Spring scenery in the fields

Chapter 244 Planting Wheat

When I got to the foot of the mountain, I saw Shen Suya threshing rice at the door of her house: "Xiaoya, have you eaten yet?"

"No, I'll go back and make it right away." Seeing her holding a basket in her hand, "Sister-in-law, go and deliver the food."

"Yes, then you are busy, I am leaving now."

"Oh." She put down the rice in her hand and went back to make breakfast.

Ji Wenhe walked on the ridge of the field and called out, "Brother Shen, Yuanshan, come over for dinner."

The donkey would not run around, so Shen Rongshan touched its head before turning around and walking away.

"Brother Shen, have you told Aunt Qin that we can lend you the donkey cart for one day? We are going out to sell goods tomorrow."

He nodded: "I have said that, but Aunt Qin also said that when she comes back from selling goods, she will borrow our donkey cart."

"Then lend it to them. If you don't, I'm afraid the two families will become enemies because of this."

Qin Hehua has a bad mouth.

"I will have to deal with their family frequently in the future. Now they have connections with the government, so I'd better not offend them if I can."

Shen Yuanshan picked up the bowl, picked up two pickles, and asked curiously, "This year, when the rice was harvested, the village head didn't go to other people's houses to invite people, nor did he come to our house."

"In previous years, if they saw that someone's rice harvest was almost finished, they would start asking for help, just like when they were transplanting rice seedlings."

"There were not many people who went to plant rice." Ji Wenhe took a bite of a pickled cucumber. "I guess they knew that if we asked people to go, they would find excuses not to go, so we simply didn't ask anyone this year."

"Fortunately, they are not coming to our house this year, otherwise I would have to find an excuse. I am exhausted at home, and who would be willing to help others unless it is voluntary."

She looked at the bowl and saw that there was too much rice and she couldn't finish it: "Brother Shen, I'll give you some. I can't finish it."

Shen Rongshan handed the bowl to her and said, "We have bought a donkey cart. After the rice is threshed in a few days, we will go to the town to buy two kilograms of pork ribs."

Shen Yunshan took over the conversation: "Brother, aren't you going to Brother Liang's house to help harvest the rice? You can go after the wheat is planted. My brother and I will thresh the rice at home."

"When you are not at home, Brother Liang will come to our house to see us and bring us some food. When he is not at home, he will also ask Aunt Miao to send some food over."

Shen Liang and his older brother had a very good relationship when they were young, so Shen Liang would often take care of them during the three years when his older brother was away.

Because of the friendship, people will take the initiative to help anyone who has problems.

"I ran into him last night. I said I would finish my housework and go over to help them harvest rice."

Ji Wenhe said, "Let's go after you finish planting the wheat. There are three of us at home. We can take turns. If we wait until we're done, other people will have already harvested the rice."

"Don't go and smash the rice. Let them take care of their own business."

"Oh, right." She remembered again, "Let's sell some of our rice. We have so much food at home that we won't be able to finish it by the end of the year."

"It's cool in the cave, and there's no extra space to store food. Aunt Lan's house doesn't have any space either, and we have our food stored there. If we leave a sack, it should be enough to last until the end of the year."

Shen Rongshan nodded: "Okay, let's dry it in the sun for a few days and then take it to the town to sell." I wonder how much a pound of rice costs this year.

After dinner, two people, one leading the donkey in the front and the other holding the baffle in the back, added more wheat seeds into the funnel when there was no more wheat seeds in it.

The farm tool for planting wheat is called "Louzi" (pronounced the same as "lou"). Some people outside the mountains call it "Louzi" (pronounced the same as "jiang").

The plow has three legs, which draw grooves and the wheat seeds fall into the funnel.

There are two funnels, one big and one small. The small one has three small holes underneath, separated by a baffle plate. The baffle plate is connected to a seed dividing rope with a big bell tied to it, which makes a rattling sound when it moves.

There is also a horizontal wooden stick at the bottom. When the wheat seeds are sown, the wooden stick will push the soil into the ditch.

She had never seen this thing when she was a child, and even less when she grew up. This was the first time she saw it, and she couldn't help but sigh at the wisdom of the working people.

Looking to the south, the flatbed truck was at Qin Hehua's house. The donkey had been unloaded, and they could only pull the rice back by manpower.

There was no need for her help in the fields, so she bent down and carried the basket home. There was still a lot of rice that had not been harvested at home.

Ji Wenhe came to the side of the shed, looked at the rice on the ground, and thought how nice it would be if it were a cement floor, so he wouldn't have to use a sieve to sift the soil later.

After planting wheat at home in the afternoon, Shen Rongshan took a sickle and went to Shen Liang's house to help.

It took another two days of hard work before all the rice was threshed.

The three brothers put the straw in the sun to dry, and then they took it home and piled it next to the pile of leaves to use as kindling for the winter.

"Wen He, how about making a few pairs of straw sandals?"

In previous years, after harvesting rice, every family would make a few pairs of straw sandals so they wouldn’t feel bad if they were worn out.

Ji Wenhe squatted on the ground with the borrowed sieve and put the rice in it: "Straw sandals are uncomfortable to wear and hurt my feet. Your craftsmanship in making straw sandals is not very good. It's not like my family can't afford shoes now."

The hemp shoes made by the three of them were very uncomfortable for her feet. Anyway, she couldn't wear them. She couldn't walk far before her feet started to hurt.

Turning to look at him, she said, "Go home and get the sacks you have at home. Put the sifted rice in them later. Let's see if we can finish it today. If we can, we can take it to town to sell it tomorrow."

Shen Rongshan agreed and went home to find the sack.

The weather has been great these days, with the sun being very strong. After a few days of sunshine, the rice has become very dry.

Three people squatted together, sifting the rice diligently.

Their rice has been dried, while other people's rice has just been threshed.

Early in the morning of that day, Shen Rongshan and Shen Yuanshan carried the rice onto the cart.

Lan Qiuhua stood at the door and said, "Rongshan, go to a few more grain collectors and ask around. Go to the one that offers the highest price."

"I understand, Aunt Lan."

“I don’t know what the price of rice will be this year.”

Shen Erniu replied: "You will know when Rongshan comes back."

She sighed, "The price is high. I'll gather up the money I have so I can find a wife for An Guo."

After the grain is sold, every family will have a better life.

Ji Wenhe walked over and heard the two people talking: "What was the price of rice in previous years? Can it be sold for ten cents per pound?"

"I can't sell it. The highest I can get is eight cents, and that's during a famine." Lan Qiuhua sifted the rice and continued, "The better the harvest, the lower the price."

"The grain merchants in town are very smart. They will send people to check out the rice in the fields. If they estimate that the harvest will be good this year, the price will start to drop."

"We farmers were hoping to make a lot of money from selling grain, but the price is getting lower every year. The money we make from grain is not as much as what we can earn from working in town."

"Sister-in-law, sit down." Shen Anguo moved a small stool for her.

"Okay, thank you." Ji Wenhe sat at the side and asked, "What's the lowest price per kilogram?"

"The lowest price is two coins per pound. Four hundred pounds of grain only sells for eight hundred coins. Even if you work in the town for a year, you can earn more than that."