Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 107 Other People's Kids

After lunch, the group rested at home for a while, avoiding the hottest part of the day, before returning to the pig farm to continue working on silage sweet potato vines.

Before Xu Chunsheng's family and Xiaowei's mother even reached the pig farm, they ran into his uncle and aunt on the road.

Father Xu called out to his elder brother and sister-in-law, "Brother, sister-in-law, have you had lunch yet?"

"We've eaten. You've prepared a lot (cut/how much sweet potato vine did you pack)?"

Mr. Xu joked, "There aren't many. I can't work with any enthusiasm without you. We're just missing you."

My uncle's family was busy harvesting soybeans this morning. Taking advantage of the good weather these past two days, they dried them and packed them away. In late autumn, no one can predict when it will start raining continuously. If these crops are not dried and packed away early, they will easily become damp and moldy.

In the morning, all the beans were laid out to dry in the courtyard. After lunch, my uncle and aunt came to Xu Chunsheng's house to help.

The group chatted and laughed as they walked to the pig farm, with the uncle carrying a large cleaver used for chopping pig feed.

Auntie carried a plastic bag filled with oranges. She put the bag on a stool, took out two oranges from the bag, handed one to Xu Yaomei, and then handed one to Xiaowei's mother. She casually said, "Sister Fang, have a tangerine. It's from our own tree. It's still a bit sour these days. Try it, and come to my house to pick some when it's sweet."

After saying that, she called to Xu Chunsheng's family, "You can take them yourselves, I won't help you. Little sister, can you peel them? Do you want your aunt to help you?"

"Thank you, Auntie. My little sister can peel it herself."

Xu Yaomei squinted as she peeled the orange. After peeling it, she took a segment and put it in her mouth. The sourness made her whole face scrunch up.

Everyone present was amused by her expression: "Little sister, is it delicious?"

Xu Yaomei opened her eyes, which were still wet. She didn't spit out the tangerine in her mouth, but swallowed it hard before answering, "Ha, it's a little sour, but delicious, and it tastes like tangerine."

Without a doubt, she learned this phrase from adults, because when family members praise a fruit, they often say, "It tastes like an apple, it tastes like a pear." It's a conceptual taste, which Xu Yaomei picked up.

Xu Chunsheng sat on a stool, chopping sweet potato vines, and teased Xu Yaomei, whose face was wrinkled from the sourness, "If you like it, eat more."

Holding an orange in her hand, Xu Yaomei turned around and ran over to Xu Chunsheng with a big smile. She held the orange to Xu Chunsheng's lips and said, "Second brother, you should eat some too. It's very delicious. You should try it."

Xu Chunsheng opened his mouth and ate the orange she handed him, swallowing it without changing his expression: "Hmm, it's really delicious, very sweet."

Xu Yaomei asked incredulously, "Is it really that sweet?"

"Mmm, delicious, not sour."

Xu Yaomei peeled another segment of tangerine with some skepticism and put it in her mouth. "Ah, so sour."

Although she said it was sour, Xu Yaomei still didn't spit the tangerine out of her mouth.

From a young age, she was taught by her family not to waste food. If a grain of rice fell on the ground, she would pick it up and throw it into the pig feed bucket. If a few grains of corn fell into the cracks in the yard, she would pry them out little by little.

So even a very sour segment of tangerine couldn't bear to waste it, and she forced herself to eat it.

"Hmph, Second Brother is lying, so sour grapes."

Xu Yaomei shoved the tangerine in her hand into Xu Chunsheng's hand and ran away.

"Hahaha."

Xu Chunsheng peeled another segment of the tangerine and put it in his mouth. He wasn't kidding Xu Yaomei; the tangerine wasn't sour to him, but it wasn't sweet either.

It has a sweet and sour taste; you taste the sourness first, and then you can taste a hint of sweetness. It is not like those fruits in later generations that are so sweet that they seem to have been injected with "sweetener." It really has a "citrus flavor."

Children have sensitive taste buds, so the first thing they taste is the obvious sourness, while the subtle sweetness is suppressed, and Xu Yaomei can't taste it.

The elders and older sister present were amused by the brother and sister. Xu's mother still felt sorry for her youngest daughter: "Xu Erwa, you're always teasing your younger sister."

"Little sister, let's ignore your second brother, come here and I'll pick out a sweet one for you."

"good!"

Father Xu came out of the fermentation vat and sat on a stool to rest for a while: "Erwa, go and press the sweet potato vines for a while, I'll rest for a bit."

Xu Chunsheng was bending down to arrange the sweet potato vines when he agreed, "Okay, I'll carry this basket over and start arranging them."

