Chapter 55 Sit back and watch the clouds roll and relax (third update)
The snow has completely melted, the weather is getting warmer day by day, and the water level of the river has risen. Qin Yao does not allow the children at home to play by the river.
Dalang and Erlang's daily morning jogging resumed again due to the snow melting.
The first thing before spring plowing is to take back the wheat planted in late autumn last year to make room for rice.
Regarding this matter, Qin Yao and Liu Ji strangely reached a tacit understanding of "If you don't mention it, I won't tell it either."
February is already halfway through, and farmers are busy in the fields. These days at the Liu family's old house, the whole family, men, women, and children are out in force.
Even Jinhua, who was just six years old, had to go out together, carrying a small basket on her back. When the adults were busy in the fields, she and her cousin Jinbao would cut wild vegetables on the field ridge and take them home to feed the chickens.
Amidst the busy theme of Liujia Village, the Qin Yao family, living alone at the foot of the northern slope, seemed out of place.
Land and food are the basis for farmers' survival. They can survive without food, but without land, they have no hope of survival.
Old man Liu drank half a bowl of hot water, looked up at the stretches of farmland to the east of the village, and said shrewdly:
"I think, don't even think about buying land. Why don't you take advantage of your kindness to Liu Dafu and ask him to rent twenty acres of good land to you."
“Dad, you don't even know whether those two acres of land have more grass or wheat. The third family hasn't taken care of it all winter, and I can't even harvest a few kilograms of grain.”
Old man Liu was even more surprised, "Can he still be a gentleman?"
But after all, we are a family, so there is no need to tell these details.
The fields created from wasteland were originally low-grade, barren land that was not carefully managed, let alone expected to be productive.
“Sit in your room.” Qin Yao raised her finger and pointed to the main room.
Qin Yao stood up uncomfortably and coughed twice. Knowing that she couldn't avoid what was coming, she pulled a smile from the corner of her mouth and said, "Dad."
Mrs. Qiu led Jinhua and walked slowly. As soon as they reached the river, they were caught up by Old Man Liu, who told them to go home. He went and said it himself.
The four little heads immediately retracted and continued to sit at the big desk, using branches as pens to write on the wooden plate filled with fine sand.
It took two trips to fill a jar of water for other people, but she filled two jars of water at home in one trip.
Liu Ji held his head and rushed to Qin Yao's side. He said with a cowardly look: "Dad, my wife is the master of the house and I am the master of the house. I don't understand these things. Why did you hit me? Ask her!"
At this moment, Liu Ji woke up completely from his nap. He looked at Old Man Liu in surprise as he walked in aggressively. He backed away and asked cautiously:
He has calculated that the output of twenty acres of fertile land, minus the rent and one-fifteenth of the grain tax, can be grown twice a year, and he can keep more than 4,000 kilograms of grain in his hands a year.
When the villagers went home to have breakfast, the sound of children reading would come from her house.
Hand out your hand and don't hit the smiling person, let alone the other person's daughter-in-law.
Old man Liu glanced at the children's room curiously, "Are you still practicing calligraphy?"
“Your father is here.”
In the afternoon, there was another "hehehehaha" movement of martial arts practice in the courtyard.
Finally, Old Man Liu couldn't sit still anymore. All the wheat at home was harvested, and he immediately sent his second daughter-in-law, who was newly pregnant and was sitting idle without working, to ask about the situation.
A family of two adults and four children can live a comfortable life even though they cannot have enough food and clothing.
When we get up early in the morning, others pick up hoes and poles and go to the fields to harvest wheat. In their family, it is the stepmother and her four stepsons who run around the village.
Qin Yao knew at a glance that the old man had something to say, so he followed him and asked him for advice.
To put it lightly, only Qin Yao knew that he was so angry with the four children that he almost committed suicide by hanging from the beam.
"Have a rest?" Old Man Liu raised his hand and slapped Liu Ji on the back of the head, "I've finished harvesting the wheat at home, and you're still dozing here? The wheat in the field won't be harvested? What's the plan for this year's spring plowing? Do you have any ideas? "
Qin Yao sat down on the stool opposite him, nodded and said, "Didn't Liu Ji go to the county town to study for a year and a half? You can't learn it in vain. He just happened to teach Braille to the four children in the family. Now that the children are young, You have a good memory, let them learn more.”
Subsequently, the smoke rises, and a strong aroma of cooking wafts from the hillside covered with wild flowers.
Calculating everything in money, we have an income of twenty-five taels. After deducting some expenses on farm tools, we can save twenty-five taels no matter what.
What kind of life have you been living?
Just eat and drink, sit and watch the clouds roll and relax in the sky, this is a day that even gods would not dare to imagine!
No, as soon as the old man arrived at the gate, Qin Yao, who was basking in the sun on a bamboo chair in the courtyard, immediately kicked up Liu Ji, who was dozing off on the sink.
Liu Ji rolled his eyes to the sky and waved his fist at Qin Yao's back in dissatisfaction. From the corner of his eye, he saw four little heads stacked on the window sill, smiling so hard that his teeth were exposed.
When Old Man Liu heard this, he stood up and said, "I'm going out for a while."
Old man Liu took a deep breath and put on a kind look, but his twitching brows made him look irritable.
Mrs. Qiu looked at the small courtyard on the other side of the river, smiled helplessly, and took her daughter back.
When the farmers carried their farm tools and returned home under the moonlight, there was no movement in the small courtyard on the hillside, and the whole family fell asleep.
Liu Zhong watched his wife take her daughter out, looked at the anxious old man Liu, and added to his anger.
“What are you looking at! Have you finished practicing calligraphy?” Liu Ji shouted sharply.
After running, Qin Yao could occasionally be seen carrying the two oversized buckets she ordered at Carpenter Liu's to fetch water from the village well.
Hearing that Liu Ji was still useful, Old Liu's anger subsided a lot, but he did not forget the purpose of coming and asked Qin Yao if she had any ideas about spring plowing.
“Just ask the third child, this day is hard to survive! The wheat is not harvested and the land is not planted. Do we have to wait for the northwest wind?”
"Dad, what are you doing? Have you eaten? Can you rest in the house for a while?"
He didn't say where he was going, but everyone knew he was looking for the third child.
At noon, the farmers continued to work in the fields, and her house was extremely quiet. Occasionally, someone passed by the river and came up to eavesdrop, and could hear slight snoring.
"What?" Liu Ji wiped the corner of his mouth with saliva and looked up in confusion. He still looked suave, "Who are you dad? What are you dad?" As soon as Liu Ji stepped into the door, he heard these words, and then looked at Liu Ji's He looked like a lazy man who had not yet woken up from a nap, and shouted angrily: "Your father, I'm here!"
Qin Yao guessed that Old Man Liu would come sooner or later.
Liu Ji came in with hot water, put it in Old Liu's hand, and said with a proud smile: "This is not simple, just teach them to read and write, and they will be able to do it with practice."
The smoke from the chimneys rises earliest on the hillside. The sun has not yet set, and the smoke has already drifted to the roofs.
When Old Man Liu entered the room with his back out of sight, he kicked Liu Ji next to him with his backhand, "Go, bring a bowl of hot water to Dad, you can't even see it!"
Moreover, it is not too tiring for two people to farm twenty acres of land, and Qin Yao is so strong, I am afraid it will be easy.
After hearing Old Man Liu's plan, Qin Yao thought to herself, Dad, farming and killing people are completely different things. You really think highly of me.
She couldn't grow two acres of wheat last year, let alone twenty acres?
(End of this chapter)
Chapter end
Report
|
Donate
Oh o, this user has not set a donation button.
|