The hydropower station was still under intensive construction. In the blink of an eye, it was the beginning of April in the lunar calendar. The bright sunshine dyed the rapeseed in the fields golden. It was time to harvest the rapeseed in the fields, and everyone in the Zhou family was busy.

Yang Chunyan and her mother-in-law gently cut the ripe rapeseed stalks and placed them on the rapeseed piles.

Rapeseed must be harvested in the morning when there is dew. If it is harvested after the sun comes out, the rapeseed pods will easily burst, affecting the harvest.

Both the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law are efficient at work. They came out early in the morning and had already harvested two acres of rapeseed.

Zhou Huaian and his sons gently took the rapeseed and put it into a basket padded with quilt covers and blankets. They carried it home one by one and spread it out in the courtyard and on the road outside the wall to dry.

The old man had to take care of two children at home and help turn the rapeseed over to dry. When he came back from turning over all the rapeseed on the drying dams, he saw Xiaolong crawling on the ground. When he saw him come back, he looked up and cried towards the flower bed.

"Ancestor! Ancestor!"

He heard a shout and turned around to see Xiao Jiuer lying on the flower bed, pinching off the leaves of a clump of orchids that were growing well. There were a few henna plants next to it. Wangcai and Lai Fu were still watching over him.

Little Jiuer turned around and saw the old man. He grabbed a handful of orchid leaves and said to him, "Grandfather, let's have some fried eggs."

He quickly stepped forward and snatched one from his hand, "Yaoyao, this is orchid grass, not chives. Your mom worked hard to grow it, and it has already bloomed. If your mom knew, she would beat you."

Little Jiuer pouted and said, "No need to be beaten, Jiuer will pick vegetables!" These are the vegetables that he, his grandmother and his mother have picked before.

"Okay, Caicai!" The old man picked him up, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Wait for your mother to come back and tell you. Let's go wash the little flower face first. I'll turn on the TV for you. Can you watch the baby?"

"Look at the baby!" Xiao Jiuer pointed at Xiao Long, "Brother, look too."

"Okay, brother, watch it too." The old man carried him over, "Where's your sister?"

Xiao Jiuer pointed at the courtyard gate and said, "Sister, pick some fruit."

The papayas that Zhou Huaian dug from Xu Hongbing's house by the vegetable plot had grown into several papayas, two of which were almost turning yellow. The little guy would go and take a look whenever he had nothing to do, and by the way, he would pick a handful of wheat from Ma Chunhua's wheat field and bring it back to roast and eat.

Now the families have a good relationship, and the children only grab about ten ears of wheat, so Ma Chunhua won't say anything to her when she sees it.

The old man fetched some water, washed the two brothers, turned on the TV in the side room, spread mats on the ground, and let the two brothers sit on the mats to watch TV.

As expected, Zhou Xiaolin ran into the yard holding a handful of wheat ears, "Jiuer, sister is back from picking wheat..."

The old man glared at her and said, "You're going to get beaten if you go and pinch your Aunt Ma's wheat ears again!"

"Hehe!" Zhou Xiaolin smiled at him and raised the wheat ear in his hand, "Grandmaster, I only pinched a little bit!"

The grandfather took it and put it on the table. "Don't go there again next time. If you go there again, I will spank you. If you like it, I will go to our wheat field this afternoon to cut some and cook it for you."

"Yes!" Zhou Xiaolin nodded, "I'll cook it for my brother Jiuer."

The old man hurriedly said, "I'll burn it for you, but you can't start a fire. If you set the house on fire, it will be troublesome."

"Then I'll go watch TV." Zhou Xiaolin skipped to the side room to watch TV.

The old man looked at the wheat ears on the table and couldn't bear to waste them, so he took them to the stove, took some pine needles, lit them, and started to burn the wheat ears in front of the stove.

After the flames roasted the awns on the wheat ears clean, the slightly yellowed wheat ears exuded a faint wheat fragrance.

He remembered that during famines in the past, villagers who were extremely hungry would sneak out at night, pluck the unripe ears of wheat from the village fields, and then go home to light a fire and roast the wheat to eat.

While the wheat ears are still hot, place them in the palm of your hand, rub them vigorously, and blow on them to separate the wheat grains from the husks.

Since the wheat grains are not fully ripe, the wheat kernels become shiny yellow-green after being cooked. They taste strong and chewy, and the fragrance lingers on your lips and teeth, making it unforgettable.

…

The family was busy for seven or eight days and brought all the rapeseed and wheat back home. After the rapeseed stalks in the fields were dried for two days, they went to pull up all the rapeseed stalks and brought them home. They piled them under the eaves to dry and then used them as firewood.

Zhou Huaishan drove a tractor to harrow the wheat and rapeseed fields, then went to Guanyin Brigade to help Zhao Meina and her brother plow the land. After drying it for a while, they soaked it in water and harrowed it. Then, they would plant the seedlings after they grew out.

After the fields were cleared, it was the beginning of May in the lunar calendar. The seedlings in the fields were growing green and lush. The rainy season was about to arrive with the Dragon Boat Festival, so everyone was waiting for the next heavy rain to fill the fields with water, and then everyone started planting rice.

Families in Funiu Village who grow medicinal herbs began to busy themselves with collecting herbs such as violet yedoensis, dandelions, and plantain from the medicinal fields.

On the fence wall behind Yang Chunyan's house, there are pink roses, bright red roses, small and fresh chicken-foot wisteria flowers, and a large bunch of purple-red chicken-spatholobi flowers... The fence wall surrounding the medicinal field is decorated into a colorful flower wall.

