Chapter 386 Do we still want that land?
The fourth brother dared not speak out in anger, and hung his head as Song Chunxue scolded him.
The two wolfhounds lying on the ground felt sorry for him and ran over to him, placing their paws on his legs to comfort him.
The fourth brother was both embarrassed and ashamed. "You two actually know how to comfort me. All that meat I've been throwing at you for nothing."
He patted the two dogs on the head and said, "Come on, let's go practice our writing."
Seeing that Song Chunxue's bowl was empty, Sanwan got up and reached out her hand, which Song Chunxue handed to her.
"I'll have half a bowl." Song Chunxue could actually eat a whole bowl, but the mixed grain noodles were diuretic, and the fermented vegetable soup was also good for urination, so she would need to get up at night.
But when I woke up the next morning, I felt much lighter.
There was still a bowl left in the pot, and the three children each scooped out half a bowl.
He couldn't help but ask, "Mother, don't you think the fourth brother has been acting strangely lately?"
"Well, that's true to some extent. If you say he's well-behaved, he changes his mind every day and always gets into trouble. If you say he's not well-behaved, he just takes the scolding and doesn't talk back much."
After finishing her meal, Song Chunxue stood up. "I'll go get the rest of the silver back and give him three hundred copper coins. He can give me more whenever he runs out of money."
“Then he’ll definitely whine for a long time,” Sanwa couldn’t help but chuckle, “and might even cry.”
"He deserves it. He didn't learn anything good, but instead learned to go to brothels to find women. I've already spoiled him enough by not breaking his legs."
Thinking of something, Song Chunxue turned to look at Sanwa.
Sanwa was dressed in a well-fitting moon-white shirt, which made him stand out. He now lived up to the saying "a person's inner beauty comes from their knowledge" and had a dignified and scholarly air that made people happy to see him.
"Third Brother, you must never follow the example of Fourth Brother. Even if you marry Mulan, don't even think about taking a concubine, and you can't have affairs outside either."
Sanwa blushed and put the bowl in the pot to wash it.
"Mother, you said it before, don't worry, I've never thought about having multiple wives and concubines. If possible, I want to keep studying and not have time for other thoughts."
"It's good that you know what you're doing. The hardest thing for a human being is to discipline yourself. I believe in you."
*
It rained last night, and the air was exceptionally fresh when I woke up this morning, as if my lungs had been washed clean.
He Chuan and Hong Ying realized that the donkey had no grass to eat, so they chopped grass in the field and hauled it to the backyard on a cart.
After the dew dried, Song Chunxue took the three children to the vegetable garden in the field. The melon vines needed to be pruned to the side, some cucumbers hadn't been trellised yet, and they might be able to pick a few peppers and eggplants.
The pea pods must be too old to eat raw; I'll have to pick some raw ones to cook at home.
The boiled pea pods were sweet; she used to be able to eat several large bowls of them.
In the past, we didn't have many different kinds of food, so boiling pea shoots was a good example. I cooked them often for half a month.
After the pea stalks dry out completely and lie flat on the ground, and the peas harden, they can no longer be cooked. They won't taste sweet, so they're only suitable for grinding into flour.
This year she planted zucchini, which came from the east. It's said to be delicious when stir-fried. She picked three that were as thick as her forearm and plans to try them at home.
The squash is already as big as a bowl. It's growing the best and requires the least care. You just need to trim off the stray vines. It's also the least likely to die from drought.
She'll have to fetch water from the river to irrigate the rest in a few days.
She took her child to the cornfield and saw that the melons growing there were greener than those outside.
This type of melon is quite rare, and if it's grown in a vegetable garden, it's easily picked by someone.
The same goes for watermelons. However, she planted quite a few watermelons this year, so she wasn't afraid to pick them. He Chuan would come to check on them every day, so others wouldn't pick them so recklessly.
"Grandma, Xiujuan stepped on one of your melon seedlings and ruined it," Xiaoxu whispered, "She secretly picked a melon."
Song Chunxue turned her head and saw Xiujuan quickly hide something the size of a fist behind her back.
Meanwhile, Xiaolong was sitting in a mound of dirt nearby, having a great time.
The yellow soil in the pit hadn't been thoroughly soaked by the rain and was still dry. Xiaolong poured it directly onto his head and clapped his hands happily as he watched the soil flow down his forehead like a small waterfall.
He was wearing open-crotch pants, and the sun-baked yellow earth was hot. He sat inside and stuffed all the yellow earth into his pants legs.
Song Chunxue didn't care. The children all grew up playing like this. Before, when Hongying was in Liangzhou, sometimes the children would fall into mud pits and no one would care.
Hongying has kept her child very clean during this time, but she will probably still be scolded by her daughter in her heart when she gets back.
But seeing the child having fun, she didn't want to stop him.
"Xiujuan, this melon isn't ripe yet, you can't pick it. You can take this one to play with, but you can't pick the others, understand?" Song Chunxue stretched out her hand, "Be careful not to step on the melon vine, or you'll lose the top and there won't be any autumn melons to eat."
After the autumn melons are picked, they are stored in the potato cellar and can still be eaten at least until October.
Xiujuan carefully turned around and nestled her head against Song Chunxue's chest.
"Grandma, I think this melon is beautiful. Grandma never grew watermelons before, nor did we have such a pretty vegetable garden," Xiujuan said curiously as she watched Song Chunxue eating a cucumber. "What is this?"
Song Chunxue gave each of them a cucumber, saying, "It smells very good."
As he stood up from the pit, mud and dirt fell from his body, covering his face and making him look completely different.
"I want to eat eggs too." Xiaolong grabbed the smallest cucumber, sat down next to Song Chunxue, and leaned against her.
Song Chunxue sighed helplessly, "What a country bumpkin!"
It seems that Hongying really likes Xiaolong; she doesn't call him by his nickname, but simply calls him Dandan.
People here don't know how to call their own children cute, so they all call them "egg".
Generally, children named "Dandan" are the most pampered in their families. She remembers there was also a child named "Choudan" (ugly egg), and her cousin's daughter was named "Chou Chou" (ugly). There are even children named "Fendan" (dung egg), which is said to be easy to raise.
However, they are all doing well; at least they have nice nicknames, which means they have parents who take care of them.
Song Chunxue was called "Fifth Sister" by adults and her older sisters from childhood to adulthood.
She picked some leek tendrils from the leek garden, intending to stir-fry them when she got home. Just as she was about to leave, she saw Ren Haitang carrying a child down the path.
"Sister Song, is this your vegetable garden? It's so big, and you grow so many things. Ordinary families wouldn't dare to grow such a garden."
Ordinary families have little land, and they want to produce as much food as possible, even if it's just a small plot. Back when Sanwa's father was still alive, they wouldn't even let people plant scallions, unless they cleared a plot of land on the edge of the field.
"Do you have a vegetable garden? Would you like some cabbage? The spinach has grown too, but it's already seeded, so it doesn't taste very good."
Ren Haitang smiled sheepishly, "My family doesn't have much land. We have a small plot of land along the road where we planted some chives and scallions, but nothing else."
"Okay, I'll pick a few more cabbages for you. The cabbages were planted too densely this year."
"We don't need too much, just enough for one meal." Thinking of what happened a couple of days ago, Ren Haitang asked with concern, "I heard that Liu Jian swindled Lao Si out of his money, which brought up an old case from many years ago. Did they bully you?"
"No, the Taoist priest has already taken care of it for me."
"Does Sister Song still want the land I mentioned before?"
Song Chunxue picked seven or eight cabbages and brought them to her. "Of course I want them. I'm free tomorrow morning, so I'll come find you directly."
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