Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

Jinghan naturally doesn't care who gets the money. The eldest sister is at home all day long, so of course it's better for her to hold it. Xue also gave the money from selling the thorn sprouts a while ago to the children and put them all together. In this way, there are about fifteen or six hundred articles. The children counted the money and felt very happy.

"Okay, I let you take the money, not spend it casually. Considering how tired you are when working, this money must be spent in the right place, understand?" Ms. Xue said with a smile.

"I know." The children answered together.

"It's done, nothing happened. Don't be too late at night. Go to bed early." Mrs. Xue asked the children to go to bed quickly. She sat by the oil lamp and mended the children's clothes. As villagers live their lives, new clothes can only be worn when going out. In normal days, we wear old clothes, so we need to mend them. At this time, you can tell how good a woman's needlework is. Some people's patches are neat and neat, and the stitches are fine. Although they are old, they look very pleasing to the eye. Some people's patches are twisted and twisted, and the stitches are large and small. If a man from any family goes out wearing such clothes, he would not dare to raise his head, for fear that others would laugh at him for marrying a stupid wife.

Xue's needlework is not the best, but it is still good. Every night, she would sew and mend for a while. Zhixin came back from outside and saw her still sewing, so he advised her to go to bed early, "Okay, don't always do sewing at night. The light is too dark and Yanjiang will be exhausted."

"What's not to do? There's a lot of work during the day. Things outside the home are very trivial, so it's the cleanest time at night." Ms. Xue was still sewing there. "Is life like this on the mountain?"

"The first round of grass has been harvested, and it's time to pinch the ginseng flowers. I see that the weather has been pretty good these past few days, so I have to pinch them back quickly. This thing can't be pinched when it's cloudy and rainy." Yun Song washed his feet, and then Just get on the kang. "Then I'll go to sleep first. You can go to bed soon." After a while, snoring started.

When Mrs. Xue heard her husband's snoring, she smiled and continued to mend her clothes. After finally finishing it, I blew out the oil lamp and went to sleep.

In the next two days, Zhixin went up the mountain to pick ginseng flowers. This ginseng flower is the flower of ginseng. The general growth period of planted ginseng is six years, and the ginseng seeds can be left in the fifth year. At this time, the ginseng has grown large enough and the ginseng seeds are relatively full. In the sixth year, you can no longer keep seeds, which will affect the yield. Ginseng will produce ginseng flowers from the fourth year onwards, so those ginseng flowers without ginseng seeds should be pinched off. Pruned ginseng flowers are also useful. Some vendors will collect them, and the price is not low.

The Xu family had a total of about 40 feet of sticks without seeds. Zhixin used them for three days to pinch off all the ginseng flowers. Mrs. Chen poured the ginseng flowers on a broken mat and dried them in the sun. When dried, they could be sold for seventy or eighty yuan a pound. This year I pinched about thirty kilograms of fresh ginseng flowers, and only five kilograms of dried ginseng flowers were harvested, which is pretty good. No matter how little things are, it’s still money, right? The money sold can also buy a lot of things.

After pinching the ginseng flowers, it was time to go to the fields twice. Zhixin and the old man led the cows to the fields.

Mrs. Chen sat outside, looking at the ginseng flowers and picking up the soles of her shoes. While he was sitting there, a woman about the same age as Mrs. Chen came in from outside. "Sister-in-law, I came to your house for a visit."

Mrs. Chen saw it was Mrs. Qian, the matchmaker she went to see a few days ago. "His aunt, why are you free to come to my place today? Sit down quickly." Ms. Chen hurriedly went into the room and got a glass of water. "Her aunt, drink a glass of honey water. It's so sunny. Quickly eliminate your sweat."

Matchmaker Qian sat on the bench, fanning herself with the handkerchief in her hand, "It's not bad, it's not too hot, but it took a long time to walk down the aisle. Sister-in-law, I came here today because I had something to do. It's a good thing."

"That's right, it's not a good thing that her aunt is here. What's wrong? Do you have any confidence in my Huixin's marriage?" Ms. Chen was also very happy.

"No, once I tell him about this, you will definitely be satisfied. You know the pharmacy in this town, right? It's the one called Renjitang. Isn't there a young doctor among them? Last time you took Huixin to get some medicine. , it was him who treated Hui Xin. I don’t know why, but he fell in love with Hui Xin. I asked him to find out. As soon as I heard what he said, I knew it was your Hui Xin. Do you remember this person?" Matchmaker Qian drank some water and moistened her throat.

Mrs. Chen remembered that when she went to town that day, there was indeed such a young doctor. He looks to be in his twenties, gentle, fair, and good-looking. "His aunt is a doctor and good-looking, so why did she take a liking to my Huixin?"

