When the old lady saw Zhao Lingli's expression, she couldn't help but reach out and tap her forehead.
"What are you thinking? No matter what other families do, none of our children are allowed to go."
As the mother, Zhao Lingli naturally shared the same viewpoint as the old lady.
"Mother, don't worry, I understand. I'm thinking the same thing as you."
No mother can bear the pain of losing her child. Besides, Tao Zui has already been admitted to the key junior high school in the county. Even if things don't go well in the future, he can still become a worker, right?
As for the two Zhou brothers, their situation is different from theirs. First of all, they are physically strong, which can be seen from their fighting ability.
Without parents, even if you have a father, it's as if you don't have one. You have no sense of belonging to a family, and you have to rely on your own efforts to make a future.
The elderly are getting old, how many more years can they help them? In the future, they will have to walk and forge their own path.
As the eldest son, Zhou Xing naturally had to go and scout the route first; they all understood that.
He couldn't help with anything else, but he could take care of the Zhou family when he wasn't home.
After the wheat sprouted, Grandpa would go to the field every morning with his hands behind his back to check on it. He would pull out any weeds and dig up any wild vegetables.
Before planting these wheat seeds, they are mixed with a purple medicine, I don't know what kind of medicine it is, mainly to prevent ground maggots from eating the seeds.
But even with the best precautions, people still have to eat; there's no stopping them.
After the wheat seeds were planted, there were several autumn rains, and then a snowfall before the Laba Festival. This year's rainfall has been sufficient, so there is no need to go to great lengths to water them before the New Year.
After the Little New Year, temperatures rise and most days are sunny, making it easier for everyone to go out and buy New Year's goods.
They raised two sheep, and when the weather was nice, Grandpa would lead them to their wheat field to graze on some of the more vigorous wheat seedlings.
Unexpectedly, this could lead to a lawsuit. It all started when the neighbor's wheat seedlings were eaten by sheep, and the neighbor insisted that it was their sheep that did it, which left Grandpa speechless.
“I only have two sheep, and I have food stored at home. I saw that the wheat seedlings in this part of my field were growing quite vigorously, so I wanted to control them and that’s why I brought them over to feed them. When did I touch your wheat seedlings?”
"You're talking nonsense! You must be jealous of our wheat seedlings because they're growing so well. So you took advantage of our inattention and brought your sheep over to feed them. Look at what you've done to our wheat seedlings! You've even pulled out the roots! And you still won't admit it was you? I don't care, you have to pay me back! Pay me back!"
Seeing that her grandfather was easy to deal with, the old woman started to act spoiled and unreasonable. No matter what her grandfather said, she wouldn't listen and insisted that their sheep had eaten her seedlings.
To be honest, the wheat seedlings next door are indeed growing vigorously. They planted them early, so how could they not be growing well?
In our rural areas, we call this "winter wheat growing vigorously in winter."
This means that if this kind of vigorous winter wheat growth is not controlled, it will be damaged and killed by frost when it encounters extreme cold after it has reached the jointing stage, resulting in reduced yield or no harvest next year.
Anyone who knows about farming should understand what this means, but Grandpa Tao has his bottom line. He only has two sheep and his own wheat seedlings, so why would he go to someone else's? No matter how thriving their crops are, he never gives them a second glance.
I never expected that he would be bothered by this woman while just herding sheep here today. He must have forgotten to check the almanac before going out.
Grandpa was too lazy to argue with the woman or pay attention to her foul language. He simply led the mother and daughter sheep to find some lush wheat seedlings to continue grazing.
When the old woman saw that Tao was ignoring her, she sat down by the roadside and called on the villagers to come and judge the matter.
Everyone on the street knew what kind of person Old Man Tao was, but this shrew was a difficult character to deal with. Only her old man could handle her. Seeing her being so unreasonable, she quickly ran home to call her husband.
Meanwhile, some people went to the Tao family to look for the old lady. Old man Tao was not good with words, but the old lady was not; she was a very capable person.
Old man Qian and old woman Tao arrived at the fields one after the other, and after understanding the ins and outs of the matter...
Old Man Qian first pulled the old lady up, but she still acted stubbornly and insisted on extorting money. As a result, he slapped her and cursed her angrily.
"Shut up, you tiger woman! You've been farming all these years, and you've wasted your time. Do you think I, Qian Laosan, can take advantage of you so easily? You planted your wheat more than ten days early so your son would help you, and you still think your wheat is growing better than everyone else's. How stupid! I specially asked Wei Laoda to let the sheep graze on it. What, do I have to report to you? Don't embarrass yourself here. Get the hell home!"
After scolding the old lady, he turned around and gave a smirking bow to Grandpa Tao.
"Shuanzi, I'm really sorry. That tiger woman is too stupid. She doesn't know any better. Don't hold it against her. I'll bring some tobacco and have a good talk with you later."
Tao Shuanzi was his nickname. Besides his exceptional brewing skills, he always carried a pipe. Qian Laosan, catering to his tastes, flattered him.
