Winter days are short.

Before five o'clock in the afternoon, the western sky was already shining.

Nance helped set up the plastic greenhouse, carefully leaning to the side so as not to step on the freshly planted potato seedlings. Next to the potato field was a wheat field, and a horse-drawn cart loaded with clods of earth was parked next to it, and the wheat seedlings were all covered with snow, and two workers sat on the edge of the field smoking pipes.

The clods in the wagon were stirred and used to spread on the corn seeds, but no one had dried them by this time, and the clods were frozen hard.

Li Ting jumped out from the side and shouted to the worker Vasily to pull the wagon to the side of the cornfield, and then smashed the clods of soil and mixed them with the corn seeds and planted them together.

"It's out of the way, sir, the corn will definitely grow." Vasily replied grinningly.

"Please don't argue," Li Ting shouted in a hoarse voice, "do as I tell you."

"Yes, sir." Vasily put down his pipe, grabbed his horse and walked towards the cornfield.

Li Ting followed, picked up a clod of soil, smashed it in the palm of his hand, and rubbed the soil.

The soil that has been eroded by natural disasters is somewhat seriously acidic, and the plants can hardly survive.

The soils were an important step in his soil improvement program.

Cabbage is planted on contaminated soil, and the purifying power of the cabbage is used to balance the pH of the soil, which is then used to grow new crops. As long as the follow-up fertilizer can keep up, the survival of the crop can be basically guaranteed.

Vasily cannot only be blamed for not mixing the purified soil with the corn seeds in time, but it is still annoying.

Li Ting tried more than once to calm his anger and tried every means to make the plan satisfactory, but the reality was often not satisfactory.

Most of the townspeople were uneducated, and not only did they not understand the purpose of some of his orders, but they also thought that he was old and confused, and that he always made people do some laborious and useless work, and that he was seriously understaffed.

Vasily went to the cornfield, took out a sieve, and threw corn seeds into the field while breaking up large clods.

Glancing at his not very neat hands and feet, Li Ting walked over, took the sieve from him, and prepared to sow the seeds himself.

"Where did you plant?"

"Here, sir." Vasily pointed to a new ridge of land.

Li Ting walked to the edge of the field and sowed the ridge according to his own ideas.

He was no longer young, and after bending over to work in the fields for a while, he had a sore back and dizzy eyes. So when he had finished sowing a ridge of land, he returned the sieve to Vasily and told him to finish sowing the remaining seeds.

"Oh, sir!" Vasily muttered, "In the summer, if there is anything wrong with this business, you can't scold me. It's your own ......."

"Well, see for yourself in the summer!" Li Ting panted and said, "When the summer comes, you will know how good the harvest will be for the land I let you plant......

"You're so confident, I believe in you." Vasily smiled, pointed to the field and said, "Last year's corn harvest in that field was half of what we did in previous years, which is very happy."

"Has your family planted corn this year?"

"Ah, sir, of course. I sold a quarter of the corn seed you gave me this year, and planted the rest in my own land." ….

"Oh, just plant it, I'll go over there and have a look." Li Ting said, turned around and walked towards the end of the test field, "Don't talk, pay attention to crushing the mud, if there is something wrong, don't blame the old man for murdering you......

"How so! Sir, we are all grateful for your ......."

Li Ting walked through the experimental field and walked to the foot of the mountain.

Some of the workers here are building wooden sheds, which are needed for the calves when they grow up. The heavy axe chopped the trunk of the tree, and the sawyman aimed at the drawn black line, pulling a large pile of sawdust down.

The picture of labor in full swing is very good.

The arable land is in good condition and the crops can be harvested next summer.

The calves, chicks, and ducklings are all thriving and will soon be ready for the table.

Everything is very happy, everything is very pleasant, Li Ting walked out of the test field, lifting

Look at the valley ahead.

