Allure of a Country Maiden

When the group returned home, Mrs. Shen Zhuang hurriedly directed Ms. Li and Ms. Yang to cook. Ms. Li was a little better. After all, she went late on purpose in the morning and only worked for half an hour. Although Yang was lazy while working, she had never suffered like this before. She was so tired even like this, and felt really miserable, but she was determined to behave in front of Shen Zhuang, and she had always been obedient. If I don't do it soon, all my previous efforts will be in vain, so I endure it secretly, praying in my heart that my eldest brother will have someone come with a message as soon as possible.

During the cooking period, Mr. Shen and the other men couldn't rest immediately. They had to thresh the rice they pulled back and then take it to the drying field. Of course, they couldn't do much work during the lunch break, but Mr. Shen was used to being hardworking. , you can do as much as you can.

Until lunch, everyone rested for half an hour and started working again. Shen Chengyao stayed behind to thresh the grains. This work was harder and more difficult. Apart from the old man, only Shen Chengyao and Shen Chengzu were good at it, so they took turns doing it.

It is best to thresh the newly harvested rice as early as possible and then spread it out to dry, otherwise the moisture will easily germinate.

After cutting for a while in the afternoon, both Shen Yuzhu and Shen Baoer complained that they were dizzy. Xiaoer saw that their faces were normal and their eyes were moving around. They didn't look dizzy. They were clearly trying to be lazy. The old man also noticed it, but he didn't say anything. He just told them to go back and rest with a tigerish face. Mrs. Shen Zhuang also said that she was very tired and wanted to go back and rest. She would prepare a meal for everyone to go back to eat in the evening. Mr. Shen thought that his wife was old after all, and she was less busy at ordinary times. She always directed her daughter-in-law to do it. She might not be able to bear such heavy work all at once, so he agreed, and Mrs. Lan also took the opportunity to say that she would help her. When Shen Zhuang went back, they helped each other and left.

In the afternoon, the harvest got cooler as we cut, so Mr. Shen didn’t stop until it was dark. Mr. Shen felt that he could cut for a while longer. He felt more energetic this year than in previous years, but it was dark and he could not see clearly, so he gave up.

When he got home, the food was ready and two large pots of hot water were boiled. Mr. Shen was satisfied: after working so hard outside, he came home. What he wanted was not just to have a hot meal to eat right away, but also a bucket of hot water to wash himself with. Bath, just a little warm. I don’t know how many of them don’t want to go to the ground to suffer anymore, so they behave well at home so that they don’t have to go to the ground in the future.

Sure enough, after dinner, Mr. Shen said that they would go harvest some mornings tomorrow and then go home to prepare meals when the sun came out. There was no need to go there in the afternoon. They could just go to the drying field to look through the rice from time to time.

Several people were happy after hearing this, but Mrs. Li secretly regretted it, thinking that she would do the same thing tomorrow. However, Mr. Shen did not give her such treatment. He just asked her to rest in the shade of a tree before cutting.

After dinner in the evening, the others took a shower and went to bed early. Only Mr. Shen, Shen Chengyao and Shen Chengzu were still doing threshing work in the grain drying field. The grain drying field is also lively, with many villagers threshing grains. When half of the work was done, the two brothers Shen Chengyao persuaded Mr. Shen to go home and rest while they finished the rest. Mr. Shen was also tired, so he agreed, and the two of them didn't finish until midnight. During this period, Xiaoer cooked a pot of porridge with space water and brought it to them to replenish their strength. When they asked Mr. Shen Zhuang how to get rice to make porridge, they were still in trouble. Mr. Shen only got the rice when he asked. In the evening, Shen Chengyao stayed at the grain drying field to keep vigil. Someone had to keep watch on the grain drying field at night. In all places in the world, there would be some roosters, dog robbers, or people who were greedy for petty gains. This was inevitable, so every household would have someone keeping vigil at the grain drying field.

Two more days passed like this, and on the third day Mr. Shen and the others came back from going to the fields. It was already very late. The delicious smell of food in every household made them even more hungry. Everyone unconsciously speeds up the pace to go home. Who knows that when they get home, the pot will be cold and the stove will be cold. Shen Zhuang, Shen Yuzhu, Lan and Shen Baoer were all sleeping. They were so tired these past few days that they all fell asleep.

Mr. Shen was so angry that the finger pointing at them trembled. Let them go to the field together tomorrow, or just cook after everyone comes back together. It was originally the last autumn harvest for the whole family. He also wanted to work together as a family to leave an impression of unity, harmony and friendship, but neither of them cooperated! It really pissed him off!

Seeing that the old man was really angry, Shen Zhuang didn't dare to refute, so she could only vent her anger on Lan. Lan had never been so wronged before. She really wanted to pack her bags and fly back to town.

For the first three nights, the three brothers Shen Chengzong had all stayed vigil. Tonight it was Shen Chengguang's turn to stay vigil. When he woke up the next day, he found that two sacks of rice had been stolen. Mr. Shen was so angry that his head was smoking. But it's hard to get angry in front of others. After all, the eldest grandson will be an official in the future and has to save some face for his father. Only he could hold back his temper, work harder with a grimace, as if he could harvest the lost rice.

