Back at their home, Jiang Zhi and Qiaoyun ate corn mush, and everyone began to work separately.
Qiaoyun stayed at home to peel the green fruit shells, and then grinded more flour every day to share with Xiaoman's family.
Jiang Zhi carried the hatchet and hoe, put the basket on his back and went out.
She was looking for some firewood, and by the way, she began to have an in-depth understanding of the mountains and forests surrounding her residence.
Although it has been almost half a month since I moved, I have been either busy repairing my house or making a kang these days, or I have been picking up green leaves in the forest in front of my house, and I haven't walked fifty meters yet.
Not far from the new home is the charcoal kiln.
Jiang Zhi has seen this most primitive method of burning charcoal, and it is a basic skill that wilderness survivors must master.
You only need to put the chopped wooden sticks of the same length and size into the kiln pit neatly, cover the outside with yellow mud to leave a ventilation hole, then ignite the fire from the side and below to ignite the firewood inside, burn it until the water vapor evaporates, then seal it with soil and smolder Just carbonize it.
In the past, people in rural areas would always cook in a kiln by themselves in the winter, but this has been banned due to heavy pollution.
The charcoal kiln here has not been fired in three years. The sides of the kiln wall have collapsed due to erosion by rain. There are previously discarded sticks and branches scattered around.
Exposed to the sun and rain, all the miscellaneous branches have rotted away, and only the branches of the Qinggang tree are still strong.
Jiang Zhi gathered together the usable firewood and prepared to take it back for cooking.
The charcoal kiln is located on a relatively gentle slope. Except for the low shrubs, it is covered with messy dead grass.
While Jiang Zhi cut down shrubs and weeds, she picked up countless small and large gravels on the slope and put them together. These stones were not garbage, and she would have great use for them later.
This is the wasteland that Jiang Zhi has long been optimistic about. Now it has been cleared and plowed for future use. When it rains, it can be sown.
After clearing a certain distance of dead grass and shrubs, she dug a shallow trench on the slope, placed the stones she had just collected in the trench, and piled up a two-foot-high rim according to size.
Then the soil above the slope was excavated and spread out. Looking around, layers of flat terraces suddenly appeared.
Just digging the slopes flat does not allow for farming. This is a rocky mountain with thin soil and insufficient water and fertilizer to support high-density crop growth.
Moreover, the newly opened soil is raw soil, which has not been fertilized or watered. It is filled with roots and stems of miscellaneous trees and weeds. It was difficult for food to grow in the past few years.
This is also the reason why few people were willing to open up wasteland in ancient times.
Without enough base fertilizer, only grass will grow in the wasteland after land reclamation.
Moreover, the government collects taxes based on the number of acres of land, but no matter what the harvest is, farmers who open up wasteland will lose more than they gain.
Unless there is a big favor order, and then land reclamation is encouraged, tax exemption will be given for three years.
Jiang Zhi has a way to solve this problem. She collects topsoil from other places and pours it into the newly built small terraces, which not only deepens the soil thickness, but also increases fertility.
This topsoil is basically leaf litter humus, which is air-permeable and water-permeable, making it a high-quality soil for planting.
Unfortunately, the area of land that can be improved by this method is limited, just like growing vegetables on the roof of a building. It cannot grow a few acres or more of mountainous land.
dream picture
Five layers of terraces were built here, and Jiang Zhi went back to help Qiaoyun grind the green rice powder.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law talked for a while, looking forward to a better future, and the busy day passed.
After a simple dinner, she washed her face and feet and lay down on the warm earthen kang. She felt that all the bones in her body were stretched.
well!
An acre of land, a cow, a warm bed with a wife and children, and plenty of food and drinks after physical work are the most relaxing.
Simple happiness is the instinctive pursuit of human beings. You really don’t deceive me!
Jiang Zhi thought to himself, relaxed and quickly fell asleep:
...She saw "herself" again, still lying on the big pillow on the sofa.
