They usually accumulate fertilizer, and in addition to manure, they also burn some grass and wood to make soil fertilizer.
Underneath the pile of grass and wood, they cover it with soil. After burning, this soil also becomes fertilizer. His vegetable garden is right next to the forest, so covering it with soil also helps prevent wind and avoid causing forest fires. A forest fire is no joke.
When making soil fertilizer, he usually goes into the mountains to dig up some grass sod to burn, preferably with the roots still attached.
Now that the grass hasn’t grown yet and there isn’t much dry grass, he didn’t go digging.
He chose a spot in the vegetable garden, piled up the grass, covered it with soil, and lit a fire.
Soon, Lu Liu came over with Er Huang.
He brought Er Huang to warm up by the fire.
The weather hasn’t warmed up yet, so people need to warm up by the fire after washing their hair. The dog jumped into the river and got completely soaked, so it also needed to warm up by the fire.
Li Feng said that Er Huang was too spoiled, but in fact, he was with Lu Liu, combing its fur so that the fur inside could also be warmed.
Er Huang felt comfortable and wanted to lie down and sleep on the spot.
Li Feng patted its head: “It’s about to become a father, yet it doesn’t understand anything.”
Lu Liu asked him, “Er Huang is going to be a father? Then I’m going to be a grandfather?”
Li Feng wasn’t sure: “Probably? Dogs mate pretty quickly.”
Dogs that mate randomly outside get pregnant right away.
Lu Liu glanced back and saw that no one else had come to the vegetable garden to join in the fun.
He whispered to Li Feng, “Does that mean we’re behind?”
Er Huang is about to have puppies, but they don’t have any yet.
Li Feng: “…”
How could he say that? No matter how he put it, he couldn’t let himself be outdone by a dog.
He said, “Xiao Liu, you really need to be disciplined.”
Which method is better depends on Lu Liu’s preference.
Li Feng’s observational skills were challenged.
He narrowed his eyes and really started thinking about how to deal with Lu Liu tonight.
Today, with his hands free, Li Feng didn’t idle around. He chatted with him for a while, but then he got hungry and stopped talking. He took a shovel and dug a hole to prepare for collecting manure.
The manure had to be buried far away from water sources, so Li Feng dug the pit in a more remote area. Their family was small, so there wasn’t much manure, and they could finish in one go. They also gathered some dry grass and branches from the roadside to pile up with the manure.
Lu Liu was bothered by the smell, so he took Er Huang home after seeing that its fur was almost half-dry from the heat.
As they walked further away, he still sensed an odor on Er Huang and wondered if there was something wrong with his nose.
When Li Feng returned, he asked Li Feng to smell it again.
Li Feng didn’t find it strange: “That pile of straw already had a urine smell.”
Lu Liu glanced sideways, unable to look directly at Er Huang.
That night, it slept in its familiar nest, but there wasn’t a single rabbit inside!
As the saying goes, rabbits don’t eat the grass near their nests.
To make it easier for them to eat, the nests were built in the corner of the wall, and the feeding area was near the fence. When they were hungry, they could come and eat the grass on their own.
Before going to bed, Lu Liu came to check on the rabbits once. He mainly looked at the baby rabbits.
His rabbit-raising plan didn’t include the adult rabbits. He wanted to observe the breeding situation of the baby rabbits.
Lu Liu refused to bathe with him no matter what he said. Li Feng complained a few times about wasting water and firewood, and Lu Liu got angry with him.
Now that the bathing was done and the water had cooled, there was no need to rush. They could go back to the house to eat chicken.
That night, Lu Liu was severely beaten with a hunter’s stick and finally revealed where he had heard about the connection between depth and carrying a child, and pointed out the painting. He was thoroughly punished by Li Feng all night long.
The next morning, he woke up groggily, and people were already chatting outside.
The young man slept until late morning, either because he was lazy or had been thoroughly exhausted by the man.
He got dressed and went out, keeping his head down the whole way, his face flushed.
Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, and every family eats lantern dumplings.
Their family had a stone mill, and recently, people who came to visit brought glutinous rice to grind into flour.
When Lu Liu got up, Shun Ge had already soaked the glutinous rice.
The child, who didn’t quite understand, imitated the women and men and teased Lu Liu, “Big sister, did you make a little person with my big brother?”
Lu Liu didn’t want to admit it and told him, “No, I’m studying hard with him.”
When asked what they were studying, Lu Liu couldn’t bring herself to say “eating chicken,” so she had a sudden idea and used her brother’s words.
She said, “We’re both going to take the imperial examination.”
They had recently started learning to read and write. As beginners, they didn’t use brushes yet, as poor families couldn’t afford them. Li Feng had prepared a sand tray, and once they had mastered the characters, they used their own rabbit-hair brushes to dip in water and write on wooden boards.
Lu Yang said that once they could write small characters, he would give them a set of the Four Treasures of the Study.
The Four Treasures of the Study! It sounded very sophisticated, and Lu Liu was very enthusiastic about learning!
He said this, then frowned and asked Shun Ge: “Have you understood all the characters I taught you?”
Shun Ge: “…”
Shun Ge ran away.
Lu Liu laughed. He was really something!
He rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a handful of glutinous rice, and rubbed it between his fingertips. The grains crushed easily, with no hard cores. Once soaked, it was ready to be ground into flour.
He wore a copper coin bracelet on his wrist, made with red string, a simple design. His fair skin and slender wrist made it look very nice.
Someone asked, “Didn’t he make one for your older brother Da Feng? Red strings come in pairs, after all.”
He hadn’t made one for Da Feng; his older brother wouldn’t make one for him.
Lu Liu thought for a moment and said, “I’ll ask him to teach me next time, and I’ll make one for Da Feng.”
He had a good temperament, and those who had visited his home a few times liked to tease him, knowing he liked Li Feng. They would bring up the topic and keep mentioning Da Feng, Da Feng, Da Feng. Someone else asked him, “If you made a bracelet for Da Feng, should you also make one for your mother?”
Lu Liu let out an “Ah,” indicating he probably would.
Chen Guizhi was organizing baskets and sieves, asking Li Feng to take some time to go to the new village and bring back the tools for making rice cakes.
Especially the drying rack, which would be useful for drying mountain produce in the future.
She heard the laughter and glanced over, hearing Li Feng say, ” Next time I go to the county seat, I’ll bring some firewood for his brother. He wants to buy firewood. I’ll take the firewood from the house, and when the weather warms up, Shun Ge’er will live in a separate room, and you two will have more space.”
Li Feng didn’t haggle with Lu Yang; he let Lu Yang name the price. If it was too low, he wouldn’t say anything, but if it was too high, he’d negotiate a bit.
Since Lu Yang had already mentioned buying firewood, Chen Lao Ye’s side wouldn’t be left out. It was only a matter of time before they brought it up too.
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