Chapter 210 Something unexpected is going to happen
July is the busiest time of the year, also known as the double harvest season. During this time, people need to rush to harvest and plant crops. After a month of busy work, people can become tired and lose several pounds.
Gao Ming is the young master of Cheng's family. But after finishing his own work, he cannot rest and has to go to his parents' and grandmother's house to help.
This year, his third brother went to work in the county transportation company and could not help with the family work, but his fourth brother had already graduated from junior high school and failed to get into secondary technical school or high school, so he had to stay in the village to farm.
Even so, there were not enough people. His family originally had nine acres of land. When he divided the family property, he took one acre, leaving eight acres. However, Grandma Gao was old and naturally could not work in the fields, and his sister-in-law had to stay at home to take care of the children and do housework.
Gao Mingcheng first helped at his parents' home for a day, and then helped at his grandmother's home for another day.
There is one more person in Xi Nainai's family this year, but He Xiuman is pregnant. Her body is not as good as that of ordinary people. She wants to go to the fields to work, but Xi Nainai and Gao Zhuang refuse to let her go and only let her stay at home to cook.
The reason given is also reasonable. There must be someone to cook at home. It would be nice to be able to have a hearty and delicious meal after being busy for most of the day.
With Gao Mingcheng's help, both families felt a lot more relieved.
After helping the two families harvest rice, Gao Mingcheng had to get busy with his own affairs again, because he had to plow the fields and prepare for the subsequent rice planting.
It is said that it takes a thousand days to raise a cow but only a moment to use it. The calf in our home was bought in the spring and has been raised for only a year.
Generally speaking, cattle are given a nose collar when they are one year old. If it is done too early, the nose collar is likely to fail.
Once the nose collar is in place, the calf can be trained by pulling the nose collar after a few days of healing. However, during this period, the calf's body has not yet fully grown and its strength is still very small, so it cannot pull the plow.
The cows of Gao Mingcheng's family have not been fitted with nose collars. Instead, they have been tied with ropes on their heads. The ropes are in a triangular shape, binding the cow's entire head and making it difficult for the cow to break free.
Every night when the cows are resting in the cowshed, the rope will be untied to make them feel more relaxed.
The calf cannot work yet, so he has to do the work in the fields himself.
Gao Mingcheng goes out early and comes back late every day. Although he works for his parents and grandmother, he doesn't let Xuanmei go with him.
Although Xuanyimei works efficiently, she is a woman after all, and she has less strength and cannot be too tired.
However, Gao Mingcheng felt sorry for Xuanyuemei, and Xuanyuemei also felt sorry for her second sister. Seeing her second sister working in the fields with a big belly, she felt obligated to offer to help.
This is probably the way people in the village are doing things. They will help each other when needed.
Late rice must be planted before August, otherwise if it is too late, it will affect the harvest, and farmers care most about the harvest.
Therefore, every household is busy, and even the old market in Junling is not visited by many people, and most of those who go there are there to buy meat.
At this time, meat is the best seller.
Gao Mingcheng also went to buy meat, and brought some to his parents' and grandmother's house. Every year during the double harvest season, meat is eaten much more frequently than usual.
Because the weather is hot and meat cannot be stored, people usually eat meat every time they go to the market. After eating meat, people's physical condition will be much better.
In addition to pork, there will also be some loaches and eels on the table.
If there are children aged five or six at home, they cannot help with the work in the fields because of their lack of strength, but they can carry a bag and run to the fields to pick up lost rice ears and catch loaches. The caught loaches can be raised for two days to spit out all the mud and sand, then fried in oil and stir-fried with green peppers. The taste is very good.
While plowing the field, Gao Mingcheng caught a basin of loaches and is now raising them in the basin.
Since there was not much water in the fields, the villagers discussed whether to release the water.
In fact, there is nothing to discuss because no one will raise any objections. The water in the reservoir is still relatively full right now and everyone's mentality is good. There is no thought of fighting for water. Everyone is very calm and does not care whether the water comes in a day earlier or a day later.
