Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

Jinghan and the others stayed in the mushroom house for a while, and then returned to their house. The four sisters Jinghan lived in the west wing of the backyard. Jingya and Jingwan both went back to the house to do needlework, but Jinghan came to the front yard again.

At this time, Mrs. Chen and Mr. Zhixiang had been chatting for a long time, and they were a little tired. Besides, Mr. and Mrs. Zhixiang were also newlyweds, so Mrs. Chen asked them to go back to Dongkuayuan to rest. Zhixiang led Wanting away, and Mrs. Chen leaned her head on a pillow, wanting to stare for a while.

Jinghan came in at this time, "Grandma, I have something to tell you."

When Mrs. Chen saw it was Jinghan, she sat up and waved to Jinghan, "Come on, Jinghan, come to grandma. I'm so busy these days that I can't take care of you little guys."

Jinghan sat on the kang and felt a little sad looking at her grandma's white hair. "Grandma, let me discuss something with you. Can we let the eldest sister take care of the accounts of our family from now on?"

Mrs. Chen was stunned, "Why? What's wrong with your eldest sister? She needs to take care of the accounts?"

Jinghan leaned closer to her grandma, "Grandma, think about it, my eldest sister is already fourteen, how many more years can she stay at home? I have to let her learn to be a housekeeper and take care of accounts, and then she gets married. , but what should we do? Our family will definitely be better than it is now, and my eldest sister's marriage will probably be the same. If we don't learn it now, won't we be able to do anything later? " Jinghan doesn't care if these words are true. She said what a little girl should say directly.

When Ms. Chen heard what Jinghan said, she immediately became energetic, "Hey, isn't it? I really didn't think about it. Yes, there are a lot of things in this big family. If you don't understand at all, you will definitely be in trouble in the future. You will suffer. Okay, grandma understands what you are saying, so she will tell your mother tonight that the accounts for our wedding haven’t been collected yet, so let Jingya help her, so it won’t be difficult. " Mrs. Chen looked at her little granddaughter. She didn't expect that this little person could think of this. She must have been inspired by something. "Jinghan, why do you want your eldest sister to learn housekeeping at this time? What's going on?"

"Nothing? I just saw my little uncle getting married, and then I remembered it. Now our family is related to the Lu family in the county. My little uncle is only twenty-four years old, and he is working next to Zhou Tongzhi. Who can guarantee that My uncle will not be an official in the future? After all, Mr. Lu has become his uncle. If you think about it this way, the girls in our family may have a good marriage in the future, so they have to learn a lot. Ah." Jinghan knew that her words were not something an eleven-year-old girl could think of, but she had to say them for the sake of her eldest sister's happiness. "Actually, we don't have any teaching nuns here. Otherwise, we really should let the eldest sister learn from us."

Mrs. Chen nodded while listening. She really didn't think about these things, she was just happy about her son. However, there is something wrong with a little girl actually remembering this, right? "Jinghan, tell grandma the truth, how did you think of it?"

Jinghan rolled her eyes and said, "My uncle got married yesterday. Someone said it there. They said that my uncle will have a good future in the future, and that the daughter of the Xu family will be a rare choice for a wife. I heard it all. Others said. "You should be able to get through it this way, right?"

Mrs. Chen suddenly realized, "So that's it. Let me just say, you little brat, can you think of this? Okay, grandma will remember this and just listen to you." Mrs. Chen also knew that this was related to It is a lifelong matter for the girls in the Xu family, so they are very concerned about it. "Go and call your mother. I have something to say with her."

Jinghan agreed and went to the ground to find Mr. Xue.

Not long after, Mrs. Xue came over and she and Mrs. Chen murmured in the room for a long time before coming out. During lunch, Ms. Chen asked Jingya to help compile the accounts for Zhixiang's marriage in the afternoon. When Jinghan heard this, she knew that her suggestion had been adopted, and she was secretly happy. When my sister gradually gets exposed to more things, she won't think about it now and has no idea at all. Women can be gentle and virtuous, but they cannot be completely independent.

Although the family members were a little strange, they didn't say anything. From then on, Jingya was responsible for the family's accounts. Gradually, even daily necessities were decided by Jingya. This is a topic for later, so I will not mention it for now.

The 20th is the day when Zhixiang and Wanting return home, but the county is too far away and they will definitely not be able to make it back that day. So Chen said, let them stay in the county for a few more days, so they don't have to come back in a hurry. So Zhixiang and his wife took the two girls and a coachman, took a lot of things, and went back to the county town.

The Chinese New Year is just around the corner, and my family has just finished a wedding, so I'm even busier. While Zhixin and Xue were busy buying new year's goods, Jingya officially began to manage the family's accounts, and she had to distribute money for each item. When you buy things, you also need to keep accounts and so on. Everything is done very clearly.

