After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 562 Reunion
The weather is getting colder.

On the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Hai Xiya returned to his home in Chang'an City from outside.

He had been away for a long time, and had visited almost all the new grain trial planting sites in Shaanxi. He had done the same thing in the spring, running around outside to watch the new grain being planted. Now that autumn had arrived, he ran around again to watch the new grain being harvested.

Although there were many problems in the process of trying to grow new crops due to different climates, land and environments, fortunately, there were generally no major mistakes. The new crops were harvested this autumn and the yield was quite satisfactory.

After returning home, Hai Xiya happily told his family: "This year's trial planting of new grains went so smoothly. Next year and the year after, we will add a few more locations and try planting for two more years. If everything goes well, we can expand the planting in two years. In this way, my mission will be successfully completed, and I can report to Minister Tao when I go back."

Ma tasted the noodles made from the new corn her husband brought back, and she felt a little uncomfortable: "This new corn doesn't taste bad, it's nice to try it once in a while. But if I eat it as a meal, I'm afraid I can't stand it. On weekdays, I still prefer to eat noodles, even rice. This new corn..."

Hai Xiya smiled and said, "Minister Tao did not intend to replace the existing grain with the new grain. It's just that this new grain is not picky about the land and can still produce good yields on barren land. Therefore, it is used as a supplement in case the weather is bad or there is a disaster in a certain place, the grain harvest is greatly reduced, and the court's relief may not be delivered in time. With this high-yield new grain, there is no need to worry about the soldiers and civilians going hungry."

Ma nodded and said, "That's true. If we really encounter a disaster, it would be a blessing from the Buddha if we don't starve to death. As long as we have food to eat, who cares whether it is flour, rice or new grain? Besides, this new grain is not bad to eat, it's just more troublesome to grind. When you are extremely hungry, you don't need to grind it finely, just boil it in water, and it will still be edible."

Haitang laughed and said, "If grandma is not used to eating noodles made of cornmeal, why don't we try some new dishes someday? We can mix flour into the cornmeal, or use it to make other snacks, not just noodles. Even if we don't grind it into fine powder and only eat the original cornmeal, there are many ways to cook it. Let's try a few more dishes, and I guarantee that grandma will be happy with it and won't dislike it anymore!"

Ma smiled when she heard this: "How can I have the leisure time? I am busy all day. If you have time, go and do it yourself, don't bother me."

Haitang responded with a smile. She had already quickly made a long list in her mind. She was planning to take advantage of this year's bumper corn harvest to make as many corn foods as she knew so as to enrich the family's recipes.

She looked at her grandfather Hai Xiya again: "Grandpa looks a lot thinner. This business trip must have been very tiring. Now that you have finally returned home, you should take a good rest. Shall I make some nourishing soup for Grandpa? I have read a few books recently and learned several medicinal recipes!"

Ma also said, "It's time to take care of yourself. When the master was in Suzhou, he was not as dark and thin as he is now. After returning to Chang'an, the fat he had gained with great difficulty in the past year was gone in less than a month. The master is also an old man, why should he work so hard? Even if he has made great achievements, what good will it do if he ruins his body?!"

Hai Xiya smiled and comforted his wife and granddaughter: "It's okay, I just got a little tanned and looked thin because of the hard journey. Now that the weather has turned cold, I'm back in Chang'an and won't go out unless necessary. It's a good time to take a break. You don't have to worry about me. Just make as many tonic soups as you want, but don't make any weird-tasting medicinal food. I can't stand it."

Ma was satisfied and said, "I will ask my cousin Xie to come to dinner tonight and ask him to check the master's pulse. What kind of medicinal food and soup to make must be based on the master's symptoms, and can't be taken casually." But medicinal food is just a small matter. Ma hoped that Hai Xiya would stop suffering so much and do fewer foreign missions in the future. It's not like he doesn't have people to do his work, so why can't he let his men do those hard tasks that require traveling far away? They are all from the Northwest Frontier Army, and those young men look honest. They won't deceive their superiors, right?
Ma was worried about her husband's health. Hai Xiya knew it well, but he didn't refute his wife's words, just smiled and responded. On the surface, he agreed to his wife's suggestion, but in retrospect, he still went out early and came back late as before. Sometimes when he was too busy in the government office, he would bring the account books and documents back home to do them, and he would work until the third watch before going to bed. When it was dawn, he would get up again, eat breakfast in a hurry, and rush to the government office with the account books and documents to continue working.

Ma had often complained about this in private. She said to Haitang, "If I had known that it would be so hard for him to be a seventh-rank official in Chang'an, I would have preferred that we went directly back to our hometown in Zhili when we returned from Suzhou. Although the eighth rank is not as respectable as the seventh rank, at least he could have a good rest. We just came back from the border town, and we have been exposed to the wind and sand for so many years. We are old now, and we should have enjoyed a few years of peace and quiet. We took the official position in a foolish moment, and now our life is worse than when we were in Guazhou!"

Haitang just listened to Ma's complaints with a smile, occasionally joining in the conversation, but she would never complain along with her grandmother.

She knew that her grandmother was just talking nonsense, complaining because she felt sorry for her grandfather. But staying in Chang'an to be an official and strive for promotion was a decision made by her grandparents, in order to pave the way for their grandson Haijiao, hoping that Haijiao would have a better future. Now that Haijiao has not yet grown up, his future is still unknown, how could grandparents regret it at this time? Ma said a few words and then stopped, and she would still support her husband to continue to work hard in his official career.

The Mid-Autumn Festival passed quickly. Due to the busy official duties of Hai Xiya, the Hai family just had a simple reunion dinner during this festival and did not do much else. However, the Hai family had everything that was necessary for the festival. The moon cakes were distributed by the Zhenguo Mansion, and some were given by relatives and friends. The lanterns were mainly bought from the market. Haitang took her little cousin Shitou to make two simple lanterns with bamboo strips and paper, and drew a cartoon portrait of Shitou on the lanterns, which made Shitou very happy. He refused to put away the lanterns after the festival and had to light them up and play with them every night in the house.

The Hai family celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival simply, but the Jin family was quite festive. Ma Shangyi personally presided over the celebration, set up several tables at home, and spent the festival with Jin Jiashu. She also personally took him to the street to visit the lantern festival and guess lantern riddles, and did not return home until almost two o'clock in the morning.

Jin Jiashu later privately grumbled to Haijiao that although Ma Shangyi had told him a lot about the rules of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing at the Lantern Festival, and it seemed that she was instructing him, she was also having a lot of fun, much happier than he was. He was a little suspicious that Ma Shangyi was actually having fun for herself, wanting to relive the beautiful evening light of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in her hometown when she was a girl. He, Jin Jiashu, was just a cover, just a by-product.

Haijiao laughed at Jin Jiashu for this, but ended up in tragedy when he returned home.

His second uncle Hai Chang'an thought that he had become a little slack in his riding and archery skills. He was only satisfied with practicing in the Wei School, but was not as diligent as before at home. He planned to let him step up his intensity and train hard this winter.

Hai Jiao looked bitter, and then he heard that he was not the only one who had to suffer. His uncle Xie Wenzai decided to send his two students Wu Ke and Jin Jiashu to Hai Changan to practice with them. Although Wu and Jin were both scholars who wanted to take the imperial examination, they both had physical deficiencies. They should exercise as early as possible and make up for it. If they lay a good foundation, they will suffer less when they go to Beijing to take the exam in the future.

Anyway, it doesn't matter whether it's just one sheep or a flock of sheep. So what's the big deal if Hai Chang'an takes two more students?

(End of this chapter)