeared.
After washing in the water, her hands became refreshed, without any greasiness, and there was a faint floral scent.
"Mom, you have nothing to say now, right?" Lin Heng asked with a smile.
Mother Lin curled her lips and said lightly: "It's just so-so, I didn't waste my lard."
"Alas, the duck is still hard even after it dies." Lin Heng shook his head and sighed.
The next moment, Mother Lin slapped him: "I'm too old to hit you, right?"
Lin Heng had already dodged to the side and hugged Xiongba's daughter.
Xiaoxia woke up, and Mother Lin had been taking care of her.
Sister-in-law Liu Juan looked at Lin Heng and didn't know how to ask. She also wanted a bar of soap and wanted to learn the technology of making soap.
The effect of the soap just now made her so envious, whether she used it herself or made some to sell.
But it was really hard for her to ask for this technology, after all, it could make money.
And the family was about to be divided.
This made her feel more and more that there was no benefit at all in separating the family.
Lin Heng didn't notice this. The piece given to his mother was also used for experiments.
At around ten o'clock, Mother Lin started to make brunch. Since she didn't make breakfast today, she had lunch earlier.
The rice cooked is corn mixed with rice and potatoes. The food is good. It is pork and badger meat stir-fried with shredded radish. It is a perfect dish for rice.
It was sour and spicy, appetizing, and had the aroma of fat and meat. It made his mouth slurp as he ate, but he still couldn't stop. Lin Heng ate two large bowls of rice before he stopped with satisfaction.
"Give me your daughter and you can eat." Lin Heng took his daughter over and fed her.
After the meal, the hot summer sun dried the dew. Lin Heng came over and looked at Caiyun who was sitting at the door and taking a nap: "Caiyun, help take care of Xiaoxia. I will give you a piece of soap in a few days."
Caiyun smiled: "Actually, second brother, if you just tell me, I will bring it for you, but if you are willing to give me a piece of soap, then I will thank you."
"I don't know you yet. If I directly asked you to take Xiaoxia, you would definitely say that you have work to do, and in the end you would not ask me to bribe you with soap."
Lin Heng rolled his eyes, he was here to get to know his sister.
"Second brother, I'm not that kind of person." Caiyun defended with his eyes wide open.
"Then Xiaoxia will be given to you." Lin Heng handed Xiaoxia to her. The soap was actually given to her. This was just a joke between brother and sister.
"Go ahead, go ahead." Caiyun waved her hand. She was at home alone and could read freely, which was great.
"Let's go, Caiyun is at home today. The six of us are all going uphill. Once it rains, porcini mushrooms will come out in large numbers, and there will also be honeysuckle, which must be very beautiful."
Father Lin said with a smile.
"Dad, are you going to Shibadang ditch?" Lin Heng asked.
"Of course, that ditch has the most honeysuckle, so it must have gone there." Father Lin nodded and said.
After everyone packed up, Lin Heng and others were all carrying large baskets that could hold fifty or sixty kilograms of food. Father Lin was even carrying an extra-large basket that could hold one hundred kilograms of stuff.
Everyone also took some extra snakeskin bags, just like restocking.
"Let's go, Xiongba!"
Lin Heng untied Xiongba's rope and took it out.
Eighteen when the dog is on the river, that is, on the east side, the ditch is a tributary of Shiban River. Honeysuckle grows in patches on both sides of the ditch, attracting a large number of people to pick it every year.
Dried honeysuckle costs three yuan per pound, and three pounds of wet honeysuckle can be used to dry one pound of dried honeysuckle. The price is not very expensive, but it is everywhere on the mountain, and the quantity is sufficient.
There are people on the road carrying big backpacks, all going to pick mushrooms and honeysuckle.
"It seems that today is another flower-grabbing battle." Lin Heng looked at this scene very familiarly. It happens several times during this time every year.
"Let's walk faster, many people are going uphill." Mother Lin said, and her steps became faster.
