Chapter 38 If the wheat harvest party feels sorry for him, then it's worth it.
Jiang Ji rubbed Ye Li's knee again.
The shocking red mark on his knee could not be erased.
He lay down, put his arm around Ye Li's waist, and said, "We won't use this position for now. We'll use it again in winter."
In winter, when the mattress is thick, it would never be like this.
Ye Li, who was originally drowsy, said lazily upon hearing this, "Use it in winter? Wouldn't that freeze people silly? Should we both wrap ourselves in thick cotton-padded coats and do it?"
"...That's true. Let's go to sleep then."
Jiang Ji pursed his lips.
He sat up and reached over Yeli to blow out the oil lamp on the table.
Ye Li's eyes were half-closed when she caught a glimpse of his lean waist flashing past her. She couldn't help but reach out and hug him: "It's okay, it doesn't hurt. You have marks on your legs too."
"I'm thick-skinned and tough." With these words, the room fell into darkness.
Immediately afterwards, Jiang Ji lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed), and with a scoop of his arms, pulled Ye Li into his embrace.
It's not the hottest time of the year, and the house is cool, so the two of them can sleep comfortably without getting hot.
He slipped one hand under Ye Li's neck and wrapped it around Ye Li's shoulder, while his other hand groped around and found Ye Li's hand.
He took Ye Li's hand in his large hand, and finally, their fingers intertwined.
Now he was satisfied.
He didn't seem to mind the uncomfortable position and closed his eyes contentedly.
In the darkness, Ye Li's eyes flickered slightly.
It wasn't because of her husband's little tricks.
He's thinking about serious matters.
Actually, he was already thinking about how to get through the winter.
The Jiang family's house was too old, so he thought of a few new houses.
At that time, the kang (heated brick bed) will be built very large, and a heated room will be constructed.
He's not afraid of heat, he's only afraid of cold.
Even if this old house has a kang (heated brick bed), it must be extremely cold in winter.
But this will cost a lot of money.
Jiang's father spent more than ten taels of silver on this courtyard back then.
He traveled for more than forty days and did business for forty days. Originally, he earned a little over a hundred coins a day by selling tofu puffs and skewers. After he started selling noodles, he earned a hundred and sixty or seventy coins a day. In addition, he also earned income from orders for preserved eggs, milk tea, and Jiangtong noodles.
It looks like a lot, but it cost a lot.
Eating meat once costs at least sixty coins.
After all, he buys several kilograms at a time.
And it must be finished within two meals.
The stone mill, tofu molds, and other utensils also cost several hundred coins.
In addition, there are the expenses for daily necessities, such as bath beans, which are quite expensive, costing several coins per bean.
But it's better than liquid soap, and it smells nice too.
After the original owner finished using up what he had bought, he continued to buy more.
A couple of days ago, he asked Ye Liang to help him buy a small iron pot.
Jiang Ji is coming back, but a single pot can't showcase his culinary skills.
There are also expenses for wages.
Jiang Liu earns ten coins a day, which adds up to three hundred coins a month.
The two little ones are paid one coin a day, which adds up to sixty coins a month.
The scholar's tuition fee is indispensable, thirty coins a day, nine hundred coins a month.
After all these days, he only had a little over four taels of silver left in his savings.
It's still a long way from the big house.
My husband is a scholar who only spends money and doesn't earn any. If he were to bring up this matter, it would only cause trouble for Jiang Ji.
If we want to see rapid growth in daily revenue, we can only rely on Bao Beiyuan.
Bao Beiyuan has settled everything and will come to him in the next couple of days to learn how to make soy milk rice mochi.
In addition, he plans to make some more preserved eggs.
He has already told the villagers that if they want to sell their eggs, they can come to him and he will buy them.
However, the wheat has been received.
This is the most important thing right now; everything else is secondary.
Thinking about the busyness of tomorrow, he closed his eyes and stopped daydreaming.
sleep!
Get plenty of rest and energy!
However, both of them slept soundly.
At cockcrow, it was Jiang Dahe who woke them up again.
Jiang Ji washed his face, picked up his sickle, and followed Jiang Dahe out of the house.
Liang Erxiang had already prepared breakfast, and after they ate, they went to the fields.
Jiang Liu pushes the millstone, Ye Li makes breakfast.
Ye Liliu had breakfast with Jiang Liu, and then Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya, carrying small baskets filled with noodles and jasmine tea on their backs, followed Jiang Liu.
The two of them went to pick up ears of wheat.
Ye Li fed the pigs and chickens, picked up a bamboo basket and two large baskets, locked the courtyard gate, and went out to cut pig feed.
