Chapter 83 Honor [VIP]

Everyone went home in a mule cart.

When passing by Shanghe Village, Tanaka Masaru got off the car first and took his daughter back to the village to find the butcher to lead the way.

When they arrived at Xiahe Village, Huang Songbai and Shen Yao also got off the mule cart in advance because Tian Baolai wanted to take the mule to the Yan River to eat grass and drink water.

Every time he came back from eating, he had to give the mule another bowl of soybeans as a snack, because after the Shen family harvested the winter wheat, they would start plowing the fertile fields rented by the three families in preparation for the next season's wheat.

So we had to plow the fields of the three families while the mule was still at home before my father and uncle set off for Jiangnan.

Whether the mule can do these farm work depends entirely on how well it is cared for.

As soon as Chen Yao entered the house, she told everyone the good news.

Team leader Chang agreed to take them to Jiangnan. If the dried vegetables tasted good and were easy to preserve, he would recommend them to the tea merchants.

The three sisters-in-law took over the cooking work without saying a word.

In previous years, they dried mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, and dried beans to store winter vegetables.

Now that the weather is good and there are many varieties of fruits and vegetables, we should ask Baolai to harvest more in the countryside and bring them back as a snack for them on the road.

Even if no one buys it, they can keep it for themselves.

Shen Qingshan and Yang Jizong pulled Chen Yao closer and showed her the hand-cranked reeling machine placed under the corridor.

"Ayao, take a look and see if it is exactly the same as in your drawing. See if it can be used?" Shen Qingshan was a little excited. He never expected that Yang Jizong would really make what his daughter wanted according to the drawing.

"Dad, Zi'an, didn't you agree to wait for me to come back and do it together? How come you figured it out so quickly?" Chen Yao's eyes showed great surprise, and she raised her hand to hold the handle of the reeling machine.

Along with the creaking sound of the hand crank, the wheel frame wrapped with hemp rope also began to turn.

"How is it, A'yao? Is there anything wrong?" Yang Jizong stood beside Shen Yao and asked for her opinion. If it was not good, he would make some changes.

After carefully examining the reeling machine, Chen Yao gave Yang Jizong a thumbs-up: "Zi'an, you're amazing! If it were me, I would definitely have to tinker with it for two or three days before I could make it. You're just amazing."

Seeing that his daughter only praised Yang Jizong, Shen Qingshan felt a little jealous.

"Ayao, Dad also helped." Why don't I see my daughter praising herself?

"Yeah, Dad is pretty good too."

Shen Qingshan waved his hand at his daughter's half-hearted praise, too lazy to compete with Yang Jizong for jealousy.

"Since it can be used, let Zi'an make a few more. After they are completed, move them to Wanhe Township for use. It must be done quickly, okay?" He has plenty of ways to make this kid lose face.

Yang Jizong nodded in agreement very sensibly. Just when Shen Qingshan was feeling smug, he heard his daughter saying that she wanted to work with him.

The hand-cranked reeling wheel is related to the silkworm room. Shen Qingshan is tough on the outside but soft on the inside, so how could he just stand by and watch?

He was already anxious and angry about this matter, and that night, despite everyone's dissuasion, he insisted on dragging Yang Jizong to light the lamp and stay up late until dawn.

Carving bamboo sticks and polishing wooden boards, Shen Qingshan followed Yang Jizong and his daughter step by step to learn how to make a reeling wheel. The palms of the three of them were all rubbed with shiny blisters.

At daybreak, five hand-cranked reeling machines were just completed. Shen Qingshan was so happy that he wanted to shout out loud. His daughter said that with these reeling machines, reeling silk would be twice as efficient with half the effort.

"Ayao, let's go. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival. Dad will take you to the mountains to cut mugwort." Shen Qingshan was in high spirits. He had been busy all night and was not sleepy at all.

Huang Xing came out of the kitchen, spoon in one hand, one hand on her waist, and whispered, "If you want to go, go by yourself. The children have been with you all night. They're still growing. How can you torture them like this?"

Shen Qingshan didn't dare to argue with his wife. He silently took down the hunting tools hanging on the wall and looked at Yang Jizon who was washing with cold water in the yard.

He could understand that his daughter needed to grow, but Yang Jizong, as a grown man, couldn't use this as an excuse. It was just that he didn't sleep for one night.

"Ayao won't go into the mountains with me, so you should come with me and see if we can hunt some game."

"Zi'an, don't listen to him. Just stay at home and rest. Let him go by himself." Huang Xing smelled a burnt smell and hurried into the kitchen to serve the porridge out of the pot.

By the time she finished preparing breakfast and brought it to the main house, the yard was quiet.

Chen Yao couldn't bear it any longer, so she went back to her room and lay down to rest without even eating. No matter how Yang Wenying persuaded her, she refused to get up to eat.

Yang Wenying had no choice but to accompany Huang Xing for breakfast first, and watched Huang Xing go to Huang Dongsheng's house to make tofu. Then she took a dustpan to cover the food left for her brothers to prevent flies from attracting them.

Today is the Dragon Boat Festival. Every household in the village went to the Yan River to cut reed leaves to make rice dumplings.

Shen Qingshan led Yang Jizong around the trench and arrived at the foot of Wufeng Mountain. He took out realgar powder from his arms and sprinkled some on his own trouser legs, then handed it to Yang Jizong.

Look, he hit the bushes with a stick.

Before he could make a move, Yang Jizong had already caught the snake and dug out its gallbladder. "Snake gallbladder can be used as medicine, and the snake meat can be used to make soup."

Shen Qingshan clicked his tongue and said, "You are so smart and quick-handed. He has been hunting for many years. How could he not know that snake gall can be used as medicine?"

Shen Qing saw the cluster of mugwort and signaled Yang Jizong to cut it, while he went into the woods to set a trap.

