"...Later, her son grew up, became the top scholar in the imperial examination, learned about his mother's story, and came to Leifeng Pagoda to kneel and worship his mother. His filial piety moved Guanyin Bodhisattva, and the family was reunited."
After the story was told, the girls seemed to be deep in thought.
"In the end, their love is stronger than gold," Li Qingruo sighed.
"Actually, if Bai Suzhen hadn't fallen in love with Xu Xian and had simply repaid her debt of gratitude and left, she might have already attained immortality and lived a very happy life." Although Li Qingfei was young, she had her own thoughts.
Even Pan Jinhua was impressed by her statement.
"You're absolutely right."
Encouraged by Pan Jinhua, Li Qingfei became even more enthusiastic: "Also, it's because Bai Suzhen is so capable. Even Fahai might not have been able to suppress Bai Suzhen on his own. If it weren't for Xu Xian and her being pregnant and unwell at the time..."
Pan Jinhua was even more shocked. As if she didn't recognize Li Qingfei, she looked the girl up and down several times, until Li Qingfei's cheeks turned red, and she thought she had said something wrong.
"grandmother?"
“Grandmother is surprised by you. You’re right. We were taught that women should obey their fathers at home, their husbands after marriage, and their sons after their husbands’ death. These are the shackles that social etiquette has imposed on us women.”
“But in this life, mountains may crumble, and people may run away.” Pan Jinhua touched Li Qingfei’s hair.
"For most of my life, I, your grandmother, have lived by those twelve words. And now, look at the Li family, they live by me."
Pan Jinhua spoke these words with an air of dominance and without any politeness; though the speaker meant no harm, the listener took them to heart.
Li Qingruo was deeply shaken.
Indeed, Grandma's tofu, heated brick bed, bean sprouts, and so on have greatly benefited the family and even the village.
She suddenly had an impulse: would there be a day when she could live a good life even without getting married?
Li Qingruo knew that her mother had always been worried about her marriage. After listening to her sister and grandmother's conversation today, she felt that she should think carefully about her future path.
After the snow melted, the Li family started making tofu again.
People in the village and surrounding areas know that his family is making tofu again, and they come to buy some; their reputation has truly spread.
Occasionally, the Li family would also start selling some bean curd sheets and dried tofu that they had stocked up on last year, and some people would buy some to try.
After much deliberation, we decided to sell spicy strips at our shop in Fangda Plaza. We'll only sell a little each day and restock every seven days.
Once the reputation of Li's spicy strips spreads, it will be easier to negotiate a partnership with the Gu family.
Sure enough, Fang Da, who was only in his third year of junior high school, was already in a great hurry to go back to the county to look for a shop.
Fang Da was in full charge of the shop's affairs, only needing to reconcile accounts and distribute profits monthly. He used to be a housekeeper, so managing a shop was a piece of cake for him, and the Li family trusted him greatly.
After the Lantern Festival, Pan Jinhua went to the fields every day to check on things.
The wasteland that was cleared before the New Year was deeply plowed last year, and the ashes from the burned plants were mixed into the soil.
The snow melted after the heavy snowfall at the beginning of the year, and now the ground is moist, which is a delightful sight.
Before the Lunar New Year, they had only roughly dug some waterways from the nearby river. In the past few days, Li Xuhai and his clansmen have divided the waterways and diverted water to the fields.
They also carried manure to fertilize the fields.
The weather warms up quickly in the south, and the plum rain season will begin again in March.
These days, Pan Jinhua has been selecting seeds, sifting out all the shriveled grains and keeping only the thick and plump ones.
It was washed again. This was quite a large undertaking, considering it covered sixteen acres.
After rinsing, a lot of floating empty shells and weed seeds were washed away.
The next step is to dry it in the sun.
Pan Jinhua had done this process countless times when she was young. When she was about ten years old, she followed her family to work in the fields. During the busy farming season, she would be bent over in the fields every day. It was only later that times improved and many machines became more useful. Technology is truly amazing.
After drying the seeds, Pan Jinhua prepared to breed them.
Nowadays, there is no such thing as pre-breeding. Rice is simply sown on the ground, covered with dry straw, and left to grow and sprout slowly.
When Li Xuhai heard Pan Jinhua say that they needed to start breeding ahead of schedule, he immediately looked troubled and felt flustered.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Pan Jinhua, but breeding was a major undertaking, and if the farming season was missed and seeds were wasted, it would only make things worse.
However, he did not stop Pan Jinhua, because in his heart Pan Jinhua had always been quite reliable and was the pillar of the Li family.
Pan Jinhua's breeding plan went very smoothly. She simply used cloth bags made at home to hold the rice, soaked them in water overnight, and then hung them outside. When they dried, she would just keep sprinkling water on them; when they were wet, she would leave them alone.
Two days later, Li Xuhai couldn't hold back any longer and secretly opened the sack. It wasn't that he didn't trust his aunt, but he was afraid that the seeds would get moldy!
These grain seeds are most prone to mold when they get wet and are kept out of the light.
When he opened the cloth bag and peered inside, he was surprised to find that the rice seeds inside were not moldy at all, but had actually sprouted.
This discovery filled him with immense joy.
You know, once the grain seeds are sown in the ground, it takes about ten days for them to germinate. Now that Auntie has done a lot of seed breeding, the planting time has been greatly shortened. By then, their grain will be ready to harvest, while other people's grain may not even be ripe yet!
"Auntie, this breeding method is a tremendous achievement. If we report it to the county magistrate, our family will have made a great contribution!"
Li Xuhai used to farm in Nanze. With his family as a support, although his family was poor, he lived much better than ordinary families.
It's no wonder he was excited, because everyone who farms knows how amazing this breeding method is. The imperial court values agriculture, and if this is reported, the Li family will surely be rewarded.
“I don’t intend to report it now. The Li family is of low status now, and it’s uncertain whether the reward will actually go to them if it’s reported.”
Li Xuhai was shocked. "Auntie, are you saying that someone might claim credit for someone else's work?"
He spoke the second half of his sentence in a low voice, as if afraid that someone might overhear him.
Pan Jinhua smiled.
“I don’t know if anyone has claimed it fraudulently, but the Li family can’t take that risk. Right now, it’s just breeding. I’ve already had the young clan leader record the breeding process step by step, and he will also be there to record the subsequent farming. If everyone sees our family’s bumper harvest, no one can take credit for it!”
"A bumper harvest?"
Li Xuhai was stunned by these words and stood there dumbfounded. How could this be called an increase in grain production?
“Traditional breeding methods have low germination rates and are not as good as my method. If all the bred seeds grow to maturity, wouldn’t that increase production?”
Li Xuhai was instantly convinced; it was indeed true, he hadn't even thought of that.
Auntie is indeed wise.
"Besides, a bumper harvest isn't just talk. Just wait and see, when the time comes, you'll know."
Pan Jinhua's old face beamed with a smile, and the act of keeping everyone in suspense and showing off was truly delightful!
Li Xuhai was clearly fooled by Pan Jinhua: Did this mean that his aunt really had the ability to ensure a bumper harvest?!
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