Bianshanhan [farming]

When Li Qingwen and others returned to the temporary camp, Jiang Liping and the others were taken aback.

Not to mention that the sledge is empty, and half of the people are missing. Could it be that something happened on the road?

"What, what's the matter?" A group of people gathered around and asked.

"It's okay." Li Qingwen untied the rope behind the sledge, tied the stallion to a nearby tree, and said, "On the way, we met a group of wild horses stuck in the snow. They haven't eaten for a long time. We didn't bring enough fodder. Take some."

At this time, the big guy's eyes fell on the horse. The horse was short and thick, and looked very honest. With a rope around its neck, it just stood obediently.

Hearing that there were still seven or eight mares unable to come back in the snow, someone immediately lifted the hay and sorghum out of the tent and loaded them on the sledge.

Li Qingwen carried another bag of salt and a bag of millet, and before he could speak, Zhou Yao sat on the sledge.

There was almost no pause, after loading the forage, Li Qingwen and the others headed back, but there were a few more sledges behind this trip.

Jiang Cong knew the direction very well. When they went back, they didn't walk along the edge of the forest, but took a shorter path.

On the way, I saw several corpses of wild horses in the snow, some were covered by ice and snow, some were devoured to pieces, and some had many carrion crows standing on them...

These black crows are not afraid of people, and when they saw the sledge, they even called a few times.

This thing doesn't seem to have any natural enemies, it's extraordinarily arrogant.

When Jiang Cong and the others were on their way, Li Qingfeng was not idle. He followed the shoveled path and went to the forest to pick a lot of frozen fruits. After they melted, he ate them by himself and stuffed them into the mare's mouth.

He originally wanted to feed a few more, but Zhang Yuhai said that the horse could not eat more of these, and Li Qingfeng was happy to save it.

Although no ferocious beasts were seen around here, there were only a few people left in the endless white snow, and everyone panicked.

Not daring to think too much, everyone squatted next to the mare, feeding water and feeding, and reaching into the thick horse hair when it was cold.

Li Qingwen and the others came back early, and those who stayed here finally felt relieved.

After these few days of feeding, four or five mares can stand up and walk, the other four are still a little weak, and the white one is still weak, lying there, unwilling to move.

The millet was boiled on the fire to make gruel, and then some salt was sprinkled into it, and fed to the horses. The white mare had an extra bowl of sugar water.

The mare with the foal is one to eat and two to use. It has to be fed more frequently, so that it can recover its strength earlier, so that it can better survive the difficulties when it is time to give birth.

After drinking the sugar water, the white mare felt strange and lay down on the ground, her stomach constantly beating.

It was about to pony, and a group of people immediately surrounded him.

The mare's hooves kept bouncing, but there was no movement for a long time. Zhang Yuhai squatted down and probed in with his hands. After a long time, he finally touched the foal's hooves and slowly pulled them out.

Li Qingwen squatted on the ground, stroking the horse's head and neck with his hands.

The white horse was panting, it was very uncomfortable, but it couldn't exert any strength, Zhang Yuhai grabbed the two hooves and pulled the foal out of its stomach, removing the afterbirth, but the foal had its eyes closed. , the breath is weak.

After cutting the umbilical cord, Zhou Yao wiped the foal's nose and face with a soft cloth. The mare had no milk, so she had to feed it rice soup first.

They put the gathered hay under the mare, and removed the dirty ones.

Now people and horses are in the snow pit, the wind can't blow it, the mare is not too cold in the tent, the newborn foal is still too weak, let alone stand up, it looks difficult to move , fearing that it would not be able to survive, they wrapped it with cloth and fur.

The mare gave birth smoothly. Although both the mother and the child looked difficult, they were still alive after all. If they had discovered it later, they would have died of both.

There is no unparalleled road, and within a quarter of an hour, another mare successfully gave birth to a foal. The second foal looked much stronger. It struggled a few times on the hay, and got up by itself with trembling limbs. .

Everyone immediately carried the frail foal to the mare that had just given birth, and helped it find a place to drink milk. After a long time, seeing its mouth finally started to move, the solemnity on everyone's faces was about to dissipate.

Just as the group of them delivered the horse in the ice and snow, several snow carts drove out from the mountains and headed towards the temporary camp.

Jiang Liping was rubbing wax with a handful of candles, when he heard someone outside saying that Liu He was coming, he hung the candles on the shelf next to him, clapped his hands and stood up.

This time the guests were not alone, besides Liu He, there were several elders, men and women, wearing dyed leather robes, and the wrinkles on their faces were full of the vicissitudes of time.

"These are some elders from our tribe." Liu He got off the snowmobile and said, "I want to ask Li Qingwen something."

"I've met some elders." Jiang Liping greeted respectfully, "It's really a bit of a coincidence that they have gone out, and I don't know when they will come back."

