When Ji Huai came back from the shower, he brought back a lot of books, including textbooks and exercise books. He got them from another educated youth who passed the exam. There were also some of his books in the cabinet, and he dug them all out.
He likes reading and has never given up studying. Over the years, he has continued to go to the scrapyard to pick up books and read them. Before, he thought about competing for a place in the Workers', Peasants and Soldiers' University, or maybe there would be a chance to be recommended to study in university after returning to the city, but he was rejected by his family. I just gave up and refused to give up my thoughts.
Going to college is his biggest wish. After all, he took the exam in a hurry this time, with only more than a month to prepare. The university he was admitted to was not very good, and his major was not good. In his previous life, after attending this university, he later took the postgraduate entrance examination, and later studied for a Ph.D., which was also funded by public funds. Study abroad.
He has been reading and studying all his life, has published many books, done a lot of research, and is a professor at a prestigious university. I was married in middle age, but because of my refined egoism, low self-esteem, and arrogance, my partner was also a highly educated person, so I couldn't stand it, so I got divorced.
He has continuous honors but is alone. He still lives a long life in his later years. He is forced to enjoy loneliness and loneliness. I don't know if this is his retribution.
"Read these books first, preview them, and I will tell you again." Ji Huai put a few textbooks in front of her and arranged a plan for her, "You have to get up early to study, and you have to read several times before going to bed. . Liberal arts require memorization and memorization. The college entrance examination has just been resumed and the test questions are not difficult. However, there are restrictions on registration this year. Next year, the policy may be relaxed. The test questions and papers will be more complete, and the competition will be stronger."
Feng Qiaolan looked at the books piled aside, and then at her bulging belly. The child in her belly seemed to feel the pressure from her mother and kicked her.
Ji Huai moved the remaining books aside, leaving only the "Herbal Collection" he was reading recently, and casually said, "We are going to the capital for the exam."
The confidence in his words was innate, as if he was grasping something effortlessly, as if there was no difficulty at all.
Feng Qiaolan: "..."
Compared with other girls in the village, she is also studying, but she is not confident that she will be admitted to university.
She sat in front of the table, obediently picked up the math textbook on it and read it.
Ji Huai took a small stool and sat aside, took out a small knife, and started whittling his wood bit by bit. He lowered his head and whittled slowly, with white wood residue under his feet.
"What kind of wood is this?" Feng Qiaolan couldn't help but asked, curious.
"Bai Mu." Ji Huai replied to her.
"I said, why does it look so familiar? What are you going to do with this thing?" She was puzzled.
He looked up at her and explained in a mellow tone, "White wood is also called agarwood tree. When the trunk is injured, it will repair itself. The resin produced through fungal infection is the secretion of agarwood. The lesser agarwood can be used to make incense. Common agarwood can be used to make incense." It can be used as medicine or spices."
Feng Qiaolan knew about Agarwood, but didn't understand what he said. After hearing what he said, she understood and admired him a little. She saw that Ji Huai had cut it very thin, but there was still a lot of white on the layer of yellow-brown resin. He moved more carefully, picking up the wood and grinding it slowly.
Seeing a wound on the palm of his raised hand, she quickly asked, "What's wrong with your hand?"
Ji Huai took a look and said, "It's okay, I just scratched it."
"Let me take a look." She stood up holding her belly and moved towards him, insisting on taking his hand and looking at it.
Unable to resist, he could only stretch out his hand.
Feng Qiaolan saw that the skin on his palm was broken and there was still a little blood. Two of the three fingers in the middle were blistered and the skin was broken. The other one was also scratched and bleeding.
She looked distressed, "What happened? So careless."
"You will always get bumped when working. It will be fine in a few days." Ji Huai smiled, took back his hand and continued to cut with the knife.
Peeling this requires a lot of patience and a lot of effort. First, you have to find wood that contains agarwood, and you have to chop it, and then you have to peel it. You don’t even know if there is even a ounce of agarwood in such a big piece of wood.
