Farmhouse Pastoral Notes

Chapter 45 Rice
It is rainy in the south. From the end of June to the middle of July, the rainy season for more than 20 days makes the whole village fall into a silent world. The sun is covered by thick clouds, and the sky is gloomy and terrible. Rainwater, pattering down non-stop.

Even if the people in Yangjia Village were free, they would not go out in the rainy weather. Every household kept their doors tightly closed, either discussing where there was a flood today, or discussing who and who in the village had quarreled again.Looking up at the sky that had no desire to clear the sky, Chunqiu sat at the door and sighed. In the room, Mrs. Yuan was complaining about the fact that the quilt was too wet to cover her. Suddenly she raised her head and glanced at the empty room. Mrs. Yuan felt a little uncomfortable. Shouting to the door in panic, "Qiu'er, Qiu'er"

"Hey, mother, what's the matter?" Chunqiu didn't look back.These days, as long as her mother can't see her, she will call her that every day, for fear that she will run out if she doesn't pay attention.After Chunqiu knew about it, she felt helpless, she was not a real child, who wouldn't want to go out in this horrible weather?Uh... There are really people, like a tiger who ran away early in the morning, and the rain couldn't stop his enthusiasm at all.

When Yuan Shi heard that her daughter was still there, she immediately felt relieved, "It's nothing, you stay here." As soon as the words fell, she thought of something again, and then said, "By the way, Qiu'er, you go to the back room and get the brazier here. Stay here, our quilt is too damp, we need to bake it over fire, otherwise we won't be able to cover it at night." Yuan's voice came from the room, his tone was a little troubled, this quilt had been placed in the cabinet before, how could it be possible to think about it today? I wanted to take it out and change the cover, but it was so damp that water could come out. People who covered themselves with such a quilt would get eczema, and the previous quilt had been torn down by Yuan Shi, so Yuan had no choice but to use the quilt at home The brazier was roasting for two days. Thinking of this, Yuan raised her head and glanced outside, hoping that the rain would pass soon.

"Mother, is it the iron basin that Dad brought back before?" Chunqiu was standing in the back room at this time, looking at the braziers of different sizes on the ground, he was a little uncertain about what Mother meant.Are there so many iron basins here?Which one is it!

"...Yes, it's the one with patterns, you can just move in, mother will go to the warehouse to get some dry firewood back." Yuan Shi was putting on shoes in the house, when she heard her daughter's words, she quickly thought about which iron basin it was.

"Hey, do you still need to use the side shelf?" Chunqiu looked at the matching shelf and asked.

"Bring it here, bring it all together." After Yuan Shi finished speaking, she picked up the tarpaulin umbrella that was placed at the door beside her, and ran out of the door directly.

When Yuan came back with half of his body wet, Chunqiu had already set up the brazier.

"Oh, Niu Niu is awesome, go and have a rest, the rest of the mother can just come." Yuan Shi didn't care about her half-wet clothes, and hurriedly put the firewood on the ground, picked up the arm-thin wood After the stick is broken, add it to the basin.

Chunqiu looked at her mother's hair covered in rainwater, turned around and took a towel beside her and put it on her mother's head, "Mother, your hair is covered in water, wipe it off"

"It's okay, Qiu'er, go to the cabinet and get that navy blue top for mother." Yuan said it was okay, but still reached out and grabbed the handkerchief on top of her head.

"This is it, here you are, mother." Chunqiu took the clothes and handed them to Yuan Shi, watching Yuan Shi quickly take off his shirt and put on fresh clothes.

"Okay, I have nothing to do. You go to the door and wait there to see if your father is back? Tell me that the weather is not good to stay at home, and you have to go to the field to see some rice seedlings. He is really free "When Yuan Shi mentioned her father, she couldn't stop the car, she looked worried, and she kept complaining.

Chunqiu secretly smiled at the side, and then echoed, although her mother always dislikes her father, it is actually very rare.

"You little girl, what are you doing? Get out quickly." After Yuan Shi finished speaking, she saw Chunqiu squatting on the ground covering her mouth and laughing. Covering his face, he stretched out his hand and blasted Chunqiu out, then turned his head and closed the door again.

Chunqiu stood at the door and didn't care, her mother was furious from embarrassment.

Chunqiu wandered to her throne again, sat down on her ass, and then meditated on the train of thought that was interrupted by her mother before. In fact, their family is quite lucky. Thanks to the help of his uncle, their room was able to survive the rainy season. , sent the goji berries to the herbal hall early on. Calculated at 80 renminbi per catty, Chunqiu and the others sold them for more than [-] taels of silver, which can be regarded as a relatively large income for Chunqiu. Her mother's tea is also selling well.Twice as many as her.

Just when Chunqiu was sitting on the bench, the door of the Yang family was pushed suddenly. Chunqiu stood up and looked at the person in the rain who was walking back in the raincoat. Isn't this her father?Chunqiu yelled "Dad" at the door

Hearing Chunqiu's shout, Yang Weibo turned his head and waved his hands.

