6 Novice Village (I)
◎To make things difficult for others◎
The dawn was just beginning to break, and as the shy sun just began to poke its tip above the surface, the paths in Tianjia Village became bustling.
Those who were farming, working, or going to the county to do business, each carrying their own things and walking hurriedly, stopping from time to time to chat briefly with acquaintances.
"Dong, Dong, Dong—"
The regular knocks on the door woke up the girl who was sleeping soundly in bed.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes, sat up reluctantly, sighed, kicked off the quilt and walked downstairs.
“Dong, Dong—”
With a "creak", the wooden door, which was designed to protect against gentlemen but not villains, was opened forcefully, and the wind slipped into Lin Luan's wide sleeves with resentment.
"What time is it now?" Tian Nongxi cleared his throat and smiled.
"It's almost time to get up. The night watchman has been gone for a while."
Tian Nongxi gritted his teeth and nodded, opening the door. "I told you to come early, but not this early."
Lin Luan did not go in, but just turned sideways and exposed the seeds, hoe, sickle and other items that he had placed in the room he had set up last night.
Yesterday, seeing that they were going to stay overnight at the Zhuang Mansion, Tian Nongxi was worried that the golden hairpin on her head would be taken back, so she made up an excuse and pulled Lin Luan away.
The two went to the pawn shop to exchange money, and when they passed by the seed stall, they picked some seeds, such as eggplant, wolfberry, winter melon, etc.
The boss felt sorry for Tian Nongxi and sold her the rice seeds that she had been staring at with her red and swollen eyes at a low price.
Now the pitiful Tian Nongxi was squatting on the ground, carefully rummaging through the woven basket of seeds, pushing aside a bunch of dry seeds and taking out the rice seeds. As he took them, he muttered to himself, "It's too late, too late."
"It's still early." Lin Luan replied in confusion.
Tian Nongxi stood up, took a half-person-high winnowing basket from the kitchen and placed it on the courtyard wall. He sprinkled the rice seeds evenly on it, smacked it for a while, and then moved it to the middle of the courtyard.
A few days ago, she passed by many farmlands and saw that the fields were equipped with water trucks, which never stopped irrigating water. She knew that now was a good time to plant rice.
Rice and wheat are both staple foods of the Yan Dynasty. Ruiyang County has fertile land and abundant rainfall, making it an excellent place for growing rice. The rice grown here not only has high yield, but also has plump grains and is fragrant.
The rice produced in the county is transported to various places via the Changning River and is well-known in Yanchao. The landlord family that Tian Erbo married into made their fortune from rice several generations ago.
But they don't have a water truck at home, and Grandpa and Grandma Tian are old, so they have to settle for growing other things instead.
Tian Nongxi usually does a lot of work in the fields planting rice. Once, she helped her fellow villagers carry 30 buckets of water in an afternoon. A banner with the words "Strong woman Tian Nongxi, miracles in the Academy of Agricultural Sciences" was sent from the city to the school, and then handed to her by her 60-year-old mentor who had just left the laboratory. Her senior classmates were amazed and her deeds became a hot topic in the circle.
Although Tian Erniang looked no different from her, due to long-term hunger, her physical condition was as weak as a chick. It was obvious that carrying a few buckets of water would make her dizzy and tired.
Planting rice requires the use of water wheels to irrigate the farmland for about ten days. The land given by the farmer and Li Kangbo has been wasteland that has not been reclaimed for a long time, so it needs to be irrigated as soon as possible.
Thinking of this, Tian Nongxi finally saw Lin Luan who was silent.
"Mr. Lin, if it's convenient for you, please change into your old clothes. It's not easy to get out of bed with such big sleeves."
Lin Luan nodded, his expression unchanged.
Seeing him leave, Tian Nongxi also closed the door, took out the land deed from his sleeve, wrapped it in three layers of straw paper, and locked it deep in the cabinet. There was no owner's name on the land deed of Yanchao, only a surname, and there was no stub or record. If there was any mistake, it would be a waste of time.
