Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 49 Invitation

These days, most of the ventilation and firewood work in the house has been done.

Lin Ruolan told Shui Laowu that it would be better to choose a day and move there early. It would be inconvenient to live in someone else's house all day.

Furthermore, as the weather is getting colder, it is unclear when the first snow will fall, and the work in the mountains will have to begin.

Maoer Mountain is quite far away from Hengshan Mountain Field, so Shui Laowu and his men have to leave a few days in advance.

If you calculate, there isn't much time.

There is still a lot of work to do at the new house, so I'll move in quickly and then pack up slowly.

Shui Laowu thought it was a good idea, so he discussed the date with Qu Shaoyang. The two of them looked through the almanac for a long time and finally decided to move on September 13th.

If you want to move, you have to tidy up the house in advance so that it is at least habitable.

The windows at the new house have not been pasted yet, the kang mat has not been laid out, and the pots, pans, and other things have not been bought yet. All these need to be purchased.

So Qu Shaoyang drove the mule cart and took Xiao Tianzhi to the market town to buy things, while Shui Laowu and Lin Ruolan went to the new house to clean up.

After buying everything, spread the kang mat, brush a layer of oil on the wool paper, and then paste it on the window frames with paste.

One of the three major strange things in Northeast China is that the windows are papered on the outside.

This is mainly because the Northeast is too cold in winter, with a large temperature difference between indoors and outdoors and strong winds.

If the windows are papered on the inside, they can be easily blown off by the wind.

With the kang mat laid out and the double-layered windows papered, the room immediately felt different.

Qu Shaoyang looked at the two small houses in his family and liked them from the bottom of his heart.

As the saying goes, no matter how good the place is, it is not as good as your own doghouse.

No matter how big the house is, with such a place, he can be said to have truly settled down here.

As the family grows slowly, we can build more houses when there are more people in the future. We can build a few more houses at that time.

Unfortunately, there is not much furniture in the house, making it look a bit empty. There is nothing I can do as I don’t have enough time. I can only wait and find a carpenter to add the furniture later.

After the house was almost cleaned up, Shui Laowu and Qu Shaoyang started to go into the mountains to collect firewood.

It is very cold here in the winter, and the insulation effect of houses these days is not very good. We have to burn more fires in the winter, otherwise people in the house will not be able to bear the cold.

It’s easy to get firewood because it’s close to the woods and it’s abundant everywhere in the mountains.

Standing poles are dead trees that have not fallen yet. They are basically dry and can be used for burning fires or cooking.

Chop pine or birch branches into two-foot long pieces and tie them together. This kind of firewood is easy to dry and is best for starting a fire.

In addition, you should also pick up more fresh wood, especially the knotty ones.

That thing can hold fire, so it's best to use it to heat the kang or the stove at night.

"Hey, Brother Liu and Xiao Qu, you are really capable, picking up so much firewood."

On the afternoon of the ninth day of the first lunar month, Shui Laowu and Qu Shaoyang had just returned from carrying two pieces of wood. Before they could wipe the sweat off their face and take a break, they heard someone calling them.

Qu Shaoyang looked back and saw that the person recognized him. He was the head of the house where they were staying.

The family's surname is Zhou. The old couple has four sons and one daughter. There are more than ten houses in their home. It is said that they own hundreds of acres of land around the village, which makes them a wealthy family.

"Hey, Uncle Zhou, why are you here?
We have nothing to do here, so we went into the mountains to collect more firewood. It will be cold soon, and we can’t live without firewood.”

Qu Shaoyang smiled and greeted him. "Uncle Zhou, come in and sit down."

"Well, I just had nothing to do, so I came to see how the house was being cleaned up.

Oh, you know what, this house is really tidy inside and out."

Old Zhou followed Qu Shaoyang and Shui Laowu into the house and sat down. He looked around the house and nodded approvingly. "Well, Brother Liu, nephew Qu, I have something I want to discuss with you two."

Lao Zhou paused and cleared his throat.

"It's like this. Wasn't it the autumn harvest a while ago? We are close to the mountains, and there are always wild boars and other animals that come into the fields and cause trouble.

During that period, several families took turns to keep watch over the crops, which resulted in wild boars destroying many crops.

Now that the land has been harvested, I can take a break.

This morning, my second son went into the mountains and said he found a large group of wild boars at the end of Xiaodonggou. He said there were at least thirty or forty of them.

"We have a few hunting dogs at home, and the four boys all love to go to the mountains, so they thought of going hunting in the mountains while the wild boars are fattening up in the fall.

They already had a few men and hunting dogs, but few guns.

I noticed that you two, the master and the disciple, have guns, so I wanted to ask you if you two want to come with us.

If you don't go, can you lend us your guns? "

At that time, not many ordinary families used firearms, and hunting was generally done with bows and arrows, knives, and hunting dogs.

The Zhou family was considered a wealthy family and had a gun at home, while the other few people didn't have one.

This cold weapon can never be as powerful as a musket, especially when there is a large herd of pigs, it would be useless without a gun.

The four sons of the Zhou family were worried when Old Zhou suddenly remembered that the master and apprentice who were staying in his house had two guns.

So, Lao Zhou hurried over to ask, whether it was to drag two more people up the mountain or to borrow a gun, it was all right.

"Brother Liu, don't worry. Whether you two come with us up the mountain or lend us your guns, as long as we bring back prey, you will definitely get a share.

How about it? Is it okay?" Old Zhou looked at Shui Laowu and his apprentice eagerly.

Qu Shaoyang and Shui Laowu looked at each other, and Qu Shaoyang spoke first, "Master, why don't we follow him into the mountains?

It just so happens that we are moving soon, so when the time comes, why don’t we prepare two tables of banquets to entertain our neighbors?

If we can get some wild boar meat, we won’t have to buy meat.”

Qu Shaoyang was worried about lending the gun out. What if the Zhou family members took the guns up the mountain and something unexpected happened?
But it would not be good to refuse directly, after all, they live in Zhou's house.

The Zhou family was very polite to them. They could eat as much vegetables as they wanted from the vegetable garden and use as much firewood as they wanted.

It's so rare for someone to ask for money, so it would be stingy to say no.

Shui Laowu and Qu Shaoyang have been together for such a long time, they have a tacit understanding between them. As soon as Qu Shaoyang said something, Shui Laowu understood it.

"Okay, then let's go together. You are such a good shooter, you will definitely gain a lot from going into the mountains."

Old Zhou originally wanted to borrow a gun, but he didn't expect that the master and disciple would readily agree to go into the mountains together, so Old Zhou didn't say anything else.

So, it was decided that early tomorrow morning, several families would go into the mountains together to hunt wild boars.

Old Zhou left happily, and Shui Laowu and his apprentice gathered the firewood, sawed what needed to be sawed and stacked it up. They were busy until very late before going back to eat.

During dinner, Lin Ruolan learned that the father and son were going hunting tomorrow, and she couldn't help but worry.

"How long have you two got the guns? Can you go hunting right now?"

“It’s okay, Shaoyang’s shooting skills are pretty good.

Didn't I tell you all this? Earlier at Erkui's place, Shaoyang shot Shanlizi to death with one shot.

Don't worry, I'm here with you. We can go together and share the prey to satisfy our cravings." Water Crow said nonchalantly.

(End of this chapter)