The village chief wore a large straw hat, and even his only freely movable arm was too busy to wave his pipe.
Right now, he was also carrying a bucket of water, stopping from time to time to shout to the villagers, "Everyone, put in a little more effort, and we'll finish watering all the melon fields today!"
"Others may fear drought, but we don't! Back in Qingshui Village, the drought was much worse than this, and we still made it through!"
"Haha, I got it, Uncle Village Chief!" A man wiped away his sweat, grinning broadly. "We're not watering them, we're irrigating them with golden seeds! The drier the weather, the sweeter the melons! We're sure to make a fortune this year!"
The others laughed along, and one woman exclaimed, "If we get another share of the silver this year, my family will be able to get a daughter-in-law!"
"Me too, haha! We're not watering, we're watering our daughter-in-law and our big, fat grandson!" another woman said with a laugh, then stood on tiptoe and peered at the big tree at the edge of the field.
There was a straw mat there, and Aunt Wu was taking care of Hui Niang's twins.
The twins, a boy and a girl, had just learned to sit up. They were only wearing bibs and shorts, and were as chubby as little rolls of meat. Everyone who saw them loved them.
Especially older women, they wish they could have two chubby babies like this in the blink of an eye!
Hui Niang also wore a straw hat and joined the villagers in watering the plants.
A woman asked, "Sister Huiniang, Da Yong and the others have been gone for two months. Have they sent any news back?"
Hui Niang smiled and said, "Yes, I heard they won many battles and should be back soon."
"That's good. I raised a few more chickens this year. When the Marquis and the others come back, I'll just kill them and stew a big pot of chicken to add to the celebration banquet!" The woman said with a smile, which made her several familiar companions laugh.
One of the young wives said, "Oh my, it's rare to see you so generous, sister-in-law. You almost broke my head over an egg before, you've really changed your ways!"
The woman blushed and scolded, "Life was tough before. One egg could be exchanged for a handful of salt, enough for several meals! Now that life is better, of course we can be more generous."
"Aunt Li said that we should be more generous and not be petty. If we all get along well, our lives will be better and our path to wealth will be wider!"
“Aunt Li is right,” the women all nodded in agreement.
Someone then asked, "I saw Auntie take Fu Niu'er and leave in a carriage this morning. Did they go to Luo'an again?"
“Yes,” Hui Niang answered this time, “Jia Ren is about to take the imperial examination, and his aunt is worried about him, so of course she had to go and see him. But the village is busy carrying water to irrigate the melon seedlings, and his aunt is also worried about him. She insisted on waiting until today before Hong Ying and I persuaded her to leave.”
"Oh dear, we didn't know about this!" a woman exclaimed. "If we had known, we would have advised Auntie to leave long ago. These rough chores in the village are all minor matters; Jiaren's passing the imperial examination is a major event!"
"Yes, Jiaren is so smart and hardworking. He'll definitely pass the imperial examination with flying colors with ease this time, no doubt about it!"
"I heard that Jiaren is quite famous in Xindu now? That gentleman who writes with his left hand took him to some poetry gathering, and his calligraphy was praised by a high-ranking official?"
"Ask the village chief, he knows best!"
"We're both raising children, but Aunt Li's boys are all so successful! As for ours, these naughty boys are always climbing on the roof, I'm just thanking my lucky stars!"
"Exactly! My husband hits me eight times a day, and I'm still not satisfied!"
The women chatted idly as they worked, their conversation flowing freely and enthusiastically.
Although they all complained about their son, they had big smiles on their faces.
Whether your own child is good or bad, they are still your precious child!
The village chief patted his aching back a couple of times, put down the water bucket, and looked out at the vast melon fields with a happy expression.
This is the third time I've watered it, and the melon vines haven't suffered any thirst and are growing extremely well.
The melon leaves are emerald green, and hidden among them are melons the size of earthenware pots, shyly peeking out half their faces, making people's mouths water and wishing they could immediately smash one open and eat to their heart's content!
You reap what you sow!
Melons were also planted in Dahuaishu Village, Dawangzhuang, and Xiaowangzhuang, and they were watered continuously throughout the spring and summer.
But the villagers were lazy and competed with each other when working, so that the three village heads had to shout themselves hoarse before they could finish irrigating a few acres of land.
Now their fields are also bearing melons, but unfortunately, they are much worse than those in the new village, both in size and appearance.
Some say that the new village is a blessed place, and the melons grown there are naturally better than those grown elsewhere.
Actually, there's no such thing as a Feng Shui treasure land!
Even a lazy person sitting in a cornucopia will starve to death, while what outsiders consider a treasure trove of land is actually dug out by young and old alike, one hoe and one pickaxe at a time...
Under the same scorching sun, the Li family's carriage finally arrived outside the town of Luo'an.
The thirty mu of land I bought before the Lunar New Year, I have now planted twenty mu with sorghum and millet, and left ten mu for vegetables.
The Wu family are all hardworking people. This spring and summer, they practically lived in the vegetable garden, keeping it in perfect order.
Looking at it from a distance now, the furrows look as if they were plowed out with a ruler, perfectly straight.
The vines of green beans, as tall as a person, sway in the summer breeze, their palm-like leaves fluttering enthusiastically.
The rows of eggplant vines, with their withered lower leaves removed, made the glossy, dark purple eggplants stand out even more.
In the neatly arranged vegetable patches, bright green bok choy, spinach, cilantro, rapeseed, and small red-stemmed radishes were planted, looking just like calligraphy practice grids, so orderly...
The little girl from the Wu family, tanned like a little charcoal, came out of her house carrying a sickle. Just as she was about to go to the fields, she saw the Li family's carriage parked by the roadside and quickly ran over to greet them.
Grandma Li smiled and wiped her sweat. After chatting for a few minutes, she nodded when she heard that Wu Laojiu had gone to the canteen to deliver vegetables.
Jiayin leaned out of the car window, handed the little girl a box of pastries, and said, "These are horseshoe pastries, just baked in the shop. Take them home and eat them."
The little girl from the Wu family was overjoyed. She took the box, bowed, and replied with a blush, "Your Highness is so kind! The maids next door are all envious of me! The pearl-embellished hairband that Your Highness gave me last time, they said it could sell for several tens of coins. My mother didn't even want me to wear it!"
Grandma Li laughed and said, "Wear it if you want. You just work hard. When you become a nun, I'll arrange a set of pearl headdresses for you. I guarantee you'll be the most beautiful bride!"
The little girl blushed even more, her eyes sparkling!
The carriage quickly started moving again and headed directly to the small door of the academy's dining hall.
Hearing the commotion, Li Laosan ran out to greet his mother and niece, his face beaming with a simple, honest smile.
"Mother, it's so hot, why did you come in the sun? Send a message that I'll come back to pick you up. I'll leave at midnight and arrive in the morning if possible."
Grandma Li waved her hand, "I've been drying things in the sun for most of my life, I'm not that delicate. You guys, on the other hand, are you busy right now?"
As Li Laosan helped his little niece off the bus, he replied, "We're used to it every day and don't feel busy. But Wenjuan's little business has been booming these past few days."
Jiayin was wearing a light red gauze dress today, and her hair was tied into two small flower buns. She couldn't wait to ask, "Has Third Brother brought the passion fruit over? Has he started selling passion fruit drinks yet?"
Having said that, without waiting for her third uncle's reply, she flew off like a butterfly to the water-selling hut...
Sorry, my darlings, I'm late again, so ashamed! I was forced to edit my post today, so I couldn't update earlier. Here's three chapters for today~~~~
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