Chapter 88 Drawing and Corn

After deciding to build a scaffold, Su Yun began planning the layout of the yard.

"The awning is quite nice. You can set up the frame first and then cover it with a layer of cloth."

We'll plant some more grapes next year...

“That’s good.” Ye Feng had also seen the trellises in other people’s yards, which were covered with green vines and thick leaves, full of vitality and very beautiful. They also provided shade, so Su Yun wouldn’t be exposed to the sun.

He volunteered, saying, "I'll help you build the scaffolding..."

Su Yun frowned and pondered, "Wait, if that's the case, how about we just build a pavilion?"

The summer weather was extremely hot, and eating in the kitchen was really stifling. Su Yun remembered some food blogger videos she had seen before, where the small pavilions under the shade of green trees looked very pleasant. Their backyard was also very large and spacious, so it seemed like she could consider building a pavilion in the backyard, laying a pebble path, and then planting roses and fruit trees on both sides.

That way, things will be much more comfortable next year.

"Hmm? Is it one of those small pavilions?"

"Yes, we can eat, drink tea, and enjoy the breeze inside..."

"That would be great too!" Ye Feng imagined it for a moment and agreed.

So Su Yun happily decided, "Let's build a little pavilion together!"

After making the decision, Su Yun began to plan. Building a sunshade frame was relatively easy; he simply cut thick bamboo poles, inserted them deep into the soil to secure them, and then tied the bamboo poles together with thin wire. However, building a gazebo required careful planning, as it was a major undertaking.

After finishing his meal, Su Yun lay down on the table and started writing and drawing.

Seeing Su Yun hunched over the table, writing and drawing, Ye Feng asked curiously, "What's this?"

Ye Feng watched with great curiosity as Su Yun used a pencil to sketch out a bunch of lines.

Su Yun looked up and saw the kitten's eyes filled with a thirst for knowledge, practically screaming, "Teach me, teach me!"

Su Yun generously replied, "This is called painting. You can use a brush to draw whatever you want..."

"Oh~" Night Wind's ears twitched slightly, as if he was very interested.

Su Yun thought for a moment, then took out another small pencil and handed the paper to Ye Feng, "Here, give it a try."

"How... do I draw this?" Night Wind had clearly stumbled upon a blind spot in his knowledge and didn't quite understand how to draw.

“Hmm, like this…” Su Yun stretched out his head and drew a few simple strokes on the white paper with a pen, outlining a small sun. “Look, this is the sun.”

Night Breeze glanced at the sun on the white paper, then looked at the sun shining brightly outside, and said very frankly, "It doesn't look like this... The sun outside doesn't look like this."

Su Yun: "How can it not look like it? This circle is just invisible light; it's probably a combination of imagination and figurative expression..."

Su Yun offered a forced explanation, and Ye Feng looked at the painting, then at Su Yun, hesitating to speak...

Su Yun knew what he wanted to say, and she was very unconvinced: "Then I'll draw another flower... watch me..." With a few strokes, she sketched out a simple five-petaled flower and two simple leaves.

This time, the night breeze honestly affirmed Su Yun's painting skills, "This is a wild rose..."

"Good, you have a good eye." It seems simple drawings are quite easy to understand, so Su Yun got inspired and went on to draw some simple houses, cars, trees, birds, fish, and so on...

A small carbon pen sketches another wonderful world on yellowed pages, a diverse world, lifelike yet very different.

The little kitten, unfamiliar with the world, was very curious, its eyes shining, and earnestly praised, "Su Yun, you're really amazing..."

"Hehe..." Su Yun looked at his elementary school level drawing skills and felt very embarrassed. What was this? His drawing skills were so weak that anyone could do it. It was just elementary school level.

However, speaking of elementary school, Su Yun suddenly remembered an interesting drawing she had made in elementary school. She slapped her forehead and said cleverly, "There's this too!"

So Su Yun took the notebook and muttered to himself, "An old man named Ding borrowed two eggs. I said I'd return them in three days, but he said four. He bought a big ball, drank three bowls of soup, and spent 33 cents... Haha, look, old man Ding, isn't that funny!"

While reciting the incantation, Su Yun drew the face of Old Man Ding with a frown, and finally added the stick figure's limbs, and a "cute" little old man appeared on the paper.

Ye Feng was extremely curious, his eyes shining. "Su Yun, you're amazing..." he exclaimed, looking eager to try it out.