He fed the two piglets soybean residue every day, and occasionally bran. Grains were naturally better at fattening them up than grass.
The faster they grow, the more they eat.
Recently, the two little guys have to make two trips to carry back four baskets of green grass, along with some bean dregs, so that the two little pigs can be fed well.
Fortunately, pigs are not picky eaters; they can easily dig up the wild grass along the riverbanks and ditches with a shovel.
Soon, he had filled the bamboo basket and two large baskets.
He put the basket on his back, carrying one basket on each side, and got up to go home.
These grasses weighed nearly a hundred pounds in total. He walked for a while, then rested for a while, and by the time he got home, he was covered in sweat.
He drank a bowl of cool boiled water, and once the sweat on his body had dried, he rolled up his sleeves and started making lunch.
Today's work is heavy, so we need to eat something juicy and oily.
He picked two green eggplants from the garden, cut them into pieces, coated them in batter, and fried them.
Once they are golden brown, remove them from the oil, leaving a little oil in the pan, and stir-fry the green peppers.
Soon, a delicious and visually appealing braised eggplant dish was ready.
He stir-fried another plate of green peppers and eggs, using a lot of oil.
Then he put the rice in the steamer.
This time, he added some corn kernels to the rice.
Eating only rice is too extravagant; it needs to be accompanied by some whole grains.
The rice was just cooked when the wheat and stalks arrived.
A man named Bao Beiyuan was following behind the two.
When the two of them entered the village, they ran into Bao Beiyuan, who was carrying a piece of pork belly that, at a glance, weighed at least five pounds.
"Why are you carrying so much meat?" Ye Li asked reproachfully. "It's not like it's your first time here, why are you being so polite?"
Bao Beiyuan handed the pork belly to Jiang Mai and explained with a smile, "I'm learning a skill today, and I'll open for business tomorrow. But I won't be coming tomorrow, so consider this an early celebration."
"You haven't even earned it yet, but you've already spent a hundred coins."
Ye Li still felt the flesh was heavy.
He didn't give me this recipe for nothing.
He gets a cut.
“It will definitely sell well. This morning I went to see Brother Sheng, and as soon as he saw me, he asked me when I would sell soy milk rice mochi again.”
Bao Beiyuan spoke in a relaxed tone.
real.
He wasn't worried at all about not being able to sell them.
Seeing this, Ye Li had no choice but to say, "Then you stay for dinner, and I'll stir-fry this meat."
"No need, no need, Brother Li, why don't you teach me how to make soy milk rice mochi first? I already ate before coming here."
This is the important thing.
Since Bao Beiyuan was being so polite, Ye Li had no choice but to bring out the stove, set out his newly bought small iron pot, and begin demonstrating the most crucial step: rice mochi.
Bao Beiyuan quickly frowned.
"So, I have to grind glutinous rice and soybeans into powder first, then buy sweet potato starch, and cook it in a pot with goat's milk?"
This process is too complicated.
"It's better to go through a bit of trouble, so that others can't easily imitate it. If you have the energy, you can also cook some sweet red beans, mung beans, and small pearl glutinous rice balls as side dishes."
Ye Li offered a few more suggestions.
This not only enriches the taste but also increases profits.
Bao Beiyuan nodded with a serious expression: "Okay."
As long as I can make money, I'll keep busy.
I'm afraid of working hard for nothing!
Having learned how to make rice mochi, there was no need for Ye Li to demonstrate the rest. Bao Beiyuan served the bowl of rice mochi and left in a hurry before Jiang Ji returned from the field.
He needs to go back and study it quickly.
Not long after Bao Beiyuan left, Jiang Ji returned.
He went to the fields in the middle of the night and only just returned now, his handsome face showing obvious signs of fatigue.
Just then, Ye Li was squatting by the well chopping pig feed. When she saw him return, she greeted him with a smile, "You're back? Come and wash your face, dinner is ready."
"Okay." Jiang Ji strode toward the well.
However, when he caught sight of the two large baskets behind Ye Li, he paused for a moment before continuing to walk forward.
He squatted down beside the well and asked, "Where are Xiaomai and Yage'er?"
“I told them to go back to their rooms and lie down.” Ye Li nodded toward the east room with her chin. “I told them to eat early, but they refused and insisted on waiting for you.”
"Then don't let them go to the fields this afternoon." Jiang Ji scooped water from the bucket and began to wash his hands.
Upon hearing this, Ye Li stopped what she was doing and asked, "Why?"
Jiang Ji said, "We don't need the two of them. Let them help you."
Last night, he simply followed his usual routine and told Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya to go to the fields to work.
But at this moment, the two large baskets of green grass behind Ye Li were even more glaring than the red marks on his knees last night.
