The next morning, the families gathered together again and saw many unfamiliar faces.
The villagers knew these families were all from the same clan and didn't dare associate with them, not for any other reason than fear of being bullied. The Li family also didn't intend to go up and exchange pleasantries; they had too many things to do.
While the weather is still good, and these are all important matters, it will be difficult to dig when the soil freezes in the cold weather, and by the time it thaws, we will miss the spring planting season.
Pan Jinhua and Yuan Shi, along with Li Qingruo and Li Qingfei, were weeding and digging in front of and behind several houses to prepare for planting vegetables. The other children were playing together, being looked after by Li Qingtong.
Li Xuchang followed his fellow clansmen and began "climbing onto the roof to remove tiles." They borrowed a ladder from Zhao Qi's house and carefully climbed onto the roof. Li Xuchang had no experience with this, so he could only learn by trial and error. At first, the group was full of excitement, but after a while, the novelty wore off.
The roof was high, and the men had to be careful not to fall. They also had to carefully pick up the broken tiles and repair them with thatch. It was meticulous work, and it was tiring to watch for a long time. But they couldn't bring themselves to quit, since those who cleared land in the fields had it no easier than they did.
At the edge of the village under the tree.
Li Xuhai, full of vigor, pointed to the wasteland in front of him and brandished his sickle.
"Brothers, let's start here today. There's a lot of thatch, so let's use sickles to clear the weeds first. I'll demonstrate once, and you can all watch and follow along. Let's start slowly and be careful not to cut ourselves. Once you're more skilled, we can speed up. The people in front will cut the thatch, and the people behind will use hoes to dig deeper. Fourth brother, you teach the brothers in the hoe team. There are a lot of us, so we need to clear at least one acre today."
"Great! Open up one acre!" Li Xushi exclaimed loudly.
"Let's listen to Hai-ge. We'll take it slow and practice what we're not used to. We shouldn't get hurt, or it would be too embarrassing."
"No, we can't do that. We won't show off."
A group of people, looking quite imposing.
Li Xuhai squatted on the ground, holding a sickle in his right hand and grabbing a handful of weeds with his left, cutting them. He had sharpened the sickle until it gleamed the night before, and it broke as soon as he started cutting the grass. Li Xuhai didn't stop and continued harvesting the weeds. Seeing this, the others in the sickle team quickly followed suit, cutting a few steps apart. The movements weren't difficult, but they were afraid of accidentally cutting themselves, so they slowed down a bit.
Although it was slow, there were many people, and after cutting for a while, they managed to clear a piece of land. Li Xuxi did not dig the ground first, but instead led the hoeing team to pull weeds.
Li Xuhai divided the group into two teams, which would switch every half day. This was to help everyone quickly get used to using sickles and hoes, and also to prevent everyone from getting tired, so switching jobs would be a good way to rest.
That morning, each member of the Li family performed their duties diligently.
Pan Jinhua and Yuan Shi cooked at home, with several girls helping. All the able-bodied people were working today, and they cooked much more food than yesterday. They had agreed yesterday that they would eat and drink together for the next few days, and then separate later.
The women who went into the mountains returned before cooking. They had asked Zhao Qi's wife to lead the way. The group had picked a lot of wild chestnuts and wild fruits of all kinds, which broadened their horizons. Since there were many of them, they picked a lot, including wild grapes and wild berries. To express their gratitude, they shared a lot with Zhao Qi's wife, who was overjoyed. She couldn't have picked so many on her own.
When they got home, all the children gathered around. Shen washed all the wild fruits clean before letting the children share some to taste. She saved the rest so that others could also try them.
After the meal was prepared, the people who had been working in the fields returned. The families then enjoyed a lively lunch together before heading home to rest.
Pan Jinhua requested that everyone take a break from work. Since everyone was tired from working in the morning, they could rest at noon and continue in the afternoon, which wouldn't cause much disruption.
Clearing land is very tiring, and in the afternoon the women went to the fields to help pull weeds.
Why did you pull it out?
When Pan Jinhua arrived, she saw a group of people pulling weeds with great enthusiasm.
“Auntie, we can’t clear the land if we don’t pull these weeds,” Li Xuhai replied casually. His aunt was good in every way, except that she didn’t know much about farming.
Pan Jinhua was still puzzled.
“Pulling like this is time-consuming and laborious. Why not just set it on fire and save the trouble of pulling weeds?”
“We can’t do that, Auntie. If we burn it, it will burn down completely. The weather is dry, and the grass is all withered.”
Li Xuhai quickly stopped them, fearing that if the other brothers listened to their aunt, they would immediately set the place on fire.
"Hey, do you think I'd let you burn things indiscriminately? You can dig a hole about six feet deep around this land, then burn the grass in the middle. That way, the fire won't reach the sides. And the burned grass will even fertilize the land."
"·····"
Upon hearing this, Li Xuhai was speechless. It seemed that this was indeed feasible.
"Mother is so smart!"
Li Xuming had already huffed and puffed as he ran over with his hoe, ready to do as his mother said.
The others weren't fools either; after hearing Pan Jinhua's words, they immediately understood and began to act. Those who didn't understand, because they were too far away to hear much, quickly grasped the meaning after being told by those nearby.
In no time, dozens of men and women, some carrying hoes, some carrying sickles, and some empty-handed, quickly set up a large area of land. As Pan Jinhua had said, they worked for a short while and created a firebreak about six feet long.
Once everything was set up, everyone left. Li Xuhai and the others each lit a fire, and the sparks burst into flames as soon as they hit the ground. Dozens of people watched anxiously, afraid that the sparks might fly out and they would have to put them out in time.
Even after the fire burned out, no one was seen running out of the circle.
"Mother, it worked!"
"Hehe, Auntie's idea is good."
“Let’s go, let’s fence off some more land and burn a few more acres.”
A group of people chattered excitedly, saying that with this method, they would definitely be able to clear the land much faster.
Li Xuhai, however, dawdled and squeezed onto Pan Jinhua.
"Auntie, you know how to farm?"
"I know a little."
Pan Jinhua glanced at him sideways, thinking, "You didn't expect that, did you? I've been farming for decades."
"Auntie just said that burning this grass can fertilize the land?" Li Xuhai scratched his head, looking very honest.
"Of course! Just like livestock manure can fertilize the land, so can grass. Go to the mountains and see for yourself. The soil in the places where the fallen leaves are piled up the thickest is black and shiny. That's excellent fertilizer."
"What is the reason for this?" Li Xuhai, who had not read many books, was puzzled.
"Just think of the leaves, and the withered grass as the tree's dung."
"ah?"
Li Xuhai was shocked and could hardly look at the flowers, plants, and trees.
While hoeing the ground, Li Xuming and Li Qingzhang secretly kept an eye on Pan Jinhua.
“Look at us, ever since we started farming, none of us have been as helpful to your Uncle Hai in front of your grandmother.”
"Dad, isn't that all your fault for not knowing how to farm?"
Li Qingzhang looked at Uncle Hai with a mix of resentment and envy. He had learned a lot about his grandmother's hard work for the Li family these past few days and hoped to share her burdens like Uncle Hai.
"·····"
Li Xuming choked, "What do you know, kid!"
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