Eating big melon is so refreshing

Zhaojia Village, Zhaobei’s home.

"Grandpa, why is the village so quiet?"

It’s so quiet that I’m not used to it. It feels like there’s no human presence and it’s a bit scary even in broad daylight.

"They all went to pick wolfberries. Wolfberry trees bear fruit twice a year, from May to June (in the lunar calendar), and again from August to October."

Zhao Bei said with a smile, "Your Third Uncle and the village chief's orchards also have quite a few wolfberry trees. Since they have fewer people, isn't that a bargain for us?"

In previous years, during the slack season, almost every male household in the village would go out to work as odd jobs. However, this year, there are very few male workers in Gaojia Village and Gaojia Village who go out to work, and they are too busy to pick wolfberries.

Zhao Yang cooked a pot of rice porridge early in the morning and boiled out all the rice oil. She then went to Zhao Nan's house and brought back a can of dried radish. She added some pork belly, soaked shiitake mushrooms, ginger and garlic and stir-fried them. It smelled delicious. The two children's eyes lit up as soon as the porridge was served on the table.

"Grandma, we are hungry."

"I know you like to eat the dried radish from Third Grandma's house. The rice porridge is still warm, which is just right for eating."

Zhao Yang felt so distressed when she saw Xiao Chunya, who had lost a lot of weight, and Xiao Qiulin, whose chin had become pointed.

Young Master Mingyue unceremoniously sat down and ate the porridge together. I don’t know if it was because he had a better appetite by rushing to eat. On normal days, he would at most eat one bowl (a big bowl in the countryside), but today he ate one and a half bowls and was very full.

"Your appetite is not good enough." Xiao Chunya drank two large bowls of food. It turned out that she became fat because of how much she ate. No wonder she was so strong.

Xiao Qiulin also ate one and a half bowls and felt a little full. He was envious of his fat sister who could eat two big bowls. Since he was a child, his sister would always press him to the ground and rub him.

Seeing the children enjoying their meals, Zhao Yang was very happy and a little proud. She thought her daughters-in-law in the city were not as good at raising children as she was.

"Let's get to work."

With the previous experience of making water pipes, this time his movements were more skillful. With the help of eighteen or nineteen other people, Du Bei could do ordinary tasks by himself, such as cutting bamboo, chopping a small branch, digging a hole, etc.

To be honest, Du Bei envied his third brother Zhao Nan's family for having running water (no one in the village didn't envy them). Even though the amount of water was not large, there were three large tanks of water available all day long, and Zhao Nan's family had few people and could not use it all.

Du Dalang and Wang came back from the fields at noon and just arrived at the door of their house, they heard the cheers of children coming from inside.

"There's water!" This is Erniu's voice.

"Water! It's cool." This is Sanniu's voice.

Xiao Chunya’s loud voice came, “The water volume is normal! The speed is normal!” If you don’t know, you would think it was a rocket launching from a base!

An echo came from the other side of the mountain: "I heard it!"

When Zhao Dalang pushed open the door, he saw a group of people in the yard. His father and mother were looking at the tap water happily, with smiles on their faces.

"Grandpa, the amount of water here is not as much as that of Third Grandpa's house because it is divided in the middle."

Xiao Chunya felt that he needed to explain. There was no way to directly raise a main pipe to the opposite cliff from his grandfather's house. He had to build a support at the village chief's house and, as a favor, make a diversion in the bamboo tube, so that part of the water flowed into the village chief's house.

Du Bei said cheerfully, "This amount of water is not small. Although the diversion can at least save two large tanks of water in one day."

"The main reason is that the water output from the water hole here is large. The water output from the spring on the mountain wall corresponding to Third Grandfather's home is not as large as this one."

"If we use four large jars of water a day, we won't be able to use it all and it will be wasted." Zhao Bei thought that since there will be fewer people in his family in the future, the water consumption will definitely be less. It would be better to do a favor than to waste water.

Seeing that her grandfather didn't suspect anything, Xiao Chunya breathed a sigh of relief. Her father had always been talking about the good things about the village chief's son, Zhao Ming. The population of the village chief's family was about the same as that of the third grandfather's family now, and it was tiring to carry two large jars of water every day.

"Brother Erniu, what is that?" Xiao Chunya saw that the thing Erniu was holding looked familiar, but she couldn't figure out what it was for a moment.

"My father made this bamboo horse for me. Do you want to play with it, little sister?" Erniu generously handed over the bamboo horse in his hand.

A bamboo lump serves as the horse's head, a bamboo serves as the horse, and there are not even any wheels. How do you play with it?

Xiao Chunya looked at her childhood sweetheart and suddenly had an idea. She said, "Brother, let's make a scooter."

Xiao Qiulin showed a sweet smile on her face and said, "Sister, you are Fat Tiger."

Xiao Chunya was stunned for a moment before she realized that her bad brother was calling her a tigress. She picked up a broom and chased her brother from one end of the village to the other!

Young Master Mingyue took out his writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone. He knew how to make a scooter. It didn't require any special skills and he could just find the materials in the village, which just took some time.

"Wood, branches?"

"Young master, just wait for that." Eighteen and Nineteen, one holding an axe and the other holding a saw, rushed towards their target, Phoenix Mountain.

two quarters of an hour later

Eighteen and Nineteen carried back a tree stump as thick as a thigh, which contained not only branches but also leaves.

"What is this for?"

More and more people gathered at Zhao Bei's house. For example, the village chief was very good at carpentry, and the big furniture in the village was usually made by him. But when it came to toys, the village chief did not have the brains of Zhao Sanlang.

Young Master Mingyue wants to make two scooters, one for children to play with and the other for adults to pull goods.

Xiao Qiulin's space can actually be exchanged for rubber and nails. He took Cynomorium songaricum to exchange them. Anyway, they are not his medicinal herbs, so he doesn't feel sorry for them.

The village chief actually understood the blueprints. He enthusiastically gestured the sizes of the wooden boards, and then the children had nothing to do.

Three children stood by and watched the adults who seemed busy but actually had a detailed division of labor. Half an hour later, an adult scooter was assembled.

"Let me do it, let me do it." Zhao Wulang, who had just returned home, tried the scooter first. He had good balance and was able to ride it steadily on the ground in less than half an hour.

"This car is convenient for hauling goods."

"People have to ride the bike when going downhill and carry it when going uphill, and it's very dangerous to go downhill without brakes." Xiao Chunya complained, "This bike is only suitable for strolling around the village, it's better than nothing."

"This scooter is much easier to use than a cart. When there is cargo, you only need half the effort. When there is no cargo, you can pedal the scooter back."

Not only do you have to push the cart with both hands, but you also have to follow it step by step with your legs. The most annoying thing is that the speed is too slow, which is time-consuming and laborious!

Xiao Chunya blinked her big eyes and said, "Okay, as long as you think it's useful, that's fine. She's not a user, so she should listen to other people's opinions."

"Father, mother, we are going to the county town."

Before Zhao Sanlang and his family got on the mule carriage, they came to kowtow to Zhao Bei and his wife. After that, they only came back during the holidays.

Xiao Qiulin inadvertently looked up at Zhao Sanlang's face, which turned out to be full of danger. He then looked at Mrs. Du, Daqing and Xiaoqing, and was completely stunned.