Chapter 246: Father Lin’s Humblebrag

Today was the Lantern Festival, so naturally, there had to be an evening celebration. On this day, homes were supposed to be brightly lit, and every household was to keep their lights on until midnight.

Besides being the Lantern Festival, today was also Xiao Xia’s second birthday.

However, Lin Heng and Xiulan didn’t plan to announce it. Otherwise, everyone would feel obliged to give red envelopes and such, which really wasn’t necessary.

Before dinner, everyone gathered inside to look at the saplings and seeds.

Lin Heng had purchased a large quantity of three types of fruit trees: apple, grape, and kiwi. He had also bought a small number of Shatangju tangerine, pear, plum, peach, apricot, and cherry trees. These weren’t many, just enough to plant around the house for the family to eat.

Having a variety of trees meant there would be something to eat every season, which was a very happy thing.

Lin Heng pointed at the fruit trees and said with a smile, “Elder Brother, Brother-in-law, and Third Uncle, you can each take four or five saplings of whichever type you want to plant. These are all excellent seedlings, far better than the local varieties. They’ll bear fruit that’s big and sweet.”

Li Baiquan grinned and said, “Well, I won’t stand on ceremony then.”

After saying that, he went to pick out some seedlings himself, wrapped them in plastic film, and set them aside.

Third Uncle’s family also didn’t hold back and took some. While these fruit trees weren’t particularly expensive, adding in the transportation cost from Ancheng made a difference.

Being able to take some home for free to plant naturally made everyone extremely happy.

Lu Honghai smiled and said, “Lin Heng, I’ll just take two saplings. But give me a handful of those ginseng seeds. I plan to go back and plant some.”

“Sure, Elder Brother. I’ll scoop some out for you when you’re ready to leave,” Lin Heng replied with a nod and a smile.

Glancing at the remaining saplings, he planned to plant them on the back hill. Being close by, the family could pick fruit whenever they wanted to eat some.

Later on, he would cut down those trees on the back hill, then wrap the stumps with black plastic film. The new shoots that sprouted wouldn’t be able to photosynthesize, and they’d die off on their own over the course of a summer.

“Time to eat,” Mother Lin said, walking in from outside.

“Wash your hands and come eat.”

“Come on, let’s go eat,” Lin Heng also nodded. Today, the meal was prepared by his elder brother’s family.

For the evening, they had prepared two large tables of dishes and also cooked Rice Wine Glutinous Rice Balls. The rice wine combined with the glutinous rice balls provided a satisfying lingering flavor of the New Year.

After finishing the meal, Lin Heng and Xiulan took Xiao Xia back home.

Xiao Xia played in the house for a while. Xiulan brought over a small bowl of noodles and placed it in front of Xiao Xia. Looking at her, Xiulan asked with a smile, “Xiao Xia, do you know what day today is?”

“I know! Dad said today is the Lantern Festival,” Xiao Xia said quickly, raising her little hand.

“That’s right, but not entirely,” Xiulan nodded, then asked again, “Then, Xiao Xia, do you know when you were born?”

Xiao Xia tilted her head and thought for a long time, then shook her head. She couldn’t figure it out.

“You were born on this day two years ago. So besides being the Lantern Festival, today is also your birthday,” Xiulan said, stroking her cheek.

“After tonight, you’ll be two years old, growing up more and more,” Lin Heng also said with a smile.

Hearing Lin Heng say this, Xiao Xia immediately jumped up: “Yay! I’m growing up!”

“On birthdays, there are red envelopes and longevity noodles. Come on, eat up,” Xiulan said, taking out a red envelope with a smile.

“And this is the birthday gift I bought for Xiao Xia.”

Lin Heng took out a small colored rubber ball, a paper-cut picture book, and a small Rubik’s cube, handing them to her with a smile.

These gifts were all carefully chosen by Lin Heng. Not only were they full of fun, but they also helped exercise hand-eye coordination and were beneficial for a child’s intellectual development.