Looking at the posture, Chunqiu quickly ran into the house and took out the clean clothes that Yuan had prepared before and waited at the door. Her mother knew that Yang Weibo was back, so Chunqiu did not stop this series of actions.

"Father, here are your clothes, change them quickly, mother is baking quilts in the house, our quilts are all wet." Chunqiu reached out and handed the clothes in his arms to Yang Weibai, then reached out to take Yang Weibai's raindrops, and put them on On a shelf by the door.

"Qiu'er, why didn't you go out to play?" Yang Weibo was a little curious. When he came back, he happened to see the children at home playing at the entrance of the village.

"My mother won't let me, she said it's too cold outside, I'm afraid I'm catching a cold." As soon as Chunqiu finished speaking, Yuan Shi said in the back room, "What are you playing? Just stay at the door. I just had a cold before, and I still want to drink medicine. Don't listen to what your father said, come in, Yang Weibo." After Yuan finished speaking, she called Yang Weibo in.

Chunqiu looked at her father's slightly apologetic eyes, and spread his hands to show that he didn't care, anyway, her mother was the most talkative.

"What are you talking about? My daughter just had a cold before, so why go out to play? What's wrong with having a fever?" Yuan slapped and complained to Yang Weibo who had just entered the door.

"Hey, am I worried that my daughter will be bored at home?" Yang Weibo rubbed the tip of his nose in embarrassment.

"Come on, my daughter is fine staying here, let me tell you, Yang Weibo, don't run around and get my daughter out." Yuan Shi looked at Yang Weibo with warning eyes.

"Okay, okay, don't say it, don't say it, can't I say it?" Yang Weibo nodded helplessly.

Only then was Yuan Shi satisfied.Before Chunqiu went out to play on a rainy day, he immediately had a fever on the night when he came back, and Yuan Shi was so scared that he couldn't close his eyes all night. After this, Yuan Shi never let Chunqiu go out again.

"By the way, how does that land look like? Is there anything wrong?" Yuan thought of Yang Weibo's purpose of going out today, and was a little worried. It has been raining for more than ten days, and she wondered if there was anything wrong with her rice. .

"It's okay, I just watched it today, and you can harvest it when the weather clears up. Don't believe it, today's harvest is much better than in previous years." Also laughed.

"Really? That's really good. Mother must be happy to know." After Yuan Shi finished speaking, Yang Weibo kept nodding, obviously agreeing with Yuan Shi's words.

"Okay, don't talk about this, Brother Ming'er will come back in two days, our house is almost cleaned up, the rest of the furniture is free, you can help pack some..."

"Hey, I've prepared it a long time ago. I was thinking about doing it when the weather cleared..." Yang Weibai had a simple and honest face.

On July [-]th, the rain that had been lingering for many days stopped, and the sky finally cleared up.

Yangjia Village did not celebrate because of the rare sunny weather, because every household had to take advantage of the sunny weather to harvest rice.

According to the habits of early rice, now is the time for early rice to mature.

Old Yang's family was no exception. Old man Yang got up early in the morning to harness the bullock cart, and took a shovel, sickle, straw rope, etc. to harvest rice.

Slices of golden rice were bent over by the heavy ears of rice, and the breeze blew past, setting off layers of halos.

It wasn't too early for the Yang family to come. When they arrived in Spring and Autumn, the people next to the Yang family's rice fields had already started working in the fields.

Mrs. Yang and Li were not idle either, and hurriedly greeted the Yang family members at the side, and distributed the sickles one by one, each of them took the time to work.

When the sun comes out, the fields have already changed their appearance. Seeing the rows of rice fields fall to the side under the waving of the sickle, and are tied together by straw ropes and thrown to the shore, everyone's face is full of happiness. Smile, the countryside is full of joy of harvest.

The adults were busy harvesting rice in the paddy fields with sickles, and the remaining children were naturally not idle. Although they could not help the adults cut rice, the loach in the field was ruined, because the loach business in Heishan Town The price of loach has also risen from ten yuan a catty to twelve yuan a catty. The silt is rich in nutrients, and the loach grows fast. It didn't take long before the fields were full of thumps.

When the effect of loach was not discovered before, people in Yangjia Village often looked at the loach in the field very disgusted, and even had to remove it manually, but now, every household is looking at the loach in the field, and their mood has changed 180 degrees. I wish I could grow more loaches, and they let their children go to the fields to catch them. Chunqiu and others had already received orders from Mrs. Yang and Li to catch loaches in their own fields, and then sell them to the previous ones when they were about to go to the market. Pilgrims living in business.

The rainy season lasted for more than 20 days, and the rainwater that fell before had already overflowed the depth of the paddy fields. When Chunqiu went into the water with his trousers in his arms, the water in the paddy fields had already covered Chunqiu’s calves. Chunqiu raised his feet carefully. After moving around a bit, I felt that the soles of my feet were not stiff and there was no potential danger, so I rolled up my sleeves and bent over to start working.

"Third sister, how are you catching? Loach is not easy to catch, the water is too deep." Huzi's complaining words came from behind Chunqiu, and Chunqiu knew without thinking that Huzi must be holding his little head Begging for comfort like a puppy.

