An orphan girl from a farming family: Everyday farming in the mountains during natural disasters

After a busy day, it was at least ten o'clock, and Xia Qingyue called Heihei back to his room to sleep.

a new day.

After feeding the chickens and ducks and finishing her morning exercises, Xia Qingyue made breakfast. She didn't finish the leftovers from last night, so she beat two eggs and made fried rice. Before taking the eggs out of the pan, she added chopped wild onions and stir-fried them until cooked.

The fragrant egg fried rice is ready.

Fried rice alone was a bit dry, so she picked some watercress and cooked a bowl of vegetarian soup.

After eating and drinking, Xia Qingyue went to the vegetable garden to water the vegetables. The first sprouts planted had grown a lot taller. In a few days, she would cut some thin bamboos to build racks for cucumbers, cowpeas and other vegetables that would grow vines.

The two prickly ash trees and the chives were transplanted and survived as usual. She sprinkled some dry chicken and duck manure as fertilizer.

The pumpkin, gourd, grape and other fruit trees planted in the sandy soil on the slope, as well as the ginger planted later, have sprouted, and she watered them.

Looking at the plants in the pit growing well and flourishing, she had a strong sense of satisfaction and felt sweet in her heart, as if she had eaten the sweetest honey in the world.

She carried a large backpack and some things and went out with Heihei. In the morning, they mainly went to look for dry firewood.

I deliberately went around to different places at a certain distance to look for firewood and also to see if there was a suitable shelter.

She was not strong enough to chop much of the thick firewood and her energy was consumed quickly, so she went to look for the fallen and broken thin and dry firewood, chopped the ones that were too long, and tried to keep the length consistent, then tied them up neatly and stacked them in the backpack.

The backpack couldn't hold much, so she simply bundled a few more bundles of firewood at once, carrying one backpack and two bundles in her hands.

In this way, she carried dry firewood back and forth to the tiankeng. In one morning, she made three trips and carried fifteen bundles of firewood.

At noon, she hastily fried some scallion egg pancakes and ate mulberries to make a meal.

In the afternoon, she was going to go somewhere farther, so she brought some mulberries with her so that she could eat them if she was thirsty on the way. She didn't dare drink the raw water outside.

She was busy for four days looking for firewood, chopping firewood, bundling firewood and moving firewood. Finally, the empty space next to the kitchen was filled up, enough for her to use for at least three months.

Seeing that the water celery by the stream was getting old and the weather was good, Xia Qingyue finished looking for firewood and then started harvesting the water celery.

In the morning, she went to harvest, running several trips back and forth to the mountain pit and the stream. In the afternoon, she stayed in the sinkhole. The water celery was dried in the sun for half a day and became soft. This step is to enhance its flexibility to prevent it from breaking easily when washing.

Wash the water celery and dry it in the sun until the leaves curl up and wilt. Remove the yellow leaves and cut it into even sections. You can also leave it uncut, depending on your preference.

Continue to dry the cut water celery in the sun. In today's weather, it will be completely dry after a day of drying. Boil water in a pot, put a bamboo grate in the pot, spread the water celery segments on it and steam them for 20 minutes.

After steaming, turn off the heat and let it cool naturally in the pot. When it is cool, spread the water celery segments in a large round winnowing basket and dry them in the sun. When they are dry, continue steaming them, and then dry them in the sun again.

Repeat this several times.

Although the pickled mustard greens made by three steaming and three drying processes are time-consuming and labor-intensive, they taste more fragrant than those made by drying. They are shiny black and have a softer texture.

After five days of unremitting efforts, she had harvested all the relatively tender water celery growing by the stream, at least over a thousand kilograms of fresh water celery. Although the amount of the finished product made into pickled mustard greens was greatly reduced, there was still a lot, at least several dozen kilograms.

Under the scorching sun, six bamboo rafts and three large round winnowing baskets filled with pickled mustard greens were drying at the bottom of the sinkhole, and the air was filled with their fragrance.

Xia Qingyue felt a great sense of accomplishment. Now that the matter had come to an end, the vines of crops such as cucumbers, cowpeas, and pumpkins in the vegetable garden had already grown out and were crawling on the ground. She took a machete and went to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo.

Cut some more thin and long bamboos and stick them into the ground to build a frame. Cut some thick bamboos and break them into strips to weave bamboo rafts specifically for drying things.

She felt that the bamboo rafts were not enough, so she made some more.

After cutting the bamboo, she first set up the frame.

It just so happened that the sweet potatoes that had been placed in a cool place for germination some time ago had sprouted. She continued to clear the sand and make nests, and finished more than 30 rows at one time. She sprinkled dried chicken and duck manure into each nest, and then threw in two sprouted sweet potatoes, with the sprouted side facing up.

Finally, cover the soil and water it.

After finishing the farm work, it was dark and another day had passed.

Xia Qingyue was so busy that she was sweating profusely, her cheeks were hot, and her hair was messy. Even without looking in the mirror, she could imagine how terrible she looked at that moment.

It is said that when the sun is high in the sky, one hoes the field and sweat drips down to the soil. Food is hard to come by. Those who have not personally experienced working in the fields to plant crops cannot truly understand these words.

She dragged her tired and sore legs and walked towards the cave with a hoe on her shoulder. She didn't know if she was hallucinating, but there were quick, flashing double images in front of her eyes.

In the blink of an eye, not only did the cave in front of him appear double, but the scene in front of him also began to spin. Heihei, who was running towards him from the kitchen, also turned upside down, with his head down and his limbs facing up.

"Heihei, why, why are you upside down?"

Xia Qingyue was at a loss as to what was going on. Just as she was about to go over to see what was going on, a feeling of dizziness came over her like an overwhelming tidal wave.

It was as if all the strength in her body was drained away. She fell down uncontrollably, her mind a mess.

When she fell to the ground, one side of her face was rubbed against the dirt. The brief pain made her a little more awake, but it was only for a moment. Her heavy eyelids drooped, and the dark figure that was rushing towards her stopped abruptly.

Xia Qingyue fell to the ground and fainted.

"No no no!"

Heihei circled around Xia Qingyue, rubbing his head against her face and hands from time to time.

However, no matter how Heihei called out or how he teased her, she did not respond.

"Mmmm!" Heihei's tail was wagging wildly in a hurry. It did not give up. It kept barking over and over again and even licked Xia Qingyue's red face with its tongue.

Heihei sensed the temperature on Xia Qingyue's face, and seemed to understand something. He ran to the kitchen where the water tank was placed. He scratched the tank with his front paws and pushed the ground with his hind paws. He stuck his head into the tank, intending to pick up the water scoop inside with his mouth.

The water scoop floated on the water and would drift away with the slightest movement. Heihei tried to catch it several times but failed. Heihei persisted in trying. Finally, when he saw the water scoop circling around and was about to float over, he chose the right time and took a bite.

There was some water in the scoop. Heihei bit the handle of the scoop, ran to Xia Qingyue, tilted the scoop, and let the water flow onto her face.

There was no water left, so Heihei ran back to the water tank to scoop some water and then poured it on Xia Qingyue, over and over again.

Xia Qingyue, who was in a coma, felt as if she was being roasted in a sea of ​​fire that was growing bigger and bigger. Her body seemed to be roasted, her bones were about to melt, and the heat was unbearable.

In a trance, a cool liquid poured down on her like nectar. She instantly had hope of being reborn from the ashes and was overjoyed.

The discomfort in the body was gradually relieved by the cold liquid.

Xia Qingyue, who was still unconscious, murmured weakly, "More, more water, more, more..."