Guo cursed him relentlessly, but he still couldn't get over it.

Chunhong was afraid that the topic of her husband not working would come up again, so she said...

"Mother is really being unreasonable. If the Li family won't help, they won't help. That land doesn't grow legs, it's just there. In the fall, we'll help harvest a few acres. It's not a cure-all!"

Guo and Su Niang's eyes lit up when they heard this. What a great idea!

The Li family owns thirty acres of land, which are scattered in several places. It would be incredibly easy for them to secretly take some back.

But the plan is good; we still need to farm the land at home.

The next day, despite the chaos at home, Guo also got her son and daughter-in-law to work in the fields.

After three whole days of procrastination, he had planted two mu of land, but Liu Tiezhu simply refused to touch the remaining three mu.

It must be left to Liu Laifu!

Liu Laifu was hanging around in the city. Since the Wu siblings moved to the city, he had a place to stay and wouldn't come back for ten days or half a month.

Why would he come back to farm?

As a result, the Liu family's three acres of land were soon left vacant.

But Qingshui Village has few people and a lot of land.

Too many people died in the previous years, the village fell into ruin, and everyone considered it bad luck.

Even if someone were to buy the land, they wouldn't come here.

Therefore, it's not unusual for a few acres of land to be left uncultivated.

After the Li family ate the dumplings, Jiaren went to school.

Seeing that there was nothing wrong at home, Li Laosi went to work as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort) with Jiayi.

With nothing to do, Li Laosan would go into town to find odd jobs doing masonry work, and occasionally he could bring back thirty or fifty coins a day.

Tao Hongying also got busy, leading Zhao Yuru and Jia Huan to receive guests for the banquet.

She is straightforward, hardworking, and a good cook.

Once a business is taken over, all the relatives and friends of that family become very involved.

Whenever there's a family emergency, they rush to Qingshui Village.

After spring planting, this rare month of leisure is also the peak season for weddings in various families.

As a result, when the accounts were settled at the end of the month, Tao Hongying actually earned eighteen taels of silver in wages.

Grandma Li was overjoyed and wished she could treat her daughter-in-law like a goddess.

Jiayin took the opportunity to wean herself off breastfeeding, so that her mother wouldn't have to worry about coming back to breastfeed her while she was busy outside.

She's a big girl now, able to go anywhere inside and outside the house on all fours.

Sometimes, when her hand is pulled, she can stand up and walk a few steps.

Although it may seem like just a few steps, it signifies that she has transcended the ranks of reptiles.

This is truly something to celebrate!

At home, Grandma Li's main tasks are cooking and taking care of her granddaughter.

Cooking in a communal pot is easy; it's just sorghum rice, millet porridge, flatbread, and stew. Occasionally, Tao Hongying brings back meat dishes, which we treat everyone to a meal.

The rest of the time, she focused on figuring out what to eat for her granddaughter.

Soak red dates until soft, peel them, and add them to millet porridge to cook together. It's fragrant and sweet.

Steamed egg custard, two bowls a day, is absolutely essential.

Thin noodles are mixed with eggs and scallions and then pan-fried into soft little pancakes.

Stir-fry cabbage and minced meat until cooked, then add it to white rice porridge.

When no one is home, I clean and chop up the fish and shrimp that my granddaughter takes out.

In short, the grandfather and grandson worked together very well.

Everything is for growing up quickly, so that Jiayin can be healthy and strong!

At first, Tao Hongying was reluctant to wean her eight-month-old baby, as it was a bit early.

When she saw that her daughter wasn't clingy, ate porridge and steamed egg custard with relish, and grew up to be a chubby, fair-skinned girl with rosy cheeks, she felt relieved.

May has arrived in the blink of an eye, and tender seedlings are sprouting in every field.

The mountains and forests have also been completely clothed in green.

When the women and children in the village have nothing to do, they go up the mountain to dig up some wild vegetables, wash them, and eat them with dipping sauce.

For an even more refined touch, add some sugar, vinegar, and salt to the cold salad.

These are all great dishes to accompany your meal.

It seems like everything is moving in a positive direction.

The world was teeming with life, just waiting for the autumn harvest, but the elderly felt uneasy.

Everyone, including the village chief, goes to the fields every day.

Because, from the Lunar New Year until now, not a single drop of rain has fallen.