Dusk has fallen, and the twilight is blank, and the sunset is covered with snow-capped mountains, showing a stunning orange-pink jelly texture. If you ignore the danger hidden in the ravine and only look at the scenery, the sunset snow-capped mountains are undoubtedly intoxicating.

But the danger is heartbreaking.

In the past few winters, Li Ting has also encountered the migration of some strange beasts, and the first few times have been spent without danger. But this year, he had little confidence, and according to the hunters who went into the mountains, there were hundreds of wild boars...... His test field is at the foot of the mountain, and there is no way to avoid it.

If it was a pack of wolves, he wasn't so afraid.

But wild boars are omnivorous, and they eat not only crops, but also seedlings......

The sun set behind the mountain, and the shadows lengthened, and the unclear mountains appeared even darker and larger, pressing down heavily on the ground.

Li Ting felt a little breathless.

All this was in vain, he thought to himself, and the vision of the future of agriculture had been a simple despair from the day he had taken refuge in this town. He didn't show a lonely appearance, but in the eyes of Nance, who came with him, he became a kind of decadence of a loser.

"It's all in vain." Nance stepped forward and said.

Li Ting looked back at the person who came, and was silent.

By the last rays of light, Nance looked at him.

He looked like he was in his fifties, his hair was starting to turn gray, and his physique was quite strong and he did not look old. There is still a faint light of majesty and composure in his eyes, which is the temperament that only people who once had countless amounts of money can naturally reveal, but there are not many anymore. In addition to the light, there is more of a sense of decadence, which has been hit hard by society, and has resisted desperately, and finally lost.

Probably affected by his long-term isolation from the world, there was a taste of gloom floating in his frowning brow and deeply sunken eyes.

"These stakes alone can't stop the beasts." Nance said, pointing to the half-human-tall broken fence beside him.

The corners of Li Ting's eyes twitched, and his lips opened slightly, as if he wanted to refute.

But he couldn't find the confidence to refute after all, he just trembled, and walked back to the small building on the edge of the test field with heavy steps.

Nance followed him slowly.

It was a row of small two-story bungalows, and the window frames on the exterior walls and the cornices were all painted with white paint. It's just that the white paint has been yellowed by the sun for a long time, and it has become a kind of empty white that seems to have lost everything in the wind and rain. ….

The heavy wooden door creaked open.

The air is muddy and the dust is floating, as if it is an abandoned house that has been abandoned for many years.

The white-plaster walls were covered with black mold, and the wooden floors were so worn down that they creaked with every step.

Li Ting entered the door, first wiped his sweat with a towel, wiped the dirt off his hands, and then moved out of a coal stove. He took the clamp and put the honeycomb coal he had burned into the coal stove, and rubbed the match with his fingers, which were cracked with his skin. His hands were small and black, like those that had been working outdoors for years.

Nance sat down on a small stool in front of the coal stove.

The room had no decent furniture, a wooden bed, a rough table, a utility cupboard, three chairs, and all farm implements.

The table was a mess of things, dirty plates, drinking glasses, pipes, and sawdust all mixed together. Only the hoes and shovels on the side of the wall are arranged in an orderly manner, and they are not forced to die.

"Do you want tea?" Li Ting asked.

"Okay." Nance nodded.

Li Ting brought an iron kettle covered with thick black ash and put it on the coal stove, and while the water was boiling, he took out a machete and some wood, and clicked the stake.

The kettle began to steam on the coal stove.

Nance held her head and stared boredly at the spout to kill time.

"You're adapting quickly." Li Ting glanced at him and said, "There is so much time in the town that it is unbearable, and I have naturally learned how to pass the time like you."

"Didn't think about it again

Back to where you came?" Nance asked directly.

Li Ting didn't answer the question, but looked intently at the wooden stake he had sharpened, and placed it next to him with satisfaction. Then he began to make tea and poured Nance a cup in an enamel cup.

The tea is fragrant.

"Thank you." Nance replied briefly.

Li Ting remained silent, filled his pipe with smoke, and lit it with a match.