After sorting out the land deeds, she took out ten cents from her purse and prepared to buy a pair of suitable hemp shoes for herself and Lin Luan to make it easier to go out into the fields.
After doing all this, Tian Nongxi hurriedly opened the door.
Outside the door, Lin Luan, wearing a narrow-sleeved black robe, stood straighter than a camphor tree, waiting quietly, his eyes fixed on the distant mountains.
He originally wanted to return to Beijing as soon as possible, but unexpectedly discovered that the small Ruiyang County was turbulent. He immediately decided to lurk in a farmer's home and work with an informant in the county government to disrupt the situation.
Today, he was going to summon Wu Xu to Linqing Pavilion.
"Thank you." Lin Luan withdrew his thoughts, casually took the rake handed to him by Tian Nongxi, and put it behind his back.
Tian Nongxi suppressed his inner shock, and said with a smile, as if he was going to squeeze every last drop of value out of the farmhands at home: "Today we are going to reclaim the land in my fields in the north of the village and irrigate the farmland."
Then go and take a look at the land given by the farmer, then go to the camphor tree forest to pick up some leaves and bark, then go to the wasteland on the border of Lijia Village and Tianjia Village to reclaim land, and finally go to the county to buy hemp shoes.
Zhuang Xueling was thoughtful and gave her a piece of land bordering the Tian family, but the land given by Li Kangbo was remote and required a very long walk.
Tian Nongxi was carrying a wooden bucket with a smile on her face.
Lin Luan naturally took the wooden barrel from Tian Nongxi and nodded.
The two walked one after the other on the country road, each with different thoughts in their minds.
Passing by a small river, Tian Nongxi scooped a full bucket of water and greeted the fat aunt who was bending over to wash clothes with a smile.
Tianjia Village is a small place. Except for a few newly moved families, the rest of the people are relatives who are not too close.
The plump and fat aunt in front of her is the daughter-in-law of the son of Tian Er Niang's grandfather's elder sister. Tian Er Niang calls her cousin.
Her cousin made a fortune in the shipping business. He was ambitious and filial, so she put down her burden and spent every day eating melon seeds and chatting with her sisters about family matters and sharing parenting tips.
When Tian's mother, Chen, was alive, he had a good relationship with her.
The fat aunt's hand trembled, and the mallet in her hand fell into the water. She scolded angrily: "Second mother, it's bad enough that you are not worthy of being married to Village Chief Li, but now you are showing off in public and flirting with a man of the opposite sex. What's that? If your mother were still alive, she would have skinned you alive." As she spoke, she frowned and glanced at Lin Luan who was not far from Tian Nongxi.
"Aunt, I'm going to visit the fields at home." Tian Nongxi sighed and said half-truthfully, "Grandpa and grandma are old, and Grandpa... well, let's not talk about it. Anyway, Village Chief Li and I don't get along, but I can't just sit here and do nothing."
The fat lady took the mallet that Tian Nongxi had picked up, her thick eyebrows furrowed into sickle shapes. She glanced at her and said unhappily, "What's wrong with Xiao Zu?"
"Second uncle won't let me say it."
"Little girl, what's there to be ashamed of among fellow villagers? Your second uncle has read a few books and has forgotten what he believes in." The fat aunt snorted and glared at Lin Luan who was standing on the shore. "You have no manners. Take my bucket and fill it with water too."
"Thank you, cousin." Tian Nongxi lowered her head and started crying. Pearl-sized tears flowed down her small nose and hit the stone slab, staining it darkly.
"No, you, you..." The fat aunt frowned even deeper and looked up and down at Lin Luan who was walking towards her.
Tian Nongxi calmly blocked her probing gaze, raised his hand to wipe his face, and then looked up, "I'm too useless. If I weren't so cowardly, my family wouldn't be so broke, and Grandpa wouldn't be able to, can only..."
The fat aunt pondered the implicit meaning of the words and finally figured out something. She was so startled that she jumped up, the wooden basin rolled over, and her clothes were scattered all over the floor. Everyone around her looked over.
