Xianggong farming

Chapter 17 Excuses
The four brothers and sisters picked quite a lot of red bayberries that day, and Ji Kunping, a half-grown man, helped them up the mountain.After returning home, Ji Xinmiao asked Mrs. Wang to find the two largest wooden basins, which are usually used for washing sweet potato flour in autumn.

Wang looked at the half-red and half-green bayberry and asked, "Miao'er, you also learned this method at Jiang's house?"

The original Ji Xinmiao really didn't have any real leadership that he could show, except that he had a high heart and wanted to be Mr. Jiang's housekeeper.But don't use the Jiang family to talk about it, she suddenly has so many differences, how can the Ji family not doubt it?But it's not good to say it too clearly. If one day I really run into the Jiang family, I will have to expose myself.

So Ji Xinmiao said vaguely: "Mother, when there is an important event in the Jiang family, many women will be invited in to help for a month or two. This method was told to us by a person named Chen's mother. At that time, I thought Her bayberry was delicious, so she gave her a few big bucks, and she told me how to do it carefully, and said that almost every family in their mountain would pick some bayberry and make some for the children to eat. "

Wang didn't ask any more questions, and picked up a basket of tender mints and asked, "Miao'er, are these also going to be poured in at this time?"

Ji Xinmiao nodded: "Well, one piece can be sun-dried after soaking it in the acid water for two days."

Wang said: "That's a lot. After two days, I'll go to your grandma's to borrow two pieces of bamboo fungus to set up. Our family may not be able to hold these two pieces."

Ji Xinmiao reminded her: "Mom, why don't you borrow two yuan from my second uncle. Kun Le and Xin Yan also picked a lot back today, and I have to teach them how to do it later."

After Mrs. Wang nodded, the mother and daughter talked about what was in their hearts: "Well, I forgot that the two children also followed. Since you came back, Xinyan prefers to run with you. Fortunately, your aunt is still an old lady. Someone who can figure it out. If you are the third aunt, you must say that we came with them."

Ji Xinmiao smiled: "Mother, they come to our house, and we don't take advantage of them. Sometimes, they still eat at our house. The third aunt, grandma also knows her, she is rarely in our family. That's it."

Wang said with relief: "Miao'er can say this, and I won't worry about marrying Qi's family."

Ji Xinmiao said without feeling: "Mother, life is made by people, and daughters will always marry when they grow up, so you really don't have to worry. Besides, I am mother's daughter. As the saying goes, I am a daughter. It depends on the mother, it depends on the seedlings, if the mother can live such a good life, how can the daughter be worse?"

Wang smiled: "You are getting more and more eloquent. Mother can't talk to you. Didn't you say you are going to your uncle and third uncle's house? Hurry up."

After the bayberry was flooded, it was sun-dried. Ji Xinmiao saw that there were not many bayberries drying on the bamboo mat. She was going to pick them again, but Ji Qiulin ran back from the field early in the morning: "You can't pick them. There are red bayberries, and there are worms growing in the fields."

Upon hearing this, Wang asked in surprise, "Father, are the insects in the field really bad?"

Ji Qiulin said anxiously: "It's hot this year and the insects are much more severe than in previous years. I see that there are also a lot of insects in the acre of land next door to my second uncle's house. I don't know how the elder brother's house is. Everyone puts everything aside today. Miao'er has to work harder at home, and follow me to catch bugs in the rest."

Wang was even more anxious: "Why did the worms grow in one day? If the worms eat the rice right after heading, then this year's early rice will have no harvest. Everyone hasten to eat and go to the field after eating. "

As he walked, Ji Qiulin said worriedly: "A few days ago, the rice in my second uncle's house had worms. I thought it was not a big problem as in previous years, but after only two or three days, there is something wrong with it. With God's help, this After a few years, it’s been a long time, but if this pest really makes it come up this year, it will be a big deal. Hurry up, everyone, Min’er will follow, and catch one by one.”

Ji Xinmiao knew that in the ancient times when people depended on the sky for their food, farmers were most afraid of disasters in food and livestock.She herself is an expert in this field, and she really wants to find out what the pest is, but she can't be so obvious for a while.Otherwise the parents must be suspicious.So after doing the housework, she came to the field with a bucket of herbal tea and a straw hat.

Putting the tea bucket under the big tree on the side of the mountain, Ji Xinmiao called to the family members who were hard at work catching insects in the field: "Father, mother, brothers and sisters, come and drink water."

The brothers and sisters who had been sunburned for a long time went ashore immediately after hearing this, and Xiao Xinmin's face was also red from the sun. Before he could say anything after taking the herbal tea in Ji Xinmiao's hand, he just "cuckoo" Goo" swallowed it all.

"It's really delicious. The cool drink that my elder sister sent today is so sweet. Mother, come and drink a bowl." Ji Xinmin wiped the corner of his mouth with his hand, and immediately called Wang to drink the cool drink.

Ji Xinmei gave her a despised look on purpose: "Sycophant! Isn't this tea? I think it tastes good today, it's because you're thirsty."

Taking advantage of the opportunity for his family to take a breather, Ji Xinmiao squatted by the field and kept flipping through the leaves, then picked a worm, curled it up, put it on the ground, and looked it over for a long time. This pest is called green rollworm. It is the most common rice leaf roller in the world.

Jixinmiao is very familiar with this kind of pest. They are active at night and have phototaxis. They lay eggs on the verdant and dense rice plants. They are one of the main agricultural pests.

Seeing his daughter looking at the insects so carefully, Ji Qiulin looked at her suspiciously, so Ji Xinmiao quickly asked, "Father, is this a green cabbage worm?"

