Era: Started from raising livestock in the mountains

"What's the matter?" Lin Heng asked after taking a big bite of spicy and sour potato shreds.

"Didn't you write a book before? Tian Yan read it before. She thought it was very well written, so she sent it for publication, saying that more people should read it." Xiulan looked at Lin Heng and said.

"Ah, has it been taken away?" Lin Heng was stunned and asked.

"What's wrong? Is there any problem?" Xiulan was stunned for a moment.

She didn't let him take it out casually, but Lin Heng told her that he didn't think it was well written, so he didn't take it out. But Tian Yan thought it was good, so she let him take it out, thinking that more people would read it and Lin Heng would be happy.

Lin Heng shook his head and smiled, "There's no problem taking it out. It's just scar literature that I wrote without any pain. It has no practical value."

He wrote that book by imitating the popular scar literature of that era and combining it with his own experiences. It was just a crazy thing that he wrote for his own amusement when he had nothing to do in the mountains.

"No, Tian Yan said it was written with great depth, and I was very moved when I read it." Xiulan said with a smile.

"Okay then, let her do what she wants." Lin Heng said, raising his glass.

After drinking two cups with his wife, he went to eat. After dinner, sitting on the sofa, Lin Heng discussed what to do when he returned home.

The next day he dealt with some company matters, and on the third day he returned to the village with his wife and children.

"It's still cool in our hometown. The wind is cool." When they arrived at Hongfeng Village, Xiulan looked out the window and sighed.

"I like my hometown too. There are so many fun things there. I want to go see my little turtle." Xiaoxia said crisply beside her.

Xiaoxia, who is six and a half years old, is already 125 cm tall, half a head taller than her two younger brothers. Today she is wearing an emerald green dress, sandals and her hair is tied in two ponytails.

Her face is white and plump with baby fat, a high nose, big clear eyes, and when she moves, she has an innocent and youthful vitality.

"Sister, I have a little turtle." Lu Ming said in a baby voice while grabbing the corner of his sister's clothes.

"And me, sister. You said you would give me one." Du Heng also said quickly, blinking at his sister.

The two of them have now become their sister's little followers. They can't be beaten or persuaded. What's more, Xiaoxia knows how to coax them and give them delicious food. They have completely obeyed their sister and follow her every day.

"The two big ones are mine, and the small one is yours." Xiaoxia nodded and said.

"We'll be there soon." Lin Heng glanced at his wife and children and sped up a little.

The car soon stopped at Hongfeng Mountain. When Lin's father and mother saw that everyone had returned, they happily came out to greet them.

"Yes, there are grapes as well. There are a few late-ripening varieties that have just matured not long ago. I'm picking them today." Mother Lin said as she led her three children into the house.

Father Lin helped to get some things, and as he walked, he looked at the two and asked, "How long will you stay this time?"

Ever since Lin Heng and the others came to the city, both of them felt a little uncomfortable and missed it a lot.

"I'll stay here until school starts in September." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Xiaoxia, Luming and the others have been clamoring to come back for a long time, and Lin Heng has almost finished dealing with his affairs, so they can play for a while longer this time." Xiulan said.

"That's good. There are so many vegetables and fruits at home recently that we can't finish them all. It's just right for you to come back and enjoy them." Father Lin said with a grin.

When he entered the house, his mother had already cut the fruits, including watermelon, pears, plums, cantaloupe, grapes, etc. Lin Heng picked up the crisp plums and started eating them. These crisp and sweet plums tasted particularly good and everyone in the family liked to eat them.

Fanned by an electric fan, Lin Heng chatted with his father about the recent changes in Hongfeng Mountain. With the tractor, his work became much easier, whether it was hauling feed or collecting sheep manure.

"The chickens have come to hatch again recently and have three broods of chicks." Mother Lin said with a smile.

"Where is it, grandma? I want to see it, I want to see it." When Xiaoxia heard this, she quickly pulled her grandmother's hand and asked coquettishly.

"Come on, I'll take you to see it." Mother Lin went out with her three children.

"Let's go out for a walk." Lin Heng glanced at Xiulan and said. It was only ten o'clock in the morning and the sun outside was not very bright.

Walking together to the chicken coop on the hillside, they saw three hens with their chicks looking for food. The chicks followed the hens chirping, looking very cute.

"An eagle has come here recently, and many smaller chickens in the village have been caught. We have added another layer of netting on the chicken coop, otherwise our chickens will not be safe." Father Lin said to Lin Heng.

"Eagle, no one shot it?" Lin Heng asked curiously.

Mother Lin shook her head. "Those creatures are always perched high up on the tips of Chinese toon and poplar trees. They'll run away when they see people coming. Your brother tried several times but couldn't catch them. But if you scare them once, they won't dare to come for many days."

