Chapter 88
Shu Wanxiu was slightly bewildered when she was suddenly told that she didn't need to watch over the drying grain today.
"Your aunt will take care of your millet today and tomorrow. You only need to come once in the morning and once in the evening. You don't need to come at noon to take my place when I go home for lunch."
Chen Sanhe gestured with his chin toward his home, "Xiaolian will bring my lunch at noon."
Shu Wanxiu didn't make any other arrangements and was a little unsure how to spend her free time.
“Auntie, haven’t we finished harvesting our grain? Let me dry the grain with you!” She reached for a bamboo broom that was placed behind Chen Sanhe.
The grain has just been spread out; there's no need to turn it over yet.
But she had already seen a layer of yellowish-green rice stalks floating on top of her rice, so she thought of taking a broom and sweeping it up.
The rice is threshed entirely by farmers pinching small handfuls of grain from their hands and threshing them in a mixing bucket.
Repeated threshing not only knocks the rice grains out, but also knocks down some rice stalks, which get mixed in with the rice. When drying the rice, you have to use a bamboo broom to gently sweep away the rice stalks layer by layer.
Afterwards, the rice is dried and then placed in a windmill to blow away the dust and any remaining rice stalks that cannot be swept out.
Sometimes, when people are too diligent, it can be quite frustrating.
Chen Sanhe snatched the broom from her hand, stomped his foot, and scolded, "You child! Why can't you stay still?"
"You're getting married soon, what are you doing cooped up doing all this farm work? Your dowry is all prepared!"
With her hands free, Shu Wanxiu could only stand still and honestly answer Chen Sanhe's question: "Most of them are ready."
According to the customs of Fangyuan County, the wedding clothes and veil were prepared by Xun Yi's side.
The bride's side is required to make tables, cabinets, bowls, dishes, camphor wood chests, clothes, bedding, handkerchiefs, face towels, shoes, socks, a fertility bucket, and various other miscellaneous items.
Shu Yanrong and Xu Zhen had consulted with her about the various items she needed for her wedding and accompanied her to the county to buy and transport them back.
We had to buy new cotton from a shop and have a cotton carder come to our house to make the quilts.
She bought fifteen catties of cotton, and the cotton fluffer spent two days making two sets of quilts, one thin and one thick.
The quilt cover and bed sheet were sewn by skilled women in the village—the wives of Pang Qi and Pang Mu.
In addition, she made three sets of clothes and three pairs of shoes and socks by hand.
The thought of making clothes brought a warm feeling to Shu Wanxiu's heart.
According to custom, she only needed to make one set of clothes for herself and Xun Yi, to wear after the wedding. However, Xun Yi specifically pointed out that she should not forget to make a complete set for Shu Shouyi.
On the day of the betrothal, Xun Yi's betrothal gifts included a dowry, as well as fabrics, jewelry, and other items. To her shame, the silver she had saved after settling down was not enough to purchase so many items. She was able to purchase almost everything thanks to the ten taels of silver in the dowry.
"Okay, that's good."
Chen Sanhe counted on his fingers and said, "The wedding day is in seven days, right?"
Lately, when the village women see her, they often ask how many days are left until their wedding. Shu Wanxiu is quite used to it, nodding her head without being particularly shy.
"Then you shouldn't stay here even more."
Chen Sanhe leaned his shoulder against hers and whispered in her ear, "Although you have fair skin and a delicate complexion, you should still try to avoid getting too much sun exposure."
"Raise her to be fair-skinned, so that she can have a grand and beautiful wedding day."
After listening to Chen Sanhe's earnest advice, Shu Wanxiu did indeed leave the threshing ground.
Halfway there, Shu Shouyi said he wanted to go visit Uncle Xun, so she let him into the blacksmith shop and went back to her residence alone.
It's such a beautiful day; we can't just sit around doing nothing and waste the time.
She looked around the house, inside and out, and decided to roll up her sleeves and start cleaning.
