Chapter Sixty-Six

After finishing the bamboo sieve, at night, by the light of an oil lamp, Mu Jin sewed a flour sack using the leftover linen from the bed curtains.

"Remember to buy two pounds of meat tomorrow."

Mu Jin finished the last stitch, bit off the end of the thread, and gave Zhou Lin one last instruction.

Zhou Linping lay on the bed, pretending to sleep with his eyes closed. Hearing this, he gently opened his eyes.

Is two pounds enough?

Mu Jin carefully examined the stitches, finding them tight and fine, ensuring no flour would leak out. She then turned the burlap sack over, stood up, and placed it on the table beside her.

"That's enough. But the mutton buns you brought back today are really delicious. If the butcher shop in town sells mutton, buy another pound of mutton. We don't have any vermicelli at home, so after buying the mutton, buy another pound of vermicelli."

Hibiscus lowered one side of the bed curtain, blew out the oil lamp, and carefully tucked the curtain under the mattress.

"become."

Zhou Lin's voice was drowsy, and he fell asleep shortly after finishing speaking.

Mu Jin chuckled and turned over to cover him with the thin blanket.

Zhou Lin has been working very hard lately, with longer days and longer hours spent at work.

Even when he's home, he can't stay idle. He makes things himself whenever he has a spare moment, especially things that are missing from the house.

Wooden tubs, wooden buckets, bath tubs...

In order to earn more money, at night, they would light torches and search for cicadas in the courtyard, and then go into the woods to search for cicadas for an hour.

There's truly no time to rest.

No wonder he was so tired; the fat he had gained had shrunk a bit.

In the pitch-black darkness, Mu Jin sighed softly, thinking that she still needed to give him more nourishment.

He felt sorry for Zhou Lin. When Zhou Wu saw Zhou Lin, he realized that Zhou Lin was much stronger than when he was thin at home. He wished he could give the extra flesh of Zhou Lin to Zhou Qiang.

Without Zhou Lin at home, the wheat harvest was much more tiring.

When Zhou Ming was with Zhou Lin, he was strangely good at cheating and slyness.

In the past, Zhou Laosan and Zhou Wushi kept a close eye on Zhou Lin, fearing that he would cut less wheat.

Now that Zhou Lin has separated from his family, he is busy with farm work in town and only sent a pound of meat home.

Zhou Laosan had intended to forcefully call him back so that he could have an easier time, but his grandfather stopped him.

After the birthday banquet, the grandparents felt a greater fondness for Zhou Lin, who had previously been reserved and not very talkative.

Especially Mu Jin, who has a sweet tongue and knows how to make the elderly happy.

When it comes to their beloved children, the two elderly people can't help but think about their well-being.

A while ago, not long after the peaches were harvested, Mu Jin didn't send them to the Zhou family.

When there were more peaches, they quickly picked out two large, sweet ones, sent one basket to the Zhou family, and also sent one basket to their grandparents.

It was then that Mu Jin learned that the peach tree in her home was a descendant of the peach tree planted by Zhou Lin's great-grandfather.

Grandmother Zhou had a kind face as she looked at Mu Jin, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

“You young people probably don’t know that after twenty years, peach trees won’t bear much fruit, and the trees are prone to dying. I remember the peach trees at the old house, they’re about ten years old, which is the time when they’re most productive. However, it’s time to dig up the small peach saplings under the big peach tree and transplant them elsewhere. When the big peach tree gets old, the small peach trees will be ready to bear fruit.”

Mu Jin smiled gently and said, "No wonder people often say that having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. Today, after listening to Grandmother, I finally know how to plant peach trees. When Grandpa and Grandma have some free time, please come and stay at my house for a few days so that A-Lin and I can show our filial piety. You and Grandfather, please teach A-Lin and me more as well."

The Zhou family's grandparents were overjoyed; as people get older, they become afraid of becoming useless.

Mu Jin's words truly touched the hearts of the elderly couple.

Therefore, when Zhou Laosan said he wanted to call Zhou Lin back home from town.

When Zhou's grandfather heard this, he immediately frowned and scolded Zhou Laosan.

“Lin’er and Jin’er had just started to get by when they separated the family property, and you didn’t even give him half an acre of land. If he doesn’t find work, where will he get food and supplies? How dare you disturb the lives of such a young couple?”

Zhou Laosan was most afraid of his grandfather, so he dared not cause trouble for Zhou Lin again.

Mu Jin and Zhou Lin enjoyed a period of peace and quiet for quite some time.

Zhou Lin thought it was the pound of meat he had given that had the effect. Mu Jin didn't think so, but she didn't consider the possibility that Zhou's grandfather had spoken up for them.

Although he was trying to please Zhou's grandparents, he was also hoping that one day, when Zhou's mother and the others tried to pressure them with filial piety, Zhou's grandparents would be able to help them.

However, he hadn't seen the elderly couple very often, so he was unaware of how much favoritism and affection the Zhou family's grandparents had for him and A-Lin.

Since Zhou Lin didn't come, most of the work fell on Zhou Ming's shoulders, and he finally experienced what it was like for Zhou Lin to be at home.

Although several families of the Zhou family were harvesting wheat together, with Zhou Laosan and Zhou Wushi watching over him, he couldn't shirk his responsibilities at all.

With the job in hand, no matter how glib he had been before, he still had to do what he was supposed to do.

Zhou Ming lost a lot of weight after the wheat harvest, which made Mu Qing feel very sorry for him.

He had gone to the foot of the mountain to gather firewood and secretly peeked at Zhou Lin's house.

Ramie bark was drying in the yard, and the sounds of pigs grunting and chickens and ducks quacking could be heard from time to time. The vegetable garden was neat and orderly.

