Chapter 321 Sweet Potato Porridge with Steamed Buns
Other households only had one mu of land, and the next day they got lazy and didn't want to work. They stayed home and did nothing, since no one was watching them. They figured they could plant it again in a few days. They worked for more than ten days straight without rest. They had never been so tired in their lives.
This is much more tiring than studying for exams to gain official rank or becoming an official in the imperial court.
They need to rest for ten days to half a month to recover.
The Xiao family members went to the fields to weed early in the morning as usual.
Yun Zhaoxue gave them several bottles of herbicide, two backpack sprayers, and several manual sprayers. She taught them at home how to mix the herbicide with water and how to spray it, and then let them take it to the field to use it properly.
The method is very simple: spray the grass with a measured amount of medicine and water, and after three days, once the weeds have completely withered and most of the medicine has decomposed, you can then turn it into the soil as fertilizer, thus saving the effort of weeding.
Meng Dahu and his gang of brothers came with hoes to help them weed and turn the soil. They were puzzled when they saw them spraying 'water' on the grass.
“Brother Xiao, are you worried that the grass won’t grow well and that you want it to grow taller than a person? The more you water it, the faster it grows. How can you plant crops then? Just do it the same way as before: first remove the grass, then plow it once, and then use a hoe to break up the hard clods of soil before you can start planting crops.”
“This is not ordinary water. My third sister-in-law said it’s water that can kill grass. If you spray it on the grass, it will die and you won’t need to weed it.”
As Meng Dahu and his companions approached, they smelled a pungent medicinal odor, which made them feel nauseous. They quickly held their breath, covered their noses, and turned away.
No wonder they all wore blue cloths over their faces.
"It's too pungent, is this stuff poisonous?"
Xiao Xuanwu walked to their side with a push-button showerhead, filled it with water, and sprayed it forcefully onto the grass in front of them. "It's poisonous, the kind of poison that can kill grass. People can't eat it; if they do, they'll die."
"There's something that can poison grass? This is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing. I've learned something new."
They had only heard that poisonous plants could kill people.
Meng Dahu saw the women of the Xiao family weeding a patch of land with few weeds, and they had almost finished.
They have already irrigated the fields; the next step is to plow them.
"Shall we help plow the land?"
Xiao Xuance said: "No need, you all go and do your own work, we can manage."
Meng Dahu said, "We're taking a break today, no need to rush. We came here specifically to help."
Xiao Liuzi chimed in, "Yes, Young Master Xiao, we have offended you before. We have nothing good to offer as an apology, but all we have is our strength. We will work for you as our compensation."
After Xiao Xuance finished spraying a whole box of medicine, he needed to dilute the medicine and water again. He carried the empty box to the edge of the field, where there was a small pond two fields away where he could dilute the medicine.
He said to Meng Dahu and the others, "If you have any injuries, take good care of them."
Meng Dahu asked curiously, "How did the young master figure that out?"
"I could tell at a glance. Go back and recover from your injury."
"In order to keep us working, they didn't dare to kill us. No bones were broken, just flesh wounds, nothing serious, and we're used to it."
Meng Dahu insisted on staying to work for the Xiao family.
Just as they were about to use manpower to pull the plow, Wang Youcai led the ox over and said, "Young Master Xiao, the ox is back. I bought the ox and brought it here specifically for you to use for plowing. You can use it first, and I will use it after you are done."
Meng Dahu and his group rushed over and snatched the ox away. Wang Youcai thought they were going to take his ox, and shouted anxiously, "Hey, hey, what are you doing? Don't take my ox! This is my ox, I'm giving it to Prince Xiao, not to you!"
As he spoke, he lunged forward and snatched the rope back.
Guo Ba tossed the ox rope to Xiao Liuzi and stopped Wang Youcai, explaining, "Uncle, Uncle, don't get excited. We're helping Prince Xiao with his work, and now we're leading the ox to the field to plow."
Wang Youcai didn't believe it, since the two sides had already fallen out. He looked at Xiao Xuance and only believed it when Xiao nodded.
