Chapter 223 Hard Work
Old Zhou also thought so. Since this business could be sustained, he would of course do it for a longer period of time. However, although the vegetable garden at home was large, there were only a few vegetables in it. Vegetables like bitter herbs and water spinach could grow again after being picked once, but the family also had to eat them. They could not sell all of them, so it would be a good idea to plant another piece.
But he didn't expect his wife to do such a big thing. He hesitated and said, "That piece of land is more than an acre. If we grow so much, can we sell it?"
He glanced at Manbao who was leaning against Qian and asked, "Manbao, was it you who gave your mother the idea?"
Manbao hid in his mother's arms, revealing a pair of eyes and looking at him secretly.
Qian hugged her and said, "Alright, stop scaring the child. I originally wanted to plant more vegetables. Anyway, the rice in that field has been washed away. There is no point in keeping it. It is better to open it up and plant vegetables."
She originally wanted to open only half of it, after all, they might not be able to sell it all.
But as Manbao said, if it can't be sold, it can be made into pickles and eaten in winter.
Moreover, if you plant more and can’t sell all the vegetables yourself, you can sell them to vegetable farmers at a lower price, which saves you effort.
In fact, Qian had another plan in her mind. If the harvest this year was really bad, the family would have to tighten their belts and live frugally.
If there is not enough food, you won’t starve to death by eating vegetables. Even if you get hungry quickly, just eat two more meals a day.
Old Zhou touched his pipe and asked, "What should we do with the seeds? Do we have so many vegetable seeds at home?"
Old Zhou, who had just resumed smoking for more than half a year, finally sold all his tobacco for money, so now he has no cigarettes to smoke again.
When I have a craving for cigarettes, I can only touch the pipe to satisfy my addiction.
Qian waved her hand nonchalantly and said, "Don't worry about it. I have my own way."
As for vegetable seeds, she didn't have any, but other people had plenty.
The next day, when everyone was busy, Qian walked along the wall and started visiting people.
She first went to each family's vegetable garden to take a look, so that she would have an idea of the quality of each family's vegetables.
To grow vegetables well, the seeds are also very important.
Some families grow vegetables well in this way, which shows that not only are they well cared for, but the vegetables they grow are also mostly good.
After Qian went around, she had a lot of seeds in her hands.
Every household had large dried leaves, and they would tear off one to wrap some for her. If two households put them together, there would be quite a lot.
Someone smiled and escorted Qian out the door, waving goodbye, "Auntie, if my daughter-in-law feels bad again, I'll come to you for ginger."
Qian smiled and said, "Come on, I didn't know your family didn't grow it well. When you have time later, go to my vegetable garden and dig some to plant. If she has a stomachache, ask my eldest daughter-in-law for some dried ginger and boil it with brown sugar. The brown sugar ginger soup is very effective."
The man happily agreed.
Qian was also happy to take a few small bags of vegetable seeds back home.
Zhou Silang had just finished hoeing the vegetable garden with his wife, sister-in-law, and two younger brothers when he looked up and saw his mother coming back with several bunches of things wrapped in leaves. He asked curiously, "Mom, what are you doing with so many of them?"
“Vegetable seeds.”
Zhou Silang: ...
Fang was amazed and whispered to Zhou Silang, "Mom is really amazing. There are so many vegetable seeds. Are you all giving them to me?"
Zhou Silang closed his open mouth and said as if it was nothing unusual: "Of course, this is my mother."
Basically, there is nothing his mother can't do, just like Manbao.
He simply couldn't believe that Manbao was not his mother's son.
So, before Zhou Silang could even sit down, Qian asked Xiao Qian to take him to plow the fields. "We have over an acre of land to plant vegetables. How long will it take to hoe it all? The sun has been good these past two days, and the ground has been almost dried. Go check first to see if it's muddy or hard. If it's just right, have Lao Si plow the ground. It will be much easier to break up the soil later."
Xiao Qian agreed.
Zhou Silang also heard it and felt a burning pain in his shoulders. He said in confusion, "Mom, can I go to the fields to catch insects and weed with Dad? Let my eldest brother come back to plow the fields."
His family didn't have a cow, and he probably couldn't borrow one from the village head, so he had to rely on people to pull the plow. Zhou Silang hated pulling the plow the most.
Pushing the heavy work onto her husband in front of her, Xiao Qian gave him a slap on the head without a second thought and said with a fierce face, "Stop talking nonsense. Come with me to the fields. I have to go to the school to cook later."
Zhou Silang said with a bitter face: "Sister-in-law, you can't just feel sorry for your brother, you should also feel sorry for me."
Before Xiao Qian could say anything, Qian glared at him and said, "You're already married now. If you keep talking so slickly, I'll spank you."
When Xiao Qian married in, Zhou Silang was only seven years old. The most important thing was that before they married in, they were cousins. When Zhou Silang was very young, he went to his uncle's house with his mother, but was pressed to the ground and rubbed by this cousin.
As soon as I said that, Zhou Silang walked out with his neck shrunk.
Fang's eyes were full of smiles as she watched him, and she whispered to him behind his back, "You deserve it!"
Xiaowan is the bend in the river. The local people call the large piece of land on the other side of the bend Xiaowan. The Zhou family owns more than five acres of land in that piece, all of which is under the name of Old Zhou.
When the land was distributed, there were very few people in Qili Village, so this good land was allocated to him, but it can no longer be considered good now.
It had been sunny for several days, and they tried hard to release water. Now the water in the field had dried up. Xiao Qian used a hoe to hoe the field. After all, it was a field, and the soil was not loose, making it difficult to hoe.
Xiao Qian crushed the mud that had been picked up by the hoe, squeezed it to feel the moisture, and said, "It's time to plow. Go back and get the plow, and have Lao Wu pull it with you. Your second sister-in-law will hold the plow for you. I have to go cook. I'll come and take over for you the next morning."
Zhou Silang was startled and said quickly, "Sister-in-law, please don't hurt me. How could I ask you to pull the plow? If I don't tell my brother, my father and mother will beat me to death."
There are many men in their family, but the daughter-in-law never pulls the plow.
Little Qian thought it was nothing and said, "Mom did this a lot when she was young. You better hurry up and clear the land today. I'll ask your eldest sister and your wife to come with hoes and loosen the soil in the back. If we're quick, we can plant the seeds tomorrow."
The seeds are easy to germinate at this time. As long as there is enough water and good sunlight, they will basically sprout in three to five nights.
After finishing her work in the fields, Xiao Qian hurried to the river to wash her hands, then crossed the bridge to go to the school to cook.
Manbao ran to the kitchen as soon as he got home from school. Xiao Qianshi had almost finished cooking. When she saw the food coming out of the pot, she breathed a sigh of relief, glad that she hadn't been late.
Manbao rushed in and found that his bowl was not yet filled with food, so he ran over to help, "Sister-in-law, what have you been doing?"
In the past, when she ran over, not only her bowl was filled with food, but Bai Shanbao's was also filled. The food was placed on the table, waiting for the students to line up and get their food.
(End of this chapter)
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