Chapter 183: Chapter 101: Spring is Here (Part 2)

Juhua was overjoyed, quickly taking it while ushering her inside to sit down. “Are you very busy?” she asked. “I suppose so. If your mother goes out to work, you’re left all alone, aren’t you? Having to cook and do laundry… It must be exhausting.”

Liu Xiaomei’s round face was flushed from running. She laughed, “It’s not too bad. It isn’t the busy season yet, but we’re getting ready—my dad is soaking the rice seeds today. My mom’s at home, so I quickly snuck out for a bit. She knew I was coming to see you, so she didn’t stop me!”

Juhua glanced outside and said to her, “It’s still a little cold right now. In a while, when the wild bamboo shoots start sprouting on the mountain, let’s go up and gather some. They’re best stir-fried with pickled vegetables, and even more fragrant if you toss in some shrimp! We can also pick some mugwort to make sweet green dumplings—they have such a lovely, fresh aroma!”

The moment Liu Xiaomei heard this, her eyes lit up. “I’ll definitely sneak away when the time comes! The sweet green dumplings we usually make for the Qingming Festival aren’t that tasty. Let’s change it up this year and make them like we did last time; I bet they’ll be much better. It’s a shame the village head won’t let us pick shoots from that big bamboo grove on Little Qing Mountain, otherwise it’d be great to get some from there. But he’s right. If everyone went and picked them, there might not be any bamboo left next year.”

Juhua smiled and comforted her, “Wild bamboo shoots taste great too. They’re thin and crisp. Stir-fried with pickled vegetables, simmered into a shrimp sauce, braised with chilies, or even dried to be cooked with meat in the winter—they’re all delicious. We can get up early to pick them so it won’t interfere with our chores at home. After we get out of school in the evening, we can have our brothers catch some shrimp to go with them. Wouldn’t that be a nice dish to have during the spring planting? It wouldn’t be like we’re just fooling around and neglecting our duties!”

Liu Xiaomei laughed. “Oh! Once it gets warmer, my Third Brother will start casting his nets to fish. My family relies on him to put a meat dish on the table! When the time comes, let’s ask Meizi and the others to join us.”

Juhua smiled and asked, “Meizi and the others are busy too. I’m afraid her mother won’t let her come out. She’s not a little girl anymore.”

Liu Xiaomei laughed. “Isn’t that the truth? During the first month of the New Year, several groups of people came to her house for matchmaking meetings. Same with Lanzi. They’re both about to be married, so they’re at home doing needlework and preparing their dowries. She wanted to bring her sewing over to your place to hang out, but your family was so busy clearing land a while back that she was afraid she’d be in the way, so she didn’t come. If I tell her we can make lots of dishes with these wild bamboo shoots, I bet she’ll come running.”

Juhua laughed at this, then couldn’t help but ask curiously, “So, did she find anyone she liked?”

’She thought of Meizi’s vibrant face. Soon she would be married off, and it felt like a bit of a pity. For girls in the countryside, youth was fleeting. Once they married and had children, their bloom would slowly fade and wither.’

’But as their children grew, like new seedlings, it was a new season of life! Wasn’t everything in nature like this? All those mothers lived with such contentment, feeling nothing was wrong. It was only those who insisted on digging for answers who became troubled, making a fuss like Liu’er’s mother.’

’But as for whether she found wealth and status, and whether she found happiness along with it… only heaven knew.’

Liu Xiaomei said, “How could she pick anyone? Her mother can’t bear to marry her off yet and wants to keep her for another two years, so now she finds fault with everyone. Lanzi, on the other hand, did choose a boy from Old Wang Village. Aiya! What a pity, I didn’t even get to see what he looks like.”

Juhua asked in surprise, “How could you have seen him? Don’t tell me you went over there too?”

Liu Xiaomei said proudly, “Of course. Around here, when there’s a matchmaking session, the young girls all go to watch the excitement. Lanzi is a nice person, so when we heard she was having a session, Li Jinxiang, Meizi, and I all went to take a look. But I got there late and didn’t see him. Jinxiang said he’s not bad looking and seems pretty sharp. Sigh… she’ll probably be married off by the end of the year. We’ll have one less person in our group.”

Seeing her dejected look, Juhua couldn’t help but laugh. She teased, “In a few years, won’t you be getting married too? Who can stay with their parents forever?” ’But I’m afraid I’ll be the one who stays forever,’ she thought.

The two chatted and laughed for a while. Suddenly, Liu Xiaomei jumped up and said, “Aiya! I have to go home! I’ve been sitting here gossiping for ages. My mom is still busy, and she’ll scold me for being thoughtless later. Juhua, when you decide to go up the mountain for bamboo shoots, you have to call me! You wouldn’t dare go up the mountain by yourself, right?”

Juhua agreed and saw her out.

Turning back inside, she checked the packets of seeds again, thinking they could all be planted once the weather warmed up a bit more.

Juhua made lunch. Her brother Qingmu soon returned in a hurry, followed by Zheng Changhe and Mrs. Yang, who had been weeding the wheat fields.

At the dinner table, Qingmu asked, “Dad, have we soaked the rice seeds yet?”

Seeing her son’s concern for the spring planting, Mrs. Yang said to him, “We’ll soak them tonight. You don’t need to worry about it. If you get distracted and your studies suffer, won’t it all be a waste of effort? It won’t make a difference if you sit out for one year. You just focus on your studies. Your father and I can manage.”

Juhua also smiled and said to him, “Even if you came back, you’d just be used as an extra hand. How can that compare to gaining knowledge from your studies? If we really can’t manage, can’t we trade labor with others? Or worst case, we can just plant a couple fewer mu of rice. The land is fixed, but people are flexible. No one is forcing us to plant it all.”

Zheng Changhe finished a bowl of rice, took a breath, and said to Qingmu, “Don’t worry about this year. I’ve already arranged it with Zhao San and Huai Zi’s father. When it’s time to transplant the seedlings and harvest the wheat, our three families will work together. Huai Zi’s family has two kids in school, so they’re short on hands too. And Zhao San’s wife is pregnant, so they need even more help. If we team up, the work will go much faster.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep