With a few days left until the Dragon Boat Festival, everyone is mainly busy with farming.
Xujia Village has a lot of dry land and little paddy field. A family has seven or eight fen of land, while a family has only three or five fen, which are arranged along the ditches of varying sizes and heights.
This year, Jiangzhi cultivated hybrid rice on the mountain, and early this morning he pulled it all up and put it into bamboo baskets.
Old Li used his old mule to carry the rice seedlings down the mountain. In addition to planting new rice seedlings for his own family and Xiaoman's family, Tian Gui and the other families also each received a basket to plant two fen (a unit of land area) of rice seedlings.
Tian Gui and Xu Gensheng squatted by the edge of the field, listening to Li Laoshi talk about the "hybrid rice".
Xu Gensheng looked on with curiosity: "Honest brother, is what you're saying true? Is it called 'za na yu' after pulling up the rice flowers?"
"Bastard!" Qin Shi, who was also listening nearby, quickly added.
Her family was going to plant hybrid rice, so they were waiting early, afraid that someone else would get a bigger share.
Li Laoshi glanced at her sideways and said, "Oh my! Sister Qin knows so much!"
Although Sister Qin is correct in saying "hybrid" instead of "hybrid," they mean the same thing!
Qin glared at him: "Li Laoshi, hurry up and tell me, I'm going to get the seedlings. The field is still empty, I need to finish planting so I can go home and let the chickens out."
At the beginning of the year, she helped Liu's family gather grass to exchange for a few chicks, which have already grown to the size of two fists. They can be cooked once Lianhua gives birth.
They are usually kept in enclosures, but they still need to be let out for a while every day, especially after the wheat harvest so they can pick up wheat grains to eat.
Xu Genqing works at the pharmacy, while Lianhua, who is pregnant, stays home making clothes for the baby.
With both children busy, and knowing that she was now the pillar of the family, Qin, who had always been lazy, no longer felt back pain or leg pain. She did everything with her head held high and walked with a swagger.
Li Laoshi smirked: "Alright, alright! We'll divide the seedlings right away!"
Jiang's wife said that all the rice seedlings should be planted first for her family and Xiaoman's family, and the rest can be distributed among everyone. She also said that no work points would be awarded for the work.
As for how many seedlings you get, that depends on how much work you do. Don't try to slack off or cheat; I'm watching!
These seedlings are not available anywhere else; they are all hybrids. The villagers are not allowed to pay for them, and Jiang Zhi will not record them as work points. If they want seedlings, they can come and work.
Tian Gui and the others nodded in unison. They had worked together for over a year and knew this was an old rule.
Nowadays, no matter what kind of farm work you do in the village, don't be lazy. Just work hard. Although Village Chief Jiang said that work points won't be recorded, you'll always get some good things in return.
Qin immediately bent down, rolled up her trouser legs, took off her shoes and socks, and stomped into the field: "What are you waiting for? Get to work! You're such a chatterbox, you'll have to compensate me for the time I waste!"
Before Li Laoshi could even retort after being scolded by Qin Shi, he was nearly blinded by the pair of feet that swept past him, and then his face was splattered with mud.
Wiping the mud off his face, Li Laoshi wasn't annoyed. He chuckled and jumped up, saying, "Sister-in-law Qin is really quick! Good, let's get to work!"
A large group of people were also involved in transplanting rice seedlings in the fields, including not only older women like Qin and Liu, but also younger women like Wang Xiaoju and Pi.
The men and women separated and worked silently in their respective fields.
Although Li Laoshi doesn't work in the fields, he's busier than anyone else. He's running around in the fields, telling everyone to plant the rice seedlings more sparsely than usual, and also keeping an eye out for anyone who's being lazy and stealing seedlings.
Jiang Zhi and Er Rui also had something to do; the two of them were in other fields, instructing people on how to plant rice seedlings.
Because it is now hybrid rice, the seedlings are thick and have many clumps, so they cannot be planted too densely. They also need to be planted with proper orientation, row spacing, and seedling spacing.
Most other families are generally obedient, but you have to keep an eye on them at all times, otherwise something will go wrong.
