Chapter 222 - 222 On the Mountain
222 On the Mountain
The mountain on which the orange trees were grown was a certain distance from home. It took half an hour to ride a tricycle.
Fortunately, although the path to the mountain was winding, it was also built with cement. It was not difficult to walk on it.
This was not a few years ago.
In the past two years, they had been working hard on rural construction and promoting the slogan of building roads to get rich. Wherever someone landed, the cement road would lead directly to their doorstep.
After leaving the house, they went straight to the road. There were few houses on both sides of the road. They were either paddy fields or ponds. At this time of the year, greenery was still floating everywhere.
After walking for about 20 minutes, they walked into a fork in the road. After passing by a small bridge, the car slowly climbed up the mountain. The mountain path was a little narrow, but it was not a problem to use a tricycle.
On both sides of the mountain road were orange trees.
However, these fruit trees did not belong to her uncles.
Five or six minutes later, there was another fork in the road. They turned a corner and continued walking. However, this road was a slope, and the further they walked, the steeper it became.
Fortunately, her uncle’s driving skills were stable. Coupled with Gu Qingming’s penchant for racing, this steep difficulty did not scare her at all.
Gu Qingming said excitedly, “Eldest Uncle, is our orchard so far away?”
Eldest Uncle nodded and said, “Yes, it’s a little far. However, it’s just up this slope. The soil here is very suitable for the navel orange.”
Soon, the tricycle arrived at the foot of the mountain. Eldest Uncle said, “Mingming, this slope is a little steep and bumpy. Why don’t you walk up? Be careful! You’ll reach it after going up this slope!”
If it was an ordinary person, they could just ride up in the tricycle. It was fine to experience some bumps.
But Gu Qingming was pregnant, so it was not suitable for her to be on a bumpy ride.
Although this slope was a little steep, it was filled with some small stones and was not slippery. If one walked carefully, one would not fall.
Eldest Uncle even instructed, “Mingming, wait for a while. Uncle will drive this up and come down to be with you.”
He was very worried and let Gu Qingming walk down alone.
“…” Gu Qingming smiled and said, “It’s okay, Eldest Uncle. I can do it alone. I’ll be careful!”
Eldest Uncle smiled and said, “No, you have a special condition now. You have to be specially taken care of. Wait for me first. I’ll be down in a while.”
Without waiting for Gu Qingming’s answer, he drove the tricycle away.
After Eldest Uncle left, Gu Qingming looked up. They were all navel orange trees.
There were fruits on the navel orange tree. The peel was still green with a hint of yellow. This was a sign that the October navel orange was gradually maturing.
Looking at the fruits of the fruit tree, they all looked playful and cute. Gu Qingming could not help but take out her phone to take photos.
After saving the photo, Gu Qingming put away her phone, lowered her head, and walked slowly and carefully.
Eldest Uncle quickly appeared again. He did not come down directly but watched Gu Qingming walk over.
Gu Qingming was speechless.
He really treated her like a giant panda.
Soon, Gu Qingming went up. She pointed at the orange tree and asked, “Eldest Uncle, is this our orange orchard?”
Eldest Uncle pointed at the mountain above. Then, he pointed and said, “Here, there, and over there… they are all ours.”
Gu Qingming smiled and said, “Uncle, you’ve planted a few mountains.”
As the uncle and nephew walked, they said, “Yes, those on this mountain are old trees. They were planted more than ten years ago. There are more than 300 trees.”
Eldest Uncle pointed in one direction.
The orange trees looked big, but they were probably only about two meters tall.
There were many fruits hanging on the trees, and there were support poles on the tree to prevent the branches from being broken.
Eldest Uncle brought Gu Qingming to a small house.
This was really a small house. It was the smallest house Gu Qingming had ever seen. In Stoneback Village, she had never seen such a small house.
The house was painted white with red bricks and green tiles. The door was also a small wooden door.
Gu Qingming asked in confusion, “Eldest Uncle, why is there a small house here?”
Eldest Uncle smiled and said, “This is where we take a rest from work. When we do the weeding and fertilize the trees, we’re very busy. We don’t have time to go home at all. Moreover, going home is a waste of time on the road. We can’t rest well at all. Therefore, we can build a house here and cook and sleep.”
Gu Qingming immediately understood the use of this house.
She then looked at the large shed in front of the house and pointed. “This is?”
“This is a place to grow vegetables. Plant ginger, garlic, onions, cabbages, and so on. There are also orange seedlings here.”
Gu Qingming walked forward to take a look. Although this vegetable field was not big, about twenty square meters, there were many side dishes planted.
Eldest Uncle took out the key, opened the door, and said, “Mingming, are you thirsty? Do you want some water?”
Gu Qingming shook her head and said, “I’m not thirsty!”
She sized up the house. It had to be said that although the place was small, it had everything!
Although the house was small, it had two bedrooms and a living room. There was a kitchen, a washroom, and a firewood room.
Although the house was small, there was almost all the furniture needed.
In the living room, there was a dining table, an electric rice cooker, a kettle, an electric fan, and a small refrigerator.
Gu Qingming’s eyes lit up as she smiled and said, “Eldest Uncle, there seems to be everything here?”
Eldest Uncle smiled and said, “That’s right. Although this is a place to work, it’s also a place to live. We have to prepare everything. When we’re very busy, we don’t go home at night and just rest here. You don’t say! In summer, it’s cooler to sleep here at night than at home. We can feel the heat when we turn on the air conditioner at home, but there’s no need to turn on the fan or the air conditioner here.
The temperature difference between day and night on the mountain was huge, so it should be cooler at night.
Eldest Uncle said, “Mingming, I’ll go up the mountain and pick some oranges for you to eat.”
Gu Qingming looked excited again. She said, “I’ll go with you!”
“Haha, alright, let’s go together!” Eldest Uncle laughed loudly and said, “Let’s go. When you go up the mountain, pay attention to your safety.”
Gu Qingming smiled and said, “Eldest Uncle, I’m not a child anymore. I definitely know to be careful.”
She felt that she was on the same level as Shi Jiahao and Shi Junxuan. Everyone treated her like a three or four-year-old child.
Eldest Uncle walked out of the house with a pair of scissors and walked up the mountain. Gu Qingming followed behind.
When they reached the mountain, Gu Qingming felt a sense of pride.
Gu Qingming looked around and said, “There are so many navel oranges here. How many are there?”
Eldest Uncle introduced it to Gu Qingming. “Other than the land over there, this place was planted before the planting the fruit trees. The fruit trees were only planted last year and there were about a thousand trees planted. Also, over there are the new mountains planted last year. There were more than two thousand trees planted last year. It will take two years for them to bear fruit.”