Moving to the educated youth point, without those fly-like people buzzing around, not only does Ling Chengyan feel comfortable and at ease, but even little Xing'er becomes visibly more lively.
Look, at lunchtime, she secretly leaves a small piece of roll and half a bowl of porridge in her bowl, claiming she's full.
Ling Chengyan smiles and taps the little girl's nose: "Finish your own meal, I've prepared food for Dahuang."
Little Xing'er can't believe it and widens her eyes: "Really?"
Ling Chengyan lifts her chin: "If you don't believe me, go take a look."
Little Xing'er runs out with a clatter, and sees Dahuang lowering its head, eating by the nest. She gets closer and sees that it seems to be biscuit soaked in meat soup.
As Dahuang sees little Xing'er coming over, it stops and rubs its head against little Xing'er's leg.
Little Xing'er pets Dahuang, turns around, and runs back inside: "Mom, did you give Dahuang meat soup?"
Ling Chengyan nods and, before the little girl can bombard her with a bunch of questions, adds: "Rabbit intestines, boiled a bit."
Back in the Great Chu, she raised hunting dogs, always feeding them raw meat and intestines, but Dahuang is just an ordinary guard dog, not used to raw meat, so Ling Chengyan cooked them before feeding him.
"Mom, you're so good!" Little Xing'er happily pounces to hug Ling Chengyan's arm, but Ling Chengyan raises a hand to block her: "Wash your hands after touching the dog."
"Uh, okay. Mom, you're really great, hehe..." The little girl pouts, but then instantly beams and runs off to wash her hands.
Not long after lunch, two sister-in-laws came again, bringing new shoes made for Ling Chengyan and little Xing'er, and helped tidy up a patch of abandoned vegetable bed in the yard.
Big sister-in-law Zhao Erni, strong and sturdy, turns the soil with a shovel while muttering: "Turning it over now, rush to plant some scallion seedlings, and in a few days plant some eggplants and peppers, and after a while, I'll inquire, see whose family has bean or gourd seedlings, move a few over to plant under the wall... Then get some sticks and branches to mend the fence, seedlings fear chickens the most, one peck per seedling, this bed of seedlings won't be enough for two chickens to eat."
Upon hearing this, Ling Chengyan, who doesn't know about turning the soil and planting vegetables, realizes that she can do the job of chopping branches.
"I'll borrow an ax and chop some branches back."
Xiao Juan comes out from the house and hands Ling Chengyan an ax: "Check if this works. We have some tools in our house; take whatever you need."
When there were the most educated youths, there were over ten people. These people returned to the city, leaving behind rural tools that became rusty and dusty, lying around uselessly. It's better to let Ling Chengyan use them.
Ling Chengyan examines it and sees that despite the ax being of good quality and craftsmanship, it's covered in rust. The blade has lost its shine, and the whole ax head is thick with rust, obviously unused for a long time.
Xiao Juan, following Ling Chengyan's gaze, notices the rust on the ax, sticks out her tongue, and says: "The male educated youths went back to the city last year, leaving only us two. Neither of us knows how to use this."
Ling Chengyan smiles: "It's a good ax, it will be very sharp after a bit of sharpening. Thank you."
With that, she naturally pumps her fist in thanks and carries the ax to the entrance, where a few slate pieces are laid, two similar ones on either side like door guardians, perfect for her to grind the ax.
She takes half a basin of water; little Xing'er provides a low stool sensibly. Ling Chengyan sits at the entrance, boldly starts grinding the ax.
First, she rubs off the rust on the ax on the rough side of the slate and rinses it with clean water, then pours clean water on the top of the slate to wet it.
The water washes away surface dust and reveals a fine stone surface. Ling Chengyan smugly traces a finger on it, thinking, the slate clearly has sharpening marks, it seems it's been used as a sharpening stone more than once.
To use a knife well, one must understand its temperament and characteristics. Sharpening is undoubtedly an effective way to get to know the tool, something common to all who wield knives.
Ling Chengyan eyes the ax that has been cleaned of rust then begins sharpening, first coarse, then finely polishing the edge...
Before long, the ax in her hand has changed appearance, the rust is gone, the iron black shines through, and the edge glimmers like it's flashing a cold light.
Ling Chengyan holds the ax up, runs her finger along the edge, and smiles in satisfaction.
A couple of days prior, Aunt Wang Lianxiang's cooked fish was so delicious Ling Chengyan couldn't forget it. After Ling Chengyan moved away, Wang Lianxiang speculated whether she would catch many fish and secretly stew them to feast on.
Feeling like being scratched by a cat inside, Wang Lianxiang sneaks to the educated youth area, peeks from behind a poplar tree, only to see Ling Chengyan coming out with an ax, grinding furiously against the slate, sparks flying scared Wang Lianxiang numb in the legs, unable to run even if she wanted to.
After furiously grinding, Ling Chengyan raises the gleaming ax, touches the edge with an eerie, creepy smile... Oh my, would she bear a grudge, planning to chop people with it?
Wang Lianxiang is almost scared witless, her legs jitter like having a seizure. Not until Ling Chengyan goes inside does she drag herself from behind the tree, not daring to stop, stumbles back home crazily. As soon as she enters, she shouts: "Mom, it's not good, that crazy woman is going to chop people..."
Ling Chengyan is unaware there's a peeper. After sharpening the ax, she goes inside to greet the two sister-in-laws, gives Xing'er some instructions, and heads out with the ax and a hemp rope.
Making a fence doesn't require thick branches, rather the branchy willow and purple willow planted on the north of the village, long and slender in uniform and flexible beans, perfect for fence making.
The willow and purple willow at the edge of the land are harvested yearly; the community keeps some for use, weaving rations, weaving baskets, can sell some to the collection station, a source of income too.
They grow unruly wild on abandoned land, because the soil is poor, also quite short, mostly only around one and a half meters, unsuitable for basket weaving, but perfect for making fences.
Willow rods are harvested in spring and autumn. The cutting before spring is considered timely; cutting old sticks allows the roots to sprout new shoots.
Ling Chengyan finds a spot of purple willow, lays the hemp rope on the ground, and starts chopping with the ax. The sharp ax makes cutting thumb-thick branches very easy, and in just two quarters, she's chopped a large bundle.
Ling Chengyan ties them with the hemp rope, crouches down to carry them on her back, and steadily returns home.
"Wow, you were out for a bit, and how come you've chopped so many sticks?" Big sister-in-law Zhao Erni exclaims, dropping the shovel and runs over to help Ling Chengyan.
Second sister-in-law Zheng Xiaotian is leveling the ground with a rake, also abandons her tool and runs over, helping Zhao Erni place the large bundle of sticks by the vegetable patch, compliments upon inspection: "Yan Zi put effort into it, the slanted forks left under the sticks are perfect for fence making."