Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

The family went to the fields the next day. Jinghan and Jingya had never done any work in the fields, so Mr. Xue taught them how to plant. "This kind of soybeans run closer to the pits, so you can plant a little more. Just four or five seeds in each pit will be enough. Too many will waste the seeds, and too few will cause the seedlings to be sparse and you won't be able to produce beans."

The two sisters listened to their mother and planted four or five seeds in each pit. While planting, they also covered the pit with their feet and stamped it firmly. This didn't work quickly, and each person only ordered three ridges in one afternoon. Zhixin and Zhixiangzi plowed the land in front, while the others fertilized and planted seeds in the back. They only planted two acres of land in one afternoon.

At noon, everyone was tired, so they all sat down to rest for a while, and then went home to eat. When we got home, Mrs. Chen had already prepared the meal. Everyone washed their hands and ate. At the table, Ms. Wei was still staring at Zhixin and his family, and Mr. Zhixin and Mr. Xue didn't bother to pay her any attention.

Just after lunch, Lao Si's family came in outside, "Dad, Mom, we are back." With that, they entered the house. "Dad, what's going on? How come my second brother is gone?"

The old man sighed, and just as he was about to say something, Wei on the other end started howling again. Ms. Chen stood up and pulled Ms. Wei out, and then the old man told Zhide about Zhiyong. After hearing this, Zhide also sighed, "Dad, I have bought the coffin, and it is parked outside. You can see where to put it."

The old man and Zhixin went out to take a look. The red coffin and red pine wood were already very good. The old man nodded, "Let's put it in the shed first. Today is already the tenth day of the lunar month. It's just right to be buried on the twelfth day." Xu Zhiyong has been dead for a long time, and now that the ashes are being sent back, it's hard to be normal again. It's like the dead people set up funeral sheds or something like that. Moreover, Xu Zhiyong is only thirty years old this year, and there are elderly people at home. Even if this is a young death, it is not suitable to deal with it. So on the day of burial, just put the ashes in the coffin and bury them in the cemetery.

The brothers carried the coffin into the shed and put some wooden boards underneath to prevent it from getting wet. After the coffin was placed, Zhide gave the driver money, and the driver left.

After placing the coffin, Zhixin and the others still had to work in the fields. Zhide had not worked in the fields for many years, so he did not follow them to work. Instead, he stayed at home with the two elderly people.

On April 12th, Zhixin found a few young men in the village to help carry the coffin to the Xu family's old cemetery. After digging the pit, burying the coffin, filling it with soil, and placing a wooden tablet in front of the grave, it was done. Mrs. Wei was a girl and couldn't go to the cemetery. She cried for a while at home and everyone persuaded her to get better.

Now that Zhiyong's ashes have been buried, the third child, Zhiming, and the fourth child, Zhizhi, have gone home respectively. The Xu family seems to be no different from before, and their days are still going on. There were still a few acres of land that had not been planted, so Zhixin took his family to the fields again.

As soon as the family arrived at the field, they saw the Lin family and his son standing on the Xu family's field. When they saw Zhixin coming, they said, "Brother Xu, my land has been planted. I'm here to help you with some work today. Something has happened to this family." How can this be done if all these tasks are delayed?"

Zhixin didn't say anything more. The Lin family and the Xu family have always been good and helped each other. So everyone started working, and Jinghan and the others were still responsible for spreading the seeds. What we are planting today is sorghum. This thing is not a plow. It digs a furrow, scatters the sorghum seeds into the furrow, and then covers it with soil. Jinghan spread the seeds and stepped on them with her feet.

Lin Zixuan was next to Jinghan, "Jinghan, are you tired from farming? Is this your first time farming?"

Jinghan nodded, "Brother Zixuan, farming is really tiring." Now I really understand what it means to sweat the soil. This farmer is really working too hard. Jinghan doesn't want to do anything when she comes home these days. She just wants to lie down and sleep.

"Farming is pretty good, but farming with sticks is tiring. To work with that thing, you have to kneel on the surface of the pond. You can't straighten up when doing things like weeding or loosening the soil. There is a shed above, and it touches your waist. It's clear." Lin Zixuan was talking to Jinghan about the hard work of planting sticks.

Jinghan understands this. In her previous life, in order to make money, she often worked for other people's families, and her job was to take care of the land. I really had to kneel down to Bang Chui all year round to get that little money. Especially in the spring when you are clearing the grass, you need to crush all the hard covering on the soil with your hands. After working this time, my hands were all swollen.

"Brother Zixuan, when will farmers no longer have to work so hard?" Jinghan said with emotion.

"Farmers are always the hardest working people. No matter when you want to eat, you have to farm. Farming requires farmers to work hard. This is inevitable." Zixuan couldn't answer Jinghan's question correctly.

