Chapter 81 - 81 Summer Harvest
81 Summer Harvest
Time passed by faster and faster. Soon, the summer harvest came. The farmers began a new round of harvesting. Compared to last year’s bleak situation, this time it was happy. A good harvest meant that they could fill their stomachs.
Xiao Hu and the others had a holiday from the academy. Jian Qingqing was also stopped from setting up her stall and had to go to the ground to work.
After moving the rice for a day, Jian Qingqing’s entire body was red and swollen from the work. It was itchy and painful.
Mother Jian rubbed the herbs for her to stop the itch. Old Man Jian laughed happily at the side. “Big Sister has a rich life. She can’t do farm work.”
Jian Qingqing rolled her eyes at him. “We’re not born in a rich family, right? We get used to it after doing a lot of work? When you were young, didn’t you feel itchy after working with the grains? Doesn’t Xiao Hu and Xiao Ye also feel itchy?”
He couldn’t remember what happened when he was young. Who could remember the first time they worked? In Old Man Jian’s memory, he had always been dealing with the land.
Old Man Jian waved his hand, “Alright, alright. Big Sister, you don’t have to go down to the ground tomorrow. We can just do the work. What are you going to do as a girl? You can’t do much work. Besides, if you don’t sell braised meat every day, how much money will you lose?”
Jian Qingqing rolled her eyes. They were the ones who asked her to go down to the ground yesterday. They were afraid that they could not finish with the harvest work.
“No, it doesn’t matter. If I take the ox-cart away, how are you guys going to bring the grain back?”
Old Man Jian disagreed, “If we didn’t have the ox-cart back then, we would still have to carry it back. What’s wrong with losing one of your ox-carts? You can’t do any work, so you might as well go and earn money.”
Jian Qingqing finally understood. So it was because they think that she was useless in the fields. She said helplessly, “It doesn’t matter if I earn less money. It is difficult to work without an ox-cart. Don’t worry, I’ll wear more clothes tomorrow so that I won’t get stabbed.”
Old Man Jian was happy. Big Sister was willing to stop her business because she was afraid that her family would have a hard time without her ox-cart. However, he grumbled, “Then how much less money will we earn?”
Jian Qingqing could see that he was not telling the truth. She sighed helplessly. Why was her grandfather becoming more and more naughty?
The next day, Jian Qingqing tied up her sleeves and wrapped her neck and face. She also wore an extra piece of clothing. Every villager who saw her looked at her with a confused expression.
An aunty, who was in the farm next to them, asked, “Qingqing’s mother, why is Qingqing dressed like this?”
Mother Jian smiled and said, “Her skin is tender, and her body itches when it touches rice.”
The aunt shook her head secretly. The rice is not poisonous, so why would her body itch when it touches the rice?
Then, she thought of something and asked, “Then why isn’t she selling meat? Isn’t that business very profitable? If she goes one day less, she will earn a lot less money, right?”
This question was exactly what Old Man Jian wanted. Without waiting for Mother Jian to answer, he spoke first, “Qingqing was afraid that we would be tired, so she deliberately left the ox-cart behind. Well, she didn’t sell the stewed meat today, so she earns less moeny. However, Qingqing said that money is not as important as the health of our family members. I urged her to do her business, but she still refused.”
Jian Qingqing was speechless. When did she say such a thing? Moreover, if that aunty had a problem, why didn’t she just ask her about it? Why did she have a discussion with her family instead? Why didn’t she know that her grandfather was so good at bragging?
That aunty also regretted asking this question. She raised her sickle and cut off a piece of rice. It was really infuriating. Why was Qingqing so considerate and knew how to earn money? Yet, her family was lazy all day long, and all they did was eat and sleep.