By September, when the rice was filling with grain, the fields were dry and cracked, and the crops were in urgent need of water. At this time, the water in the reservoir was almost dry.
So it is worth talking about who uses water first and who uses water later.
In the end, this kind of talk will turn into a fight. In serious cases, it will be a fight with weapons. In more serious cases, people will die.
Gao Mingcheng knew all this, but he could do nothing about it. Drought and lack of water were not something that could be solved by human power.
So farmers rely on the weather for their livelihood. When the weather is good, they can eat enough. When there is drought or flood, they will go hungry.
There are no big rivers here, so there are almost no floods, but droughts occur every few years.
After water is added to the field, you can prepare for transplanting rice seedlings.
Transplanting rice seedlings produces a better harvest than throwing them, and they grow straighter, so everyone in the village chooses transplanting rice seedlings. But in later generations, more people choose to throw them because there is a shortage of manpower and transplanting rice seedlings is too tiring. Throwing rice seedlings is much easier and more labor-intensive. Moreover, at that time, it was not a big deal if the fields produced a dozen pounds less rice.
Although he knew that the yield would be reduced, Gao Mingcheng still plowed the fields and planted rice with everyone else and did not show any signs of being unusual.
If he simply didn't plant late rice because it would reduce yields, he would be criticized. What would they criticize him for? Probably for forgetting his roots!
After a busy period until the end of July, the work in the fields was finally finished and everyone could take a break.
Gao Mingcheng still needs to hire people to work on Xiaofushan, which he contracted. The time is set for three days later. He plans to let people have a good rest for a few days and recover their strength before coming back to work.
After measuring, the entire Xiaofu Mountain is found to have 298 acres, which is two acres short of 300 acres. But in fact, he can also use the wasteland at the foot of Xiaofu Mountain.
He could build a large shed here to store his work tools and provide shelter from the summer heat.
When the fruits are ripe, you can pick them and temporarily place them in the shed to prevent them from being damaged by the sun.
In addition to building a shed, you can also plant a row of trees. No one will argue about occupying this part.
Just after the double harvest was over, Gao Zhuang came to inform him that they should go to his house for lunch the next day, and He Xiuman's parents would come to give He Xiuman some money for lunch.
This matter was originally scheduled before the double harvest, but because Gao Mingcheng had to go to Yangcheng, Gao Zhuang went there specifically to inform him. After that, there were delays due to some matters, so it was delayed until now.
But it’s okay, as long as this ceremony is performed before the child is born, there will be nothing to complain about.
"Okay, I'll go there tomorrow at noon." Gao Mingcheng agreed with a smile.
But Gao Zhuang said: "Brother Mingcheng, bring your sister-in-law with you!"
Nowadays, when we go to other people's homes to eat and drink, usually only one representative of the family goes, and no one brings their whole family with them.
But Gao Zhuang specifically suggested that Gao Mingcheng take Duo Mei with him, so there would be no problem.
So the next day, Gao Mingcheng brought Xuanyuemei to Gao Zhuang's house. Although he had given gifts long ago, he did not go empty-handed. Instead, he brought two rabbits that he had just caught that morning.
When he arrived, Gao Zhuang's aunt and her family had already arrived. His aunt was helping her grandmother cook in the kitchen. There were many people eating today, so naturally there was a lot of food to prepare.
Xuanyun Mei is also a person with a lively mind. After coming in, she said to Gao Mingcheng, "I'll go help too."
"Okay." Gao Mingcheng responded and watched her carry the rabbit into the kitchen.
He was talking with Gao Zhuang and several of Gao Zhuang's cousins. At about half past eleven, He Xiuman's family finally arrived.
The last time they got engaged, they came on bicycles, and there were only He Xiuman and her parents, but this time they brought their entire family!
From the old to the young, everyone is here!
Seeing this familiar family, the smile on He Xiuman's face froze instantly. She had a premonition that her parents were going to do something weird!
(End of this chapter)
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