Sweet 80s

In more than a month, once the weather gets warmer, all kinds of summer sounds will be heard in the haystack, including those of the katydids that Erbao has a special liking for.

Grasshoppers are distributed in Northeast China, North China and other places.

It is larger than other singing insects, with a body length of about 40 mm. It is the leader of singing insects and often hides in grass, short trees and bushes.

Sometimes if you catch one of its legs, it will break the leg and run away without hesitation.

Children are particularly fond of the chirping sounds of katydids and always like to catch a few and raise them in their own yards.

Hang them in a ventilated place and avoid exposure to sunlight. Because they have the habit of killing each other, there is only one in each cage and they cannot be raised together.

In this way, you can often hear the refreshing, clear and loud chirping of insects.

I have repeatedly promised my brother a cricket cage, but this time I am afraid I can’t put it off any longer.

Dabao started to make plans.

There are many ways to make a cage, and it is usually better to weave the cage with bamboo silk, corn stalks, and bamboo strips.

But some techniques and materials are simply not realistic for children aged seven or eight.

Dabao was also very clear about this, so he chose to use a simpler weaving method, which was wheat straw.

Although the materials have been finalized, the wheat is not yet mature. It will take nearly two months for it to fully mature.

After school, Dabao packed up his things and prepared to go somewhere else, but was stopped by his classmate Ji Xiaoguang.

"Lin Kai, let's go to the back mountain to get bird eggs. A nest of eggs was just laid on the tree over there a few days ago."

Dabao waved his hand: "No, I have something else to do."

"Do you need help?" Ji Xiaoguang asked.

"No need." Dabao put on his schoolbag and walked out two steps before turning back.

"Ji Xiaoguang, do you know where to find wheat straw?"

Ji Xiaoguang raised his hand and pointed to the fields in the distance: "That field is full of wheat."

"No." Dabao explained quickly: "I want mature, completely dry wheat straw."

"Then why don't you just wait another two months?"

"No, I want it now. Do you know where I can get it?"

Ji Xiaoguang's eyes rolled around, and suddenly an idea flashed through his mind.

"I have one at home."

When the wheat is ripe and the grains are harvested, most people choose to burn them locally.

One is to save trouble.

It's not impossible to bring it home and use it as fuel for cooking, but it's too troublesome and it doesn't last as long as wood. Just harvesting such a large area of ​​wheat straw requires a lot of labor.

The second is time.

The harvest time is only about a month. If you don't hurry to collect the grain and dry it in the sun, and instead collect the straw, you'd be wasting your time.

Third, after burning, the land can be fertilized.

Wood ash fertilizer is the ash left after burning plants. It is an inorganic farm fertilizer with a wide source, low cost, complete nutrients and obvious fertilizer effect.

To sum up, it is indeed not easy to find available wheat straw in the non-harvest season.

"Then why does your family have it? You don't farm."

Ji Xiaoguang sat down directly on the table, looking a little proud.

"My grandmother's ancestors had a habit of using wheat straw to make pillows and mattresses."

"Pillow?" Dabao repeated, and immediately imagined that the pillow core was full of dry straw, and he couldn't help but shudder: "How uncomfortable~"

"It's not uncomfortable at all. It's covered with several layers of cloth. It's soft and smells like wheat. It's very comfortable to sleep on."

"But, the pillow is so small, can the rod inside still be used? Won't it all break?"

"The pillows are not good, and there are mattresses."

Ji Xiaoguang meant to take apart the mattress his grandmother slept on.

When Dabao heard this, he thought that although he could get wheat straw, the price he paid for it was quite high.

In his mind, he couldn't tell for a moment which "crime" was more serious, "biting a puppy" or "biting a puppy".

Before he even started doing anything bad, he had already planned to leave himself a way out.

Seeing Dabao hesitating, Ji Xiaoguang simply made the decision for him.

"It's settled. I'll help you get the straw this time, and you can go with me to get the bird eggs on Sunday. How about that?"

"Uh-huh!"

Dabao once again tried hard to analyze the feasibility of the matter. After thinking about it, he was afraid that there was no better way except this bad idea.

So he nodded at Ji Xiaoguang and agreed to the other party's suggestion.

Under the other party's command, the two first hid in the corner of the door.

"Still waiting for my signal as before."

After saying that, Ji Xiaoguang swaggered back to his yard and shouted, "I'm back."

Dabao was waiting outside. The two of them played naughty games a lot, and gradually they developed a tacit understanding. They just had to wait patiently before giving the signal.

Ji Xiaoguang behaved as usual. He threw his schoolbag casually on the ground after entering the room. Then he took a deep breath and pretended to run into his grandmother's room excitedly.

Grandma Ji was sitting at the head of the bed, sewing shoe soles while wearing her reading glasses. When she heard her eldest grandson coming in breathlessly, she quickly took off her glasses and asked.

"What's going on? Where did you go again?"

"Grandma!" Ji Xiaoguang took a few deep breaths to create a tense atmosphere and said, "There are people arguing on the street. It's getting really fierce. It looks like they're going to fight!"

"What are you arguing about?" When Grandma Ji heard this, she stopped the work in her hands and listened to her grandson carefully with a serious look.

"I didn't understand. It seemed like it was a matter between a woman and a man."

Watching the fun is human nature and also human instinct.

Especially, when conflict meets gossip.

If cheating is boring, then the drama of catching the adulterer and the mistress can definitely be put on prime time.

Similarly, the grandson's words instantly ignited Grandma Ji's gossip heart, and she couldn't wait to ask: "Where is it?"

Ji Xiaoguang pointed outside: "That's it, that's it, that one..."

There are two common situations when people are sometimes panicked and excited.

One is the disorder of language function, which is often called stuttering.

The second is temporary amnesia.

Ji Xiaoguang combined the two perfectly. A few seconds later, he frowned and tried hard to recall the past.

"There is a small bookstore on the street in front of Xiao E's house. It's under the willow tree next to the store. Yes, that's it!"

The address is clear and specific.

Grandma Ji dropped the things in her hands, put on her shoes in a panic and rushed out to watch the fun. Just as she reached the door, she suddenly stopped and said, "That's not right."

Ji Xiaoguang stood up straight immediately and rubbed his hands in panic: "What, what happened?"

"The tree next to the store is not a willow tree, but a locust tree. Are you remembering the wrong place?"

Good guy ~

Ji Xiaoguang breathed a sigh of relief: "Ah, yes, it's the locust tree, I was wrong, grandma, you should go quickly, if you go too late, everyone will leave."

Grandma Ji believed it without a doubt and took small steps to rush to the "scene of the incident" as fast as possible.

huh huh~

A whistle reached Dabao's ears.

After making sure that no one was around, Dabao tiptoed to Grandma Ji's room like a thief.

At this time, Ji Xiaoguang had already taken out a pair of scissors and cut a half-meter long hole in the mattress.

The moment the cloth was lifted, golden wheat straw came into view.

The hollow straw has been completely compacted, so the flat straw is perfect for weaving cages.

"How much do you want?"

“I weave cages.”

Ji Xiaoguang looked at the uneven lengths of the wheat straw and shrugged, saying, "How about this, I'll pack more for you, and you can find something you can use when you go back."

After saying this, he looked around his grandmother's room. It seemed that there was nothing in the room that could be stored.

When he was about to look away, his gaze happened to fall on a row of cabinets against the wall next to the bed.

Ji Xiaoguang walked over and opened the cabinet door, with almost half of his body inside. After a moment, he pulled out a faded autumn shirt.