My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 230 Confinement

After bringing Wang Susu and the child home, Chen Ling spent half a day happily with his wife and child before getting busy harvesting rapeseed and cutting wheat.

The weather in June is unpredictable; it might rain at any time. It's better to harvest the crops in the fields quickly so you can feel at ease.

So on the fifth day of the sixth lunar month, the father-in-law and son-in-law got up very early. Taking advantage of the cool morning weather, they called on their acquaintances and went to the fields.

At this time, it was just before dawn, and everyone hadn't had breakfast yet. When they heard Chen Ling calling for people at their homes, they all got out of bed. The men sharpened their sickles until they gleamed, and the women helped organize other farm tools, packing out straw hats and headscarves. Those with young children helped hitch up their carts, and a large group of people marched out of the village.

There aren't many oxcarts and donkey carts in the village.

Chen Ling then drove the brigade's tractor over.

This year, our family has about ten mu of wheat and rapeseed, but slightly less rapeseed.

Even if Chen Ling and his son-in-law worked themselves to death, they couldn't possibly bring all the produce from those twenty acres of land safely into their home; they definitely couldn't do it without asking for help.

After his father-in-law reminded him during his last trip back to the village, he had already made arrangements with people in advance, just in case he couldn't find anyone when it was time to harvest.

That's why there are more people here today.

For example, at Wang Lixian's house, everyone came except for Wang Da Niang.

More people are always better than fewer people.

More people means faster work, and the lively chatter and laughter make it more fun.

"We still have to harvest the wheat first. The rapeseed stalks are damp in the morning, and they are much harder to harvest than the wheat stalks."

Chen Dazhi stood on the edge of the field, a cigarette dangling from his lips, one hand on his hip, the other shoveling through the tangled rapeseed, and said.

“Let’s harvest the wheat first. There are many of us here, so we can get things done quickly. It doesn’t matter what we harvest first.” Chen Ling smiled, jumped off the tractor, lowered the sideboard of the back of the truck, and began to pack up the farm tools.

As he was tidying up, Liu Nier ran up to him, holding up a small sickle and giggling, "Uncle Fugui, don't you think my little sickle is cute?"

"Wow, this little sickle is pretty good. Who got it for you?"

“My father arranged this specifically to help you harvest the wheat.”

Liu Ni'er smiled innocently.

"Good job, kid. You've become more sensible since you're in second grade. You know to come and help your uncle with chores."

"Uncle Fugui, I'll help you harvest the wheat. Could you drive my tractor around for a couple of laps?"

"You little rascal, I knew you weren't up to any good. Just work hard later, and I won't just give you a ride; next year I'll teach you how to drive a tractor."

"Wow, really? Da, Uncle Fugui said he'll teach me how to drive a tractor next year."

"Okay, okay, stop yelling. Just help your uncle with the work today."

"Yes, I'll definitely do my best."

"Hurry up and have your mother put on your arm protectors and tie up your trouser legs, you're about to get out of bed."

Today, it wasn't just Liu Nier, a little girl, who came to work in the fields. There were also Yu Qiang's family members, Wang Lishan's family members, and a whole bunch of them, like a little army.

I joined the adults in their lively and bustling work in the wheat field.

The weather was also cool at this time, so the wheat harvesting was very fast.

Harvesting wheat is a physically demanding task. You have to bend your body deeply towards the wheat ears, gather a bunch of wheat in your hands, swing a sharpened sickle close to the ground, and pull hard with your arm holding the sickle handle. The yellow wheat then falls down in clumps under the sickle, lying neatly in place.

Chen Ling cut the wheat at an astonishing speed, which initially surprised many. People said that his speed was similar to that of Yang Gangdan from Yangtougou.

But when he bundled the harvested wheat, it was quite surprising.

Damn it, that's impossible.

Watching others harvest and "twist" the crops, they found it easy to tie them up.

He would pull up four or five wheat stalks, twist and turn them, then stretch and pull them under a bundle of cut wheat stalks, give them a push with his knee, tighten his grip, gently twist them a few times, and then twist them, and the wheat was bundled up, looking as easy as playing.

Chen Ling tried to tie two bundles of wheat, but no matter how he tied them, it was wrong. Either he tied too little or the bundles were not tied securely. When he reached out and lifted them, the whole bundle of wheat scattered all over the ground.

