The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 55 Trying New Things
If there's no grain to harvest before the start of autumn, you won't win the harvest after the start of autumn.

The millet has turned yellow; it's time for the autumn harvest.

"Spring is here, when are you going to try some new food?"

Want to try something new?

This is the first time I've heard the word "spring warmth".

Is trying something new a must?

After learning that this was a ritual performed by farmers to thank God before harvesting rice, Chunnuan decided to respect this custom.

Sure enough, the old lady had never heard of trying something new.

"We need to buy some meat to make 'knife-cut meat,' which is a sacrificial offering. We also need to buy incense, candles, and paper money, peel some new rice, and steam the new rice separately when steaming the rice. We also need to steam eggplant."

"After the pork belly is cooked, sprinkle some salt on it, then put the freshly steamed rice in a separate bowl, place the eggplant and wine on the table, and burn paper money to worship the heavens."

"Offering sacrifices to Heaven?"

In family ancestral worship, the first deities to be worshipped are always the ancestors, followed by the Heavenly God, the Kitchen God, and the Earth God.

"Aunt Luo said that the new harvest is different. It starts with the worship of heaven. It is to thank God for blessing the weather so that there will be a good harvest."

"Moreover, the rules for serving new dishes are also different."

Normally, the elders take the first bite before the food is served, and the younger generation only starts eating after the elders have taken their first bite.

"When trying something new, the first bite of new rice has to be fed to the dog."

Feed the dog?

No one in the Xiao family had ever heard of such a thing.

"Aunt Luo said that the reason we can eat rice is because a dog stole the seeds from Heaven. It rolled around in the grain piles in Heaven and got covered in grains. When it was discovered and chased, it jumped into the river in a panic. After swimming across the Milky Way, only a few grains of rice remained on its tail. Then it shook them off and they took root and sprouted on Earth. People found that they could fill their stomachs, and that's how it spread and allowed humans to have enough to eat."

Therefore, feeding the dog the first bite is an expression of gratitude.

Chunnuan told her family about the precautions that Aunt Luo had given her.

"Different regions have different customs; these are things I've never heard of in the capital."

"Perhaps the village has these rules too, but we don't know them."

“Now that we’re in Shu, let’s do things the way we do in Shu.” The old lady was a little worried that Chunnuan wouldn’t have enough money, so she took off the only silver hairpin in her hair: “Nuannuan, take this and exchange it for some silver.”

This silver hairpin is arguably the most valuable possession of the Xiao family. The old lady always used it to hold her hair up, and to prevent her hair from falling down, she specially asked Chun Ning to whittle a yellow thorn stick to replace it.

"Grandmother, no need, your granddaughter has money."

Chunnuan took the hairpin and put it back in her hair.

"Grandmother, don't worry. I've made some money from processing and selling medicinal herbs during this time, which is enough to cover my expenses."

Yes, Chunnuan quietly produced that Chaihe cart. Because she prepared it exceptionally well, Zhao Minghua took it to Changzhou to show the old man, who then gave her a price of ten taels of silver.

She felt a little guilty taking the ten taels of silver.

After all, those things belonged to the eldest sister-in-law and Yangyang.

"Thank you so much for your hard work."

She was expected to manage the household and also prepare medicinal herbs to earn money: "From now on, just let me know if you need any help at home. You're in charge of this household. They can't do much else, but they're never tired from doing chores that require physical exertion."

The old lady has delegated a lot of power.

“Yes, granddaughter understands,” Chunnuan said. “After we finish harvesting the rice and move to the small courtyard, there will be work that we all need to do together.”

Chunnuan had already decided what she wanted to provide for Zhao Minghua's teahouse: pastries.

She would add some beneficial Chinese medicinal herbs to the pastry recipes, and the pastry-making techniques were not passed on to outsiders. Her family would make them and have Zhao Minghua send someone to pick them up and deliver them to the teahouse.