It's one thing that he's away from home most of the year, but when he finally comes back, he takes Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya with him and leaves all the housework to Ye Li.
It was his fault.
Ye Li shook her head: "It's alright, my job is light, let them pick up the wheat ears."
“No, you need someone to help you.” Jiang Ji’s tone became more resolute.
Ever since his relationship with Ye Li improved.
He rarely spoke to Ye Li in that tone.
Ye Li raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Feeling sorry for me?"
Jiang Ji didn't answer, but instead used his wet hands to roll up his sleeves, wanting to see if there were any marks left by the basket on his elbows.
That's naturally not the case.
Because Ye Li carried the basket back by hand.
But Ye Li understood what he meant.
Ye Li was delighted.
My heart felt sweet.
To be honest, Ye Li really felt like a beast of burden today – after frying tofu puffs for lunch and seeing Ye Liang off, he still had to go gather firewood!
But if Jiang Ji is understanding, then he can endure this little bit of hardship.
"My second uncle's family doesn't have much wheat either; it'll be gone in two days. Just bear with it, it'll pass."
The Jiang family mainly grows corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Wheat is mainly used to pay taxes, and they don't usually eat white flour.
These days are limited.
He reached out and touched Jiang Ji's delicate chin twice, as if teasing a respectable married man, and said, "I won't check your stamina today, since you didn't check my oral skills last night anyway. You can make it up to me the day after tomorrow."
Jiang Ji: "...You should still get checked tonight."
He had only been home for a few days.
He couldn't bear to waste a single night.
He's only eighteen. He'll just be busy day and night. He can do it.
"Okay, okay, I'll have the check-up done."
Ye Li rolled her eyes, then smiled and agreed.
Jiang Ji was relieved to see that Ye Li had agreed.
However, when it was time to sit down to eat, he no longer sat at the table as before, but instead sat in front of the stove and leaned against the wall to eat—he needed to rest his back after bending over to cut wheat all the time.
To avoid embarrassing yourself at night.
Ye Li knew exactly what he was thinking, but out of consideration for his feelings, she had to suppress her laughter and pretend to be focused on eating.
Today's lunch had no meat, but it was still delicious. Adding some corn kernels to the rice made it even more delicious than eating rice on its own.
Of course, the slightly sweet braised eggplant was so delicious that everyone kept eating, and they ate until their bellies were full before finally putting down their bowls.
After eating and drinking his fill, Jiang Ji did not rest.
He's lucky; at least he got to come back and see Ye Li.
Jiang Dahe, Liang Erxiang, and Jiang Liu didn't come back at all; Jiang Yu brought them food.
Even in prosperity, the common people suffer.
He exchanged a few words with Ye Li, then took a jar of jasmine tea and led the two little ones to the fields.
Ye Li started frying tofu puffs, large skewers, and fried dough twists.
Just as they were almost done frying, Ye Liang finally arrived.
The Ye family started harvesting wheat yesterday.
Ye Liang also had to work in the fields, so he not only arrived late, but also spent money to ride in an oxcart.
He hurriedly left with these three items of food on his back.
They didn't linger for even a moment longer.
Ye Li took the hemp rope and went out to collect firewood.
Summer days are long, and compared to the two little ones, he was quite tall and had long legs. So, when he returned carrying a large bundle of firewood, the sun was almost setting, but it wasn't dark yet.
However, Jiang Ji and the two little ones were still nowhere to be seen.
He sighed as he reminisced about holding hands the night before and feeling heartache at noon, before finally starting to cook dinner.
With the pork belly from lunch, dinner was easy to make. He made a big pot of twice-cooked pork with green peppers, and even made some for tomorrow morning.
After dinner, Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya didn't need Jiang Ji or Ye Li to urge them; they ran off to brush their teeth and take a shower, then couldn't wait to get onto the kang (heated brick bed). They were too tired and wanted to sleep!
Jiang Ji then pulled Ye Li to take a shower together.
Last night, in the small shed, Jiang Ji showed off his arm strength, holding Ye Li in mid-air and thrusting quickly, urgently, and deeply, giving both of them a good time.
He was a little tired tonight.
But if Ye Li leans against the wall, letting the wall help him share some of his weight, then he can demonstrate the position from last night again.
So he wanted to finish washing up quickly so he could go back to his room.
But once inside the shed, Ye Li took the opportunity to go out while he was taking off his clothes. When she returned, she was carrying a tall stool made by Jiang Tong.
"Why are you carrying a stool?" he couldn't help but ask.
“You sit down, I’ll do the work,” Ye Li said matter-of-factly.
Jiang Ji: "..."
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