With the help of his uncle and aunt in the afternoon, the group worked much faster than in the morning. Xu Chunsheng, his father, and his uncle took turns tamping down the sweet potato vines.

Uncle Xu said to Xu Chunsheng, "Chunsheng is so capable now. He couldn't even endure the hardship of learning carpentry from me before, but now he runs a pig farm, brews liquor, and does everything very well."

Sitting to the side, listening to his eldest brother's words, Mr. Xu's pride was undisguised, but he still spoke modestly: "Yes, this kid couldn't endure any hardship before. Your child is much more obedient, doing whatever you ask. When I used to ask him to do something or learn something, it was like asking him to die."

Hearing his father's "praise," Xu Chunsheng felt a little embarrassed. He had indeed been ignorant before, and it was only because he had a chance to start over that he was able to make these changes.

Xu Chunsheng patted his face twice and said to his father, "Dad, I'm still here. If you want to bring up my dark history, then do it behind my back. I'm all grown up now, a man has some pride."

"Hehehe." Everyone present couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Xu's father also smiled and supported Xu Chunsheng: "Go quickly, go quickly, you're so clever, you're so shameless."

"Okay~"

Xu Chunsheng picked up the sweet potato vine and walked over, still grumbling, "I wonder which of you climbed up the tree to raid bird nests when you were a kid, and cried because you couldn't get down."

After saying that, Xu Chunsheng took off running.

"Hey, I'll teach you a lesson. You dare to joke about your father?"

Mr. Xu's face twitched twice; he wanted to laugh at the same time, but he also wanted to get angry.

These dark histories of Xu's father were told by his grandmother to her grandchildren as amusement in the past. The Xu brothers objected several times, wanting to protect their image in front of the children.

Unfortunately, the old lady only had one hobby at home: she liked to use the embarrassing things her two brothers did as negative examples to teach her grandchildren.

The results were minimal, but the kids somehow remembered their father's dark past.

Watching the interaction of this family, Xiaowei's mother felt a little envious, but then she thought about how her own child never required her to worry about him and was always considerate of her, and she smiled along with him.

In the afternoon, the air grew increasingly stuffy. Xu Chunsheng pulled up his collar to wipe the sweat from his face, looked up at the gloomy sky, and asked, "Dad, it looks like it's going to rain. Can you check on An?"

Mr. Xu shook his arms a couple of times, feeling the sticky sweat on his body, and looked up at the sky: "It feels like it's going to rain, but it won't rain anytime soon. It might rain heavily tomorrow."

Uncle Xu quickened his pace in chopping sweet potato vines, adding, "It looks like it's going to rain. Luckily, I threshed the beans today and let them dry all day. Even if it rains for a few days, they won't get moldy."

Mr. Xu has been farming for so many years, supporting his large family by growing crops, so he is quite accurate in judging the weather. He said that it is highly unlikely that it will rain today.

Xu Chunsheng nodded and rubbed his weak arms a couple of times: "Then let's hurry up and try to pack all the sweet potato vines today."

""

"Otherwise, if it rains tomorrow, there won't be a shelter in this courtyard, and the sweet potato vines will get soaked, and all the sun-dried sweet potatoes will have been wasted."

Xiaowei's mother, Xu's mother, and the eldest sister also quickened their pace, chopping sweet potato vines with large cleavers.

My aunt also sped up the process of helping to move the sweet potato vines.

Even Xu Yaomei, who was playing with the dog on the side, heard that they needed to speed things up. Today, she packed up all the sweet potato vines and stopped playing with the dog. She took a sieve from the side and helped pack the chopped sweet potato vines.

Everyone in the courtyard was busy with their work and had no time to chat leisurely.

"Wow, so many people! You're having a great time!"

Xu Chunsheng looked up and saw several neighbors around him.

Several people were holding either large kitchen knives, shovels, or two dustpans.

Without much small talk, I joined the work team.

"I thought it was going to rain, and when I saw you guys still working inside, I was afraid you wouldn't finish anytime soon, so we came to help."

Mr. Xu thanked them profusely, saying, "This is really too much trouble for you. It's really difficult to work in the rain. If you come, we can definitely pack all of this up today."

In this era that values ​​interpersonal relationships, sometimes you don't even need to ask; when people see that you're too busy, they'll offer to help.

Especially during the harvest season, if it suddenly rains, and someone has grain drying in their yard that they can't collect in time or can't collect completely, they'll grab their tools and go help after they've finished collecting their own.

There's no need for excessive thanks; a few casual greetings are enough. If the family you helped later has other work to do, you can simply reciprocate by helping them in return. In the village, relationships are maintained through this give-and-take.

Suddenly, the courtyard of Xu's pig farm became lively. With more people around, the sense of urgency that had been weighing on their hearts eased a bit, and they even had time to chat.

