Chapter 244: Waking Up Early to Milk the Cows

Before eating, Lin Heng first brought the bathtub into the bedroom, filled it a little more than halfway with water, and left it there.

Halfway through dinner, Lin Heng went to start heating the water. By the time he finished eating, the water was just hot enough to scald the hand. Taking off his clothes, Lin Heng submerged his head completely into the water.

When he couldn’t hold his breath any longer, he would come up for air. Repeating this several times made his lungs feel refreshed and renewed.

Then, leaning his head against the edge of the wooden tub, he closed his eyes, feeling the hot water seep into his body, listening to the howling wind outside, his daughter’s murmuring to herself in the room, and the sounds of his wife tidying up the house.

Slowly, the fatigue throughout his body began to recede, as if diluted by the water. This sense of tranquility also emptied his mind, gradually settling into calm.

After soaking for quite a while, he finally started scrubbing himself clean, then got into bed wearing his long underwear.

“Should I give you a massage?”

Xiulan looked at Lin Heng. Although she phrased it as a question, she had already started moving her hands.

“I’ll give Daddy a massage too!”

Xiao Xia climbed onto the bed and imitated her mother’s actions, massaging Lin Heng’s legs.

“Ah, that feels so good~”

Lin Heng said with a smile, lying face down on the bed to enjoy it.

After his wife and daughter massaged him for a while, he felt much better; his body was no longer stiff at all.

Getting out of bed, Lin Heng went to the main hall to look for something and soon returned with a large bag of items, handing it to Xiulan: “I bought you some toiletries. They were cheap over there, so I bought a lot at once.”

Xiulan opened it and was instantly stunned: “This is way too much. It’ll last over a year.”

Lin Heng waved his hand: “Altogether, it was only thirty yuan. The more industrially developed a place is, the cheaper things are. In Taibai City, this would cost fifty or sixty yuan.”

After saying that, he patted her hand and added with a smile: “If you want to thank me, a kiss will do.”

“Let me take a look first.” Xiulan blinked, pulling out the items one by one to examine them. She wasn’t very skilled at makeup; usually, she just applied some moisturizer, lipstick, and eyeliner at most. Things like foundation were taught to her by Tian Yan.

Among these items, things like foundation, vanishing cream, and lipstick were all in duplicate, while the facial cleanser, shampoo, and body wash were all in large bottles, and even in sets of three, each with different scents.

“Then Xiao Xia can give me a kiss. I bought you a hopping frog.”

Lin Heng took out a green-skinned frog toy. After winding up the spring mechanism and placing it on the bed, it started hopping.

“Thank you, Daddy!”

Xiao Xia kissed Lin Heng on the cheek twice, then giggled as she picked up the frog to play with.

Lin Heng taught her how to play with it twice, and she got the hang of it. Watching the frog hop, she giggled foolishly beside it.

Actually, Lin Heng had also bought her many other small toys like a rubber ball, a Rubik’s cube, jigsaw puzzles, paper-cutting sets, and modeling clay, but he didn’t take them out now, planning to give them to her one by one later.

If he took them all out tonight, she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

After Xiulan finished looking through the toiletries, she neatly arranged them on her dressing table, then climbed into bed and, while Xiao Xia wasn’t looking, secretly gave Lin Heng a kiss.

“Time for bed, Xiao Xia. You can play more tomorrow. The frog needs to rest too,” Lin Heng said to her.

“When will the little frog wake up?” Xiao Xia asked curiously.

“It’ll wake up when you wake up.” Lin Heng picked up the frog and placed it on the nightstand.

Xiao Xia looked at the frog, then hugged Lin Heng’s arm and said, “Then I’ll sleep with Daddy tonight.”

“Okay. I’ll tell you a story while you sleep.” Lin Heng nodded, letting her sleep in the middle.

Xiulan turned off the light and habitually rested wearing only her underwear.

Lin Heng told stories for a while, but he himself fell asleep first.

“Shh, be good and sleep. Your daddy is tired.”

