In April and a half, the Loess Plateau has been unconsciously shrouded in thick greenery.

On the ridges of the mountains, the sparse winter wheat has grown to knee deep. After a while, it's time to break the head and release the head. But the spring wheat and barley planted in early spring have just grown more than a bunch of height.

In addition, there are grains such as millet, millet and sorghum in the seedling stage, which also sway their leaves with the warm wind.

With the end of spring ploughing and sowing, Wang Manyin finally relaxed and had time to manage his own land. That more than one acre of land is considered a façade, and in order to find a reasonable source of food storage for the family, he usually takes care of it very carefully.

In the spring of this year alone, a few racks of carts of soil manure were applied.

When Zhao Jianhai was stationed in the village, he was very strict with the management of soil and manure. In his words, it is "one can of urine, two ways", eating collective food, urine and feces should also be used in the collective field, not in the self-reserved field.

After being replaced by Bai Mingchuan's garrison, he turned a blind eye to these trivial things, and the villagers became bolder.

After eating in the morning, Wang Manyin picked up the pickaxe and went into the ground to be busy.

It took almost two hours to finish the spare few days. In fact, when the livestock of the production team are idle, the members can also plow the land, but Wang Manyin did not plan to do this.

The main animals have to do a lot of things every day, pulling mills, pulling carts, plowing the land...... If you want to borrow it, you need to say hello in advance.

There is a little spare land left in my house now, and it is not worth opening my mouth to say, and I will finish planing in an hour.

After finishing his work, Wang Manyin went home with a hoe.

As soon as I arrived at the head of the village, I saw Shaoping holding a shovel and busy beside the dung heap, the orchid holding a small stone standing under the shade of the tree and pointing, and a group of broken babies shouting around.

The little stone is a few days away from the full moon, and when the weather is good, the two of them will take it out and go around, and let the little one bask in the sun by the way.

"Why did you let Shaoping dig earthworms? Leave me alone. Wang Manyin said hello to her mother-in-law, patted the dust on her body, and carefully took the child.

The little guy's face is like an orchid, white and white, and he is sleeping with his eyes closed at the moment, and his mouth is chirping.

"Brother-in-law, I'm not digging earthworms, I'm digging maggot chrysalis. The school had just assigned us the task of giving up fifty maggot chrysalis and ten rat tails in two weeks. Shaoping immediately got up and replied.

Then, he carefully packed a dark red maggot chrysalis into a matchbox.

"That's right, our school also gives you a handover, and we have to pay attention to ......hygiene," Mao Dan next to him nodded in agreement.

Rat's tail? Wang Manyin was slightly stunned.

He is no stranger to this, according to the memories of his predecessors, it seems that the tasks that arose from more than ten years ago were flies, mosquitoes, mice, and sparrows.

At that time, every family went into battle, men, women and children. Smoke mosquitoes with wormwood, and to deal with rats, use rat poison, rat traps, or dig rat holes. For a while, handing over a rat's tail could also be used to offset work.

To deal with flies, sprinkle 66 powder into the manure pit. As for the sparrows, they are thrown into the nest with sticks, buckled with a sieve, and caught with nets.

A poet once described such a scene, and the poem said: "The sparrow is too arrogant, although it has wings, it cannot fly high." You're such a bastard bird, jumping everywhere in all directions......"

Of course, the effect is very significant.

In the waste newspapers that Wang Manyin's family received before, there were relevant reports. In just over a month, a total of 60,000 sparrows, 80,000 mice, 30,000 mud nests, and 26,000 rat holes were eliminated in Yuanxi County.

Later, the sparrows were plucked out and replaced with bed bugs.

This is a long-term activity, and the commune preaches every year, calling on everyone to pay attention to hygiene.

It's just that in recent years, there are not so many requirements, and the school generally assigns tasks to students.

Wang Manyin also read some information in later generations, and the activity of exterminating rats and bedbugs continued until the eighties and nineties. When people can't find a rat's tail, they pay for it.

Wang Manyin was thinking about it, and heard Shaoping speak.

"Brother-in-law, are you okay now? If it's okay, take us to dig a mouse hole in the field and let the rhubarb and the cat follow. I think the first one to finish, the teacher will reward the workbook. ”

He naturally knows the power of the cats and earth dogs raised by his brother-in-law's family, and is very confident in completing the task.

"Uncle Man Yin, also help us catch a few mice."

The other broken babies opened their mouths one after another, also full of anticipation.

"No problem...... You don't have to go to the fields, you just go to the village. Wang Manyin agreed.

It's still early before noon, and it's idle to be idle, so it's better to play with the broken babies to catch mice.

