Chapter 253: Busy farming season 253
Li Hongxiang had just left when Zhao Yanli came over.
"Do you have time to go out today?"
"I'm here to tell you the good news, my elder sister is pregnant."
Su Yuanyuan thought to herself, isn't that normal? They've been married for almost half a year.
"My elder sister came back yesterday, she's lost a lot of weight." She seemed a bit worried.
"I still have some cottonseed oil here, why don't you take some to your elder sister?"
"My sister-in-law told her to take some oil back, but my elder sister refused.
Actually, my elder sister just can't bear to use it. Yesterday, my sister-in-law made dumplings with lard, chives, and eggs, and she ate quite a bit."
"That's just how it is when a young woman returns to her mother's home, isn't it?"
"Yuanyuan, actually I don't think my elder sister is doing well. They still live together as a family, and there's a lot of land to tend."
"What's wrong with having a lot of land? If you have one hundred acres, you'll at least get a small donkey, so the work will go faster."
"But more land means more work. More people, more conflicts."
"Didn't you ask?" That's not really her style.
"I did ask. My sister just said everything is fine."
"Don't worry, she's a married woman now. How could she not know how to handle things? If she's saying it's okay, it means the days are still manageable."
"Yeah, I'm just worrying needlessly."
"Xiao Li, I'm going out again this year, thinking of selling all the chickens, ducks, and geese at home. Initially wanted to slaughter them for meat but feel they're laying eggs quite diligently, kind of reluctant."
"Why sell them? I'll take care of them for you."
"So many animals. I feel embarrassed."
"What's the problem? Yuanyuan, I'll move over this winter to help you take care of the animals."
"Just you? I'm not at ease."
"What's there to worry about? My Second Brother is likely to get married after the big autumn, if not, then us sisters can move in together."
"Is Second Brother also getting married? I haven't had a chance to meet her. Which girl?"
"My sister-in-law introduced her, her cousin. But she's not related to Team Leader Tian, more like a relative on my sister-in-law's mother's side."
"How's the person?"
"Quite capable, though she isn't as pretty as my sister-in-law. But she's alright."
"Did Second Brother agree?"
"Yes, he agreed. Both families plan to get married after the big autumn, so there's time.
By the way, when we go to the city to buy a watch for my Second Brother, do you want to come along?"
Su Yuanyuan shook her head, "I won't go. There are so many animals at home."
As they talked, they walked into the courtyard.
"Yuanyuan, how come your pig is so big?"
"Is it big? It's normal."
Zhao Yanli smacked her lips, "Big, it's a lot bigger than ours. Then again, you do feed your animals well. It's normal for them to grow big."
"Stay for lunch, let's make dumplings, with chives and eggs.
This year, I plan to visit the seaside and bring back more shrimp skins, adding them to chives makes them tastier."
"I'm envious, I wish I could go with you." Zhao Yanli sighed, knowing her family wouldn't agree to let her go.
"Yuanyuan, bring me back some good stuff when you go."
"Sure, no problem. I also have some dried fruits, you take them to your elder sister first and bring some for Xiao Ling to chew."
"Do you still have some? I've run out despite saving them."
"Just living alone, I often forget to eat."
The two were quick with their hands, making dumplings was almost effortless.
In the end, they couldn't finish eating, and Su Yuanyuan asked Zhao Yanli to take the dried fruits to Zhao Yanping.
Since Zhao Qingjie is getting married. Su Yuanyuan thought of giving a piece of cloth as a gift, along with twenty eggs, that should be enough.
The work in the fields can take a break now, and they started leveling the threshing ground outside the courtyard. The Li Family had no need for this, so the front yard hadn't been touched, just leveling it a bit would be fine.
By early September, Su Yuanyuan noticed the spring wheat was ready to be harvested and went to check the Li Family's field too, then told them they could start harvesting.
To be honest, because the Li Family was next door, they barely needed her superpower for work this year. For harvesting wheat, she planned on using physical strength during the day, and using her superpower at night, assuming the Li Family didn't work at night.
Sometimes, ideal scenarios feel wonderful, but reality can leave you powerless.
They saw her harvesting wheat at night, and the three of them joined in.
So the only option was to bend over and use a sickle properly.
With thirty acres of wheat, it wasn't something that could be harvested overnight, and the threshing ground wasn't big, they needed time to thresh too.
Now, Su Yuanyuan was missing the threshing machine dearly.
Luckily, the mother sheep was helpful, it could pull the roller even when Su Yuanyuan was in the field cutting wheat. This saved Su Yuanyuan a lot of time.
"Sister, aren't you worried the sheep will steal some of it?" Li Liyun came over with watermelons and found it quite new to see the sheep pulling the roller to press the wheat.
"It shouldn't be a problem. Besides, even if it eats a bit, it's fine, it's saving me a lot of work."
Now, Su Yuanyuan was threshing at night, and she could occasionally use her superpower to relieve fatigue.
About ten days later, all the wheat was harvested, and just when the threshing was done, it started to rain.
She had a tarp on hand and hurried to take it to the Li Family.
The three of them were busy carrying things indoors, that's the advantage of having the threshing ground within the courtyard.
After helping them cover everything with the tarp, she rushed back home through the rain.
The rain wasn't heavy and stopped by morning. The Li Family still had over ten acres unharvested, but the progress was quick. They definitely couldn't thresh today, so they focused on fieldwork.
The corn husks had turned yellow, and Su Yuanyuan was in a hurry, she didn't wait and finished setting up the corn crib in the morning, and started picking ears in the afternoon.
She did it the same way as in past years, directly picking the corn ears and putting them in the cart when a basket was full. Once the cart was full, she'd drive it back to the corn crib.
If someone saw the way Su Yuanyuan's sheep and donkey worked together, they'd definitely be envious.
On the third day, Feng Baoshan drove over.
"Xiao Su, you can just deliver the cotton bolls directly, the field department will arrange picking."
"Director Feng, how much does the field pay per pound?" It's better to know clearly.
"Four dimes per pound."
Su Yuanyuan thought for a while, four dimes with the cottonseed is basically equivalent to the cotton being a yuan and two. They also save processing fees, but they wouldn't get cottonseed oil. To be honest, the price is really low.
"Director Feng, I'll deliver the wheat and corn, but I'll keep the cotton myself, I'd still like to have the cottonseed oil."
Feng Baoshan also knew the price was low, it was decided in a meeting. Someone was just envious of how much money she, a woman, was earning.
Su Yuanyuan knew that at this price, the field wouldn't be able to collect cotton. No one's a fool. If they want it, the price has to be reasonable.