"The watermelons have all been harvested, but the vines haven't been pulled up yet. There are still some left to harvest. Judging from the weather, they won't freeze anytime soon, so there's no rush. I haven't started harvesting them yet."
Cheng Rui had already rolled up his sleeves, ready to get out of bed.
"No rush, that's right. Now that we're here, would we leave any for you? We'll be quick, we'll get them all in no time."
Cheng An also joked,
"That's my sister, this glutton will do anything as long as there's food."
With her own mother present, it was really awkward to use such a simple phrase; I wanted to say a few more polite words. Tang Sumei, in turn, didn't stand on ceremony.
"Just let them do it. It's such a small job, what's a big deal for these young men?"
It's simple to see that a mother's love and care seems to only last a short while before it loses its effectiveness.
"Second Aunt, they finally get a break, how can they start working right away? Besides, it's just a little bit of work, I can finish it myself in a few days, right?"
Tang Sumei herself went to the fields.
"Let me see what you've planted."
You wouldn't believe it, over there, they say the land is vast and sparsely populated, but there's simply no time to cultivate it. There's only a small plot of land in front of the house, and there are a lot of stones and such, so nothing grows well. It took two years to grow enough vegetables to eat.
"You little rascal, you've clearly never farmed before, yet you've planted everything perfectly in this yard."
Seeing this, Jian Dan didn't stand on ceremony anymore and followed along to introduce the product.
"No way, I'm lazy, I just do things the easiest way possible."
Those seedlings were planted with them in the spring. The watermelon seeds were sown directly. And those few rows of sweet stalks, since they like to eat them, I sowed them all there.
Even the leftover seedlings in the corners and edges were planted there; maybe because the sunlight is good here, they're all growing quite well.
Hearing her speak so casually, Tang Sumei felt like her heart was in turmoil. A city girl, who had just lost her parents and relatives, came to the countryside alone and came to this poor and remote place. The hardships she had endured were unimaginable to outsiders.
"Okay, you're better than all of us. This garden of vegetables is enough for you to eat."
A simple chuckle.
"Right?"
In a few more days, I'll harvest all these radishes and cabbages, and then I'll have vegetables for winter.
"Do you only have radishes and cabbage here in winter?"
The supplies that are insufficient on the border are supplied by the troops stationed here. Naturally, they are all common vegetables, and in winter they can supply some green vegetables, but even that is limited.
"I have quite a lot here, vegetables that we can't eat in the summer: squash, zucchini, eggplant, potatoes, green beans, old cucumbers. I have a cellar downstairs where it's cool, so these vegetables can be stored for quite a long time."
When all the vegetables were in season in the summer, I also dried some eggplant, potatoes, and radishes, and pickled some small pickled vegetables, leftover cucumbers, salted garlic, and garlic eggplant.
In a few days, I'll go find some villagers to trade for some pickled mustard greens. Once all the cabbages are harvested, I'll pickle the larger ones and dry the smaller ones, or freeze them when the ground freezes. They'll all taste great in winter.
Tang Sumei was genuinely surprised.
"You're really something else, making it so elaborate! You even know how to pickle vegetables and make sauerkraut?"
"......Won't,"
Simplicity is also a kind of helplessness.
"It's not that I can't, I can make pickled vegetables, but sauerkraut just doesn't taste right. I tried it once and gave up. In winter I always ask the villagers for help."
And that soybean paste, I don't know how to make either, but I don't eat much of it, so I usually trade with people in the village for it.
"Don't say that. It took me many years to learn this. You're just a young girl, and you've managed to live like this. You're much better than me. What more could you ask for?"
"Hehe, really?"
After Cheng Jia transmigrated, there were only a few elders around her. She didn't interact with them much at that time; they mostly gave her gifts or something.
Cheng Jin didn't have time either, and he could count the number of times he came over on one hand.
Cheng Chao is an older brother, and he comes quite often, but since he's a man, he can see if there's any work to be done, but it's uncertain if he'll see anything else.
Being praised by an elder made Jian Dan a little embarrassed, and she unconsciously started to act silly.
"I don't know how either, but since I'm already here, I have to adapt."
I learned all of this from the villagers after I arrived. When I came, it was almost harvest time, and we had nothing. Things only got better the following year. I just followed what they did.
Second Aunt, I even learned how to make dandelion and potato pickles from them. You can try them later. They were stingy with the oil, but I was generous. I even secretly added some beef!
The last sentence was whispered in Tang Sumei's ear, and he chuckled to himself.
"This is it; none of their versions taste as good as mine."
Seeing that she was unusually childlike, Tang Sumei didn't hold back her praise.
"Amazing, truly amazing! I'll definitely have to try your cooking later."
"Uh-huh!"
Cheng Rui and his companion had also familiarized themselves with the area. After weeding the entire row, they found their old spot and immediately started calling out like children again.
"Sis, sis, you planted sweet sorghum for us again?"
"Ah, the sickles are in the woodshed. You can cut them yourselves. If you can take some with you, take some. I'll put the rest in the cellar before they freeze, so you can eat them when you come back."
"ah!"
Cheng Rui hurried back to get a sickle. When he returned, Cheng An had already grabbed several sickles, and the mother and children were already eating. He immediately started shouting.
"You guys are so inconsiderate! Why didn't you wait for me?"
Jian Dan and Tang Sumei burst into laughter.
The garden had already been partially cleaned up. Several people worked together, and by almost evening, they had cleaned up everything except for the sugarcane, which wasn't in a hurry, and the cabbages and radishes that weren't ready yet.
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