Spring scenery in the fields

Chapter 290: Harvesting Wheat

At the end of the month, I went to the town to purchase goods and received 782 coins as dividends, which I used to buy straw paper, meat, and so on.

A few days later, when the wheat was harvested and we got some meat, we sold it in the village and surrounding villages.

On this day, Shen Rongshan and Shen Wenshan were putting up the beams. In two days, the kitchen and utility room would be completed.

Ji Wenhe sat at the foot of the mountain, sewing together the linen he had bought with needle and thread, and used it to dry wheat and grain.

Last year, the rice was laid on the ground to dry, and her back and waist ached from sifting the grains. It became much more convenient with a cloth spread on the ground.

"Rongshan, you two be careful." Shen Ping shouted.

After Zhao Sanniang gave birth, he stayed at home to take care of her during the confinement period.

The family has to harvest wheat and plant rice seedlings. After that, they will go to town to find work.

Come to their house to help when you are free these days. She has discussed with Shen Rongshan that they cannot let others work for nothing.

Later, I thought again and decided to ask him to build a house, paying him according to the town's wages and a few cents more. He readily agreed.

In order to build the house as soon as possible, wait for Shen Liang, Shen Anguo and Shen Erniu to come back and invite them over.

"sister in law."

Ji Wenhe turned around and said, "Xiaoya, I haven't seen you for a few days. How is your marriage planning going?"

On the 14th of last month, Lin Yue Niang brought people here, and there have been four or five groups of people so far.

Shen Suya sat beside her, holding her chin with one hand and pulling the weeds on the ground with the other hand: "Not very good, what I think is good, mother doesn't think it is good, what mother thinks is good, I don't think it is good."

"I told my mother last night that we should wait until we finish planting the rice at home and let me rest for a few days."

Seeing her hopeless look, he smiled and said, "Blind dates are like this. It's not easy to find someone who has good conditions in all aspects. You have to look slowly."

"Fortunately my father and eldest brother are not at home. If they were here, everyone would have their own favorites, and I don't know who is going to be the one looking for a marriage."

Ji Wenhe comforted him, "They are also thinking about you, but in the end it depends on what kind of person you want to find. You should also listen to the opinions of Aunt Lan and your sister-in-law. After all, they are experienced people and can judge people more accurately."

She nodded: "I'm listening."

After a moment of silence, Shen Suya continued, "I want to find someone who doesn't have too many brothers and sisters in the family. The land must be at least two acres. As for the person, it's OK as long as I like him. Sister-in-law, my requirements are not too high, right?"

"Well, not really." Her request was indeed not high.

"But most of the ones brought here by Lin Yue Niang have older brothers or several older sisters. It's not a problem to have older sisters, but my mother has asked around and found that these families are too patriarchal."

"Although my family also favors boys over girls, it's not as strong as other families. My mother is afraid that if I marry and don't give birth to a son, my mother-in-law will bully me."

Ji Wenhe thought for a moment and said, "There are too few single-children, and it's hard to find one. Near our village, there is only one son in the family, and due to physical reasons, they are not allowed to have another one."

"Besides, if there is only one child in a family, the family will spoil him/her even more. Look at the ones in Zhangjia Village, they have all become scoundrels."

"There are good only children, but they are hard to come by. You still have to look around. Maybe you can meet one that meets your requirements."

"Let's wait until we finish planting the rice at home." She just wanted some peace and quiet right now.

"By the way, Xiaoya, if the marriage is successful, how much do you plan to ask for as a betrothal gift?"

"Mother said she wanted to go to his house and take a look. If there is a betrothal gift of six taels, bring me two taels. If there is a betrothal gift of eight taels, bring me three taels."

"If it's five taels and eight taels, she'll only keep four taels. Anyway, my mother said that the betrothal gift can't be less than four taels."

Ji Wenhe took a pair of scissors and cut off the thread ends: "No one will give four taels. Four is unlucky. There are people who give four taels and eight. Some people will give five taels or five taels and eight, or three taels and eight."

In short, the number four is not very good.

Shen Suya turned her head and watched her threading the needle: "How much the betrothal gift is, it's not my mother who has the final say, and my mother told me not to tell them about the betrothal gift I'm taking back."

"Yes, you can't tell them about this. Keep it in your hands so you can use it in case of emergency."

Lan Qiuhua had a good idea on this point.

If my husband's family knew about this, they would definitely try to take the betrothal gift.

"And the money you used to make your own lace, keep it aside, don't give it to your mother-in-law. Some people may say they'll keep it for you, but once it's in her hands, it'll be hard to get it back."

"Especially if you have a younger brother or older brother at home, and the husband you marry is not favored at home, then you can't get the money back, and it will all be used for the favored son."

"My mother and sister-in-law also said this, and I remember it all. I earned my own money, so why should I give it to them?"

She made webs and gave half to her mother, and kept the rest for herself.

"They are all sitting here."

The two looked up and saw that it was Wang Erfeng.

"Xiaoya, have you decided on a marriage?"

"No Aunt Wang, where is Qingdai?"

"She hasn't seen it yet. She plans to wait for a while before seeing it again."

Shen Qingdai is also looking for a marriage partner.

"Aunt Wang, sit down and rest for a while." Ji Wenhe said.

She waved her hand: "No, I'm going to the fields to check on the wheat harvest in a few days."

Shen Suya stood up: "Sister-in-law, I'm going back too."

"it is good."

The cloth in my hand has been sewn into three large pieces, which is almost enough.

After the Grain in Ear season, wheat is harvested.

Some people in the village outside the mountain are already harvesting wheat.

At daybreak, the villagers were fully armed, wearing straw hats, with their sleeves tied tightly, and holding sickles to go to the fields to harvest wheat.

Ji Wenhe took out his most torn piece of clothing and put it on. It was easy to get scratched by the wheat leaves while cutting wheat, and the scratches on the skin would be very itchy, so he couldn't roll up his sleeves.

I finally got my white skin back, and I couldn’t get tanned again, so I took out a piece of white cloth and tied it around my face as a face towel.

I went to town at the end of last month and replaced my old sickles with four new ones. They are very sharp and much more useful than the chipped ones.

Their family only had seven acres of land and four people, but they harvested all the land in less than one morning.

Shen Yuanshan picked up the wheat pile on the ground and said, "Brother, go to Aunt Miao's house to help. We will go back to thresh the wheat."

"No hurry, pull the wheat back first."

Here, Ji Wenhe spread out the sewn cloth flat and threw the wheat he brought back on it.

Then I went to Lan Qiuhua's house to borrow the yoke (pronounced the same as lianjia).

Farm tools for threshing wheat. I had never seen this thing when I was a child, or maybe I had seen it but she didn’t remember it.

It is made of wooden sticks and bamboo. The bamboo strips are arranged in a row. When they are raised and beaten, the wheat grains will fall down.

After trying a few times, I slowly got the feel for it.

The wheat was piled a little thick, so after threshing a round, the ground underneath had to be turned up.

"Sister-in-law, let me play." Shen Yuanshan stepped forward and took it.

Ji Wenhe looked at the two people who followed behind him and said, "Brother Shen, after dinner, go to Aunt Miao's house to help, and talk to Brother Liang about that matter."

He nodded: "Okay, I'll thresh the wheat for a while."