Chapter 412 I Won't Laugh at You
Lord Xie wants to go with her to harvest wheat?
Song Chunxue looked at his hands and guessed that he had never pulled grain in his life.
"I can take you to see it, but your hands are for holding pens, so pulling on them a couple of times will make your hands swell up."
Lord Xie patted the cloth bag at his waist. "I bought gloves and brought some dry food and water. If you can't pull it up, just don't laugh at me, Sister Song."
They were quite well prepared.
As they walked down the riverbank, Song Chunxue was eager to know where he had been before and what crops he grew in other places.
"I have been demoted to many places. In the south, rice, corn and potatoes are grown, but coarse grains are rare. Peas are also available, but they are of different varieties."
Have you ever harvested grain before?
Lord Xie shook his head, "No, the rice is growing tall, and the paddy field is very firm; it can't be pulled up."
"That's true. I remember the year I gave birth to my second child, the weather was good for the first half of the year. The wheat fields in Shuichuan were flooded and turned into brick-like fields. The wheat grew so fast that it was as tall as a person. That year's wheat was harvested."
Recalling the scene from that year, Song Chunxue smiled broadly, "You have no idea, the wheat stalks were so long and tall that year that we made a big granary to hold the wheat, and even put two pot lids on it."
Lord Xie nodded, "Yes, everything else here is fine. Winters aren't too cold and summers aren't too hot. It's just that there's too little rain, so it's a bit difficult to get enough to eat. It's not like the southeast, which is so damp that it's like being in a steamer in summer and an icebox in winter."
Song Chunxue was surprised. She had imagined that winter in the South would be like summer, not like an ice cellar.
She had been thinking that once the affairs of the fourth and second sons were settled, she would go south in the winter.
"Aren't winters in the South quite warm? Lord Xie, you're not lying to me, are you?"
After crossing the stream and starting to climb the hill, Lord Xie's pace slowed considerably.
"That depends on the south. The south is very large, with southeast, southwest, and coastal areas, and the winter temperatures are all different," Lord Xie said with a smile. "I used to think the south was very warm, but I almost froze to death when I went to Jiangnan West Road. My head was so cold in the middle of the night that I had a headache."
Song Chunxue was taken aback. "Then where should I go to see the little bridges and flowing water? In my senior brother's travelogue, he mentioned that Suzhou and Yangzhou are the most pleasant places. Is it cold there?"
"It's cold too. Actually, these two places aren't far apart, but they're also loess land, which makes you feel quite at home."
As the two walked and chatted, Song Chunxue realized that the southern world she had imagined was vastly different from what Lord Xie had seen.
"We're here, this is the land." Song Chunxue put the food bag on the ground and pointed to Hongying and the others in another plot of land, saying, "Look, they've been pulling for quite a while."
Xie Zheng put on gloves and couldn't help but touch the small bell-shaped ears of wheat. They looked a bit like oats, but the wheat in the mountains was much prettier and much larger than oats.
Sweet fermented wheat cakes, made from barley, have a hint of alcohol and the unique sweetness of barley.
Xie Zheng had eaten some mixed with wheat in Beijing, but it was far inferior to the pure wheat version. The wheat didn't soak well and the texture was poor.
Song Chunxue wasn't wearing gloves. The sorghum had many leaves and its roots were clustered together, so pulling it up wouldn't hurt her hands.
She was wearing clothes suitable for walking, which made it easy for her to squat down and pull out the soil. In the blink of an eye, a large open space was created.
Lord Xie's sleeves were wide, so they had to be rolled up.
Song Chunxue didn't urge him, and kept pulling forward.
Xiujuan and Xiaolong were playing on the other side of the field when Hongying stopped them. Otherwise, they would have run over to Song Chunxue and played with her around her neck for a while.
"I didn't expect the ground to be so soft. It's almost dry from the rain a couple of days ago." Xie Zheng said with a happy smile. "Don't worry, I won't hold you back."
