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

She was thinking about her winter plan. Before that, she had to take care of all the details of the cave that was nearing completion. Then she had to go to the Li family to get the molds for making earthen bricks and find some clay.

Zhu Erniang had previously found clay in the middle of a stream, and she still remembered the location.

During this period, the earth bricks are fired in batches, so that poultry houses can be built later while preparing for the winter.

Get the poultry house built before the snow starts.

This morning, she stayed in the tiankeng to fix the cave house. In the afternoon, she went to the vegetable garden to turn the soil and sow cabbage, spinach and pea seeds.

It had rained and the sky was overcast, cool and comfortable. It wasn't stuffy to work in this kind of weather, and she didn't feel tired at all.

After planting the vegetables, she went to the toilet and picked up some diluted farm fertilizer to water the mustard greens, Chinese cabbage, sweet potatoes and fruit trees.

After the dry manure is used up, it will take some time to save it up. During this period, you can only use farm manure to water the vegetables.

Carrying the manure, she was trembling with fear and didn't dare to be careless. She was careful not to get it on herself, but the pungent smell was hard to ignore.

After picking up more than ten buckets and showering them all, she felt quite accomplished.

The next day.

Early in the morning, Xia Qingyue went to the shelter where the Li family lived. On the way, she was attracted by the newly sprouted green grass in the mountains. There were crystal dewdrops on the leaves of the green grass, which sometimes rolled down and hit the ground, making a slight dripping sound.

The tall trees are lush and green.

Everything seems full of vitality.

"It's raining now, so it's time for wild vegetables and mushrooms to grow."

It takes some time for mushrooms to grow, so they may not sprout in the short term, but they will be available in about ten days.

She went to the stream on purpose, and heard the sound of gurgling water before she arrived. She ran closer and saw that the water in the stream had flooded the sand and rocks, and the water hit the rocks, splashing water everywhere.

The amount of water is about the same as in April.

"Great, where there is water there are fish and shrimp!"

However, due to the long drought, many fish in the stream have died. It will probably take some time before there are more and bigger fish again.

She hurried on her way while enjoying the scenery along the way.

As expected, when we got near the Li family shelter, we started to meet people.

Last time, Li Benfu and the others said that these people were Guan Jianshan's subordinates, and this group of people had to go out every day to find food and bring it back.

When they met someone, Xia Qingyue and Heihei avoided them, arrived at their destination safely, and knocked on the cave door.

It was Chen Yuzhen who opened the door.

"Qingyue, it's raining. Do you have any water ready?" Chen Yuzhen asked with concern.

After a few days of rain, the water level in the tiankeng pool rose by four or five meters. Spring water flowed down from the stone walls, and the water level continued to rise.

Most of the rainwater that falls from the pit flows into the canal and is discharged from various exits to the outside world.

Just in case, she blocked several exits and left some water in the ditch.

Because of the rain, the groundwater resources are abundant, and the water level of the well in the pond has risen significantly, so water can be easily pumped up.

Considering the availability of water sources, she did not collect rainwater for storage.

But she couldn't tell the truth to the Li family. She said, "It finally rained, so I picked up some in preparation."

"Yes, we have used all the containers that can hold water. Come, Qingyue, have some water." Li Benfu held the honey jar, scooped a large spoonful of honey with a wooden spoon and put it into a bowl of boiled water.

The two brothers Li Weikang and Chen Dawei and his son were not there. They said they were out hunting.

Talking about hunting, Xia Qingyue said, "Aren't there people like Guan Jianshan outside? Can we still hunt?"

"We weren't hunting in this area. We were hunting in a forest that takes more than two hours to walk back and forth. Kang'er and the others said that the trees there are very tall and dense. It's only a little brighter in the afternoon, and the rest of the time is about the same as in the morning.

They say there are lots of animals there, but no humans, and you can find wild vegetables there."

After Chen Yuzhen finished speaking, she stood up and went to the kitchen to get two vegetable baskets.

The basket was filled with fresh wild vegetables, including dandelions, shepherd's purse, wild onions and moss.

"These were all retrieved from them." Chen Yuzhen said with a smile.

The wild vegetables looked good and fresh. Xia Qingyue had rarely seen such good wild vegetables in the mountains on her way here.

Chen Yuzhen said: "Although it is a bit far, we won't run into Guan Jianshan's group. In addition, it has rained, so there must be more wild vegetables and mushrooms in the forest. I have discussed with Brother Benfu that we will go there together to look for them in the future.

Isn't it autumn? With autumn here, winter is not far away. We need to quickly stock up on some food for the winter!"

Li Benfu nodded, and he suddenly remembered something, "Qingyue, the mold was made a long time ago. I wonder if it is the shape you want. I will go get it."

He walked around the bend and went to the open-air cave.

After a while, Li Benfu came over with a wooden rectangular box with the top and bottom open.

Xia Qingyue stood up and took the mold that Li Benfu handed over. She flipped it up and down and said in surprise, "It's exactly what I wanted!"

She even made an improvement based on her original design by adding two handles on the width sides for easy holding.

With this mold, making adobe bricks is easy.

"Uncle, aunt, thank you!"

"We are the ones who should say thank you. Qingyue, good child, thank you!" Chen Yuzhen's eyes suddenly turned red and she couldn't stop crying.

"Auntie, don't cry."

All of a sudden, Xia Qingyue was a little overwhelmed.

Li Benfu smiled and explained: "Since the day he gave birth to his son, he told us that we should live a good life as a family and not be blinded by hatred.

Seeing him becoming more stable and sensible, our whole family is very happy and feels that there is hope for the future!

Qingyue, it was you who persuaded Sheng'er to give birth. You are our family's great benefactor!"

At the end, Li Benfu's eyes also turned red.

Xia Qingyue felt a little embarrassed, "Uncle, Aunt, I didn't really try to persuade him. The key is that Weisheng listened to me and let it go."

Chen Yuzhen and his wife looked at her with loving gratitude. They shook their heads and insisted that it was she who made their family better and saw hope again.

Just then, Heihei ran to the cave entrance and sniffed around.

"Dark?"

She walked over and called out softly twice, but Heihei ignored her and continued to stare at the cave entrance.

Li Benfu and Chen Yuzhen's expressions froze, and they picked up the machetes on their waists tacitly. They gently pushed Xia Qingyue back and came to the back of the cave entrance.

There was a slight noise outside.

Xia Qingyue looked at the cave entrance nervously. She had just drunk some water, so her mouth was dry.

Chen Yuzhen and her husband looked at each other with fierce eyes and raised their machetes.

In a flash, there was a rapid knocking sound outside.

"Dad, Mom, open the door quickly, it's me, we're back!"

It was Li Weisheng's anxious voice.

"It's a birth!"

Li Benfu opened the cave door.

Li Weisheng came in first, but he did not go inside. Instead, he turned around and stretched out his hand to welcome a man who came in with his hands covering his abdomen, his head lowered, and his steps unsteadily.

Heihei sniffed the belly of the man who came in to greet him.

A faint smell of blood wafted through the cave.