Look, there are spider webs under the eaves. The broom is tied to a long bamboo pole, so we can lift it up and sweep it away.
The kitchen contained tables, chairs, and benches, which were taken down the mountain one by one, washed clean with gourd pulp, and left to air dry under the eaves.
The buckets and wooden basins were emptied of water, turned upside down, and rinsed thoroughly.
The dowry items, such as quilt covers and clothing, were also soaked in a wooden basin, washed briefly, and then dried in the sun.
She tidied up the wooden kitchen and chicken coop, making the whole house spotless.
However, she felt that she had forgotten something, and stood by the stove, racking her brains.
"Ah!" she suddenly exclaimed, slapping her thigh, "I almost broke my promise!"
Since the person was at home, the bedroom was unlocked. Inside, all the Shu family's grain, as well as the dowry and betrothal gifts prepared during this period, were stored.
She hurried over there, but when she reached the bedroom door, she turned back and took the wooden basin that had just been dried.
"I wonder if one pot will be enough..."
Never mind! Let's fill a basin and go down the mountain to borrow Aunt Chen's stone mortar and pestle to pound the rice.
This is the rice that was brought into my home the day before yesterday; it's newly dried this year.
Each household has a designated area for drying grain in the threshing ground. The Shu family's harvest from their two mu of land is divided into two batches for drying, and this is the first batch dried this year.
"Where are you headed in such a hurry?"
Shu Wanxiu was heading down the mountain when Xun Yi suddenly appeared out of the bushes by the roadside as if by magic.
Shu Shouyi also peeked out from behind him: "Auntie, where are you going?"
Shu Wanxiu held the wooden basin with one hand, and used the other hand to pat her chest. She was really startled by the two people who suddenly appeared.
After calming herself down, she told the truth: "I'm going down the mountain to borrow rice-pounding tools to pound this rice and make rice cakes."
Last year, when everyone helped them repair their house, Shu Wanxiu promised that this year, after the new rice harvest, she would make some rice cakes to thank everyone according to the local custom of Fangyuan County.
Almost a year has passed. If she hadn't suddenly remembered today, and had just kept forgetting about it, people might have thought she was untrustworthy!
Xun Yi guessed that she would go to Chen Sanhe to borrow it. He knew the size of their rice pounding bucket, so he said directly, "Why don't you go to my place? My rice pounding bucket is much bigger than Aunt Chen's, and it may even be the biggest in the whole village."
Xun Yi has been eating grain for years. He has a large appetite, and buying white rice for a long time is not cost-effective, so he always buys rice with the husk on.
Because he was strong, he could pound a lot of rice at once without getting tired, so his rice pounding bucket was the largest in the whole village, unlike many other families in the village who used small rice pounding buckets and had to pound the rice for the whole family in two batches to make enough for the day.
Hearing Xun Yi say that such a pot of rice could be pounded in two or three batches using his rice pounding bucket, Shu Wanxiu was very tempted and changed her mind, agreeing to the deal.
Xun Yi took the wooden basin she was struggling to hold and strode forward.
Shu Wanxiu held Shu Shouyi's hand and followed behind to keep up with him.
Shu Shouyi hurried along, his legs straining with effort, and he no longer had the energy to ask his aunt if there was lunch for him today.
Alas! He was having a good time playing at Uncle Xun's house, but Uncle Xun saw that it was almost noon and specially sent him home to have lunch with his aunt!
But hey! Having rice cakes to eat seems pretty good too.
He's never eaten rice cake before. If his aunt makes some delicious rice cake later... hehe! He'll definitely be the first to taste it.
Shu Shouyi misunderstood; this rice cake could not be made and eaten on the same day.
Upon arriving at Xun Yi's house, Xun Yi placed the Shu family's wooden basin on the side of the house, where it was shaded by trees. He then went to the kitchen and carried out a rice pounding bucket, a pestle, and a chair for Shu Wanxiu to sit on, placing them all under the shade of the trees.
"Pounding rice is tiring, please sit down for a moment, we'll take turns pounding."