By visual inspection, only the big piece of wood may have one or two pieces, and the remaining three small pieces of wood can each have half a two pieces, which is good.
Feng Qiaolan looked at his serious look and felt complicated, "Do you want to sell them to make money and then save money for us to go to college?"
He just said at the table that he would have plans and would take her and the child away. Only when he had money could he leave and support her and the child. He was already taking action.
Ji Huai gently wiped off the wood residue on the surface of the resin and continued, "Although this thing is expensive, it is too light and difficult to collect. It cannot be sold for a lot of money. I can only sell it for some money to buy nutrition for you. You need supplements." , otherwise we will suffer more later.”
Feng Qiaolan said quickly: "I don't need to take nutritional supplements. I often eat eggs. It's nutritious enough. They don't even have eggs to eat."
Everyone in the village is like this, how can anyone be so rich
If she hadn't been the only child in the family and had everything attached to her, she wouldn't have eaten eggs so frequently.
"Why are you competing with others? Personal physiques are different. You are getting thinner and weaker now, and your mouth is still strong." Ji Huai stopped and looked at her, raised his head slightly, and pointed towards the table with his chin. , "Go read some books and then go to sleep."
Feng Qiaolan held her belly and could only sit up.
As soon as she sat down, Ji Huai stood up and came over. He stretched out his long hand, holding her book and turning the pages. He pointed with his fingers from time to time, "Look at these pages, focus on this, look like this, and..."
He was like a teacher, with a strong aura, and Feng Qiaolan was clearly arranged.
As the night progressed, the "student" who became increasingly sleepy after reading urged the teacher to go to bed. He also took out medicine from the cabinet and carefully applied the medicine on the "teacher"'s hand.
"Does your head still hurt?" Ji Huai stretched out his hand and asked her.
"It was a little bit in the morning, but it disappeared after I slept for a long time in the afternoon." She replied honestly.
"This? Or this?" He touched her forehead with his other hand, and then touched her temple.
"Here." Feng Qiaolan took his hand and moved it up a little.
Ji Huai: "Lack of sleep can also cause headaches."
She had already applied the medicine on him, closed the lid of the medicine, tightened it tightly, checked a few times, crawled to the end of the bed and put it in the cabinet. Behind his back, she muttered, "I haven't slept well for several days. I woke up in the middle of the night." I can't fall asleep when I come, and I think about what I will do with the child all day long when you leave? Sometimes I keep my eyes open until dawn, and the child may feel uncomfortable, just fussing in my stomach."
Ji Huai frowned, as if he didn't know how to answer the question. He reached out and patted the inside of the bed, his tone slightly apologetic, "I'm not leaving. Don't think about these things now. Just lie down and sleep."
Feng Qiaolan nodded and fell asleep.
He got out of bed, put out the kerosene lamp, got into bed and got under the quilt.
The room was dark, and she was emboldened and asked softly, "What if I don't get into college next year?"
Ji Huai replied without thinking too much, "If you want to go to college, just keep taking the exam. If you don't want to go to college, don't take the exam. But if you just want to go to college, you will definitely pass the exam."
"I'm not as smart as you and can read. How can I pass the exam if I want to? If that were the case, everyone would go to college." Feng Qiaolan pursed her lips and spoke.
He thought for a long time and could only console himself, "Just try harder. There is no other way."
Looking at his teaching career for most of his life, it can be seen that being able to read is indeed a talent factor, and hard work is even a kind of talent. The stupid bird will fly first.
"Can't you encourage me?" Feng Qiaolan was so angry with him that she put her hand to her stomach, "The kids started kicking me!"
"..." Ji Huai reached out and touched her belly. The child inside was indeed restless and kicked his hand with such force that Feng Qiaolan gasped in pain.
