Chapter 19: Red mushroom fungus

It was time for Wei Dai to return to the army.

Before leaving, he especially came to the Fuyang Brigade to see Wen Jiajia.

The team had been harvesting soybeans recently, the ones sown in the summer. It is said that a few fields in front of the village are planted with soybeans sown in autumn, so they have to harvest a crop in November.

Because of the good climate, the local people haven’t been hungry for the past two years.

But because of the good climate, there is work to be done all year round.

Needless to say, in spring, because the weather is not too cold, the soil never freezes, and the land can be ploughed on the 15th day of the first lunar month.

Summer and autumn are the peak seasons for farming. It is not only necessary to work on the crops in the fields but also to maintain the mountains and forests.

Several communes near the county seat have a lot of wood, and wood is also a resource.

In the memory of the original owner, every winter, cars would come to the county and pull carts of wood away.

Therefore, during the slack season, the team leader had to organize his team members to go to the mountains to weed, plant trees, and sometimes transport trees. The original owner’s parents saved enough to build a new house by transporting trees for others.

As for winter, it’s hard to be idle.

Winter comes late here. People still wear short sleeves in October and don’t feel cold until the earliest light snow.

In winter, you have to cut sugar cane, dig winter bamboo shoots, and dig river dams. Wen Jiajia’s head hurts just thinking about it.

The soybeans of the Fuyang Brigade are not economic food, and they are all owned by the team members after harvesting.

However, Fang Baoguo will sell a batch to Chen Dun Tofu Factory, and the rest will be distributed to the team members.

The soybeans that are distributed have to be shelled by themselves.

When Wei Dai came, Wen Jiajia was transporting soybeans home. She was carrying soybeans with stalks, and since her home was far away from the soybean field, it was quite difficult.

He took the wheelbarrow and began to push, “I’ll come, you can put some more bean stalks.”

Wen Jiajia did not refuse, ran to the field, carried some bean stalks, and stacked them on the cart until it was shaky.

She understood that Wei Dai was going back to the army.

Wei Dai glanced at her helplessly, didn’t say anything, went to the nearby hillside, pulled a vine, and fastened the huge pile of bean stalks to the cart to prevent them from collapsing during transportation.

He knew that Jiajia was not being modest; she really didn’t know much about farm work.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Wen Jiajia urged. “Someone will come to ask questions later.”

In the past few days, wherever she went, she was asked when she would marry Wei Dai, and her ears were almost calloused.

A ridge of soybeans was transported three times by Wei Dai.

The soybeans brought back were directly exposed to the sun in the front and back yards and could be dried for several days before they could be shelled.

Wei Dai drank a glass of water and said, “There will be more than 20 catties of soybeans here. If you want to keep them for a long time, you have to dry them for five or six days after husking, and they will last about half a year.”

Wen Jiajia slumped in her chair. “Half a year? I will finish them in less than half a year.” If she had a soy milk machine, she would eat faster.

She was very fond of soy products, especially soy milk, and she had to drink a bowl every day after moving out of the dormitory to live alone in her last life.

Wei Dai stroked her shaggy hair. “Then I’ll accompany you to the team to buy some soybeans later. If the food is not enough, you can find the team to buy more.”

Wen Jiajia shook her head. “It’s enough.” Soybeans are not necessary, and with the money, she wanted to buy some cotton.

The team also grows cotton, planted by the women’s team. They began to open up the land several years ago, and until now, they have opened up more than 80 acres of land, which directly freed the Fuyang team members from the predicament of no cotton.

This group has also been in newspapers and has won advanced collectives. Director Fang Liuyu also wanted to recruit her into the Gengshan Sisters’ Team, but she was an incorrigible waste material, and she didn’t even last half a day in it, which really made the women’s group feel black.

Wen Jiajia was a little depressed, took Wei Dai’s hand, and said, “What time are you going to get the car tomorrow? I blame you for being reluctant.”

The words she said coldly pierced Wei Dai’s heart, and his breathing stopped at that moment. He was slightly stunned, only to feel that his chest was hot, as if it was bubbling.

Wei Dai stammered, “I, I can’t bear you.” He had many things in his heart that he wanted to say to her, but he couldn’t.

Wen Jiajia looked up at him, wrapped her hands around his waist, and rubbed her head on his abdomen.

Wei Dai’s body tightened, and his whole body tensed, and Wen Jiajia could feel his muscles getting harder and harder through his thin clothes.

Well, there are eight pieces, Wen Jiajia secretly counted. She didn’t like thin men; she preferred them to have strength.

In Wen Jiajia’s opinion, it was extremely normal behavior, but in Wei Dai’s opinion, it was bold and reckless.

Wei Dai, however, was reluctant to push her away, feeling that he had to think about getting married and not only that but also about joining the army after marriage.

On this day, Wei Dai pulled the water pipe for Wen Jiajia’s family.

He had been preparing to do this since he knew that they needed to fetch water for the family, and it wasn’t until yesterday that the water pipe was bought.

Wei Dai fixed the last section of the water pipe on the mountain wall next to the vegetable garden, patted the soil on his hand, and said, “Let’s use it first. Except that the water is smaller, and the water may stop in winter, it’s similar to the tap water in the city.”

It must be said that this water pipe was really installed to Wen Jiajia’s satisfaction.

The devil knows how uncomfortable she was when she carried water every day.

With this pipe, water from the back wall would flow from the pipe to the tank in the backyard. She put two large water tanks in the backyard; as long as the two water tanks were full, they could ensure that the house had water for at least three days.

The sky was a little overcast this evening, and there was no fiery sunset on the horizon, so it didn’t seem like the weather would be too good tomorrow.