So, even though he's familiar with farm work now, he's still mostly skilled at physically demanding farm work.

Bundling wheat is not suitable for him.

"Fugui, you just focus on harvesting the wheat. After you're done, let Da Ni'er and the others wrap it up for you."

Wang Lixian was speechless. He said to his daughters, "Don't cut it anymore. Just follow behind your Uncle Fugui and help him tie it up."

When Wang Cunye saw this, he said, "You harvest wheat quickly, so just keep harvesting wheat."

Chen Ling chuckled a couple of times, feeling rather embarrassed, but didn't say much. He continued to bury himself in the wheat harvesting. Compared to bundling the wheat, this was much faster. As the guy swung his sickle, a large swath of wheat fell down in a flash.

Da Ni'er, along with Er Ni'er and Si Ni'er, were tied up behind him, but they couldn't keep up and were left far behind.

Seeing this, Wang Cunye had no choice but to follow behind Chen Ling and help him.

As the sun slowly rose, the wheat fell in patches, and bundles of wheat were neatly piled up in the wheat field. Everyone finally felt the heat and began to sweat.

Around nine o'clock, Wang Zhenzhen drove over in an oxcart to bring them breakfast, and they stopped to rest for a while.

After resting for half an hour, I got up and continued working.

However, the children were not very focused when they were working. The deeper they went into the wheat field to harvest, the more pheasants, rabbits and other small animals they found hiding there. Sometimes, while they were cutting wheat, a pheasant would suddenly take flight right in front of them, clucking and flapping its wings. They couldn't resist the temptation, so they would drop their sickles, shout, and run after it.

In the end, only Liu Ni'er was thinking about Chen Ling teaching her to drive a tractor next year. She stubbornly refused to look at the lively pheasants, rabbits, and quails, and no matter how others teased her, she didn't respond. She just kept her eyes fixed on the wheat field and worked hard.

This made everyone laugh non-stop, and they all said that Chen Ling should stop hanging the doll around and instead drive the tractor around with Liu Ni'er for a couple of rounds later.

Chen Ling was also afraid of tiring him out, so he called the boy over, had him sit on one side of him, and drove the tractor into the wheat field.

As they drove, everyone carried bundles of wheat and threw them onto the truck bed, swinging their arms and sweating profusely, truly working up a bustling and enthusiastic atmosphere.

After two days of such busy work, the wheat and rapeseed harvest was completed.

Because they were planted late, Chen Ling didn't use any special spiritual water to irrigate them, and the wheat and rapeseed grew only so-so.

The output may not be very high, but it is definitely above average.

In other words, these ten acres of wheat and ten acres of rapeseed could easily sell for several thousand yuan.

Let's talk about wheat first. This year's purchase price is about 65 cents per pound. The specific price will be determined after the grading is completed, but it's about the same as 65 cents per pound.

There's a saying: "Grain is never short-lived."

This means that in those days, the price difference for grain crops only fluctuated between two or three cents. The grain station's purchase price was 65 cents per pound, so it could be calculated based on that price.

The yield of wheat is conservatively estimated at 500 jin per mu, so 10 mu would yield 5,000 jin, which can be sold for 3,250 yuan at the grain station.

As for rapeseed, as an oil-producing crop, its price is higher than that of wheat, at around 1.2 yuan per kilogram, and the price difference is not significant.

However, the yield per mu was slightly lower, around 300 jin per mu.

That adds up to over three thousand yuan.

Conservatively speaking, selling both items together for six or seven thousand yuan would be quite easy.

……

"First, the wheat is dried thoroughly, then it is threshed and cleaned up before being taken to the grain station to sell. The rapeseed is sieved twice before being sent to the oil mill."

Outside the bamboo house of the farm, Chen Ling, shirtless, picked up a ladle and gulped down half a ladle of spring water. He immediately felt the coolness seep into his heart and lungs, and his whole body felt much refreshed.

After the wheat and rapeseed were harvested, they were taken to the threshing ground, and plastic sheeting was laid on the ground, so there was no fear of rain.

However, after finishing his work, he was too hot to eat lunch, so he went to the farm to deliver food to his father-in-law.

"Well, you can make the decision yourself. If you're still unsure, your second brother can come over when the baby turns one month old and have him take a look at you."

