This is Jian Dan's second autumn. Watching the educated youth busy with their work, Jian Dan has a feeling she can't quite describe.
Wang Hongmei and her friends arrived early, almost as soon as they finished planting. Except for the vegetables in the garden which were a little late, they didn't delay anything else. Although Wang Hongmei and the others weren't good with food, they kept a close eye on what they ate every day.
In Li Yan's words, she is much more meticulous than when she was working.
The last group, including Chen Hongli and Ling Weidong, really just needed time to get there. The autumn harvest was just two days away, and there was no time to plant anything. Seeing the older educated youth busy, they belatedly followed suit.
The simple vegetable garden was half harvested, but after planting more cabbages, it was almost full again.
If you're in a hurry, you can harvest the cabbages now. Many families don't harvest them until they're almost frozen, which is about a month from now until the ground freezes.
Moreover, the autumn season is mostly characterized by clear skies and pleasant weather, and villagers who are careful with their money know that cabbages can grow quite well in this weather.
Although this wasn't what Jian Dan had considered, she did indeed have to tend to this garden of vegetables little by little.
There were also some crops that were nearing the end of their growth, and the green beans were almost withered, but the yield of these things was still quite good. There were still some half-grown ones on the vines, hidden under the leaves, still green and bright. In the spirit of not wasting anything, she picked almost all of them.
There are still a few eggplant plants left; pull them off.
There are still a few chili pepper plants left; pluck them.
I deliberately left two cucumber plants; well, the old cucumber plants are almost ready, so I'll harvest them.
Pick all the squash, gourds, and horned gourds that grow around the garden, then throw the vines on an open ground where they will dry in two days.
The autumn harvest had just finished, and it had only been a couple of days. My lower back was still very sore, but for the sake of my small body, I dawdled through the work for more than a day. The kitchen was small and couldn't hold much.
The cellar was opened to let in some fresh air, so all these things were piled up under the eaves: a bunch of pumpkins of all sizes, more than twenty hanging gourds, and a few horned gourds that were a bit old, but there were still quite a few left.
They also harvested two large winter melons and several old cucumber seeds.
A small pile of sunflower heads was simply placed in a winnowing basket to dry. Once dried and roasted, they would make a decent snack. The yield was low, and the heads weren't very big, but fortunately, the harvest was good, and the quantity was acceptable. I estimate I could get a few pounds of sunflower seeds.
After living there for a year, Jian Dan had fully understood the drawbacks of the small space. In the summer, she specially asked Liu Weimin to find someone to help dig a cellar. It wasn't big, only about two meters square, but it could still store a lot of things, which was more than enough for her to use by herself.
Even if she could cheat, she still had to maintain appearances, right? What if someone ate here one day and asked her where the preserved vegetables were? She couldn't just conjure them up out of thin air, could she?
That would be terrifying.
The location is very convenient; it's in the innermost corner of the kitchen, where we usually keep firewood.
Against the wall, there was a thick wooden plank with thick iron wires embedded on both sides. When you lifted it up, there was a wooden ladder underneath.
It's more than two meters below, and it's similar to other villagers' houses. Once you lift it up, it's pitch black, and the temperature is noticeably lower than on the ground.
They are all experienced villagers, and the walls of the cellar have been reinforced.
It's obvious she's a clean person, so I figured she wouldn't like it if I just put it on the ground. I guessed she liked the shelf in the corner of the kang (heated brick bed) in her room, so I deliberately put several rows of wooden shelves against the wall. This immediately multiplied the usable space several times over, and it made it easy to find things.
The wooden frame is wide and made of thick wood. Although it's not the best wood, it's sturdy enough and all-natural. The workmanship isn't particularly fine, but that doesn't affect its practicality, which is very thoughtful.
It perfectly suits a simple mind.
Looking at it now, I'm even more satisfied with everything about it.
After ventilating for a while, Jian Dan went downstairs to take a look and found a lamp, which he placed in a corner of the shelf. He couldn't really be groping in the dark.
Working with great enthusiasm, she had completely forgotten that she could cheat. Instead of using a rope, she simply found a small basket that she rarely used, filled it halfway, and carried it down her back.
After finally unloading the basket, I took out the contents one by one and arranged them on the shelf. The small cellar now had a touch of life. Watching it fill up little by little, the simple joy in my heart gradually overflowed. Perhaps, this is the simple happiness?
The items on top look numerous, but arranged on these layers of three-dimensional shelves, they appear quite small. All the day's harvest wasn't even enough to fill one shelf. Even I, Jian Dan, am amazed.
"How much stuff can this hold?"
However, looking at it this way, there's no need to specially leave space for the cabbage. It's simple to just climb up and leave only a little bit of the potatoes and sweet potatoes outside, moving the rest down below.
Of course, the locally grown watermelons are even more suitable to be placed here.
To be honest, the temperature down here is much better for preserving food than up here. Once the lid is on, it becomes a sealed space, so there's no need to worry about spoilage.
In winter, the inside keeps things fresh while the outside freezes them—a completely natural refrigerator/freezer.
Thinking about it this way, Jian Dan even laughed at herself.
The garden has been mostly tidied up. We simply cut down the sweet stalks from the base of the wall, put some into the cellar, and left some on top to entertain our friends. Grandma Liu said that these things were actually grown a few years ago, but these days even eating is a problem, and no one has the time to grow them anymore.
It doesn't quench thirst or hunger; frankly, it's just something to amuse children.
These past few days have probably been spent cleaning up the garden. We just finished cleaning up here when the village announced that we'd start going up the mountain tomorrow.
Upon receiving the news, Li Yan rushed over excitedly.
"Little Dandan, are we going up the mountain tomorrow?"
"How many times have you been there? Why are you still so excited?"
It's simple that I don't understand. When a few of them go up the mountain, they can at least have some extra help, but this is a group activity where there's no opportunity for that. How can you still be excited about it?
"I'm looking for chestnuts,"
"Okay, let's see. If there are too many people, we'll avoid them and not push against them."
Having a large number of people has both advantages and disadvantages.
A large group of people acting together is safer.
But it's all the same. There's only so much stuff around. If you find a tree, it's the same whether five people share it or twenty people share it. Although whoever picks it up owns it, the whole point of all the effort is to find more food to supplement our winter supplies or give the children a snack. Nobody wants to go back empty-handed.
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