It was not yet the hottest season, and the weather in early May was still mild. Jiang Yue and his companion left the city at dawn.
The sun is rising, and the sunlight shines on people, soft and warm.
Jiang Nian drove at half his usual speed, wobbling and not much faster than walking.
He tilted his head and looked at the person leaning next to him, "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something? You haven't eaten a single bite this morning."
Jiang Yue retched for a while when she woke up that morning. Her period still hadn't come, so she was certain she was pregnant. Given Jiang Nian's passion for that, it wasn't surprising.
She handed the half-eaten apple to his mouth and said, "I'm not hungry. Let's eat at the farm. I want to eat pickled fish. Please make it for me."
Ever since she taught him how to cook, Jiang Yue rarely cooks and has truly become a hands-off boss.
Jiang Nian lowered his head and took a bite of her hand. After swallowing, he said, "Okay. How about the fish head tofu soup?"
"Let's not make tofu anymore. It's a bit greasy. Let's make chopped pepper fish head instead."
Seeing Jiang Nian's wrinkled face, Jiang Yue was overjoyed. She had always had a strong taste for food, and recently she couldn't help herself and almost ate the chili peppers raw...
But Jiang Nian's tongue was sensitive, and he couldn't handle spicy food. When he fried chili peppers, he covered his mouth and nose, his entire face flushing red, as if it had been stained with red ink. Even fighting didn't hurt this much, it was hilarious.
They went straight ahead, and when they saw the newly made wooden sign of "Mountains, Waters and Farmland" it was still mid-morning. They saw several dark shadows moving at the foot of the mountain from a distance.
Jiang Nian carefully identified it and said, "It's Yuan Zhuangtou leading people to dig mud in the fish pond."
The recent rains were quite normal, so we dug the fish pond deeper so we can drain more water. When the summer comes, we can also irrigate the fields if they run out of water.
Aunt Yuan and Mrs. Zhang took the children to reclaim land and grow vegetables. Now that there are many people eating, they need to grow more vegetables, which are easier to grow than grains.
A small piece of land near the yard has been opened up, and the vegetable seeds given by Jiang Yue have grown into small seedlings as tall as fingers.
Aunt Yuan and Aunt Zhang chatted while they were working on the land. One moment she said that they had to water the crops again in the evening, and the next moment she said that they had to add more manure water for the crops to grow well.
She suddenly heard the sound of a mule and her wife's voice.
"Aunt Yuan!"
Aunt Yuan turned around and saw that it was indeed her wife and husband. She quickly put down the small hoe in her hand and asked Ping'an to jog over with her.
The affairs of the courtyard are under the management of their family. If she had known that the master would return to the farm to live in the next two days, she would have cleaned the house.
"My wife, my husband."
Jiang Nian jumped out of the car first, then carried Jiang Yue down.
Before, the lady would either jump out of the car by herself or be helped out by her husband, but now that she was carried down so carefully, Aunt Yuan felt relieved that what she guessed must be true.
When Zhaocai heard the sound, he quickly opened the gate, removed the threshold, and came over to lead the mule.
"Aunt Yuan, there's a small bag of dried fish and two fresh sea fish in the car. Take them with you and use them to nourish everyone every day. We can't do heavy work without salt water. We need to replenish our strength."
She didn't give much, only one meal a day of dried fish, and among a group of people, only two or three bites could be shared.
In a few days it will be the hottest days of summer, and they will sweat a lot. We have to give them some salt water every day to have the strength to work.
Aunt Yuan was responsible for the food for the servants and hired workers, while the two of them cooked for themselves.
"Yes." Aunt Yuan smiled happily. The master was so generous. Her previous masters had never been so kind to their servants.
Zhaocai led the mule to the newly built shed to feed it, mixing wheat bran with wild grass.
The millstone the owner brought saved them a lot of trouble, whether it was threshing rice or wheat. When they had no grain to eat, they ate wheat bran with it. Now the owner raised chickens and mules, and wheat bran was the best way to feed them.
Aunt Yuan and her family had a small kitchen in the front yard where they usually cooked. Jiang Yue lived in the main courtyard, which had a large kitchen with new pots, pans, and bowls.
Aunt Yuan brought over a jar of pickled vegetables and said with a smile, "Madam, there are pickled radishes in it. They have been pickled for half a month. They are a bit sour and sweet. It is perfect for whetting your appetite."
Jiang Yue's mouth watered when she heard this, "Thank you, Aunt Yuan."
She picked up a few pieces with chopsticks and couldn't wait to put one in her mouth. Her eyes narrowed, and the taste was crisp, sour and sweet.
Jiang Nian looked at it and his teeth ached. "Don't eat too much. I'll make you breakfast first."
When Aunt Yuan heard this, she couldn't believe that they were rushing off without even having breakfast. She quickly said, "I'll help my husband."
"No need, Aunt Yuan, he can do it himself. Please help me boil some hot water while the sun is shining. I need to change clothes. The road out of the city is dusty."
"Oh, okay!"
Ping'an had already made their bedding and cleaned the bathtub in the bathroom.
Jiang Yue held a bowl of pickled radish and sat in the main room, watching them busying around.
Money really can corrupt people's hearts. She used to be busy washing clothes, making fire and cooking, but she couldn't even have a sip of hot soup or hot rice. Now she feels at ease and starts to enjoy being served by others.
I have to say, it feels really good!
There were three stoves in the kitchen. Aunt Yuan used one to boil water. She watched the fire and observed that her husband, a man of integrity, was willing to cook soup for his wife. Judging from his skillful vegetable cutting skills, it was obvious that he had done this more than a few times.
The couple has a really good relationship, and the husband really loves his wife.
Where in the world could such a man be found? It would be so nice to find one for her daughter. Most of them were like her husband, busy working outside and then just lying down to eat and drink when they got home. The women did all the cooking on the stove, not even bothering to pick up dropped chopsticks.
The more Aunt Yuan thought about it, the angrier she became. She had to ask her man to bring her a basin of water for washing her feet at night!
Yuanzhuangtou: An unexpected disaster...
An hour later, Jiang Yue washed herself clean and felt refreshed.
"Wait until after dinner. The sun is out and it's not cold."
She was not used to Ping'an standing behind her to wipe her hair, so she wrapped her wet hair with a cloth and sat down at the table to prepare to eat. She was indeed hungry.
Aunt Yuan hurriedly reminded her, "My lady, you must not do this. You are a twin and weak now. If you don't dry your hair, you will easily catch a cold, and then you will get a headache, which is not good."
Jiang Nian himself didn't like to dry his hair, relying solely on body heat to dry it. He had never caught a cold before, so he didn't understand that. Hearing Aunt Yuan's words, he frowned and walked behind her, unrolled the cloth, and wiped her hair bit by bit.
Jiang Yue first scooped a spoonful of the spicy and sour pickled fish into the bowl, then leaned her head back.
Jiang Nian had eaten steamed buns in the morning and was not hungry now, so he slowly helped her wipe her hair. Jiang Yue occasionally turned around to feed him a bite.
People are very reserved nowadays and have never seen such a scene.
The host family's affectionate behavior without regard for others made Aunt Yuan and her daughter feel embarrassed, and their ears were burning. Fortunately, the lady asked them to go back and do their work after a while.
After dinner, Jiang Yue took a nap, and then she and Jiang Nian dug holes in the backyard, wanting to move a few of the trees that had already grown in the space and put them in the yard, so that they could eat whenever they wanted and they could also provide shade.
It would be nice to build a swing underneath and take a walk in the breeze after dinner.
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