Chapter 248: Planning for the Warehouse and Indoor Hatching Ponds

The twenty-third, another day of bright, sunny weather.

In the morning, Father Lin and the others prepared to go plow the fields.

After finishing breakfast, Lin Heng and his wife Xiulan sat together sunbathing in the front yard.

On such warm, sunny days, the most pleasant thing was to do absolutely nothing, just lean against each other and bask in the sun.

And if they could clean each other’s ears, that would be even more comfortable.

Lin Heng truly wished he could just keep lazing around like this forever, lying on his wife’s legs watching Xiao Xia play in the yard.

But after only a short while sunbathing, Xiulan patted his head. “Get up, I need to go wash clothes and dig up some wild vegetables.”

“No rush, we still have clothes to wear anyway.”

Lin Heng stubbornly refused to get up, mumbling with his eyes closed.

“What do you mean ‘still have clothes to wear anyway’? Dirty clothes need to be washed.”

Xiulan gave a helpless look at the head resting on her leg, and in the end could only agree to let Lin Heng sunbathe a little longer.

By now, the sun was already quite warm. After dozing for a while, Xiulan got too hot and took off her cotton-padded jacket.

Underneath was a white wool sweater. Lin Heng, who had his head pillowed on her thigh, opened his eyes and looked.

He couldn’t see Xiulan’s face, only half of the blue sky. The part closer to her face was blocked by her ample bosom.

“So big!”

Lin Heng muttered to himself, even bigger than when he felt them with his mouth at night.

“If you keep saying things like that, I’ll hit you. Be proper, it’s broad daylight.”

Xiulan glanced at Lin Heng, patted his face, and warned him softly.

Lin Heng didn’t say anything more but wanted to reach out and touch them, only to have his hand slapped away with a smack.

Lin Heng chuckled with a cheeky grin, changed his position to face his wife’s stomach, wrapped his arms around her waist, and continued sunbathing.

He had just dozed off again when there came a loud knocking sound from outside, followed by the voice of his elder brother Lin Yue:

“Little brother, let’s go catch eels in the fields. Dad has already harnessed the ox, he’s plowing ahead and we’ll catch them behind.”

Lin Heng originally didn’t want to go, but after thinking about it, he said, “Alright, I’ll be there in a bit, you go ahead first.”

Every spring during plowing season is also a good time to catch eels. When the fields are plowed, the soil is turned over and the eels come out with it, ready to be caught by hand.

When he was a child, his favorite thing was going to pick up eels. His father would plow ahead, and he and his elder brother would pick them up behind.

“Wife, I’m heading out then.”

Lin Heng stood up, looking at Xiulan’s delicate face. It wasn’t just about picking up eels; he had many other things to do today, so it was destined that he couldn’t keep sunbathing all day.

Xiulan nodded. “Go ahead, I’ll watch our daughter.”

After going out, Lin Heng first went to Village Party Secretary Tian Dongfu’s house, again to ask him to arrange for workers.

Over at Red Maple Mountain, they still needed to build a warehouse and indoor hatching ponds.

The land had been leveled last year, just waiting for construction to start this year. Over two mu of land, totaling more than sixteen hundred square meters. Six hundred square meters would be used to build the warehouse, four hundred square meters for the indoor hatching ponds. The remaining six hundred square meters would be used to build some houses for people to live in, as well as other utility buildings.

The plan was for three warehouses, each two hundred square meters, and four indoor breeding rooms, each one hundred square meters. For housing, they would first build one house of one hundred twenty square meters.

This had been decided long ago, and Lin Heng had even found time to draw up the blueprints.

As for the remaining four hundred-plus square meters of land, they would decide based on the situation later; it wasn’t certain yet what it would be used for. Maybe in the future, it would be used to raise things like forest musk deer.

This time, Lin Heng didn’t need too many people, twenty would be enough. Adding his brother-in-law and Third Uncle and a few others, that made about thirty.

Besides that, he also needed to go to town to find a few masons and call for a carpenter.

Lin Heng himself had been a mason in his previous life, so laying bricks and plastering walls were no problem for him.

But he was lazy, and besides, just him alone wouldn’t be enough.

“I’ll use the loudspeaker at the village committee to call people for you at noon.”

As soon as Lin Heng mentioned it, Tian Dongfu agreed. Now the village committee had even bought a loudspeaker, making it much more convenient to call out announcements. People living by the river could all hear it.

“Thank you, Uncle Tian.”

After finishing his talk, Lin Heng went back, drove his own three-wheeled cart to Red Maple Mountain to take a look. Among the fifteen ponds, except for the one raising grass carp which had plenty of water, the others only had about thirty centimeters of water depth. Some grass had already started growing around the edges.

The more than twenty mu of land ultimately only had fifteen ponds; the roads in the middle and between the ponds took up quite a bit of space.

After looking around, Lin Heng roughly knew what work to arrange for tomorrow. He noted it down in his notebook, then turned and headed for Huangtan Town.

Today is the 23rd day of the first lunar month, which happens to be market day. On the way to town, Lin Heng encountered quite a few people heading to the market, and he brought two acquaintances along with him.