However, his house is guarded by three divine beasts, and he can hardly see the existence of rats in normal times. Even if there is an occasional passer-by, it will not survive for more than two days.

So if you want to catch mice, you can only go to the houses of people in the village who don't have cats.

It happened that Liu Xiangyang complained to him the day before yesterday, saying that there was a problem with the new kiln where they lived, and there were too many rats in it, which were too rampant, and they often ran around and fought on the earthen kang at night.

There are even more daring guys, who pee directly on the side of the pillow. I woke up in the middle of the night with a smell that almost made people sick.

For this reason, Liu Xiangyang wanted to borrow two cats to use. Just right, take this opportunity to bring them over yourself. Rhubarb can't be missing, this guy is just as good at catching mice.

Hearing Wang Manyin speak, a group of broken babies immediately followed.

There is no farm work in the production team, and the educated youth are much easier. One by one, they were sitting in front of the kiln playing cards in the sun to kill time.

Seeing Wang Manyin coming over with a group of children, they all got up to say hello.

Because of the reason why I often go to the consignment point to buy things, everyone is very familiar with it. Hearing Wang Manyin's explanation, everyone immediately opened their mouths to express their gratitude.

"That's great, thank you, Brother Wang."

"With two cats out of the house, we should be able to settle down for a while......"

Then, several male intellectuals began to enter the house to pack their things. In the cave, all kinds of things are placed in a mess, and there is no place to put your feet, which seriously affects the hunting of the two cats.

"Damn, my padded jacket is bitten and broken."

"The sun is cowardly, there are rat cubs in the box......"

When cleaning up the cave, Liu Xiangyang and the others found that many items that they usually don't use were ruined by rats. What's even more speechless is that Wang Licheng also found a nest of rat cubs in the clothes box. It should have been a few days after I was born, and I haven't opened my eyes yet.

These guys are lazier than themselves!

Wang Manyin shook his head when he saw it, but when he thought of the dormitory of the boys in later generations, he felt that it was normal.

In fact, this is true not only for men, but also for women.

He has read reports on the Internet in later generations, and some of them look glamorous on the outside, but as a result, the rented house has become a garbage dump.

From time to time, rats escaped from their hiding places as things moved away.

The two cats quickly enter the battle mode and start a fierce chase in the cave.

Rhubarb stood at the door, waiting for the fish to slip through the net.

They worked together quite well, and soon three mice were placed in front of their owners.

When the items in the room were cleared, only a bare earthen kang remained. Between the cracks in the walls, piles of fine loess particles can be seen.

Wang Manyin entered the cave and took a cursory glance, and found that there were more than ten cave entrances. The general rat hole is divided into two exits, front and back, and there are three more. After all, there are at least five litters of rats in this cave!

Some of the litters of rats are husband and wife, and some also have a litter of rat cubs, which is very amazing when you calculate the number.

No wonder Liu Xiangyang said that rats fight at night...... It's simply a rat base. The most labor-saving way now is to have two cats in the cave and wait for the rats to go out to hunt for food.

Wang Manyin didn't have so much time, and after discussing with a few educated youths, he planned to irrigate it directly with water.

Although this method is a little tiring, it has a quick effect. The cave where the educated youth live is not far from the well, and it is very convenient to carry water.

As everyone carried water and poured water into the cave, the cave immediately became lively.

Wet creatures scurried out of the cave in a panic, squeaking and fleeing in all directions. The two cats were too busy to do so, and even rhubarb joined the hunt.

In about half an hour, all five mouse holes were filled.

Looking at the "achievements" lined up on the ground, several female intellectuals were startled.

"Why are there so many rats, do you live in rat holes?"

Not only them, but Liu Xiangyang and others were also shocked.

Although they knew that there were many rats in the cave, they did not expect that there were so many of them, there were fourteen of them. Including the previous litter that didn't open its eyes, there are exactly twenty.

This is actually quite normal, and the rate at which rats reproduce is very alarming. Females are fertile as soon as two months old and can reproduce every forty-five days or so thereafter. You can give birth to six to eight children a year, five or six children a child, and up to a dozen.

So although the educated youths have only moved here for four months, it is theoretically enough for a pair of mice to breed several litters.

However, a few broken babies were excited to see the rats all over the ground, and only hoped to catch more and complete the school task early.

Everyone was busy again, sealing the watered rat holes with loess.

Next, Wang Manyin took two cats to the cave of the female educated youth. Wait for the other party to move the item out, and start repeating the previous operation.

Seeing the results of the cats and rhubarb, several female intellectuals stopped laughing at their male companions. There are also a lot of rats in the cave where they live, and there are more than a dozen.