After taking a few puffs of his cigarette, he picked up a piece of wood from under his feet and proceeded to sharpen the stake.

"It's normal for you to feel bad, but it doesn't mean that you can't change it, everyone has a time to run that day." Nance sipped his tea slowly, talking to him one after another, "This is not the end of the world, and you are not the end of the world, so there is no need to make yourself look like the four are empty. When you go back to the original world, you can still work hard."

"Do you have a good job?"

"Yes."

"That's good." Li Ting waved his knife and said, "It's good to work seriously and steadfastly, otherwise it's easy to think about it." It's a small and poor town that can't afford to support idle people, so everyone has to work hard in their own worlds so that they don't all die."

Nance's mind moved, and she asked, "Is there something holding you back?"

"Do you see those people outside?" Li Ting glanced out the window.

It was already dark outside, and there was still a faint afterglow of the sunset above the distant mountain tops. A group of peasant women and old people, who had worked all day, shouted in twos and threes, and hurried back to the town together.

Nance glanced at it, then looked back again.

"Bang!"

The door was kicked open.

"Alas, what a sin, my aunt is about to freeze to death." Miss Su, who had a lot of dirt on her face, rushed in in a hurry, with a lot of night chill on her body. ….

She glanced at the two men in the room, then sat down next to Nance in the last chair, picked up his enamel cup and poured hot tea. The two men didn't speak, she took off her shoes directly, put her feet in front of the coal stove to roast the fire, and muttered, "I have to work in the field to be a guest at someone else's house, which really refreshes my cognition, Uncle Li, you are curious......

"Huh~"

Li Ting smiled faintly.

Just as he was about to speak, Li Qingxian came in from outside with an owl in his arms, and he closed his mouth again.

"No, here you go, help it catch lice." The girl threw the owl to Susa, and walked around the house for a while, crackling and rummaging through the big and small things in the house. Unable to find something of interest, she frowned, looked disgusted, and turned to slip out the door.

When she went out, the whole world seemed to be asleep, so quiet that only the roar of the mountain wind was there.

"Goo!"

Doraa yelled at Li Ting.

That aggrieved throat was 10,000 times more aggrieved than when Nance forcibly sucked it.

"Don't move!" Susa patted its little head, ripped the feathers off its body, and helped it catch the lice that had been brought out of the coop.

The lice that were unfortunately caught were thrown into the coal furnace for cremation.

Li Ting put down the work in his hand, held the enamel cup and said, "The people who come here to work wake up early every day, eat breakfast in a hurry, and automatically and consciously devote themselves to their respective work. Except for the occasional laziness and clumsiness, everything else is passable. It's just that it was based on my tolerance. They have nowhere to earn a living except me, and there are not many of them, and if you count the long hours and some who come to help occasionally, there are always three or five hundred......

Nance frowned, Susa turned her head to look at him, and after a moment, he sighed and muttered, "You mean that after you leave, these people will starve to death, right?"

"It's not that I'm boasting, but it's true." Li Ting took out the nail clippers from the glove box and cut the fingernails step by step, "At present, many seedlings are still in the research stage, and they are not stable enough, and they can't grow them without me watching. I can't comment on the details, but that's roughly the case. It's surrounded by mountains on three sides, it's relatively closed, and the residents are generally stupid, so I can do something in peace. Please don't get through the situation, you outsiders

Expose it to the outside world, otherwise once it reaches the ears of the four major grain merchants, this town will be in a catastrophe."

"Rest assured, I'm pretty reliable when it comes to keeping it a secret."

"I'm relieved to hear you say that." Li Ting gathered the scattered nail clippings together, threw them into the coal stove, and then took out a box of dried sweet potatoes from under the table, chewing them with relish, "You guys also eat some to replenish your strength." There's also salt to dip into."

Nance picked up a slice of dried sweet potatoes and was about to eat them.