Meng Dahu and his brothers all came from poor families. Even though they didn't own cattle, they had seen cattle in the village before.
Oxen that can work in the fields are all in their prime, with well-proportioned bodies, well-developed forequarters, strong and powerful limbs, and large and sturdy hooves.
Although this cow looks young, it is too thin and weak. It is obviously malnourished and its breathing is too loud. It is clearly a sick cow.
Sick cattle are not suitable for working in the fields, and may die from overwork. They are usually sold to slaughterhouses for less than half the market price.
"Is this ox worth thirty taels? It's not even worth ten taels of silver."
Wang Youcai knew that the city defense camp didn't do business at a loss. This ox was definitely not worth thirty taels, but it was worth at least twenty taels. Now it wasn't even worth ten taels of silver.
This heartless bastard has gone too far!
"Then what should we do? This ox can't work, what's the use of buying it? We might as well slaughter it and eat it, then we won't have to herd it in the fields every day."
He led the ox to the field, and the ox ate the whole way. What should have been a 15-minute journey took half an hour, and no matter how much he pulled, the ox refused to move.
When Xiao Mingshu heard that the ox was sick, she quickly came over to check and offered her medical opinion: "If it is an old ox that has been overworked and developed an illness, the disease is difficult to treat. Even if it is cured, it will not be able to work in the fields often. This ox looks young, so the illness should not have lasted long. Perhaps it can be cured."
"Unfortunately, my medical skills are still too limited to cure it, but I believe my third sister-in-law can definitely cure it."
Xiao Liu grinned and said, "Being sick won't stop me from working for a while. We'll take him for a walk in the field, and if that doesn't work, we'll pull him ourselves."
He dreamed of having an ox to plow the fields for them, so that his brothers wouldn't have to toil like beasts of burden in the fields, pulling ropes with their shoulders, leaving bloody welts and injuring their bones.
I spent half a day working in the fields.
The Xiao family sprayed herbicide on all five mu of their land.
Meng Dahu also plowed an acre of land. They worked very diligently, and no one slacked off. When they were thirsty, they would stop, go to the ditch to drink some water, and then continue working.
The Xiao family was going home for lunch.
Xiao Xuance invited them to eat at the Xiao family's residence.
Half an hour ago, Xie Wanyun and Xiao Mingshu went back to cook.
Yang instructed them to also do the same as Meng Dahu and his group.
Xiao Xuance invited them to join him.
Meng Dahu and the others initially thought he was just being polite and refused. He said they were working to atone for their sins, not helping each other as neighbors, so how could they dare to eat at his house?
Madam Yang said, "You worked for us and we let you go home hungry. It's our fault for not treating you well. My two daughters-in-law have already gone back to prepare meals for everyone."
Xiao Xuance then spoke up, "Go back and get your bowls and chopsticks, let's go to the Xiao family to eat together."
The Xiao family led the ox back home, while Meng Dahu and the others were still scratching their heads in disbelief.
The Xiao family had actually invited them to their home for a meal. Food was precious these days, and with so many of them, wouldn't they be eating the family out of house and home? On the way back, Meng Dahu and the others thought they should eat very little and just have a few bites.
Yesterday, I went to town and bought a lot of grain, so we have plenty of food at home.
At noon, I cooked a big pot of sweet potato porridge and steamed buns, along with five other dishes. One of the dishes was sweet potato leaves, which they had never seen before, and they also had never seen sweet potatoes in the porridge.
When they got home and were about to cook, they saw sweet potatoes and sweet potato leaves in the kitchen. They asked around and found out that Yun Zhaoxue had taken people to the mountain to dig them up, and that they were probably wild vegetables from the south.
A short while later, Meng Dahu and the others arrived with their rice bowls.
I saw a big pot of porridge, with rice and yellow, stringy stuff that looked like a melon, but I didn't know what kind of melon it was.
They had never seen it before and thought it was a specialty of the North.
"Everyone, go over there and get your fill of porridge and steamed buns."
Xiao Xuanwu observed that Meng Dahu and his men worked diligently in the morning, which changed his opinion of them.
