early morning.
It's coolest when the sun hasn't come out yet.
Zhao Xiahua was sitting in the yard chopping wild vegetables for chickens and ducks to eat.
Zhao Dashan went to the fields before dawn to weed and fertilize.
Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu sorted out the ice powder they made last night, and after breakfast they took a bullock cart to deliver it. Zhao Sidan was also helping.
Wu Huiniang couldn't stand for too long, so she sat in the yard and continued cutting clothes. She had two pieces of clothes cut out together, the navy blue one was for Zhao Dashan, and the khaki one was for Cheng Wanwan. The two clothes would be made immediately. It’s done.
Cheng Wanwan was making breakfast in the kitchen. He mixed the cornmeal with water, beat an egg into it, and then poured in the chopped wild vegetables and stirred them together. After mixing thoroughly, he put them in a pot and cooked them. There were many people in the family, so each person had two cakes. , plus Xia Hua’s, a total of fourteen were made.
This time she controlled the heat, and the pancakes were not burned and were still steaming when they came out of the pan.
Zhao Dashan won't be back for a while, and the two pancakes are still warm in the pot.
Cheng Wanwan called everyone to come for breakfast.
Zhao Xiahua wiped her hands and stood up: "Auntie, we've finished chopping the wild vegetables, I'm going back first."
Cheng Wanwan quickly stopped her: "Why are you leaving in a hurry? Let's have breakfast first and then pay today's wages."
Zhao Xiahua waved her hands quickly. Breakfast in the old house would be an hour later, and dinner would be an hour earlier. She only had two meals a day. She was not in the habit of eating so early, even though her stomach was already growling with hunger.
She was leaving with her backpack and basket.
Cheng Wanwan hurriedly caught up, first gave her two pennies, and then handed two wild vegetable cornmeal pancakes to her hand.
"Auntie, I really can't have it." Xia Hua was very anxious, "I just need the money. Let's leave the pancakes to Brother Dashan and the others."
Cheng Wanwan made strong moves, and Xia Hua finally had no choice but to take a pancake and hold it in her hand.
Several boys in the house have already eaten wild vegetable pancakes made of cornmeal with eggs. Two of them are very delicious and filling for each person.
After eating, Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu went to deliver the goods.
Cheng Wanwan couldn't help but tell her again and again: "Be careful on the road and don't conflict with others. After delivery, you must count the coins in person. If you have more or less, you must tell them..."
Watching the carriage swaying away from Dahe Village, Cheng Wanwan's heart still couldn't settle down.
No wonder there is a saying that goes, "The mother is worried when her son travels thousands of miles away. These two boys are just going to town to deliver goods, but she can't even let go."
"Mom, come try on some clothes."
Wu Huiniang bit off the thread, shook out her clothes, and gestured on Cheng Wanwan's body.
Cheng Wanwan had to praise her daughter-in-law's ingenuity for turning a piece of cloth into a piece of clothing in just two or three days.
Because it is made of homespun cloth, there is no pattern embroidery. The clothes are very simple. There are laces around the waist. If you tie them on the left and right, you are fully dressed. The overall look is very good. The only thing that is a little embarrassing is that the chest is made smaller and a bit tight. ...Well, if she didn't wear underwear, this dress really fit her perfectly. Who could make her unable to bear the vacuum, so she secretly bought a bra in the mall and put it on, and when she washed it, she felt like a thief...
Cheng Wanwan pointed to his chest: "Can it be made a little looser here?"
Wu Huiniang's face was slightly red: "Okay, Mom, I'll change it right now."
Cheng Wanwan took off his clothes, put on the patched rags again, and then started the day's work.
For villagers, no matter how tired you were the first day, a new day is a new beginning, with a lot of things waiting to be done at home and outside.
Zhao Sanniu came back from carrying water early in the morning. She used gourds and gourds to water the front and back of the house. After all the green vegetables sprouted, she began to fertilize. In ancient times, there were no chemical fertilizers, so farmyard manure was used... This job Cheng Wanwan really couldn't do it, but fortunately there were many sons at home, so he could leave it to anyone. Once again, I felt that having more sons would have many benefits.
When Cheng Wanwan was watering the water, she saw something furry in the vegetable field. She walked over and saw that it was two dead ducks.
Of the twenty ducks she bought, two died. Judging from the bodies, they must have died last night, but no one found them.
It was a good thing that no one found out. She quickly dug a hole to destroy the corpse and eliminate any traces, and then quickly bought two ducklings from the mall to sneak in. The ducklings in the mall just came out and were not familiar with the environment, so they looked around stupidly.
The big hen, Dahuang and Erhuang, ran over one on the left and the other on the right, and pecked the two ducklings on the head. The two ducklings immediately followed and ran away.
Cheng Wanwan looked at the small puddle in the yard at home. The ducklings played in the puddle most of the time. The ducks were still small and their resistance was too weak. If one duck got sick, it would be transmitted to other ducks through contaminated water. As for the ducks, she found that four of them seemed to be showing signs of illness, and they might die in a day or two.
She clicked on the mall, bought duck-specific powder to fight bacterial infections, and mixed it with chopped wild vegetables.
"Four eggs!"
Cheng Wanwan shouted.
Zhao Sidan squatted in the main room peeling stone flower seeds. This was his whole day's work. He had to peel at least three kilograms out.
When he heard his mother calling him, he quickly got up and ran out: "Mom, I'm here!"
"Hurry to these ducks and take a walk in the rice fields." Cheng Wanwan reminded, "When the ducks start eating the rice, they must be brought back immediately."
In her previous life, she had heard about raising ducks in rice fields. There is water in the rice fields, which is suitable for ducks to live. The weeds and microorganisms in the fields can be eaten by ducks, and the duck feces will become nutritional fertilizer for the rice.
The most important thing is that there are a small number of locusts in the rice fields, and ducks love to eat them. If the locusts are large enough, the ducks will not eat the rice. If the locusts are eaten, the ducks must be driven back quickly to avoid damaging the crops.
Zhao Sidan got a new job and happily drove the ducks out.
Cheng Wanwan has a total of thirteen acres of land on his hands, five acres of paddy fields are used to grow rice. Looking at a large area from a distance, the paddy fields are sparkling. Twenty ducks look like a lot in the yard. They quack non-stop every day. Entering the rice fields, you disappear instantly.
Twenty ducks couldn't eat much locusts, and they couldn't produce much feces. She had to buy at least a hundred more ducks.
She turned her head and saw Dahuang and Erhuang squatting in the chicken coop like empty nesters, and silently decided that she had to buy some more chicks.
Cheng Wanwan was about to enter the house to work when she saw a carriage slowly appearing on the main road of Dahe Village. It was the same carriage that she had seen yesterday. The carriage stopped at the entrance of the village. The boy who was driving the carriage jumped out and followed him. The nearby farmer didn't know what he said. The farmer threw down his hoe, turned around and ran towards Li Zheng's house.
The curtain of the carriage was opened, and a middle-aged man wearing silk and satin walked out. He looked to be in his thirties or forties, with a big belly, especially his belly.
The man wore a black gauze hat on his head. No one in the village except Li Zheng had ever seen the county magistrate, but one look at his outfit and everyone knew it was the county magistrate.
Behind him was a man in his forties or fifties who was an aide raised by the county magistrate and was called Master.
All the people working in the fields stopped what they were doing and watched from a distance, talking in low voices and not daring to get close.
