Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 781 You two are living together? Let's rent two more mountains!
The queen bee's main duty is to lay eggs. She can lay 800-1300 eggs in a day and night. During the peak breeding season in spring, a queen bee can lay more than 2000 eggs a day. However, the queen bee's lifespan is only 3-5 years.

The queen bee can control the colony order through the queen pheromone she secretes. If the queen bee dies, the concentration of queen pheromone in the hive will gradually disappear. Worker bees, unable to sense the queen pheromone, will become restless and their foraging ability will decrease. This is called queenlessness, and this emotion can even lead to the death of the entire colony.

The main duty of worker bees is to serve the queen bee, taking care of her needs like a nanny, such as providing food and cleaning up garbage.

Xu Ning's plan to raise bees was not a spur-of-the-moment idea, nor was it to find work for Ma Liu and Wang Hu; it was a premeditated plan.

He deeply understood that cash had strong purchasing power in the current era, so most people would choose to barter. For example, eggs were considered currency in rural areas, and natural honey was a rare and precious commodity.

Some people frequently climb trees in the mountains to collect wild honey, even if they get stung by bees, they still want to collect honey. Almost every year, some people die from bee stings...

Honey is nutritious and, compared to processed malted milk powder, it is a more presentable gift and the best choice for gift-giving!
Xu Ning climbed into the driver's seat and turned to look at the cage containing the queen bee. Although Ma Liu had taught him how to keep the queen bee warm, he decided to go back to the village today just to be on the safe side, because tomorrow was Labor Day and he had to go back to pick up his wife, sister-in-law and younger brother and sister-in-law.

He shifted gears, stepped on the gas, and arrived at the Forestry Bureau to find Xu Long. Since it was almost four o'clock, Xu Long was impatient to go home after learning that he was going home. He turned around, said goodbye to Yang Yusheng, and then he and Xu Ning drove away in their old Dongfeng and Jeep 212 respectively.

Yang Yusheng has been very busy lately. He is currently handing over his work, and after Labor Day, he will be going to work at the municipal government. Actually, there isn't much work to hand over. The main issue is that Sun Jishan is taking over his work, and he basically has to take him to dinners and drinking parties every day to build relationships with various colleagues.

When Xu Ning and Xu Long returned to Qing'an Village, it was already seven o'clock, and the sky was getting dark.

Xu Laonian, Liu Lizhen, and the others had already finished eating. Xu Ning handed the cage containing the queen bee to Wang Hu and asked him to quickly deliver it to Ma Liu at the old house. Only then did the two brothers wash up and sit down at the dining table to eat.

"Leaving right after that? Oh dear, I see you're neglecting your family now. Your sister-in-law feeds all the dogs in the yard, and you..."

Before Xu Laonian could finish speaking, Liu Lizhen punched him and said, "Why are you so meddlesome? It's just the beginning of spring, a busy time. Lengchang has his uncle, Leizi, and Jun'er, so my son doesn't need to worry about them. Let him be busy."

Wang Erli nodded while sipping his tea: "That's right, brother. Erning has spent all the money, why are you always causing trouble?"

“Who’s causing trouble? I was just worried about your sister-in-law, but he and Dalong are both gone, your daughter-in-law is pregnant, and we’re both working at the forest farm. There’s no one at home…”

Li Fuqiang laughed and said, "Uncle, I'm at home, so you don't need to worry about anything."

"Can't we plant crops in the spring?"

Guan Lei said, "Uncle, I've already talked to Pan Yan. They won't go home after spring. Feng Ye and Da Zhi will help them plant their land. The three of them will stay and help us plant. We'll also have two tractors, so we can finish planting in a few days."

Upon hearing this, Xu Laonian reluctantly nodded, feeling somewhat pleased at the same time.

Farming used to be very tiring, as it was all done manually with shovels and picks, and then the seeds had to be carried around, sown, and backfilled step by step. Now, with tractors, it's much more convenient. You can drive a tractor back and forth and complete the furrowing and sowing.

After putting down his chopsticks, Xu Ning rode his donkey backwards to the old house. Ma Liu had been staying at the old house these past few days and hadn't gone to Lengchang because he had to go to the back mountain to work with Wang Hu on beekeeping.

Ma Liu is indeed getting old. He felt it last year when he lived in Dongshan, and it's even more obvious this year. After working all day in the back mountain, he was so tired that his back ached, his hands were numb and his feet cramped. When he raised his neck, it made a creaking sound, as if it were rusty.

As soon as they entered the old house courtyard, they saw Wu Haitao chopping firewood in the yard and Pan Xiao sitting on a stool washing clothes. Both of them stopped what they were doing, got up and greeted Xu Ning.

"What do you mean? You two are living together now?"

Wu Haitao waved his hand with a grin, while Pan Xiao lowered her head in embarrassment.

"No, brother, I'm going home in a few days, so I was thinking of chopping more firewood, otherwise it will be hard for her to chop firewood by herself..."

"Oh, when are you going back? Has the date been set?"

"I'll leave the day after tomorrow, go home and tidy up the house, and then we'll get things done."