"Goo!" Doraa had never seen this thing, and thought it was delicious, so he immediately opened his mouth to ask for it. Nance had to feed it a piece first, but it only took it in its mouth for two seconds before it spit out on Nance's hand, "Goo (this is poison)!"

"Is that exaggerated?"

Nance wiped it on his clothes and tasted it himself.

It's dry and woody, and the taste is really not good, but it has a faint sweetness of sweet potatoes when chewing it, which is okay. ….

"Goo!"

Dora-goo immediately started making trouble again.

The fat body burst out of Miss Su's arms, and an eagle kicked and kicked Nance in the face with its claws. Nance pressed it with a backhand, pinned it on her thigh, and forcibly pulled the hair on its belly to play with it with the sound of "cooing (you pervert who eats my saliva)".

Miss Su moved away from her chair in disgust, not wanting to be next to the pair of owl-flirtatious weirdos.

Li Ting watched silently, carefully dipped in an appropriate amount of salt, and chewed dried sweet potatoes in a small voice, looking like a polite cricket.

When he had chewed enough, he drank the tea in one gulp, put the cup back on the table, took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the corners of his mouth. The handkerchief was as old as the clothes on his body, but it was well cared for and clean.

"Stay here for a few days before you go." He sat upright, chin tucked inward, "Give me some time, I'll sort out some seeds and materials for you to take with you when the time comes." There are also seedlings of livestock, and it will take time to identify blood kinship, and distinguish them before they can be ......given to you, otherwise they will not be cultivated on a large scale."

Nance listened quietly.

In these words, there is a feeling of explaining the last words.

"By the way, Mr. Adel, how are you cooking?"

"Not bad."

"That's good, Qinglian and Qingxian are two children, and their mouths are very picky. Especially Qingxian ......" When he said this, Li Ting, who had always kept a straight face, finally smiled a little, "She has never liked to eat her mother's cooking, which has a lot to do with the fact that her mother used to be a noble lady and couldn't cook. If you have good cooking skills, I can trust them to you with confidence."

There seemed to be some movement outside, and Nance looked out.

It was dark outside, there was a coal stove burning inside, and the window pane was as bright as a mirror.

Due to the high temperature in the room, the glass was covered with a layer of water vapor, and he wiped away the mist with his fingers and saw a pair of eyes emerging from the window.

When the light of the coal stove overlapped the girl's eyes, it formed a transparent phantom beauty, almost making people tremble. The girl was like a sensitive and restless young beast, and the next second it was discovered, its eyes disappeared from the illusion.

"Anything?" Li Ting asked.

Nance was about to speak, but Susa interjected first, "I saw an owl flying by."

After that, she also secretly kicked Nance in the calf, and asked him with her eyes not to mess with the rebellious girl's mind.

Nansi thought about it and felt that he should talk to Li Qingxian first, so he didn't break it, and changed the topic and asked, "Mr. Li stays here because he plans to live and die with the experimental field?"

"That's it."

"There is not much difference between you dying and you leaving, and the three or five hundred people will not live either."

"You've got to give it a try."

"Why bother to fight for that miracle that will hardly happen, save your life, isn't it good to make a comeback?"

"Mr. Adel, it's getting dark." Li Ting stood up all of a sudden and said to them, "I'm going to stay and repair the fence tonight, just sleep here, you guys go back and rest early."

"Okay, we'll come back tomorrow." Nance doesn't do it anymore

Needless persuasion.

Li Ting gave them a lantern, sent them out, and stood on the cloister for a long time. ….

In the quiet snowy night, the little daughter ran out of nowhere and merged into the small light, allowing Nance to carry her far away.

The small back, like a suppressed dream, is filled with an unrealistic and wonderful atmosphere, dissipating from the field of vision.

O God......

Li Ting prayed in his heart.

Although praying to the gods may not have been useful, he closed his eyes and prayed for blessings.

For the eldest daughter who suffered so much, for the younger daughter who hated him, for his landless and self-proud heart......

※※※※※

Coming out of the house, the cold air rushed from his nose to his head, and Nance sneezed, and his snot flowed non-stop.

