Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

The rural examination was held in Shencheng in early August. Shencheng is the largest city in the Northeast and a very prosperous place. In this era, a two-level system of prefectures and counties was adopted, but in some places, prefectures were converted into prefectures. Generally speaking, such places are relatively prosperous or very important, and Shencheng is the political and economic center of Northeast China, so its status is naturally very important.

Shencheng is quite far away from where the Xu family lives, and Wen Han and the others are worried about being out of town, so they have to leave early. So, everyone decided to leave on the eighth day of July.

On the eighth day of the lunar month, Wenhan, Pengcheng, and Zixuan, together with Guoqiang and a boy from the Yue family, were all driving to set off.

Jinghan didn't go down the mountain to see Zixuan off. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to help but want to follow him. Anyway, she had already said what needed to be said, so she didn't go to see him off. Zixuan knew that Jinghan was still on the mountain, and the two of them had already discussed it, so they didn't feel disappointed or anything.

Jingya came to see Pengcheng off with a big belly. She was now more than eight months pregnant and her body was already very heavy. Next to them, Bai He and Bai Wei carefully supported Jingya, fearing that she might make some mistake.

Jingya looked at Pengcheng and stretched out her hand to smooth her husband's clothes, "Be careful when going out and don't eat randomly. Also, don't trust others easily. People's hearts are separated from each other. Who knows what peace of mind they have? You have to take good care of yourself. Take care of yourself, you know?" Jingya urged earnestly.

Pengcheng couldn't help but hold Jingya in his arms, "I'm fine, my eldest brother and Zixuan are with me. But you, be careful. You have been pregnant for more than eight months now, and you will probably give birth when I come back. You You must be careful at home, go to your father and mother if anything happens, and just take good care of yourself.”

Pengcheng bent down and reached out to touch Jingya's round belly, "Son, daddy is going out. Do you have to be obedient and listen at home? Protect your mother well and don't be naughty."

Jingya's stomach suddenly moved, as if she agreed to Pengcheng's words. Pengcheng felt the fetal movement and smiled silly. "Jingya, look, my son has promised me."

Jingya smiled helplessly, "Okay, son, I'm letting you rest assured. It's getting late, so hurry up and set off. My son and I are waiting for your good news."

Wenhan and Zixuan over there couldn't stand Pengcheng's grinding anymore. "Okay, Pengcheng, it's only a month. Can you two stop being so clingy?"

Jingya was a little embarrassed, pushing Pengcheng and asking him to leave quickly. Pengcheng touched Jingya's belly again, then reluctantly got into the carriage and waved to Jingya. "Okay, go back quickly. It's too tiring to stand for a long time. You can't stand it."

Guo Qiang raised his whip, and the horse spread its hooves and ran forward. Jingya kept waving from behind until the carriage was out of sight.

The days passed like water, and in a blink of an eye, August was already here. Jinghan thinks about Zixuan every day and feels a little unmotivated to do anything. Jingxian looked at her and knew that something was on her mind, so she didn't come to Jinghan for ordinary matters.

Lin Xing's family came to the mountain that day and brought along the new fruit wine from the winery. "Come on, Jinghan, come and try this wine made by your uncle. How do you like it?"

Jinghan took the wine jar and opened the lid. A rich fruity aroma mixed with the aroma of wine floated out. If the dates themselves are about to rot, they will produce a wine smell, so after adding some raw materials, the wine smell will become stronger. Jinghan took a deep breath of the aroma and said, "It smells so good. Uncle Lin, you are really amazing. You actually made the wine."

"Hahaha, this is actually very simple, and it doesn't take too much trouble to make. This time I brewed more than a thousand kilograms of fruit wine. Before I came here, I sent it to Baiweilou for shopkeeper Sun to taste. Taste it. He said it was very good. There was no need for the wine made from grain. He said he wanted all the wine. I thought you hadn’t tasted the wine yet, so I brought some for everyone to try. "Lin Xingjia smiled proudly. The Lin family’s secret recipe for brewing wine is really easy to use.

Mr. Xue found a few bowls and placed them on the table. Jinghan poured the wine into a bowl and asked her father and Wen Cheng to have a taste. In fact, Jinghan really wanted to taste it for herself, but in front of her future father-in-law, how could she dare?

However, Xingjia didn't care about that at all and put a bowl of wine in front of Jinghan. "Jinghan, come here, you can try it too. Shopkeeper Sun said that this wine is more suitable for women. Help your uncle taste it and see how it is."

Jinghan had no choice but to pick up the bowl and take a sip. This wine feels very soft in the mouth, with rich fruity aroma and wine aroma, and a good sense of layering. And the sweet and sour taste is indeed more suitable for women to drink. However, the alcohol content of this wine may not be low, and ordinary people will get drunk.