He put his hand through her neck and slowly brought her into his arms. His tone was low, with a hint of tenderness in the silent night. "I told you I would teach you. Isn't it just encouragement and support? If I don't know how, I'll just be slow." Slow teaching, as long as you follow the example. The child may kick you because you are still awake, so you protest."
Since he received the admission notice, the relationship between the two has reached a freezing point. They sleep alone at night. It has been a long time since such close contact. He has become as talkative as before. Feng Qiaolan raised her head in his arms and said, "I can't sleep."
"Close your eyes." Ji Huai raised his hand to cover her eyes, forcing her to close them.
"I have a headache." She said again with her eyes closed.
He raised the hand covering her slightly, pressing her temples on both sides with his index and middle fingers.
After a while, Feng Qiaolan suddenly said his name, "Ji Huai."
"Huh?" He responded, his tone was slightly raised, and his voice was gentle and pleasant.
"If I didn't have children, I would definitely support you to go to college, but now I'm afraid. When I go to bed at night, my heart beats faster sometimes, I can't breathe, and I feel dizzy several times. I've been in poor health since I was a child, and the older I get, the more , it becomes more and more difficult. I am afraid that you will leave, I don’t know what to do, and I am afraid that I will never see you again." Feng Qiaolan also admitted frankly, "I know that I am selfish, and I allow my parents to put pressure on you. Because I don’t want you to leave either, I know you can’t leave, but when you say you won’t leave, I actually feel very guilty.”
She was also tormented inside. She always felt sorry for him, so she held him back forcefully.
Ji Huai comforted her, "There is no need to feel guilty. It is not your child. If I leave it to you to bear alone, I will be the selfish and irresponsible person."
Feng Qiaolan was pure and kind-hearted, but when he stepped back, she blamed herself.
"Even if I don't get into college next year, I will let you go." She said seriously.
"If you don't pass the exam, just keep taking it. If I go, don't you have to go with me?" He smiled to resolve the heavy atmosphere and said in a relaxed tone, "Aren't you afraid that you can't handle it? The child is still young, so I definitely can't If I leave you and your child here, the worst I can do is take the exam with you for another year."
Hearing what he said, Feng Qiaolan's eyes turned red as she said, "I will take the exam well, and I will definitely study hard."
Ji Huai heard the choking in her words. He lowered his head and kissed her cheek. He closed his arms around her and said in a soft voice, "The exam is very simple. Take your time and you will definitely pass. If you don't sleep, it will be time again." Feeling unwell."
"Yes." She nodded vigorously, not letting Ji Huai rub her temples any more. He moved his hand down and placed it on her stomach. She also put her hand up, holding his hand, her eyebrows stretched, and she closed her eyes. Sleep with your eyes closed.
The knot in her heart was gone, and soon after she closed her eyes, her breathing became even.
The next day.
When Feng's mother woke up to make breakfast, Ji Huai also woke up. After washing, he sat next to the pile of stones in the yard, put a gray brick in front of him, and held a stone in his other hand to write yesterday's story. The canes cut in the mountains were taken out, placed on the gray bricks, and kept being beaten with stones.
After knocking it into a ball over and over again, the rattan was broken into pieces, and the juice overflowed more and more, staining the gray bricks, and the originally white juice gradually turned black.
Feng Dafeng woke up, and Feng's mother also cooked the food, brought breakfast out from the kitchen, and said to him with a smile, "Xiaohuai, it's time for breakfast."
"Here we come." Ji Huai stopped, pulled a piece of weeds behind the wall, collected the crumbs, and touched the juice on the gray bricks with his hand, then put it on his fingertips and pinched it from left to right.
The juice has become a little sticky, but not sticky enough.
"Xiaolan hasn't woken up yet?" Mother Feng asked.
"She hasn't slept well in the past few days, so I didn't call her and asked her to sleep more." Ji Huai replied to her while serving rice.
"Yes, yes, let her sleep a little longer." Mother Feng nodded her head repeatedly and spoke much softer.
