Chapter 120: Want to Get Married (Additional Update for Yunqi's 60,000 Recommendation Votes)
Around New Year’s Eve every year, the weather here becomes warmer, and the sun is shining brightly most of the time. Therefore, many grasses and tree buds like to take advantage of this warm breeze to emerge.
The temperature this year seems to be a little higher than in previous years. Of course, this is not what Manbao said. Her memory is poor. At this time last year, she only followed her nephews and nieces to run around the village to pay New Year's greetings. She can't remember how many clothes she wore or what clothes she wore.
But Keke has records. It told Manbao that this year's temperature is two to three degrees higher than the same period last year, and said that this temperature is very suitable for growing yam.
So, Manbao came back from his uncle's house with his father on the second day of the Chinese New Year, and on the third day he was thinking about farming.
Of course, Zhou Dalang and the other three had wives and in-laws and were not available. Even Datou and the others said they had no time, so the only ones who could go to the fields together were Zhou Xi, Zhou Silang, and Zhou Liulang.
Zhou Xi didn't know what Chinese yam was. It was the first time she knew that the fourth brother had opened a piece of land at the foot of the mountain. She took out the seedlings they had raised and picked out several bad ones. She was very worried. "What's the use of planting these Chinese yams? Can they really make money? Manbao, have you told your parents about the land?"
Zhou Silang was annoyed by his elder sister's nagging and said, "I told you before, these yams are profitable. Sister, this is medicine, how can it not make money?"
He rubbed his shoulders and said, "In order to grow these two precious seeds, I can go to the mountains to dig up a lot of soil to fertilize it. If I only planted beans, I would lose a lot of money."
When Zhou Xi arrived at the field, he found out that they had actually dug up the layer of rotten leaves from the forest and buried it in the soil to ferment.
Zhou Silang said, "Not only that, Manbao asked me to come and water the land with manure from time to time before the New Year. I feel like this land is no longer just a newly opened yellow field, but a vegetable garden that can be used to grow vegetables."
Zhou Xi was also a good farmer. She dug a hoe and turned up the soil underneath. She looked at Lao Si with disdain and said, "How did you turn the soil over? It's too shallow. Turn it over again."
Zhou Silang: ...
Manbao doesn’t understand this kind of thing, but since the elder sister said so, he will just listen to her.
Then, according to the entry on Keke, the land was divided into three ridges, with a ditch between the ridges for drainage, because it is said that attention must be paid to drainage when growing yam.
Zhou Xi and his three younger brothers turned the land over again, divided it into ridges according to Manbao's instructions, and then planted the yam.
Zhou Xi also asked about the spacing carefully.
The yams that were planted have already sprouted. After planting them, Zhou Xi and his brothers watered them. Because they were afraid of the cold, they also laid a thin layer of straw.
The remaining unplanted space is reserved for ginger.
While they were working on the land, Manbao would squat by and watch, or walk around nearby. Then she picked out a good spot for her eldest sister.
As soon as they finished, Manbao took Zhou Xi's hand and went over to look, pointing to a piece of land overgrown with weeds and said, "Sister, can we clear this land for you?"
Zhou Xi was stunned. "Give it to me?"
"Yes, so you have land now." This piece of land was selected by Keke after scanning, and he said it was the best piece of land in the vicinity.
For trivial matters like this, Koko is usually willing to help the host.
Manbao had already made plans for Zhou Xi. "I'll buy some ginger seeds, and my eldest sister will also grow ginger to sell. That way, we can make a lot of money by autumn. With the money, we can build a house and buy more land. If you want to have a child in the future, you can adopt one. If you don't want to have a child, you can keep the child. You can buy delicious food every day and make lots of new clothes."
Zhou Xi murmured, "Adopt a child?"
"Yes, that's what my friend said. He said that many people who don't want to have children adopt. As long as you have money and meet the requirements, you can raise a child. I think it should be easier to adopt a child here. Aren't there a lot of beggars on the street? Big sister, just find one you like and raise one."
Zhou Silang couldn't help but say, "It's better to raise a child at home than to raise a child outside."
He turned to Zhou Xi and said, "Sister, if you like raising children, I'll give them to you to raise when I have one."
Zhou Xi couldn't help but glance at him sideways, "You're dreaming. Let me raise your child. Will he call me mother or aunt in the future?"
Zhou Silang said without any concern: "If you want him to call you mother, then call her mother, and call him aunt, then call him aunt. Don't worry, sister, I will definitely not snatch the child from you."
Zhou Xi felt a little excited.
Manbao teased him, "You don't even have a wife, and even if you are willing, my fourth sister-in-law may not be happy."
Zhou Silang couldn't help but mutter, "Someone is raising a child for me, what's there to be unhappy about?"
Zhou Xi's heart turned cold, he sighed and said nothing.
Zhou Wulang couldn't help but approach Zhou Silang and asked, "Fourth Brother, do you have a crush on someone?"
Zhou Silang was a little depressed. "No, my mother told me not to think about getting married in the next two years. There is no money at home."
Zhou Wulang was also a little disappointed. If his fourth brother didn't get married, then it would be even less likely for him to get married. Sigh~~
When Zhou Xi came back to her senses, she saw her two younger brothers looking disappointed. She couldn't help but laugh and scold, "Are you both missing wives?"
Zhou Silang is a bachelor. "It's useless to think about it. Who would like me?"
Zhou Xi couldn't help but feel a little worried. After returning home, she mentioned it to her mother and said, "Mom, the fourth child is eighteen years old this year, and he hasn't talked about marriage yet?"
Qian was sorting out seed grains, picking out the ones that looked bad and putting them aside. Upon hearing this, she looked up at her and said, "Why, the fourth son wants to get married?"
"Not only the fourth son, but the fifth son is also not young anymore. According to his age, he should be looking good this year and should marry a wife next year or the year after."
Qian sighed and said, "Your father and I have discussed this and we will not have any more children this year."
This means that Zhou Silang will not get married this year.
Zhou Xi pondered and said, "Is the betrothal money not enough? I still have some here, let's make up for it..."
"No need," Qian said, "It's not all about money. Despite the mess that happened with the fourth brother last year, our family's financial luck has been good in the second half of the year, and we've saved some money. If we could just marry anybody, that would be fine. But we have so many brothers, and if we don't choose a good one, I'm afraid the new bride will cause unrest in the family."
So she would rather pay a little more in betrothal gifts and marry a good wife.
Qian had her own plans. "Your father and I have discussed this. We'll save this year's money and build three more houses after the autumn harvest. This will serve as a place for the fourth, fifth, and sixth sons to marry in the future. This will also allow outsiders to see the fourth son's performance and know that he has learned well before they can discuss marriage."
Qian had everything planned out. This year, as long as the fourth son was obedient and worked hard, she would find him a wife who was honest and considerate. If he was capable and could really grow good crops in the fields and make money, she would find him a capable wife who could control him, even if it cost more.
(End of this chapter)
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