Wang Cunye picked five or six watermelons and put them in the irrigation ditch to be soaked by the mountain spring water, waiting for Chen Ling to take them home for Gao Xiulan and her two children. "No need to trouble you, Second Brother. I can clean up after I'm done drying. Anyway, the baby will be a month old on the first day of next month, and I won't be able to relax this month. I'll finish whatever I need to do at home as soon as possible. I can also help Susu take care of the baby after she finishes her postpartum confinement."

Chen Ling smiled and said that he actually wanted to hold his son and play with him right now, but he was too clumsy and afraid of hurting the delicate little guy.

"Besides, this summer is very hot, with plenty of sunshine, so the grain dries quickly."

"Yes, it's very hot. We hurriedly harvested the grain, but the heavens didn't send any rain." Wang Cunye looked up at the sky. The sky was clear and the sun was like a giant fireball scorching the earth, without a single cloud.

Blackie Xiaojin lay under the shade of a tree, sticking out his tongue from the heat.

And these past few days, the little yellow dog has been following the little white cow to the water's edge to play in the water every day.

It can't swim either, so it just sits on its bottom in the puddle and rolls around in the mud.

Dogs are like this, let alone people. These past two days, the only cool breeze on the mountain is at night; otherwise, it's unbearably hot and humid.

However, the farm is nestled against the mountains and beside the water, and is shaded by trees, making it relatively cool compared to other places.

The older generation used to say that it was either drought in the south and flood in the north, or flood in the south and drought in the north, but only in their area was there one year of flood and one year of drought.

If there was flooding last year, there will be no rain this year, and a severe drought will occur.

Whether it's accurate or not is another matter, but since the beginning of summer this year, it has only rained intermittently two or three times, and the showers were not heavy.

However, in Chen Ling's memory, the summers of the past few years have been marked by severe flooding across the country. There have been a few places experiencing drought, but not many, and certainly not their area.

This year, the rain here isn't as heavy as last year, but it's still quite heavy.

The current muggy heat is probably just building up energy for the rain later.

"Let's wait a little longer. There was a huge flood last year, so we should let the Dragon King rest this year and let him flood us later."

Chen Ling wiped the sweat from his brow, then picked up a towel and went to bathe in the ditch at the foot of the western mountain.

Upon seeing this, Heiwa and Xiaojin quickly got up and followed behind.

The two of them were definitely more reliable than the little yellow dog. Despite the heat, guarding the farm was their top priority, and they would only relax a little when Chen Ling appeared.

Just like now, even following behind him, they wouldn't stay still. When they got extremely hot, they would plunge into the ditch and splash around. Once they were cool off, they would chase after the water birds that were foraging in the ditch, never stopping for a moment.

……

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and the weather was still extremely hot. Chen Ling dried the wheat and rapeseed in the past two weeks and sold them without storing them for long.

I originally planned to take the grain to the grain station and oil mill to sell myself, but then I found that the grain dealers who came to the village were offering surprisingly good prices, so I decided to sell to them instead, which would save me the trouble.

Seeing this, the villagers became too lazy to transport the goods to the township, and so half of the village was sold to these dealers.

Last year, everyone suffered losses due to the floods, so this year no one wants to keep things at home for long. Everyone is selling as soon as they can, keeping only a small amount, just enough for their own family to grind flour.

……

As evening approached, a cool breeze finally arrived on the mountain, but the heat in the ground and air had not yet dissipated.

The Chen family had eaten dinner early, and then the whole family stayed by Wang Susu's bedside, placing sliced ​​watermelon on the table and fanning her with palm-leaf fans to keep her and the child from getting too hot.

It was hot, and Wang Susu was quite tired. After eating, she kept dozing off with her chin propped up, but it was too hot to fall asleep, and she was sweating profusely.

"Mom, I'm so hot. Why don't you skip the postpartum period? I'm fine anyway, I've been able to get out of bed for a while now."

"Nonsense! It was even hotter when I gave birth to your brother. So you're not going to observe postpartum confinement?" Gao Xiulan frowned, annoyed.

"If I hadn't taken care of myself during my postpartum period because I thought it was too hot, do you think I would still have you and Zhenzhen?"

Chen Ling was squatting in front of his son, playing with him, when he saw his wife and mother-in-law start arguing about postpartum care again. He quickly got up, went outside to fill two buckets with cold water, and then splashed the water inside and outside the house with a ladle.

