Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

There were many people coming and going in the Xu family's yard. Originally, Zhixin and the others wanted to invite another opera troupe, but the old man wouldn't let them. "I'm only sixty, why should I be so extravagant? When I'm eighty, you can do whatever you want. That's it for this year. Just buy some banquets and have fun."

Now that the old man had spoken, it was hard for Zhixin and others to disobey the old man's wishes, so the troupe did not invite them.

At the beginning of noon, Zhi Xinyi saw almost everyone there, and the dishes in the kitchen happened to be ready, so they were ready to start the dinner.

During the first month of the year, people were naturally not allowed to go outside, so banquets were still placed in various rooms.

In the middle of the front yard, to the north, there is a table with many longevity peaches piled on it. This longevity peach is steamed out of flour and then dyed, so it looks quite similar. A piece of red cloth hangs above the table. On the red cloth is a huge longevity character embroidered by Huixin herself. The main body of the Chinese character "longevity" is made up of the pattern of pine and crane prolonging life. The color is bright and the embroidery is exquisite. It can be considered an excellent piece of embroidery.

The old man and the old lady sat on both sides of the table, both of them smiling, looking at the children and grandchildren in the hall with joy, and feeling infinitely satisfied in their hearts.

Before the birthday banquet begins, the children and grandchildren of the family must first kowtow to the birthday star. Zhixin and his family knelt down in front of the old couple, and they all said together, "I wish my father and grandpa may be as blessed as the East Sea and live longer than the Southern Mountains."

The old man smiled happily and said, "Okay, everyone, get up. Get up." Mrs. Chen on the side gave the red envelopes she had prepared before and asked Honglian to help distribute them to the children. In fact, it’s just a matter of being particular, and I don’t even include much in a red envelope.

After the children and grandchildren kowtowed to celebrate their birthdays, it was time to start the banquet, so everyone started serving food everywhere. Today, even the Fang family and the Wang family from the mountain came down, plus the Li family and the Zhou family, the manpower was definitely enough, and within a few seconds, all the dishes were served.

There were quite a few people here today, and there were sixteen tables in total. There were six tables in the middle of the front yard, four in the living room, three in the room where the old man lived, and the rest in the east courtyard.

Lu Shaoqian is also here today. It is the sixtieth birthday of his in-laws, so of course he has to come. So the two brothers Xu Chengkuan and Xu Chengyuan, Han's father, the village chief Zhou, and several older men in the village were all at this table. Logically speaking, people from the Tao family should also come today. It is a good opportunity for relatives to get together. But the Xu family sent the invitation, but there was no movement from the Tao family.

Yue Siyuan, shopkeeper Sun, Lin Xingjia, and Wu Jiajun were sitting at the same table, accompanied by Zhixin and Zhixiang, and they all sat and drank together.

"Brother Zhixin, there is something I have always wanted to say. It happened to be the Chinese New Year, so I didn't find the opportunity. I saw that Wencheng was a good kid, so I wanted to get married to your family. What do you think? "Shopkeeper Sun said during the banquet.

Zhixin was stunned. Wencheng was already eighteen years old this year, and it was indeed the age to say goodbye. "Brother Sun, Wencheng's father died in the war, and his mother ran away with someone else. The two children have always been with us, and later Wencheng was adopted by the third child Zhiming. If the eldest brother doesn't dislike Wencheng's life experience, I wouldn't be happy to have a brother." Zhixin thought for a moment and told the truth. There were some things that would be bad if he knew about them.

"We have been together for so many years, and I know everything about your family. Wen Cheng is a good kid, and we don't care about it. My old girl is sixteen this year, and I haven't said anything about her marriage. I really like you. Jia Wencheng, what do you think, brother?" Shopkeeper Sun smiled and didn't care about Wencheng's life experience at all.

Zhixin quickly came to Zhiming, "Brother Sun, now Wencheng is adopted in the name of the third child. You can discuss this matter." After saying that, Zhixin gave up the place to Zhiming and went to the side to drink with others.

After listening to shopkeeper Sun's words, Zhiming pondered for a moment, "Brother Sun, let's do this. After the old man's birthday, let's find a time to see each other. Let the younger generation's affairs be decided by themselves. If the two of them can understand each other, It’s the children’s luck if they see each other right. It doesn’t matter if they don’t see it right, even if it means they are not destined. Brother, do you think so?”

When Shopkeeper Sun heard this, he nodded, "Well, that's okay if you say that. Don't let us be old and hot, and others won't look down on us at all. If so, let's find a day and see each other then." Sun The shopkeeper is also a very cheerful person, so the two parties made an appointment on the third day of February for shopkeeper Sun to bring people to Xu's house.

"Hey, let's put it this way, if this marriage happens, we will all become relatives." Yue Siyuan said with a smile. Everyone looked at each other, what's wrong? The Lin family wants to marry Jinghan, the Sun family's prime minister has chosen Wencheng, Yue Siyuan is Jingya's father-in-law, and the Wu family wants to marry Yumei of the Lin family, aren't they all relatives?