Seeing so many gifts, Xiao Xia was stunned. So having a birthday was this good.

“Give us a kiss and say thank you, then you can eat the noodles,” Xiulan said with a smile.

“Thank you, Mommy and Daddy.”

Xiao Xia couldn’t wait to play with the toys. She gave each of them a kiss on the cheek and then started devouring the longevity noodles.

Xiulan hadn’t cooked much to begin with, so Xiao Xia finished it in just a couple of mouthfuls. She crawled over, grabbed the small rubber ball, and started patting it, giggling happily non-stop.

“Knock knock knock!”

“Open the door, son.”

Right at that moment, Mother Lin’s knocking came from outside.

“Mom, what are you doing here so late at night?”

Lin Heng opened the door and asked with a smile.

Mother Lin gave a light humph: “Of course, I’m here to give my precious granddaughter a red envelope. Did you really think we didn’t know about Xiao Xia’s birthday?”

Xiao Xia’s birthday being on the same day as the Lantern Festival made it too easy to remember. She just hadn’t mentioned it during dinner.

After saying that, Mother Lin walked towards Xiao Xia: “Xiao Xia, here’s a red envelope for you. May you always be healthy and well.”

“Thank you, Grandma.” Xiao Xia ran over holding her ball, delighted to receive the red envelope, and gave her grandmother a kiss on the cheek.

“Good, good, good.” Mother Lin immediately smiled happily.

After chatting for a few sentences, Mother Lin hadn’t left yet when Lin Heng saw his Elder Brother, his younger uncle-in-law, and his eldest uncle also coming in with red envelopes.

“Hey, what are you all doing? There’s no need for this.” Lin Heng spread his hands helplessly. How did everyone find out?

“What’s wrong? Can’t I give my granddaughter a birthday gift?” Li Honghai’s attitude was firm. Not only did he bring a red envelope, but he also brought a shuttlecock made with golden rooster feathers, clearly prepared well in advance.

“That’s right, it’s just a small token of our affection. We didn’t celebrate her first birthday before, so giving it now is just right.” Li Baiquan also said with a smile.

Lin Heng spread his hands, unable to say anything more. Xiao Xia was overjoyed to receive a big pile of red envelopes, jumping up and down excitedly.

The two of them called everyone inside to eat another meal, but after giving the red envelopes, they all left one by one.

“Let them give it. As long as Xiao Xia is happy, we can return the favor later.”

Lin Heng said with a smile.

“That’s the only way.” Xiulan also nodded.

After playing for a while, Xiao Xia was taken inside to sleep. Before sleeping, she opened all the red envelopes and stored the money in her own piggy bank.

Besides the money, there was also a cloth doll with a bell that Caiyun had given her during the day. This was made by Caiyun herself, with Xiao Xia’s name embroidered on it, showing a lot of thought and effort.

Xiao Xia even wanted to hold the cloth doll while sleeping, with several small cloth toys sharing her quilt.

In the blink of an eye, early the next morning, Lin Heng and Xiulan got up early to wash up and exercise.

The weather today was somewhat gloomy, with many dark clouds in the sky. After finishing their exercise, they headed towards the back hill to feed the livestock and milk the cows.

“Hiss!!”

Hongzao let out another hiss, discontentedly kicking at the wall. Three days had passed, and it was still sleeping under the eaves, only able to eat a little fresh grass each day, the rest all being dry hay.

“You can move back today.” Lin Heng looked at it feeling a bit embarrassed.

The original plan was to build another cattle pen beforehand, but planting fruit trees was more critical. These fruit trees were all bare-rooted and couldn’t be left for too long, otherwise the probability of seedling death was very high.

Lin Heng temporarily gave the cow some corn stalks to eat, while Xiulan busied herself milking the cows.

After boiling the milk, they called everyone over to drink.

“Caiyun, do you need me to go for this year’s school registration?” Lin Heng asked her.

