Chapter 2566 Spring Rain
When we returned to Pu Village, Zhou Wulang and his team from another field had already returned. They were also caught in the rain, but they were luckier because the rain only fell when they had finished planting and were about to go home, so they were already taking a shower and changing clothes.
As soon as Manbao and the others came back, they immediately added water and continued to boil it. Soon, a pot of hot water came out.
Bai Shan asked his servants to find a set of Mr. Zhuang's clothes for Wei Zhi, and asked someone to help him take a bath.
Bai Shan, Man Bao and the others also went back to their rooms. Half an hour later, everyone squatted under the corridor with a bowl of noodles in their hands, eating while watching the rain getting heavier.
The rain was fine, yet dense. This kind of spring rain was the most pleasing. Wei Zhi was very satisfied and nodded, saying, "Not bad. After one night of rain, the rice seedlings and the seeds that were just planted in the fields should be able to grow."
Manbao and Baishan also nodded.
The rain continued until the second half of the night. In a daze, Manbao heard that the sound of rain outside had subsided, but there seemed to be wind blowing in from the window. She felt even colder and could not help but move her body closer to Bai Shan. She found a warm and comfortable position and fell asleep again.
It was Bai Shan who was awakened by her. He opened his eyes dazedly and looked at her. Seeing that she was curled up against his waist, he simply turned over and hugged her in his arms. After finding a comfortable position for each other, they continued to sleep.
After working for many days, it was a rare rainy day that allowed them to sleep in, so the two of them simply let themselves go and fell asleep, not opening their eyes until someone knocked on the door.
But they were also reluctant to get up. Bai Shan pulled the quilt over Man Bao, then turned over and looked outside, asking loudly, "What's the matter?"
Xibing said from outside: "Sir, Lord Wei has finished his breakfast, and the master wants you to go and entertain the guests."
Bai Shan shrunk back under the quilt and said, "Let Li Xue and the others go. There are books in the study. While Lord Wei is here, ask him some more questions."
Xibing: "...Young Master and the others haven't woken up yet."
Bai Shan said without any psychological burden: "Then wake them up. How can they sleep in when the spring weather is so beautiful? They are still scholars."
After sending Xibing away, Bai Shan held Manbao and continued to sleep.
Wei Zhique went with Old Zhoutou Zhou Dalang to see the fields in Putian Village. The fields of their two families were not particularly far from Putian Village, so they could roughly understand their situation by looking at the development of Putian Village.
The sky was still overcast at this time. Although it was no longer raining, it always looked like it would rain again in the next moment.
After one night, the spring grass grew straight up as if it had been pulled up by a god.
The beans that had been planted in the field and had been dormant for a long time suddenly sprouted green shoots, some of which directly pushed through the soil, revealing a little green.
The seedlings in the field have turned green again and look quite vigorous, obviously having stood firm.
Wei Zhi looked around and was very happy to see that most of the fields were already planted. He couldn't help but ask, "Is this all Mr. Zhou's official land?"
Old Zhou replied proudly, "Yes."
Wei Zhi nodded and said, "Pu Village's official fields are doing quite well."
He felt that Zhou Man had met good tenants and a good headman. After thinking about it, he decided that since he had come this far, he might as well go into the village and take a look.
So Wei Zhi went into the village with Old Zhoutou Zhou Dalang.
However, few villagers sleep in. It rained last night, so they got up early this morning. The men went out with their hoes on their shoulders. One reason was to check the water in the fields. Some fields had not been planted due to drought, so when fetching water, they had to choose the good ones first, right?
So they went out as soon as they woke up today, without even having breakfast. They first drained some water from the fields with more water, and then dug up the ridges of the fields with less water to let the water flow in. Soon they would start harrowing the fields and planting rice.
The second thing is to see whether the seedlings in the field have been scattered. If they have been washed away by water, they must be replanted as soon as possible.
So, although Wei Zhi and his companions arrived early, most of the village's young and strong men had already gone out to the fields. The women at home were also busy, pulling up seedlings in the rice paddies, ready to take advantage of the rain to plant them.
So there are only children in the village.
They were driving their chickens to the fields to dig for worms and cut tender pig grass. When they saw Old Zhou and Zhou Dalang, they immediately dropped what they were doing and ran over to them, saying, "Master, master, what do you want? I'll get it for you."
"Go away," Old Zhou said, waving his hand. "I didn't bring any candy today."
Although the children were a little disappointed, they still said, "It's okay, we can help you even if you don't want candy."
Old Zhou asked them, "Where are your parents?"
Everyone answered at once.
Wei Zhi stood aside and watched with a smile. Two children not far away started fighting over a earthworm and both fell directly into the mud.
Perhaps because their clothes were too dirty to explain, the two children burst into tears and blamed each other: "It's all your fault. I'm going to tell my grandma and let her beat you up."
"I told my brother to beat you up."
Wei Zhi quickly stepped forward, pulled the two children up, and asked, "Why are you fighting over the earthworms?"
“Feed the chicken.”
Wei Zhi glanced at the chickens scattered around. They were leisurely walking around, gnawing at food, not even glancing at the earthworms thrown in front of them. However, these chickens all looked a little strange. Some had a few hairs on their tails cut short, some had a section of their buttocks shaved off, and some had the feathers on their wings cut off...
Wei Zhi couldn't help but ask, "Why are these chickens all a little bald?"
A child immediately pointed at the chicken with a bald butt and said, "This is my chicken."
The other children also immediately claimed their own chickens.
Wei Zhi himself had tenants, as well as long-term and short-term workers, but few villages, like Putian Village, could afford to raise chickens, as almost every household could.
Raising chickens is not easy. Not only does it require investment upfront, but there's a high chance they'll die or even disappear during the breeding process.
Chickens have too many natural enemies, including eagles in the sky, weasels in the mountains, big rats in the house, and even people on the ground. You never know when a chicken might go out and never come back, so raising chickens requires being able to take risks.
Someone needs to be watching all the time.
He couldn't help but ask a child who looked older, "Are there many people raising chickens in your village?"
"A lot, every family has one."
"So wealthy?"
The child pointed at Old Zhou and said, "This is the chicken the master gave me. It's free."
Old Zhou said somewhat awkwardly: "Of course, of course..."
Afraid that Wei Zhi would ask more questions, he seemed to have heard Manbao and the others say that if the landlord made the tenants do a lot of work, it would be seen as unkind and unmerciful in the eyes of the officials, and he couldn't let Manbao have this impression.
But who is Wei Zhi?
Basically, Old Zhoutou and Zhou Dalang couldn't stop him from finding out the news he wanted to know. He just sat on a big rock and talked to a group of children who were no more than eight or nine years old. He not only got to know everything about the situation in the village, but also knew about the quarrels and fights between other people's parents at night.
See you tomorrow, I will continue to update tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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