The family worked in the fields for a while, and the person Lan had been waiting for finally showed up. The visitor said that Lan's eldest brother had to go to the county for something unexpected and could not continue to help look after the shop, so they must rush back to town tomorrow. .

After hearing this, Mr. Shen asked the people from the big house to go back to town in the afternoon. They couldn't do much work anyway, so it was okay to cause trouble. He hadn't even gotten over the two bags of rice that had been stolen. They walked away, out of sight and out of mind.

After another three days of busy work, the second family's land was finished. When returning home in the evening, Mrs. Li suddenly sprained her foot while walking, and Shen Chengzong had to carry her home. When taking a shower in the evening, Shen Chengzong fell again and said that he had fallen down and could not get up. The whole family in the second room was in pain or injured somewhere. On the second day, no one got up and went to work in the fields. Mr. Shen was very angry. Shen Chengyao and Shen Chengzu were also a little disappointed, but not too angry. They were all used to it. They just asked Mr. Shen to rest at home while they went to collect it. Mr. Shen did not agree and followed him to the ground.

Xiaoer regretted it even more. If she had known, she would not have gone to work a few days ago. Once she suffered a loss, she would never do it again.

Shen Jingrui and Shen Jinghao were so angry that they wanted to plant all the grain they had harvested before.

Today, the land from Shen Chengzu's family will be acquired first, because his family's land is relatively close to the village. When the family was separated, Shen Chengyao deliberately chose the worst field farthest from home, also thinking of leaving the better land to his younger brother.

It rained heavily just before dawn the next day, and people in the drying field were busy moving bags of rice to the ancestral hall. The grain drying field was built right in front of the ancestral hall to prevent rain, and there was no shelter for the grain.

It rained all night, and it continued to rain the next day, but not so heavily, or it stopped for a while. Shen Chengyao and Shen Chengzu were so worried that they didn't sleep all night last night. They got up the next day and went to harvest in the rain. Mr. Shen originally wanted to go together, but the two brothers couldn't agree to anything this time. What if Mr. Shen because of If he fell ill while helping them harvest, they would regret it to death, so Mr. Shen gave up.

Xiao'er and Jing Hao couldn't go with them either. Jing Rui said that he was the eldest son and he was not young anymore, so he insisted on going, but Shen Chengyao gave up because he couldn't break up.

Since she didn't have to go to the field, Xiaoer didn't plan to be idle. She thought that given Shen Zhuang's temperament, she would probably no longer be able to prepare their meals. Yesterday, Erfang and his family didn't go to harvest and let them eat by themselves. Now that Mr. Shen hasn't gone, he probably won't even take care of their food anymore.

She asked Jing Hao to take care of her three-year-old cousin Jing Jie, while she went to the place where Liu kept the money to get a hundred coins. When the rain stopped, she went to the town to buy some rice. After she came back, she went up the mountain to see if there were any pheasants. ,Hare.

I was really lucky. I caught two pheasants without going far. With the recent autumn harvest, there were few people going up the mountain. It had rained all morning, and the chickens on the mountain had just come out to look for food. What bad luck happened to Xiaoer.

Xiaoer caught two chickens and left. The sky was gloomy and it was likely to rain again. Sure enough, it started to rain again halfway through.

When we got home, we had already eaten in the upper room, and the people in the second room also cooked for themselves. Jing Hao and Jing Jie were lighting a fire in the kitchen of the west wing, and the pot was boiling hot water.

Jing Hao was very happy to see Xiao'er back: "Sister, you are finally back. Jing Jie and I boiled a pot of hot water. Do you want to take a bath first?"

Xiao'er touched their heads and said, "Hao'er Jie'er is so good. My sister didn't wash it first. I caught two pheasants. My sister killed the chickens first and cooked the rice. Dad, fourth uncle and fourth aunt should do it." came back."

Xiaoer went back to the room to change out of her wet clothes and put on clean ones, then went to the kitchen to kill the chicken. Jing Hao and Jing Jie wanted to help pluck the chicken feathers, so Xiaoer cut some ginger shreds and put them in the earthen pot. Inside, add space water and let the two of them make ginger soup in the small stove.

He killed and chopped the chicken, put the rice in the pot, and asked Jing Hao to watch the fire. Then he went to the vegetable garden to pick some cabbage and cucumbers, and washed them. At this time, the rice was almost cooked, so he asked Jing Hao to cool down the heat and let Yu Wen bake the rice.

She plans to cook three dishes: chicken with chestnuts, cabbage with garlic paste and stir-fried chicken with cucumber.

When the dishes were halfway done, Shen Chengyao and the others came back, all soaked to the skin. Xiao'er asked them to take a bath first: "Father, fourth uncle, fourth aunt, brother, you go take a bath first. Shui Jinghao and Jingjie are all ready. They also made ginger soup. After you wash up, drink a bowl of ginger soup. Go and get rid of the cold before eating.