Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

The next day Zhixin went to the mountains to sow ginseng seeds, while the old man was at home collecting some grain that he had not had time to deal with in the autumn. Mrs. Chen and Ms. Xue led Jingya and Huixin to make cotton-padded clothes for the whole family. Jingya told her mother and grandma about making a blouse for Jinghan. Mrs. Chen nodded in agreement, "I think, since this cloth is enough, why don't we all make a blouse to save us from spending all day in the kitchen? Damn it, a good new cotton-padded jacket will be worn out in a few days.”

Mr. Xue naturally agreed. Who doesn’t love new clothes? It would be nice to have one more piece of clothing. So Mr. Xue cut the blouse according to each person's size, and then handed it over to Jingya and Huixin. Both of them were good at needlework and had no problem making clothes. Mr. Xue and Mr. Chen make cotton-padded clothes, which require wadding of cotton inside. This job is a bit tricky, as you will end up with cotton lint all over your body. At this time, people usually wore cotton, and they liked cotton lint very much, and it was difficult to wash it after getting it on. So Chen and Xue both changed into old clothes just to wadding cotton.

Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law put the cotton on the cotton. Ms. Xue tried it with her hands and felt that something was not flat, so she put some more cotton on it. After a while, a cotton-padded coat was ready. To make cotton-padded clothes, you need to turn them inside out, with the fabric on the outside. Otherwise, how can you wear them? Cover the wadding cotton with a few pieces of soft paper, then roll up the clothes, reach in from the armpits, and turn the clothes over from the inside. After turning over the clothes, smooth them out with your hands and carefully pick out some of the corners with a needle. The turned-out cotton-padded clothes need to be pressed for a period of time, otherwise the stitches will not be done properly and the cotton will easily come out. So Mrs. Chen moved the Kang table over and placed it on the quilted cotton clothes. Then another piece is woven, and just like that, everyone is busy making new clothes.

Mrs. Chen had just finished the piece of wadding in her hand. Before she could turn it over, she heard some movement outside. Jinghan was originally here to watch everyone making cotton-padded clothes. When I heard the noise outside, I quickly ran out to take a look. It turned out that the money matchmaker brought a young man here. "Grandma Qian, my grandma is stuffing cotton clothes in the house. Come with me." With that, Jinghan let the two of them into the house.

Mrs. Chen didn't expect Matchmaker Qian to drive so fast. When she looked up, she saw that she was actually driving a man, Dr. Tao. Now she didn't know what she was going to do. Ms. Chen asked Jingya, Jinghan and Huixin to all go out, leaving Ms. Xue alone with her in the room. "Her Aunt Qian, are you here today?"

Before Matchmaker Qian could say anything, Dr. Tao stepped forward and saluted Mrs. Chen, "Aunt Xu, I am Tao Qingnian from the drug store in the town. I am here to apologize to you today. I didn't expect my mother last time either. Will you propose marriage to me separately, aunt, I really like the daughter of the Xu family, and I ask aunt to marry me." Tao Qingnian just saw Huixin and felt that her complexion was much better. Thinking of Huixin's beautiful face, He liked it even more.

After listening to Tao Qingnian's words, Mrs. Chen sighed, "Doctor Tao, you are a good young man. With your character, you can find any kind of wife you want. My Huixin has been frail and sick since she was a child. It's not easy to raise her well." Well, we are really worried about letting her marry into a complicated family. Besides, your mother has arranged the marriage for you, but you don’t agree and insist on marrying Huixin from my family. Have you ever thought about it, if Huixin marries into your family? Will your parents like Hui Xin? Will they deliberately give Hui Xin a hard time? Marriage is a big deal and must be considered carefully. If one day, your mother makes things difficult for Hui Xin, what will you do? Mother? I think it's better for you two not to get together." Chen didn't care about that and refused directly.

Tao Qingnian thought for a long time before he said, "Don't worry, aunt. After Huixin marries me, I will live with her alone, and we will live in separate families. My mother will never have the chance to bully Huixin." Doctor Tao had already wanted to leave. .

Jinghan called the old man back and everyone discussed it together. Originally, the Xu family had planned to let Dr. Tao split up the family, but splitting up the family was not an easy task, so they didn't say anything. Now that Doctor Tao has thought of everything, Mrs. Chen has nothing to say. Neither Mrs. Chen nor Old Man Xu knew what to say, "Hey, you child, let us tell you what you want to order? Let's go back and discuss it with your parents first, and then ask your mother to find the money." Auntie, come to my house. Do you want to?" Mrs. Chen didn't say much and asked Tao Qingnian to go back and discuss it with his parents.

When Tao Qingnian heard this, he also knew that if his parents did not agree, it would be difficult for the marriage to happen. So I nodded in agreement and went back to discuss it with my mother. When Matchmaker Qian saw this, she led Tao Qingnian away.

Mrs. Chen didn't keep them, and she didn't know what to do about it. Keeping them here would probably cause gossip, so Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Xue went out to see them off and then came back to continue making cotton-padded clothes.