The shop had moderate foot traffic. In winter, there weren’t many medicinal herbs to sell, mostly animal pelts. Many people also deliberately kept a small amount of herbs to sell, hoping to get a discount when buying goods.

When Lin Heng entered the shop, he noticed Liu Cihua had been sitting to the side the whole time, seemingly waiting for Wang Zhou to finish his work.

“Brother Lin!” Wang Zhou saw Lin Heng suddenly appear and quickly greeted him with a smile, while Liu Cihua beside him seemed somewhat reserved.

“It’s fine, you go about your work. I came down to take care of some business.”

Lin Heng waved his hand, looked around the shop, and only after asking did he learn that Old Man Gao had gone fishing.

He didn’t linger any longer, turned around, and went out to find a bricklayer. There were quite a few bricklayers in town, but their skills varied widely.

Lin Heng drove to the front of a blue-brick house. The main gate was wide open, and two children were playing a stone-catching game in front of the door.

“Is the master of the house here? I’m looking for a bricklayer.”

Lin Heng called out to ask.

“My dad is inside, I’ll go call him.”

One of the older children nodded and ran into the house.

Not long after, a middle-aged man with a mustache walked out from inside. Seeing the three-wheeled vehicle Lin Heng was driving, his expression immediately brightened into a smile: “Boss, you’re looking for a bricklayer?”

“Yes, I heard your skills are good. How much per day?”

Lin Heng got out of the vehicle, walked over, and asked with a smile.

The mustached man invited Lin Heng inside and also poured him tea, but Lin Heng declined: “I’ll leave right after we talk, no need for tea.”

The mustached man said with a smile: “Well, that depends on whether meals are provided or not.”

“One meal at noon is provided. The worksite is at Red Maple Village, building a warehouse and houses. Here are the blueprints, take a look.”

After saying this, Lin Heng handed him the blueprints.

The mustached man looked at the blueprints and, realizing so many buildings needed to be constructed, immediately became even more serious. This was a big job.

After looking over the blueprints, he looked up and asked: “Boss, this will probably require quite a few people, right?”

Lin Heng nodded: “Yes, I plan to hire five or six bricklayers. I’ve already found the laborers.”

The mustached man thought for a moment, looked at Lin Heng, and said: “Boss, if one meal is provided, it would have to be one yuan and thirty cents per day. Tools and such, I have everything ready here. I can also help you find other bricklayers, guaranteed to be top-notch every one of them.”

Lin Heng nodded and said seriously: “I can give you that price. Find five more people for me, and they all have to bring their own tools. But let me be clear upfront, if their skills aren’t up to par, don’t blame me for kicking them out.”

He himself had worked as a bricklayer for quite some time, so he could tell at a glance whether someone’s skills were good or not.

The mustached man patted his chest and said: “Don’t worry about that, boss. If the work isn’t done well, I won’t even take the money, I’ll leave on my own.”

Lin Heng nodded: “Then gather everyone tomorrow morning at the front of the town’s Procurement Station. I’ll come pick you up then. Your name is Liu Haigui, right?”

“That’s right, boss.” The mustached man nodded with a smile, very happy. Getting such a job right at the start of the new year was truly great.

“Good, I know.”

Lin Heng nodded, got on his vehicle, turned around, and left. Today’s market crowd was average, but there were quite a few people selling various livestock offspring under the bridge and by the riverbank.

He didn’t see anything particularly good for sale on the streets either. After saying a word to Wang Zhou, Lin Heng drove home.

The terrain around Huangtan Town was relatively low. The peach blossoms along both sides of the road were already in full bloom, while the surrounding trees and mountains were still bare and grayish, making these peach blossoms especially eye-catching. White tinged with pink, like a young girl’s pinkish-white cheeks, and a faint fragrance could be smelled with a gentle breeze.

“Brother, pick some for us.”

As soon as Lin Heng climbed up, girls returning from the market called out to him with giggles.

Lin Heng turned his head to look. Two girls wearing printed cotton-padded jackets were gazing at him with meaningful glances, their eyes shifting back and forth between his vehicle and himself.

“I can’t do that, I’m picking these for my wife.”

Lin Heng smiled and waved his hand.

“Just asking you to pick a flower, it’s not like we’re asking you to do something shameful. Fine, forget it if you won’t!”

One of the girls with a pointed chin snorted lightly and walked away unhappily.

Hearing that Lin Heng was married, any thoughts they had were extinguished.

Lin Heng smiled, carefully placed the plum blossoms in the vehicle, and sped off towards home.

When he got home, Xiulan had just finished washing the clothes and was hanging them out to dry.

“For you.”

Lin Heng parked the vehicle and handed the peach blossoms to Xiulan.

“The peach blossoms in town are already blooming?”

Xiulan happily took them and smelled them.

“Yes, I folded it just for you.”

Lin Heng smiled.

Xiulan gave him a glance with her beautiful eyes, happily took it inside, and placed it in a slender-necked vase.

“I’m going to catch some eels.”

Lin Heng found a bag, said this, and headed out with Xiong Ba.