"Uncle Lin, this wine tastes really good. Congratulations to Uncle Lin for being able to make such a good wine. By the way, in fact, not only jujubes, but mountain grapes can also be used to make wine. At this time of year, mountain grapes are ripe. When the time comes, Uncle Lin might as well try some more. Maybe he can really make another kind of wine." Jinghan didn't dare to drink more, just took a few sips. After wiping her mouth with a handkerchief, Jinghan made another suggestion.

"Let me tell you, I can definitely come up with some good ideas from you. Since you say it can work, I'll give it a try. These mountain grapes are all over the mountains and fields, and the children in the village also have time to get them. It's simple." He clapped his hands happily. He really liked Jinghan as his daughter-in-law. "By the way, your father said that he gave you the money from the winery as a dowry. When I come back next time, I will bring the tent over for you to take a look at. Our winery hasn't paid any dividends since last year."

"Uncle Lin, why are you so polite? Aren't mine just Zixuan's? Let's put them all in the winery. It's important to harvest more food in the autumn. If our winery wants to make money, it's not just the secret recipe, but also The output can only be increased." Jinghan shook her head and smiled. She just enjoyed the feeling of making money, and she didn't have to understand every penny.

"No, this dowry is a woman's support. The court has expressly stipulated in the law that a woman's dowry can only be left to her children, and her husband's family cannot take it. Besides, our family does not lack your third member, so you still Take care of it yourself." Xingjia waved his hand, he knew this very clearly.

Now that he had said that, Jinghan couldn't refuse anymore and just said that he could just take a look at the accounts. It would be better to keep the money in the wine shop for circulation.

The Lin Xing family was thinking about what Jinghan said about grape wine making, so they ate here at noon and hurried back. This season is a good time for the mountain grapes to mature, and the autumn harvest has not yet begun, so the children can also have the opportunity to go up the mountain to pick them. So Xingjia asked Guoping and others to go out and help collect grapes.

Mountain grapes are easier to pick than Dian dates, so the price is slightly lower. However, this thing is large in quantity. It is easy to get forty or fifty kilograms in a day, and it is not very tiring for the children to get a hundred or ten kilograms in a day. One hundred Wen is a considerable sum for a child from a rural area. Although not all of the money may be left in the hands of the children, a certain amount can still be of some benefit, so the acquisition of mountain grapes went smoothly.

The village has agreed that the sticks will be started on August 12th this year, so that they can be tied up with the land requisition. After the hammering is over, the women can make goods at home, and the men can go to collect the land. Autumn is originally a season for busy people. All these tasks are done side by side, and they must be done slowly and slowly.

Zhixin looked at the crops in the field and felt that the soybeans were indeed not dry yet, so it would be just right to harvest them after the hammering was done. The Xu family still has about seventy acres of land this year, and the family has enough manpower, so there is no need to worry.

On August 12, everyone in the village came to play with sticks, and of course the servants in the yamen were also indispensable. Everyone really hates these people so much, but there is no other way. You can't go against the imperial court, right?

Of course, the Xu family didn't have to hand in the mallet this year. The 45-foot mallet weighed a total of about 900 kilograms. The old man also came to the mountain in advance. Looking at the several sacks of mallets in the field, the old man kept laughing with joy.

When Bangchui came back, Mrs. Xue led Mrs. Li and others to start making goods with Bangchui. Jinghan led Honglian and they all followed, so that the work would go faster.

Zhixin led the men in his family to collect the land. Seventy acres of land was not much, and they were all strong laborers. It took only a few days to recover all the land. There is a large open space next to the Xu family's new house, which is used for drying grain in autumn, so all the grain is put here. Zhixin took the people and took care of all the items and then sent them to the warehouse.

The Mid-Autumn Festival passed in a hurry. This year Wenhan went to take the provincial examination, and Wenxuan and Wenchang went to take the college examination. The family was a little deserted. So the old man and the old lady discussed it and said that they would just make do with the Mid-Autumn Festival and wait for the children to come back to have a good time.

On August 18th, Jingya's stomach suddenly hurt terribly. Now, the Yue family became lively. After three or four hours of tossing, Jingya gave birth to a big fat boy.

Yue Siyuan was so happy that he quickly asked his wife to give the midwife a big red envelope. Since Pengcheng hadn't come back yet, he had to send the servants at home to report the news.

The Xu family was the first to receive the news. When the old lady heard that her granddaughter was born, she was even more happy. He quickly sent people to the mountain to announce the good news and asked Mrs. Xue and others to come back quickly and prepare to wash the child.

Jinghan and Jingxian heard the good news on the mountain and couldn't stay any longer. They had to come back with them, so the whole family returned to the town.

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