Chapter 45
In February, Shu Wanxiu went to the county town with her uncle to do business several times.
She hadn't seen Xun Yi for a long time.
The first few times I went to the county town, I would think that I might run into Xun Yi when I passed by a blacksmith shop. But after a while, I never saw him again, and I gradually stopped thinking about it.
Today is March 30th.
Most of the wheat ears in the fields have turned yellow, and the harvest is just around the corner. The sale of rice seeds is also coming to an end.
Shu Wanxiu dragged her feet and only today did she finally buy the rice seeds with Shu Yanrong.
Actually, both families have always had the money to buy rice seeds, but the reason they waited until now was simply because they didn't have a good container to store them after bringing them home.
March and April are the plum rain season in southern China, with little sunshine and a persistent, drizzling rain.
Northerners have certainly experienced the power of the plum rain season; half a month of continuous drizzle has made the dampness seep into every bone.
Shu Wanxiu's family had two mu of land and bought fourteen jin of rice seeds. Shu Yanrong's family had ten mu of land and bought about seventy jin of rice seeds.
The grain robbery is over, and the perpetrators have been severely punished, but since such an incident has occurred, and the seeds are related to the harvest, Shu Yanrong brought both of his sons with him today when he bought rice seeds.
After Ping An transported his rice seeds to Wuli Village, Shu Yanrong personally escorted Shu Wanxiu back to the village. Before parting, he earnestly instructed her: "There is still some time before sowing. Remember to place the rice seeds off the ground, away from walls and water. Make sure to keep them dry."
Wheat is harvested in April, and rice seedlings are planted around mid-May.
Rice seedlings need to be cultivated a month before planting.
Every household practices rice-wheat rotation. Wheat cannot be harvested before it is ripe, so each village sets aside two or three acres of land each year as public fields for raising seedlings.
Although each family is assigned a plot of land and manages their own seedlings, the planting time must be the same for everyone.
Why is there such a rule?
Because if the rice seeds germinate earlier, they will grow faster than other crops. Firstly, larger seedlings are difficult to transplant, and secondly, the maturity period is different.
The water requirements of rice vary at different stages. If it is not strictly controlled, when your field needs watering, his field might need to be dried. How will the water get through his field?
To avoid bloodshed, the entire village planted seedlings at the same time.
This year, the rice seedlings in Wupai Village will be planted on April 7th, which is six or seven days from now.
This was the third time Shu Yanrong had earnestly reminded her, and Shu Wanxiu had memorized his words; no matter how careless she was, she couldn't possibly forget them.
When she got home, she even put the rice seeds away before going to Aunt Chen's house to pick up Shu Shouyi.
"You're back? Did you buy the rice seeds?"
Chen Sanhe was picking vegetables for dinner in the garden in front of his house when he saw her and asked her with a smile.
"Yes, I bought it just before it was too late," Shu Wanxiu said with a hint of a joke in her voice.
"Hey!" Chen Sanhe chimed in, "What's the difference between buying it early or late? It's all from the shop anyway, how could it be any worse?"
After chatting for a while, Shu Shouyi spotted Shu Wanxiu and immediately said goodbye to his companions and ran over.
Shu Wanxiu's hand remained hanging down until Shu Shouyi ran over, at which point she raised it.
Shu Shouyi saw an oil paper package in her hand, and as she slowly unfolded it, the contents were revealed.
—It's four pieces of mung bean cake.
From last year to this year, Aunt Chen has always helped take care of the children, and Shu Wanxiu feels very indebted to her. Now that business is doing well after the start of spring, she splurged and bought a few pieces of mung bean cakes from a pastry shop.
Some were just given to Shu Chenglin and Shu Chengsen's children. Of the remaining four pieces, one is for Shu Shouyi, and one is for each of Aunt Chen's grandchildren.
Shu Wanxiu placed the oil paper package in his hand, "Take this, and go invite your friends to eat mung bean cakes."
The unique aroma of oil mixed with mung beans captivated Shu Shouyi.
Shu Wanxiu told him twice before he started moving.
"You earn money with difficulty, why buy these snacks? It's a waste of money," Chen Sanhe scolded, but her grandchildren couldn't take their eyes off the mung bean cakes, so she couldn't completely refuse.
Shu Wanxiu smiled and said, "Buying something to eat is not a waste."
"As long as the kids like to eat it, that's fine."
The Chen family children are all well-mannered; they always say thank you when they receive mung bean cakes, which is truly pleasing to the eye.
Of course, most importantly, after sharing the mung bean cake, Shu Shouyi straightened his back considerably.
Don't assume that children don't understand the concept of living under someone else's roof.
Although staying at Pang's house meant having many playmates and being more lively than on the mountain, there were still moments when I felt uncomfortable.
For example, after playing for a while and getting tired, the Pang family children would pester Chen Lian or Chen Sanhe for snacks.
The Pang family was well-off; they always kept peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and the like on hand.
Whether it was Chen Lian or Chen Sanhe, whenever they gave the children snacks, they would always give Shu Shouyi the same amount.
It's not the kind of polite handout; it's the kind of handout that's actually stuffed into your hand or into your clothes.
But after doing it so many times, Shu Shouyi inevitably felt awkward about being a freeloader.
Now that it's his turn to share snacks with his friends, he's incredibly happy.