"Sister-in-law, I'm afraid you won't be able to find many Huixin in the whole town who looks so small. Doctor Tao fell in love with Huixin as soon as he saw her." Matchmaker Qian patted Mrs. Chen's hand and said. "Sister-in-law, I'm afraid that this marriage will come true. He is a doctor and can treat people and make money, so I won't be afraid that he will not be able to survive. Besides, Huixin is weak, and this family also knows that they must not dislike me to find me. What do you think?"

Mrs. Chen still pondered for a while, "His aunt, I will discuss this matter with the old man when he comes back, and then take some time to take a look at this young man. Our Huixin family is physically weak, so we have to be careful. I hope you won't be offended. "Ms. Chen has always loved this old girl, so she has always been very careful about her marriage.

"Okay, what's wrong with this? When my eldest brother comes back, you can discuss it carefully and then give me a letter. I will also help you find out some things about their family. This girl is getting married. But it's a lifetime event." Matchmaker Qian was not angry. How could it be done just once? It will take more than a few runs. "Okay, sister-in-law, I'm leaving first. There are still several houses to run." With that, Matchmaker Qian left.

Mrs. Chen hurriedly sent her out, "His aunt, please walk slowly. Come and play when you have time." Standing at the door, she couldn't help but want to laugh. Her daughter also came to propose marriage. Turning around and entering the west room, I saw Huixin embroidering there.

"Huixin, did you hear what Matchmaker Qian said just now?" Mrs. Chen sat down by the kang and looked at her daughter and asked.

"Mom, my daughter's marriage is entirely up to her parents." Hui Xin's face was red and she lowered her head, not daring to look at Mrs. Chen. The last time she went to Renji Hall, she thought the doctor was very young and had a good attitude. She didn't expect that he would actually find someone to propose marriage.

"Oh, this mother, I wish I could give all the good things to my children. Of course, mother wants you to marry a good family, but you have to like it. Tell mother, what is your impression of that person? "Ms. Chen couldn't help but sigh when she looked at her daughter's appearance. This child has been weak since he was born and needs to be raised well. But how can there be any good things in this farmyard to nourish her body? I've just been making do with it these past few years. Fortunately, I listened to Jinghan's words and bought a sheep. My daughter's face has improved a lot these days.

"Mom, I only met him once, what do I like or dislike about him? I just think he is kind-hearted." Huixin whispered, her face flushed.

When Mrs. Chen heard this, she felt relieved knowing that her daughter had a pretty good impression of the man. "Okay, one day I will go and inquire about his family's affairs. I have to know the basics. By the way, you have to keep drinking that goat's milk. I see you drink it, and your complexion looks much better. . There is nothing good in our house. If this thing is useful, you can drink it. "

Mrs. Chen came out of her daughter's room and went to Mr. Xue's house. Mrs. Xue was not there. When she went outside, she saw Mrs. Xue tending vegetables in the garden. The grass in the garden is growing again. If you don't plow it back, it will grow into patches. So Mrs. Chen also squatted in the ground and pulled grass.

Mrs. Xue also saw her mother-in-law, "Mom, why are you here in the garden? Your waist is not good, so stop squatting. I will do this work when I have time."

Mrs. Chen was still weeding there, and by the way she told Ms. Xue about the matchmaker's arrival just now. She wanted Mr. Xue to go and inquire about it when he had time. She had already been to Renji Hall, and if she showed up again, she was afraid that people would know that she was there to inquire about things. After hearing this, Ms. It's much better. If she marries a farmer, Huixin still has to work in the fields when the farm is busy? Huixin is a spoiled child in our family. How can she bear to do rough work when she is married to a doctor? As long as you can do the laundry and cook at home, you don't have to work too hard." Ms. It’s the age to get engaged.”

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law reached an agreement on this matter, chatting and picking grass. After they finished plowing the land, Mrs. Chen quickly stood up and straightened her back. "After all, it's because of my old age and a fall in my early years that my waist is really bad. I'm going to watch the cooking, and you can do it for a while. Today, my second daughter-in-law disappeared again. I said that day, It's been a few days, what's wrong?" Mrs. Chen thumped her waist and went back to the house.

Jinghan didn't go up the mountain today and went to play with the Lin family's Yumei. The Lin family also lives by the river, some distance from the Xu family. Yumei was learning to sew at home. When she saw Jinghan coming, she quickly asked her to sit down and then went to get some melon seeds. "I found this a few days ago. I asked my mother to fry it. If I don't eat it, I'll get sick if it gets too hot."

The two of them were sitting there chatting. Yumei was still sewing with needle and thread in her hand. "Sister Yumei, what are you doing?"