Wen Jiajia boiled more than a dozen tea eggs, boiled some wet peanuts and salted beans, stuffed them into Wei Dai’s arms, and said, “You can take them with you and eat them on the road. Tea eggs are easy to spoil; it’s best to eat them tomorrow. Peanuts and salted beans can be eaten the day after tomorrow.”

As Xu was about to leave, Wei Dai’s eyes were glued to her, and he didn’t leave for a moment.

When he was about to leave, he suddenly said, “When you are ready, will we get married?”

Wen Jiajia kicked him on the foot, put her hands behind her back, and said, “When the time comes, we’ll talk about it then.”

Wei Dai smiled; she didn’t say no directly, which meant it was very likely she would agree.

“I’ll get the application as soon as possible, don’t worry.” After saying this, he plucked up the courage to kiss her on the forehead, waved his hand, and turned away.

The farm work was too hard, and he was reluctant to let her do it any longer.

The evening breeze was whistling, and Wen Jiajia watched his back disappear into the path at the entrance of the village.

She was a little stunned.

—

Wei Dai’s departure did not make Wen Jiajia feel depressed for long, and in less than two days, she struggled out of this state of being unable to do anything.

She couldn’t help it; she always had to eat.

The third stage of the autumn harvest in the village had begun again.

As Wei Dai said, the first few days were the most tiring, and the end would be much easier.

The rice in the village had been harvested, and Captain Fang and the village’s veteran farmers felt that the land must be nourished; otherwise, there was a high probability that the fertility would not be enough next year.

How to raise it? Locally, they burned straw, and the ash of the straw was used to nourish the land.

It’s just that Wen Jiajia had brushed up on the practice of “simmering rice husks” in her previous life, and she was a little hesitant to suggest it.

Not to mention, food was the root of life at this time, and she also wanted to make the land more fertile and harvest more grain next year.

This practice, in turn, comes from the island nation next door.

In these days, even the slightest relationship with a foreign country is a dead end, let alone an island country.

After hesitating for a night, Wen Jiajia felt that she still couldn’t take the risk. The great god of crossing is willing to give her two lives, and there is a high probability that he is not willing to give her a third life.

However, she can drop hints, and it is up to the old farmers in the village to understand whether they can comprehend it and how much they can comprehend.

It wasn’t so early to make manure, so Wen Jiajia kept it in her little notebook for the time being.

Wen Jiajia has a lot of things she wants to do, so she writes them down to avoid forgetting them.

Soybeans and mung beans have also been harvested, and this year’s beans are bountiful. Presumably, at the end of the year, every household will have to make tofu sprouts.

As for the sweet potatoes, another staple food, half of them have been dug up, and half are still in the ground.

Sweet potatoes don’t need to be harvested in a hurry. As long as it doesn’t rain heavily and wild boars don’t come, they won’t go bad if they are harvested in two days.

After taking a bath, twilight falls.

Wen Jiajia has never liked to go out to play, and she has not made any close friends in the village. Every night after taking a shower, she goes into her room and stays there, strictly implementing the healthy concept of going to bed before 9 o’clock.

She is the same today.

When the windows of the room were closed, it became even darker until the lights came on.

Straw mats were laid on the ground, and Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were on the ground, fiddling with the small wooden blocks that Wei Dai made for them, which were actually building blocks.

Wei Dai not only knows how to repair cars but also does carpentry. It is said that he can also be an electrician. One day, there was a problem with the power line in the commune, and he went to fix it.

Wen Jiajia felt that even if he retired in the future, he would not be afraid of running out of food if he was not assigned a good job.

He was capable of doing it all.

There are two sets of building blocks, one with 188 wooden blocks, which Wen Chun and Wen Xuan put together into a small house.

This is what the two girls have been arguing about for a long time.

Wen Chun wanted two floors, but Wen Xuan wanted three floors. In the end, Wen Jiajia, who was so annoyed by the noise that she had a headache, made the decision and asked them to build four floors.

Listening to children’s words and childishness does not feel boring; it is much more interesting than going out to gossip in the mountains.

Now she pulled out her little notebook from the drawer and turned to the folded page. Well, the next task was to pick red mushrooms.

There is a very famous mushroom species in the area, the red mushroom.

This mushroom is difficult to find after a few decades, and it is a rare and precious mushroom. But now, it’s all over the mountains.

It grows in mixed forests or broad-leaved mixed forests, and most of the area is mixed forests.

Last night, there was a light rain, and the temperature rose at the right time, causing the red mushrooms, which like humidity and high temperature, to break through the soil.

Although it looks gorgeous and responds to the phrase “red umbrella,” it is not poisonous and is said to be delicious.

In these years, meat can’t be eaten casually. When encountering this kind of mountain treasure, Wen Jiajia certainly wants to taste it.

Even if the time coincides with the autumn harvest, it can’t stop her from eating mountain delicacies.

Wen Jiajia was pondering how to cook when there was a faint knock at the door.

Sometimes the wooden house was fine, and she could hear a knock on the door wherever she was.

It wasn’t an accident; the person who came was Chen Qianyue. Chen Qianyue was very cautious and deliberately chose a dark night.

Wen Jiajia knew that she would come to find her sooner or later, but she didn’t expect it to be delayed until this time.

The last time she met her, she said she wanted a kettle, and if possible, she wanted two.

Wen Jiajia, who had been waiting for the funds to be credited, welcomed her warmly this time, invited her to come to the hall, and made an exception by lighting the candle on the table in the hall.

“Well, here’s the kettle.” Wen Jiajia took out the two kettles from the house and said, “You check them.”

She sold this thing expensively, so she had to make sure that there were no bumps in the appearance.

Chen Qianyue did not shirk it. She bought it for others, so she had to pay special attention. If she didn’t think that Wen Jiajia was a good person and wanted to find an opportunity to deal with her, she wouldn’t have helped with this thankless favor.