Chapter Forty-Five: Harvesting in Haste

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  "What's wrong?" asked Zhou.

  "Man Er, your mother is looking for you." Gu Shi didn't answer immediately, but instead turned towards Lian Man Er.

  Lian Man'er understood in her heart that Gu Shi wanted to get rid of her, so she deliberately didn't follow Gu Shi's wishes.

  "My daughter is looking for me? I don't know what's going on, wait till I finish rolling these cigarettes for grandpa. Otherwise, grandpa won't have any cigarettes to smoke tomorrow." Lian Man'er said, lowering her head and focusing on the tobacco leaves in her hands.

  Gu didn't know what to do and sat down on the edge of the kang with his body tilted to one side.

  "Mother, I want to go to the county tomorrow." Gu said to Zhou.

  "Back for just a few days and you're leaving again? Your father said no, just stay home."

  "Mother, I'm going to the county town on business. I...I'm going to have a tooth inlaid." Gu said somewhat awkwardly.

  Zhou nodded.

  Lian Man'er secretly glanced at Gu's face. Last time Zhang beat Gu, knocking out one of Gu's teeth. At this time, there were already dentists who specialized in making false teeth, and there was even a dental shop in Qingyang Town.

  "Get a dental implant? That's gonna cost a fortune. Eldest daughter-in-law, I'm not saying you're the one, but your kids are all grown up, they don't seem to be holding anything back, what's the point of spending that kind of money? It seems like there are more and more places in the house where money is being spent, can you even earn a single cent or two back?" These words, as spoken by Mrs. Zhou, were still relatively mild and polite.

  "Mother, it's like this. The inlaid teeth shop in the county town, their young master studied with Master Big. He promised long ago that when we go to get our teeth inlaid, he won't charge us any money." Gu Shi hastily said.

  "It's not about the money..." Zhou seemed to relax a bit.

  "Mother, I'm not doing it for myself either."

  "In a few days, the flower will be out of the door, and as her mother, I have to attend the wedding banquet. If people see that I'm missing a tooth, it won't look good for Master's face... In the future, Master will also have to deal with officials, so I must dress properly and not lose face for Master and the Lian family." Madam Gu said with a smile.

  She didn't have to spend any money and it was also for the sake of Lian's family reputation, so Zhou Shi was persuaded.

  "Alright, then you can go." said Zhou Shi.

  "Mother, I'll bring Hua and Duo along too. Last time in the county town, they saw two pieces of fabric. They said they wanted to make a new cotton-padded jacket for you and Xiu'er each, but unfortunately someone bought them first. Hua said she would find exactly the same ones again and buy two more for you and Xiu'er." Gu Shi said to Zhou Shi. "Hua has also finished making shoes for her elder sister-in-law. And there are embroidered handkerchiefs and pouches for Jin Suo and Yin Suo, which can be sent over to them. From now on, they will all be in the county town, so it's a good opportunity to get closer to each other."

  Jin Suo and Yin Suo are the twin daughters of Zhou Shi's eldest daughter Lian Lan Er.

  Lian Man'er was rubbing tobacco leaves while thinking, this Gu Shi is really clever, every sentence can hit Zhou Shi's heart, and at the same time bribed several people on Zhou Shi's mind.

  "Go on, go on. The earlier you leave, the earlier you'll be back." Madam Chou agreed.

  Lian Man'er returned from upstairs and told Zhang Shi about Zhou Shi's plan to go to the county town for dental inlays.

  "There are also dentists in the town. Why run so far?" Zhang said, thinking for a moment, "Your aunt's precious child must be afraid that the ones in the town aren't good enough."

  "This is also a reason. Besides," Lian Man'er smiled and said, "I think she's going to run away."

  "What's wrong?" Zhang was startled.

  "It's unbearable to stay in the village, so let's find an excuse to live in the city." Lian Man'er said, "Mother, I'll leave a message here, and this time they go to the county town, staying for ten days or half a month is already considered less."

