Chapter 14 Flipping sweetpotato vines
Zhang Jiaohua was dumbfounded looking at all of this happening. He had seen what had happened with his own eyes. Zhang Youlian had been tripped by Jinhu causing him to fall down from the ridge into the field. Zhang Youlian slapped Li Yuju, and hit her absolutely just like a dog who has caught hold of a doll. In other words, all of the clamoring that was taking place, this was all incited by Jinhu and company. However, Zhang Jiaohua wasn"t feeling guilty in the least, rather he was feeling very happy, yes, very happy.
Don"t think that a brat"s animosity doesn"t pa.s.s the night. A brat that is able to recall animosity is really difficult to deal with, right. Zhang Jiaohua didn"t go deal with the matter no matter how bad the situation got. It was breakfast time, Zhang Jiaohua happily pulled along his water buffalo as he returned home joyfully. At this time, Zhang Qianlong"s family in his old house had recalled to mind sound of firecrackers. Actually, Zhang Youlian had profusely apologized to Li Yuju.
Zhang Youping after having dealt with his elder brother"s matter, was going to help out Zhang Qianlong and could only think of coming back by evening. The entire house"s affairs rested on one person, Liu Qiaoye.
Don"t see that it is not the harvest season, an agrarian family’s busy life never ends. The sweet potato vines needed to be flipped, otherwise the sweet potato vines could sprout lots of lateral roots which in the future could turn into small sweet potatoes affecting the nutrition of the main root. Moreover, at the same time the weeds in the sweet potato area would also be cleared up. In the paddy fields, the barnyard gra.s.s and the various kinds of weeds must also be cleaned up promptly, otherwise if the barnyard gra.s.s seeds were to mature, its seeds would be sprinkled onto the rice paddy, and by the next season it would spell disaster for the rice. The late maturing corn could also be harvested. Taking advantage of the sunny weather, they must be picked as soon as possible, otherwise, once rain season approaches they would become spoiled......All of these matters were faced by each and every family of Meizi"ao needed to be dealt with one by one. Originally, the main labour force in the house would be Zhang Youping, but now the arduous tasks were pressed down completely onto Liu Qiaoye, a woman.
Zhang Jiaohua tied up the buffalo, and returned into the home. In the courtyard the area for drying corn was already stacked with stack of corn sticks. The corn sh.e.l.ls were still not ripped open, and its contents, the golden jade like corn still hadn"t been exposed yet.
Liu Qiaoye had already been bustling about in the kitchen, preparing the breakfast.
"Mother. I"m home." Zhang Jiaohua was preparing to share with his mother today"s especially big news.
"Darling son, quickly wash your face, and sit down to eat breakfast." Liu Qiaoye"s kind voice immediately resounded out from the kitchen.
"Mother, do you know what Uncle did today?" Zhang Jiaohua ran into the kitchen, and asked mysteriously.
"Heh heh, what happened to Uncle today?" Such a big matter, it was impossible for Liu Qiaoye not to know, but she intentionally pretended not to know.
"He fell down into Jiujin"s field, and destroyed a piece of crops. He even scolded Li Yuju, and afterward Uncle....." Zhang Jiaohua vividly described today"s events in the entirety.
"How do you know about it so clearly?" Liu Qiaoye looked at her son a bit strangely.
"Wasn"t I still I pulling the buffalo through the boundary ridge of Uncle"s fields...." Zhang Jiaohua said the main factor of the matter.
"This can lead to major trouble. Your Uncle will definitely put the blame of this matter on your head." Liu Qiaoye knew Zhang Youlian was a man with small belly and chicken"s guts[1], and afterwards he would surely harbor a grudge against Zhang Jiaohua. Even though, for this matter Zhang Youlian had only himself to blame.
"Can"t blame me, can"t we pa.s.s by the boundary ridge of their fields? Luckily, he is my Uncle nevertheless. When I was herding, not a single grain of their family was eaten, also not a single soybean was eaten." Zhang Jiaohua wasn"t afraid that Uncle will find him later to cause trouble. It would be good if he doesn"t go finding trouble with Uncle himself. Today"s matter had let Zhang Jiaohua understand how to deal with these kinds of bad people.
