Zhang An saw that it was still early, so he thought about going to his second uncle's house.
"Mom, I'm going to my second uncle's house."
Zhang An said hello to his mother before going out, so that if anyone wanted to look for him, there would be a place to look for him.
When writing the package before, Zhang An heard from his second uncle that Zhang Bin would start school in September and would report to school on the 31st.
So Zhang An took the time to ask and see when they would leave, and then he would help send him there. It would be convenient for him to bring his things.
The county middle school is a boarding school, so you have to bring your own bedding.
It's quite a long way from Changqing Village to the county, and it takes a long time to get there by car. Moreover, it's still quite a distance from the school when we get to the county.
It would be really troublesome if the second uncle's family had a bunch of bedding, quilts, clothes and the like.
When we arrived at the second uncle's house, the second aunt was ordering a quilt in the yard. It turned out that it was for Zhang Bin and asked him to take it to school.
"Second Aunt is ordering a bed."
"Zhang An is here. Binzi is about to start school, so I will quickly book his bed so that he can take him there."
Hearing Zhang An's arrival, the second uncle in the room also came out to talk to him.
"Second uncle and second aunt, I came here to ask when Binzi is going to school. I will take you there then."
Zhang An saw that his second uncle and aunt were there, so he told him his purpose of coming.
"We're leaving the day after tomorrow. We're afraid we won't be able to catch the bus. You don't have to bother. We can just take the minibus."
"I have nothing to do anyway. It will be more convenient for me to send you there then. When my parents sent me to school in the past, they had to carry a bunch of quilts and bedding. It was too troublesome. If I send you guys there, you can leave later.
, there’s no need to rush so early.”
They are all from his own family, and Zhang An is also willing to help his two uncles.
If it were those sons from his grandmother's family, Zhang An wouldn't even look at them.
There are a total of two high schools in the county, but only the county middle school recruits local students.
The other school is run by the city's Mining Bureau. It only admits children from within the Mining Bureau's system and does not recruit students from outside the school.
But I have to say that the teaching quality of that school is much better than that of the county middle school, and the admission rate is much higher every year.
When I came out of my second uncle's house, I happened to meet Carpenter Lin on the road.
"Uncle Carpenter, where are you going?"
Zhang An smiled and greeted Carpenter Lin.
Hearing Zhang An greeting him, Lin Carpenter raised the pocket in his hand.
"Today, the noodle maker in the town came to the village to make some noodles. I went to him to make some noodles."
Nowadays, noodles are an indispensable convenience food in everyone’s home, and every household will have some on hand.
“I didn’t make any noodles at home this year.”
"I haven't made it since last year. If I make too much, I'll let the worms come out. Anyway, my family often comes to the village to make noodles. If we run out, just ask him to make some more noodles."
In the past, every family in Changqing Village would grow some wheat, which could be used to make noodles and grind flour after harvesting.
Even if some families no longer grow wheat, they will buy some from those who have already grown it and take it to town to make noodles themselves. This way, they only have to pay some fees, which is more cost-effective.
But now, because of the old man who makes noodles in the town, his family has a tricycle. From Monday to Friday, he will take the noodles to the village to make a meal, and use the prepared noodles to mix the millet and wheat with everyone.
In the past, everyone made their own noodles because no one would come to the village to make them. It was better to make them yourself than to buy them in the town.
Therefore, every household will make a bunch of noodles and put them at home. However, although this is convenient, the noodles will be infested with insects if left for a long time, and they often have to be taken out to bask in the sun.
Now this old man comes to the village so often that no one is willing to make noodles, and there are even fewer people growing wheat.
The noodles in Hongyan Town are made of alkaline noodles. According to the width of the noodles, they can be divided into wide noodles, medium noodles and thin noodles.
As for the water used for cooking noodles, most people don’t throw it away directly, but keep it for washing dishes.
Washing dishes with surface water is still relatively clean. There is no such thing as dishwashing liquid now. Everyone uses soap locust powder to wash dishes, or some people directly put the bowls into the pig food pot and wash them again before taking them out.
Wash with clean water.
Don't think it looks disgusting, but it's actually the cleanest.
In fact, the pot used to cook pig food will not come into contact with the pig pot or the pigs, and when the temperature is high, the oily bowl can be washed cleanly by putting it in, and the oil and water in the bowl can also be used to feed the pigs, so there is no waste at all.
As long as you wash it twice with clean water afterwards, it will definitely be cleaner than washing with dish soap.