Feng Qiaolan looked haggard these days, and she also had dark circles under her eyes. It was a good thing to be able to fall asleep, so she needed to rest more.
It was already getting bright, and everyone was rushing to work, so they had to eat breakfast quickly.
Ji Huai's task is still to fry peanuts. After the old master changed his attitude towards him, he would give him some pointers and teach him some skills. He would occasionally be lazy, but the other party would turn a blind eye.
After all, peanut oil is valuable, and they can create a lot of revenue for the team. The work points are few, and no one cares if they are lazy.
Ji Huai got off work early today. When he came back, he saw Feng Qiaolan cooking and frowned, "Why don't you rest? How is your health?"
"It's much better today. I'm fine." She stirred the whole-grain rice in the pot with a spoon. "Are you hungry? The rice is also cooked. Eat quickly."
Instead of frying eggs for herself, she used eggs to fry wild vegetables, fried dried radishes, and pickles. How can you eat dry rice every day these days? That's a treat that only comes during festivals. When sweet potatoes are harvested, it would be nice to have some dried sweet potatoes to eat.
Don’t eat too much of the sweet potatoes with rice. You have to dry them and keep them for longer.
"Wait a minute, Mom and Dad, stop being busy and come and have a rest." Ji Huai sat down in the yard again, took out the dregs that he had smashed in the morning, and continued to pound the gray bricks with stones.
"What are you doing?" Feng Qiaolan walked over and asked him.
Ji Huai: "Take the mucus."
She looked confused and asked again: "What can I use that thing for?"
"Anyway, it works. I haven't put it into practice yet, so I can't tell you." Ji Huai even pretended to be secretive. Seeing that she was about to sit down next to him, he urged her to enter the house, "The temperature has cooled down a bit today. If you feel uncomfortable, please stay out of the yard." The wind is blowing, go back quickly."
There has been a severe drought this year. It is already January, and the sun is still very hot. You have to wear short sleeves when working in the fields. It is a bit overcast this morning, and the temperature may drop to the early 20s, but it will rise to the 20s again at noon. degree.
He was not afraid of the cold and took cold showers all year round, but it was different when she was pregnant with a child.
"Wearing clothes, it's so hot." Feng Qiaolan touched the coat on her body. Feng's mother was afraid of the cold winter this year, so she made her a long coat, but winter has not come yet.
"Hurry up and get in the house." He urged, still worried.
Feng Qiaolan had no choice but to go back to the house, took a chair and sat in front of the door to watch him working. Seeing that he kept banging and stopping to touch from time to time, he became more and more confused and did not understand.
He seemed to be reading a book about plants recently. She couldn't understand it, so she didn't ask more questions for fear of making him laugh.
Ji Huai finally got up, walked to the water tank with the dregs, scooped out a ladle of water, put the dregs inside, and fiddled with it several times.
He washed it several times. She couldn't restrain her curiosity and got up and walked over again.
"Slow down." He saw her approaching from the corner of his eye and said. He also saw water on the ground nearby. He was afraid that she would fall, so he took the initiative to walk over. "Don't come over here. I'll show you."
She looked down at the dark mass and reached out to touch it.
"Don't touch it, it's very sticky." Ji Huai wrapped it with weed leaves. "The more it dries, the stickier it becomes. It's difficult to wash off if it's on your hands."
Feng Qiaolan looked at the dark patches on his fingers and frowned, "You have them all on your hands. Wash them with soap quickly."
"It will fall off by itself in a few days. It won't be a problem." He didn't care.
She watched him put it away and put it in the basket. Feng Qiaolan was confused and did not continue to ask. When she saw him taking out a few bugs, she turned pale with fright and backed away.
"I'm not scaring you." He quickly put it away and raised the corners of his mouth, "If it succeeds, I can help you recuperate."
"..." She doesn't eat bugs.