"That's right, third sister, I caught too little. I only caught a little after so long. Look, my clothes are all wet." Chunhua felt aggrieved as she carried the bucket that hadn't been filled to the bottom. Looking at Chunqiu, her clothes were dirty because of a little loach. This was bought for her by Gu Shixin a few days ago. Her mother will definitely scold her when she sees it. What should I do?

After hearing what the two said, Chunqiu didn't continue to catch. He straightened up, looked down at the bucket beside him, and sighed helplessly, not only the two of them, but also herself. a lot.

"Why don't we let Grandma and the others push down the clods on the side, wait until the water is drained, it's not so deep, so it's easy to catch, what do you think?" Chunqiu looked at the reflection in the water, and thought for a while.

"Oh, this is a good idea. You can catch loach when there is less water. Third sister, how did you come up with it? It's really smart." Chunhua nodded after hearing this. Good to bend over.

"Well, you guys go to the shore and wait for me, I'll go talk to Grandma right away." After Chunqiu finished speaking, he walked towards Yang and Li's direction with water dripping.

Mrs. Yang Li was bending over to cut the rice. She had just carried a pile of rice seedlings to the shore, and when she turned her head, she saw Chunqiu walking towards her. "Oh, dear granddaughter, why are you here? What's the matter?" ?”

"Grandmother, let's open two small holes in the mound opposite, otherwise the water will be too deep, and we won't be able to catch loaches." Chunqiu raised his leg to indicate the depth of the water, looking at Yang and Li with a little worry.

"That's it, okay, it's simple, good granddaughter, don't do it yourself, you go to your father over there, and let him make a hole for you with a shovel, just opposite our house is by the river, it's okay" Yang Li Shi pointed to Yang Weibo and said to Chunqiu who was beside him.

"Hey, grandma, then I'll go over there." Chunqiu glanced at Yang Weibo, and after speaking to Mrs. Yang and Li, he drenched away again.

"Go, let's go, let's put this water for a while, there is a net on the bank, you can bury it in a while, and just wait on the bank." Yang Lishi thought for a while, and pointed to the bank beside him.

"Hey, I know," Chunqiu said while walking back.

Yang Weibai had harvested all the rice in Yilong at this time, and the horses were neatly placed on the bank, ready to move them to the ox cart and take them home to dry in the sun. Shouting "Dad" to Yang Weibo

"Hey, what is Qiu'er looking for father?" Yang Weibo heard the movement behind him, turned around and looked over.

"Grandma wants you to go and dig out the two corners of the mound over there to release water, otherwise the loach will be hard to catch." Chunqiu pointed to the row of mounds in the distance.It means just dig it out there.

"Oh, that's fine, dad will go there now." Yang Weibai followed Chunqiu's finger and looked in the direction, it was next to the mound of soil by the river, he picked up the shovel that was put aside and walked over.

"Father, is there still a net here? It will cover the opening soon." After Chunqiu shouted, he took the net and chased after him.

Yang Weibo was so strong that he leaked the mound with a few clicks, and after Chunqiu fixed the net with stones beside him, he called all the small stones Huzichunhua who had been standing on the bank over.

"Third Sister, are you done?" Huzi walked to Chunqiu with a bucket in his hand.

"Yeah, it's over, let's go into the water after a while when the water is low." Chunqiu squatted on the mound, looking at the newly dug water outlet.

"Oh, third sister, look at my clothes, they are new, mother will definitely scold me if she finds out." Chunhua pulled the light pink shirt that was rubbed into the mud by her with a sad face.This is what my mother just made for her before.

Chunqiu looked at Chunhua's clothes and smiled, "Second sister, it's nothing, you can go home early and wash it with water, and the uncle can't find it." The fabric of this clothes was bought by Gu Shi when she saw Yuan Shi I bought new fabrics for Chunhua Chunni, but the color is different, the spring and autumn ones are star flowers, and the Chunhua sisters are peach blossoms.

"That's right, second sister, you'd better run quickly when you're done, or mother will definitely beat you up when she sees it." Little Shitou gloated at the side. Yesterday he stained his clothes and mother beat him up. His second sister It's definitely not going to get better.

"Hmph, I think you didn't suffer enough yesterday, you owe a beating." Chunhua reached out and patted Xiao Shitou on the forehead.

"Hmph, let's not let people talk about it." Xiao Shitou covered his blushing forehead, and his mouth shriveled in aggrieved way. His second sister is really domineering.

"No, why?" Chunhua looked up at the little stone with disdain.

Chunqiu watched the two quarreling, but he couldn't persuade them.I had no choice but to look at me and look at you with Huzi, without talking.

The four of them stood on the shore for about half an hour, and Chunqiu discovered that the water level in the field had dropped by more than half, and he could clearly see the mud underneath.

"Okay, okay, we can catch it," Chunqiu shouted excitedly to the people on the shore.

After hearing this, a few people ran over to look at it, and then got into the water one by one. bucket.

After returning home, Mrs. Yang and Li found a clean big water basin, Chunqiu directly poured all the loach into it, followed by fresh water, and everyone considered that they had completed today's task.

(End of this chapter)