Chapter 52
The next day, apart from one adult and all the children who stayed at home, the rest of Shu Yanrong's family came to Shu Wanxiu's house early in the morning to help with plowing the fields.
"Is this the plow and rake we bought yesterday?" As soon as they arrived at Shu Wanxiu's place, while Shu Wanxiu was busy pouring water for them, Shu Yanrong couldn't sit still and turned around halfway.
He stopped under the eaves and peered into the half-open main room, asking a question.
"yes."
After paying for Xun Yi's services yesterday, Shu Wanxiu put the plow and harrow into the main room.
She was in the kitchen when she heard Shu Yanrong ask her question. She quickly wiped the water off her hands from washing the dishes and ran over to push open all the doors to the main room.
"It's a good thing," Shu Yanrong said after touching it, looking at it, and lifting it up to check its weight.
Like his hoe and iron pot, Xun Yi's plow and rake were made of solid materials and with meticulous workmanship.
It's sharp where it needs to be, and smooth where it needs to be gripped.
Even with the most discerning eye, Shu Yanrong couldn't find any fault with it.
Seeing the good farm tools, he was more and more pleased as he looked at them, and couldn't wait to try them out to see if they were easy to use.
"Stop resting! Get out of bed now," he said to the people outside.
Following Shu Yanrong's words, the group of people quickly moved to another location.
The plot of land near the stream had already been partially plowed, so Shu Wanxiu decided to bring them here to finish cultivating it.
The results of the trial were, of course, excellent.
Compared to using a hoe to turn the soil, plowing is many times faster.
Shu Yanrong and his two sons became the main force, while the women only went to the fields to pick up wheat roots.
At noon, Shu Wanxiu cooked a pot of thick porridge, and everyone ate and rested for a while.
In the latter half of the day, Shu Wanxiu insisted on going to the field to pull the plow.
This was a matter of course, and Shu Yanrong had no reason to refuse.
I just watched from the sidelines, and when I saw that she was almost exhausted, I would immediately go and take her place.
She spent two days and a half turning over the two acres of land with a hoe but made little progress. With the help of others and the purchase of a plow, she finished cultivating the land in a day and a half.
After that, she naturally had no free time. After finishing her own family matters, she still had to go help her uncle's family.
Finally, including the days she spent turning the soil with a hoe, she was busy for a full ten days.
She didn't have time to rest for half a day because she had to rush to finish fertilizing and transplanting rice seedlings.
The compost pit she dug herself behind the house has been filled with compost for several months.
She scooped out the fertilizer that had been composting for months, borrowed someone's fertilizer bucket, and carried it down the mountain, one load at a time, to pour it into the fields.
...
Wuli Village and Wupai Village started planting rice seedlings one after the other. After Shu Yanrong and his team finished turning over the soil, they didn't have time to rest. They had to fertilize and transplant the rice seedlings right away.
This time, the main force members could no longer spare the time to help Shu Wanxiu.
It's quite a burden for one person to plant rice seedlings in two acres of paddy fields and then carry them from the paddy fields to their own fields.
During a family chat late at night, Shu Tingyi said, "Dad, why don't you send me to help Sister Wanxiu?"
"you?"
Shu Yanrong raised his eyelids to look directly at his youngest daughter.
Back in the north, Shu Wanxiu didn't do any chores at home, but she learned to weave cloth from a young age. Her daughter, on the other hand, didn't do much work and was practically spoiled growing up.
"Can you endure this hardship?"
Faced with skepticism, Shu Tingyi straightened her back and said firmly, "I can!"
...Even Xu Zhen didn't quite believe what he was saying.
But the couple exchanged a glance and felt that even if Shu Tingyi was lazy in the fields, she could still help with things like cooking at home.
So the next day at dawn, Shu Tingyi, carrying the clothes she had packed, was escorted by Shu Chenglin to the entrance of Wupai Village.
"Hehe, don't worry, big brother. I'll go home by myself once Wanxiu's rice seedlings are planted!"
Shu Chenglin couldn't quite understand why she was so excited, so he could only convey his parents' instructions: "They said they don't expect you to help much, but at least don't cause trouble for Wanxiu."
"Okay, okay!" Shu Tingyi was impatient with all this, gave a perfunctory reply, and then skipped away.
Shu Wanxiu was very grateful that her uncles had sent Tingyi to help her despite their busy schedules.
But she didn't have much time to express her gratitude.
Fortunately, Shu Tingyi didn't mind.
After all, although she didn't tell anyone, she knew very well why she was helping Shu Wanxiu.
You should know that if someone who is not usually diligent is eager to do something, it must be because it allows them to avoid being lazy.