"Ordinarily, Dr. Tao is really good. He is good-looking and gentle, and he can treat people. He is a good person. I am very optimistic about him, but his mother is a bit too difficult to deal with. In our family, although it is There are so many daughters-in-law, but I will treat you all the same. I won’t beat or scold you. If Huixin marries into the Tao family and gets angry, how can I feel better?" Mrs. Chen said while wadding her cotton-padded clothes. With.

Mrs. Xue nodded, Mrs. Chen's words were true. In all these years of marrying into the Xu family, she had never heard her mother-in-law curse. If the old lady was angry, she would just ignore her and be done with it. Even if the second daughter-in-law ran away, the old lady wouldn't say she was yelling. "Mom, I think Dr. Tao's intentions are quite serious. Why don't we just wait and see. If he can figure things out at home, Huixin can marry her. At the worst, we can accompany her and give her some more things. This is a noble girl. As long as the dowry is large, you don't have to be controlled by your husband's family. Besides, Huixin has four brothers. If Huixin is offended, we will go to the Tao family to settle the score."

Mrs. Chen smiled and said, "You will forgive me. Who in our family is the kind of person who can find trouble? But you said that you should give Huixin more escorts, which is fine. Women, the more dowry, the stronger the waist. This I have saved some over the past few years. When Huixin’s marriage is completed, we will go and take a look and prepare more. No matter which family Huixin marries into, these things will be inevitable.”

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were chatting and talking without stopping. After a while, another piece came out, and they turned it over and pressed it on. "Okay, that's it for today, it's time to cook. Zhixin has gone up the mountain for a day, let's cook quickly, and he will have something hot when he comes back." Mrs. Chen stopped when she saw that the cotton coat was already very fluffy. Hands, clear the kang and prepare to cook.

After a few days of busy work, everyone's cotton-padded clothes were ready. Jingya and Huixin also made blouses, one for each of the women in the family. Jinghan's blouse is rose red, and Jingya has embroidered some flowers on it, so that there is no fading at all. What girl doesn't like new clothes? Jinghan put on a new cotton-padded jacket and a blouse outside, and she was very happy.

Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Xue were very happy when they saw it, "This is good. She looks like a girl. She is always gray and dusty. How can she look like a girl?" Mrs. Chen looked at her granddaughter. , although he is only eight years old, he is taller than his peers. Her rosy little face looked healthy and tender, and her big eyes flickered. It was obvious at a glance that she was not a peaceful person. "Jinghan, this winter, learn to needle and thread from your sister. Grandma doesn't need you to be able to embroider and make money like your sister and your aunt. At least you must be able to sew clothes, otherwise who will give you money in the future? Going to make clothes?”

Jinghan listened and nodded. She also knows that in this society, the value of a woman is measured by whether she can cook and how good she is at needlework. If you don't learn it, people will laugh at you, but you have to be almost the same anyway.

When Wenhan and Wencheng came back from school, Xue quickly asked them to try the new cotton-padded jackets. Because the two of them were studying in school, Mrs. Chen made cotton-padded clothes for them with good materials. Mrs. Chen felt happy from the bottom of her heart when she saw these two grandsons. "Okay, we are all young men now. Look at this boy, Wenhan is almost taller than your mother." Wenhan is twelve years old this year. He is really not short. He looks taller than Xue at first glance.

Wen Cheng was wearing new clothes, and he couldn't help but feel sad and burst into tears. "Grandma, thank you."

Mrs. Chen knew that he might be thinking of Mr. Wei, so she held Wen Cheng in her arms, "My dear grandson, don't think about that anymore. Grandma, grandpa, your aunt and uncle will love you. Don't think about it anymore in the future. Do you hear me?" ? "After all, Wen Cheng is older and has more worries.

After September 15th, there wasn’t much work in the farmyard, and Zhixin had picked up enough pillars. A total of only twenty feet of new soil was obtained this year, and not many pillars were needed.

It got cold early this year, and on September 18th, white snow covered the entire sky. When I opened the door in the morning, I saw a vast expanse of white outside. Zhixin naturally wanted to go out to clear the snow, and Wenhan and Wencheng also followed. They went out to clear the snow while talking and laughing.

Jinghan also woke up, but she didn't want to come out from under the quilt. It was a rare opportunity to be lazy for a while. Jingya had already gotten up and washed her face. When she saw Jinghan's appearance, she smiled and said, "It's rare to see you lazy in bed. Let's lie down for a while. It's snowing outside and a bit cold."

When Jinghan heard that it was snowing, she got out of bed, put on her clothes and ran outside. When we got outside, it was indeed snowy. Jinghan jumped on the ground happily, "It's great, it's snowing."

Wenhan on the side saw it and said, "Little sister, go home and comb your hair quickly, you look like that. It's cold outside, wear more clothes. There will be a lot of snow for you to see in the future." Wencheng was also smiling there.

Jinghan hurried back to the house to wash her face and comb her hair. Jingya helped Jinghan comb her bun, and then asked Jinghan to put on her new thin cotton-padded jacket. A dewy little girl appeared in front of everyone.