"Come on, come on, we visiting relatives need to drink two more drinks." The Lin Xing family raised their glasses and toasted everyone.

The Xu family's food was well cooked and tasted good, with plenty of meat and vegetables. All the guests who came to the banquet were very happy. Everyone came and went, and no one drank less. At the end of noon, the guests left one after another. Usually, two birthday peaches are brought to each guest to express the joy of the birthday star. Fortunately, Ms.

After all the guests had left, the Xu family set up a few more tables for everyone to have a meal together. On the old man's good days, all the servants would eat together, and six tables were set up in the middle.

Jinghan and the others had been busy in the kitchen, and now they were a little hungry. The children sat together and ate hungrily.

After the meal was finished, these people who came down from the mountain had to rush back to the mountain. Zhixin asked the Zhou family to follow them up the mountain. Nowadays, there are plenty of places on the mountain, so you can arrange whatever you want. In addition, Zhixin also arranged for three families to cut down part of the big trees in the forest on the mountain. This forest is intended to be planted with ginseng. Only one hundred and eighty feet of it will be used in a year, and the rest cannot be touched. But when I bought the forest, the people from the Yamen said that I could be exempted from taxes for three years, and then I would have to pay taxes. Therefore, these forests cannot just sit there idle. At least there is a lot of wood in them. Pick some large, mature wood and cut some of it. Even if it is not sold, you can keep it to make something. Now that the children in the family are older, if they get married, they all have to make furniture or something. In winter, the quality of wood is the best. Cut it and put it aside to dry. When you need to use it, you don't have to go out and buy it again.

Fang Yonggui is good at work and has some brains. Therefore, Zhixin would usually give him instructions for the work on the mountain, and it was the same this time. "Yonggui, you can just watch and do this work, and there is no need to rush. In addition to knocking down all the trees in the area we discussed so that we can plant sticks in autumn, the rest will be picked and chopped. Just come out. We still need to cut down this forest, so we can’t cut it too hard, or we’ll lose the sun.”

"Hey, sir, don't worry, I know what to do." Fang Yonggui agreed.

"Okay, then let's go quickly. If there is anything missing on the mountain, just ask. You are the old people in our family, so I can rest assured about your work." Zhixin saw that it was getting late, so he asked them to go back to the mountain quickly.

The three families drove the bullock cart back to the mountain, hauling a lot of food, cloth and other things.

After the old man's birthday party, on the 26th of the first lunar month, Zhixiang took his wife, children and servants and set off back to his post. Wenxuan and Wenchang were going to take the county examination, so they had to leave now. Jinghan was thinking about the restaurant and wanted to go to the county together, but Chen wouldn't let her go. It was said that a date had been set, and on the sixth day of February, the Lin family came to offer employment. There were only a few days left, and Wen Cheng had something to see, so Jinghan couldn't go to the county.

Ziwen of the Lin family also wanted to take the county examination, so several people went together, and Zhixin sent Guoqiang to follow. Jingya and Pengcheng were also going back to the county, and they happened to be together. Wenxuan and the others would live directly at Pengcheng's house, which was convenient. Originally, Jingya was waiting for Jinghan to get engaged before leaving, but Mrs. Chen refused to let her go. There are many taboos for pregnant women and they cannot come to Jinghan's engagement banquet. So Jingya left reluctantly.

Of course, Mrs. Chen took a lot of supplements for Jingya. Good steel must be used on the blade. Now that Jingya is pregnant, it is time to replenish her body. How can Ms. Chen feel worried about this. Although the Yue family has made a lot of preparations, they belong to the Yue family and cannot represent the Xu family's wishes after all.

Jinghan persuaded Mrs. Chen to leave some for the old man and Mrs. Chen herself. The two old people were already quite old, so they should keep some and take some time to take supplements. Chen Shi couldn't stand Jinghan, so she kept a little of each item and stored it well.

Time naturally passed very quickly. Under the supervision of her mother and grandma, Jinghan made herself a new set of clothes. After all, we are getting engaged, so we have to have something new to wear. In addition, I had to make two sets for Zixuan, so as soon as the first month came out, Jinghan was not idle and kept playing with needlework.

It was the third day of February. Early in the morning, the Xu family tidied up everything inside and outside the house. In fact, there is nothing to take care of. The Xu family is clean-minded and very tidy on weekdays.

In the middle of the morning, everyone was sitting in the room laughing and joking. Old Wangtou came in and said, "Old man, old lady, shopkeeper Sun and his family are here."

After hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Zhixin, Mr. and Mrs. Zhiming, and a few children hurried out and came to the gate, just in time to see shopkeeper Sun leading his family out of the carriage. "Brother Sun, I've been waiting for you. Come on, please come inside." Zhixin said with a smile.

"Brother, you are too polite. How come the whole family is out now? Come, this is your sister-in-law, these are the eldest and second child in my family, and this is the old girl. Why don't you call me uncle and aunt quickly?" Shopkeeper Sun also laughed. of.