When Shen Qingshan returned, he saw that the mugwort had been cut and tied up with a rope by Yang Jizong.

"Come on, I'll teach you how to make qingtuan and zongzi when we get back."

After the two of them came down the mountain and returned home to have breakfast, Shen Qingshan divided the mugwort he had cut into five bunches and hung one in front of each door to repel mosquitoes and ward off evil spirits.

As for the rest, Yang Jizong was ordered to wash them, remove the stems and mash them into a paste.

Yang Wenying wanted to help, but was rejected by both men at the same time. The mugwort smelled strong, so there was no way she could touch it.

In the kitchen.

Shen Qingshan took the mugwort paste handed to him by Yang Jizong and mixed it with glutinous rice flour and kneaded it into dough. While kneading, he told Yang Jizong that if he wanted the green dumpling to not collapse when steamed, he had to add some flour to increase its toughness.

"Ayao and her mother love the green rice dumplings I make the most. Please write it down so that you can make them for Ayao in the future." As a good man, he must take care of things both at home and outside.

Don't act like a big boss all day long and wait for women to serve you when you get home.

You must also learn how to use the stove.

Yang Jizong was peeling the red dates and mashing the red beans, carefully writing down every step that Shen Qingshan told him.

Shen Qingshan looked very satisfied that he was quite obedient.

As soon as the steamed green rice dumplings and rice dumplings came out of the pot, Shen Qingshan couldn't wait to pick out a plate and took three pairs of chopsticks to signal the brother and sister to have a taste.

The Qingtuan is emerald green in color, filled with date paste, and is glutinous and has the fragrance of mugwort.

Yang Wenying gave Shen Qingshan a thumbs up: "Delicious."

When Chen Yao woke up, it was almost noon. She sat under the porch, eating the green rice dumplings made by her father, watching Yang Wenying embroider, and listening to Yang Wenying say that she had picked up three more eggs from the chicken coop today.

In the kitchen, two men were cooking lunch around the stove.

When Huang Xing came back from her brother's house, she couldn't help but smile when she saw the food on the table. It seemed that her husband had gradually accepted Zi'an, otherwise he would not have taught him to cook.

Everything on the table is A Yao’s favorite.

Chen Yao looked at the table full of food. How could she not understand her father's intention? She ate two bowls of rice in a row, showing with her actions that the meal made by Yang Jizong was very much to her taste.

After the Dragon Boat Festival.

The students returned to school for class again. Chunya couldn't help feeling sad when she saw that there was no girl in the classroom anymore.

Fortunately, Luo Dunzi and his younger brother Chunwang will always be with her.

On the first day of school, Yang Jizong distributed the examination papers he had prepared early. He wanted to see how much knowledge the students had left after the agricultural holiday.

Chen Yao and her father took a mule cart carrying five hand-cranked reeling carts and five women from the village to Wanhe Township.

The five women were a little nervous when they first arrived in Wanhe Township, especially when they saw the old people in the village collecting the silk cocoons skillfully, cooking the cocoons and serving them to them. They all looked at Chen Yao at a loss.

"Ayao, please teach us." Everyone called out to Chen Yao in unison.

Chen Yao placed the hand-cranked reeling wheel in the room next to the silkworm room, and signaled everyone to stand in a row to watch how she pulled the silk threads, then how she wound the silk onto the reeling wheel and used it to reel the silk.

Chen Yao moved very slowly, stopping to explain each step carefully, and then letting everyone come forward to experience it for themselves.

Maizi was hiding outside the door and was also very interested in reeling silk, but she had promised Sister Chen Yao that she would guard the silkworm room with Goudan, and she couldn't go back on her word.

So she just watched silently outside the door for a while and then went back to the silkworm room.

With the help of the hand-cranked reeling wheel, Chen Yao taught carefully, and the women also learned seriously. In just one morning, they were able to gradually get started with the work.

When Shen Qingshan came back with his brothers who had been picking mulberry leaves, and saw the woman who had already started reeling silk, at that moment, his heart was finally able to put his mind at ease.

"Ayao, now that we have raw silk, shouldn't you make some silk fans and hair ornaments, and then have your aunt and uncle take them out to sell."

Chen Yao had the same idea. She took down a roll of raw silk from the drying line and prepared to take it home to think carefully about how to dye the silk using local materials and how to fix the color.

After a busy day in Wanhe Township, the women returned home with the men from the same village, and on the way they talked about their silk reeling experiences.

In the end, everyone was grateful to Chen Yao. If it weren't for Chen Yao, they would probably still be sitting at home with pots and pans, worrying all day long.

At the same time, the Shen family.

When Zhao Xiaofu returned to the village from the county town with the news from the prefect, he was accompanied by many students who had passed the examination for status as a Tongsheng.

These students had all read the article Yang Jizong wrote to the prefect on how to grow winter wheat and came here to ask Yang Jizong for some guidance on the article.

Yang Jizong was afraid that they would offend their family members, so he signaled Zhao Xiaofu to take the person to the school and temporarily settle him for one night while he thought about the matter.

So when the father and daughter returned home, Yang Jizong told the Shen family at the dinner table that the prefect had adopted her farming method, and was going to come to Xiahe Village to see their newly harvested wheat with his own eyes and to discuss the farming method with Shen Yao in detail. The whole Shen family was stunned.

Would the prefect come to her village, or to her home? Or would he meet her in person?

Chen Yao: She didn't want this honor, but in order to spread the farming method of harvesting wheat twice a year, she had to bite the bullet and do it.

"Did the prefect say when he would come? If he comes, what should we prepare?" Forgive their family for being small people and having never received an official.

It would be a lie to say I'm not nervous.

At this moment, everyone present looked at Yang Jizong.