When Ji Qiulin saw his daughter asking, he was surprised that she would know this kind of insect, but he immediately said, "It's the green cabbage insect, which is the most common pest of rice. Miaoer knows this insect?"

In order to find an excuse that is suitable and not suspicious to adults, Ji Xinmiao thought for a long time before saying: "Father, some flowers and plants will grow in this kind of bug. One year, Miss took me to the Jiang family's ancestral home, and I happened to come across it." There were a lot of insects growing on the flowers and plants in the ancestral house. I asked the uncle, and he said it was called green cabbage. At that time, he was sprinkling something. I was curious, so I gave him a bowl of water, and he told me They said that it was sprinkling soil and smoke, and that green cabbage worms are most afraid of that kind of thing. After three days of sprinkling, they also sprinkled a lot of lime on the leaves. I went to see it two days later, and all the insects were gone. .”

Ji Qiulin's eyes lit up when he heard it: "Miao'er, did that uncle tell you how to make the soil smoke water?"

Ji Xinmiao said with a pure face: "I said it, he said that the homemade smoke water is the best. Dad, I know how to make it, and don't use fresh tobacco leaves, as long as you have a local tobacco stick, it's dry." It’s okay, how about we try it too? However, the uncle said that the tobacco leaf water needs to be sprinkled three times to kill the bug.”

Ji Qiulin was overjoyed when he heard that: "Let's go home first. After trying it today, we will know that there are still a lot of soil tobacco sticks under the edge of your grandfather's house."

On the way, people saw that their family had gone back, and they thought it was very strange, but it was important for them to catch bugs, so no one asked much.

On the way home, Ji Xinmiao asked Ji Qiulin: "Father, are there any worms in Uncle's field like ours?"

Ji Qiulin said embarrassingly: "I found out that there were insects in our field early this morning. I was in a hurry. I didn't have time to ask your grandpa. Ping'er, go and see if grandpa and your uncle are in the field first. Let's come home together. Oh, look at your third uncle..."

Seeing that Ji Qiulin didn't finish his sentence, Ji Xinmiao knew that he didn't have confidence, so he gave him a reassurance: "Father, you just call them, this method is sure to work for my daughter. I was afraid to try it just now." Father doesn’t believe in his daughter. After all, it’s strange for her to understand such a thing at such a young age. In fact, since I arrived at Jiang’s family, I have gradually developed some thoughts about how rich Jiang’s family is. In [-], I was very serious about doing things, which is why the eldest lady liked it. Especially when the eldest lady let us learn to read together, I was really happy at that time, so I loved reading and asked why.

It's just that later... they all said that wealth is charming. After all, the daughter is just an ordinary woman. She was fascinated by the wealth of the Jiang family, and she also took a fancy to the eldest son's talent and appearance, so she had the idea that she shouldn't have. , thinking about..."

It seems that the eldest daughter has finally come to her senses. Ji Qiulin, a grown man, felt happy from the bottom of his heart, so he said to the eldest son who was still at the side: "Ping'er, go quickly, don't talk too much when your grandpa asks you, maybe you Eldest sister may not be able to earn some money with this method."

Ji Kunping ran away as soon as he heard it: "Father, I understand..."

As soon as Ji Xinmiao finished drawing a wooden bucket-style sprinkler, Ji Qiulin walked in the door carrying a large bundle of soil tobacco poles: "Miaoer, tell me how to use it."

Ji Xinmiao handed the picture drawn in her heart to Ji Qiulin: "Father, are there any carpenters in the village? Ask them to make some of these things."

Ji Qiulin's eyes lit up and he asked her, "Is this the leaky bucket you mentioned for spraying flowers?"

"What leaky barrel?" Elder Ji strode in: "Lin'er, what did you ask Kun Ping to call us for? The bugs in this field grow really fast, curls grow on most of the rice in one night. "

Ji Xinmiao pulled Mr. Ji to sit down: "Grandpa, don't worry, we have a good way to kill this bug. Don't be too hasty in this hot weather, you will get angry. Min'er, go to grandpa and uncle, Third Uncle pours a bowl of herbal tea."

When Ji Xinmin heard that he didn't have to go to the fields to catch bugs, he was so happy that he didn't know where he was. He ran away immediately when he heard the elder sister's call: "Grandpa, you wait, I'll bring the iced tea that elder sister chilled in the ditch in the back room. You drink."

Mr. Ji said impatiently: "Miao Er, it doesn't matter whether you drink tea or not. If you have any good ideas, tell me quickly. The bugs in the field wait for no one."

Seeing that Grandpa was really in a hurry, Ji Xinmiao made up his thoughts again, and just as he finished speaking, old man Ji grabbed Ji Xinmiao's hand to confirm: "Miaoer, is what you said really useful?"

After being affirmed, Ji Qiulin expressed his thoughts again, and Mr. Ji immediately arranged: "Qiu Harvest, you and Kunhe go to the town, and ask your second brother-in-law to take you to collect some carts of tobacco poles. He must know better than we do which house has this stuff. Qiucheng, go to your wife’s house to collect some. By the way, go to Shangping Village when you arrive at Xiaping Village. There are a lot of smokers. When you get there, please trouble Qi’s family and ask them to come forward to help. I will spread the word in this village. We have a lot of soil tobacco poles in our house to water our land, and the rest People stay at home and help rub the smoke water."

A few people were about to go out when Ji Qiulin stopped him: "You can't disclose this in advance. You can't let others know about it until the cigarette rods are collected. Also, Qiucheng, your wife's mouth must be guarded. The method may be able to earn a few taels of silver for everyone to use."

Hearing that there is money to be made, who would disclose this matter?So everyone agreed, and each started to act.

(End of this chapter)