"That's really troublesome. Let's try to poison it with medicine." Lin Heng said. Once this thing gets used to eating chickens, it will not catch other things.

"It is said that someone in the village tried it, but it didn't work," said Lin's father.

"Then I'll come and take a look in the next two days." Lin Heng nodded and walked into the chicken coop.

All the thatch here is gone now, only some small shrubs are left. These chickens are too strong and have killed even the tenacious plant like thatch.

There are now 31 large chickens here, 11 males and 20 females. All of them are local chickens with excellent athletic abilities. The big roosters among them can even fly 20 to 30 meters before landing.

They only feed these chickens twice a day, and the rest of the time they have to find food on their own.

"The chicken coop can be moved to another location. There is no grass here." Lin Heng said.

Father Lin looked at Xiaoxia and the others and responded, "I have prepared a place over there where I have planted some grass and fruit trees. Let's go and exchange them in a couple of days."

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded and went to look at the fruits and vegetables at home. They were particularly lush in this season. Beans, cucumbers, and loofahs were hanging on the branches like noodles, and pumpkins and winter melons could be seen everywhere.

The grass on the hillside has just been cut and new shoots have sprouted. On the hillside above, the astragalus is also growing particularly well. It will be ripe and can be dug up and sold in the fall.

Afterwards, he, Xiulan and the children went up the mountain to see the cattle, sheep and musk deer. The red-maned horse Hongzao was tied to the edge of the second platform, eating fresh grass. Lin Heng reached out and touched it. Its hair was shiny and its body was stronger than before.

"I'll take you out for a ride some other day." Lin Heng touched its head and said with a smile. He hadn't ridden a horse for a long time.

"Dad, I want to ride a horse too." Xiaoxia said, touching Hongzao's round belly.

"We want it too." Lu Ming and Du Heng said in unison.

"Let's wait a few days." Lin Heng said with a smile.

After viewing the red dates, he went up to the top of the mountain. Under the forest was thriving ginseng. The situation with the bees was a little disappointing. Two boxes of bees died inexplicably this year, and then another box was collected. Now there are only two boxes of bees here.

After stopping for a while by the reservoir, the children ran to see the small stone houses that had been built previously. These had long been washed away by the water, and only the scattered stones could be seen.

Lin Heng promised to take them back to build it another day, and the children went down the mountain with them.

In the house, Lin's mother had already started cooking for lunch. Lin's father had plucked all the feathers from a large rooster and was cutting open its stomach. When he saw them coming down, he smiled and said, "This rooster likes to peck at people. It's just right to kill it and eat it."

"Can we eat it soon?" Xiaoxia squatted down and watched her grandfather kill the chicken. She just wanted to eat the delicious chicken and didn't care whether the rooster was dead or alive.

"You can eat it soon." Father Lin said with a smile.

Lin Heng squatted down to help, and Xiulan went into the house to help Lin's mother cook. Caiyun was taking extra classes in the city and did not come back this summer vacation.

At noon, the table was full of dishes. Apart from chicken, pork and shrimps, the rest were seasonal vegetables, including loofah, eggplant, tomatoes and so on.

After digesting the meal for a while, Lin Heng and Xiulan took the children back to the village. They pushed open the gate of the yard, and the inside was still the same as before, with no changes.

Da Zhuang, who was watching the yard, saw Lin Heng and others wagging their tails happily, and then he played with Xiongba.

It was the same when entering the house, everything was spotless, because Lin's mother would come over to help clean every once in a while, and Da Zhuang was handed over to his eldest brother to help feed.

Lin Heng went to the study first to check on the golden catfish he raised, and was relieved only after seeing that it was completely fine.

"Dad, the turtle gave birth to baby turtles!!"

Lin Heng was looking at the fish when Xiaoxia quickly ran in and said excitedly.

"It really gave birth. How many babies were born?" Lin Heng showed a look of surprise, but he was actually pretending.

He discovered it when the turtle laid eggs, and then told his parents, Xiulan, about it, leaving it as a surprise for the children to discover on their own.

"Dad, ten little turtles were born." Xiaoxia took Lin Heng's hand and walked out.

"Maybe there are more than this." Lin Heng said as he walked towards the backyard with his daughter.

Xiulan had already been pulled to the backyard by her son. When she saw Lin Heng coming over, she smiled and said, "This turtle really laid eggs. I have picked up 12 so far. There may be more in the green water."

Lin Heng walked over and took a look at the little turtle in the basin. It had grown a lot bigger than before, and its belly button had healed.

"Let's keep looking." Lin Heng squatted down and said to his daughter and son.