The Shi family faced the most difficulties, as Jiang Zhi had also brought his family along for the rice planting this time.
Although the Shi family's lifestyle doesn't bother anyone, the whole village is changing. If we abandon them now, they'll drift further and further away in the future.
After spending more time with the Shi family, Jiang Zhi finally understood what it meant to be introverted and opinionated—that was just stubbornness!
The eldest and second eldest Shi brothers were stubborn and insisted on farming in their own way. The rice seedlings they planted looked like wheat seedlings, and they wouldn't listen to anything Jiang Zhi said. Jiang Zhi was so anxious that she broke out in a sweat. She really didn't understand how the Shi family had survived before.
Stone Monkey was also angry. He saw that everyone in the village had new houses, while his own family was still living in a shack and throwing bricks.
Now that Village Chief Jiang is teaching farming, his father and uncle are stubbornly refusing to listen, which makes him anxious.
He dashed to the edge of the pond, ready to jump in, and shouted at the Shi family, "Dad, if you don't plant the rice seedlings properly, I'll just drown!"
He was the only precious son of the Shi family, and the Shi family panicked at the mere mention of his intention to commit suicide.
The monkey mother with the missing hand quickly came over and pulled him back: "Come back quickly, let's plant it properly, plant it properly!"
The Shi brothers cherished their only son dearly, but after a long pause, they finally nodded: "Okay, plant them sparsely!"
It was as if Jiang Zhi's request for them to plant the seedlings a little more sparsely was a way of stealing rice from their pot.
Regardless of what they think, things have at least changed. Jiang Zhi even admires the neighbor who cheated his family back then, wondering how he managed to get money from this honest man.
The scene of dozens of people working together was grand, with people chasing each other and laughing in several fields.
Seven or eight children, including Xiaoquan, Xiaoxi, and Shihouzi, didn't have to go into the fields to plant rice seedlings. Instead, they were responsible for carrying the tied seedlings to their respective fields.
Tao'er's mother didn't go to the fields either. She boiled some water, put it in a clay pot, made a basket of wheat cakes, and boiled a basket of eggs, then took them to the edge of the fields to "play the game".
This is a small meal between two meals.
Even if they usually just eat vegetable porridge, they still have to give eggs to the people who are transplanting rice seedlings and harvesting grain. This is an old custom, but no one can explain why.
Seeing Tao'er's mother bring over the "Yaotai", Jiang Zhi told everyone to stop and rest.
She was both the village chief and a major landowner in the village. She would have people work without recording work points, and then use her own money to buy these dozens of eggs to treat everyone.
Upon seeing the wheat cakes and eggs, Qin, who was already hungry, put down the rice seedlings and immediately took a few quick steps to the edge of the field. She hastily washed the mud off her hands with the water from the field before reaching for the food.
But before she could even touch it, Jiang Zhi yelled at her, "Qin Ling, you must wash your hands with clean water before you can eat!"
Before transplanting rice seedlings, the fields were fertilized. They called it water, but it was full of manure. Even after washing, it was dirtier than if it hadn't been washed at all.
Qin stopped, pouted, and looked around: "Where's the water to wash my hands? What a hassle!"
Just then, Li Laoshi came over with a bucket of water and said with a smile to the people who were coming up the paddy field ridge one after another: "Come, come, come and wash your hands. I'll scoop water for you to wash with."
So everyone asked Li Laoshi to water their hands and wash them, and then thank him again!
When it was Qin's turn, Li Laoshi also scooped up water: "Sister-in-law Qin, give me your hand, I'll pour you some water!"
Qin reached out to take it.
Li Laoshi poured her water and suddenly whispered, "The day after tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival. Isn't Sister Qin going back to her parents' home for the festival?"
Qin's smiling face froze, and she glared at Li Laoshi resentfully: "Are you still laughing at me? Let me warn you, if you say those things out loud, I'll deal with you!"
Li Laoshi shook his head repeatedly, looking aggrieved, and said, "How could I dare to say what you said, sister-in-law? I was just asking!"
Qin said fiercely, "Don't ask, don't even think about it!"
Li Laoshi blinked: "...Sister-in-law Qin, you're so fierce!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com