It's tiring, but there's one advantage: the Xiao family is also moving towards business, and there's a good chance they'll open a pastry shop.

The old lady patted Chunnuan's hand. "Everyone in the family has regained their color, except for you, you've lost weight."

As spring warms up, I feel myself becoming slimmer.

There's no other way; during the day, I have to handle all sorts of chores on my own; at night, I have to think about the future all by myself.

"I wonder how Chunyu is doing? And how are your uncle and the others?"

His sons and grandsons, exiled to the northern deserts and never having left the capital, were not weak scholars, but rather pampered young masters who had never suffered hardship.

She didn't dare to ask for anything, only hoping to arrive safely and live to see the day her family was reunited.

"Grandmother, don't worry, everything will be alright."

"Okay, it will be alright."

The whole family needs to have this belief.

After trying something new, it's time to reap the rewards.

Seeing that other women and children were working in the fields in the village, the women of the Xiao family also wanted to work in the fields.

"Firstly, we don't have that many tools at home."

Having acquired two sickles was already considered quite wealthy.

“Secondly, this is a job you really can’t do,” Chunnuan said. “Your hands will be covered in blood the moment they touch the millet seedlings.”

Is it really that scary?
Chunyan was somewhat skeptical, so she reached into the sandy field and grabbed at it. Then she discovered that there were beads of blood on the back of her hand.

“These millet seedlings are particularly sharp. Even if you had the strength, you wouldn’t be able to do this job, let alone if you didn’t have the strength.”

"What should we do?" The whole family was very anxious. They saw that other people's fields were full of people, young and old, all busy and happy. What were they supposed to do but stand on the edge of the field and watch?
"Chuning, Chun'an, go and exchange jobs." Chunnuan remembered Aunt Luo's invitation: "After Aunt Luo's family finishes harvesting their millet, please ask Uncle Luo to help us with the harvest."

Trading two children for a strong laborer wouldn't cause the Luo family to suffer too much of a loss.

"Sister, what can I do?"

Chun'an felt that he was only six years old, and he had no strength or ability, so what kind of job could he get?

“Look, there are many children in the village who are only a few years old working in the fields.”

However, Chunnuan was worried about whether he would be able to walk normally after going to the fields.

"Okay, I'll go find a new job."

When Chun Ning and Chun An arrived at the Luo family's field ridge and explained their purpose, Uncle Luo was delighted.

"Forget it, you're still young and have never done this before, so you don't need to help us. My family doesn't have much land either, so hurry up and finish the work. We can finish it by tomorrow, and at the latest the day after tomorrow, I can come and help you harvest."

The Xiao family, a group of women and children, farmed crops, and they actually did it quite well, which impressed the villagers.

"It's okay, if Xiaogang can do it, we can too."

Chun Ning knew that there was no such thing as kindness without a reason. If someone was kind to your family, you had to show your sincerity in return.

"Brother Chun Ning, you really can't compare to me." Luo Xiaogang was handing a large handful of millet to his father. "I've been handing out bundles of millet since I was five years old. I'm an expert. Are you sure you and Chun An can walk in the fields?"

This job is called "passing the baton"!
This kind of work is done by the children during the rice harvest.

It's the same in every family.

Seeing Luo Xiaogang busy, Chun Ning was a little unconvinced: What's so hard about not being able to move?
When they were truly stuck in the mud and couldn't pull their legs out, they realized that Luo Xiaogang wasn't trying to make fun of them, but was warning them.

“Brother Chun Ning, grab the rice stalk and pull hard on that leg.”

Chun Ning grabbed the rice stalk in front of her, and a fish suddenly swam forward, passing in front of Chun An.

"Fish, there's a fish!" Chun'an saw it too, pounced over, and pinned the fish to the ground.

"Chun'an, I used that trick when I was a kid."

Zhizhi remembers that tasting the new harvest was a very grand ceremony when she was a child, and every household would participate. It seems that this has disappeared now.
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(End of this chapter)