A scene of prosperity and flourishing.

Seeing that Zhou Lin had separated from the family and was enjoying life more and more, Mu Qing began to have some plans.

Even though he was pregnant, he couldn't eat much meat at the Zhou family home.

Even though Zhou Lin and Mu Jin were separated from their families with nothing, they were able to make a living.

Zhou Ming is far smarter than Zhou Lin. If they separate their households, his life will certainly not be worse than Zhou Lin's.

Mu Jin was unaware that Mu Qing was plotting to divide the family property.

As dawn broke, I got up early and, together with Bai Qiqiu and Wen Zhaoran, picked the peaches from the tree while they were still fresh.

After hearing what Grandma Zhou had to say, Mu Jin went home and transplanted the two peach saplings under the tree to a spot not far from the pigsty.

When Zhou Lin got up, Mu Jin and the other two boys had already picked two baskets of peaches.

Summer mornings are still a bit cool, and the morning breeze helps to clear a tired mind.

After Zhou Lin finished washing up and eating breakfast heartily, he helped pick the vegetables and fruits. Just then, Mu Heng drove the oxcart over.

They helped load several baskets of vegetables and fruits, as well as a large basin of cicadas, onto the car.

"Be careful not to drop the lid of the wooden basin, or the cicadas will escape."

Zhou Lin placed his arm on the lid, saying, "Don't worry, I'm holding it down."

Mu Jin smiled and nodded. After the oxcart had gone far away, she turned around and went back into the house to eat breakfast.

The millet porridge was thick and sticky, served with pickled cucumbers made from hibiscus—a simple yet flavorful breakfast.

After breakfast, Mu Jin took out the flour sack she had sewn the day before and had Wen Zhaoran hold it up.

I took the bamboo sieve that I had cleaned and dried yesterday.

Bai Qiqiu picked up the wooden ladle, lifted the lid of the wooden basin, scooped out a ladleful, and poured it into the bamboo sieve.

The white flour fell into the cloth bag, and the unique aroma of wheat flour wafted out, which smelled very pleasant.

Five pounds of flour were used to fill a small half-bag, and the sifted bran was poured into a bag of bran that had been bought earlier.

"Brother, this flour smells pretty good, can we try eating it raw?"

Wen Zhaoran placed the cloth bag on the cutting board and glanced at the wheat flour inside, which was white with a hint of yellow.

Mu Jin sighed and laughed, picked up the cut strips of hemp cloth beside her, and tied the cloth bag up.

"Won't you get an upset stomach if you eat it raw?"

Bai Qiqiu chimed in, "Little glutton."

We've gradually added quite a few things to our home since winter.

The scissors were bought by Zhou Lin when he went to the blacksmith to melt down an old pot. The other small items were either things he felt he needed or things that Mu Jin asked him to buy from town.

These days, we don't lack any small items at home.

Mu Jin put the flour sack into the cupboard and glanced at the two rough earthenware jars next to it.

With plenty of vegetables at home, we should buy a couple more jars in the fall to pickle more vegetables for the winter.

Summer storms come suddenly; the sky was clear one moment, and a large patch of dark clouds soon followed.

"Qi Qiu, quickly carry the hemp rope into the house. Zhao Ran, you and I will carry the vegetables drying in the yard back to the kitchen."

As soon as Mu Jin stepped out of the kitchen, she saw that it was getting dark and hurriedly called out.

The three of them didn't dare to delay and hurriedly carried the things that were drying in the yard back into the house.

When there was only a small bamboo basket of green beans left to carry back to the kitchen, large raindrops fell, splashing up clouds of mud.

Hibiscus threw the dried vegetables she was holding onto the table and ran out. Before getting too wet in the rain, she brought back the green beans along with the bamboo basket.

The heavy rain poured down instantly, taking away the sweltering heat of the past few days and bringing a refreshing coolness.

"Now that it's raining, we can go mushroom picking in the mountains again tomorrow."

Wen Zhaoran held the bowl of water, took a sip, looked at the fine rain outside the door, and smiled.

"When it rains, cicadas come out. It's possible that many cicadas have crawled out right now because they've been soaked by the rain."

"Let's go out and look for it when the rain subsides a bit and the ground is soaked."

Wen Zhaoran and Bai Qiqiu nodded in unison, put down their bowls, and the three of them began to sort out the hemp in the room.

A strong earthy scent wafted over, and Hibiscus found it rather pleasant.

The rain didn't subside until noon, after Mu Jin and the others had lunch.

They took the raincoat out of the woodshed, and the three boys, carrying a finely woven bamboo basket made of hibiscus, first searched around the yard.

The Zhou family's old house has probably been uninhabited for a long time, as many cicadas appeared in the courtyard this summer.

Many cicadas that were not collected in bamboo cages appeared on bamboo poles or vegetable leaves in the vegetable garden the next day.

"Brother, there's one at your feet."

Bai Qiqiu, with his sharp eyes, quickly called out, preventing the cicada that had just run out from suffering the tragic fate of being trampled flat by Mu Jin.

Mu Jin stopped and took a closer look. "It really is. I didn't see it at all."

He then bent down, threw the cicada covered in mud into the bamboo cage, and closed the lid.

He wove this bamboo cage in a hurry, as the cicadas were about to emerge, and it's very useful.

After searching the yard and finding no cicadas running around, Mu Jin and the others went outside.

There were many villagers who thought the same way. On the village road, most of them were wearing straw raincoats and had their heads down.

As soon as Mu Jin and her friends stepped out, they ran into Mu Mian and Zhou Si, who were also out looking for cicadas.

The group chatted and searched as they went, seemingly having endless things to say. They felt relaxed and refreshed, enjoying the fresh air after the rain.