Spring Planting
This year, spring seemed to arrive unusually early and with great intensity.
After the spring rain, the grass in the fields grew rapidly as if it had been given a boost of nutrients. What was only a little bit of wild grass on the sides of the road before Mingbao went to sleep had turned into a lush green landscape overnight.
Mingbao would then carry her small school bag and a large umbrella to go to school.
The Zhou brothers did not have the same luxury as she did. Despite the drizzle, they still had to go to the fields.
They wore raincoats as they carried hoes and plows to the fields.
Even Old Zhou wore a raincoat and a straw hat, so naturally, Zhou Lang also went to the fields.
The Zhou family owned a vast amount of land, but achieving the level of meticulous work described by Keke was challenging. Even the affluent Bai family struggled to manage it.
The fertile fields were all planted with rice, while the less fertile ones were planted with wheat. The dry land was planted with various beans and fruits.
For example, Mingbao did not like winter melon, bottle gourd, and pumpkin.
The Zhou family owned a significant amount of land, along with a considerable labor force.
Plowing was primarily done by men, but occasionally women would also go to the fields with hoes to level the land.
This year, in addition to tending to the fertile fields at home, they also had to pay special attention to three pieces of fallow land as they were planning to cultivate valuable ginger and yams there.
Especially the ginger, even the newly initiated Zhou Lang was very attentive. He spent several evenings applying fertilizer to the land, hoping to make it more fertile before planting.
To suppress the growth of weeds, a thin layer of straw is spread over the fallow land.
Last year, they discovered this secret while planting ginger and yams. Due to large temperature fluctuations, they spread straw on the ground to keep it warm, and they discovered that the areas covered with straw had fewer weeds.
So this year, they did the same. When it was time to plant, they would pull back the straw to expose the planting area.
In this way, the ginger would sprout and grow before the weeds, giving it a significant advantage.
During this time of year, they were very busy.
This year, they also acquired an additional twenty acres of land from Zhou Lang, so they probably wouldn't need to work as day laborers for the Bai family.
This meant that they would lose some income at the beginning of spring, but they would receive higher returns than in previous years when the wheat, beans, and rice were harvested in the fall.
In theory, if the weather were as favorable as it had been in the past three years.
But this year's weather was indeed a bit strange.
As soon as spring began, it started to rain continuously, causing the water level in the fields to rise. Old Zhou had to take his sons to release the water, and with a worried expression, he would watch the sky. But after a couple of days, the weather cleared up.
Old Zhou almost dared not to slack off; he immediately took his family to plant the seedlings. Even Er Tou and Er Ya had to go to the fields, and the whole family, except for Mingbao, San Tou, San Ya, and Si Tou, was busy.
Since everyone was in the fields, she naturally had to take on the household chores. Even though she couldn't do heavy work, she could still cook, clean the yard, and perform other tasks.
With the help of the younger ones, she was able to contribute to the household chores, despite being weak and sickly.
Spring planting was as tiring as autumn harvest, and the family visibly grew thinner. Mingbao felt sorry for them, so she opened her money box, counted the copper coins inside, and took out twenty wen to buy meat.
She felt that although pork was not as delicious as mutton, it was cheaper.
In the long run, buying pork was more cost-effective. However, she felt a little embarrassed because her future sister-in-law's family sold mutton, and both families' meat stalls were located side by side.
The person in charge of purchasing meat, Da Tou, obviously knew this. Before purchasing meat, he always inquired if Zhou Lang had any messages for him to convey.
Zhou Lang was too busy with spring work to think about anything else. He casually picked a bunch of wildflowers from the roadside and handed them to Da Tou, saying, "Give these to her for me."
Mingbao liked to decorate her room with flowers and plants. When there were no flowers, she would use wild grass. Even Da Ya and Er Ya would ask Er Ge to make bamboo vases for them so they could arrange flowers every day.
Zhou Lang concluded that girls liked flowers and plants.
He didn't have much else, but there were plenty of flowers and plants along the road and in the mountains.
When he ran out of flowers on the road, he would pick some pretty ones from the mountains during his breaks, let Mingbao choose the ones she liked, and put the rest in a pot to soak in water. The next day, he would give them to Da Tou to take to the market and deliver them to Fang Xiao Niang.
Since the busy spring season, Da Tou has had to run to the market every day to buy meat, mostly pork, and occasionally mutton.
But no matter what meat he bought, he would always bring a bouquet of flowers to Fang Xiao Niang on behalf of his uncle.
Not only the Fang family, but also the entire village of Dali, was aware that the Zhou family's four sons respected Er Niang and that she had chosen a good husband.
As the Zhou family consistently purchased meat from the neighboring stall, initially, some people whispered their disapproval, and even the Fang family felt a bit uneasy. After more than ten days of blooming, everyone felt at ease.
When it came to not purchasing meat from the in-laws and instead opting for the neighboring stall, everyone expressed heartfelt understanding. After all, the quality of meat sold by the two families differed significantly, as did the prices.
On the one hand, people felt that the Zhou family's circumstances were not as favorable as the Fang family's, so they could only afford the less expensive pork. But on the other hand, in this rural area, there were not many families who could afford to eat meat every day.
Even the village head of Dali couldn't bear to eat meat every day.
In comparison, it seemed that the Zhou family's financial situation was still quite good.
In any case, Cheng Shi felt much more at ease. She said, "Although they only buy meat every day during the busy farming season, there are probably not many families who do this." She added, "Obviously, they still have some financial resources."
At least they were not worse off than the several families they had seen before, who seemed to have a thicker financial background than the Zhou family, but apparently were not willing to eat meat every day in such times.
The Fang family were butchers, and villagers from several nearby villages came to Dali to purchase meat.
They were well-informed about the financial situation of each family.
The butcher from the Fang family said, "It's only two months away." "When the busy farming season ends, they will go out." It is advisable for her to spend less time outdoors during this period; this may help her become a bit fairer. "I find Zhou Si's face and smile quite attractive."
Obviously, the butcher from the Fang family also wanted his daughter to resemble Zhou Si in terms of appearance.