Sowing seeds and trampling the soil is actually a very tiring job, especially when one foot is in the furrow and the other foot is on the ridge. This is very tiring for the legs. Jinghan's legs are tired after doing it for a while. It hurt a little, so I stopped to rest for a while. Seeing her stop, Lin Zixuan also stopped quickly and got some water for Jinghan to drink. Jinghan has been following Zixuan since she was a child, and she is just a little follower. Zixuan is also very kind to Jinghan, thinking about Jinghan whenever he eats anything delicious. Zixuan loves Jinghan no less than Wenhan.

"Brother Zixuan, thank you. I'm really thirsty." Jinghan took the bowl and drank all the water in it to quench her thirst.

Lin Zixuan smiled gently, "Come to my house to play when you have time. Xiaomei is at home and talks about you every day. It doesn't make sense for her to be at home by herself if you don't go to play with her anymore."

Jinghan thought for a moment, and she really had this Xiaomei in her mind, a very sweet little girl. "When I finish my busy work these days, I'll go find her when I have time. I haven't been feeling well the past few days." It's been a while since she came to this time and space, and it's time to go out and find some playmates. The eldest sister's temperament is too quiet, so every day Just doing needlework.

The two chatted for a while and then started working again. At noon, Zhixin asked the Lin family and his son to go home for dinner, but the Lin family and his son refused. Zhixin led his family home. When he saw that the pot was cold and only the old man was on the kang in the house, he asked, "Dad, where is my mother? Why haven't you cooked this meal? Where are the others?"

"No, your sister is not doing well today. Your mother took her to the town to see a doctor. Are you going to let your second daughter-in-law cook before leaving? I'll go take a look." The old man got down and went to the outhouse to take a look. , and sure enough, there was no cooking. "Where did this mother-in-law go? Where are the children? Wencheng and Wenchang are not at home either." The old man had been ill for a few days because of his second son's affairs, and he was not in good spirits. I just stared at it for a while, wondering where the second son's family had gone.

"Forget it, I'd better cook quickly." Mrs. Xue quickly led the two sisters Jingya to make a fire to cook. There was not much food at home, so I had to make do with some pickles. "Wenhan, don't go farming in the afternoon. Take your younger brothers and sisters up the mountain to pick some wild vegetables. It's not a problem that you always have no vegetables. Anyway, the land is almost planted. There are still some fields left. I'll You and your dad can do it," Mr. Xue said to her eldest son while cooking.

Wenhan nodded without saying anything. Seeing that there was not enough firewood in the house, he hurried out and came back with an armful of firewood. Jingya helped her mother cook porridge, Xue was pasting the cakes, and Jingxian was washing the pickles. After working for a while, the two mothers finally finished the meal. The food was quickly put on the table. Everyone didn't care whether it was hot or not. After finishing the meal quickly, Zhixin and his wife went to the ground again.

Wenhan carried the basket on his back, Jingya and Jinghan carried the basket, Wenxuan didn't take anything and followed behind, and the four of them walked south together. After crossing the river, walking further ahead is Nanshan. There are many wild vegetables on the mountain. This season is the right time for celery and mountain millet. After entering the forest, I soon saw a lot of big leaf celery. Nowadays, every family is busy farming, and few people go up the mountain to pick wild vegetables. Several people squatted down and quickly picked wild vegetables. "Sister, there are more here, come here." Jinghan called Jingya.

"No, I have quite a few." Jingya also had quite a few. Everyone worked hard and picked up a lot without much effort. Wenhan peeled off some tree bark and tied the celery picked by everyone into handfuls with bark, so that it would be easier to store and less likely to mess up.

Jinghan had been lowering her head to pick wild vegetables. A clump of grass in front of her caught her attention, "Sister, there are three hoeing boards here." These three hoeing boards are clovers. Three triangular leaves grow on the thin stems. The stems and The leaves have a sweet and sour taste, making them a favorite among children.

When Wenxuan heard that there were three hoe boards, he hurried over and looked at the few grasses in Jinghan's hand with salivation. Jinghan quickly gave it to him. In this era, children don't have snacks, so this is considered delicious. Wenxuan took the three hoe boards and put them in his mouth to eat. Seeing his enjoyment, Jinghan felt sad. "Let's see if there's any left. If so, I'll give it back to you."

"Hey, thank you, second sister." Wen Xuan smiled happily.

"In autumn, I will take you to get a lot of delicious food." Jinghan touched Wenxuan's head.

Several people lowered their heads to pick wild vegetables again, and Jingya also saw a few clumps of three-hoe boards. I picked them off and gave them to the publicity. The publicity was so beautiful. Holding a three-hoe board, I wanted to eat but couldn't bear to eat them all, so I ate them slowly one by one, so that I could eat them for a while longer.

"Wenxuan, just eat it. There should be a lot of it. Just wait, the second sister will definitely make a lot of money and let you eat a lot of things you have never eaten before. The second sister promises it." Jinghan saw the one where Wenxuan was She looked like this and secretly made up her mind to find a way to make money. She didn't want to live such a hard life.

Wenhan smiled on the side, "Brother, did you hear it? Your second sister said that she will definitely let you eat good food. Jinghan, it's good for you to think so. Work hard. We want to live a good life. Don't worry about it anymore." Continue like this."