Su Yun shoved the notebook into the other person's arms: "Hehe, you can do it too, just draw what it looks like. Here, this notebook is for you to draw in..."

"Mmm." Ye Feng picked up his laptop and went off to study by himself.

Su Yun was left to work alone on her little pavilion. She wrote and drew, constantly comparing it to the yard, and carefully measured the dimensions. Some things seem simple, but they are difficult to do.

Su Yun spent most of the day writing and drawing, and it wasn't until almost afternoon that she finally finished the first draft.

By this time, the dried beans were almost completely dry.

Su Yun packed the cowpeas into the prepared large vat, layering them with salt, and then weighing them down heavily with dried and sterilized pebbles before sealing it and storing it in a cool, shady place.

Taking advantage of the abundant cowpeas, Su Yun pickled two large vats of cowpeas. Looking at the bottles and jars in the corner, she thought that if she ate them sparingly, they could probably last for ten days to half a month.

If we run out of food, we can just eat pickled cowpeas dipped in snow; it'll taste delicious.

Su Yun tried to find a bittersweet moment in his thoughts.

But then I thought about the thriving rice in the field and the abundant corn cobs, and suddenly I realized I was worrying too much.

The corn in the fields has been harvested, and the large green expanse along the riverbank is all corn planted by Su Yun and his team. The corn stalks stand tall and graceful, each about as tall as a person, and are full of plump ears of corn.

As expected, Su Yun and the others weeded and fertilized whenever they had free time.

Wait a week, once they're dried a bit more, it'll be ready for harvest. Then we can grind them into cornmeal, make corn porridge... We should be able to get through this winter no matter what. Next year, Su Yun plans to plant corn all along the riverbank.

Of course, the corn is ready to eat now. Fresh corn is tender and sweet. Su Yun happily invited, "Night Breeze, let's go pick corn!"

Ye Feng was completely absorbed in the world of painting, and only when he heard Su Yun's call did he suddenly raise his head.

Seeing him engrossed in his painting, Su Yun smiled and asked, "How is it? What did you paint?"

The night breeze wagged its tail and happily handed the notebook to her, saying, "I drew you and me."

"Wow! That's amazing! Let me see..." Su Yun eagerly accepted the notebook Ye Feng handed her. It depicted two people holding hands in front of a simple triangular house, surrounded by cute little flowers, grass, and trees...

The image is simple, but the meaning is beautiful; it's really good!

But why do these two little figures both have the face of Old Man Ding?

Su Yun stared at this soul-stirring painting technique and fell into deep thought.

"What's wrong? Is my drawing not good enough?" Ye Feng's confidence was somewhat shaken when he saw her strange expression.

Seeing the child's slightly disappointed expression, Su Yun quickly denied it, saying, "No, no, you drew very well."

Giving children confidence will help them do better, Su Yun quickly encouraged the other party.

"Then why do you look so..." The kitten was still somewhat doubtful, after all, Su Yun's expression was far from happy.

"No, it just feels like something's missing."

Night Breeze: "Hmm?"

Su Yun picked up her paintbrush and quickly added a few strokes, giving the two adorable "Old Man Ding" cat ears and a cat tail to one and long hair to the other. "Look, it looks even more like him now!"

Sure enough, Ye Feng's eyes lit up immediately, and he praised, "Really, Su Yun, you're amazing!"

Su Yun smiled sheepishly, probably because with her elementary school level of knowledge, the only person who genuinely thought she was amazing was Ye Feng, her devoted fan.

"Alright, the sun has set, time to water the vegetables. Let's pick some corn to eat."

"Okay~" Hearing Su Yun say that, Ye Feng carefully put away the notebook with the two of them drawn on it, then picked up the water ladle and bucket for watering the vegetables and prepared to go out.

The two followed the familiar path to the stream.

The chili peppers in the field have turned quite red, and Su Yun was thinking of making some chili sauce, but the garlic she planted had not yet fully grown and were still tender bulbs.

So he hadn't been able to make it yet. Seeing that some chilies were starting to dry on the branches, Su Yun thought he might have to harvest some to pickle.

However, the main purpose of coming here today is still to pick corn.

Sure enough, the corn in the field had grown a lot. Su Yun peeled back the thick husks, revealing plump, golden corn kernels that looked delicious.

"Pick more, we can eat them all tonight and then again tomorrow morning," Su Yun said happily, holding up a corn husk.

