Chapter 132: Chapter 131: Small, Pitiful, and Helpless

Qin Yao sighed helplessly and walked towards the kitchen to start a fire and boil water.

She added two more pieces of firewood into the stove, making the fire burn intensely. While waiting for the water to boil, she went to the yard, picked up a wooden rake, and spread out the piled heap of grain again.

The scorching sun of late July was still fierce. The ground, which had been wet just now, was now completely dry as the moisture evaporated. The grain had to be spread out quickly to dry before it spoiled.

As the wooden rake moved in front of the four siblings, they all took a step back simultaneously, and stood there watching Qin Yao, unsure of what to do.

“Go inside and change out of your wet clothes. When the hot water is ready, wash your faces and have a bowl of ginger tea to prevent catching a cold,” Qin Yao instructed, pointing towards the children’s room and gesturing for them to hurry inside.

Sanlang cried, tears and snot mingling, Qin Yao clicked her tongue twice and asked Da Lang to lead him to blow his nose.

“Mother, aren’t you angry?” Si Niang asked softly.

Qin Yao shrugged, “It wasn’t intentional, so why should I be angry? You’ve already done so well in such a short time. Quickly go change your clothes. If you get sick, only then will I be upset!”

Getting sick requires medicine, and medicine costs money, which would cost much more than the grain in the yard.

The four siblings looked at each other and sighed in relief before going inside to change their clothes.

Not much of the grain got wet, just the topmost layer, while the inside remained dry. Once spread out, they could dry in an afternoon.

The batch in the backyard had been collected earlier and was still fine. Qin Yao poured it out to dry under the sun. Seeing the yards full of grain, she wiped the beads of water that rolled down her forehead, not knowing if they were sweat or rain, truly feeling the hardships of farming.

Relying on the weather for food, hoping for favorable weather was no easy task.

She had foreseen the unusual weather, but she had been out harvesting stones in the mountains and couldn’t return in time.

The sudden rain had no pattern and could only be predicted a few minutes before it happened, making it impossible to take precautionary measures.

After all, it was because they didn’t have any tarps to protect against the rain.

It seemed that next year they would need to prepare some matting in advance, made of bamboo, in various sizes like 2 meters by 5 meters, and 3 meters by 8 meters. These could also be used to dry other things like peppers and vegetables, which were quite useful.

Because she had no experience in farming, Qin Yao hadn’t thought about this before.

“Auntie.”

Da Lang had changed his clothes at some point and approached her from behind, a young boy taking responsibility and saying:

“The rain came too quickly, and we couldn’t collect fast enough, the grain got wet.”

Qin Yao placed the wooden rake against the wall and walked up to pat his shoulder, “It’s alright, only a little bit got wet. Once we dry it out this afternoon, everything will be fine. You just need to turn it over frequently. I’ll have to head back soon.”

Without her help, the stone-collecting team’s progress would probably be very slow.

Initially, they just needed a few stones, and didn’t realize the sturdiness of the stone mountain, but now the demand had increased several times suddenly. Without explosives and relying on manpower to extract stone, it wasn’t easy.

Thankfully, she had great strength, pounding long nails into specific points to break through the stone surfaces, allowing her to knock down pieces of stone from the cliff.

Except for her, no one else could manage this task, so she had to hurry back later.

By this time, the hot water was already boiling. Qin Yao smiled at Da Lang, who was feeling the psychological pressure, and scooped some water for them to wipe themselves down. She also took a small clay pot, poured the extra hot water, sliced some ginger, and boiled it inside.

Including herself, the five of them each had a bowl of ginger tea to ward off the cold.

But Sanlang already caught a cold, with two streams of snot dripping uncontrollably, needing to sniffle now and then.

Qin Yao called him over, touched his small forehead, finding no fever, and judged that he would recover naturally.

After instructing the four siblings to take care of themselves at home, Qin Yao left again.

She stayed busy at the stone-collecting site until sunset before leading the small group back, each returning to their own homes.

Passing by the water mill, Qin Yao took a glance inside, everything was normal, and the money box had been taken home by Second Lang.

As she walked home, she could smell the aroma of rice from afar. Taking a deep breath, her stomach rumbled with hunger, the demanding physical labor made her appetite grow quickly.

“Mother!”

Si Niang’s cheerful voice came from above her head. Seeing her, the little girl quickly ran downhill to meet her.

“Mother, the grain is all dried now. Granny Wang’s family came by today, and Second Brother brought home two eggs. Big Brother is cooking a vegetable egg soup now, we’ll be eating soon.”

“Mother, are you tired? Was the work exhausting? Are you going again tomorrow?”

The little girl looked up with eyes as bright as water, chattering like a bird on a tree branch.

The horse leisurely followed behind the mother and daughter. Without waiting for her short legs to catch up, Qin Yao picked Si Niang up and kissed her little cheek.

The tiny child immediately buried her head into her neck, gently nudging like a cat.

Catching her off guard, Si Niang planted a kiss on her cheek, then lifted her little hand to cover her own face, peeking through a gap to see her expression.

Seeing her smile, she put her hand down and giggled as well.

“Mother.” Si Niang softly called her.

Qin Yao responded with a hum.

Si Niang called again, “Mother~”

“Hmm?” Qin Yao looked at the little girl in her arms with curiosity, who just smiled at her with eyes full of adoration and earnestly confessed, “Si Niang loves Mother the most!”

Qin Yao’s heart softened, purposefully asking back, “Really? Is it your number one love?”

Si Niang nodded vigorously without hesitation, “Yes! Si Niang loves Mother the most, more than anyone in the world!”

Qin Yao’s mouth curled up into a smile, her forehead touching Si Niang’s, “Little sweet-talker.”

“Then Si Niang is Mother’s sweet-talker.” Si Niang hugged Qin Yao’s neck tighter, proudly shaking her head.

Laughing and chatting, the mother and daughter returned home. The courtyard full of grain had already been collected into bamboo baskets placed under the veranda on open ground.

The baskets were too heavy for the four siblings to move, they only packed them, while Qin Yao would later move them into the main room, bringing them out again in the morning to spread out to dry.

A portion in the front yard had been rained on; Qin Yao set it apart to dry another day, then they could be stored in the granary.

That evening they had quite a feast, white rice with vegetable egg soup and braised ribs.

Qin Yao had to praise Da Lang’s culinary skills, “You can even make such a complex dish as braised ribs, Liu Dalang, you’re amazing!”

Da Lang was a bit shy, “I learned it from Grandmother and Second Aunt.”

His words implied that his teachers were good.

Qin Yao waved her hand, “No, no, no, it’s your effort that has achieved this result. Don’t deny your capability, you naturally have the talent.”

Unlike her, who was impatient to learn complicated dishes. Just preparing the ingredients took forever, and when done, she had to clean the stove and wash the pots, which took up time.

“Da Lang,” Qin Yao said while eating ribs, “A man who can do housework is very desirable in the marriage market. When you get a wife, I won’t worry at all.”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Da Lang started coughing violently, startled by his stepmother’s bold and candid words, choking on his food until tears came out.

Qin Yao gave him a look of helplessness, but she was thinking of Liu Fei.

A fifteen-year-old boy, equivalent to a third year in middle school nowadays, and Mrs. Zhang was already looking for matchmakers for him.

It seemed they wanted to finalize the marriage before the New Year and have the wedding next year.

Counting by age, Da Lang was nine this year, which meant six more years until it would be his turn.

“Too early,” Qin Yao muttered under her breath, then looked at Da Lang and shook her head. Eighteen should be the minimum age to start discussing marriage.

Da Lang felt a pang in his heart—

Weak, pitiful, helpless…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep