Chapter 143: Chapter 81: A Farmer’s Idea of the Good Life (Part 2)

Because Zheng Changhe had often been invited over for pig-butchering soup, he invited quite a few people himself this time. As luck would have it, they were all busy. Only the Zhang family’s father and son were there for the meal. Even Zhao San was occupied and didn’t have time to come eat.

After a happy meal, the butcher, along with Zhang Dashuan and his son, took their leave.

Juhua waited until the butcher, carrying his shoulder pole and cuts of meat, was far in the distance before she came out into the courtyard. Staring at the red bloodstains on the ground, she felt the yard seemed much more empty and quiet, as if something were missing. And it was. Without the grunting of the big black pig, a bit of life had gone out of the place. Still, the two little pigs were also growing quickly. Nowadays, they squealed nonstop, demanding food all day long.

Zheng Changhe and Qingmu were curing the meat, rubbing salt onto each strip of ribs and placing them in a large crock. Juhua stared at a large cut of pork leg. The tender, red lean meat was incredibly tempting, and she felt a strong urge to make some cured sausage. ’But no,’ she thought, ’that would be too extravagant. Better to save it for regular cooking.’

Zheng Changhe asked Juhua with a cheerful laugh, “My girl, which piece of meat do you want? Just say the word, and Dad will cut it off for you.”

Qingmu also watched her with a smile, suggesting, “Should we keep some pork belly? Didn’t you want to use it to make steamed pork with rice flour?”

Seeing the ’pick whatever you want’ look on both their faces, Juhua couldn’t help but smile. ’Having plenty of food and grain at home is true happiness!’

“Dad, we haven’t even finished the meat others gave us. Plus, the pig liver and blood can’t be stored—they need to be eaten fresh. We still have plenty of Ni Qiu, too. We don’t have two mouths each, so how could we possibly eat all of this? Let’s just cure it all. The family has a lot to take care of next year, and the days of having to buy vegetables are still ahead of us.” She had satisfied her cravings over the last few days and wasn’t hankering for meat as much anymore.

Yang Family glanced at her affectionately and said, “By next autumn, these two little pigs will probably be quite heavy. Juhua, my dear, if you want to eat meat, then eat it. You can have it anytime. We may not have a lot of money, but from now on, we must make sure to keep plenty of meat in reserve.”

Zheng Changhe quickly chimed in, “That’s right! We’ll just raise one more pig. It’s no more trouble to feed three than it is to feed two. It’s not like before, when we had nothing to feed them. With all these acorns, next year we’ll plant more Shanyu, corn, and Huangdou—we’ll plant a bit of everything. With a good harvest, the pigs will have plenty to eat, and Juhua won’t have to gather pig fodder anymore.”

Listening to their detailed planning, Juhua couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation. She watched her parents with a smile in her eyes as they continued to cure meat and make arrangements for the coming year.

Zheng Changhe said with a broad grin, “The village chief said that when spring comes, we should transplant some of the new oak saplings to the clearings on the mountain. A lot of them are too crowded to grow properly. If we put our hearts into planting these oak trees, they’ll become more and more plentiful.”

Yang Family agreed. “That makes sense. Isn’t there a saying, ’One generation plants the trees, and the next gets the shade’? It won’t do to only harvest without planting. Even though there are vast swathes of oak trees on this mountain, our village has dozens of households. Between people eating the acorns and feeding them to pigs, we’ll deplete them sooner or later. We have to keep planting. Next spring, let’s plant a few trees in front of and behind our house. Their leaves are green in the spring and summer, then they turn yellow and red in the fall. They’ll look beautiful next to the house.”

Qingmu looked up at his mother and said, “We can probably only plant them behind the house. If we plant them out front, they’ll block the wind when they get bigger. Without good airflow, the vegetables in the garden might not grow well.”

Zheng Changhe nodded. “Right! We can’t just plant them haphazardly. We’ll plant them a bit farther away. The area by the front door needs to be kept clear, or the house will feel dark.”

Yang Family realized her oversight and laughed. “Listen to me. I think I’m getting more foolish the older I get. It would be a disaster if the vegetable garden lost its airflow. But I don’t want to move the garden farther away, either. It would be a long run just to carry a pole of manure for fertilizer, and harvesting wouldn’t be convenient.”

She glanced at Juhua and added, “Besides, Juhua loves spending time in the vegetable garden. It would be such a hassle for her if it were far away.”

Hearing this, Juhua quickly said, “We can’t move the vegetable garden! I can keep an eye on things if it’s right by the door.”

She listened to them talk, their minds never straying far from their livelihood. ’They’ve only gathered acorns for one season, and they’re already thinking about planting more trees. It’s the same principle as throwing back the small fish.’ She couldn’t help but be impressed.

「In the afternoon」

Meizi came over to Juhua’s house with her mother and several other women to grind acorn flour.

Juhua was surprised to find Granny Hua in the group. ’I have to admire her nerve,’ she thought. ’After everything that’s happened between our families, she still dares to show up here to grind acorn flour. It’s true what they say: a thick skin can’t compete with an empty stomach.’

A gaggle of boisterous women followed Yang Family into the kitchen. Seeing such a crowd, Juhua decided to stay away. ’Why walk in there and offer myself up to be judged and gossiped about?’ Instead, she pulled Meizi into her room to sit.

Meizi immediately expressed her regret upon seeing Juhua. “Juhua, it’s a shame you didn’t come over to watch us make peanut brittle yesterday. I brought you some. It’s delicious!”

With that, she opened the small jar she was holding, which was indeed filled with perfectly square pieces of peanut brittle. Golden, toasted puffed rice was mixed in with the peanuts, all stuck together in a confection that smelled wonderful.

Juhua didn’t stand on ceremony. She found a small jar of her own, washed and dried it, and poured the candy inside. She covered it with a piece of rough paper and weighted it down with a small sandbag before handing the empty jar back to Meizi. “So you were busy all day yesterday?” she asked.

“You have no idea,” Meizi said. “Toasting the rice, boiling the syrup, roasting the peanuts, making the brittle… we were busy straight through till evening. My back is killing me.” As she spoke, she plopped down onto Juhua’s bed and began looking around the room.

This was the first time Juhua had ever brought an outsider into her room.

The humble room didn’t even have a cosmetics box; only a single comb with broken teeth indicated that this was a young woman’s private chamber. Oh, but the quilt on the bed now had a certain feminine flair.

Meizi’s eyes, however, immediately landed on a small throw pillow. She quickly picked it up, full of praise. “This pillow is so pretty! It’s just a little small.”

Juhua smiled. “It’s for putting behind your back for support. Or if you’re cold, you can hug it.”

Meizi gave it a hug. It was surprisingly warm. She said happily that she was going to make one for herself when she got home, to hug while she slept.

Juhua couldn’t help but smile at that. She watched Meizi’s little mouth chattering away and thought, ’A girl’s desire and ability to imitate is the strongest force in the world. That’s true no matter the time or place.’

Thank you to all my readers for your support! (To be continued. If you like this story, please consider voting with recommendation tickets and monthly passes on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep