Time passed in anticipation, and finally when the rice turned golden and the autumn rain continued, we could no longer wait for the weather to clear up.
Taking advantage of the lull in the rain, when the water vapor on the straw dries slightly, I quickly take back the millet.
Harvesting rice has become a big event for both families. Compared with harvesting wheat, there are a few more spectators this time.
Xiang Dejin brought a few wounded soldiers over to help, and Li Laoshi stood beside him with an envious look on his face.
Tsk tsk, people are fleeing from famine everywhere, but here they are harvesting food!
Jiang Zhi and Xu Errui had previously cut off the rice ears that they had marked and hung them under the eaves, leaving the rest for food.
There is food again, everyone is happy, and even the slight pain caused by the rice leaves scratching the skin is itchy and particularly comfortable.
Little Man picked a rice grain and bit it open in his mouth, feeling the water content of the rice. A smile appeared on his face, then he spit out the rice husk, chewed the rice inside and swallowed it.
The women were all cutting rice, while the rest were carrying straw. There were so many people, this work seemed like a play.
"Bang, bang bang, bang bang bang!"
Xiao Manye and Xu Errui were threshing millet in wooden barrels that were simply put together. The rhythmic beating movements were all in slow eight beats.
A group of people around were watching with relish, perhaps recalling the harvest scene in the peaceful and prosperous times.
After harvesting the rice, there was another problem with drying it, and now there is water everywhere.
The originally narrow courtyard dam was softened by the rain, and the sunlight that peeked out slightly shrank back before drying the land.
This is the most worrying thing for farmers. If the grain is taken back and is not dried quickly, once it heats up and sprouts, a year's hard work will be in vain, and you will be hungry in the following days.
This year, you don’t have to worry at all, just bake the rice directly on the kang.
In order to get food, Jiang Zhi had to make a bed on the ground for a few days and spread hay under the kang to sleep.
Unexpectedly, baking rice these past few days has made the little wild boar so happy!
When it was first picked up, Jiang Zhi looked pitiful and allowed it to live in the room.
Therefore, the shoes that he took off on the kang every night became the little wild boar's pillow.
But when Jiang Zhi gets up in the morning to look for his shoes, he usually finds them flattened under the belly of the little wild boar.
This sleep lasted for two months. As the little wild boar grew older, Jiang Zhi chased it out.
This guy is not honest when sleeping. He can tolerate snoring and grinding his teeth, but the most unbearable thing is spanking.
Sweet potato vines, sweet potato roots, eating more and more, and being spanked with a fart. Jiang Zhi was woken up several times by the smoke, and slapped him: "Pork belly, you stink too much, you are not allowed to enter the house!"
The little wild boar was so sleepy that when he was woken up, he thought he was being asked to go out to pee.
There is no way, the little wild boar has a fixed toilet, it will not dirty the room, and it can hold its feces and urine.
There was no way to deal with this fart, so Jiang Zhi could only drive it to sleep in the pig's nest under the herb shed.
The little wild boar was dissatisfied and would knock on the door several times every night and then get slapped before leaving.
Nowadays, it is convenient to turn the rice on the kang for drying and turning, and the door is not closed tightly for ventilation and moisture removal.
So Jiang Zhi built a bunk next to him.
But in the middle of the night, the little wild boar would secretly open the door and go in, sleeping next to the haystack on the ground.
Although it lowered its voice, Jiang Zhi, who was laying on the floor, still woke up, pretending to be asleep and ignoring it.
Anyway, when it's still dark, the little wild boar will sneak out again.
Jiang Zhi pretended not to know at night, but during the day, he used a bamboo brush to clean the little wild boar from head to tail.
Being able to bake rice on the kang was an eye-opener for Mr. Man and a few wounded soldiers.
Xiang Dejin repeatedly asked several times how to set up and burn the kang: "Although it is too hard to sleep comfortably, if you live in a house with few beddings, this is good."