Tao Shuanzi just turned his head and glanced at him, then waved his hand, looking like he didn't want to say anything more. Seeing this, Qian Laosan knew that the matter was over, and when he passed by Tao Laotai, he didn't forget to apologize again.
"Sister-in-law, I'm so sorry. Look at these women, they're all in charge of the household, how come mine is so stupid!"
"Alright, it's already noon, we need to hurry home for lunch. You should talk to her about this. Not everyone is as easy to talk to as my Shuanzi. My family only has two sheep, not a whole flock, so they can't gnaw on as much of your land."
"Yes, yes, sister-in-law is right. You all go back first, and I'll have a good talk with my brother later."
Qian Laosan dragged his foolish wife away, and the old lady walked up to the old man and sighed.
"Let's go home. Look, it's already noon. I was wondering why you hadn't come back yet. Turns out you ran into this shrew."
The old man led two sheep, slowly put his hands behind his back, and strolled leisurely towards home.
He clearly didn't take the scolding he just received to heart at all; that's really manly.
When the couple returned home and told Xiao Jiu about it, she tilted her head, looking puzzled.
"Grandpa, why is it not enough for the wheat seedlings to grow vigorously? Why do we have to let the sheep graze on them? Is there any reason for this?"
Faced with his granddaughter's adorable remarks, the old man put down his bowl and, unusually, patiently explained to her.
“Little Jiu, the Qian family planted their wheat too early, so it grew very vigorously. So Old Man Qian asked the sheep farmer to lead the sheep into their field and let the sheep eat the vigorous wheat seedlings and leaves to suppress the wheat from growing too fast.”
"This way, the wheat seedlings can tiller fully and become strong seedlings, which can safely survive the cold winter and avoid excessive growth that could lead to frost damage, resulting in reduced wheat yield or even a complete crop failure next year. Do you understand?"
"I see," Xiao Jiu nodded vigorously.
"I understand, Grandpa, I get it! No wonder you've been taking Meimei out to find food every day these past few days!"
Grandma looked on with surprise: "How come I remember that they planted early last year too?"
"It's because that old woman wants to take advantage of her son's harvest at home to help with the planting again, afraid of tiring herself out. She did try that last year too, but the effect of controlling excessive growth wasn't good enough. I heard that she stopped him afterward. I didn't expect her to forget. No wonder this year, without even consulting her, Old Man Qian swallowed his pride and went to find someone to feed the sheep so they could have a good goose graze on the plants."
Grandma looked shocked: "Oh, so you knew about this? Why didn't you talk to that woman and let her throw a tantrum?"
"Is Qian Laosan so formidable? But did his old woman listen to him? You expect me to reason with that old woman?"
Grandpa felt a headache coming on whenever he thought of Old Lady Qian's behavior. He waved his hand, his forehead furrowing into a deep frown.
"I have to avoid people like that every time I see them. If I can't afford to mess with them, I'll just avoid them. Calling her stupid is no exaggeration. How can she not learn her lesson?"
Grandma said with a disdainful look: "It's not that she doesn't understand or doesn't learn her lesson. She's clearly made a habit of taking advantage of others. If she could make a profit, she would have already become shameless. She doesn't care about her reputation anymore."
Grandpa agreed wholeheartedly, “That’s right. Even my little Jiu understands this principle, so there’s no reason why she shouldn’t. People are just born with a masochistic streak, and they can’t change it. No wonder Qian Laosan doesn’t like talking to his old woman. I would be annoyed too.”
With the Lunar New Year approaching, there are stalls set up at the gate every day. After the old man has grazed the lush seedlings in the field while his sheep graze, he leisurely sits at the gate selling his homemade wine.
The noodle shop was also closed. The elderly Zhou couple took their sons, Zhou Xing and Zhou Xing, home for the Spring Festival. This was their first Spring Festival together, so they cherished it all the more.
When I came to the market on the 25th, my mother gave the Zhou family several couplets written by Tao Zui. She also brought out the couplets from their old house and asked them to help put them up. She also gave them the keys.
By the time of the autumn harvest, everything that needed to be planted and tidied up at the old house had already been prepared.
Spending the Lunar New Year in a traditional courtyard house is all about counting down the days, so people stay as long as they can. The old house doesn't feel like a place of belonging to them, and since it won't break down anyway, they just leave it empty for now.
This was the second Spring Festival that Xiaojiu and her three sisters had spent at the Tao family's house. After a year of hard work, the New Year's Eve dinner was exceptionally lavish, with a total of twelve dishes prepared, as there were twelve people in total, which meant one dish for each person.
There was fish and meat, wine and dishes, hot and cold food, and the family was chatting and laughing, making it a particularly lively occasion.
Tao Changyi even stood up to toast the three Tang sisters.
"Come on, let's toast the first glass to our grandparents who have worked so hard to prepare things at home. For the second glass, I'd like to toast Cuihua, Zhaodi, and Pandi. Don't be nervous, just sit down. Uncle thanks you for your help. Without your three busy efforts around the shop and home, we wouldn't be able to come to the city to run our business without any worries. We've worked hard all year, so Uncle and Auntie would like to toast the three of you."
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