Chapter 38 Farming
Undeterred, she tried several more times, soon breaking out in a cold sweat and feeling a burning pain in her palms.
The ground beneath my feet had only been turned up in a few places, like a few unsightly and stubborn shavings on a bald man's head.
"Hey girl! Are you home?" Sister Wang's distinctive loud voice rang out, accompanied by knocking on the door.
Nan Zhiyi hurriedly dropped the shovel and went to open the door.
Sister Wang stood at the door with a small winnowing basket filled with various kinds of vegetable seeds wrapped in old newspapers.
"I've brought you seeds! It'll be too late if you don't plant them soon!"
She glanced at the "battlefield" behind Nan Zhiyi and immediately raised her eyebrows. "Oh my! My silly girl! You're using this thing to turn the ground?"
She strode into the courtyard, squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, weighed the shovel in her hand, and shook her head with a tsk-tsk, "This won't do! This shovel is only good for digging a hole and burying a mine, but turning over a vegetable garden? It's a waste of effort!"
Nan Zhiyi's face flushed, and she said awkwardly, "I...I can't do it..."
"Wait!" Without saying a word, Sister Wang stuffed the winnowing basket into Nan Zhiyi's arms and rushed home.
A little while later, she returned carrying a large shovel. "Use this! It's great!"
She planted the shovel in the ground, and the shovel head easily sank more than halfway into the soil.
Outside the courtyard wall, Sister Liu poked her head out: "What's all the commotion?"
She was also holding a half-sewn children's garment in her hand.
"Come and lend a hand!" Sister Wang called out. "Help the girl turn over the vegetable patch! She's so delicate, she can't handle this!"
Sister Liu put down her needlework. She was an honest woman and considered herself to be on good terms with Nan Zhiyi, so it was only right that she help out.
She went home and grabbed a rake. "Fine, I've got nothing better to do!"
The two sisters-in-law, who were used to farm work, were strong and quick.
Sister Wang swung her large shovel, the head digging deep into the soil, and a large clump of hardened earth rose up with a thud. Sister Liu's rake flew, breaking the large clump of earth into small pieces.
Nan Zhiyi stood aside, watching her two sisters-in-law with sweat on their foreheads and mud on their trouser legs, feeling both warm and embarrassed.
She ran into the house, poured two bowls of warm water, and brought them out. "Sister-in-law, take a rest and have some water!"
"No need to rest! Let's finish this while it's still hot!" said Sister Wang, her hands never stopping.
Feeling bad about it, Nan Zhiyi wanted to help, so she picked up a rake and tried to rake the soil evenly like Sister Liu.
However, she couldn't control her strength well. Either she raked too lightly, leaving the soil still coarse, or she used too much force, causing the rake teeth to snag on stones and almost tripping her, ruining the newly raked soil.
"Oh dear sister!" Aunt Liu quickly caught her, both amused and exasperated. "Put it down, put it down! With your skinny arms, don't swing the rake at your own feet! Just stand aside and watch!"
Nan Zhiyi blushed even more and stammered as she put down the rake.
Seeing her embarrassed look, Sister Wang laughed and said, "Alright! We appreciate your kind offer! You should just wait to sow the seeds; that delicate work suits you!"
In less than half an hour, the hard soil on both sides had been transformed into soft, flat, fertile soil.
Nan Zhiyi was filled with gratitude. She ran back into the house, took out a bag of White Rabbit milk candy and a bag of pastries, and wrapped them in oil paper in half.
She insisted on giving the treats to Sister Wang and Sister Liu, saying, "Sisters, give these to the children! You've really gone to so much trouble!"
Sister-in-law Wang's eyes crinkled into slits with laughter: "Oh my! This is such a precious thing! You're too kind, sister!"
Even so, the candy was held tightly in its hand.
Sister-in-law Liu smiled and didn't refuse: "Alright, then I'll thank your aunt on behalf of my son!"
Before leaving, the two sisters-in-law gave them a few more instructions on planting and shared their experience in growing vegetables.
The next day.
Nan Zhiyi borrowed a small hoe from Sister Liu's house and arranged the cucumber, green bean, and bok choy seeds given by Sister Wang, and the eggplant and chili seeds given by Sister Liu, in order.
Four shallow ridges on the left side of the courtyard.
A dish sprinkled with chili seeds.
A dish of bok choy.
A path leads to the planting of string beans along the fence.
The last step is planting cucumbers.
The small plot on the right also had four rows, and she planted an eggplant on one of them.
She hadn't decided yet whether to plant flowers or some other vegetables on the remaining few plots of land.
After turning over the vegetable garden and sowing the seeds, Nan Zhiyi diligently watered them.
Just as the vegetable garden began to sprout some greenery, Nan Zhiyi's good mood was quickly dampened by the gossip circulating in the family compound.
Someone saw Sister Wang and Sister Liu sweating profusely in her yard and then stealing a large bag of snacks.
Rumors quickly spread across the walls of every household.
Those sour comments initially drifted into Sister Wang's loud voice, only to be spat back by her.
But as Gu Xiao's time away from home grew longer, those voices became increasingly unrestrained.
"Tsk tsk, do you see that? Old Wang's wife and Old Liu's wife are practically begging to be the regimental commander's wife's maids!"
"Exactly! Turning over a patch of soil can kill you? What a fuss! You've come all this way with the army, yet you still act like a pampered young lady, so precious!"
"They're all eager to please with just a little something extra. How precious are those White Rabbit milk candies? They're just slipping through people's fingers. They're like servants waiting for tips!"
"Exactly, they're currying favor so hard, just waiting for some good stuff to slip through their fingers!"
These words, spoken through the courtyard wall, struck Nan Zhiyi's heart.
She bit her lip, pretending not to hear, and worked even harder to learn how to pickle vegetables and carefully render and preserve the pork she bought, trying her best to immerse herself in the everyday life.
That morning, the mountain mist had not yet dissipated.
Sister Wang, carrying a basket, banged on the courtyard gate: "Zhiyi! Come on! Let's go into the mountains to pick mushrooms and dig for wild vegetables! The first harvest of spring, they're so fresh!"
Sister Liu was also waiting outside the door with a basket on her shoulder and a smile on her face.
Nan Zhiyi, who was looking for something to do, readily agreed.
The three walked along the mountain path deeper into the forest, the crisp air invigorating them.
Sister-in-law Wang, with her sharp eyes, quickly spotted a few yellowish-brown straw mushrooms and excitedly called out to them.
Just as they were squatting down to pick the fruit, several military wives, also carrying baskets, walked over from around the bend in the mountain path.
Leading the group was Sun's wife, a well-known gossipmonger in the residential compound, along with a few others who also loved to gossip.
They spotted the three people in the distance, slowed their pace, exchanged glances, and pointed and whispered without any attempt to hide their smirk, their voices just loud enough to drift over on the mountain breeze.
"...See? They're all stuck together again."
"She tills the land like a maid, picks mushrooms like a servant, she serves you so well!"
"If a little sugar leaks through someone's fingers, their bones feel two ounces lighter!"
"Pah! You're a disgrace to our military families!"
Sister Wang stood up abruptly, dropping the straw mushrooms in her hand back to the ground.
Her face flushed red, and her fiery temper flared instantly. She put her hands on her hips and yelled, "Sun Er's wife! You're talking nonsense! I can play with whoever I want! It's none of your business!"
Are you jealous of Zhiyi's good looks and generous personality? If you're so capable, why don't you look like her and be just as outgoing! I'd be happy doing it! It's none of your business if I'm a maid!
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