Caiyun looked up after finishing her milk and said, “Either way is fine, it’s up to you, Second Brother.”

“Then you go by yourself. I’ll help plant the fruit trees. Use the extra money to buy notebooks and pens.” Lin Heng took out twenty yuan and handed it to her.

“This is too much, Brother.” Caiyun shook her head.

“Take it. Buy whatever you’re lacking. Live with a bit more dignity. Your brother isn’t short of this money.” Xiulan patted her hand and said with a smile.

“That’s right, study hard so you can work for me in the future.” Lin Heng also laughed.

Since both of them said so, Caiyun could only nod and accept it, then went back to prepare for school.

After finishing breakfast, Lin Heng and the others went to continue planting the fruit trees. They got up early today. With a total of one thousand kiwi fruit trees across ten acres of land, they finished the task in just the morning.

They just needed to get them planted. Judging by the weather, it would rain soon, so they had to race against time. Once the trees took root, they could slowly weed and fertilize them later.

“It’s finally done.” Seeing all the kiwi fruit trees planted, Lin Yue felt reassured.

“How many years until these things mature?” Li Shiwei asked curiously from the side.

“Kiwi fruit and grapes can bear fruit next year, reaching full production in three to four years. Apple trees will need four to five years to enter their peak fruiting period, and then they’ll have decades of abundant harvests.”

Lin Heng explained with a smile. The timing he chose was excellent. By the time these fruit trees fully matured, it would be around 1990.

By then, with market economic reforms, improved living standards, and a surge in market demand, their fruits would perfectly hit that time window, completely eliminating any worries about sales.

The same went for the medicinal herbs he planted; they would all fetch very good prices by then.

If you only start planting when market demand arises, you won’t make money. Only by preparing in advance can you catch the wave.

“It’s not easy to plant on our mountain, otherwise we’d start an orchard too.” Li Shiwei sighed with emotion.

There was nothing anyone could do about it; transporting fruit trees on that big mountain was a major hassle.

“Let’s go back to eat. We still need to plant for Third Uncle and the others this afternoon.” Lin Yue said with a smile.

Everyone nodded and started walking back. During lunch, Lin Heng’s Third Uncle gave Xiao Xia a belated birthday red envelope and also sternly scolded his mother, saying they should have been told about such a thing.

Lin Heng didn’t stop him either, letting Xiao Xia accept it. Since she had taken gifts from everyone else, it wouldn’t be appropriate not to take his Third Uncle’s.

Lin Wei and the others chased after Xiao Xia playing with a leather ball, running all over the courtyard.

After the meal, in the afternoon, they moved the operation to Lin Heng’s Third Uncle’s house to plant the one thousand one-year-old kiwi fruit seedlings that Lin Hai had bought.

The land was right by the roadside, so they didn’t have to go far, and planting went quickly.

They finished up around five in the afternoon. After they were done, Li Baiquan smiled and said, “I won’t stay for dinner, I’m heading back.”

“That’s impossible. Everyone has to eat dinner first,” Lin Hai ran over and pulled him back.

There was no way he was leaving. In the end, he was persuaded to stay for dinner. After the meal, it was completely dark, so the two of them had no choice but to stay overnight at Lin Heng’s house, leaving early the next morning.

After breakfast in the morning, Lin Heng also drove to town, bought some black plastic sheeting, and then moved back several bags of fertilizer that Li Chengguo had delivered.

“Dad, you guys are working pretty fast.”

When Lin Heng returned, he found that his dad, his elder brother, and his eldest uncle had already finished sawing down all the trees on the back hill and had started building the fence.

“We have the diesel chainsaw,” Father Lin said with a smile.

“Then I’ll wrap the tree stumps.”

Lin Heng said this and proceeded to wrap all the tree stumps inside the fence with the black plastic sheeting.

The back hill area they had been continuously expanding now covered about two mu of land, with a slope of roughly thirty to forty degrees.