In Shu Tingyi's view, staying at home during the rice planting season means she has to be responsible for the family's meals and help her sisters-in-law take care of all the children in their families.
Putting aside how much effort it takes to prepare three meals a day for the whole family, just the children alone are enough to give her a headache.
The five or six kids in the house are all very lively and perhaps a bit noisy, unlike Shu Shouyi who is honest and quiet.
When she came to Shu Wanxiu's place, she could do as much work as she wanted. Her parents couldn't control her. Sister Wanxiu was kind and gentle, and she wouldn't ask her to do anything or how much work to do.
Hehe, just thinking about this kind of life makes me happy.
It has to be said that lazy people are incredibly clever when it comes to finding ways to be lazy.
Things progressed exactly as Shu Tingyi had planned.
Shu Wanxiu was genuinely embarrassed to ask her to do anything. She had been in Wupai Village all morning, and Shu Tingyi had only helped pull up a dozen or so rice seedlings.
The villagers carried bundles of rice seedlings to the fields for heavy work, which the villagers then did for them.
Shu Tingyi wasn't very fast. After finishing pulling up the rice seedlings, she played with Shu Shouyi for a while before saying she was going home to help make lunch.
Shu Wanxiu straightened up and gently told her where the grain was, and gave her the key to unlock the door.
After saying that, she said with eyes full of gratitude, "Thanks to you, Tingyi."
Feeling grateful, Shu Tingyi felt a little embarrassed and took Shu Shouyi home with her.
After they disappeared from sight, Lin Xinghua, who was planting rice seedlings in the field next to Shu Wanxiu, gossiped, "Your family used to live a good life, right? Your cousin doesn't seem to do much work back then either."
Shu Wanxiu said helplessly, "Auntie, you're joking. We all come from humble backgrounds."
"It's just that we're young, so we're not very skilled at the work."
The Shu family did indeed have a glorious past, but their descendants did not achieve much, and gradually declined.
However, there's no need to bring up old stories and discuss them with Lin Xinghua.
Last time, Lin Xinghua and her colleagues were so busy harvesting that they barely had time to breathe. This time, her two daughters, who had married and lived elsewhere, came back to help with the rice planting. With much more time available, Lin Xinghua had some leisure to chat with people.
One moment she was telling Shu Wanxiu that her cousins looked alike, and the next she was asking Shu Tingyi if her marriage was arranged and what kind of husband's family she wanted.
The fragmented progress of Shu Wanxiu was further delayed.
Fortunately, Lin Xinghua realized it herself later and shut her mouth in embarrassment.
...
Although Shu Tingyi came here to slack off, she actually helped Shu Wanxiu.
Not only did Shu Tingyi take care of all the cooking, but Shu Shouyi was also constantly under her wing.
Tingyi is a rather lively person. When the introverted Shu Shouyi is with her, it's like he's made a friend, and he smiles much more.
Shu Tingyi spent her first day in Wupai Village playing around.
That night, she shared a bed with Shu Wanxiu and the others, hoping to hear any interesting anecdotes about Wupai Village. However, Shu Wanxiu was too tired and fell asleep after only a few words, much to her disappointment.
The next day, Shu Wanxiu felt reassured and let Shu Shouyi take care of the rice seedlings while she went to pull, bundle, and plant them.
Shu Tingyi strolled around for half an hour and saw the whole village of Wupai. Although she didn't find anything interesting, she picked some fresh dandelions, which the three of them enjoyed for lunch.
In the afternoon, Shu Tingyi began to feel that wandering around the village was not interesting and that she was being too conspicuous, so she went to the fields to help Shu Wanxiu plant rice seedlings.
Even though she didn't go particularly fast, she still managed to squeeze in quite a bit of time in the afternoon.
In five days, the rice seedlings in the two acres of fields were almost completely planted.
Shu Wanxiu finally had a moment to catch her breath.
That evening, thinking that Shu Tingyi had been here for so many days and she hadn't really entertained her, she took out the last of the salted fish and made a steamed fish dish.
"Sister Wanxiu~"
After finishing the meal and washing the dishes, Shu Tingyi clung to Shu Wanxiu in a sticky embrace.
"Could I stay with you for another day or two? I'm so reluctant to leave you all!"
How could Shu Wanxiu possibly say no? She used to envy Shu Tingyi, but now she envy her less and likes her more.
"You can stay as long as you want."
Shu Tingyi smiled slyly and actually stayed for two more days, until she guessed that the rice seedlings in her ten acres of fields were almost finished before she went back.
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Author's Note: There's a little bit more to come, I'll post it later. [kiss][shrug]
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