He is a native of Bajun. He has been accustomed to soft straw beds since he was a child. This is the first time he has seen such an earth bed.
There are mountains everywhere in Bajun, so there is no need to worry about firewood for burning the kang. People do not need the kang to stay warm outside during the day, but sleeping on the kang at night is warmer than burning a fire in the middle of the house.
And the effect of baking grain is even better. In seasons with lots of water, it is really difficult to find a dry place.
Li Laoshi's eyes rolled around: "Sister-in-law Jiang, do you always use this, this soil bed?"
Jiang Zhi has never been warm to this "honest man", even though he once helped Xu Errui.
At this time, seeing that he was also curious about the earthen kang, he only said lightly: "The kang also has its disadvantages, and Xia Tian can't solve it."
The disadvantages are of course related to the different geographical location. The summer in Berkshire is humid and hot, which makes the entire kang damp.
Xiaoman's kang had to be dismantled later because water entered the house after a heavy rain, and the feet of the kang remained wet.
The houses here in Jiangzhi are high up and relatively dry, and kangs are often burned to bake medicinal materials in the summer, so they are preserved.
Li Laoshi said hehey: "Sister-in-law Jiang, why don't you teach me how to play the kang? If I make any money in the future, I'll share half of it with you! Just don't let anyone know whether it's good or not."
Jiang Zhi glared at him: "You'd better think about how to open up wasteland for farming."
The place where the wounded soldiers live is on a slope. As long as you work hard and work hard, you can carve out a small stretch of slope land and plant some vegetables.
Mr. Xiaoman said that he asked Li Laoshi to take some radish and cabbage seeds and plant them in the open land over there. In this way, he would not be able to eat and drink with Xiang Dejin and others for long, and he would have to rely on himself to have food in the future.
Li Laoshi and Nuonuo agreed, but it has been several days and there has been no movement.
Hearing that Jiang Zhi also mentioned land reclamation, Li Laoshi laughed a few times and left.
If he was willing to farm, how could he be a lazy person? However, coming to the mountains was not in vain. In addition to eating and drinking, he also wanted to learn how to recognize medicinal herbs, but Mrs. Jiang would not teach him.
However, in the attic where Jiang Zhi kept medicine, Li Laoshi saw two familiar grasses.
It turned out that those weeds that could be seen everywhere were medicinal materials, and he instantly felt that he had lost a hundred taels of silver.
When Li Laoshi wanted to look again, he was pushed and bitten away by the little wild boar.
Under the wooden attic is the little wild boar's nest. Except for the three of his own family, no one else is allowed to approach the wooden attic, not even Xiaoman.
Li Laoshi was sent away, and Xiang Dejin beside him was a little embarrassed. He was just thinking about whether he could teach others the soil bed method.
However, he still said: "Aunt Jiang, there is no way to make charcoal for a fire in the medical shed in winter. It would be comfortable to lie down on the heated kang. Can you let the medical shed repair the kang?"
There are no welfare treatment institutions now, and those wounded soldiers rely on the local policies of each general.
The hospital shack is a large tent made of oilcloth, and a quilt is spread out on a large wooden board to sleep on. Normally it doesn't matter, but this winter it is uncomfortable.
There were so many beddings that couldn't be turned over and dried, so they were inevitably wet and cold.
Mr. Xiao Man also said: "That's true, the handymen are all grown men, and they are also frizzy when washing and scrubbing. It's not comfortable to be injured and caught in the cold."
Xu Dazhu had been paralyzed for two years, and they took care of him for two winters. Naturally, they knew that the patient was most afraid of catching cold.
Jiang Zhi didn't want to make money by making a kang, especially sucking blood from patients: "Then tell Zhang Juntou. If he wants to make a kang in the medical shed, let Xiao Man and Er Rui teach him."
Xiang Dejin thanked her profusely: "Aunt Jiang is very kind. I would like to thank you on behalf of the other brothers."
He didn't waste any time and immediately asked Li Laoshi to go down the mountain to deliver the message.
