Affection for Sidaogou during the Famine

At the strong request of Xiao Sanzi, Han Zhaozhao had to advance the plan of land reclamation.

However, their three-person group was not together. Niu Xiaoyun followed her brother and sister to their hometown in Henan, so only she and Xiao Sanzi were working today.

But it didn't matter, the ground was still frozen, and the two of them could only do some work like picking up stones and clearing weeds.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, everyone in Xiao Sanzi's family went to work and had lunch in the cafeteria. He was the only one left at home.

Han Zhaozhao's situation was the same as his. After sending his family members off to work in the morning, the two of them took some dry food, carried water bottles on their backs, and carried hoes, hatchets, and sickles, and went out of the city and up the mountain.

After walking for more than an hour, they finally reached the valley. Xiao Sanzi smiled as he climbed over the ridge.

"Zhao Zhao, it seems that you have shaved too much on both sides of the hillside! Did you cut all the firewood for your family before the New Year here?"

Han Zhaozhao was very pleased with himself, "How is it, has your vision been broadened a lot?

More importantly, after the thaw, it will be much easier for us to open up the land, and we can plant crops at the bottom of the valley without being blocked by the sunlight.

Come on, I'll show you the land I've chosen, it's so fertile!"

Han Zhaozhao led the third child and spiraled down to the bottom of the valley.

"There aren't many rocks on the hillsides on both sides, and the soil is very thick. If we clean it up, we should be able to grow crops, right?"

The third child was delighted to see prey, and he looked around to see where food could be grown.

“It may not work. The slope is too steep and the rainwater cannot be retained. If it doesn’t rain for a few days, the trees will die of drought.

But I've thought about it, let's plant other varieties. In these flat areas, plant buckwheat.

We plant castor beans on these steep slopes. I cleared such a large area last fall, and I can’t let the land sit idle.”

Xiao Sanzi had never seen what buckwheat looked like, nor did he understand the value of castor beans. He only knew that castor oil could be eaten and used to light oil lamps, but he didn't know that it could be grown in the capital, and he had never seen what castor beans looked like.

However, listening to Han Zhaozhao's clear and logical explanation, I thought it was all taught by Grandma Han. The old lady has been farming for a lifetime and must have a lot of farming experience.

They have no experience in planting, so they just have to follow instructions.

He agreed to whatever Han Zhaozhao said and never made any comments.

Starting from the eighth day of the first lunar month, the two children ran to the valley every day.

Clearing weeds, picking up stones, and cleaning the land at the bottom of the valley piece by piece.

When I was hungry at noon, I would prop up a few stones and scrape some ground for firewood. I would light a fire, fork the steamed buns with branches, and roast them over the fire. I would drink the water I carried up the mountain, and the food tasted so delicious!

Han Zhaozhao complained in his heart: How could it not smell good? Working too much makes you hungry quickly, and when you are extremely hungry, even chewing on the soles of your shoes smells good!

What's more, the dry food they eat looks black, but it is actually steamed whole wheat flour produced in the space mixed with soybean flour.

The buns are stuffed with cabbage and radishes grown in the space, and added with peanut oil made from peanuts in the space. They are delicious even when eaten raw, let alone cooked!

Didn't you see that Xiao Sanzi's appetite has increased since he went up the mountain with her to open up wasteland? He used to eat two buns or steamed buns per meal, but now he can eat five at a meal!

Han Zhaozhao thought that if she didn't have the space to grow food as a base, and if she didn't eat a lot, the way the two of them ate, they would have used up her family's food quota in just ten days.

But she didn't feel bad about giving something to the third child. The child knew how to be grateful and would protect her no matter what. He said that they were childhood friends, but in fact he was closer to her than his two brothers.

Before going to school, the third child almost grew up in the Han family. The old lady did not treat him as an outsider, but treated him as her own child.

Moreover, Han Zhaozhao herself also likes this child!