On the coffee table, my favorite chrysanthemum lamp is still on, and the AI reading sound on the phone next to me is still reading a novel leisurely.
The pet cat turned over and lay on its back with its legs in the air. It didn’t know what it was dreaming about, and its little feet were still kicking...
Are you in a dream or a book?
This time Jiang Zhi was no longer surprised. She calmed down and wanted to hear clearly what the AI robot was saying.
Just thinking this in my mind, the originally vague sound of reading suddenly became clear, and even a picture appeared, as if I was immersed in the scene.
It turned out to be the same male novel that I traveled through time and space.
"...Xu Pingmao, the head of Xujia Village, led a team of dozens of people to Fucheng, where there is a solid city wall.
Yuzhou Prefecture is four hundred miles away from Xujiacun. Normally, it would take a man seven or eight days to walk. But now, with his family and his family in tow, it takes almost a day to reach twenty miles.
Either this family's chicken flew away, or that family's sheep was pushing against the person's butt, or the rope of the burden was loose and the oil was poured out of the basket.
Xu Pingmao was so angry that he yelled: "I asked you to kill the chickens and ducks and bring them with you. How are you going to raise these living animals?"
The villagers still didn't take it seriously and yelled at the village chief Xu Pingmao: "Uncle village chief, don't worry, the chicken will lay eggs and deliver them to your home in a while."
In the team, Nie Fantian carried his package and walked silently.
He just touched the package quietly. In addition to clothes, there were a few pancakes and boiled sweet potatoes, as well as a pack of hard dried sweet potatoes.
Dried sweet potatoes are steamed and sun-dried, so they can be stored for a long time without worrying about spoilage.
What surprised him the most was that at some point, there was an extra fortune in the bag.
A sling of money is one thousand Wen, which is also one tael of silver, enough for him to eat on the road alone.
Nie Fantian was very annoyed and puzzled: this sling of money is probably half of the family's savings. What kind of trick is that damn woman playing? Why is she giving herself money?
Is it like before, deliberately slandering yourself for stealing, and then taking you to a crowded place to beat yourself up?
Nie Fantian felt uncomfortable when he thought of his evil aunt.
But now that my aunt is no longer around and can no longer scold me, why would she still give her money?
This question was too complicated for a sixteen-year-old, so he could only keep his doubts deep in his heart.
The villagers around me were making noisy noises. When they stopped to take a rest and eat something, the refugees on the roadside gathered around them.
In fact, they encountered several waves of refugees when they left the village. However, the people in Xujia Village were a large group, and the refugees stayed far away and did not dare to approach.
Some people who wanted to come over and grab it were frightened away by a few roars, so people from Xujia Village walked so easily and happily.
But the refugees we met this time were obviously not afraid anymore, or it could be said that they were the food brought out by the people of Xujia Village. Those clucking chickens were too attractive.
All of these people were unkempt, as thin as a ponytail, and their faces were yellow and lifeless.
When seeing people from Xujia Village, they are like hungry wolves who pounce upon fresh meat.
Village chief Xu Pingmao shouted: "Take the things and fight them back. Fight them back quickly."
The refugees also took out sticks.
Suddenly the official road became a mess, people were fighting, and the frightened chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep also panicked.
Nie Fantian, who was thin and looked very weak in the crowd, had nowhere to vent his anger, so he pulled out a kitchen knife and rushed into the melee.
I saw him like a cat demon gliding in the dark night, the blade flew by, blood splashed everywhere, and a shaggy head flew high...
"Ah! Killing!" The people in Xujia Village and the refugees screamed in fear.
At this moment, a scream sounded in his ear, which startled Jiang Zhi in his dream to the point where his heart almost stopped.
"Mother! Mother!"
Xu Errui shouted at the top of his lungs outside the simple door: "Mom, get up quickly! The village down the mountain is on fire again!"
Jiang Zhi had not come back to his senses at this time, and was trembling all over. The scene of the sharp knife splitting his brain was still in front of him.