She quickly bent down to pick it up, her voice lowered, "Did you sell Xiao Zu?"
Tian Nongxi shook his head without answering, his almond-shaped eyes swollen like walnuts.
"You girl..." The fat aunt clicked her tongue, quickly wiped her hands on her clothes, and pulled Tian Nongxi away.
Only after they had climbed the slope and reached the foot of a large tree, and when there was no one around, did she let go of Tian Nongxi's hand. She weighed the wrist that could be tightly encircled by one hand, with about two fingers still remaining. Her voice softened a little, and her tone was filled with a bit of heartache. "Second Mother, you and Xiao Zu call me your aunt, so I am your elder. Pei Lan is someone I know well. You are her lifeblood. What can't you tell me?"
Tian Nongxi finally spoke, blaming himself: "It's all my fault for being so useless. My family can't afford to send Grandpa to school, and my second uncle's family has no children, so I have no choice but to..."
The fat aunt suddenly remembered something and interrupted her, saying in a high voice, "Xiao Zu was adopted by Nong Le?"
Seeing that her timid niece didn't refute her, she suppressed her frustration and said, "The young lady of the Zhuang family has been childless for many years. She must be in poor health, and she doesn't want Nong Le to take a concubine, which makes her feel guilty. My ancestor was a legitimate son in the past. At the very least, he can donate money to become an official in the future. It's a good place to live where you won't have to worry about food and clothing."
She sincerely hopes that Perrin's child will be well, even if it means her son will be outshined.
Tian Nongxi nodded quickly in agreement, but sneered in his heart.
Yesterday, she saw that her cheap second uncle looked fine, but he spoke weakly and had to gasp for breath after saying a few words. She didn't know who to blame for this mistake!
The fat aunt hesitated for a moment, then her straightforward nature prompted her to speak: "Second Mother, your mother died young, you don't know. She often told me that she loved you the most and was worried that your future husband's family would treat you badly."
Seeing the words fall to the ground, she knew in her heart that the man in front of her was still angry, and continued, "My uncle is good in every way, but he has been honest all his life. After being suppressed by the village chief Li next door, he has lost his way... What old man doesn't love his grandchildren!"
"Second Mother knows that Grandpa and Grandma love Grandpa very much. This is the first time in so many years that they haven't stayed overnight at home, just to spend more time with Grandpa." Tian Nongxi lowered his eyebrows and agreed, "In fact, Second Uncle is family. Grandpa is lucky to still have the surname Tian, and it's only natural that he took the surname Zhuang. Whether Grandpa is still in the Tian family tree or not, it doesn't affect his membership in the Tian family. He has Tian blood flowing in his veins."
"Yes, yes, who says it's not true?" The fat aunt curled her lips and prepared to go back and talk to the head of the family.
Not only did he adopt the child, but he also changed the surname. Is there such a thing in the world? It seems that my uncle has become old and confused. He has spoiled his youngest son to the point of losing his sense of propriety.
The young master lived a good life, but he didn't know what to do with the beautiful girl in front of him. It would be good for her to be a second-class maid in the banker's house... She thought absentmindedly.
"Aunt, I thank you for your guidance. It's just that there are so many people in this village, and they may not be as concerned about our family as you are. It's inevitable that they will say something bad. I don't want Grandpa and Grandma to be criticized when they return home..."
The fat aunt naturally agreed and walked back to the river with Tian Nongxi's arm.
Among the crowd bending over to wash clothes, one person stood out.
He was wearing a black robe, which made his skin look even whiter. He had deep eye sockets and a high nose bridge, unlike the people here.
The fat aunt couldn't help but look at her a few more times. The man noticed it and looked back indifferently.
Just one look made her legs go weak, and she only relied on the strength of the people around her to avoid collapsing to the ground.
Tian Nongxi noticed her abnormality and said, "You're staying at my house. We don't have much money at home, so any money you can earn is good."
The fat lady nodded awkwardly and, contrary to her usual behavior, did not ask any further questions.
【Author’s words】
Xiaoxi: A little girl who can't cry when she wants is not a good farmer
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