On the second day, Zi Qing got up early to see if the watermelon seedlings had survived. Shen Shi laughed at her for being too anxious. After finishing his meal, Zeng Rui Xiang said he wanted to go visit Old Masters place, and Shen Shi told Zi Qing to follow him to buy a few large bones. When they arrived at the old house, Zeng Rui Xiang asked how everyone was doing, then informed Old Master that they would not be holding a hundred-day celebration feast after all.

  "Just forget it, anyway weve already split up the family property. Were not relying on you for this meal either. Your sister will also save some money." Tian said.

  Zeng Ruixiang couldnt take this, and asked the old man: "Dad, our wheat seedlings need fertilizer. I want to pick a few loads from the manure pit at home. There isnt much accumulated on my side either."

  "What bad luck! Your elder brother chose some and took them away, I thought you didnt want them, so I sold the rest. What time is it now? You havent even fertilized the wheat yet, what have you been busy with at home all day?" Tian Shi took over the conversation.

  Zeng Ruixiang listened and said, "Forget it then, Ill think of another way." After finishing speaking, he took Zi Qing out, and the old man added a sentence behind him, "If there really isnt any, just use some grass ash to make do."

  Zeng Ruixiang picked up Zi Qing and said, "Qinger, be good. When we get home, your mother will ask you what Ah Po told you. Just say that Ah Po didnt tell you anything, okay?"

  Zi Qings heart felt a pang, and she thought that Zeng Rui Xiang was also unwilling to let Shen Shi follow him with a sad heart. So, she hugged Zeng Rui Xiangs neck and said: "Okay, Dad, lets buy some bones and go home. Mom gave me money for you, and we can make a delicious bone soup."

  Its just the right time to grow taller, and there are many farm chores at home. Zi Qing made an excuse that the bone soup is delicious, so she asked Shen Shi to take a few copper plates and planned to buy a few more back today.

  After returning home, Zeng Ruixiang said he wanted to go fertilize the wheat seedlings. There was still some manure at home, but Shen knew it wouldnt be enough and had never expected anything from the old house anyway. She had prepared ash in advance. The two of them set off, one carrying manure and the other carrying ash.

  Watching her parents bend down to carry the load on their backs, Zi Qings tears burst forth, as if she saw the hardworking figures of her parents in their past life. At this moment, Zi Qing urgently hoped that she could improve her familys difficult situation soon, so they wouldnt have to work so hard anymore.

  Zeng Ruixiang was at home, always thinking about doing more work to reduce the burden on Shen Shi. However, there were indeed many tasks in the field these days, and it wasnt possible to finish them all at once. Shen Shi was worried that her husband wouldnt be able to handle too much work at once, so she tried to push back any tasks that could be delayed. Zeng Ruixiang, on the other hand, tried to rush through as many tasks as he could. Meanwhile, Zi Qing did his best to prepare meals for the family at home.

  Zi Fu also took a three-day break and went to pick wild mushrooms with Zi Lu. Zi Qing wanted to go too, but Zi Shou was too young and couldnt take care of Zi Xi by himself. Zi Qing had no choice but to give up and told Zi Fu to dig up the goldenrod flowers instead.

  Zi Qing listened carefully, the price of dried honeysuckle is fifty cents a catty, and the wet one is five cents a catty. Although its said that guarding the mountain is a good thing, Zi Qing only knows about honeysuckle among all the herbs. If this courtyard wall were to be covered with honeysuckle, not only would it be pleasing to the eye, but also profitable, how great!

  Zeng Ruixiangs days at home were still happy for Shen. The three days passed quickly, and when sending Zeng Ruixiang off, he said that the rice seedlings had been arranged with his elder brothers family, they would help take care of them, the rape was about to be harvested in a few days, if not, they could still ask their nephew from Shens mothers side to come and help. Shen agreed one by one.