Xiulan made a gesture to Xiao Xia and whispered softly in her ear.

“Okay!”

Xiao Xia looked at the already sleeping Lin Heng, snuggled up to her mother, and soon fell asleep as well.

Lin Heng slept soundly until dawn. When he woke up, it was just 6:30, and the sky was just beginning to brighten. Turning his head, he saw Xiao Xia sleeping soundly, while Xiulan was also awake, her tender, watery eyes gazing at him.

Lin Heng smiled and said, “Do you think I’m very handsome, the kind that rivals Pan An?”

Xiulan chuckled softly: “A person’s worth lies in self-awareness. Unfortunately, you don’t have any, and you’re vain too.”

“Hehe~”

Lin Heng wanted to reach over and teach her a lesson, but considering their daughter was still sleeping, he let it go.

Getting out of bed, he tore off a page from the wall calendar. Today was already the 14th day of the first lunar month, February 15th on the solar calendar.

“Come on, let’s go cut fodder for the dairy cows and, while we’re at it, bring back some milk to taste,” Lin Heng said to Xiulan, who was already up.

“Okay.”

She tucked Xiao Xia in properly, picked up the kettle, and headed out.

After finishing their morning wash-up and exercise, it was already seven-twenty. As they opened the back door, a sound immediately reached their ears: “Hee-haw!!!”

“Whoa, you scared me!”

Both Lin Heng and Xiulan jumped in fright.

“Hee-haw!!!”

Seeing their reaction, Hongzao let out another proud bray. It seemed to be complaining that Lin Heng had a new favorite and forgotten the old, giving its stable to the dairy cows.

“It’s complaining about you!” Xiulan laughed.

“You little rascal!” Lin Heng gave it a slap. It was just letting you sleep under the eaves for one night, it’s not like you’d freeze to death.

“Hee-haw!!!”

Being slapped by Lin Heng made it even more displeased. It raised its head high and let out another bray.

“Alright, alright, I’ll clear out your stable for you in a bit.” Lin Heng sighed helplessly. This fellow still needed to be taken good care of, otherwise it might throw a tantrum while he was riding it one day.

It seemed that after being raised for a long time, even horses developed a kind of spirit, with their own joys and sorrows.

The two of them first went up to check on the cows. They were already up, chewing on the dry corn stalks nearby.

“Let’s go cut some wild ryegrass from the field to feed them, then we can milk the cows.”

Lin Heng said this and walked out with Xiulan. The sickle and rope were already in hand, and Xiulan also carried a small basket.

In winter, there wasn’t much to eat; only things like wild ryegrass, wild buckwheat, barley, and goose-intestine greens were still green. However, Lin Heng had also bought some ryegrass, elephant grass, and alfalfa seeds, planning to find a place to plant them later.

“Dad’s already here, and so early.”

Xiulan pointed into the distance. Father Lin had already cut quite a bit of grass.

“Of course the first meal for newly bought cows has to be something good. I also want to taste fresh milk today.”

Hearing their voices, Father Lin stood up and said. This was the first time he had seen creatures like dairy cows, and he felt quite distressed for them.

“No problem, these cows can easily produce over ten jin of milk a day. I’ll teach you how to milk them in a bit.” Lin Heng said with a smile.

As they talked, the two of them also went to the edge of the field to cut grass. Xiulan, wearing gloves, pulled up goose-intestine greens, while Lin Heng cut green ryegrass, barley, buckwheat, and such all around.

In winter, it wasn’t easy to find; one plant here, another there.

But with three people working together, the speed was quite fast. In half an hour, they had gathered two large bundles of cow grass.

Lin Heng mentioned his forage grass seeds, and Father Lin said he would find some odd corners to plant them in the next couple of days.

In half an hour, they had gathered two bundles of ryegrass and a basket of goose-intestine greens. As they carried them back and just reached the back hill, Hongzao called out again.

“You really have sharp eyes.”

