After harvesting the wheat, Jiang Xi thought for a moment and decided not to spend any more time on the wheat stalks. After the busy autumn season was over and the corn harvest was finished, the wheat stalks would probably be dried, and then she would gather them together and burn them.
My grandmother used to say that the ashes from burning wood and plants, when sprinkled on the ground, could be used as fertilizer and to kill insects and bacteria.
Otherwise, when winter comes, these golden wheat stalks will gradually wither and eventually be covered by snow. After the snow melts in spring, they will gradually rot and soften in the ground, attracting insects and nourishing bacteria.
Therefore, burning wheat straw is something that must be done.
Finally, Jiang Xi and Yan Zheng harvested two more baskets of tomatoes, a basket of cucumbers, and a basket of sweet potatoes. Working non-stop, the sweat on Jiang Xi's forehead was like an unstoppable dam, constantly dripping down, and before she could even wipe it off, it was already hitting the muddy ground.
Before leaving, she forced herself to wander around the wasteland one more time. As usual, she looked at the few yellow radishes she had found earlier, but she didn't pull them up. Instead, she let them grow in the ground.
Last year, Jiang Xi pulled up all the yellow radishes she could find and piled them in the cellar.
I thought I could learn from my grandma how to grow sweet potatoes and use yellow radish tubers to grow seedlings when spring comes, but man proposes, God disposes. Because of the last-minute move, most of the yellow radishes were frostbitten and didn't even have a chance to sprout.
This year, Jiang Xi thought about it and decided to use the most primitive method: wait for these yellow radishes to flower, then collect the seeds and plant them next year. Maybe the yield will be even higher.
Working in the fields is always complicated and varied. Although it's not mentally exhausting, it is physically tiring. Jiang Xi was a little dazed after working for a while under the sun.
On the way back, I felt listless and kept feeling dizzy.
Yan Zheng only realized something was wrong when he turned around to talk to her.
He frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Jiang Xi shook her head: "I feel a little sleepy and dizzy."
Yan Zheng stopped, brushed the hair behind her ear, and saw that her face was a little pale. He knew that she either had heatstroke or had eaten something bad.
"Wait me a moment."
After saying that, he piled everything on the wooden cart, then took down a relatively large basket, leaving a space of more than a meter wide.
Before Jiang Xi could say anything, he lifted her up by the waist and placed her on the wooden cart.
After all that commotion, Jiang Xi felt even more dizzy. Fortunately, she was already on the wooden cart, so she simply sat there peacefully and let the deer pull the cart.
Yan Zheng led the deer, and the carriage creaked and groaned all the way.
He would glance back at her every now and then and say, "You look like you have heatstroke."
Jiang Xi gave a weak "hmm" and quickly added, "It's okay, I'll just have some herbal tea when I get back."
She didn't want to appear too delicate at this crucial time.
Upon entering the courtyard, Yan Zheng quickly brewed a pot of cool tea and placed it on the stone table, adding two dandelions inside.
He then wet a towel and handed it to her.
Staring at her pale face, he said in a deep voice, "Don't go to the fields when it's sunny in the future. I didn't think it through enough."
Jiang Xi shook her head and said, "Don't think of me as too delicate. I'm really fine."
Seeing her trying to be tough, Yan Zheng sat down on the stone bench, his expression somewhat displeased: "Don't try to be brave. Listen to me, don't go to the fields for the next two days. Just stay home and rest."
Jiang Xi noticed his harsh tone, got up, went over and hugged his head.
Yan Zheng knew this was a honey trap, so he deliberately put on a stern face and said, "Stop fooling around, sit down quickly, if you're not feeling well, just stay put."
He said that, but subconsciously he pulled Jiang Xi into his arms and let her sit on his lap.
Holding Yan Zheng, Jiang Xi wrapped her arms around his neck and said, feigning grievance, "Your temper has really gotten worse lately; you've started yelling at me."
Yan Zheng put his arm around her shoulder, sighed with a wry smile, and a soft look appeared on his handsome and rugged face.
He rubbed his forehead against Jiang Xi's and said helplessly, "I'm not being mean to you, I'm just angry that you don't take care of your health. You're all I have left."
The last few words were spoken with some emotion, which moved Jiang Xi as well. Yan Zheng had been quite anxious lately.
She understood everything. It was time to stock up on winter food. This year, they had hunted a lot of wild ducks and pheasants. She went to the warehouse yesterday and counted them, estimating that there were fifty or sixty preserved ducks and forty or so pheasants.
However, there was too little pork in the small ear.
This year, because of the distance from the lake and various other matters, Little Ear Pig didn't play much.
The four of us usually eat a lot of pork, and with autumn approaching, we haven't saved up much cured pork or ribs. We only have two jars of preserved meat left, which will last us at most a month.
Winter is precisely the time when fat is needed. Relying solely on wild ducks and pheasants will inevitably lead to a decrease in everyone's physical strength and weight, especially for Yan Jing'an. If he doesn't get enough nutrition in winter, it will be detrimental to his condition.
So everyone is under pressure. Yan Zheng always wants to take on more, so his burden is heavier. As autumn deepens, this pressure is getting greater and greater.
The only consolation is the harvest from the fields and forests this year. The four of them have been busy for half a year, and they have stored up much more of their various dried fruits, dried mushrooms, dried black fungus, and dried vegetables than last year.
There are more than a dozen storage baskets, and the warehouse will be even fuller when the corn is harvested.
Yan Zheng broke her thoughts with his words, holding her fingertips and saying, "We can't wait any longer. I'm going out hunting in the next few days, and I'll take Yan Jing'an with me. I can't be with you all the time, so you should rest at home for the next couple of days."
Jiang Xi calmed down a bit and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I've already talked to Du Ling. She won't be going into the woods starting tomorrow."
"Du Ling stayed behind to help me with some things in the fields and at home."
Hearing her say that, Yan Zheng felt a little relieved: "Well, that's for the best. You two can do what you can, and if you can't, just wait for Yan Jing'an and me to come back."
Then, thinking of something, he said, "This ewe has been weaned for several months now, so we can't just keep feeding her. I'll go to the mudflats with Yan Jing'an in the next couple of days and try to get another ram. Maybe she'll give birth to a lamb next spring."
Sheep are all herbivores, and this year they happened to have a lot of haystacks, so having one more ram wouldn't be a big deal.
I was too busy before to think about this, but now that autumn is approaching, the sheep will be plump and healthy, and the survival rate will be higher if we catch them.
Jiang Xi had no objections, so the matter was settled for the time being.
The two snuggled together and rested for a while. Jiang Xi was still a little dizzy from the sun and was still in a daze.
Just as she was about to close her eyes, she suddenly heard a noise by the door. She squinted for two seconds and then immediately jumped up from Yan Zheng's arms, shouting, "Silly deer, go back to your deer pen!"
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