Xing'an Mountains 1984: Starting from climbing mountains to support the family

Chapter 180 Goddaughter, Godson

"Ouch! Dad, you knocked me down!"

"Who told you to get so close? Xiaowu, you're not trying to help daddy with his work, you're trying to mess with him! Go listen to the radio with your third and fourth sisters."

Chen Weidong picked up Wu Ni, then scratched her little nose and said with a smile.

Chen Weidong was hammering nails into the newly built small wooden house after returning from school, planning to pull a few ropes to hang leather. Xiaowu was following him all the time, and when he wasn't paying attention, he knocked her down.

"Uncle Weidong, I'm here to play with Dani, Erni and the others!"

"I'm here to look for Sister Si Ni!"

Just when Chen Weidong was about to send Wu Ni away, he saw Xiaohua and Goudan running over excitedly.

"Xiaohua is here! Dani and Erni are going to school!"

"Si Ni is listening to the radio in the room!"

Chen Weidong replied with a smile.

"Da Ni and Er Ni have both gone to school!" Xiao Hua was both envious and a little disappointed when she heard the news.

"Yeah, big sister and second sister are both going to school. Sister Xiaohua, you're not going to school?"

Wu Ni asked in a baby voice.

"My family has no money! But my mom said my brother will go to school when he grows up."

Xiaohua said proudly.

Chen Weidong was listening at the side, and Xiaohua's innocent words made him sigh.

It is said that children from poor families have to grow up early, but there is nothing that can be done about it.

"Xiaohua, do you want to go to school?"

Chen Weidong asked. At this moment, his heart softened, perhaps because he had six daughters!
Xiaohua didn't say anything when she heard this, but nodded and shook her head.

"Xiaohua, although Uncle Weidong has six daughters, he has no goddaughters or godsons. How about you and Goudan becoming Uncle Weidong's goddaughters and godsons?"

Chen Weidong asked with a smile.

Xiaohua's eyes lit up when she heard that. She liked Uncle Weidong very much. When she heard that he wanted to recognize her as his daughter, she nodded and said, "I do." Then she glanced at Chen Weidong and called him, "Godfather!"

Xiaohua is seven years old this year and knows what godfather means. She doesn’t have a father, she misses her father and she also wants to have a father.

"Wow! You're so sweet even at such a young age!"

"If my sister is willing, I am willing too!"

Goudan also said.

"Ha ha,"

Chen Weidong smiled and said, "Don't be in a hurry to call me godfather. You two should go back and ask your mother if she is willing."

"it is good!"

Xiaohua immediately took Goudan back home, and Wu Ni also hurried to her mother to complain.

"Mom, mom, dad has another child!" Wu Ni said in an incoherent baby voice.

Liu Xueting: "Uh..."

"It's Sister Xiaohua and Goudan. They want to be daddy's children!"

Liu Xueting smiled: "Don't talk nonsense!"

"it is true!"

"What's going on?" Liu Xueting asked Chen Weidong who was walking over.

"Xue Ting, I plan to adopt Xiao Hua as my godson and Goudan as my godson! What do you think?"

Chen Weidong smiled.

"This is a good thing! Xiaohua is very sensible! Besides, we don't have a son, so it's good to have a godson."

Liu Xueting had no objection to hearing this.

"Ah."

Chen Weidong knew that Liu Xueting would agree. In fact, godparenting is a very popular thing these days.
Many people in the village have godparents, and some are even superstitious and let their children recognize stones and trees as their godfathers and godmothers.

On the other side, Xiaohua and Goudan told Jiang Mei about this, and Jiang Mei agreed immediately.

So the matter was settled! It is very convenient to adopt a godparent these days, just change your name!

Then they had a meal together. As they had one more relative, Chen Weidong and Jiang Mei discussed it and decided to take turns paying the tuition for Xiaohua. Then the three of them went to and from school together.

How many times have the three children watched their playmates in the village skipping and jumping to school with their little schoolbags on their backs? They could only watch in silent envy.

Now, they have finally realized their dream of studying and started this happy journey.

They also cherish it very much.

Every day I am the first one to arrive at school and the last one to leave. I take my classes very seriously.

He always finishes his homework first, and writes it meticulously and neatly.

Like most children in the village, as the eldest sister, Dani has to help with housework at home after school every day...leaving very little time for reading.

Once it gets dark, the light becomes dim and reading becomes even more impossible.

Chen Weidong didn't expect his children to work so hard. In fact, he just wanted them to be happy.
However, since they love studying so much, I, as a father, cannot hold them back, so I bought a lot of candles.

Although there is a kerosene lamp at home.

Kerosene lamps are also called kerosene lamps. They are cheap and fine to use on a daily basis. However, when children use them all the time when studying, it is not only bad for their eyes, but also has a strong smell of smoke.

The noses were all black, so after Chen Weidong discovered this, he never let the children use it again.

Dani studied very hard. When her sisters were playing quietly, she would recite the text silently.

So much so that every time the teacher asked her to recite a text, she rarely got stuck, and even memorized the punctuation marks!
She used to like listening to the radio, but now she doesn't. When her sisters huddle together to listen to the radio, she squats at the gate of the yard, sweeps out a flat area, and then practices writing with branches. The key is that she does this not occasionally, but every day!

When the villagers saw this, they couldn't help but admire her: "Dani, you are born to be a scholar!"

