Chapter 163 Shen Zheng gave up
The next day.
Zhao Ergou took thirty catties of braised food to town.
Right after breakfast, the villagers came to help; there were twenty-seven people in total.
Zhang Dagang and Zhang Daqiang were also in the crowd, both looking somewhat uneasy.
Cheng Wanwan waved and said with a smile, "You two did a great job yesterday, together you did more than a strong adult laborer. You can continue working today, and I'll pay you thirty-five coins a day."
Zhang Dagang nodded vigorously: "Thank you, Aunt Zhao!"
He and his younger brother joined the workforce, and they were busy and happy.
Cheng Wanwan couldn't help but ask curiously, "Your dad didn't even sign up to work, so why did you come? Does he know?"
“The autumn harvest just ended, and my dad said his legs hurt, so he’s been resting at home every day.” Zhang Dagang scratched his chin. “I came to work to earn some money for tuition… All the kids I used to play with went to study and learn to read with my cousin Cheng. I wanted to go too, but my mom wouldn’t pay the tuition.”
Cheng Wanwan vaguely remembered that she had heard Aunt Wang say that Zhang Po Niang was Zhang Wu Lai's second wife. His first wife died when she gave birth to Zhang Da Gang. Zhang Po Niang entered the family when Zhang Da Gang was only two months old. At that time, Zhang Po Niang was also a young girl. She was quite devoted to Zhang Da Gang. Later, after she had her own son, she slowly began to show favoritism. However, with the old lady of the Zhang family keeping an eye on her, Zhang Po Niang did not dare to go too far.
The tuition fee wasn't cheap, so it's understandable that Granny Zhang was unwilling to pay it.
Cheng Wanwan told the two brothers to work hard, but since there were exams at school in the next couple of days, they should wait a couple more days before reading and learning to read.
Many hands make light work. With over thirty people working together, the wasteland around Cheng Wanwan's house was filled with adobe bricks. Construction also began on the land where the house was to be built. Seven or eight people dug the foundation according to the blueprints. Her house was going to be very big, and digging the foundation wouldn't be completed in just a day or two.
Cheng Wanwan was busy cleaning the chicken coop and duck shed in the yard. This was something she did every day. It sounded simple, but the chickens and ducks were getting bigger and bigger, and the original shed was no longer big enough. The droppings from nearly a hundred chickens, ducks and geese were a lot. Every day she had to sweep out the droppings, put them in a winnowing basket, and have Zhao Dashan dump them in the field to fertilize the seedlings.
Even the farmyard manure from the outhouse was carried by Zhao Dashan to the rice paddies and carefully and evenly spread.
After finishing all that, it was around 9:00 AM, the end of Chen Shi.
Cheng Wanwan supported her slightly sore lower back.
She silently decided that once she moved into the new house, she would definitely delegate these chores to other people.
In her previous life, she worked overtime every day to start her business, and probably died suddenly by accident. That's why she came to the ancient Dahe Village and became a widow.
She can't keep working like this for the rest of her life; she has to hire someone.
I hire someone to do anything that can be done by someone else.
Just then, a horse galloped onto the main road of Dahe Village, and a bailiff sat on its back, shouting, "The magistrate has ordered that Village Chief Zhao be summoned immediately to receive orders!"
The village head was busy in the field, studying ratooning rice. Although he had heard a lot from Cheng Wanwan, he still couldn't understand why some rice stubble grew weeds while others grew rice. He squatted in the field for an hour and finally figured out what was going on.
When he heard the bailiff call him to obey, he jumped up, his legs already numb, and he almost fell headfirst into the rice paddy.
He endured the numbness and soreness in his legs and ran quickly to the main road, where he knelt down before the constable.
"By order of the county magistrate, all paddy fields within the boundaries of Ping'an County with stubble reaching eight inches are not permitted to be cultivated, and must be kept moist and fertile. Violators will be punished with a beating by the county government," the bailiff shouted. "If the rice has not sprouted ears after twenty days, you may dispose of it yourself!"
