Xu Qingzhi sorted the dishes ordered by the customers in advance and wrote down to her mother how much weight each one wanted.

The vegetables grown in each plot of land are different. Wang Yanmei divided the land according to the vegetables and the people and went to pick the vegetables.

Grandpa and Wen Shanshan were nearby, helping to pick the fruits in the field in front of the courtyard.

Xu Qingzhi went to check on the sour plum soup. It had cooled down now, so she poured it all into the wine barrel she had bought earlier.

After making the sour plum soup, Xu Qingzhi took the rotten bayberries he had picked up earlier to feed the chickens and ducks.

The days are long in the summer, but the weather has been cloudy recently. It was only five o'clock and the sky was already starting to get misty. Xu Qingzhi poured out the bayberries, and the chickens and ducks scrambled for them. After eating, they went back to their nests.

Xu Qingzhi picked some more bayberries with a clean bamboo basket and gave some to Grandpa. There were still ten kilograms of bayberries left from the one Shanshan ordered, so he picked them as well.

After picking bayberries, she also went to help pick vegetables.

Tomatoes and cucumbers are still the perennial best-sellers, and this time, amaranth, eggplant and beans are also very popular.

There are lights in the land in front of the courtyard and the land behind the mountain, except for the land on the hillside.

Xu Qingzhi was afraid that it would be difficult to pick the fruits if it got any later.

She stood alone in a row, and with a flick of her fingers, a dozen beans fell into her bamboo basket.

After picking a full basket of long beans, I put it aside.

Aunt Zhou took a look and praised: "Qingzhi, you are quite fast at picking vegetables, much faster than us aunts."

"I'm used to picking beans before, so I'm more skilled at it." Xu Qingzhi said calmly, and took another empty basket to continue picking beans. With the shelves blocking the way and the weather not being good, everyone was busy picking vegetables, and no one paid attention to Xu Qingzhi.

As a result, the land on the hillside was harvested the fastest.

Everyone carried baskets down the mountain one after another and went to other places to help pick the fruits.

Xu Qingzhi was so tired that he was sweating and coughed twice.

Wang Yanmei saw this and went to make a cup of cold medicine and told her to go over there to rest. She whispered, "Your cold hasn't healed yet. Take the medicine and go over there to rest for a while. It's a good opportunity to talk to Si Ran. Mom has to make dinner and can't take care of him. They helped you. You should remember this kindness."

"Got it, Mom." Xu Qingzhi sat under the persimmon tree with the medicine in her hand and said hello to Wen Siran: "You're here. Shanshan went to pick vegetables for me. She's just in front."

"I saw her. She even called Brother Xiao to go pick vegetables." Wen Siran smiled helplessly and said, "Shanshan has really troubled you these days."

"Shanshan helped me a lot." The implication is that it is not troublesome.

Xu Qingzhi looked towards the vegetable garden and saw Wen Shanshan squatting and pulling onions, frowning and saying something to Jiang Xiao beside her.

In the vegetable garden, Wen Shanshan, Qingzhi's grandfather and Xia Liannan were picking vegetables together.

Later, when she saw Jiang Xiao coming, she insisted on calling someone to help, and if they didn't help, she would not let him have dinner.

Seeing this, the old man gave the land to the young man and went to pick vegetables on the other side.

Xia Liannan also tactfully went to other places, as she didn’t want much water plantain in the first place.

Wen Shanshan looked at Jiang Xiao with disdain, muttering, "How come you can't even pull a shallot? You're so stupid."

"Just grab it a little bit below and shake it a few times and you can pull it out with the roots. The soil here is not tight, it's very loose."

"Ahhh, how can you only pull off one or two green onion leaves like this!"

"You ruined the vegetables that Qingzhi planted. I'm not kidding you! You have to eat all these green onions tonight."

“…”

Jiang Xiao lost his temper after being yelled at by Wen Shanshan. Fortunately, Xu Fuqiang came over and said, "Shanshan, the water plantains are almost done. You guys can go and play."

Jiang Xiao was exhausted: "Thank you, uncle!"