"Mm!" Ye Feng also joined the corn-picking team.

The two of them picked more than ten ears of corn, big and small, and took them back.

Boiling corn is very simple. After removing the outermost few layers of leaves and washing it briefly, you can steam it. Su Yun also added a few chicken eggs and quail eggs.

Bring the water to a boil over a high flame, then reduce to a simmer.

After watering the vegetable garden in the yard, and after the night breeze had fed the chickens, ducks, rabbits, and quails...

The corn is ready too.

The green corn husks turned yellow from the steam, and when the lid was lifted, a sweet aroma wafted out.

"It smells so good!" Ye Feng stood by the pot, his eyes fixed on the corn inside. Just the aroma of the corn was enough to make him look forward to it.

After all, it was corn that they had carefully nurtured for several months, and it was finally time to taste the fruits of their labor.

Su Yun immediately announced, "Dinner's ready!"

The corn husk effectively wraps the corn, preventing excessive moisture from diluting its sweetness.

Ignoring the fact that the corn was still hot, Su Yun stuck her chopsticks directly into the center of the corn and then bit into it while exhaling.

The corn kernels are large and plump. Take a bite, and it's warm, sweet, and very fragrant.

Su Yun and Ye Feng each held a chopstick, twirling corn on the cob, and ate with great relish.

The sweet corn kernels were gone in the blink of an eye, and then I grabbed a second one.

"This corn is delicious! It's so sweet." Ye Feng tried his best to put his chopsticks into the center of the corn. Actually, his palms were quite thick, so he couldn't feel how hot it was at all. But seeing Su Yun eating it like this, he insisted on doing it too.

Su Yun smiled: "Of course! I grew them myself, it took a lot of effort, fertilizing, weeding..."

Recalling the glorious days of growing corn, Su Yun couldn't help but sigh that without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, it really took a lot of effort to start a crop business!

Weeding had to be done by hand, fertilizing had to be done by hand (and the results were still not very good), and catching insects was also required...

Locusts often appear out of nowhere in the cornfield. They are very large, with long, saw-like legs, and they will crawl onto the corn leaves and gnaw on them.

Su Yun, unaware of the true nature of the insect, tried to catch it once, only to be slashed and given a bloody gash. It was quite vicious. In the end, Ye Feng slapped it to death, saying, "This insect is actually edible."

Of course she knew! Deep-fried locusts, they taste like locusts, are crunchy, and are a protein source in every bite. Of course, Su Yun wouldn't touch them unless absolutely necessary.

Recalling the past, a hint of helplessness appeared on her face: "We also had to deal with mutated locusts... but thankfully, there weren't many of them."

They discovered it early because Su Yun was afraid that the locusts would cause a disaster. He patrolled the fields and grass several times, finding all the locusts, grasshoppers, ladybugs, etc. that he could find, and crushed them all to feed the chickens and ducks.

so......

"It wasn't easy, it wasn't easy..." Su Yun said with emotion as she ate.

Night Breeze chimed in, "It's been quite a long time since we planted this corn. But it's easier than finding food, there's so much corn..."

"So, does that mean agriculture is a development of productivity?" Su Yun sighed, holding a corn cob. The corn was quite filling; after eating two ears, Su Yun was almost full.

Night Wind couldn't understand such profound words. "What—does this mean?"

It means that growing corn is very good.

It's not advisable to discuss too many profound topics while eating, so Su Yun simply smiled, raised the corn, and said happily, "The sweetness of today's corn is inseparable from our hard work. Let's have a piece of corn."

As she spoke, Su Yun smiled and held up the corn.

The night wind was bewildered and confused.

Su Yun smiled, picked up her chopsticks, and gently touched the other person's corn cob with her corn, saying playfully, "Like this, touching it is a way of celebrating."

I could feel a slight touch on the corn cob.

Night Breeze was puzzled. "What's this? A celebration that we've eaten corn?"

Su Yun said with a smile, "That's right, it's to celebrate that our hard work has finally paid off, we can finally eat corn!"

"So that's how we celebrate!" Ye Feng finally realized, and followed suit, raising his chopsticks and tilting the corn cob forward to gently touch it with the corn cob in Su Yun's hand. He said happily, "Celebrating that we harvested so much corn!"

"Wishing us an even bigger corn harvest next year!"

At the small dining table, ears of corn touched each other, and a burst of cheerful laughter rang out...