Lin Heng shook his head and tossed some grass to it. He let Father Lin and Xiulan go feed the cows while he went back to fetch a bucket for milking.

When he returned with the bucket, he found that his mother, Elder Brother, Caiyun had all come over, and even Li Caifeng from next door was there watching.

Dairy cows were far too rare in these big mountains. The group pointed at the cows’ huge milk-producing organs and chattered away; they were much larger than the local yellow cattle they raised.

“Dad, Mom, Xiulan, all of you watch closely now.”

Lin Heng said this, first taking out a rope to tie the cow’s two hind legs together to prevent it from kicking someone by accident.

This cow, which had already produced milk before, was very docile. Its udder was swollen, clearly holding a lot of milk.

“Milking is very simple. Just squeeze in pairs. First wash it clean, then grip from above with your palm, use your thumb and index finger to apply force, and squeeze all the way down. The force shouldn’t be too strong or too weak.”

Lin Heng explained while demonstrating. The first two squeezes’ output should be discarded, and then the bucket should be used to catch the milk.

As Lin Heng continuously applied force with both hands, streams of white milk were squeezed out. In no time, the bottom of the small wooden bucket was no longer visible, and a faint milky fragrance drifted around.

The cow stood perfectly still, eating the ryegrass very contentedly, already accustomed to the life of being milked.

Lin Heng milked for a while, then looked at his parents, Xiulan, and the others and asked, “Have you all learned it?”

“Let me give it a try.” Xiulan walked over and squatted down beside Lin Heng. She looked at Lin Heng’s hand movements and tried to imitate a squeeze, but not much milk came out.

“Use a bit more force; you’re being too gentle.” Lin Heng said.

“Okay.” Xiulan gradually increased her strength, and soon streams of milk were being squeezed out. For someone with good hands-on ability, it wasn’t difficult.

After Xiulan milked for a while, Mother Lin, Caiyun, Liu Juan, and the others also took turns trying. They all mastered it quickly. Only Father Lin and Lin Yue weren’t very good at it; their strength was too great and they hurt the cow, which almost kicked someone.

“I’ve done too much labor; my hand strength is too strong.” Father Lin said with an embarrassed laugh.

“Yeah, it looks simple but I didn’t expect there to be technique to it.” Lin Yue also nodded.

“If you all take turns trying one more time, today’s milking will pretty much be finished.” Lin Heng said, feeling the cow’s milk-producing organ.

Holstein cows have a very high milk yield, and they can produce milk even while pregnant, just not as much as during the period after giving birth to a calf.

“Can this cow just be fed green grass?” Father Lin inquired.

Lin Heng shook his head: “You can’t feed too much green grass; you need to feed hay, along with cornmeal, wheat bran, soybean cake, and the like. You have to feed a little bit of that every day.”

“So complicated? Even cornmeal and wheat bran?” Mother Lin was curious.

“Of course. Since it produces milk every day, it naturally needs to be fed well. But you don’t need to feed too much. As long as the pasture grass is of high enough quality, overall, it won’t cost much money.” Lin Heng explained.

“I see.” The several of them nodded, seeming to understand.

Soon the wooden bucket was full. Lin Heng picked up the milk and looked at his family members and Li Caifeng, who was still watching, saying, “Come over, let’s taste the fresh milk.”

He carried the milk into the house, and Mother Lin and the others pulled Li Caifeng inside with them.

Once inside, Lin Heng took out the charcoal he had prepared before milking from the fireplace, placed it into the ceramic stove, brought it to the main room, set up a clay pot, and poured the milk he had just squeezed into it to boil.

Fresh milk has a lot of bacteria and needs to be boiled, around sixty to seventy degrees Celsius is enough.

After two minutes, the milk was ready. Lin Heng poured a bowl for everyone and also brought out some biscuits.

“Try it. See if you can get used to drinking pure milk.” Lin Heng said with a smile.

Everyone nodded, picked up their bowls, blew on them, and took a couple of sips.

“It is a bit strange.” Mother Lin was the most unaccustomed to it and was about to put hers down.