But their hands didn't slow down at all. Some people were in charge of chopping, some were in charge of packing, and the heavy lifting was taken over by other men.

The neighbor's uncle walked into the fermentation tank and called out to Xu Chunsheng: "Chunsheng, take a break. This work is very strenuous. You've probably been working all day. This is easier."

""

"Okay, thank you for your trouble, Uncle. You can do it for a while and then I'll take over."

After exchanging pleasantries with the man, Xu Chunsheng handed the wooden rammer to the uncle and then went upstairs to help chop the sweet potato vines.

With more people, the work can be done faster. Before, we could work for a while and then rest occasionally while tamping down the sweet potato vines, but now we can't rest anymore. We can only keep taking turns tamping them down.

Everyone had a clear division of labor: some picked up rotten leaves and dry sticks mixed in with the sweet potato vines, some chopped them up with knives, and some carried and packed them.

In the courtyard, there was the relaxed laughter and chatter of everyone.

Halfway through the work, Xu's mother and eldest sister went home early to prepare dinner. Preparing dinner for twelve or thirteen strong laborers is no easy task.

"Old Xu, your pond is quite big. How many sweet potato vines can it hold?"

With the last basket of sweet potato vines poured into the pond, all that remained was to seal it.

Mr. Xu took the plastic wrapping that Yu Chunsheng handed him and casually replied, "I haven't calculated it carefully, but eleven or twelve tons should be no problem."

Several people worked together to cover the sprouting sweet potato vines with a whole sheet of plastic sheeting.

Then they moved some stones to firmly press down the surrounding area, and then shoveled some mud to seal it tightly along the tape, paying special attention to leaving no gaps in the corners and edges to ensure that the pool was airtight.

Xu Chunsheng looked at the "big bag" that was clearly higher than the fermentation tank and relaxed completely. This job was finally completed before the rain.

After waiting for a while, as the sweet potato vines inside slowly ferment, the "bundle" will gradually deflate. Only then is the silage of sweet potato vines truly complete.

With the addition of the batch of hay we stockpiled earlier, we don't have to worry about running out of hay to feed the pigs this winter.

Mr. Xu found a basin, filled it with water, and had everyone wash their hands: "Everyone, please tidy up and come to my house for dinner. Thank you all so much for your help today."

"You keep saying all this, but when have you ever not come to help when something happens to my family?"

The old man next door put down his shovel, wiped his sweat, and said with a smile, "If you feel bad about it, next spring, let me come to your pigsty and carry a few more loads of manure for you."

Xu Chunsheng quickly agreed: "Yes, uncles, aunts, just come and pick as much as you want. We have plenty of pig manure in the cesspool, you can take as much as you like."

These words were like a switch, instantly making everyone who came to help laugh: "Then I won't be polite when the time comes!"

The Xu family's pig farm has over forty large fat pigs, and now they've added dozens of piglets, producing a considerable amount of manure every day.

Over the course of more than half a year, a considerable amount of pig manure had accumulated, and to avoid any unpleasant odor, the manure pits were all covered.

It would be perfect to use it for irrigation in the spring. Besides, the Xu family only has two or three acres of land, and they can't possibly use all this pig manure. As long as the villagers ask, the Xu family will not be stingy.

Besides, everyone helped with the sweet potato vines today, so a few loads of manure wouldn't hurt. Both sides felt better about it, and that's how the relationship was maintained.

"Dad, you guys go ahead, I'll go feed the pigs and then go back."

After saying this, Xu Chunsheng went to the feed mixing area to fill up the pig feed.

Now that the temperature has dropped, unlike in summer when we could only feed them one meal at a time.

You can mix a larger amount in the morning to prepare enough pig feed for the whole day, and then feed them directly at noon and in the evening, saving a lot of trouble in mixing feed.

Xu Chunsheng placed the prepared pig feed buckets one by one onto the cart. The cart could carry six buckets at a time, and it would take four or five trips to feed the pigs.

After feeding the pigs, Xu Chunsheng gave the pigsty a quick clean. He was too tired today, so he skipped the washing and just cleaned up the pile of pig manure.

Watching the pigs grow stronger every day, Xu Chunsheng could already see money flying towards him.

Over there, the group walked back, and among them, there was no shortage of envy for the Xu family's current prosperous life: "Chunsheng is really quick-witted. He even knows how to store sweet potato vines. We don't have to worry about pig feed at all in winter."

"Yes, when will my child be as sensible as Chunsheng?"

"I always want other people's dolls; just looking at my own makes me angry."

The little girl, clinging to her father's back, quietly asked, "Daddy, which other family's baby is it?"

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