In summer, well water is very cold. Sprinkling some on the ground and roof tiles can effectively cool it down.

During this period, the house has been getting rained on several times a day, especially at noon and in the afternoon when the sun is hottest.

"Are you feeling better? How about we move to the farm tomorrow? It's much cooler there than in the village."

Chen Ling put down the bucket and went inside.

"Is the house over there all ready? Your father said that the house is at the foot of the mountain, in the woods, and near the water, so he's worried about the dampness," Gao Xiulan said anxiously. "Postpartum care is no joke; we have to be careful."

Gao Xiulan believed in this very much.

Wang Susu's maternal grandmother was a midwife, especially skilled at treating postpartum illnesses. Although outsiders might see it as superstitious, it is undeniable that the wisdom left by our ancestors has some merit.

According to ancestral tradition, pregnant women should drink old duck soup about a week before delivery to reduce internal heat. The ducks used here are free-range ducks raised by farmers for several years. After the internal heat is reduced, the baby will be less prone to illness and will have better skin.

The postpartum period is incredibly complex. White cuttlefish soup helps pregnant women recover from wounds, pigeon soup nourishes the body, glutinous rice wine promotes lactation, and there are also free-range eggs, young hens, honey water, iron walnut powder, and other nourishing foods to strengthen the body and bones...

Of course, there are also superstitions, such as giving babies fishhook soup, applying crucian carp tendon ash to their heads, using silver bracelets and eggs to ward off cold, and bathing them with a mixture of mugwort and other medicinal herbs after their one-month celebration...

Although Gao Xiulan didn't arrange everything for her daughter, she gave Wang Susu all the necessary instructions and took very strict care of her.

……

“It’s all set up over there, and I’ve hung up mosquito nets in the rooms. Mom, don’t worry, the bamboo house is well-ventilated, it’s fine, and it’s not damp.”

Chen Ling wasn't worried about this at all. With the cave and the nourishing spiritual water, how could he be afraid of dampness?

"We still can't be careless. I'll go with your father to take a look tomorrow."

"It's a good thing your dad and I came to take care of you during childbirth. Otherwise, with the two of you not caring about anything, wouldn't we be worried to death?"

Gao Xiulan glared at her daughter angrily, "Did you even read the medical books your grandfather left behind? If you don't have postpartum care, I'll teach you all of your maternal grandmother's skills."

"I checked, and she really didn't have a postpartum period," Wang Susu replied, her hair still wet and looking aggrieved.

"I knew it."

Gao Xiulan snorted, "This postpartum period is the best time to nourish a woman's body; even if she gets sick, it can help her recover..."

Having seen many women giving birth, many experienced midwives say that childbirth can cure many diseases in women.

This argument isn't entirely without merit.

When a woman is pregnant, her bones and internal organs all shift, and the gaps between her bones widen, allowing any cold or dampness that was inside to be expelled.

For example, it can completely alleviate menstrual cramps.

In addition, it can slow down aging, increase bone density, and reduce the occurrence of fractures.

Therefore, it is true that women can cure many diseases after giving birth.

The prerequisite is that you take good care of yourself during your postpartum period.

Otherwise, the body can expel dampness but also absorb dampness.

That's what Gao Xiulan meant.

The old lady was also worried about the baby. Newborns are more delicate and are more susceptible to the effects of a damp environment than mothers.

“Actually, it’s okay, Mom. My dad’s legs aren’t good, and they hurt a lot when there’s too much dampness. But he’s been living at the farm for so long and there’s been no problem at all. That means there’s not much dampness there, so Susu and the child can move there.”

Chen Ling tried a different approach to persuade him.

He was telling the truth; it was just that Gao Xiulan was too concerned to think straight.

Sure enough, upon hearing Chen Ling's words, she was stunned. After a long while, she slapped her thigh, blaming herself for being so foolish as to forget about her husband.

Wang Cunye had broken his leg before, and because it hadn't fully healed, he was in terrible pain whenever it was cloudy or rainy, let alone when it was damp. It was more accurate than the weather forecast.

"Move, we'll move there tomorrow. I was so confused. I was so focused on what happened when I was in postpartum confinement that I forgot about your father."

Gao Xiulan blamed herself, but she also breathed a sigh of relief. The weather was so hot, and she didn't want her daughter and grandson to suffer. It would be better if it was cooler.

(End of this chapter)