This year is the first year after moving to the town, and it is also the first time that Zhixiang and his wife celebrate the New Year at home. Although the family spent a lot of money on Zhixiang’s marriage, Mrs. Chen still made sure to buy New Year’s goods and have a good New Year. Zhixiang killed two pigs when he got married. There was still a lot of meat that was not used and was frozen. This time it was just right for the New Year.

Jinghan's mushrooms have grown well recently, so she resumed sending them out every day, so that she can earn one or two taels of silver a day. This is not bad. In the middle of winter, where can she earn one or two taels of silver? As the Chinese New Year is approaching, Jinghan asked Wencheng to tell Baiweilou that the mushrooms before the New Year will only be delivered until the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, and then they will not be delivered. When the restaurant opens after the Chinese New Year, they will resume sending mushrooms.

Manager Sun replied that the restaurant will open on the 12th day of the Chinese New Year, and they will just send less at that time.

Jinghan didn't say anything. These mushrooms have been producing mushrooms for more than two months, and now there are not many mushrooms. It is estimated that it is almost done, so it is not bad to take a break. As the Chinese New Year is approaching, the family is busy every day, making steamed buns, stewing meat, frying meatballs and dried fruits, and making some delicious food every day.

Chinese New Year is the happiest time for children. They don't have to work and can often have delicious food. In addition to getting up early to practice martial arts and practicing calligraphy during the day, the boys helped Zhixin chop firewood and make fires every day. After all, there were many houses in the family, and they all needed firewood. "Dad, will there be logging after the New Year? In that case, we will have to collect more firewood." Wenhan asked while helping to stack firewood.

"Yes, we really need to get more firewood this year. When we are not on the mountain to look for ginseng, it will not be so convenient to pick up firewood then." Zhixin said while chopping firewood with an axe. The Xu family has been looking at ginseng on the mountain for three years. It seems that there will be no more development in that place for a few years. The good places have been turned into ginseng soil, and the remaining places are scattered and not in a piece. It is estimated that in one or two years at most, they will have to move to another place to open another ginseng field. By then, the Xu family will naturally finish looking at the current place and will not look at ginseng elsewhere.

"Then we really have to think about it. We need to find a place and buy a piece of land. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome to have such land in the future. Dad, in fact, if there is a suitable place near our ginseng field, we can buy a forest. It doesn't need to be too big. It's not bad to develop this ginseng field slowly at home. Besides, don't the geese and pigs we raise and the tussah silkworms that Jinghan raises have to be in the mountains? Although it is far from the town, where can we find such a suitable place?" Wenhan said everything he could think of.

Zhixin was particularly relieved when he heard his son's words. This son has really grown up and knows how to plan for the family. "Okay, Dad knows what you said. After the New Year, when you are free, Dad will talk to your grandfather and others. It's time to make plans early, otherwise you will be in trouble when the time comes?" These things really need to be considered in advance, otherwise who knows what the future will be like?

Zhixiang and his wife didn't come back until the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, and the New Year's Eve was on the 29th this year, so in a blink of an eye, New Year's Eve was here. This year Zhixiang was at home, so the old man took his four sons to the village to visit the graves.

This year, Chen said that Zhide and Qingnian's families should also come to celebrate the New Year, and they should have a good reunion this year. So after the men left, the women at home started to get busy, preparing this and that.

Although Wanting has been married for a short time, it can be seen that the Xu family is a very simple family, and it is also a big family with a loving father and filial son. Although the family's life is not very good, they are all very responsible and enjoy it. Wanting likes this atmosphere very much, and is willing to work with them and share that kind of happiness together. So Wanting took the two girls to follow everyone to work, although she had never done these things and could only do some simple work, but she was still very happy.

When the old man and his family came back, the family had already prepared the meal. So everyone set up three tables in the reception room, one for adults, one for children, one for the servants that Zhi brought back and Wanting's two maids, and everyone had a lively New Year's Eve dinner together.

The old man was very happy today. After several years, the family finally reunited. "Wenhan, bring a jar of wine to grandpa, grandpa is craving for wine."

Today's dishes are very rich, with chicken, fish, meat, and eggs. There is meat in every dish, as well as various fried meatballs, fish, dried fruits, mushrooms, etc. There are a total of sixteen dishes, filling up a large table.

The old man asked everyone to pour wine, and even the women had a glass. The old man raised his glass, "Come on, everyone, drink this glass of wine first, it's rare that our family is so complete. Celebrating the New Year, we spent the New Year at your place the year before last, and this year we come here, we are all a family, and there is no need for those empty words, just eat and drink well." The old man drank the wine in the glass.