Listen to Yang's advice and entertain them.
Meng Dahu was the first to go and serve the porridge. Although there was a large pot, he only served half a bowl, half of which was water.
The first few people all picked out the water from the top and didn't dare put the spoon at the bottom.
The bottom was all thin porridge, and the people behind didn't know where to start. They didn't know how long it had been since they had eaten such thick rice porridge.
When it was Xiao Liu's turn, Xiao Xuanwu saw that he was a few years older than himself, thin and small, and not even as tall as himself. It was obvious that he was malnourished and often didn't have enough to eat.
Xiao Xuanwu snatched the spoon away, "I'll help you with that."
He scooped out a large spoonful, filling his bowl completely.
Xiao Liuzi quickly waved his hand and said, "This is too much, too much. I can't eat this much. Please have less."
"Porridge isn't filling, so eat more so you won't be hungry. There's enough to eat."
Xiao Liu's eyes welled up with tears. "Thank you."
Xiao Xuanwu also filled up almost all the other people's scores.
"Thank you, Fifth Young Master."
"You're welcome." After finishing serving the last person, Xiao Xuanwu put down his spoon and said to everyone, "Everyone has worked hard today. If you're still hungry, please get more."
Meng Dahu and the others squatted in the shade under the eaves to eat.
Jun'er and his three little rascals brought out stools from inside the house for them to sit on.
"Uncle, sit down!"
"No need, we're dirty and will get the chairs dirty. We'll just squat. Young master, please take it back." They didn't have many clothes, only two sets to change into. They had been working in the fields that morning and were covered in mud. Sitting on the ground would have dirtied the chairs.
"Everyone must be tired from work. Sit down, you can wash your hands if you get dirty."
Meng Dahu nodded, "Okay."
They verbally agreed, but instead of sitting down, they continued to squat.
Xiao Xuanwu went back into the kitchen and took out steamed buns, giving one to each of them, saying, "There are more in the kitchen if that's not enough."
Just then, the door was pushed open, and it was someone from the third branch of the Xiao family, holding a large bowl in their hand.
"I heard that the eldest son's family has started hosting a banquet for guests, and we just happened to have forgotten to cook lunch..."
They didn't say what came next, waiting for the eldest son's family to invite them.
No one spoke; they stood there awkwardly, chuckling sheepishly.
When Zhang saw the pot of porridge on the ground, she took a bowl and went to scoop some out herself.
Xiao Xuanwu was one step ahead of her, carrying the porridge into the kitchen and then coming out to lock the door.
"Xiao Wu, Third Aunt, I just saw that there was porridge in the pot. Yao'er has been having an upset stomach lately and is looking for some porridge. I'll go and get him a bowl."
“He wants to eat it, so you go back and cook it for him. We don’t even have enough for ourselves, so we can’t share with you.”
Uncle Xiao pointed at Meng Dahu and the others, "We're on the same side, they're outsiders. If outsiders can eat, what's wrong with giving us a bowl?"
"Because they helped our family with chores."
Xiao Mingshu also started to shoo them away, "We didn't invite you today, please leave!"
"You brat! We, the third branch of the family, are starving and have no rice to cook. Your family has cooked such a huge pot of rice. Even outsiders can eat it, so what's wrong with sharing some with your own family? I've raised you for over ten years, and you turn your back on me like this? Sooner or later, God will strike you down with lightning..."
Uncle Xiao thought of his plan and turned to scold Zhang Shi, "Stop talking. It's understandable that Shu'er resents us. We've treated her badly all these years, and I've always regretted it."
“Sister-in-law, your eldest son’s family has to cultivate ten acres of land. You must be overwhelmed with manpower. Just let us know and we’ll go to the fields to help right away. Why bother hiring outsiders and then having to cook for them? It’s a waste of food.”
"Oh, Uncle, you mean you go help out and we don't need to provide meals? That would be too much trouble."
To prove his sincerity, Uncle Xiao hesitated for a moment before nodding and smiling, "Yes! We're all family, no need to be so formal."
First gain their trust, then steal all their money.
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