The soil moisture in the fields now depends entirely on the melting winter snow.

But the weather is getting hotter and hotter, and if it doesn't rain soon, the fields will dry up.

Not only that, the river outside the village has also gradually become shallower.

Some easygoing villagers smiled and comforted everyone.

"The river flows from the south, where rice is grown. It needs a lot of water, so it might take all the water away."

This explanation reassured many people. However, the elderly still felt uneasy but didn't say much.

Grandma Li would carry her granddaughter on her back and take a stroll along the river every day.

Jiayin made a show of taking two duck eggs from the small courtyard, then had her grandmother openly carry them back in her clothes.

After all, no one in the family collects duck eggs, yet they eat salted duck eggs every few days. It's all rather strange...

Jiayin also frowned, looking somewhat worried.

She had inspected the seedlings in her own field; they were average compared to others in the village—neither good nor bad.

But compared to the five acres of land in the space, it's not enough.

This year may really not be a good year!

As the days went by, more and more people felt that something was wrong.

Because the heat is terrifying!

In previous years, people would still be wearing outer garments at this time, but this year the naughty boys are already shirtless.

The solar term seems to have arrived more than a month early, yet not a single drop of rain has fallen…

That night, Grandma Li lay down next to her granddaughter, fanning herself with a palm leaf fan and sighing.

"Fu Niu'er, do you think this year is going to be bad?"

"ah."

Jiayin was hot and tugged at her little bellyband, also feeling irritable.

Being too fat makes your flaws more apparent.

Her groin and the back of her legs were covered in beads of sweat. She had developed eczema, which was very itchy.

Grandma Li, unusually, didn't notice her granddaughter's distress and continued to worry.

"What are we going to do? We have so much land. If there's a drought, we won't be able to harvest any crops, and that would be terrible."

"Ah, ah!" Jiayin wanted to say that the family should quickly stock up on food.

But she couldn't speak, so she could only take out a handful of sorghum from her spatial storage.

These are the seeds I stole back then, and this is all that's left.

The old lady was afraid that she might prick her granddaughter, so she quickly got up to clean up.

Finally, holding the sorghum stalk for a moment, she took out her money box.

There are many people in the family, a lot of food to eat, and a good amount of money to earn.

Twenty taels were set aside for emergencies, and the remaining usable amount was a little over fifty taels.

At this time, people start stockpiling grain, buying enough to feed their families for at least a year, in preparation for a complete crop failure in the autumn.

We can only breathe a sigh of relief when the wild vegetables come out next spring.

The Li family, consisting of over a dozen people including the elderly and children, plus six elderly men from next door. Even if they only eat two meals a day, and are only seven-tenths full, they still need over two thousand catties of grain…

Even buying the cheapest sorghum with fifty taels of silver is a struggle.

Jiayin couldn't bear to see her grandma worrying, so she quickly snuggled into her arms, wanting her grandma not to worry, as she was her strong support.

Sure enough, the old lady held her granddaughter in her arms and felt somewhat at ease.

With such a precious granddaughter around, we can't let anyone in the family starve to death in a critical moment, can we?

But we still need to make the necessary plans; we can't rely on the children for everything.

The next morning, after breakfast, Old Lady Li called her second and third sons, as well as Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru.

“I think the weather is bad; there’s probably going to be a severe drought this year. Everyone in the village has leftover food from last year, but we don’t. I’m thinking we should go to the city and buy some more food to keep on hand.”

Both Li Lao Er and Li Lao San nodded.

“We don’t think things are going very well either. If there really is a drought, at least our family can’t go hungry.”

Old Mrs. Li took out the silver.

"This is most of our family's money. Let's use it all to buy grain, and buy twenty catties of white rice for Fu Niu'er. For the rest, buy whatever is cheap and filling."

After Li Lao Er took the silver, he and Li Lao San went out to hitch up the carriage.

Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru were also flustered and quickly said something.

"Mom, let's go up the mountain to dig up wild vegetables, dry them, and store them. We can add them to the porridge later to stave off hunger."

"Okay, go ahead, but don't go too deep into the woods."

As the mother-in-law and daughters-in-law were talking, Li Lao Er and Li Lao San shouted excitedly from the courtyard, "Mother, Lao Si is back!"