Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

After hearing this, Ms. Chen's face relaxed and she rolled her eyes at Jinghan. "You little thing, can it be the same? Do you think you can make cakes with anything? Okay, if you like teasing, just give it a try. Anyway, it's just a waste of time. If I don't let you do it, by then I muttered to myself again. "Living in the mountains, there is plenty of firewood, so we have to burn the kang anyway."

After hearing this, Jinghan knew that he must have been fooled. Now, even if I come up with something by myself, no one will doubt it, and they will just think that I made something by mistake. "Grandma, we have to wait a while before eating, right? I'm going to get this first. I want to try it."

"Go ahead, we have to wait for a while to eat." Mrs. Chen waved her hand.

When Jinghan heard this, she quickly asked Wenhan and the others to help bring all the mountain grapes and some household items to Zhixin's house. We have to cook dumplings and stir-fry vegetables here, but there is no room. The children moved all the things like ants moving, and Jinghan also quietly took some noodles and sugar, saving the ones for easy use.

Jinghan led Jingwan and Jingxian, put the grapes into a large basin, and gently poured them over with water. This mountain grape is a wild thing, and there is actually nothing to kill on it, so just rinse it with water. Next, the three sisters picked off the fruit berries one by one. This was easy, they just kept pulling them down.

Brush the pot clean, add water, and put the picked grapes into the pot. Of course, the water should not be too much, that is, two small scoops of water is enough. After all, there is still a lot of juice in the grapes. Light a fire under the pot, and when the water in the pot boils, simmer it slowly over low heat. When all the grape skins and grape seeds inside are boiled and separated, use a pick to pull out the skins and seeds. Continuing to simmer over low heat, when the juice in the pot felt a little sticky, Jinghan quietly found the flour noodles and sugar at home and put them in.

Jinghan went out to find some corn husks, then cut off the back part of the corn husks with scissors, washed them with water, and brought them to the pot. Use a spoon to scoop the purple-red juice into the corn husks. After scooping out each piece, place it on the fork next to it. When all the juice in the pot is scooped out, the fork will be full. Jinghan and Jingwan took the forks out and put them in a ventilated place, waiting to dry.

After finishing this work, the dumplings over there happened to be cooked, so Mr. Xue shouted for everyone to prepare to eat the dumplings quickly. The children all washed their hands and then sat at the table, waiting for the delicious dumplings to come out of the pot.

The dumplings are still made of mustard tassels and pork. At this time, this is the filling. There are several other dishes on the table, including stewed river fish, pheasant stewed with mushrooms, rabbit meat stewed with potatoes, and venison, all of which are meat dishes. When everyone sat down, the old man said, "Okay, we are all members of our own family. Today is the festival. This is our first Mid-Autumn Festival in the mountains. Let's all have fun together. I won't say anything else, just eat quickly. You can't drink today, it's the last day left, don't let anything happen at this juncture. Zhixin, you have to be more alert tonight, just wait until tomorrow when the sticks come." The old man knows how to use chopsticks first. Try a dumpling. "Well, it's pretty good, fresh enough." He said and nodded.

Only then did everyone use their chopsticks, and the children naturally hit the dumplings hard. We really ate a lot of these fish and pheasants in the mountains, so I wasn’t hungry anymore. Dumplings are different. I don’t have time to make them, and I still have to buy meat, so I prefer eating dumplings.

After the family had eaten dumplings, it was the end of the Youshi period. Mrs. Chen arranged for Zhide's family of four to live in the boys' house, and then the boys lived in Zhixin's and Zhiming's houses respectively. It was already dark outside. Everyone sat together and talked for a while, and then went to sleep. As for admiring the moon and so on, we were all so tired that no one had the time to think about it.

On the morning of August 16th, the Zhide family left after breakfast. And the people in the village also came to Shenchangzi early. Everyone carried three-toothed tools, four-toothed tools and other tools, and hurriedly went to each family's ginseng field to pick up sticks.

Of course, the Xu family also came to the ginseng field where they made their goods. The date for the ginseng was set, so they had to start it together.

First, it was easy to dismantle the shed above the ground. After three years of being exposed to wind and rain, those boards had long since worn out, and they were all thrown aside in a few moments.

Ginseng is called a planer here, and this job is not easy. When planing, you need to use a three-tooth pick to find the position of each centimeter of the mallet, and then you can plan outward. It's best to pick up the clod of soil at once and don't let the teeth of the three-pronged stick gouge the mallet, otherwise the mallet will be damaged and you won't be able to sell it at a good price.

The planing sticks should also be done in the order in which the sticks were planted at that time, so that it is not easy to find the wrong place. Then, when the teeth are dug down, three or four sticks can be dug out. The clod with the sticks is put aside, and the person who picks up the sticks takes the sticks out of the soil.