“There’s quite a bit of wild garlic by the fields, dig some up and we’ll stir-fry it with cured meat,” Xiulan called out.

“Okay.”

By the time Lin Heng replied, he was already out the door.

“Woof woof~~”

It had been quite a few days since Xiong Ba had been out with Lin Heng. As soon as they were out, he started frolicking happily, bouncing around everywhere.

Arriving at the field’s edge, Lin Heng saw that Father and Elder Brother had already plowed three or four mu of land. Their family had some dry fields these days. When planting rice, they needed to flood them. After the rice was harvested, they could plant wheat or rapeseed.

Then there were the waterlogged fields, which had water year-round and could only grow rice. Their family had about three mu of waterlogged fields, which his father kept for himself.

“How many have you caught?”

Lin Heng glanced at the frolicking Xiong Ba and walked over to ask.

Lin Yue said with a smile, “Little brother, you’re late. The waterlogged fields are already plowed. We’ve caught about five or six jin of eels.”

The waterlogged fields that held water year-round had the most eels. These dry fields that would dry out had fewer, but they weren’t completely absent.

Lin Heng looked at the plastic bucket placed not far away. Inside, eels as thick as thumbs were piled on top of each other. The thickest ones were about as thick as two thumbs pressed together.

“And these are all the big ones. We didn’t bother with the small ones,” Lin Yue laughed.

Lin Heng nodded. He was just about to speak when Father Lin’s shout came from the distance, “Come quick! Another big eel just got plowed out!”

They saw him reach out, grab it, and toss it over. Lin Heng hurried to pick it up. It was an eel thicker than a thumb.

“Not bad, not bad.” Lin Heng picked it up and threw it into the bucket.

The dry fields had fewer eels. It took a good while for one to appear, so there was no need to follow right behind the plow. He could just wait for his dad’s shout.

There was quite a bit of wild garlic by the field edges. At this time of year, you could spot it from afar, though it wasn’t particularly thick.

“Woof woof~”

Lin Heng hadn’t been pulling wild garlic for long before Xiong Ba started guiding him again, always waiting for him ahead wherever there was some wild garlic.

His physique had already stabilized now. Lin Heng had measured him before: shoulder height seventy-two centimeters, body length eighty-one centimeters, a full size larger than a normal German Shepherd.

The so-called shoulder height refers to the distance from the ground to the withers. Body length refers to the distance from the front of the chest to the rear of the hips, not counting the tail or head.

This final size was a bit smaller than Lin Heng had anticipated, but it made sense. Bigger isn’t always better.

“You rascal!”

Lin Heng rubbed his head. The dog just stuck out his tongue and ran off again. Soon after, he found some more wild garlic and called out to him.

If Lin Heng didn’t go, he would just wait there, watching him. But Lin Heng usually went, because what Xiong Ba found was always good stuff. When it came to finding things, you had to trust Xiong Ba.

While Lin Heng was gathering wild garlic, Father Lin caught a few more eels. The harvest was decent.

Around half past twelve, they finished plowing this field, ending the morning’s work. The rest would be done in the afternoon. Once plowed, they could flood it and let it soak. Come March, they’d use an ox to pull a rectangular wooden harrow over it a few times to break up the clods, and then they could transplant the rice seedlings.

“Son, bring me the rice and corn seeds you bought later.”

Father Lin led the ox over and said.

“Okay.” Lin Heng nodded.

Rice needed to be pre-germinated. They called it ‘sprouting the seeds.’ Once sprouted, they’d use bamboo strips and plastic film to make little arches over them. By April or May, they could transplant the seedlings.

“Little brother, let’s kill these eels and eat them ourselves. I don’t see any need to sell them,” Lin Yue said, holding the bucket.

“Let’s see how many we have once all the fields are plowed. If there’s a lot, we’ll eat some and sell the rest,” Lin Heng said with a smile. He quite liked eating eels himself; stir-fried eel strips were excellent.

“That works too.” Lin Yue nodded.

Back home, Lin Heng handed a large bundle of picked wild garlic to Xiulan. It just needed washing and could be chopped directly.

“Go upstairs and get some cured meat. What we brought down is finished.”

Xiulan reached out and picked a few beggar-ticks seeds off Lin Heng’s clothes, smiling sweetly as she spoke.

“Alright.”

Lin Heng stepped onto the stairs and went up to the second floor. The family’s cured meat was all hanging by the second-floor window. These had long been smoked, sun-dried, and were thoroughly cured.

Lin Heng counted them. There were still twenty-two pieces of cured meat and three hams. Each piece of cured meat weighed over ten jin. Each ham weighed thirty jin. Altogether, that was still nearly three hundred jin of meat.

And this was already considered eating a lot. The Hog Badger and forest musk deer meat had already been completely eaten. Most of that big mother Wild Boar’s meat had been rendered into lard, otherwise the quantity would have been even greater.

“When the weather gets hot, I’ll have to take these downstairs to hang them up.”

Lin Heng muttered to himself. When it was hot, this upstairs room was like a steamer, no longer suitable for storing meat.

After looking them over, Lin Heng picked a smaller one and carried it downstairs.

(End of Chapter)