Lin's father and Lin's mother were both the best in the flower-grabbing battle. Not to be outdone, the eldest brother and sister-in-law all hurriedly headed into the mountains.
"Let's go faster." Xiulan said.
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded, and the two of them changed directions, staggering away from their parents and eldest brother.
"It's so scary, these people came here in the morning in the rain."
Entering the ditch, Lin Heng saw the honeysuckle with their vines cut off on the stone ridge. It was too slow to pick the flowers one by one. Everyone just cut the flowers and vines back home.
This thing won't die anyway, it will grow vines again in two days.
"I'm late, I should have come in the morning in the rain." Xiulan said with regret.
"Let's go up and have a look. Maybe there are more. If not, we can only pick porcini mushrooms." Lin Heng was helpless. The people in the village were too crazy to make money.
It had just rained, and the ravines were filled with mist. It felt like a fairyland. The road was filled with the aroma of honeysuckle. Inhaling it made you feel refreshed physically and mentally, and extended your life.
"Lin Heng, you just came here, please change the place, it's not there anymore."
After walking halfway up the mountain, Liu Lan came down carrying a basket of honeysuckle vines with a smile on her face.
"It seems that we can only go up to collect the fungi." Xiulan looked a little helpless.
The two of them went up the mountain, but only a few flower vines were cut on the way. It was also the kind of nook and corner where no one goes, and all the large flower vines were cut off.
It wasn't until he reached the top of the mountain that Lin Heng finally saw two untouched bushes.
"It smells so good."
Lin Heng said while cutting.
"Woof woof~"
Xiong Ba opened his mouth and took two bites of the flower, tasted it, then vomited it in disgust, and started to have fun among the flowers.
"Go, let's go."
Lin Heng drove it away, quickly cut off the flower vines and put them into his backpack.
He wanted to find one, dig it up and plant it in the yard. Honeysuckle can also be used as a bonsai, but unfortunately it grows in the cracks of rocks and cannot be dug out at all.
"It seems that the only option is to go up the mountain to collect mushrooms. Go over the mountain and see if there are any more."
Xiulan finished cutting her bush and said a little depressed.
"Let's go then."
Lin Heng nodded. Before he entered the forest, he saw a delicious porcini mushroom.
"There are a lot of fungi."
Lin Heng looked up again and saw four or five more flowers in the distance.
The largest of the delicious porcini mushrooms can grow larger than a plate, the diameter of the cap can reach 20 centimeters, and each one weighs two to three kilograms.
This season, they are almost everywhere on the mountain. Lin Heng and others guessed that they are all about the size of a palm, with a cap diameter of about ten centimeters. They are too big to taste.
There are not many poisonous Bolete, and they are easy to identify. Most of them are gastroenteritis toxins or hallucinogenic ones like the green hand mushroom, which will not kill people.
It is very simple to identify whether the Bolete is poisonous. If you are not sure about the appearance, just tear off a piece and taste it. As long as it is not bitter, it is not poisonous.
"Husband, I guessed it was the green hand mushroom."
Xiulan suddenly turned around, holding a light red Bolete in her hand, and its cap and stem were both light red.
Because it was injured by Xiulan, the wound instantly turned blue-green, which is also the origin of its name of the green hand mushroom.
"Good stuff, look for it again and put it separately." Lin Heng recognized that this was the red onion Bolete, a more delicious one among the green hand mushrooms.
Lin Heng quickly picked the delicious Bolete here and walked over to help find it.
"It seems to be gone. I only found four, which added up to one kilogram." Xiulan said with some regret.
"It's okay. There aren't many here anyway." Lin Heng was not surprised. There aren't many of these in the Qinling Mountains. There are more in Yunnan.
"Keep picking up porcini. I feel like my backpack can't hold them all today." Lin Heng said with a smile.
Porcini and red mushrooms are everywhere in the forest now, especially red mushrooms. You can step on several of them every step you take.
"Woof woof!"
After stepping on them for a while, Xiongba called out to him.