And it's because people's living standards have not improved now, so there won't be too much oil and water in the bowl after a meal, unlike in later generations, when the bowl is full of oil after eating.
"By the way, uncle carpenter, can you make a bee bucket?"
Zhang An thought of the wasps in the space, and then remembered that he had asked Carpenter Lin to make some bee buckets.
"Wind barrel? What is the wind barrel?"
"It's a beehive for bumble bees."
The carpenter of Bee Barrel Forest is not very familiar with it, but when it comes to beehives, he knows it.
"You're talking about a beehive. This thing is simple. Why do you want to do this? Are you going to feed the bees?"
For Lin Carpenter, making a beehive is simply an easy task and does not require any technical content.
"I found two nests of bumblebees some time ago and plan to raise them at home, so I plan to ask my carpenter to help me make a few bee buckets."
"Okay, how many do you want? If I have nothing to do in the afternoon, I will make them for you when I get back."
"Let's make four or five. If we don't have enough, we can make more. How much does one cost? Uncle Carpenter."
"How much do you charge? You asked me to make doors and windows last time and there are still some scraps left. I'll go back and make a few for you."
Carpenter Lin had no intention of collecting money from Zhang An. The last time Zhang An asked him to make doors and windows that cost more than a thousand yuan, he could earn several hundred yuan.
He also introduced Li Hongbin and his family to him to make doors and windows, and they could make a lot of money this time.
He felt that Zhang An would take care of him when he had business. At this time, he had to repay the favor. As a human being, you should repay kindness in return.
Zhang An originally wanted to give him money, but Carpenter Lin said that a few beehives didn't take much effort and would be ready in a while, so accepting the money was a sign of looking down on him.
Carpenter Lin also said that Zhang An would not help if he gave him money.
Zhang An was not polite. Anyway, if you need carpentry work in the future, just look for someone else.
"Then I won't be polite to the carpenter uncle. When the bees are raised and produce honey, I will send some to the carpenter uncle to try."
"Okay, this honey is a good thing. By the way, the wooden sign you asked me to make for you is ready."
Zhang An said that he would not pay him, but would give him honey bee sugar when the time came. Lin Carpenter would be happier.
One is because people treat you as themselves and are not polite to you.
The other reason is that the current Bumblebee candy is a good thing for everyone. The sweet and sweet sweets are liked by the elderly and children, but they are expensive.
"Okay, I'll pick it up at noon or tomorrow. Uncle Carpenter will be at home."
"Yes, you can come and get it whenever you have time."
When Zhang An finished building his house, he hired Carpenter Lin to make a large wooden sign.
He planned to get it to the roadside of Shiyakou and set it up at the intersection of the county road and the village.
For this reason, Zhang An also named his yard, "Riverside Family".
Zhang An came up with this name based on the location of his yard, which is adjacent to a big river and a small bridge.
Although the name doesn't sound elegant at first glance, it sounds quite appropriate.
And why would it have such an elegant name for just a farmyard?
Zhang An returned home and saw that his father, who had gone out to find his husband in the morning to look at the book and read about the day, was back.
"Dad is back, it depends on what day comes."
"Look, it's July 26th. The days before and after will not work. It will save trouble if you pass it earlier."
Zhang An didn't really care, as long as his parents took care of it anyway.
Zhang An flipped through the calendar and saw that there were still about ten days left on the 26th of the seventh lunar month. He didn't plan to hold a banquet, so he didn't need much time to prepare. He moved it early so that it would be easier to collect food.
This year, Zhang An's millet and corn seem to be ripening ahead of schedule.
While the millet in everyone's field has not yet bloomed, the rice grown in Zhang An's field has already begun to blossom and pollinate.
At this rate, it is estimated that the rice will mature a week or two earlier than other people's rice.
"Zhang An, Zhang An, are you at home?"
Not long after Zhang An returned home, he heard his old uncle calling him loudly outside the yard.
"I'm at home, uncle, what's wrong?"
Zhang An went out and took a look and found that the old uncle and a group of three or four people had arrived at the door of his yard.
Among the group of people, there was an old man in his fifties, a young man and a woman in their twenties.
Next to him was a tall, thin man in his forties with a square shaved head. Zhang An knew this man. He was from the forestry station in the town. His name was Zhang Yuan. He had often come to nearby villages before.
When building a house in the village, they have to cut down trees in the woods assigned to them, so every year the forestry station will come to urge everyone to plant trees, not just cut them down without planting them back.
