The second watch, seeking pink.
***...***
When Lady Zhou spoke this way, Lian Shouxin could only listen obediently, and afterward, he did not pass these words on to Lady Zhang. But when Lady Zhou sought out Lian Shouxin to talk, she did not do so secretly. In this family, she was the law; whatever she said and did was correct, so there was no need for her to hide her actions. Thus, Lady Zhang soon ca to know of it.
"Why is raising so chickens and ducks a bother to her mother’s affairs?" Lady Zhang frowned.
Lian Manman nodded, On the fourth day of the fourth month of the Lunar New Year, Lady Zhou was nitpicking. Their henhouse was situated beneath the window of the West Room of the Upper Room, a good distance from the East Room where Lady Zhou resided. Moreover, even if the chicks and ducklings called out, how loud could they possibly be? Tenant farrs’ families were used to these farmstead-specific sounds and it would not interfere with life in the slightest.
Additionally, over these nights, Lady Zhang had been taking the chicks and ducklings into the West Wing Room to sleep, and Lian Manman’s family slept soundly; this had nothing to do with Lady Zhou.
"I think my mother-in-law feels we are raising too many chickens and ducks," Lian Manman said with a smile, "Mother, didn’t you see, these days she’s been so willing to feed her chickens."
Whenever Lian Manman or Lian Zhizhi would feed their chickens and ducks, Lady Zhou would promptly feed hers, even if she had just fed those chickens.
Lady Zhang also laughed.
"Your grandmother is a proud person," Lady Zhang said, "she’s afraid our chickens and ducks are being raised better than hers, and it’s hurting her pride."
Lian Manman nodded, There was another thought she didn’t voice. Lady Zhou was unhappy also because she considered herself the authority of the yard and could not tolerate anything beyond her control.
However, everyone must learn to adapt to their environnt. Lian Manman thought that in the future, there would be more things and people in the yard not controlled by Lady Zhou, and even if she could not tolerate it, she would have to learn to do so.
Even though Lady Zhou said these things, and her face darkened every ti she saw the mbers of Lian Manman’s family, they had no intention of moving the chicks and ducklings elsewhere.
They had more important things to tend to.
As the old saying goes, vegetables sustain you for half a year just as grains do. This shows the importance of vegetables to the farmstead families. The small garden Old Master Lian allocated to Lian Manman’s family was only two or three ’fen’ in size; even if they planted vegetables in every corner, it would barely be enough to feed them, likely insufficient. To enjoy a variety of vegetables, they needed to open up a new vegetable plot.
The location for the new vegetable plot had already been chosen by Lian Manman, right behind the newly built shop, on the piece of land they had just purchased.
The piece of land intended for the vegetable plot by Lian Manman, apart from a small part that was forrly soone else’s garden, had been lying fallow all this ti. Before construction on the new shop began, Lian Shouxin set a fire to burn off the useless weeds and bushes. The ash from the burnt vegetation fell to the ground and, after a spring rain, fully rged with the soil, making it the best fertilizer to enrich the land.
Still, such land was not yet suitable for planting crops. Burning off the weeds and bushes was rely the first step in reclaiming the land.
What followed was uprooting the roots of these weeds and bushes, plowing and leveling the earth, and preparing the vegetable beds before they could begin planting.
The weather was still fluctuating between warm and cold, and there was still so ti before they needed to plow for grains and plant vegetables, but turning the soil was urgent.
Lian Shouxin had house building to manage, Wu Lang and Xiao Qi had school, and their ti to help with chores was limited. The task of clearing and turning the land fell mainly on Lady Zhang, Lian Zhizhi, and Lian Manman.
Lady Zhang was full of vigor, and Lian Manman was brimming with confidence.
After eating lunch, Lady Zhang, accompanied by Lian Zhizhi and Lian Manman carrying iron hoes and hoes, headed to the field, and Wu Lang and Xiao Qi also ca along with their iron hoes. There was still so ti before their afternoon classes, and instead of resting, the brothers wanted to help out with the work at ho.
Lian Manman swung the iron hoe, taller than she was. The plot was rich black earth with almost no stones in the planting layer. However, this did not an the task of turning the soil was easy. Since the land had been neglected, so patches were very hard on the surface and required an iron hoe to break through. So bushes had extensive root systems that needed to be dug out deeply. The roots of the weeds, although shallow, were everywhere.
The mother and daughters sweated profusely and after half a Chinese hour had passed, had only cleared a small area.
"Brother, Xiao Qi, stop your work and hurry off to school, or you’ll be late," Lian Manman said.
Wu Lang straightened his back and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
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