"Aunt Fang, please sit for a while." Chunxiao tried to persuade her to stay.
"Sit a little longer. When the steamed buns are cooked, take some back for the children. You brought a basket with you. When my dough is risen and the buns are in the pot, I have something to tell you."
"Do you have anything to tell me, good or bad?" Fang smiled and sat down calmly.
"If you listen, it's a good thing. If you don't listen, it might be a bad thing."
"Then I'd better sit for a while. There are steamed buns for me and good things to tell me. I have to wait."
Chunxiao really liked the way her mother and Fang interacted. They were straightforward, amusing, and funny. While they were busy, Fang took advantage of the time to walk around the yard and said, "You even raise so many chickens!"
"I thought it would be a shame not to raise chickens on such a large piece of land, so I asked my mother to help me get about a hundred chickens from the villagers. I don't know how many chickens I can raise in the future."
"These chickens are easy to raise. Just pay attention to the color of their droppings and make sure they don't cause diarrhea. Chunxiao, you have so much land here, why don't you plant cotton on it all? Why not something else?"
"Just grow cotton, it's easy to manage."
Fang nodded. "You are a lucky person. It's a pity that I only have two sons and no daughter. But our Juan'er is a good child. If you have the chance, you should take care of her more. She has a very dull personality."
"Did Shitou and Mutou find work in the city?" When they were looking for a farmhand named Zhou, they had actually thought of Fang's son, but Chunxiao had already made up her mind about the candidate so she didn't mention it.
"I don't know. After such a long time, he must have found me. I don't know if he could send a message back. It's really worrying."
"Just be content. Both of your sons are out working and you still complain about worrying about them." Zhou washed her hands with water. "Actually, even if you didn't come to see me, I would still be looking for you. I'm going back to stay at home tonight. I can't always stay at my daughter's place."
"What's the big deal? I'm already this old and I don't need to listen to others' opinions on where I want to live. If I were you, I would live here if I felt comfortable living here, as long as you don't mind."
"You're just good at talking, but you definitely won't be like that when it's your turn."
Fang pulled her to sit next to her and said, "What do you want to tell me? Just tell me while the noodles are waking up. I'm listening."
Zhou then told Fang about soaking the seeds.
Fang was also skeptical when she heard this, "Where did you hear this? We have never done this before, is it true?"
"Of course it's true. I'm just kindly reminding you that this is all what our Chun Xiao taught us. Her cotton seeds grow really well after being soaked. If you want to try it, go ahead. If you don't want to, just follow the old method."
Fang was silent for a while after hearing this. Zhou would naturally not fool her about such a thing. However, if so many seeds were soaked and something unexpected happened, this year's harvest would be ruined. She thought to herself, why not soak half of them and do the rest as before. However, she naturally did not tell Zhou this.
At noon, the steamed buns were out of the oven, and Zhou packed 5 for Fang.
"I feel really embarrassed. I took the eggs and the steamed buns."
"What's there to be embarrassed about? We're still being polite. We haven't come here for hundreds of years, so you're embarrassed to take a few steamed buns. I don't believe you."
"Alright, alright, I can't convince you, so I'm leaving."
After Fang left, Zhou took a wooden bucket filled with steamed buns and went to the field.
On the 26th, all the base fertilizer for the ten acres of land at home was applied. Yan Bingfa decided to start planting wheat at the beginning of the month because Chunxiao's transplanting could not wait.
Since the family didn't need the cow for the time being, Zhou took the opportunity to lend it to Fang's family, telling her to return it that evening and come back the next morning after 9:00 PM to take it away, as they had to deliver goods in the morning. During this time, several villagers came to ask for the cow, but they politely declined, saying that the cow's working hours were all full.
Now everyone knows that they have a lot of land, so no one says much. After all, there are two or three families in the village who have cows, and they can rent it if they arrange the time.
The 27th day was the Spring Equinox. Except for the delivery and receiving staff, the entire family began transplanting cotton for Chunxiao. They followed Chunxiao's instructions, digging and planting as she instructed. The family had 50 large winnowing baskets, so they had no trouble finding tools for transplanting the seedlings.
Dongsheng and Wangzu didn't understand why they had to plant the flowers together before transplanting instead of planting them directly, but they kept quiet and just did what they were told. Chunxiao was well-educated and knew more than they did. The Yan family's current situation was largely due to her. In short, her advice was the most effective in this family, a truth they had recently realized. They had a good life here, and the work wasn't hard. There was no better job.
This transplanting is more tiring than the previous deep plowing with oxen. The seedlings have to be planted one by one according to the rules, and the soil has to be planted deeply. In short, the people in the family will come to help as long as they have time after finishing their work.
On the afternoon of the 28th, Fang returned the cow and was very grateful to them. Chunxiao discussed with her family and called Yan Wangzu and Xu Dongsheng.
"Wangzu, you don't have to come tomorrow."
Yan Wangzu was startled, thinking something had happened, and Dongsheng next to him also became nervous.
"Uncle, what's the matter?"
Seeing his frightened expression, Yan Bangfa knew he had misunderstood. He smiled and patted his shoulder. "Uncle didn't say anything. Tomorrow, you take the cows back and plow your five acres of land before coming back." He then looked at Dongsheng and said, "Tell your father to wait for two days. Once theirs is done, it will be your turn."
Both of them showed surprised expressions.
"Uncle Bingfa, do you want to lend us the cow?" Wangzu and Dongsheng looked at each other with a smile.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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