Gao Yubao and the others stared intently at the snowmobile next to them. Unlike Liu He's group of big dogs, these elders had deer in front of the snowmobile. These deer were bigger than the ones they had hit before, and their horns were also bigger. Very sharp.

It is rare to see a cart pulled by a dog. This is the first time I have seen a cart pulled by a deer, and these deer are very obedient.

Hearing that he was not there, the old people were not very disappointed. If they couldn't see them, then the opportunity hadn't come yet.

Jiang Liping couldn't help asking what he wanted to do with Li Qingwen.

Liu He hesitated for a moment, and said, "We want to smash that rock and ask him if he is willing."

"Just for this little matter, you came here on purpose." There are so many people here, Jiang Liping shouldn't show any expression for a while, and said: "You don't need to ask him, I can just nod for him."

Liu He told several elders this sentence in the language of the tribe. The shortest one said a few words, but everyone couldn't understand a word.

"That stone is very special. If it is broken, we can't give him back the same one." Liu He said exactly what the elder said.

"If it is smashed, can you take the broken stone back? He has been talking about breaking the stone to make a few pieces to wipe his feet and backs." Jiang Liping said.

After finishing speaking, he asked one more question, "What is that stone? Is it worth money?"

"The elders in our clan have all seen it, and for a moment they are still not sure what it is. However, if this thing is smashed, it is worthless, and if it is not broken, it is a holy thing." Liu He said with a smile on his face. He said solemnly, "No matter good or bad, I will take it back and return it to Li Qingwen. I swear to the mountain god that I will never break my promise."

The people next to him pricked up their ears. After listening to him, they thought to themselves, isn't this nonsense, something that can't be broken is indestructible, so it is naturally a good thing that you can't ask for.

Jiang Liping was not worried that Liu He would not return the stone, and if he was ambiguous, he would not bother the people in the clan to make this trip, so he just nodded in agreement.

After talking about the business, Hu Lichuan brought over a pot of syrup and asked Liu He to take it back and taste it.

Seeing his attentive appearance, everyone knew that he must have other thoughts, and sure enough, the next moment he said: "If people in your clan like it, you can exchange it later, we have a lot of candies like this. "

Liu He thanked them with a nod, and then said goodbye to them. He and his clansmen got on the snowmobile separately and left soon.

Li Qingwen and the others delivered four foals, and the others might not be born until a while later. The mare and foal gradually regained their strength, so they packed up their things and prepared to go back.

Although they didn't catch any prey this trip, everyone was very happy to catch a group of horses. Whether it was farming or pulling things, it was much more convenient to have horses.Borrowing officers and soldiers is borrowing, and what you have is your own, which is completely different.

Li Qingwen sat on the sledge, holding the frail little pony in his arms. The little pony drank milk for a few days, and he became a little more energetic. ball.

The other three foals were also on the sledge. Although they could stand and walk, the snow was so thick that they were covered with leather for fear of frostbite.

Yakut horses live in extremely cold regions. It is not easy for them to eat in winter. In autumn, they will grow a layer of fat. In order to preserve their strength, they do not move much when it is cold. These days, they are full and can follow behind the sledge superior.

It was also a coincidence that Li Qingwen and Jiang Cong came back after Liu He and others left.

While carrying the pony into the tent, while listening to what Jiang Liping said just now, something flashed through Li Qingwen's mind, and he said: "It seems that the stone is really unusual, could it be used to make the arrow stone?" flint……"

Before he finished speaking, everyone laughed, "If there is such a magical thing, it can be found so easily? After all, it is a child who takes the legend seriously..."

They didn't take it seriously, but Li Qingwen took it to heart, seeing him like this, Jiang Cong wanted to take him to Nuanhe again.

When the others heard it, they also followed suit.The last time I took a bath, I grinned my teeth at first, but then I felt more comfortable, and I didn’t feel cold anymore when I came back. The big guys knew how good it was there, so naturally they couldn’t just let them go.

Counting the days carefully, they should go back to the border town camp, and they probably won't come again this winter.In the spring of next year, we will be planting the fields, weeding and weeding in the summer, and there will be a lot of things to do. Autumn is so short that there is not enough time to rush to harvest. The next time we go to the forest will be next winter...

Thinking about it this way, I have to go to Nuanhe to take a bath!

It used to be two people, but now it has become everyone.

In fact, it’s not counting days, they should go too, people and horses have run out of food, so they don’t have to go back.

After the discussion, everyone began to pack the pots, stoves, pots and bowls. Except for the iron pots, the heavy pottery pots and pots and bowls were stuffed into the big tree hole next to them. They will come again next year, and these things will not be pulled back and forth. It takes up space again.

What came was left behind, and what was eaten was eaten up. The empty sledge was just filled with candles, medicinal materials and various furs.

After packing up, a group of people drove the sledge and led the horses straight to Nuanhe.