After school, Erni also has a lot of things to do because she has to help take care of her younger sisters!
If one ran away, she would yell at him twice. If another climbed up the hill, she would yell at him twice again.

I carry another one on my back, and I have to coax him from time to time.

In a blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

Chen Weidong, Bingzi, Shitou, and Li Shengli also went into the mountains several times.

The four of them sometimes hunted on nearby hills and sometimes went deep into the mountains. The biggest harvest they had was a big pig and two old sows. Of course, if they were unlucky, they would return empty-handed sometimes.

These days, Chen Weidong also replaced the Hanyang rifle in his hand with a five-six-and-a-half!
It was like replacing a musket with a cannon. The obsolete Hanyang-made guns were given to Shi Tou, which was also to strengthen their entire hunting gang.

Chen Weidong had a total of more than 1,500 yuan in his hands, which made him a wealthy man in those days.

……

"Brother Weidong, Brother Shengli, how did you find your way in the mountains? It's been so long since I've forgotten where I was!"

Shitou walked up to Chen Weidong, panting and asked curiously.

"Haha, you'll know it after you stay in the mountains for a long time!" Li Shengli said with a smile.

"Brother Shengli is right!"

Chen Weidong also laughed.

This time the four of them went into the mountains not to hunt, but to dig Codonopsis pilosula. Since discovering Codonopsis pilosula before the New Year, Chen Weidong and his friends had never dug it. As they didn't get much the last time they went into the mountains, this time Chen Weidong planned to bring three people to dig Codonopsis pilosula.

This time, there were four people and they only brought one dog - Dahei!
Erhei and Dahuang's injuries have not healed yet. Although Heihu has almost recovered, Chen Weidong has not brought him up the mountain.

The other dogs were also injured when the four of them went into the mountains to hunt during this period.

It is quite normal for hunting dogs to get injured, and the same is true for hunters.
Chen Weidong also had some bumps and bruises, but he was careful enough so it was nothing serious.

"Everyone, work harder. After we pass this hill, we can take a break!"

Chen Weidong said.

"okay!"

The four of them were sliding forward on the snow. Stone was leading the big guy, and the big guy was pulling the sled.

There are shovels, hoes and other digging tools on the sled.

"Take a break and drink some water!"

After resting for five minutes, Chen Weidong asked everyone to get up and continue moving forward.

After walking over one hill after another, the group finally arrived at a forest after two hours of climbing.

As time passed, no one could remember the exact location, and Chen Weidong and Li Shengli only remembered the approximate location.

"Brother Weidong, I found it!" Bingzi pointed at a piece of cloth tied to a tree and shouted.

This was the mark left by the four people before. As for the snow hole they dug, it was very hidden and had been covered by the heavy snow by now.

"Here it is. You can take a break first and then start digging Codonopsis pilosula," said Chen Weidong.

It is not easy to dig Codonopsis pilosula in this season. First, you need to dig away the snow.

Then start digging, and be careful when digging. It is best not to dig it into pieces, otherwise the quality will be poor and the price will be lower.

After a short rest, the four of them started digging. Chen Weidong dug two Codonopsis pilosula. It must be said that the Codonopsis pilosula in this place is not only large in size, but also of good quality! They are all old.

Chen Weidong did not continue digging. Today he was mainly digging Codonopsis pilosula. It was hard work, so of course he had to get something hot and delicious!

"Keep digging! I'll go shoot some pheasants and prepare lunch for you."

Chen Weidong said something, asked Bingzi for a slingshot, and walked into the woods in front.

This forest is rarely visited by humans, so there are not only many squirrels, but also many pheasants.

In a short while, Chen Weidong had killed eight pheasants and two sand chickens.

He didn't return until he had used up all the glass beads he brought with him, carrying the pheasant and sand chicken.

Chen Weidong found a living spring pool nearby. The water in it was steaming and not frozen. Chen Weidong went directly to the edge of the pool and slaughtered all eight pheasants, cleaning out their internal organs without plucking their feathers.

Then he dug a pile of soil by the pond and mixed it with water. The pheasant was still prepared to be beggar's chicken.

As for those sand chickens, they are perfect for stewing into soup. There is meat and soup, and it is a delicious meal when eaten with steamed buns.

Of course, if four people can’t finish eight pheasants, they can save them for dinner!
After processing the sand chicken, he carried the sand chicken back to the pine tree, gave it to Li Shengli, and asked him to make soup.

He took some seasonings from his backpack and returned to the pond.

When Chen Weidong returned to the pond, he was stunned. Two of the pheasants he had placed by the pond were gone in the blink of an eye.

He remembered it clearly, there were eight pheasants, but now there were only six pheasants. It was very obvious and could be seen at a glance.

Chen Weidong looked around and soon found the trace of the chicken thief.

This pool of water is where animals in the deep mountains drink water. There are many footprints of small animals on the snow around the pool.

However, one of the footprints was clearly wrong, with signs of dragging.

After walking over and observing carefully for a while, Chen Weidong immediately realized that the chicken thief was a fox from the mountains.

It seems normal for foxes to steal chickens.

Although this pheasant is not very big, it is not small compared to a fox.

So, the fox could only drag the pheasant along with it in its mouth.

As for why it wasn't a yellow fox, the footprints of the two are similar.

(End of this chapter)