Chapter 197: Chapter 107: The Real Farming Life

Add some green vegetables, and all the dishes for dinner would be accounted for.

Just as Juhua and Liu Xiaomei were praising the spread, Little Shitou came pattering in and handed a small bamboo basket to his grandmother. Inside were black things that looked like fresh wood ear fungus.

The old woman’s face lit up with a happy smile. “Oh, my! How did you manage to find earth-skin already?”

She said to Juhua, “This stuff likes to grow in damp, grassy areas. I figured it wasn’t time for it yet, but I guess I was wrong. Shitou, where did you find it?”

Little Shitou grinned. “I found it in a hollow near the Little Qing River. I saw Grandma cook it last year and it was delicious, so I gathered some to bring home.”

Juhua recognized it as well; it was likely some kind of fungus. In the spring, if one was observant, these wild-growing things were everywhere.

At the dinner table, the men, exhausted from a day of labor, talked and laughed loudly, their expressions far more relaxed than they had been at noon. The thought of a night’s rest was a huge relief. Tomorrow’s troubles were for tomorrow; after all, wasn’t this just how life was, one day after another?

Zhao San chuckled. “Sanshun, how do you plant seedlings so fast? Swish, swish, swish, and you’ve done a whole row. I was in front of you and you ran me ragged. What bad luck. If I’d known, I would have stayed behind you.”

Everyone burst out laughing, their hands, trembling slightly as they held their bowls, a testament to the strain of overworking their wrists while planting seedlings.

Zhang Huai chimed in, “Isn’t that the truth. I followed him for one round and never dared to line up with him again. Following behind is no good either; you get left so far behind it looks bad. Anyone who didn’t know would think I was slacking off, but in reality, I didn’t even have a moment to straighten my back and catch my breath.”

Liu Sanshun smiled sheepishly. “Am I that fast? I didn’t notice.”

Zheng Changhe laughed. “A guy like you is the perfect person to exchange labor with. You do the work of two men by yourself.”

Dead tired, no one was in the mood for idle chatter after eating. They hurried home to rest and build up strength for the next day’s labor.

For the next few days, Juhua was constantly busy in the kitchen, on top of feeding the pigs, chickens, and ducks. She truly experienced just how arduous it was. Although she had been busy before, it was never this continuous, intense, and rushed.

She felt she was working no less hard than those in the fields. In the evenings, after washing up, the moment she fell onto the bed, she would be dead to the world until broad daylight, without a single dream. When she woke, her whole body would ache so much that she had no desire to get up at all.

Meanwhile, Zheng Changhe, Yang Family, and Qingmu were so exhausted they groaned in their sleep. The worst part was getting out of bed in the morning. After a night’s rest, their backsides would, paradoxically, be so sore they could barely move their legs.

Seeing Zheng Changhe struggling to get out of bed, Yang Family comforted him, “Just one more day of planting. Once your body gets used to it, your behind won’t hurt anymore.”

Zheng Changhe chuckled. “Of course I know that. It never hurt this much on the first day in previous years. It’s all because I rested too long last year. My bones have gone rusty.”

This was the true reality of a farmer’s life.

To an onlooker, it might seem full of idyllic, rustic charm, but for those living it, they counted the sunrises and sunsets, measured the fields with their footsteps, and had their sweat-soaked efforts cultivate verdant stalks of precious grain.

The people planting in the fields and the people cooking at home all endured these hard days, and finally, the worst of it was over. After the Zheng, Zhao, and Zhang families finished planting their seedlings, they went to help Fatty Liu.

Qingmu and Zhang Huai’s farming leave had also ended, so Zheng Changhe, Zhao San, and Zhang Dashuan went to help the Liu family. Juhua had promised Liu Xiaomei she would help with the cooking, so she went as well, leaving Yang Family to look after their home.

The Liu family’s house was just like Juhua’s, with earthen walls and a thatched roof, though it was a bit larger. There was a row of five rooms, and you could clearly see that the two on the end had been added on later. A large courtyard was tidy and clean. Tacked onto the back of the main house was a large kitchen, and behind the kitchen was a backyard where many vegetables grew alongside the peach, apricot, and plum trees Liu Xiaomei had mentioned. A water well stood next to the vegetable patch.

One look was enough to tell that this was a hardworking farming family.

In the kitchen, Liu Xiaomei’s mother and her eldest sister-in-law were busy. Seeing Xiaomei enter with Juhua, they greeted her happily, saying how good it was of her to come and help. Her sister-in-law merely smiled at Juhua without saying a word.

Liu Xiaomei’s mother had a round face and a short, round body—a classic example of the Liu family build. It seemed the old saying, “Following the father gets you one, following the mother gets you a whole litter,” really had some truth to it.

Juhua smiled. “Mei helped me for many days, so it’s only right that I come and help for a couple of days. Auntie, just tell me what to do. Don’t be a stranger.”

Xiaomei’s mother quickly agreed and brought over a small bucket. “You and Xiaomei can go kill these loaches. I don’t know how to handle them; they’re so slippery I can’t get a grip. Her Third Brother spent ages in the field ditches yesterday just to catch this many.”

The two went to a corner of the backyard to clean the loaches.

Juhua noticed that Liu Xiaomei’s eldest sister-in-law was very clean and efficient, and she wondered why Xiaomei had never mentioned her. As curious as she was, seeing the situation, she suspected the two didn’t get along. It was likely another tale of domestic squabbles, or else Xiaomei would surely have told her about it.

But as if she could read Juhua’s mind, Xiaomei began to speak in a low voice as she cleaned the loaches. “My eldest brother’s family split from ours right after they got married. That’s normal; everyone splits off after marriage. But my sister-in-law is very peculiar. She barely socializes with anyone, not even with us. Don’t even think about touching her things, but to be fair, she never takes advantage of you, either. What kind of way is that to live? It’s made our family act like enemies. My mother feels like she raised a son for nothing. After getting angry a few times, they just stopped interacting much. I have no idea why she came today. The sun must be rising from the west!”

Juhua listened and thought to herself that there were all kinds of people in the world. A solitary, peculiar person like her sister-in-law, who relied on no kin, wasn’t unheard of. But such people were actually quite foolish. If you didn’t associate with anyone, who would you turn to for help when you were in trouble? It was one thing to keep a distance from others, but to not interact with your own mother-in-law? That would alienate the siblings too, and wouldn’t your husband feel lonely?

Xiaomei said resentfully, “To think he married someone like that. If the wife my second brother brings back is also no good, life will be impossible. We went deep into debt for his betrothal gift. I just hope this woman is as virtuous as people say. It was because my first sister-in-law has such a peculiar nature that my mother, after hearing this girl was a clever one, gritted her teeth, borrowed money, and agreed to the silver her mother demanded for the bride price.”

Juhua didn’t know how to comfort her. One could listen to these domestic affairs, but one couldn’t help give advice. Why else would they say, “Even an honest judge can’t settle family disputes”? It was because everyone thought differently, and one’s own way of doing things might not suit another.

She could only say to her, “Your family has four brothers. Although marrying them off one by one is a heavy burden, if it’s all arranged properly, your family could become prosperous very quickly. There are advantages to having many people. In the countryside, having many brothers is a sign of a flourishing and thriving household. My father and my brother are both from a line of single sons. When my brother marries, it would be best if he had several children too.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep