"Xiao Lu, have you harvested your sunflowers?"

"Xiao Lu, the sunflowers in your field are growing really well. I saw them when I passed by before. The sunflower heads are as big as a human face. You must be able to shell a lot of seeds from each one, right?"

"This is half a cartload already; the harvest is indeed good."

In the family compound, the women looked at the donkey cart with envy.

Although the sunflower stalks covered the sunflowers, they had already seen them before; the sunflowers were growing well, and they were sure to harvest a lot of seeds.

With that rapeseed field as well, Xiao Lu has had a really bumper harvest this year.

"The rainfall was good this year, so the crops are growing well."

Lu Fangfang said modestly.

Feeling quite helpless, it seemed her attempt to cover up the donkey cart had been in vain.

She was also surprised that there were still so many of her sisters-in-law around, even though it was almost dark. Usually, by this time, they would have all gone home.

Wait, something's not right.

Are your sisters-in-law waiting here specifically because they saw her harvesting sunflowers?

"Little Lu, save some seeds for me, I'll plant some next year too."

Standing in front of the donkey cart, Wang Meijun peered closer, her heart filled with envy.

"Xiao Lu, save some for me too, I'll plant some next year."

"Xiao Lu, me too..."

"Xiao Lu, my family also wants to plant some..."

Zhuang Mingcheng stood to the side, listening with a furrowed brow.

He snorted and said irritably, "No way! You're really not being polite. If you want to plant them, go to the state-run seed store in the county and buy them yourself. They have plenty of seeds there."

"My family doesn't even have enough to eat, how could we possibly have any left over for you?"

With that, he patted the donkey's rump and drove off in the donkey cart.

"Many of the sunflowers I grow are not plump and are shriveled, so they are not good for seeds. I bought the seeds from the state-run seed store, and the seeds there are better."

Lu Fangfang said something polite, then turned around and went after her husband.

Her words barely saved the sisters-in-law from embarrassment.

Wang Meijun glanced at everyone, extremely annoyed.

She was confused just now; she shouldn't have said it in front of everyone.

"You guys are really something. Have you even cleared any wasteland yet? You're already clamoring for seeds. I think you're just greedy."

“Meijun, you’ve really misunderstood. I just told the group that we’re going to clear a piece of wasteland to the north of your land because we really want the seeds.”

"Exactly, don't think you're the only one who wants to explore new lands."

The sisters-in-law were also dissatisfied with Wang Meijun. This woman had secretly started clearing wasteland by the river. Did she really think they didn't know?

Anyway, they'll be planting some crops next year to supplement their family income.

It's just clearing land, they can do that too.

"Hmph! You really think clearing land is easy? I'm not talking to you anymore."

Wang Meijun turned around and walked away with a limp.

She was exhausted after working in the wasteland for several days. If it weren't for the crops in Xiao Lu and Sister-in-law Shu Fen's fields, she would have given up.

...

"Fangfang, if you hear those words again, just ignore them. Your man is the deputy regimental commander, don't spoil them."

Zhuang Mingcheng stood on the donkey cart, took the sunflower head handed to him by his wife, and placed it on the roof of the shed.

"Okay, then we'll do as you say and ignore them."

Lu Fangfang smiled and agreed.

Her husband is now a deputy regimental commander, so she definitely has to be firm.

However, it's a good thing that my sisters-in-law want to clear land and plant crops. By next year, when they've all started planting, no one will be envious of her anymore.

"Fangfang, how many sunflower seeds do you think we can roast?"

"One sunflower head can easily yield two ounces of roasted food. We have so many, we estimate we can roast about twenty pounds, and we'll need to save one pound for next year's seeds."

"That's quite a lot, really quite a lot."

Lu Fangfang handed all the sunflower heads from the donkey cart to Zhuang Mingcheng, who then placed them on the roof to dry.

There was one left on the cart with a donkey muzzle mark on it. As soon as she picked it up, the stubborn little donkey in front of her brayed.

She smiled and shook her head, handing most of the sunflower head to the little wild donkey.

"Oh...ah..."

The little stubborn donkey wagged its tail and ate very happily.

...

That evening, Zhuang Mingcheng didn't let his wife cook either.

He pushed his wife into the inner room and let her continue drawing the Pallas's rabbit family, while he went out into the yard to get busy.

He ladled a spoonful of bear oil into the pot and cooked it until it was fragrant. He had just added the chopped radish greens and stir-fried them when he heard something scratching at the courtyard gate outside.

"Awoo~"

"Meow~"

He put the pot lid on, walked quickly to the courtyard gate, and pushed it open.

Little Flower and Little Tibetan Fox rushed in immediately. They circled Zhuang Mingcheng once and then ran into the yard.

Zhuang Mingcheng looked outside and saw Sister Shufen walking over quickly.

"Xiao Zhuang, the rats that were causing trouble in my house were killed by these two. They're the ones that the girl always beats up, what's their name? Pikachu. So I put them back."

Wang Shufen was still very angry as she spoke.

These wretched rats, instead of properly grazing in the pasture, have run into her house and started ruining her crops.

"Sister Shufen, okay, if your family has any more pikas or rabbits, come over and hug them."

"Alright, Xiao Zhuang, go back now."

Wang Shufen didn't stay long; she said one sentence and then turned and left.

Pikas are the most abundant animals in the Qilian Mountains. Tibetan foxes eat them, Pallas's rabbits eat them, and even golden eagles that fly in the sky eat them.

Even so, they still couldn't catch all the pikas in the grassland, which caused trouble for the family members.

Zhuang Mingcheng smiled, shook his head, closed the courtyard gate, and went back.

He took the basin, added some warm water, and called over Xiaohua and Xiaozanghu to wash the two little ones.

Now that my wife is pregnant, the two little ones also need to maintain good hygiene; they can't be sloppy.