After finishing that, they planted thirty fruit trees here, planting three or four trees of each variety.

There were still over a hundred pear trees left in the house. Peach trees, plum trees, and apricot trees were originally bought in smaller quantities, so only about ten of each remained.

This was easy to handle. They would later plant them along the edge of Red Maple Mountain to stabilize the soil, and any extras would be given to villagers as a gesture of goodwill.

After planting the fruit trees in the morning, in the afternoon, his eldest uncle took the saplings and ginseng seeds back home. Lin Heng, along with his father and elder brother, continued building the cow shed for the dairy cows.

The cow shed was also made of wood, using a fenced-in style rather than a fully enclosed one.

The advantage of this style was that it was very well-ventilated, making the cattle less prone to illness. When they lay down to sleep at night, the fence would also block the wind.

The roof above was still nailed together with wooden planks, then covered with multiple layers of plastic sheeting for waterproofing, with an outer layer of straw added on top to prevent the plastic from weathering.

Whether it was the cow pen, the horse pen, or pens for other livestock, they were all built behind the area where Father Lin and the others lived. Lin Heng’s courtyard backyard was not used for these.

It wasn’t an issue of manure smell. They weren’t far from Shiban River, and the wind was quite strong year-round, so there actually wasn’t much of a smell, and you couldn’t smell it in the courtyard at all.

The main reason was because there was a well behind Lin Heng’s house. Although it was groundwater, and any seepage from manure water would be filtered clean by the time it reached the underground water. But for peace of mind and for safety, they didn’t build livestock pens in the back.

Moreover, the slope behind his parents’ old house was gentler, making it more convenient to build cow and horse pens.

“Finally finished.”

A little after four in the afternoon, Lin Heng let out a long sigh and said.

“It really is tiring,” Lin Yue sat down beside him.

The three of them had worked for over four hours to finish it. This new cow shed was six meters long and three meters wide, eighteen square meters in size.

Inside, it was divided into three compartments, one cow per compartment, to avoid mixing the dairy cows with the calves, as the newly weaned calves were quite restless.

One compartment was just right for storing fodder, or later on, if there were calves, it could also be used to raise them.

“Come on, let’s go bring the cows over. Hongzao has been living under the eaves for several days now,” Lin Heng stood up and said.

“Don’t we need to pick an auspicious day?” Father Lin inquired.

“Today is already an auspicious day,” Lin Heng waved his hand.

He led the large dairy cow, and his elder brother led the small dairy cow, moving them to their new home.

“Moo~~”

As soon as the two dairy cows arrived at their new home, the large yellow ox in the nearby cow pen let out a loud bellow.

“What are you bellowing about? You’ve been castrated for years.”

Lin Heng glanced over, then added some more fodder for the dairy cows. Each compartment was three meters long and two meters wide, which was plenty of space for one cow.

“I’ll have to work hard gathering grass for the cattle from now on. The livestock at home are increasing more and more.”

Father Lin looked at the livestock on the back hill and sighed with emotion. His family now had three oxen, one horse, one goat, and two forest musk deer, all of them major grass consumers.

However, he was experiencing both pain and happiness. This meant his family was prospering, something he wouldn’t have dared to imagine last year.

“In a few days, find some spots along the edges of the fields, cut down the trees and burn them, then plant the pasture grass I bought. That way, you won’t have to go everywhere cutting grass anymore. This high-quality pasture grass grows fast and is highly nutritious,” Lin Heng said with a smile.

“I know, I’m just expressing my feelings,” Father Lin replied with a simple, honest smile. He was humble-bragging—these days, other families didn’t even have the luxury of such worries.

“Let’s go, time to head home,” Lin Heng said, wrapping his arms around his dad and Elder Brother’s necks and lifting them into the air.

On the way back, Father Lin asked again, “By the way, son, when are you planning to plant those medicinal herbs? And when will work start over at Red Maple Mountain?”

(End of Chapter)