Yao Xiaoqing saw that the pond was filled with water, so several people chopped the paper mulberry bast into short sections and put them into the pond for soaking. Fortunately, the pond was built high enough to hold eight or nine baskets of paper mulberry bast.
She looked at the piece of ramie that had harvested the seeds but had not yet had time to chop it, and said to Douzi: "You and taro chop the ramie together."
"Hey!" After the two agreed, they took the machetes and left.
Yao Xiaoqing held two big stones and pressed them on the paper towel bast. After the paper towel bast was soaked and softened, it was cleaned and soaked in plant ash.
She went over to check the kiln and saw that the fire inside had been extinguished. She turned around and went to the refining room to get a pair of iron tongs, and dug through the ashes to look at the limestone.
I saw that the originally black-gray limestone has revealed its snow-white essence after being fired.
Yao Xiaoqing took out the fired limestone and placed it beside the kiln.
Ah He looked at the white stones piled next to the kiln in surprise, "Xiao Qing, are these the stones you put in this morning?"
Yao Xiaoqing smiled and nodded, "Yes!"
Ah He laughed and said: "It turns out that after the stone is burned, it will turn white!"
Yao Xiaoqing shook his head, "Not all stones will change color when burned."
Ah He said "Oh" as if he didn't understand.
Yao Xiaoqing took out all the limestone and put it aside.
I took a jar, scooped half a jar of water into it, picked up a piece of limestone and put it into the water. After a while, the melted limestone started bubbling, and white water vapor came out of the jar.
"It's done." Yao Xiaoqing smiled and patted the dust on his hands.
Yao Xiaoqing couldn't explain to him what a chemical reaction was because she couldn't understand it herself. She had to warn him, "He Bo, limestone is as hot as boiling water after soaking. You must not reach out and touch it."
"I won't touch it!" Ah He looked at the sky and said, "The sky has darkened. You go back to the cafeteria to eat while I seal the furnace and go."
"I'm going to see if Taro and the others have finished cutting the ramie?"
Yao Xiaoqing walked to the bottom of the pond, where Taro Zi was holding a bundle of ramie stalks and throwing them into the water.
She raised her head and saw Yao Xiaoqing, waving her hand and saying: "Xiaoqing, you go back first, there won't be much left, we will go back after cutting the ditch."
"Then I'll go back first."
Yao Xiaoqing turned around and went home, washed her face and went to the canteen. She saw several women from the Qingshan tribe standing at the door of the canteen.
When several people saw Yao Xiaoqing coming over, they all laughed at her. Hongye said with some difficulty: "Qing Wu is back!"
Yao Xiaoqing smiled and nodded, "Hongye has also learned the words here."
Hongye smiled shyly, "Heiba, you taught me!"
Yao Xiaoqing glanced at Qiu, who was standing next to Hongye with a smile that was worse than crying, in surprise, and frowned, "What are you doing standing here?"
Hongye said, "We are waiting here for the leader and Heiba and the others."
"Oh!" Yao Xiaoqing smiled lightly and walked in.
Yun Amu walked out of the kitchen carrying swill, "Xiao Qing, A Lin said that another sow was pregnant with a baby. The long-haired goat gave birth to two lambs in the afternoon."
Yao Xiaoqing looked at her in surprise, "Okay! How many pigs did the sow give birth to last time?"
Yun Amu nodded with a smile, "A dozen piglets were born. I heard that two died, and there were eight piglets."
Yao Xiaoqing didn't expect wild boars to have such strong reproductive capabilities. "If this continues, there won't be enough pigpens next year. Let's go! I'll go over with you to take a look, bring back the eggs and duck eggs, and pick out some hatching eggs."
"Growing egg, what is hatching egg?" Yun Amu couldn't understand again.
Yao Xiaoqing smiled and said: "A hatching egg is an egg that can hatch out chicks and ducks."
"Ah!" Yun Amu looked at her in surprise, "Then the eggs we usually eat can also hatch chicks and ducks?"
Yao Xiaoqing looked at her surprised look and shook his head with a smile, "Not every egg can hatch chicks or ducks. Hold the egg up to the light. The ones with a small black shadow inside are hatching eggs, and the ones without are ordinary eggs.
.I got the egg back and I will teach you tomorrow."
When talking about looking at hatching eggs, Yao Xiaoqing's nose felt a little sore. She remembered her mother wearing reading glasses and picking out hatching eggs under the electric light.
She has always admired the women of her mother's era and thought they were really capable.
She makes all kinds of bean paste, pickles, pickles, bean curd and tofu, as well as clothes and shoes from head to toe. Everything she can make at home comes from her hard-working hands.
Seeing that she was deep in thought, Yun Amu walked slowly aside with her swill in hand.
Before I knew it, I arrived at the pens at the back.
"Xiaoqing, the pigsty is here." Yun Amu said, putting down the swill bucket and pouring the swill into the jar.
Lin Bo came over, with a joyful smile on his face, "Xiao Qing, come and take a look. Those piglets are growing up so fast, they look different every day."
Yao Xiaoqing approached the pig pen and saw several piglets with light brown fur and black stripes, stretching their round bodies and lying around the sows, groaning.
"Well done to Uncle Lin, these animals are really strong."
A Lin said cheerfully: "You said pigs like to eat gourd leaves. Huo and I brought a lot of goose leaves back and threw them in the pen to feed them. We also dried a lot of them and put them on top. The goose leaves were dried in the sun.
Finally, I pinched it with my hands and it broke into pieces. I plan to mix it in the pig food and feed it to them when the weather gets cold and I can’t find the leaves.”
Yao Xiaoqing followed where A Lin pointed and saw that they had built a wooden house on the flat roof above the pig pen, with a bamboo ladder next to it.
"I didn't think carefully and forgot to build a place to store pig food. Uncle Lin, the bamboo ladder is too slippery. I asked my father to build a staircase for you. It will be easier to go up and down."
Alin waved his hand and said, "It's okay. We can still crawl now. We'll wait until we can't. Come and see those long-haired goats. They gave birth to six lambs. There is also a ewe that is pregnant with a lamb."
.”
Seeing Alinbo's proud look, Yao Xiaoqing was also very happy and asked with a smile: "Did you shear the sheep in the summer?"
A Lin nodded, "Those who have been sheared, Huo and I held down the shearers. After shearing a few long-haired sheep, there are three baskets of wool. There are also rabbits, we also held down and sheared them once."
Yao Xiaoqing looked at those short-haired rabbits and thought about how bare they looked after being sheared. He couldn't help but laugh a little. He pursed his lips and said: "After these busy days, I will knit some wool vests for uncle of your breeding team first."
There are kneepads to keep you warm."
Hearing Yao Xiaoqing's words, Alin was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth. He shook his head repeatedly, "You don't need to weave it for us first, weave it for the leaders and warriors first, we rely on them to protect us!"
Seeing his happy look, Yao Xiaoqing said with a smile: "Don't worry, there is a lot of wool from the long-haired sheep that came back from hunting. Weave it for the breeding team first, and then for the hunting team."
Yun Amu stood aside with a smile, "Alin, we have had a good life."
Arin nodded repeatedly, "Yeah! I never dreamed of it."