After reading the decree, the constables mounted their horses and quickly rode off to the next village.
Only then did the village head dare to get up from the ground.
Villagers passing by all gathered around.
They had heard about ratooning rice from the village headman long ago, but none of them dared to believe it. In the past, some people had been lazy and hadn't dealt with the rice stubble in the fields. Some rice stubble in the fields dried up in the sun and became dry grass, while some fields with some water would sprout and grow green leaves. But no matter how long these leaves grew, they would never produce ears of rice, let alone rice grains. Ratooning rice was simply unheard of.
But now that the county magistrate has issued a decree, they have no choice but to believe it.
"Go back and fertilize the fields. You must seize this opportunity!" the village head said sternly. "It's been more than ten days since the harvest. In about ten more days, the ears of grain will sprout. Once they sprout, I don't believe you'll still be able to sit still!"
The village headman may not believe it, but they unconditionally believe the county magistrate's words and all nodded in agreement.
The village head continued, "This ratooning rice was discovered thanks to Aunt Dashan. When the ratooning rice is harvested in a little over a month, you must thank Aunt Dashan properly!"
After spending more than two months together, the villagers' opinion of Cheng Wanwan has changed.
The original Zhao Chengshi was lazy, disloyal, and mean-spirited!
Nowadays, Dashan Niang is gentle, intelligent, and even more beautiful!
The villagers echoed in agreement.
"Grandma Mountain helped us find a water source and solved the locust plague. Now she's discovered ratooning rice. Of course we have to thank her properly!"
"If my family's ratooning rice yields 100 jin of grain this time, I'll give 10 jin to Dashan's mother!"
"My family will give us ten jin too!"
"..."
Cheng Wanwan didn't hear these comments; she was secretly fertilizing her own rice paddy.
Farmyard manure was simply too limited to cover all five mu of land. Zhao Dashan applied the fertilizer evenly, but not much was distributed to each mu.
She bought modern fertilizer from the mall and applied it to the fields according to the instructions.
If she were a little bolder, she could actually plant hybrid rice with a yield of up to 1,000 per mu next year... However, she has always been a cautious person and dares not take such a big risk to challenge the farmers' inherent understanding of rice yield per mu in this era. She should not do things that are too shocking.
Cheng Wanwan walked from one end of the field to the other and saw Shen Zheng sitting on the grass at the end of the field, looking preoccupied.
The child ran out last night and didn't come back until late at night. As soon as he entered the house, she wanted to go over and ask him something, but the boy lay on the floor pretending to be asleep.
Some things need to be clarified in a timely manner.
"Xiao Zheng."
She called out and stepped over.
Shen Zheng lifted his eyelids to glance at her, snorted through his nose, and turned his head to the side.
Cheng Wanwan chuckled to herself; why was this child so arrogant?
She'd been busy in the fields for so long, there was no way this guy hadn't seen her. He was clearly sitting here on purpose, waiting for her to come over and talk to him.
“I understand what you mean. I thought about it all night last night…” She paused deliberately at this point.
Shen Zheng's head did indeed turn around.
Cheng Wanwan smiled gently and said, "I am very happy that you like me and are willing for me to be your stepmother, but I have a husband, and I only have my husband in my heart. I cannot accept anyone taking my place for the time being."
Although Shen Zheng had expected this, deep disappointment still surfaced in his eyes.
“However, even if I can’t be your stepmother, I’ll still be your aunt. I’ll treat you the same way I treat Si Dan.” Cheng Wanwan looked at him. “The relationship between a stepmother and her stepson is actually quite complicated. And what if your grandmother gets so angry that she has a stroke if I marry into the Shen family with four sons?”
Shen Zheng opened his lips, unsure how to refute.
The women his grandmother found for his father were all unmarried. If she knew he had found a stepmother who already had a son, she would probably curse him to death.
He could tolerate being scolded, but he didn't want Aunt Zhao to suffer an undeserved misfortune.
He forced a smile and said, "Auntie, I understand."
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