After leaving the Pang family, Shu Shouyi took out the last piece of oil paper from the package and looked at it from all angles, finding it extremely precious.
Even so, before taking a bite, he still asked, "Has Auntie eaten?"
"have eaten."
Shu Wanxiu was not lying.
Since it's all going to be one purchase anyway, what's wrong with the adults trying a little? So she gritted her teeth and bought an extra piece.
On the way, we broke the food into four pieces and shared it with Shu Yanrong, Shu Chenglin, and Shu Chengsen.
Only after confirming that his aunt was not lying did Shu Shouyi carefully put the mung bean cake into his mouth.
He ate mung bean cake a few times when he was two years old, but he was too young then, so even if he ate it, he probably wouldn't remember the taste.
As Shu Wanxiu watched him taste it, she noticed that his eyes gradually brightened.
"Is it delicious?" Shu Wanxiu asked with a smile.
"tasty!"
Shu Wanxiu put her hand on his head, "Auntie will buy you more in the future."
Shu Shouyi still had crumbs of cake on his lips, making him look particularly silly when he grinned. But Shu Wanxiu didn't mind at all; she was her own child. She pinched his cheeks, which had become much rounder, and said, "Watch where you're going. Don't knock out your front teeth while you're eating."
...
Farming involves a lot of work before even planting seeds and raising seedlings.
On the evening of April 3, Pang Zhishan went door-to-door to inform everyone that the rice paddies would be plowed the next day, and each family should send one person to help.
Shu Wanxiu also received this notification.
I heard that out of the more than 20 households in the village, apart from Xun Yi who made a living by blacksmithing and hunting, all the other households had to send people to participate.
Growing grain is a good thing, and Shu Wanxiu has been putting in a lot of effort for a long time.
Upon hearing this news, I went to bed early that night and was the first to arrive at the rice paddy the next day.
Wupai Village has no cattle; farming relies entirely on manual labor.
Pang Zhishan assigned Shu Wanxiu the easiest task: plowing.
Those present who had no ill intentions knew that the Shu family lacked able-bodied men and tacitly accepted Pang Zhishan's arrangement.
Shu Wanxiu plowed the three mu of rice paddies for about half an hour before taking a break, and the rest of the work was divided among the families.
After thoroughly examining the soil three times, Pang Zhishan finally nodded.
So someone else took charge of ridging the fields, dividing the three mu of paddy fields into long strips of roughly the same length and width.
Those with more land can be divided into two or three small rice paddies like this, while those with less land can be divided into one.
Shu Wanxiu memorized the location of her family's small rice paddy.
On April 7th, everyone carried rice seeds to the fields.
Shu Wanxiu took Shu Shouyi to the edge of the field. This was something a child couldn't do, so Shu Shouyi obediently squatted on the edge of the field and watched her.
She rolled up her trousers and, like everyone else, went down to the field to sow rice seeds.
Shu Wanxiu had absolutely no experience.
Even if you try to imitate someone perfectly, there will be times when you don't quite get it right. Whenever the older men around you see this, they will kindly help you correct it.
Sowing seeds is not difficult, especially for people like Shu Wanxiu, who only need to cultivate seedlings in two acres of land.
The temperature wasn't high this season, and she was slow. She stood barefoot in the mud for half a day, then went to the stream to get cold water to wash the mud off her legs. When the wind blew, Shu Wanxiu felt a little cold. She went home and drank a big bowl of hot water to warm up.
Afterwards, Shu Wanxiu did not rest. Taking advantage of the time before everyone started harvesting wheat and there was still some free time, she quickly went down the mountain to ask for advice on farming.
Chen Sanhe and Pang Zhishan naturally shared everything they knew.
But when he taught her everything step by step, Shu Wanxiu was often stunned.
It's clear that sometimes just talking about something without putting it into practice isn't enough.
Pang Zhishan said, "Don't learn anything else this month, just take good care of the rice seedlings."
After sowing the seeds, it's not enough to just wait for the rice seeds to sprout on their own.
There are plenty of things in the sky and on the ground eyeing these few seeds.
“You must scare away the birds, and beware of the mice that will eat your seed at night.”
There are even wild animals that specifically eat tender seedlings.
Not only do they have to guard against various animals, but they also have to pay close attention to the weather.
When it rains heavily, you should quickly go to the rice paddy and dig open the drain to prevent the newly sprouted rice seedlings from being drowned.
If there are two consecutive sunny days, you need to check the fields to see if they are dry. If there is no moisture, the rice seedlings will die from the sun.
Shu Wanxiu left the Pang family with an expression of 'I've learned something' on her face.
After that, he went to the rice paddies three times the next day and found that Pang Zhishan was not exaggerating.
Because she always ran into villagers every time she went there, it was clear that everyone was concerned about the growth of the rice seedlings.
As the days went by, the rice seedlings gradually grew taller under everyone's observation, and the wheat ears planted next to them became more and more yellow, eventually turning into a golden color, which was extremely beautiful.
This indicates that the wheat harvest is drawing ever closer.
Pang Zhishan and several elderly people in the village gathered together, observed the celestial phenomena, and chose an auspicious day. Then everyone began to harvest wheat.
Although Shu Wanxiu didn't have any wheat to harvest, she still went to the fields to help everyone.
Harvesting is hard work, and she didn't want to slack off, so she had back pain every morning when she woke up, and often felt like her back didn't belong to her anymore.
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