The Xu family has a lot of people this year. Zhixin and Zhiming both hold three-tooth planers, and then the rest of the people pick it out from the soil. The old man and the old lady were taking care of the house, and people from the government were here today to collect the ginseng that each household should pay.

It is best to kneel on the ground when picking up a mallet, which is more comfortable, otherwise your legs will become numb if you squat for a long time. The children all changed into their oldest clothes and then knelt in the ground to pick ginseng.

Jinghan looked at the large ginseng in her hand and felt so beautiful. This year's ginseng is growing really well, not small in size, and quite smooth. It seems that some of it can really sink back and forth in threes and twos. Jinghan rolled her eyes and remembered something, so she quickly got up, found a sack, and specially picked out the large ginseng. Who knows what standards this Yamen follows when accepting ginseng? If they see these large ones, they probably won't want smaller ones. Just kidding, these big ones can be sold for a lot more, who is willing to give them?

Ms. Xue was picking up mallets there when she saw her daughter's behavior. Just a little confused. "Jinghan, what are you doing?"

Jinghan ran to her mother's side and whispered her thoughts in her ear. After hearing this, Ms.

Jinghan curled her lips, what happened to the elder and the younger? Didn't they just kidnap the big one? She just wants to save the ones that are particularly big, and the remaining ones are not too small. Jinghan lowered her head and said nothing, and continued to pick out large-sized ginseng. She had a good hand, and the ones she picked out were usually at least two and a half.

Seeing her daughter like this, Mrs. Xue knew that she was doing it for the good of her family. Besides, this stick is really rare this year. If the people in the yamen just take it away, I will feel uncomfortable. So Mr. Xue stopped talking and silently supported her daughter in doing this.

There are only fifteen feet of sticks in the house, and they will be finished in the afternoon. Jinghan found a secret place to hide the big mallet she picked out. She couldn't take it out now, otherwise it would be difficult for people from the Yamen to see it. Fortunately, they had been on the mountain for a long time. They had made a few holes in the ground beside the sticks, and Jinghan and Wenhan put their things in one of them. Then he asked Wen Cheng and Wen Xuan to watch from a distance and not let outsiders pass.

Many people in the village have finished playing with the mallet and are waiting to hand it in at the entrance of the venue. The people from the yamen came at noon, carrying a booklet, and then went door to door to collect sticks. Several people came, including those who weighed the scales, those who kept accounts, and those who loaded ginseng into the car. They were also very busy. After each household handed in the stick, it could be released from the field, and then it was the next household's turn.

It was not until the end of Youshi that all the one hundred or so households in the village had paid their bills, and the people in the Yamen drove their cars and left Shenchangzi. On average, each household had to pay 70 to 80 kilograms. At this time, they took away the 7 to 8 thousand kilograms of sticks. It took more than ten horse-drawn carriages to take them all away.

Jinghan looked at the backs of these people and cursed in her heart. "A bunch of bastards who eat people without spitting out their bones. Is the imperial court going to skin the ginseng growers? Thanks to this year's sticks, the sticks are growing well. If the year is bad, the ginseng grown will not be enough to pay to the imperial court. Yes. They're all bastards."

Jinghan muttered and came to the place where the mallet was hidden. She, Wen Cheng and Wen Xuan took out the mallet, and Wen Cheng carried it home.

The old man was sighing. This year, after paying 80 kilograms of sticks, he still had 190 kilograms left, but it was not as much as last year. "When I was planing the sticks just now, didn't they look quite big? Why is this year's output not as good as last year?"

Jinghan happened to hear it and giggled, "Grandpa, why are you so anxious? There are still things here." After saying that, she and Wen Cheng put the things they had hidden in the house. These can weigh at least twenty pounds.

The old man went down to the ground and took a look at the sack, and asked strangely: "Where did this come from? Why is it still so big?"

Mr. Xue walked in from outside and said with a smile. "Dad, you don't know that this ghost in our family has picked out the big ones a long time ago. She was hiding them just now. Now that the people in the yamen left, she took them out. If these big ones were handed over, It's really heartbreaking to give it to the Yamen." Mr. Xue told everyone the matter.

When the old man heard this, he couldn't help laughing, "This little girl, why does she have such evil ideas? She actually knows how to hide the big one. It's thanks to our family living in the mountains, otherwise, no matter how hard you hide it, Can we not go home? Okay, everyone in our family must keep this matter secret and not let anyone know about it. This is a big deal. Be careful of getting arrested. Okay, we will start making goods tomorrow, and we will still make red goods. ." The old man ordered.