It's the northernmost part of California, and it's much colder than Shin-Yokohama. As soon as he stepped out of the heated place, his nose was cold and tingling, and the cold seemed to penetrate deep into his head.

He walked down the dilapidated staircase, the planks rattling with each step.

Under the cover of the plastic greenhouse in front of her, a girl with long pink hair stood on the ground, she lowered her head and sobbed quietly, crying made people feel cold.

Nance walked over with a lamp.

A cold wind blew, and long pink hair fluttered.

The girl looked up and blew her nose.

In the line of sight, the uncle who wrapped the scarf around his nose and pulled his hat deaf to his ear, carried an oil lamp, and walked slowly through the snow. The small bungalow behind him, already swallowed up by darkness, gave people a cold and silent feeling.

"What are you doing hiding here?" Nance asked.

"Hate ......"

Li Qingxian muttered, and then pounced.

Nance felt a warmth gently approach, and the girl raised her hands, and the cuffs slipped down, revealing the color of her shirt.

The color filtered through the cold air and into his frozen eyelids.

"Carry me back." Li Qingxian snorted and said.

"Goo?"

Doragu tilted her little head in confusion.

The bad guy is holding the eagle, what are you doing, girl, robbing a man?

Nance handed the confused fat and the oil lamp to Susa, bent down with her back to the girl, and said, "For your sake, I will carry you this time, not the next one."

Li Qingxian hummed weakly and lay on his back.

The girl who pierces her hands like a little hedgehog on weekdays has a rare docile and well-behaved side.

Susa hugged the aggrieved owl and carried the oil lamp, and walked side by side with Nance with a sigh on her face. Along the way, he didn't throw out something like "Oh, I've changed my mind, I don't like my sister and I like my sister", "Knowing the law and breaking the law, you will be punished, Section Chief Adel", "Three years to start" and the like to mock Nance.

Nance didn't even bother to pay attention to her broken mouth.

The night grew darker, and the whole world was cold and quiet.

Under the cover of snowy nights, the roofs of houses in the town are getting lower and lower than they look during the day. It was as if the whole town was under the cover of night, quietly sinking into the bottomless abyss.

"Whatever your hands touch, they feel very cold." Susa's lips were frozen a little white as she spoke.

Li Qingxian, who was lying on Nansi's back, looked at her with red eyes: "The coldest day in the past was more than minus 20 degrees."

"Where's the snow?"

"Snow, usually covers the calves, but when it gets bigger, I'm afraid it can bury most of the people in it."

By the time they said this, they had already reached the bottom of the town's walls.

The road that had only been swept during the day had now accumulated a thick layer of snow, and when I stepped on it, I fell directly into my knees, and the soles of my feet and toes were already frozen.

However, the girl's faint warm breathing, which kept blowing behind Nance's ears, made him feel that the sin on his legs and feet seemed to be worth it.

The town, surrounded by mountains, is dyed blue by the night.

There was no movement except for the barking of dogs from time to time, and the humans did not know where to flee.

In the courtyard of the Li family, some vegetables were planted, and there was a tall jujube. The branches are covered with a thick layer of snow, and the lower part of the trunk is tightly covered with snow. To keep the snow out, the eaves of the houses stick out very long.

As soon as they got under the eaves, the dog next door barked wildly.

In the quiet courtyard, the living room door was open, revealing bright lights from inside.

Li Qingxian jumped down from behind Nance and ran towards the house with his long pink hair.

"Mom, Mom, I'm hungry......

It sounds very pleasant.

I don't know what was going on in her heart, or if she was just really hungry, after all, she hadn't eaten all day.

Steaming came out of the iron kettle in the house, and Mrs. Li bent over her waist and took out the burned coal with a small shovel. Hearing the shouts outside, she got up, didn't even bother putting on her shoes, and ran out barefoot.

This night's dinner, I had a lot of fun.

Fish fish move quickly