After Feng Dafeng and Feng's mother came back, Ji Huai hurriedly ate with them. He stood up and said, "Mom, Dad, Xiaolan, you eat slowly. I'll go to the mountain to collect firewood first."
He had already prepared the basket on his back, so he put it on his back and left.
"You don't have to be in such a hurry to collect firewood." Before Feng's mother could say a few words, Ji Huai disappeared.
Feng Dafeng was eating, "After a while, I only picked up a few pieces of firewood and came back. I don't know what I was doing."
He really couldn't figure out how to collect a few pieces of firewood after a few hours.
Feng's mother quickly warned: "He is working hard anyway, don't say such things in front of him."
Only Feng Qiaolan knew that he did other things besides collecting firewood, but he didn't say it clearly. He just said, "Ah Huai has injured his hand these days, and it's not very convenient for him to work."
"Where is the injury? Is it serious?" Feng's mother asked quickly.
Feng Qiaolan was still very distressed: "The skin on her fingers and palms is bleeding."
After hearing this, Feng Dafeng stopped making sarcastic remarks and went to the yard to hoe the ground after dinner.
Meanwhile, Mt.
Ji Huai didn't go to the agarwood tree first, nor did he collect firewood. He just chopped a small piece of bamboo, sat on the ground with his knife and slowly began to peel the bamboo.
How fine does it need to be cut
Probably because it can move in the wind. It is very thin. When you stand it up, it is a little bent. If there is a slight movement, it will shake.
After the bamboo was peeled, he took out a string and tied it with the caught insects. Then he tied the other end of the string to the bamboo. Then, he took out a black insect wrapped in weed leaves from the basket on his back. A ball.
This stuff has become very sticky. He took the branches on the ground and smeared it on the bamboo bit by bit. After applying it, he found an open space, squatted down, fluffed the soil on the ground, and gently Insert the bamboo into the soil.
The thin bamboo hangs slightly, with a string tied to the lower end, and insects tied to the other end of the string.
After setting the trap, he got up and left, hiding behind a big tree.
The birds in the forest were chirping. There is less food in winter, so it is not easy for the birds to come out to find food. After a while, I saw a few birds flying around, but they did not come down.
Ji Huai was not impatient and continued to observe.
Suddenly, a bird flew over from the side, landed on the ground, and walked towards the bamboo. Its little head was still looking left and right, and its eyes were fixed on the insect.
Behind the big tree, Ji Huai also held his breath, moved his hanging hands slightly, and squinted his eyes.
The little bird walked forward quickly, without any precaution, it pounced on the insect and pecked it.
The string pulled the bamboo, pulled it up, and poured it onto the bird. The mucus on it stuck to its feathers. The bird panicked and wanted to fly away. The feathers on its wings were stuck and it was impossible to take off. , rolling on the ground.
Ji Huai walked out and grabbed it immediately, his eyes showing the joy of successful experiment.
As long as the feathers are stuck and the wings cannot expand, the bird cannot fly away.
After catching a bird, he was satisfied and continued looking for the agarwood tree.
The wounds on some agarwood trees had just formed, and the agarwood produced was not only small, but also defective and could not be sold for much money, but he still cut it.
After working for several hours, I chopped six pieces of agarwood wood and didn't pick up much firewood, so I hurried down the mountain.
Feng Dafeng didn't take a lunch break. Feng's mother and he were planting vegetables in the yard. Seeing Ji Huai come back, they all went there, and their eyes fell on a few sticks of firewood in his hand. Feng's mother sighed in her heart, but Feng Dafeng chose to ignore it.
"Dad, Mom." Ji Huai was in a good mood. He put down his backpack, took out six pieces of wood and put them in the sun to dry.
"You don't pick up firewood, but you go chop down white wood?" Feng Dafeng had a lot of questions over his head, and he accidentally caught a glimpse of his hand, which seemed to be bleeding again, so he swallowed the curse words.
Forget it, maybe scholars just can't work like this.