  The day after Zeng Ruixiang left, Shens wife went out and picked a lot of small peas. She said that this season the green vegetables were not yet available, so stir-frying some peas would be good too. Zi Qing remembered that her mother used to love drinking pea soup in her previous life, so she asked her mother to make some. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zi Qing asked Shens wife to teach her how to stir-fry dishes. If the work in the fields gets busy, having a ready-to-eat meal at home would save a lot of trouble. Shens wife thought for a moment and agreed, but warned that she must be extremely careful with fire and can only cook when Zi Rong is also at home.

  Dinner was a dish of stir-fried small peas, a pot of pea soup with several pieces of dried meat that the He family had brought over last time. The soup was very fresh and Shen said she used to love eating it when she was young, but now that shes older, even if they dry it out again and make soup, it doesnt have this clear sweetness anymore. Upon hearing this, Zi Qing immediately thought of a good idea.

  Zi Qing said: "Mom, how many small peas did we plant at home?"

  "Its not a small piece of land."

  "Mother, lets pick the small peas and sell them now. Maybe most of the city people love to eat such fresh small peas, you go to Anzhou Prefecture to sell, it will definitely be sold well." Zi Qing suggested.

  "Selling now? Is anyone buying? Every household is planting."

  "Mother, I also think someone will buy it. Are there a few vegetable gardens in the city of Anzhou? There must be people who will buy them. Now that vegetables are scarce, they can still sell for a good price. Besides, now that everything has been harvested and sold, we dont have to rush to cut the rape anymore. Its just right that the wheat is ripe too, so there are several days of free time. Anyway, every day in the town, there are donkey carts and ox carts going to Anzhou Prefecture. Mother, take my younger brother and sister together to pick them this afternoon, and we can go to Anzhou early tomorrow morning. We should be able to return before noon."

  "Listening to my son, its indeed the case. Alright, Ill listen to you, and well go pick some tomorrow afternoon." Zi Fus words moved Shen Shi greatly, while Zi Qing rolled her eyes, wasnt it herself who thought of it first?

  The next afternoon, Shen carried a basket with Zi Xi inside and had Zi Lu carry it. She picked out two small bamboo baskets, and the whole family went to the field together. It was Zi Qings first time there, so Shen carefully taught her and Zi Lu how to pick the full ones. Zi Shou stayed by the side, accompanying Zi Xi. Because they were picking, their speed was a bit slow, but with three people working together, before long, they had picked a lot. After filling up the baskets, they headed back home. Zi Qing found some wild grasses to cover them up so that no one could tell what was inside. Shen took one look and understood, smiling.

  The next morning, Shen and his son Zilu left together. Ziqing started to get anxious, doing all the chores she normally did, such as feeding the chickens, sweeping the yard, etc. After finishing her tasks, she handed over the responsibilities to Zishou and took a small hoe to loosen the soil for the watermelon, remove weeds, and flip over the earthworms and insects to feed the chickens. She worked and rested in intervals until Shen returned with Zilu. By then, she had only loosened two ridges of soil. When Ziqing opened the door and saw the empty basket, she knew that everything had been sold, and she was very happy.

  "How much is it per catty, mother?"

  "Its four cents a catty, I didnt expect that. Now the vegetables are scarce, and new ones havent arrived yet. They also sell this in the city, but its relatively rare. Seeing others selling vegetable stalks for three cents a catty, my mother thought selling for four cents would definitely work. Didnt expect it to sell quite quickly."

  In the next few days, Shen went to Anzhou Prefecture several times again, and the small broad beans at home were almost sold out. That night, Shen and Zi Fu discussed that they had sold less than two taels of silver, and with this silver, they could make up for some losses, dig a well just in time, take advantage of the current spare time to hurry up and dig it, and then in another two days, they would have to harvest rape, transplant rice seedlings, and turn over the broad bean field to plant peanuts. After finishing speaking, Shen let out a sigh.

  "Mother, lets deal with the well tomorrow, its heartbreaking to see you carrying water every day. As for transplanting rice seedlings, lets try to find a way to cooperate with Auntie, after all, we only have one mu of paddy field at home. If not, we can ask Uncle and his family for help. Dont worry about the things in the yard, Ill take care of them with my younger brother and sister," said Zifeng.