  "Let her go if she wants to go, we don't care about her," said Zhang. "They don't do any chores at home anyway."

  The next day, the family finished breakfast and went out. The Gu family also packed up and called a horse carriage. The mother and two daughters were ready to enter the city. When Lian Man'er was leaving, she turned her head and saw Lian Hua'er pulling Lian Xiu'er, hiding beside the melon trellis in the front yard, talking.

  That melon rack is right next to the pigsty, and even the flowers usually detour around it. But today, I don't know what's wrong with them, they're talking so intently that they can't smell the stench of the pigsty.

  Everyone walked to the foot of Nanshan Mountain, today they are going to harvest peanuts.

  Peanuts are the most valuable crop in this area, to use the words of our ancestors, it should be considered an economic crop. Peanuts are more difficult to cultivate than sorghum, farmers who plant peanuts generally do not dare to eat them themselves, but instead leave them to sell for money. Many families' New Year's expenses, including oil, salt, meat and vegetables, and even clothing, all come from this.

  Lian Lao Ye Zi is a very strict person, for example when he comes to the field, no matter if you're an adult or child, without his permission, nobody is allowed to leave casually. The wild vegetables that grow here can't compare with highland barley, millet, and beans, these wild vegetables are edible and delicious. Before Lian Lao Ye Zi went down to the fields, he specifically instructed everyone not to secretly eat them.

  Even so, someone still sneaked a snack. Lian Lao Ye was working in front, Si Lang thought that Lian Lao Ye couldn't see him, and secretly ate a few peanuts, but ended up getting caught red-handed by Lian Lao Ye. Lian Lao Ye didn't mince words, scolding Si Lang severely, and also implicated Lian Shouyi and He Shi in the blame.

  Lian Man'er secretly stuck out her tongue, she actually... also planned to secretly eat a few more. However, after seeing Si Lang's example, she immediately dispelled this idea.

  The peanuts have grown to this point, and the peanut seedlings are already somewhat withered and yellow.

  Lao Lao Ye brought his three sons, and the second and third sons were in front pulling peanuts. Pulling peanuts means grabbing the peanut stalks, pulling out the entire peanut along with the stalks from the ground. This is a task that requires some strength and skill, the better the farming method, the cleaner and more efficient the peanut pulling, the less peanuts left in the soil.

  But even with the best harvesting methods, not all peanuts can be brought out, and many will still remain in the soil.

  This requires a second process.

  Zhang, Zhao, He, Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother followed behind the man who pulled out the peanuts, each holding an iron hoe. They looked for the soil holes where the peanut roots were, then dug up the remaining peanuts inside. Lian Miao, Lian Zhi, Lian Ye, and Sixth Brother carried baskets and closely followed behind, picking up the peanuts into the baskets. During this process, they also used their hands to remove as much mud from the peanuts as possible.

  When the harvest is over, the scattered peanuts are packed in burlap sacks. The whole peanut stalks with peanuts are bundled together and transported back home by cart, all of which are sent to the rooftop for drying.

  It was approaching noon, and unlike usual, none of the Lian family members took a nap, except for Zhang who went back home alone.

  This is fate.

  Yesterday evening, several old farmers in the village gathered together and also called Lian Laoye. After discussing for a while, they said that recently it's likely to rain heavily. If it rains heavily, the unharvested crops in the fields may be flooded and rot, affecting production. Moreover, the muddy roads after the rain will also affect the harvest. Therefore, everyone discussed and decided to bring all the crops into their homes as soon as possible.

  So today everyone started packing up and cancelled the break. Zhang wanted to go home and cook, then bring the cooked food back for everyone to eat.

  "When is mother coming back?"

  Zhang walked for a while, and Lian Mian saw that in the nearby fields, some families were already eating lunch brought from home.

  "Lian'er, Lian'er," Chunni and Chunyan, the two sisters, ran to the head of the Lian family's field, panting, and shouted at Lian'er: "Lian'er, hurry back home, your mother is in a bad way."

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