Although he was so young, the work of clearing the land was so tiring that he worked for several days in a row without even a groan.

This child was beyond her expectations. He was capable, hard-working, and optimistic. Han Zhaozhao planned to train him into a real good helper!

"Zhao Zhao, I've told you so many times, let me move the rocks, and you just mow the weeds."

Han Zhaozhao was sticking her butt out to lift the stones on the ground. Xiao Sanzi from the other side saw it, dropped the stone in his hand, ran over, pulled her aside, bent down and tried to pick up the stone.

Han Zhaozhao quickly stopped him and said, "Don't move, it's still half buried, you can't hold it up.

Don't hurt your waist. Get up. I'll use my butt to dig out the dirt next to it. If that doesn't work, I'll use a stick to slowly pry it to the side."

The two children dug out large stones and picked up small stones. They piled all the stones they picked up on the edge of the ground, gradually piling up more and more, forming a slope dam.

The soil at the bottom of the valley was very thick, and there were particularly large rocks that they could not move, so they went around it and cleaned up the surrounding area.

This is how reclaimed land is, it is not possible to make it into large flat land, it requires filling in holes and leveling, and moving too much earth.

There’s no way these two half-grown kids can do it!

It can only be divided into pieces and planned into small pieces according to the terrain.

It took four days to get the rough shape.

Standing on a high place and looking down at the valley, they both felt a sense of accomplishment.

It looks like the jigsaw puzzles that children played with in their previous lives. There are no square plots of land. The big ones are half an acre, and the small ones are five or six square meters. There are large and small piles of stones in between, which looks pretty nice.

The third child was particularly dissatisfied, "If the adults in the family could come to help, we could make the land tidier.

Now, the big ones are big, the small ones are small, the round ones are not round, the square ones are not square, it’s really ugly!”

Han Zhaozhao had a different opinion from him. "You are dreaming! How can we let adults get involved in this matter? If they are found out, what if they are accused of taking advantage of the collective? Will they still be able to keep their jobs?

Our kids are fine. They are just playing around and won't be easily discovered.

Even if they find out, what can they do to us? They can’t revoke our Beijing household registration anyway.

You have a lot of problems, but I think you are fine! The different heights and sizes are just what I like.

Just imagine, when we plant different crops, in summer, the crops will be light green, dark green, tall, short, flowering, and fruit-bearing, all different, so beautiful!

There is also a biggest advantage that you can’t even imagine! ”

Xiao Sanzi was comforted and smiled after thinking about it. Yes, now the bare brown ground is exposed, and there are large and small piles of gray-brown stones next to it. There is nothing to see.

But just thinking about planting crops like corn, millet, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, etc. makes me satisfied.

In the autumn, they can wait for the grain harvest, and his family can eat pure dry food for every meal.

"What's the advantage of having a small plot of land? Look at the fields outside the city. They are all large and planted with crops, stretching as far as the eye can see. How spectacular!

Zhaozhao, if we plant all the land we have opened, how much grain can we get?"

Han Zhaozhao estimated, "We have only cultivated two mu of land in the past few days. If we plant all the land, we can probably harvest about 400 to 500 kilograms of grain!

But it’s hard to say. There’s still a lot to do in the first year, such as reclaiming the land, fertilizing, planting seeds, and management!

It all depends on whether God is kind this year. If the weather is good, the yield may be upwards of 500 to 600 kilograms."

The third child was not discouraged at all, and said with high morale: "In a few days, we will go to school, so we can only come to work on Sundays.

Before school starts, let’s clear the land downstream. It’s not a small piece of land, and once it’s cleared, it’ll be enough to cover two mu. Then we can harvest an extra four to five hundred kilograms of grain in the fall.”

Han Zhaozhao wanted to laugh. She had never realized that this little brat was quite bold!

Her hands were covered with blisters, but she still worked hard! She wanted to say to him: "Young man, two acres of land? You think too much!"