After the two caves were busy, they finally began to focus on cleaning the grain kilns.

After looking at the grain piled up inside, Wang Manyin finally knew why there were so many rats here. Generally, when people divide the grain, they will use a mud warehouse to store it.

This kind of mud barn is made of wattle barns and bones, round or square in shape, and smeared with a thick layer of red clay on the inside and outside. Although it is not possible to completely prevent rats, it still has some effect.

Some are particular about keeping fine grains in ceramic urns.

How can there be such a thing as the educated youth, who randomly pile up the grain on the ground, which is no different from feeding the rats.

Under Wang Manyin's persuasion, several people began to carry grain outside......

The three-hole cave was busy, and there were more than 50 rats of all sizes.

For Wang Manyin, it is definitely a record-breaking.

In addition to the rat tails that Shaoping and Lan Xiang handed over to the school, they can also give thirty pieces to other broken babies.

After this incident, the two cats of Wang Manyin's family became famous in a fight, and then people from the village continued to come over to borrow them. It's a pity for them: the two guys are too wild to let anyone else get close at all.

If you want to use a cat, you must be helped by Wang Manyin.

***

After staying at home for a month, Orchid felt that her body had completely recovered, and she said that she was unwilling to continue eating.

As for the small stones...... During the day, she can take care of the sewing store and come back at night.

Wang Manyin was naturally reluctant in her heart, and kept persuading her aunt to rest for a few more days. At present, there is no shortage of food and drink in his family, and he has more than 1,000 private money in hand, and there is a lot of hidden income every month, so he doesn't need his mother-in-law to be busy earning wages at all.

However, now that the Loess Plateau is in such a situation, most rural mothers-in-law and aunts will not take care of their babies full-time at home. Many people start to work in the fields two or three days after giving birth.

There are good points guarded by the elderly, and they can help take care of them every day. If there is no one at home, he directly throws the child on the earthen kang and locks the kiln door.

The children were hungry for a long time, so they could only lie on the kang and cry, many of them even cried hoarse, and the feces and urine fell all over the kang.

This kind of thing is normal.

There are even babies who keep tossing and turning, and finally fall to the ground and have an accident.

Orchids can stay at home for a month, which has already attracted the envy of many mothers-in-law and aunts. In this matter, Wang Manyin is not afraid of being discussed.

It's just that now seeing that Orchid insisted, he could only nod helplessly in agreement, and then quietly found Aunt Guo to advise.

At the end of the day, it's nothing.

The supply and marketing cooperatives are all acquaintances, and there is also Shao'an, who will help take care of them every day.

This year, the supply and marketing cooperatives will no longer promote new bacterial fertilizers, and Shao'an will be transferred to the local specialty store department to help, so there is no need to continue to run to the villages.

There was a sudden lack of mother-in-law and children at home, Wang Manyin felt empty in his heart, and he couldn't lift his spirits when he went into the mountains in the morning.

Of course, what needs to be done still has to be done.

He went into the mountain this time mainly to dig up some Yuanzhi from the space and sell them, and catch some scorpions by the way.

This spring is warm, and at the end of April, there are already scorpions on the sunny slopes.

Recently, people have been coming to sell scorpions.

Wang Manyin naturally will not let go of such an opportunity, and is ready to start the journey of making money as soon as possible.

After releasing a peregrine falcon in a ravine, he entered space.

Hearing the movement, the piglet immediately snorted. Wang Manyin dug up a lot of earthworms, and even made a small half pot with bran and rice bran to block this guy's mouth.

Immediately, Wang Manyin first inspected the space as usual. As soon as I walked to the ditch, I saw a few light green duck eggs scattered in the grass.

Before you know it, five mallards have begun to lay eggs.

After packing up the duck eggs, Wang Manyin planned to take the duck eggs back and fry them, and then dispelled the idea.

After all, the taste of eggs and duck eggs is very surprising, and orchids can definitely be eaten differently.

It is better to make salted duck eggs, there is no shortage of loess in the space, it is very convenient to pickle, and it can be stored for a long time. Later, if I have time, I can go to Mijia Town and buy it from the black market.

In addition, you can hatch ducklings in the space, and it is also good to raise large stewed wild duck soup.

Thinking of this, Wang Manyin felt that it was actually nothing to take out the wild duck eggs. Since the resumption of fish farming at the Higashiyama Pond, there have been many more waterfowl in the vicinity, including a few wild ducks.

Last year, I had a stewed wild duck at home, and it tasted very good.

So it is also very reasonable for Rhubarb to find a nest of wild duck eggs in the grass.