These words made Shu Wanxiu look at her with new respect.
Has this person actually agreed to let me share the work today?
In the past, no one could take away the job he was good at.
She sat down with Shu Shouyi in her arms, half believing and half doubting, and watched as Xun Yi poured one-third of the rice into the rice pounding bucket, picked up the pestle and pounded the rice up and down with even force.
Today, while forging ironware in the furnace, Xun Yi was still dressed in shorts, just like when he helped her harvest rice a while ago.
At this moment, his entire bronze arm was exposed, and with every movement, the lines on his arm became even clearer and more distinct.
Upon first seeing this scene, Shu Wanxiu felt embarrassed and tried to turn her gaze away, looking to the side.
But there was really nothing else to see around her, and with Shu Shouyi in her arms keeping his eyes fixed on Xun Yi, she... became a little bolder.
"Thump, thump, thump."
Each time the force is applied, the rice husk, rice pounding bucket, and rice pounding bucket come into contact, producing a dull thud.
After a while, some white, hulled rice grains gradually appeared in the bucket.
Shu Wanxiu watched this repetitive action with interest until a bead of sweat dripped down to the edge of the bucket.
"I'm sorry."
Xun Yi was naturally fond of cleanliness, and he felt it was unacceptable for the husked grain to have sweat on it.
He had just taken Shu Shouyi home, so he took off the towel he had been wearing around his neck to wipe his sweat. Now, wiping the sweat from his brow, he said to Shu Wanxiu, "I'll go get a towel."
"Oh!" It's not pleasant to have sweat all over your forehead, so Shu Wanxiu nodded repeatedly.
As soon as Xun Yi left, she stood up and placed Shu Shouyi, whom she was carrying, on a chair.
"It's your aunt's turn to pound the rice. You sit quietly."
She rolled up her sleeves a little and picked up the large, thick pestle that Xun Yi had been holding to pound rice.
After being hit seven or eight times, she realized something was wrong.
These larger rice pounding buckets come with larger rice pounding mallets, which are not only difficult to grip but also very heavy.
People with less strength... can't use it.
After about twenty breaths, Xun Yi went to get a clean towel, washed his hands after wiping his sweat, returned to the rice pounding bucket, and took the rice pounding mallet from Shu Wanxiu's hand.
"It's my turn."
Shu Wanxiu was already sweating profusely from the weather and the heavy mallet. Although the skin and flesh of her hands were taut, she had used up all her strength.
Xun Yi reached out and grabbed the club, which slipped from his hand.
He took it and immediately resumed his rhythmic strikes with ease. Shu Wanxiu suddenly realized that Xun Yi's hands were very large, because there was still room for him to hold the club with one hand.
"Take a break, I'll need your help sifting the rice later."
It's unclear who helped whom.
Shu Wanxiu, feeling ashamed of herself, sat back down in her original seat.
Thankfully, Shu Shouyi was a considerate and kind child, and didn't ask at that moment, "Auntie, are you done pounding?"
This time, when she sat down, Shu Wanxiu's gaze was no longer fixed on the same spot as before.
Just now she was only focused on watching the rice pounding process, but now she quietly raised her eyes, her gaze wandering over Xun Yi's hands and arms.
Observe how the palm exerts downward vertical force, and observe where the muscles bulge and contract during the strike.
Even when she was bored, she compared the skin tone of the back of her hand with the bronze skin tone of Xun Yi's arm.
hiss--
This is really...very dark.
She thought wistfully: I wonder if men need to lighten their skin before marriage.
Brother Xun, can your complexion become fair and tender in just one or two days, or even seven or eight days?
But she also found it a little funny when she thought about it.
Since Xun Yi met her, his skin tone has always been a similar bronze color. If he doesn't sunbathe for a while, he will develop a fair complexion.
Shu Wanxiu measured his eyebrows, neck, and arms with her eyes. Just imagining that his skin was similar in color to the back of her hand made her chuckle.
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