Inside the medicinal field, yellow gardenias are full of buds, white gardenias are emitting bursts of fragrance, purple-red white striata flowers, purple-flowered Viola yedoensis, yellow dandelions, field yellow, and stinking peonies...

The medicinal fields of the four Zhou brothers have become a place for villagers to stop. Yang Chunyan feels that in the future, the mountain behind her home will definitely be a popular check-in spot for internet celebrities.

Zhou Huaian took a camera and took a lot of photos for everyone in the back mountain.

Zhou Huaian, the old man and Zhou's father took a shovel that was slightly larger than a flower spade, stuck it into the soil, pried up a few violets, grabbed the leaves and lifted them aside. Yang Chunyan shook off the mud and put it aside.

Zhou Huaian put away the Viola yedoensis that he had pried up, and said, "Yan'er, leave one acre of land for Viola yedoensis, dandelions, etc. to collect seeds. That should be enough, right?"

"That's enough." Yang Chunyan turned her head and looked at the white hyacinth. "We can dig it up next year. Otherwise, it will grow too densely and affect the harvest."

“What about the Chuanxiong?”

"When they are ripe, keep half of them for seeds, and then scatter some of them in the forest. Then you will have wild Chuanxiong to harvest in the future."

"Yes!" Zhou Huaian helped her pick up the violets on the ground, which had already shaken off most of the mud, and put them in the backpack. "We will start harvesting mugwort tomorrow. I asked Jiaming to talk to Xiu Na and have them go harvest some and send it over."

After hearing this, the old man said, "Youngest, after we cut the mugwort, we'll have to break the early-maturing corn. Do we really need to clear the land to plant mugwort?"

Zhou Huaian looked up and said, "Why not plant it? What if next year is like this year, with only two light rains during the Dragon Boat Festival that didn't even soak the mud? I think it's better to plant mugwort."

Father Zhou also said: "Yes, old man, I think Huai'an is right. The money from selling mugwort for one season is enough to buy corn and pay the public grain tax."

The old man said: "Okay, if you think growing mugwort is good, then grow mugwort. Buy more millet and coarse grains in the autumn harvest and store them. In case of natural disasters, you don't have to worry about having no food to eat."

"Don't worry. After the millet is harvested this year, I will buy three to four thousand kilograms of millet from him and store it." Zhou Huaian turned to Yang Chunyan and said, "Let Jiaming and Xiu Na know tomorrow and ask them to get some mugwort from the mountain to plant."

"That's good. It saves the three kids from having to study and work." Yang Chunyan thought that it was already June 11th in the Gregorian calendar. "Jiaming will take the entrance exam to junior high school this month. Do you think he can get into Baima Junior High School?"

Zhou Huaian thought of what Zhou Huairong said, shrugged and said, "My elder brother and sister-in-law are so worried that he won't pass the exam. He's only twelve or thirteen years old. What is he going to do if he doesn't go to junior high school?

And Jialiang, they are always among the last few in every exam. The two brothers are not good at studying. If they want to go to junior high school, it depends on their luck in the exams. "

Yang Chunyan thought of Li Xiaoping, "Where is Xiaoping from Brother Li's family?"

"That kid is great. I heard the school recommended him to the No. 1 Middle School in the county. He wants to apply to the No. 3 Middle School in Huashi!" Zhou Huaian said with envy, "If our Jiuer can achieve this result in the future, I will wake up laughing even when I fall asleep."

Yang Chunyan thought about Li Xiaoping's past and felt that as long as he worked harder this time, he would be able to get into the school he wanted to attend.

Xiao Jiuer, she also hopes that he can get into a good school when he grows up, but she hopes that her child is healthy. "No one can explain clearly about studying. Those who can study think it is very simple, while those who can't study think that studying is more tiring than carrying manure!"

The old man took over the conversation, "The youngest one was not bad at studying before. Jiuer is like him, very smart. If he can be down-to-earth, he should be able to do well in the future."

Zhou Huaian said proudly: "That's right. When we were in junior high school, we didn't even study. If it were like now, I might have graduated from college and would be working in an office now."

Yang Chunyan rolled her eyes. Fortunately, bragging was not taxable, otherwise the money she earned would not be enough to pay the bragging tax.

Father Zhou thought about it and said, "Youngest, if Jiaming can't pass the exam, can you use your connections to get him to finish middle school? In two years, when he's old enough, you can send him to the army."

Zhou Huaian thought for a moment, "Let's wait until he finishes the exam. If he fails, let my sister ask Fang Dongming if he has any connections in town."

Father Zhou: "Go ask your sister how things are going with Fang Dongming. If you think it's okay, hold the banquet to avoid gossip."

Fang Dongming's mother came home twice and said that their family liked Zhou Yumei and would treat them well as long as she agreed. She also asked Zhou's mother to persuade Zhou Yumei to hold their wedding as soon as possible. Everyone was relieved.

Zhou's mother suffered a loss because of her own decision. This time, she was unwilling to interfere with Zhou Yumei as she did before. She was afraid that the two would not get along well and get divorced. Not only would she be laughed at, but she would also suffer.

"My mother said she will go to the town to buy rice and wine to make rice dumplings tomorrow. You ask me to go and ask." Zhou Huaian squatted down, picked up the backpack, and walked down the mountain.

Yang Chunyan gathered up the remaining violets and packed them up, "Grandpa, old man, let's call it a day and go home to eat."

The old man looked up and said, "You and Huai'an go back first. There is still a group. We will go back after we have pried them all up." (End of this chapter)