After all, Zhang Yuan and the old village chief are the same family.
"Zhang An, these are staff from the town and county. They are here for the four-legged snake we found yesterday."
The village elder told Zhang An about the situation and then introduced it to Zhang An.
The older one in the lead is called Zhu Yuliang, who is the director of the county forestry bureau in charge of this area. The other two young people, the female is named Bai Xue and the male is named Wang Tao, are both clerks under Zhu Yuliang.
Why are they so active? Isn't it just a giant salamander?
This is really the case, because in the past few years, the authorities have issued red-headed documents to protect giant salamanders, and the pressure on them has increased.
Why, in the past, giant salamanders could be found everywhere in this mountainous area of the county, but there were definitely quite a few of them.
But later, due to people's capture, and of course the bigger reason was the excavation of a large number of local small coal mines and black coal mines, most of the water quality in the mountains was polluted.
As a result, the mountains are no longer what they used to be, and you can see giant salamanders everywhere.
So at that time, their department had already been named by the higher authorities, not only for creatures like giant salamanders, but also for other protected animals.
And for another reason, protected animals are found in the local area. For them, protecting them is their political achievement, and they can also use this to ask for money from the superiors.
Who can be inactive about such things? People who are inactive have brain problems.
"Hello, brother Zhang An, when is it convenient for you to take us to see the situation?"
The leader, the old man Zhu Yuliang, greeted Zhang An with a smile, showing goodwill.
"Welcome everyone. It's getting late now. Everyone has come from afar. Why don't you have a cup of tea in the yard and take a rest? Let's go see the giant salamander later."
Zhang An saw that it was getting late and suggested.
It takes about two hours to get here from the county, and the road is really not that close.
"Okay, then we will disturb your home."
Then he followed Zhang An into the courtyard.
"Well, this sweet-scented osmanthus smells so good, much better than the ones in our compound."
As soon as Bai Xue and others entered the village, they smelled the faint fragrance of osmanthus. She was familiar with this smell because they planted several trees in their yard.
When we entered the yard of Zhang An's house, we discovered such a big old osmanthus tree.
In August and September, it was the time when the old tree at home was blooming, and after Zhang An watered it with space spring water, its flowering period was even longer.
And when Bai Xue and his party arrive now, it happens to be the season when the old osmanthus is in full bloom.
"It is indeed better than the one in our yard. This tree should be the August Golden Osmanthus. It looks quite old. It should be fifty or sixty years old."
Zhu Yuliang was born in the Provincial University majoring in agriculture and forestry, so he is no stranger to these.
Looking at the thick and lush osmanthus trees in Zhang An's yard, I couldn't help but sigh.
"You guessed right. It is indeed the August Golden Osmanthus, but it is not fifty or sixty years old. This tree was planted by my grandfather when my father was still young.
Later, after my parents got married and built a new house, they transplanted it to this yard for about thirty years."
Zhang An explained to them with a smile.
This tree grew well, maybe because the yard of Zhang An's house is a good place. The tree has been growing well since it was transplanted, and there have been no pests. Later, Zhang An went to the village to water it. Can it be done?
Okay.
"Oh? Then your home is really a geomantic treasure land. This tree is not suitable for growing everywhere, and your tree grows so well."
"Hahaha, I appreciate your good words."
Zhang An went home and made a pot of tea and put it out in the yard on a small table that he had recently made with Carpenter Lin. The tea was instantly won over by Lao Zhu.
"This tea is good, not ordinary tea. I have tasted this tea before from an acquaintance. Zhang An, do you know Dong Jingzhi?"
As soon as the old man drank the tea and tasted it, he felt something familiar and immediately asked Zhang An.
"Oh? Director Zhu knows Brother Dong. They came to my place to play before."
Zhang An never thought that this old man knew Dong Jingzhi.
"I was wondering why this tea is so familiar. His father and I have known each other since childhood. I drank this tea at his place before and I can't forget it. What kind of tea is it?"
"So that's it. I did send them some tea leaves before. These are all camellias that I picked in the mountains myself. They are local varieties."
After the little old man Zhu Yuliang knew that Zhang An and Dong Jingzhi knew each other, they became closer and more familiar with Zhang An when they chatted with each other.
"This is not common. I often drink Pontu's tea. Your tea is much more fragrant than the branded ones."
The old man often drinks tea. Although he doesn't drink those expensive teas often, he has drunk them before.
So when you drink Zhang An's tea, you will definitely know that Zhang An's tea is different.