“Mom, drink a few more sips. No matter how bad it tastes, it’s still better than Chinese medicine, right?” Lin Heng looked at her and said.

Pure milk doesn’t have much sweetness. At first sip, it feels very strange, but after drinking a few sips continuously, you can start to sense that rich, milky aroma. The more you drink, the more you want to drink.

After everyone had drunk about half their bowls, they began to appreciate the charm of pure milk. Xiulan and Caiyun, imitating Lin Heng, soaked some biscuits in it, which tasted even better.

“It’s delicious. This pure milk is really good.”

Li Caifeng drank hers down to just a little left and nodded repeatedly. She was genuinely envious. From now on, Lin Heng’s family could drink such delicious milk every day.

“It really is good. Aside from needing a bit more feed, this cow is great in every other way.” Mother Lin also nodded. After drinking a few more sips, she gradually became able to accept it.

“It’s very tasty, so delicious. It’s the best-tasting thing I’ve ever drunk.” Caiyun nodded emphatically.

“Then have some more. There’s plenty left.” Lin Heng poured some more for everyone.

This cow can only produce a little over ten jin of milk a day. One jin of milk is five hundred milliliters. With eleven people in the house, they probably wouldn’t even finish it all.

Lin Heng bought the cow mainly for Xiao Xia and for any other children they might have in the future. If the family couldn’t drink it all, he would give it to others; he wasn’t planning to sell it.

After this round, everyone said they didn’t want any more. Lin Heng estimated each person had drunk at most half a jin, and there was still half a bucket left.

“Even if Lin Heng and Xiao Xia each drink a bit more of what’s left, they still won’t finish it.” Lin Heng said, looking at everyone.

“It’s fine, you keep it and drink it slowly.” Lin Yue waved his hand and said with a laugh.

Father Lin then pointed at the saplings nearby and asked: “Should we start planting these today?”

Because it was decided last year, many plots of land were left empty, so they could be planted directly now.

“But how should these be planted? The land varies in quality, some good, some bad, some far, some near.” Mother Lin said, looking at the saplings.

Seeing that the Lin family was still discussing these matters, Li Caifeng quickly got up and left. Xiulan went to see her off.

Lin Heng then answered Mother Lin’s question: “I’ve already thought it all through. We’ll plant kiwi fruit and grapes on these flatter lands near the river. The apple trees will be planted on the sloping land.”

“Kiwi fruit and grapes can’t be exposed to intense sun during their ripening period, and we’ll need to set up bird nets. It’s easier to manage these operations on flat land.” He added by way of explanation.

“Alright then. After we finish breakfast, let’s go plant them.” Mother Lin nodded.

Lin Yue then took out an IOU and handed it to Lin Heng, smiling as he said: “Little brother, this is the IOU I wrote yesterday. The five hundred for buying the saplings this time, plus the hundred you said you’d support me with to buy a hunting rifle, makes six hundred total. I’ll pay you back within five years. I’ll be thick-skinned and not give any interest.”

After saying this, he handed the IOU to Xiulan. Even though he and Lin Heng were brothers by blood, thicker than water, they both had their own families now and had to consider the feelings of each other’s wives.

Xiulan shook her head and didn’t take it: “We’re all family. Why write an IOU? Just remember it.”

Lin Heng took it, tore it up directly, and threw it in the trash bin: “Exactly. I already said it wasn’t necessary. You can pay it back slowly. I’m not short of this little money.”

“In that case, since Dad doesn’t have money to give me either, should he also write an IOU?” Lin Heng continued.

“That’s right, as long as the accounts are settled, it’s fine. We’re all here to witness it. An IOU isn’t necessary, it would be laughable if word got out.” Mother Lin nodded.

“Alright.” Lin Yue nodded.

Father Lin, meanwhile, looked at Lin Heng and said with a smile, “Son, your old dad can’t afford to pay for the saplings. How about I just give you the land instead?”

(End of Chapter)