"Okay, I'll have Shi Tou take you back then. You can take care of things at your place, right? Have you looked for a place to live yet?"

Wu Haitao said, "Let's just use my brother Lei's house. We can just connect it to my house and that's it. Isn't that convenient?"

"That's true. You should let me know in advance when you're going to do something."

"know."

At this moment, Ma Liu came out of the east wing with a cigarette in his mouth and said with a smile, "Haitao is indeed quite capable. He chopped three pieces of firewood in the yard without taking a break..."

"Haha, isn't this the kind of work a man should do?"

Xu Ning stopped smiling and waved his hand, saying, "You keep chopping, I'm going to go inside and chat with the old man for a while."

Wu Haitao quickly turned around and said, "Girl, hurry up and make some tea!"

"Hey, stop messing around. Alright, you two should get back to work. I just finished drinking a little while ago."

Wu Haitao then calmed down. After Xu Ning and Ma Liu entered the house, Ma Liu sat cross-legged on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and said with a smile, "These queen bees are all quite big. Where did you get them?"

"I got it from a friend; the whole village in his maternal grandparents' village is a beekeeping village."

Ma Liu was taken aback, then, after regaining his composure, said, "Willow Grove Village?"

"Yeah, how did you know? You've been there."

"My family used to be from Liulin. Let's not talk about that now. When are you leaving?"

"I'll leave the next day, and construction will start in two or three days. I'll come back and think about choosing a date to start construction. Also, I need to pick up my wife and the others to go to the city."

"They're all going?"

"My sister-in-law is about to give birth, so we should start preparing as soon as possible."

"Too……"

Xu Ning chatted with Ma Liu until after nine o'clock before riding his donkey home. While he was soaking his feet on the sofa, Xu Laonian quietly came over and sat down next to him with a mischievous grin.

"Old man..."

"Dad, I'm penniless right now. You can check if I don't believe you."

“Oh dear, what do you take your dad for? I was saying that there are two mountains behind our house, and I heard your Uncle Guo and Uncle Zheng say the other day that they need to find ways to generate revenue from these two mountains. I was thinking that if all else fails, we should just lease these two mountains as well.”

"Take over the land? That's an option, but what would we do with it? Those two mountains are all rock; we can't farm them at all."

Xu Laonian frowned and said, "Didn't you say you wanted to raise chickens, ducks, and geese? Just put them on those two mountains. Although there aren't any big trees on the mountains, there are plenty of grass seeds. That should save you some money." Xu Ning smiled when he heard this. He wasn't against it, but he felt that Xu Laonian had finally seen the light and his way of thinking had changed.

"Okay, then you can chat with my Uncle Guo, and I'll come back to sign the contract."

Old Xu smiled and nodded: "If this matter is successfully handled, it will be a great achievement, and you should show your appreciation."

"Haha, so this is what you were waiting for. Okay, if you can pull this off, I'll buy you a pair of genuine leather shoes!"

Xu Laonian quickly waved his hand, his eyes darting around: "I don't want leather shoes, just give me a hundred yuan, okay?"

"What do you need the money for? You never seem to have any expenses..."

"Hey, stop interfering. Just tell me if you're going to give it to me or not."

"Here you go! You should report to my mom beforehand, so she doesn't confiscate it from you later."

"I know! Good son, come here, let Dad give you a kiss."

Seeing Xu Laonian's big lips coming closer, Xu Ning, whose feet were welded to the foot bath basin and had nowhere to hide, could only symbolically lean back and was then kissed by Xu Laonian.

Xu Laonian laughed twice and went back into the house, while Xu Ning raised his hand to wipe the spittle off his face.

Back inside, Xu Ning crawled into bed, and Meng Ziyan turned around and asked, "What were you chatting about with Dad?"

"What can he possibly talk to me about? He'll probably just try to find a way to steal money from my pocket."

Meng Ziyan smiled upon hearing this, and then the young couple lay in bed and chatted for a little over half an hour.

The next day, Xu Ning first went to see his father-in-law and mother-in-law. He had lunch at Lao Meng's house and drank some wine with Meng the Cripple.

After sobering up, Xu Ning went to tell Yu Kaihe and Lao Wei to pack their things and prepare to go to the city the next day.

This trip will take at least a month. It's easy to manage at Lao Wei's house, though, since his wife and children can all work.

Yu Kaihe's family was left with only an elderly woman, but Xu Ning had already asked Old Han next door to help take care of her, and Liu Lizhen would also bring some food to Yu's elderly woman.

Before the sun set, Xu Ning took a stroll around the back mountain. Ma Liu, Wang Hu, and Li Fuqiang had already set up the bee farm and a summer retreat on the back mountain, and were now building a stove in the shed.

Entrusting beekeeping to Wang Hu was the right choice, because Wang Hu is very meticulous. Sometimes, he can think of and do things that even Xu Ning can't take care of.

Over time, Ma Liu and Wang Hu developed a bond, and Ma Liu usually called Wang Hu "nephew"...

