Chapter 293

After cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, the whole family sat on the kang and chatted.

Wang An asked: "Dad, did you go find people to cut trees during the day?"

Wang Dazhu smoked and said: "Yeah, I made 3 more narrow sleds. Since the snow hasn't melted yet, and we have livestock at home, it'll be fine to just pull them back after cutting them."

Wang An thought for a while and said: "How many people did you find? How many days do you estimate it will take?"

Wang Dazhu calculated with his fingers and said:

"I found your great-uncle, your second great-uncle, and your eldest brother, your second brother—just the five of us. I'm afraid we won't be able to return the labor if we find others. If you have time then, you should go too."

Wang An asked subconsciously: "Yeah, I'll call Xueli and the fifth one when the time comes. By the way, didn't my second brother go to the lumber yard to do odd jobs?"

Wang Dazhu sighed and said: "Where would there be so much work? Your second brother hasn't had any work since the New Year."

Wang An was helpless when he heard this; in this day and age, there are many idle people everywhere.

Wang An had read magazines in his past life. The reason there were so many messy things in these few years was that there were too many people with no work.

The magazines said that according to statistics, the unemployed young and strong population in the cities—that is, the unemployed personnel after returning to the city—was over 20 million.

And the uncounted young and strong people who also had no work were even higher than those registered in the statistics.

You have to know that the total urban population at this time was less than 200 million.

One can imagine how many idle people there were in the whole of Huaxia.

And it has always been that when life in the city is difficult, it will be even more difficult in the rural areas.

Because in this day and age, whether you are following the collective or have divided the land to the households, as long as you farm, you need to pay public grain.

And the grain handed over must be the most mature, the fullest, the driest, and must not have any impurities.

And no one can fool anyone about this, because there are a lot of people checking the grain. If there is even the slightest mistake, your grain will definitely be unqualified.

To put it plainly, after the autumn harvest, the best grain is handed over, and the bad grain is kept for oneself to eat.

Some people might ask, how do you separate the grain harvested together?

This is very simple, because when threshing grain, you need to "winnow."

For example, after rice is threshed, the rice grains are mixed with rice husks, leaves, small sticks, and dirt. At this time, they need to be separated.

"Winnowing" is using a wooden shovel to scoop up this mixture and throw it into the sky, using the power of the wind to blow away impurities like rice leaves, dirt, and small sticks.

Because rice grains are relatively heavy, they will fall to the ground, and the rice grains that fall to the ground are not in the same position.

As everyone knows, wind is something that cannot blow heavier objects, so the rice grains on the windward side are the heaviest and fullest, and they are also the best part.

This part is the part handed over as public grain.

And the rice grains on the leeward side are the shriveled, immature part, which also has the worst taste after being ground into rice.

And this part is the part that the vast number of farmers keep for themselves to eat.

Therefore, don't be fooled by the nonsense of many people.

Saying how good rural areas are, just farm a little, you can be self-sufficient, you won't go hungry, and so on.

People who say this are definitely city people!

If rural areas are so good, why don't the people who say this come?

Why would millions of educated youth rather return to the city to starve than settle down and take root in the rural areas?

You have to know that rural areas at this time are very welcoming to city people settling down. As long as you settle down, there will be large tracts of land divided for you to farm; they definitely won't be short of even half a plot of land for you.

So, whether rural areas are good or not, everyone knows it in their hearts.

It's just that those who open their big eyes and talk nonsense are just shameless.

However, hearing that the helpers his old man found were all relatives, Wang An felt it was quite good, because it could save a lot of trouble.

Wang Dazhu continued to mutter: "Counting the main house, the lower room, the shed, the pig pen, the sheep pen, and so on, it really needs a lot of wood. The few of us will have to work for ten or eight days."

After hearing this, Wang An decided to find a way to improve work efficiency, because the most time-consuming part of preparing wood is felling trees. In this era, felling trees, except for the lumber yard, is done by individuals using that kind of big saw.

Two people sit under the tree and just pull the big saw back and forth.

Not only is felling trees done with this kind of big saw, but cutting wood into planks is also done with this kind of big saw.

Of course, there is another kind of saw with a saw bow.

But no matter what kind of saw it is, it's just you pulling and me dragging; not only are the people pulling the big saw very tired, but the speed is also very slow.

Wang An was thinking, wondering if Wu Dong and the others could help buy a chainsaw. Even if they couldn't buy one, borrowing one would be fine.

If this all relied on people pulling, it would be too damn time-consuming.

Having made up his mind, Wang An decided not to go into the mountains tomorrow. The chainsaw is one aspect, and he has to prepare bricks and tiles along the way to save his old man from worrying.

As for cement, he has to buy it when he needs it, because cement is something that cannot be stored for a long time; it will clump if it stays for a long time.

Wang An suddenly thought that this time when going to the county, he must not forget to buy medicine for the dogs.

Maybe it's because the weather is too cold, or maybe it's because the dogs keep licking their wounds, but the wounds on the dogs' bodies haven't scabbed over yet.

Wang An was pondering what to do tomorrow, but he didn't tell Wang Dazhu about his plan to get a chainsaw.

The key is that this matter is not certain. You have to know that chainsaws in this era are not something you can get so easily.

After making the plan for tomorrow, Wang An and Mu Xueqing returned to the west room to wash their feet and sleep.

After washing their feet and getting into the quilt, they couldn't do anything. The bored Wang An could only hug the smooth Mu Xueqing and sleep.

I have to say, the feeling of being upright and tall is really not very comfortable.

In the morning, Wang An switched to using salt particles to get close to the deer.

Because Wang An suddenly thought that all deer species cannot live without saline-alkali land, and many people in the village who catch live deer do so in saline-alkali land.

And don't say, salt particles are really like a panacea for deer; they simply make the deer unable to refuse.

The two female deer that had been avoiding Wang An also forgot what fear was and were all attracted over.

Looking at the deer chewing salt particles, Wang An began to ponder where there were saline-alkali lands in the mountains.

After thinking about the distribution of saline-alkali lands, Wang An pondered what kind of tools to use to catch deer more perfectly.

After all, if you want to raise deer, the more the better.

After getting close to the deer, Wang An hitched the big horse and the big mare to the sled.

Looking at the sled that had been emptied last night, he loaded 6 pieces of black bear meat onto the sled; this meat was intended to be given to Fang Xiue.

He loaded a few rabbits, pheasants, and hazel grouse onto the sled, and after thinking about it, he also put the two bear paws he kept onto the sled.

The bear paws were intended for Wu Dong. Although everyone had a good relationship, when it comes to doing things, you have to be open and aboveboard.

Finally, Wang An loaded two skins of deer spine bone soaked in liquor and drove the sled out of the gate.

Wang An didn't plan to sell the black bear meat he hunted yesterday, because he had to provide meals for all the helpers when they went into the mountains to fell trees these few days.

In Kaoshan Village, no matter who the helper is, the proprietor must provide three meals a day, and all three meals must be good food and drink.

Of course, every place has its own way, or every village has its own way, because as far as Wang An knows, Yangshu Village only provides one meal at noon for helpers.

Fixed rules are not rules; everyone has their own habits. Anyway, no one helps for free; everyone has to return the favor.

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(End of chapter)