"Son, Uncle is still of the Elder generation, you are of the younger generation, the younger must respect the elder generation." Liu Qiaoye said promptly.
"Then if he wanted to beat me without any rhyme or reason, can I still recognize him as an Elder? If he hadn"t fell down into the field, then he would have definitely beat me up. He deserved to have bad luck! Just now his face had been scratched and torn by Jiujin"s mother. This is called a wicked person will be hara.s.sed by another of like ilk." Zhang Jiaohua chuckled.
Jinhu et al. were also very happy. They knew that they had done the right thing today, and protected Zhang Jiaohua. They had already subconsciously started protecting Zhang Jiaohua.
Breakfast only had two dishes, one was the snake gourd soup, and the other was hot-pepper fried mudfish. Although there was no refrigerator, the mudfish after having been deep-fried a lot in fragrant oil wouldn"t deteriorate in one-two days.
Zhang Jiaohua after eating two big bowls of food had his small belly become really round.
"Mother after eating still has to go flip the sweet potato vines, you will be wait here alone. You must not in any circ.u.mstance run all over the place. I heard from Ma family, that recently some child trafficker had come to the village to steal children. If some disobedient child were to run out to play, he would be captured." Liu Qiaoye made up a story to frighten her son, so as to avoid having him running around.
"I am not afraid of any child trafficker. The last time, that child trafficker had been driven out by me. If it were not for him being very quick, I would have caught him." Zhang Jiaohua recalling that day"s events, at once felt annoyance rising very much. What a pity, that child trafficker didn"t come daily, missed out on so much fun.
"That day you got lucky. If you b.u.mp into a fierce child trafficker, you wouldn"t be able to run even if you wanted." Liu Qiaoye stared coldly at her son. This method was unexpectedly ineffective.
"Then I cannot remain alone at home, I will go along with you to the fields." Zhang Jiaohua exposed a crafty smile on his face.
"Won"t do. Outside the sun is shining very fiercely." Liu Qiaoye immediately rejected her son"s request.
"Mother doesn"t fear the sun, I also don"t fear the sun." Zhang Jiaohua couldn"t give up so easily.
Zhang Jiaohua"s words made Liu Qiaoye"s heart warm, "Clever son, you care for your mother. Mother will take you along, but you must listen to your Mother"s words and you must wear a bamboo hat. Also must stand under the tree shade, you cannot run around wildly."
A clear and boundless sky, the scorching sun roasting the earth. While walking through the vegetable fields, one could smell the various scents that the various kinds of vegetable leaves were letting out upon being roasted under the scorching heat of the sun. As if these vegetable leaves were being steam cooked by the sun.
After reaching the field, Zhang Jiaohua waited at the side for a while, but he couldn"t remain idle. How could brats fear the sun? As far as the brats were concerned, fieldwork was full of enjoyment, why was it said to be exhausting? Only after undergoing the hardships of life and torture of becoming an adult would they be able to realize the bitterness of this kind of a life.
Flipping the sweet potato vines is also a kind of a skill. In the process of flipping one must be mindful of sorting the entangled vines, and also remain cautious so as to not bring about too much damage to the vine. Otherwise, it would produce the opposite of the desired result.
Liu Qiaoye was a skilled farmer. She had already grasped this technique thoroughly. In her hands, the sweet potato vine seemed just like a leading line used to thread needles. She sorted out the vines neatly and orderly one by one.
Zhang Jiaohua came running over, and in his first attempt at flipping vines, he had managed to pull several sections of the vine.
Although Liu Qiaoye didn"t want her son to be just like her generation and do this kind of toiling farmwork for his entire life, but she still patiently taught her son.
Life, ah. No matter how much you dislike it, you still have to comply with the rules of life. If you sow labour, you will reap the harvest.