Ji Huai replied: "The New Year is coming. White wood with such wounds is fragrant when lit. The wounds are stained with a bit of agarwood. Some people in the city like to buy some and burn them during the New Year. The house will be fragrant and dried in the sun. I want to sell it."
The six pieces of agarwood he chopped today couldn't produce much agarwood. They were all a very thin layer and could only be dried and sold as wood.
"How much can wood be sold for? It's all over Baimu Mountain. Who pays for it? You can get as much as you want." Feng Dafeng thought he was talking nonsense.
"Yeah." Feng's mother also felt that she couldn't sell it.
"That's because we think it's too much. Will the workers in the city go up the mountain? After cutting down the trees, they have to take them back to dry in the sun for more than half a month. It takes a lot of energy. Even if one piece is only sold for 10 cents, one or two cents. It's nothing to them, but to us, it's a lot." Ji Huai was still fiddling with it and continued, "If you can sell it for ten cents, you can buy more pounds of meat if you sell one piece. No, our family will keep some for ourselves so that we can have a more enjoyable New Year."
Now one work point is worth three cents, and he can't make more than two cents for a day's work.
"That's right." Although Feng's mother also felt that she couldn't sell it, as long as he had this idea, it would be better than doing nothing, and she quickly agreed.
Feng Qiaolan was reading in the house after waking up from her lunch break. After hearing his voice, she got up and walked out. She happened to see him take out a lively bird from his backpack and said to Feng's mother, "Mom, I caught a bird. You can do it tonight." Let’s make some stew for Xiaolan.”
"Where did you catch this?" Feng's mother looked surprised and excited, and hurried forward to see what a treasure it was.
Now that everyone had nothing to eat, she was worried about what to feed Feng Qiaolan. Feng Dafeng used to catch fish secretly, but Feng Qiaolan couldn't smell the fishy smell and felt nauseated, so there was nothing she could do.
Bird meat is good. Bird meat is very nutritious, more nutritious than eggs.
Ji Huai: "It was caught on the mountain. I will go up to the mountain often in the future to see if I can catch more and replenish her."
Feng Dafeng's eyes flashed, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Don't let anyone see it, it will cause trouble."
Although the team's management is not strict now, if someone reports someone, they will be taken to the village to criticize. Every plant and tree belongs to the state.
"Dad, I paid attention, no one saw it." Ji Huai showed an open-minded look.
Feng Dafeng was rarely satisfied.
Feng Qiaolan's focus was not on the fact that she was about to eat bird meat, but on his hand that continued to be broken. When he went into the house to drink water, she kept following him and holding his hand, "You're bleeding again."
"It's okay." He didn't care.
Her face was full of worry: "I have to work for a while, how can this be better?"
"I won't fry peanuts in the afternoon, and I won't chop firewood tomorrow. The scars will be scarred in a few days, but it's not a serious injury." He drank the water, faced her and said with a smile, "That thing in the morning was used as a trap for the birds. Yes, as long as it is stained with bird feathers, its wings cannot spread and it cannot fly. It seems to be very useful. I will often catch birds for you to eat in the future. Just replenish your body more and you will not feel uncomfortable. "
After Ji Huai finished speaking, he was about to go out to work. Feng Qiaolan reached out to hold his hand. She looked at him eagerly with a pair of bright and clear beautiful eyes. Her heart was filled with unspeakable throbbing. Just when she was about to reach out to hug him, her head was raised. But his belly was between the two of them.
Ji Huai chuckled lightly, bent over and hugged her shoulders, then let go and kept bending down to look at her level, "Read well and don't be lazy."
"I'm not lazy! I read several pages." She defended herself.
"It doesn't matter how many pages you read. The important thing is to understand them clearly. You have to read the few pages I talked about today in the afternoon. I will give you a lecture when you come back in the evening."
"good."
Feng Qiaolan looked at his leaving figure, reluctantly looking away, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up.