Tonight, Liu Lizhen asked Guan Lei to invite Yang Jun, Li Feng, Lao Jiang, Lao Wei, Yu Kaihe, Da Laba, and others. The group sat at three tables and reunited at Lao Xu's house.

After a busy afternoon preparing eight dishes, and enjoying a couple of sips of wine, the conversation flowed freely, and the Xu family became lively and bustling.

While the men were drinking, the women, having put down their chopsticks, went to pack their clothes and luggage. Liu Lizhen packed all the clothes she had prepared for her eldest grandson into a wooden box, and also wrote a note reminding Xu Long to buy a baby bottle and to take the child's clothes out to air them out often so they wouldn't get moldy.

The next morning, Xu Ning got up in high spirits and saw Xu Laonian, Xu Long, Wang Erli, Wang Hu and others carrying wooden boxes, packages and luggage into the old Dongfeng train carriage.

Old Wei and Yu Kaihe were also picked up by Guan Lei. After throwing their luggage into the carriage, they went into the house.

Liu Lizhen, Han Fengjiao, and others got up at 5:30 to make dumplings. At this time, the steamed dumplings with sauerkraut and oil filling were ready, and the steaming white smoke enveloped the entire north kitchen.

Xu Ning used a garlic mortar to make two bowls of garlic water, then added soy sauce to make garlic sauce. The group then sat down and ate while chatting.

Liu Lizhen didn't show any reluctance, but Wang Shujuan and Meng Ziyan were a little sad, since they would only be able to see each other again when Wang Shujuan gave birth.

Around 8 o'clock, Meng Quezi, Liu Fenfang, and Meng Yinhe also came to see them off. Xu Long drove a Jeep 212 with Wang Shujuan, Guan Hua, and Sun Lianfang in tow. Meng Ziyan sat in the passenger seat of the old Dongfeng. Lao Wei and Yu Kaihe sat on the luggage quilt in the back of the car. Since it was already May, the daytime temperature was above 13 degrees Celsius, except for a slightly cold morning and evening. The highest temperature could reach around 23 degrees Celsius.

The family members waved from the doorway, and Xu Ning and Xu Long stepped on the gas and drove away.

They arrived in the city around noon and had lunch at Yang's Home-Style Restaurant. Then Xu Long took Meng Ziyan, Wang Shujuan, Guan Hua, and Sun Lianfang to the hospital for check-ups, while Xu Ning drove Lao Wei and Yu Kaihe to the construction site.

Old Qian saw the old Dongfeng drive into the yard and jogged over to greet it. He raised his hand to greet Old Wei and Yu Kaihe and said, "Yesterday the brick factory delivered three truckloads of red bricks. The quarry in Dongyao sent word that they can only deliver two truckloads of slabs tomorrow, and then one truckload every two days. Is that okay?"

Xu Ning nodded upon hearing this: "Okay, no rush to use the kang stone slab. Have the steel bars and cement been delivered?"

"It should be delivered soon. Two bosses from Dan City came over this morning saying they wanted to buy a car. They're treating us to dinner tonight. Shall we go together?"

"Okay, the grain depot said last time they had two scrapped vehicles..."

“I told Lao Jin to open a repair shop directly. Both cars only had minor problems. Lao Jin said he could fix them up and sell them.”

Xu Ning smiled upon hearing this, turned around and said, "Grandpa, Uncle Wei, this is the room you two will be staying in. The conditions are a bit poor."

"This is nothing, these conditions are already considered good. The houses we used to live in were even worse than this..."

Yu Kaihe nodded: "That's right, you guys go ahead and do your work. Our job now is just to wander around the yard, right? As long as nothing gets stolen, okay?"

"Hey, grandpa, you don't need to do this job. Let Old Qian's brother-in-law and the others take care of it. You two can stay here for a couple of days. The construction team will be here the day after tomorrow, and we'll officially start work the day after that."

Old Qian laughed and said, "I'll have my brother-in-law come over and get to know you later, sir. My brother-in-law is young, so if there's anything he doesn't understand, please take the trouble to teach him."

Yu Kaihe smiled and agreed. Old Qian added, "My brother-in-law can cook, so you two can eat with them."

Afterwards, Lao Qian called over his brother-in-law to introduce him to Lao Wei and Yu Kaihe.

Around 1 p.m., Xu Ning and Lao Qian went to the parts factory and talked with the factory leaders for almost half an hour before finally accepting an old Jiefang truck.

Since it's the early stages of starting a business, Xu Ning needs to handle everything personally, and there are some troublesome things he can't avoid.

That evening, the two men had dinner with the boss who came from Dan City. They sold two old Huanghe and Dongfeng cars that had been parked in the open space of the auto repair shop for ten days, making a profit of about 1200 yuan.

When Xu Ning returned to the family dormitory reeking of alcohol, Meng Ziyan, Wang Shujuan, and Guan Hua were still awake because Xu Long had gone to pick up Yang Yusheng from work and hadn't returned yet.

All three of them were in good health. Wang Shujuan and Meng Ziyan shared their experiences with Guan Hua, while Xu Ning listened for a couple of minutes before going back to her room to sleep.

(End of this chapter)