"Uncle, we still have some peppers to pick." Wen Shanshan grabbed Jiang Xiao by the back of his collar and said, "Come with me to pick peppers."

Jiang Xiao was enslaved by Wen Shanshan to pick peppers again.

By the time all the vegetables were picked, it was almost seven o'clock.

Jiang Xiao was so tired that his forehead was covered in sweat. He had taken off his suit jacket long ago. His exquisite white shirt and suit pants were stained with yellow mud. Even his hairstyle, which he had deliberately styled before going out, was flat.

Wen Shanshan was very satisfied when she and Jiang Xiao picked the vegetables. It was now legitimate for them to have a free meal tonight.

Some people started to clean the muddy vegetables, while others packed them according to the orders.

Xu Fuqiang didn't let Shanshan and Jiang Xiao busy. He first brought a bowl of sour plum soup to Xu Dongru, and then brought another bowl to Shanshan.

Jiang Xiao looked at Xu Fuqiang eagerly as he brought drinks over to give to the other two people and then went back. He smelled the faint aroma of bayberry in the air and wailed, "Uncle, have you forgotten me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Fuqiang brought out two more bowls, one for Wen Siran and one for Jiang Xiao.

Jiang Xiao tasted the sour plum soup with satisfaction, his eyes lit up.

“It’s delicious.”

Xu Fuqiang said politely: "You guys take a break. There's nothing else to drink at home. Have some sour plum soup to quench your thirst."

Xu Qingzhi did not rest. He taught people how to pack the food and was busy himself, making sure that nothing went wrong with the dishes.

After working for another half an hour, I finally finished.

Wang Yanmei paid the workers and wanted to keep them for dinner, but everyone was in a hurry to go home to cook for their families, so they didn't stay long. Some people drank a bowl of sour plum soup and left, while others were in a hurry to go home without even drinking the sour plum soup.

Wang Yanmei came over with the money and took out a fifty-yuan note and gave it to Xu Dongru. "Dad, you helped pick vegetables today, so this is yours."

The old man pushed the money away and said, "No, no, it's ridiculous to ask for money for picking vegetables for your granddaughter. It's not easy for you to sell vegetables, so I'll help as much as I can with my old bones."

Wang Yanmei couldn't defeat the old man, so she took the money to give to Jiang Xiao and Shanshan.

Shanshan stood up immediately and said, "Auntie, if you do this, I will be embarrassed to eat with you in the future!"

"Auntie, I don't need it either. I tried picking vegetables and it was quite fun. I kind of like picking vegetables." Jiang Xiao said.

Wang Yanmei looked at the young man who used to be handsome in a suit and tie, but now looked tired and sweaty. She was certain that he was a capable and energetic man.

Xu Fuqiang thought the same thing.

"Hey, Xiao Jiang, how old are you?" Wang Yanmei asked.

Xu Qingzhi: “!!!”

What exactly happened when she went to the mountain to pick beans?

Why did her mother suddenly call someone Xiao Jiang?

"Mom, the meat won't taste good if it's stewed too much." Xu Qingzhi reminded her.

"Oh, yes, yes, there's meat stewing on the stove. I have to go and take it away quickly." After being reminded by someone, Wang Yanmei remembered that the meat had been stewing in the kitchen for a while, and she ran to the kitchen in a hurry.

Xu Qingzhi smiled and said, "Everyone, come in. We'll be eating soon."

Soon, a large table of dishes was served.

A pot of spicy stir-fried chicken with shallots, a pot of red chopped pepper fish, a bowl of garlic eggplant, a bowl of smashed cucumber, a bowl of stir-fried water spinach, ginger-flavored dried bean dumplings, stir-fried amaranth, and a pot of tomato and egg soup sprinkled with a few green chopped green onions.

When Wang Yanmei brought the dishes to the table, Xu Qingzhi cooked the last dish, fried pine mushrooms with bacon.

This bacon is different from the commonly seen black smoked bacon. The bacon made by Wang Yanmei is made using the fire-cooking method.

The bacon is golden and shiny in color, and the salt taste is permeated but not too salty, and the aroma of the meat is restrained.

(End of this chapter)