After digging up a small daylily, Chen Kai rested for a while. He's still too young; even digging up a vegetable is so difficult for him.
Chen Nong ran towards Zhou Shi with a small basket on his shoulder and said happily, "Grandma, I brought you daylilies to wish you a baby boy."
Daylilies are also known as "men-bearing grass." In ancient times, it was believed that wearing daylilies would result in having a son, and women would embroider daylilies on their clothes to pray for children.
Mrs. Zhou said happily, "I'm too old to have children anymore!"
Chen Kai muttered, "My parents are so old, how could they possibly have more children?"
Xiao Tian laughed and said, "Chen Kai, you really will have a younger brother in the future!"
Chen Kai exclaimed in shock, "What? My parents can have more children?"
Xiao Tian just smiled and didn't say anything.
Chen Kai glanced at Zhou Shi, who was picking daylilies, and then at Old Man Chen not far away.
Chen Kai frowned and said, "Giving birth at an advanced age is very dangerous! Especially with today's outdated production technology." Could it result in the death of both mother and child?
Xiao Tian interrupted Chen Kai's wild thoughts, saying, "Alright, stop thinking nonsense. Grandpa and Grandma will still be as lively and energetic as ever, and your younger brother is also very strong."
They picked a lot of daylilies and went home. Old Man Chen saw that it was still early, so he told everyone to go about their own business.
Today, when Old Man Chen came back from the fields, he picked up Chen Kai and said happily, "My good son, the ten acres of land you wanted have been plowed. Rice, millet, sorghum, wheat, beans—which one do you want to plant?"
Some time ago, Chen Kai asked his family to clear ten acres of wasteland for him. Now that the family has oxen and a new sled, clearing the wasteland is relatively quick, so Old Man Chen agreed.
They can cultivate any wasteland here. As long as they register with the village chief, they don't have to pay taxes for the first two years. In the third year, they will report it and collect taxes uniformly.
The term "five grains" has several different interpretations in ancient times, but the two most important ones are: one refers to rice, millet, sorghum, wheat, and beans; the other refers to hemp, millet, sorghum, wheat, and beans.
The difference between the two is that the former contains rice but not hemp, while the latter contains hemp but not rice. The ancient economic and cultural center was in the Yellow River basin, and the main rice-producing areas were in the south, while rice cultivation was limited in the north, so rice was not originally among the "five grains".
They grow rice, millet, sorghum, wheat, and beans—these are the five grains. Some people also grow hemp, but not much; just enough for their own household needs. Because there is plenty of wild hemp, most families don't grow it.
Chen Kai thought for a while and said, "Dad, let's plant rice. I want to eat rice."
Old Man Chen said with a smile, "Alright, let's plant rice for our good son."
After a while, when only Chen Kai and Xiao Tian were left, Xiao Tian said, "Let's stop planting rice and plant some vegetables with short growth cycles. We won't have a harvest here this year."
Chen Kai was startled and asked in a trembling voice, "What's going on? Is there a natural disaster?"
Xiao Tian nodded and said, "Yes, floods!"
Chen Kai was silent for a moment, then asked, "You knew about it when we were planting rice seedlings, right?"
“Okay!” Xiao Tian said.
Chen Kai asked, feeling frustrated, "Why didn't you say so sooner?"
Xiao Tian snorted coldly and said, "Even if I had told you earlier, what difference would it have made? Besides you, who else would have believed me? Even if I had told you, could you have stopped natural disasters and man-made calamities from happening? No, you couldn't. You could only watch helplessly as they worked from morning till night, only to end up with nothing but empty joy!"
Chen Kai sighed and said, "I'm sorry, I'm just feeling down! I just want our family to be okay."
The room fell silent again, and the two remained silent.
When Da Ya finished her work and came back, she was going to the kitchen to find a bamboo basket. As she passed by the two of them, she felt that the atmosphere between them was strange, so she asked, "Uncle, Xiao Tian, what are you standing there for? Why don't you go pick some locust flowers and let Grandma make locust flower pancakes?"
Chen Nong was helping to make juice when he heard that his sister was going to pick locust flowers, so he called out, "Sister, I'll go too, I'll help you pick them."
Daya happily said, "Okay, let's go together."
After getting their tools, Daya and Chen Nong carried one of Chen Kai and Xiao Tian away without their consent.
On the way, Daya chattered non-stop, seemingly in a good mood.
Daya said happily, "Uncle, the locust flower cakes are delicious, and the locust flower porridge is especially good too."
Chen Nong happily said, "Locust flowers can be eaten raw; they have a slightly sweet taste. Da Ya and I will go pick some from the tree later, and you can sit under the tree and eat them."
They arrived shortly afterward.
This is a small open space on a hillside in the village, with a large locust tree in the middle. Several children are picking locust blossoms from the tree, while a few younger ones are playing under it.
The children in the trees greeted them happily.
Daya put Xiaotian down and said, "I heard from the old people in the village that this locust tree is old and will fall in a few years. It's a real pity. But there are still many locust trees on the back mountain of our village. Even if this tree falls, there are still many more on the back mountain."
After putting Chen Kai down, Chen Nong climbed up the tree, broke off a large bunch of locust flowers, threw them down, and said, "Uncle, catch!"
Chen Kai and Xiao Tian sat under the tree, quietly listening to the cheerful laughter of the children around them.
Looking at the group of carefree children, Chen Kai asked, "Will our village be submerged?"
Xiao Tian said, "That's not necessarily the case, but the collapse of houses and the destruction of fields are inevitable."
Chen Kai asked, "How long will the rain last? When will it start?"
Xiao Tian replied, "About a month, starting in July."
Chen Kai breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, there was still some time.
Just then, Chen Nong shouted from the tree, "Uncle, catch it!"
As soon as Chen Kai looked up, he saw Chen Nong handing down a basket tied with a rope.
Chen Kai stood up, and when the basket reached the ground, he put the locust flowers from the basket into the bamboo basket.
Sophora japonica flowers have a bitter taste, are neutral in nature, and are non-toxic. They possess the effects of clearing heat, cooling blood, stopping bleeding, and lowering blood pressure. They are significantly effective in treating hematemesis, hematuria, hemorrhoidal bleeding, wind-heat conjunctivitis, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cervical lymph node tuberculosis, arteriosclerosis, hematochezia, diabetes, retinitis, and psoriasis. They can also expel parasites and treat pharyngitis. Sophora japonica flowers can enhance capillary resistance, reduce vascular permeability, and restore the elasticity of fragile blood vessels, thereby lowering blood lipids and preventing arteriosclerosis.
Sophora japonica flowers can be used in medicine for their detoxifying effects. They can also be used to make sophora japonica rice, as well as sophora japonica buns, dumplings, pancakes, scrambled eggs with sophora japonica flowers, and porridge. However, because sophora japonica flowers are cooling in nature, they are not suitable for people with weak spleen and stomach.
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