The next morning, the two went to the pine forest near their home to collect pine cones again. They did this for three days in a row, setting off for the pine forest in the morning and returning home to rest in the evening.
That evening at dinner, Xu Han said, "The peas haven't been planted yet! Let's plant them tomorrow! If we plant them now, they'll sprout next spring."
"Okay, peas are easier to grow. We can finish planting them in one day tomorrow."
The next day, after breakfast, the two of them took the corn and their tools and pea seeds to plant peas.
Lu Chuan first tied a sled to the corn, letting the corn pull the sled to loosen the soil so that it would be easier to plant peas later.
Xu Han followed behind, using a hoe to dig a deep trench where peas would be thrown in later and then covered with soil.
After Lu Chuan finished preparing all the land needed, Xu Han had already pulled one-fifth of the trench. Lu Chuan took the hoe from Xu Han and continued pulling the trench.
Xu Han then took the pea seeds and started sowing them. When sowing peas, you can make the soil slightly thicker so they don't tip over easily, but of course, you can't make it too thick.
At noon, the two went home for lunch, rested for a while, and then went back to planting peas.
Because peas mature early, the two of them planted a lot, four acres in total, so they're sure to harvest a good amount!
By the time the sun went down, all the peas had been planted.
Tomorrow, plant some more broad beans. They're delicious too. In my past life, Grandma Xu Han would plant a lot of broad beans every year, some by the fields and riverbanks, and the harvest was quite good.
Back home, Xu Han went to make dinner, while Lu Chuan took a stone and started smashing the pine cones outside.
The first batch of pine cones has been drying for a few days. Although they are not completely dry yet, the two of them will process some whenever they have time, because there is no place to dry the second batch of pine cones yet!
The yard is already full of drying clothes, there's no empty space left, so we'll wait until this batch is finished before drying the clothes in the living space.
Let's keep it simple for dinner tonight! Xu Han stir-fried some chili and eggs, and also made a stew of cabbage and tofu. Served with porridge and steamed buns, a delicious home-cooked meal was ready.
After the two finished dinner together, Lu Chuan covered the pine cones drying outside with an oilcloth to save them the trouble of coming back to collect and dry them.
He also packed two baskets and took them to the main room to smash pine cones.
Crush the pine cones with stones, then sift out the large shells, and winnow the small shells with a sieve.
The remaining pine cone shells can be easily cleaned by picking them up a little. I have to say, this method is much faster than before.
However, cracking pine cones requires some skill; you can't just smash the pine nuts, and you have to remove all the pine nuts from inside the cone.
It's really not easy to get a pine nut. I've tried all sorts of methods every day, and this is the fastest one.
However, it's easy to miss the pine nuts, so it's better to peel them by hand. No wonder pine nuts were so expensive in my past life; they were hard-earned money!
After peeling for a while, the two of them tidied up together, first picking up the large shells, and then dealing with the remaining pine cones the next morning.
The next morning, after breakfast, Lu Chuan first went to winnow pine nuts, while Xu Han went to feed the livestock.
After finishing the chores at home, she took her tools and went to plant broad beans.
Today, Lu Chuan was in charge of digging holes in front, and Xu Han followed behind to throw in the seeds. To ensure the germination rate, four or five broad bean seeds were thrown into each hole. After throwing them in, they would cover the holes with soil with their feet.
One person dug a hole and the other threw in the seeds. The planting speed was quite fast. They planted more than an acre of land in one morning and continued planting after lunch.
And so another day was spent planting, and before we knew it, another day had passed.
Before they knew it, the next day arrived. Today, Xu Han stayed home to process the pine cones, while Lu Chuan went to the earthen kiln to take out the second batch of charcoal. After putting it away, Xu Han went to collect it at noon.
After several days of hard work, half of the first batch of pine cones has been processed, and a considerable amount of pine nuts have also been harvested.
However, I haven't had time to roast pine nuts recently, and even if I did, I wouldn't have had time to leisurely eat them.
Aside from burning a few fresh pine cones in the fire when they were first picked, Xu Han and Lu Chuan haven't eaten any yet!
Such delicious food should be enjoyed slowly during leisure time. There's no rush; there's so much! Enough to last a long time.
Xu Han took the pine cones out of her space and put them in the yard to dry.
I figured it was about time, so I went to the earthen kiln and brought the charcoal back.
When they arrived, Lu Chuan was already cleaning up the charcoal ash, and Xu Han put the prepared charcoal into her spatial storage.
After Lu Chuan cleaned up the last of the charcoal ash, they went home together.
Once they arrived home, the two went to the kitchen together to prepare lunch.
Xu Han took out tomatoes from her spatial storage, intending to make tomato and egg noodles.
This is very simple and will be done in a moment. During lunch, Lu Chuan said, "This winter has come earlier than usual, and I reckon it will snow soon."
“Look, it was sunny this morning! But now it’s cloudy again. I guess it’s going to rain soon,” Xu Han said.
“Yes! It hasn’t rained for several days. After we finish eating, I’ll go outside and chop up some firewood to bring it in, so we won’t be without firewood if it rains,” Lu Chuan continued.
After saying that, the two quickly ate their meal. In the afternoon, Lu Chuan went to chop firewood, while Xu Han continued to smash pine cones.
When it was time for dinner, Xu Han took out the hot pot ingredients from her space again, planning to have hot pot for dinner.
After preparing the food, the two ate in the kitchen. Xu Han picked up a large handful of tripe and put it into the hot pot to cook. The cooked tripe was eaten directly without any sauce, and the rich flavor of the beef tallow broth made it especially fragrant and satisfying.
Lu Chuan also cooked tripe like Xu Han. Both of them are carnivores, and they mostly eat meat when cooking hot pot.
After a satisfying dinner, the two stopped smashing pine cones and decided to get some rest.
A night of passion...
The next day, when Xu Han woke up, the sky was still overcast. It wasn't raining, but it was probably going to rain soon. So the two of them, who had originally planned to go to the mountains, had to postpone their trip and set off in a few days.
If it rains on the way, not only will we be unable to do any work, but we'll also get soaked, and getting caught in the rain in the dead of winter will definitely make us sick.
They could only stay at home and wait for the rain to stop before going out. Lu Chuan continued to organize the firewood, filling the woodshed to the brim.
The two then piled up the firewood outside and covered it with an oilcloth to prevent it from getting wet in the rain.
The firewood pile outside was only half full when it started to rain.
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