Although there was running water in the big wooden basin, it had grown a lot of moss due to the large amount of turtle feces. He first caught the four big turtles.

Among these four turtles, three are grass turtles and the remaining one is a yellow box turtle. Lin Heng is not sure what species they are. The three grass turtles should be the ones that laid eggs this year, and there are exactly one male and two females.

Now these three grass turtles are only slightly bigger than his palm. Although the turtles are not big in size, they have actually grown for at least five or six years in the wild, and then lived in his home for so many years, so they are now eight or nine years old.

Their bodies are as black as ink with obvious golden lines on their bodies. They are very pleasing to the eyes and beautiful, so laying eggs is a natural thing for them.

After fishing the turtles out, Lin Heng picked up the little turtles one by one while picking up the moss. Xiaoxia, Luming and Du Heng were counting the turtles excitedly beside them.

"There are 16 little turtles in total, that's great." Xiaoxia said happily.

"Dad, I want two." Lu Ming said, pulling the corner of Lin Heng's clothes.

"I want two too, Dad!" Du Heng also followed suit.

"There are so many of them, you can raise them together. You three are the closest people, there is no need to divide them so clearly." Lin Heng said with a smile as he looked at the three of them.

"Yes, we raise it together and play with the little turtle together every day." Xiulan also said that while she teaches everyone to be independent and self-respecting, she also hopes that they can unite as brothers and sisters.

"Okay! Sister, let's raise a little turtle together." Lu Ming and Du Heng nodded in a baby voice, looking at Xiaoxia eagerly.

"Okay, let's raise it together." Xiaoxia nodded, took her brother's hand and nodded in agreement.

"Great!" The two cheered after getting their sister's approval.

Lin Heng tidied up the large wooden tub and put the turtles back in. It was soothing to watch them swimming around in it.

"There is feed here, don't feed too much." Lin Heng took the feed and covered it for the children.

"Dad, I want to feed the little fish and watch them catch the little fish to eat." Xiaoxia said in a soft voice.

"No problem, let's go to the river to catch fish together some other time." Lin Heng nodded.

After giving the turtle food to the children and asking them to feed the turtles, Lin Heng and Xiulan went to the back mountain to check on the fruit trees. Although they were not at home, the place was well managed by their eldest brother. There were not many weeds to be seen, and the fruit trees were full of beautiful fruits.

"Come on, I'll take you to see the wine I made." Lin Heng said with a smile as he pulled Xiulan's hand. He said that he had come back last time when the fruit was normally ripe and had made a large jar of wine with the inferior fruit.

"I was just about to take a look when my two sons pulled me over." Xiulan nodded.

Walking back, Lin Heng took a look at the bees under the eaves of the house, and he was relieved when he was sure that they were all fine. Strangely enough, he found that the buzzing of the bees seemed to have a special effect, and drinking tea and enjoying the scenery in the backyard was much better than anywhere else.

This difference is even more obvious when you live in the city.

When they opened the jar in the storage room, a strong aroma of wine came out. Looking at the wine jar with only a layer of grape skin left, Lin Heng tasted it and nodded, saying, "The wine is ready. We can filter it out and burn it. Then we can make vinegar."

"It tastes very good. Let's make it in the afternoon." Xiulan said. The wine is not strong and tastes good. She likes it very much.

Lin Heng nodded and said, "Then let's do it in the afternoon. I don't have anything else to do anyway."

After finishing the wine, the two went back into the bedroom and took out all the quilts and clothes to dry in the sun. Although the room was not damp and moldy, it was always more comfortable to sleep after drying in the sun.

"Dad, did you know that the turtle was born?"

Lin Heng had just made a cup of tea and sat down on the sofa when Xiaoxia came into his arms and asked with her head tilted.

"Why do you say that?" Lin Heng looked at his daughter curiously.

Xiaoxia hugged his arm and replied with her head tilted, "Because you said there were more than ten at that time. When I was feeding the turtles just now, they gathered around me as soon as I took the food. This means that someone must have fed them before."

Lin Heng showed surprise on his face and reached out to touch his daughter's face: "Xiaoxia is so smart. She noticed this."

He really didn't expect that his precious daughter would be so observant.

"Of course, I'm very smart." Xiaoxia raised her chin and laughed.

"Dad did know about it a long time ago, but I wanted to give you and your brother a surprise and let you be the first to discover it, so I never told you. I didn't expect Xiaoxia to discover it herself." Lin Heng explained as he held his daughter in his arms.

"Dad, you are so nice. I love these little turtles so much." Xiaoxia kissed Lin Heng on the face happily. She was happy about discovering the secret and also happy about the surprise prepared by her father.

Lin Heng was also immediately touched by his little baby. His daughter was just like her mother, smart and gentle. (End of this chapter)