Seeing that he was pulling very fast, Song Chunxue gave him some advice, "Pull slowly and don't rush, otherwise you'll get too tired to move. You need to conserve your strength later, otherwise you'll be too weak to move later."
"Okay, thank you for your guidance."
Not far away, someone was hauling grain home from the fields, pulling a cart down the slope. He couldn't help but glance at Xie Zheng's face.
It seemed they recognized him, but weren't sure, so they kept looking this way from a distance.
If others knew this, they would think that Lord Xie was harvesting grain, and this piece of land would be worth a fortune.
Song Chunxue pulled very fast, and in less than a quarter of an hour she left Xie Zheng behind.
Half an hour later, she stood up and found him resting. An hour later, Song Chunxue called everyone over to rest their dry rations.
He Chuan took out a round watermelon from the cloth bag, cut it open with a knife, and gave each person a piece.
"Thank you, sir. Here, have a bite of steamed bun and a bite of watermelon. They're very refreshing." Song Chunxue looked at the sweat on his forehead and couldn't help but laugh. "You've never worked in the fields before. The fact that you can stand in the sun for an hour without doing anything is already quite impressive."
"Yes, Lord Xie, don't pull anymore. You can sit by the wheat pile and rest for a while before going back." Hongying looked at Lord Xie, who was sunburnt, and wondered why her mother didn't stop him.
"It's okay, I'm not tired, I can keep pulling for a while." Xie Zheng imitated them, taking bites of steamed bun and watermelon, and couldn't help but exclaim, "What's this steamed bun made of? It smells so good!"
Looking at the not-so-white wheat flour bun in her hand, Song Chunxue smiled and said, "It's because the wheat flour was ground four times, so it's a bit dark and has more wheat bran, but the wheat aroma is more pronounced when the dough is scalded with boiling water. You think it smells good because you've done some hard work and your senses are more acute."
Xie Zheng felt extremely hungry. The steamed bun was really delicious, and with watermelon, it was even more delicious than the roast chicken he had ever eaten. He couldn't resist and ate two large pieces of dry steamed bun.
Moreover, sitting like this under the embankment, you don't feel hot at all. A cool breeze blows from time to time, and the wind gets into your clothes, making your back feel a little cool.
The distant mountains are shrouded in mist, the apricot leaves on the mountains are turning yellow and red, and the earthy smell in the air is mixed with the smell of grain stalks, which is refreshing and pleasant.
"Please continue eating, Lord Xie. We'll continue pulling." Hongying patted the dirt off Xiujuan's clothes, picked her up, and carried her to the other end of the field.
"Hmm." Song Chunxue handed him the water bag. "The sun is getting higher and higher. Lord Xie, you should go back first. If you want to eat fermented noodle soup, I'll go back with you."
Lord Xie withdrew his gaze from the distance, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
But his smile remained calm. "Aren't you afraid of what people will say?"
“I won’t go. Your child is indeed cunning. You’ll feel uncomfortable, and so will I.” Xie Zheng got up and took off his coat. “I’ll stretch for a while longer. I think I can eat two big bowls of rice for lunch.”
Seeing his measured manners, Song Chunxue felt embarrassed.
"It's just a meal, why be uncomfortable?"
Xie Zheng smiled and said, "It's good that Sister Song is so kind as to treat me to noodles. Let's do it another day."
He was sweating a lot and his clothes were covered in dirt. He felt uncomfortable and couldn't eat unless he went back to the inn to wash up.
The soil around the roots of the wheat was particularly itchy, but he had already made a promise, so he had to persevere a little longer before going back.
Song Chunxue saw that his neck was scratched so badly that it was covered in red patches.
"Lord Xie, don't push yourself. This soil is very itchy. Go back early, and I won't laugh at you."
"..." Xie Zheng said expressionlessly, "I'm not itchy."
“Let’s go, your face is covered in red bumps. If the people of the county knew that I was mistreating my local official like this, they would definitely scold me.”
Xie Zheng vehemently denied it, saying, "I really don't itch. It's only 9 AM, I can still itch for another hour."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
