Besides that, there is another happy event: Aunt Feng'e's eldest son is getting married tomorrow.
When they got engaged, Meng Zhao was away on business and couldn't make it. This time, Aunt Feng'e notified her well in advance and repeatedly told her to be sure to attend the wedding banquet on the day of the wedding.
Ever since they started their stall, Aunt Feng'e has been helping them, so their relationship is naturally different from that of others. Meng Zhao immediately agreed and said she would definitely be there.
Yesterday, Meng Zhao was busy checking the account books and went to bed late. When she got up this morning, Gu Shi had already gone to the shop, and Shen Qinghe had also gone to the county school. However, the school happened to be closed today, so the three children and Wei Jinglan were still at home.
When she went out to wash up, Shen Qingyu happened to be in the yard. As soon as she saw her, she greeted her with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you're finally awake! There's some rice porridge and steamed buns warming up in the pot for you. Mother said I should make sure you eat before you go out. She said the time for the village feast hasn't been set yet, and she's worried you'll go hungry, so she told you to eat your breakfast first."
Meng Zhao smiled helplessly. In the past few days, she had been sleeping in late occasionally, and sometimes she simply combined breakfast and lunch. Gu Shi was worried that she would ruin her health by starving herself.
Wei Jinglan didn't like joining in the fun, so after washing up, Meng Zhao took the three children on a donkey cart back to Shenjia Village.
"Zhaozhao, are you here for the feast?"
In a village, nothing, big or small, can be kept secret. Moreover, Aunt Feng'e had already been loudly proclaiming throughout the village that Meng Zhao would be coming to her house for a feast. So, as soon as she stepped into the village, she was warmly stopped by people.
Meng Zhao smiled and nodded, "Yes, Aunt Feng'e's family has a happy occasion today, so I came to join in the fun."
The aunt who stopped her had a big smile on her face and warm eyes. She quickly said, "We don't know when the banquet will start yet. Why don't you come to my house for some tea and a rest first?"
Meng Zhao quickly waved his hand, "No need, Auntie. Getting married is a big deal. I guess Aunt Feng'e is busy right now. I was thinking of going there as soon as possible, maybe I can be of some help."
"No need, no need. Liu Feng'e has found many people to help, how could we trouble you to do anything?"
As Meng Zhao was pondering how to refuse, another person approached, also with a beaming smile, "Why did Qing'an's wife arrive so early? The Liu family is busy right now. Why don't you come to my house for something to eat first? My wife just came back from town and bought a lot of snacks."
Upon hearing this, the aunt in front immediately objected, "What good food could you possibly have at your house? Besides, I already told Qing'an's wife that I'd invite her to my house for tea."
"Pah! Your dilapidated yard doesn't even have a well, let alone tea? Stop bragging!" The person behind him retorted, hands on his hips.
Watching the two argue back and forth, their faces flushed, Meng Zhao was completely bewildered. Although everyone in the village was usually quite welcoming to her when she came, she had never encountered anyone stop her as soon as she entered the village like this before. Could something have happened again?
Just as she was about to find a chance to slip away, Sister Yu Mei, who happened to be passing by, spotted her and quickly called out, "Zhao Zhao is here! Why did you park the car here? Come home with me, my father-in-law is waiting for you."
Upon hearing that it was the village head waiting, the two women immediately lost their temper and couldn't say anything more. They could only reluctantly let Meng Zhao leave.
Sister-in-law Yumei has been back from Hongnong County for a few days now. I even went to see her in the county when she first came back.
At this moment, Meng Zhao couldn't help but ask Sister-in-law Yu Mei, "Sister-in-law, why did those two aunties insist on me going to their house?"
Upon hearing this, Sister-in-law Yumei couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle. "Silly girl, don't you know? A few days ago, the wheat in the fields was threshed and bagged. Now, everyone in the village sees you like you're a gold nugget. They're all eagerly hoping you can come and visit them."
Upon hearing this, Meng Zhao was first taken aback, then suddenly realized that when the pig farm was first built, she had Shun'er and Shi Tou collect the pig manure, mix it together, and ferment it. After the New Year, during the spring plowing season, she and the village head divided up experimental fields on the newly reclaimed wasteland in the village.
Although the grain in the experimental field had not yet been harvested, they had watered the wheat planted before the New Year with some fermented manure water. Now it was time to bag and store the wheat, and that was the reason.
When they arrived at the village head's house, Sister-in-law Yumei brought out some snacks and led the three children to play in the yard, while Meng Zhao was pulled aside by the village head to talk about something.
The village head's face was beaming with barely suppressed joy, and his voice trembled slightly with excitement. "Meng Zhao, you are truly a lucky star for our village! This old man doesn't know what to say! Your method for fertilizing the fields is absolutely brilliant!"
These days, the village head is immersed in the joy of the harvest every day, and his smile has never stopped. When the experimental fields were first divided, many people in the village had doubts and were afraid that this new method would affect the harvest, so they were unwilling to include their own land.
But he trusted Meng Zhao and unhesitatingly included all of his family's land in the experimental field. Later, as the wheat in his field grew taller than the wheat in the neighboring fields, some people made sarcastic remarks, saying that no one knew if it was just a shiny surface made from donkey dung.
Now that the wheat has been harvested, those villagers who had previously refused to participate are filled with regret, and countless people are secretly gritting their teeth in frustration.
Seeing how excited the village head was, Meng Zhao was also curious, "Village head, tell me quickly, how is the effect?"
The village head tried his best to control his excitement and slowly said, "The potatoes still haven't been harvested. Take the wheat that has already been harvested, for example. In previous years, even if the harvest was good, a mu of land would only yield a maximum of one and a half shi. This year, before the harvest, I felt that the wheat ears were heavier than in previous years. At that time, I wondered if this mu of land could yield two shi?"
"When the wheat was harvested and we were ready to bag it, we found that we had already used up all the bags from previous years and there was still a lot of grain left. So I quickly went out to buy bags. After we packed them all, guess how much we harvested?" The village head couldn't hold back anymore, and his voice started to tremble.
Meng Zhao shook her head; she really couldn't guess.
The village head took a deep breath, his smile almost reaching his ears. "A full thirty shi! My goodness! My family only has ten mu of land, which means each mu yielded three shi of grain! That's more than half again as much as in previous years!"
When the village head spoke, not only was his voice trembling, but his calloused hands also trembled slightly. As an old farmer, he knew all too well how significant this extra harvest was.
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