Old Yun’s family woke up very early. Du Tieshan prepared breakfast, making large steamed dumplings with pork and celery filling for everyone…
She didn’t mind the trouble. She had prepared the meat filling last night and started the dough rising. As soon as dawn broke, she got up to make the dumplings.
With so many people in the family, ten or twenty dumplings were not enough. She made five steamer baskets full and put them on to steam.
When the family members gradually woke up, they could eat after washing their faces.
“Wow, Sister Shanshan, did you make all these dumplings yourself?” Little Xi Tian ran into the kitchen and asked.
Du Tieshan smiled and nodded, “Go wash your hands and eat…”
She picked the large steamed dumplings onto plates and carried them into the main hall of the house.
The family would have to go to the fields to work later, so they needed to eat their fill.
“Sister Shanshan, shall I help you pound the garlic sauce!” After washing her hands, Little Xi Tian walked into the kitchen and began to peel garlic for Du Tieshan.
“Sweetie is so good!” Du Tieshan praised with a smile.
This little girl was so lovable no matter how you looked at her…
Just like a porcelain doll, she was sensible and cute.
Zhao Guihua walked in after washing her face. Seeing that breakfast was ready, she asked, “Shanshan, do you want some millet porridge?”
Du Tieshan replied, “The porridge is already cooked, just needs to be served!~”
“Then I’ll go remove the ashes from the stove…”
“The ashes have already been removed!”
“What about the dirty water bucket…”
“Dumped!”
“The chickens, ducks, and pigs…”
“Fed!~”
“Firewood…”
“Split!”
Zhao Guihua was utterly dejected.
With Du Tieshan around, she felt like an idle person at home.
This was more uncomfortable than when Jin Huaihua and Hu Xi’er helped her with chores.
That feeling was indescribable; it just made her feel stifled.
Taking advantage of Little Xi Tian’s absence, Zhao Guihua coughed lightly and said, “Well, Shanshan, you don’t need to do the chores so meticulously. For example, Da Man and the others split the firewood when they have time. And if you can’t carry the dirty water bucket, just leave it there. Don’t get your clothes dirty…”
Her words implied, “You’ve finished all the work, so what am I supposed to do?”
Old Yun’s family didn’t support idlers; everyone knew that. If her parents-in-law saw her doing nothing, how could she still have the face to stay in the Yun family?
It’s good that you work, but can you consider others?
Du Tieshan looked back at her, “It’s fine, these chores aren’t tiring, I can manage!~”
Zhao Guihua: “……”
At the dining table, Prefect Chen picked a dumpling for his daughter, “Xiaoran, we’ll return to the county town after breakfast. No whining or trying to stay. Your mother has hired a tutor for you, and the money has been spent, but you’re not studying properly. How can this be acceptable?”
Chen Xiaoran lowered her head, her eyes glancing at Qin Yiyi and Qin Fenglan. She heard that these two sisters were also returning to the prefectural city today…
She was afraid that if she left, there would be no one to play with Sister Xi Tian anymore.
“I, I’ll play for two more days!~” Chen Xiaoran mumbled.
“No way!” Prefect Chen slammed down his chopsticks, “If you don’t go back, I’ll break your legs!~”
Chen Xiaoran pouted her little mouth. Seeing her father’s fierce look, she was scared into tears, “Wuwu, wah, wuwuwu, cough, mm!”
Everyone: “……”
Madam Huang nudged Prefect Chen, “It’s early in the morning, why are you interrogating your daughter? Xiaoran can stay a few days if she wants to!~”
Upon hearing this, Qin Yiyi also pleaded with Madam Xue, “Mother, can my sister and I stay a few more days?”
Although Old Yun’s family didn’t have meat and fish every meal, there was a sense of home…
It was very comfortable to stay here.
Returning to their home in the prefectural city, everything felt dry and unbearable!
Madam Xue said, “No, we have to leave after breakfast. The prefectural city is a long way. Eat quickly, you and Fenglan!~”
It seemed there was no hope for this.
Old Man Yun and Madam Gu didn’t say anything. If guests wanted to leave, they couldn’t force them to stay…
Besides, it was the busy harvest season at home, and they really didn’t have time to entertain distinguished guests.
After breakfast, the family escorted Prefect Chen and Prefect Qin to the village entrance.
Before leaving, Prefect Chen called Da Man and Er Man over and instructed, “Da Man, the agarwood trees on Tuofeng Mountain have been taken over by soldiers. You can go there in the future if you want, or not. The county yamen will still pay you your salary…”
“Er Man, if you don’t want to work as a handyman at the county yamen, I’ll arrange for you to be a clerk. You’ll just be writing and calculating every day, and the work isn’t tiring!~”
He always felt that these two brothers were a bit wasted farming in the countryside.
Since they were literate, they should display their talents in a larger arena.
Yun Er Man smiled and said, “I think being a handyman is quite good. Shan Shan and I are getting married in a few days. Prefect, you must come for a drink then…”
“Of course! Let’s go, Xiaoran, hurry up and get in the carriage. What are you pulling like that?” Prefect Chen reprimanded.
Chen Xiaoran was holding a handful of wild flowers, pouting as she climbed into the carriage.
After seeing off all the guests, Old Man Yun took his three sons to the fields…
“Dad, I heard that corn prices have gone up this year. Let’s keep some for ourselves to eat, and the rest can be sold for a good amount of money!” Yun Da Man said.
Due to the drought and floods in Da Shui Village this year, the government had waived grain and tax payments, so every household could save some grain.
Old Man Yun snapped off a corn stalk, peeled back the husk, and chewed on it a couple of times, “It’s really sour, like horse urine. Even donkeys don’t eat this stuff…”
Not all corn stalks are sweet.
If it were sorghum stalks, the effect would be different.
Most sorghum stalks are sweet.
“The price increase won’t be much in terms of copper coins. It’s better to keep more at home. Our two horses can’t just eat dry grass; they need concentrated feed too. Otherwise, by the end of winter, they’ll be as thin as matchsticks…” Old Man Yun said.
Yun San Man, with a candy in his mouth, hummed a little tune while peeling corn.
He felt that this kind of life was the most fulfilling.
Sitting in a silk shop in the county town all day, especially when business was slow, he could get bored to death.
Chatting with his brothers in the fields, talking with his father, taking a sip of tea when tired, and eating a couple of steamed buns when hungry – this was true freedom…
“Dad, I saw a strange cluster of plants growing in my sister’s field. What is that?” Yun Er Man asked.
He had never seen such a plant before. It had bloomed with beautiful flowers a while ago, but they had all withered. Strings of yellowish husks hung on the stalks. They looked a bit like soybeans, but the pods were much larger than beans.
Besides this, there were also crops that only grew stalks but no fruit, covering large areas, and they seemed to be high-yielding…
Old Man Yun wiped the sweat from his brow, “I haven’t seen it either. Who knows what your sister is planting in her field!~”
After harvesting the wheat, he would go to his daughter’s field to ponder it.
At the same time, a sharp scream came from a steamed bun shop in the county town.