The work in He Tiantian's fields began the next day. Four big men came to the house in a flash, bringing only a little water, and went to the fields before dawn.
The four children couldn't stay idle at home today either, so they all went to the fields to help the adults weed and do some chores.
After Sister Yulan finished making breakfast, He Tiantian brought them the food with a basket on her shoulder.
During the few days I worked for her family, she provided me with three full meals a day.
In the morning, I made fried dough sticks with white flour, which were pan-fried with lard until golden brown on both sides. I also cooked a large pot of white rice porridge, which was stored in an earthenware pot.
It was so heavy that He Tiantian couldn't carry it all by herself, so Sister Yulan helped her pack some, and also brought a clay pot of cooled boiled water to drink.
The sun was already out by then, and He Tiantian and Sister-in-law Yulan, who had been staying at home, didn't feel the heat. But those working in the fields were already soaked in sweat.
As they walked along, they felt beads of sweat trickling down their backs.
Sister Yulan took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead and complained, "Last time we went to the city, didn't we hear that the south was experiencing floods? How come we've been suffering from drought here? If this continues, the crops in the fields won't be able to withstand it."
He Tiantian shared this worry. Her two mu of sweet potatoes didn't have enough water, so at best the sweet potatoes would grow smaller. She also had eight mu of beans; if the heat continued, they would surely dry out.
Moreover, the rice grown by other households in the village needs water even more and cannot be separated from it for a moment.
"Yes, it would be good if even a little more of this water could be allocated to our area," He Tiantian said with some emotion.
The two chatted as they walked to the edge of the field. With more people, the work got done much faster. He Tiantian saw that several people had already finished two plots of land; after the weeds were cleared, only the bean sprouts remained.
Looking out, rows upon rows of bean sprouts are neatly arranged, which is quite pleasing to the eye.
Sister Yulan called out loudly, "Children, come and eat and drink some water!"
When Wang Dazhuang and the others saw that there was even breakfast, they couldn't help but lick their chapped lips. "Auntie is so good. She not only pays us for our work but also provides food. I was starving this morning because I got up in a hurry and didn't eat anything."
Liu Yonghe laughed and replied, "Then we should work even harder and try to weed the fields in three days!"
“Okay, no problem.” Zhao Neng readily agreed. His wife had repeatedly told him to do a good job for Wanzi’s family when he came.
The money earned will be used to save for his son's tuition. If Zhao Yan can successfully pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, he can continue his studies!
“I have no problem either,” Zhao Shuiwang replied.
When we arrived at the field, the children were already eating pancakes, their mouths smeared with oil.
Sister Yulan made thirty fried pancakes in the morning; two were enough for each child. The rest were given to the four men who did manual labor.
These flatbreads are quite thick; four are enough to fill one person up, not to mention that we also brought white rice porridge.
Wang Dazhuang and his group had eaten at He Tiantian's house before, so they knew what the family's cooking was like and what their meals were like. Therefore, they weren't surprised to see white rice porridge and white flour pancakes.
Shui Wang and Zhao Neng were still quite surprised. White flour was a luxury in their family; they barely ate any during the New Year. Looking at the four white flour pancakes in their hands, they couldn't resist eating two each before putting the rest in their pockets.
I'll bring some home for my wife and kids to try.
Maruko and Narcissus are both at the age where they are losing their baby teeth. Both of them lost their two front teeth recently, and their new teeth haven't grown in yet.
So both of them spoke with a lisp, and they didn't forget to make fun of each other.
"Mom, when I was weeding today, I saw that some bean sprouts over there had wilted in the sun," Zhao Wanzi said, pointing to the spot where she had just been weeding, while chewing on a pancake.
He Tiantian looked in the direction Zhao Wanzi was pointing. The other end of the field connected to the foot of the mountain, unlike their current location where there was a large river.
So from their side, you can't see any bean sprouts wilting in the sun; there are only a few dry cracks in the black soil.
"I'll go take a look," He Tiantian said, and walked towards the field closer to the mountain.
Sister-in-law Yulan, worried, followed along.
This high mountain, which connects the fields of He Tiantian's family, is rarely visited by people because it is quite high and presents many unknown risks.
Moreover, some people have gone into the mountains to look for food, and there's not much to eat there. There might even be wild animals that could harm people.
Only Zhang the hunter in the village regularly hunts on this mountain, and he always manages to catch a fox or a wild boar.
When He Tiantian walked to the edge of the field, she saw that this piece of land was much drier than the other side, and the cracks on it were already as thick as a finger.
A large patch of bean sprouts was wilted by the scorching sun, looking like they were about to die.
"Oh dear, what are we going to do? If it doesn't rain soon, these seedlings will dry up and die," Sister Yulan exclaimed with great distress. The water level in their paddy fields had dropped by half compared to previous years, which made her even more worried.
He Tiantian looked at the sky; it was blue sky with white clouds, and the weather was clear. It seemed like it wasn't going to rain anytime soon.
"We had no choice but to use river water to irrigate the land. Fortunately, there is still water in the river in the village."
“Ah, that’s a huge project. Almost all the able-bodied people in the village have gone to work in the mines. If we need to bring water for irrigation, we’ll need a lot of people!” Sister Yulan chimed in, lamenting the lack of manpower when the work was finally done.
"There's nothing we can do about it. We can't just ignore the crops in the fields. Otherwise, what will we eat all year round?" He Tiantian looked around and was suddenly drawn to a tree.
Near the foot of the mountain, almost all the trees were of this kind, and He Tiantian found the leaves somewhat familiar from afar. When she got closer and saw the fruit on the trees, she became even more certain.
It's a mulberry!
She knows this stuff very well. Mulberries sell for tens of yuan per kilogram in the city. In fact, in the countryside, if there are many mulberry trees, the fruit falls all over the ground and there's more than you can eat.
Some of the mulberry fruits on the tree were ripe, hanging on the tree like small grapes, some red, some black, and some green.
He Tiantian picked a few mulberry fruits and tasted them; they were much tastier than the black nightshade fruits she had picked from the field last time.
"Oh dear, Maruko's mother, you can't eat this!" Sister-in-law Yulan quickly knocked the fruit out of He Tiantian's hand. "A few years ago, a child in the village ate this fruit because he was craving it. His mouth was covered in black smears, like he had been poisoned. He had diarrhea for several days after returning home. If that child hadn't been lucky, he probably would have died from the poison."
He Tiantian blinked. What? Mulberries can cause poisoning? It's probably because that kid was greedy and ate too many without washing them properly, which caused him to get diarrhea.
These mulberries are so fragrant and sweet, and there are so many insects and ants in the mountains. If they're not washed clean, they'll definitely be filthy.
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