March 9th was Zilus eighth birthday. Shen gave birth to two sons early in the morning and cooked a steamed bun egg for him, and took out a new pair of shoes, saying: "Mom wanted to make a new dress for Luer, after busy this period, mom will make up for it, next year when conditions are better, mom will definitely let you go to school." Zilu nodded with red eyes.

  "Second brother, dont worry, you will definitely be able to go to school next year, I keep my promises. However, hehe, you still have to help me finish the work that needs to be done." Zi Qing said.

  "You stinky girl, what makes you think you can guarantee? Why are you everywhere? If you dont earn any money later, see how embarrassed youll be. Alright, mom has to go out and do things now."

  Shens family took advantage of the good weather to harvest their rape, Shen herself taking Subao with her. She said they should take their time and cut as much as they could, then bring it back to dry on the mats in the courtyard, getting Subing to watch over it and make sure the chickens didnt trample it, and frequently turning it over. Subing got Subao to use a bamboo pole to chase away the chickens, and after two days of this kind of work they had only harvested half of it.

  Fortunately, the Spring Festival holiday has begun, and Zeng Ruixiang and Zi Fu have both taken a break. When Zeng Ruixiang returned home, he saw the well in the courtyard and asked hurriedly: "Yumei, why do I always get a surprise every time I come back? Where is this silver again?"

  "Lets work first, and talk about it in detail tonight. Take advantage of the good weather these two days to hurry up and harvest the rape, or I wont feel at ease. Also, we need to rush to plant the peanuts." Shen said and then busied herself away.

  With the help of Zeng Ruixiang and Zi Fu, the rape in the field was quickly harvested. Zi Qing and Zi Lu stayed at home to dry and flail it, occasionally beating the dried branches with a wooden mallet. After they were completely dry, Shen Shi used her hands to force open the bean pods on the branches. Rui Xiang plowed the paddy field once, flattening the sandy land. Zi Qing was surprised that her father could do all the farm work and had not been raised as a bookworm.

  One day, Rui Xiang went to the old house and came back with an unhappy face. Shen Shi didnt ask anything, but gently served dinner, ladling out a bowl of bone soup for each person. Ever since Zi Qing bought back some pork bones last time, Shen Shi had been stewing them every now and then. She instructed everyone to start eating.

  Zeng Ruixiang looked at the children in front of him, the older ones knew to take care of the younger ones, and the younger ones knew to give way to the older ones. After finishing dinner, the eldest son took the initiative to clean up the bowls and chopsticks, the second son helped, and the daughter swept the floor. He then said to Shen Shi: "Yumei, youve worked hard, youve taught the children very well."

  After going to bed, Zi Qing heard the conversation between her father and mother, and only then did she know that her father had gone to the old house today. The old man didnt pay much attention to him and was still angry. Tian Shi cried again about the difficulties of the day. It turned out that Xia Yus marriage had not been successful, and the other party looked down on Xia Yus poor health, wanting 50 taels of silver as a dowry. Over the years, Zeng Rui Xiangs salary was not left with a single copper coin, all given to Tian Shi. He thought that no matter what, they would spend their days together, and their own family wouldnt need money, so as not to cause trouble. But it turned out that the children were still hungry and poorly dressed. After the division of the family property, his own family was in such a state. In the end, he had to cover the house before winter came, and couldnt let the children squeeze into the wooden house to freeze in the cold winter. However, Tian Shi didnt consider these things at all, and she was her own mother. Zeng Rui Xiang also didnt say anything. Shen Shi then told about what happened that day when the old man and Tian Shi came, and Zeng Rui Xiang didnt say anything again.

  The next day it rained all day. Shen said fortunately the oilseed rape had all been harvested. Zi Qing took the opportunity to ask: "Mother, how much oilseed rape did our family harvest?"

  "A single stone can kill two birds."

  Zi Qing calculated that it was around 200 catties, and the yield was still a bit low. "How much vegetable oil can these rape seeds produce?"

  "Its about sixty catties, we wont need to buy oil this year. Mother will send it to the oil press in half a day, and the remaining oil cake can still be used as fertilizer before transplanting."

  Ziying found that no matter what problems the children had, Shen would always patiently answer them. Perhaps she also hoped to instill more common sense in life into the children subconsciously. So, although Zifeng was still young, he was very mature and understood many things. In comparison, Ziying felt that apart from her own professional knowledge, she was only average in other aspects, yet she had already lived for 22 years. She felt quite indignant in her heart.

  Cutting to the chase, the rain stopped, and Zi Qing went to her own vegetable field to take a look. The lettuce had grown quite a bit taller. In her past life, Zi Qing loved eating bok choy, it was just called by a different name back then. As for napa cabbage, they had already started eating it. With this rain, the vegetables were growing densely, so Zi Qing pulled out some and brought them home. At dinner time, she told Shen Shi that they could pull out some napa cabbage and pick some bok choy to sell. Werent vegetables scarce right now? Bok choy shouldnt be available for sale yet, they should be able to get a good price for it.

  "Its time to plant, but I want to plant the peanuts first. (That means planting) After the rain is a good time to plant peanuts, if not now, Im afraid it will be too late." said Shen Shi.

  "Lets go to the sunflower field tomorrow, Ill come too, and bring my little brother along." Zi Qing said. Shen Shi said that they had to wait for the sun to come out before taking Xiao Zijie out, otherwise he would catch a cold and it wouldnt be good.

  It just so happened that the second day was overcast, and Zeng Rui-xiang took Shen Shi and others to pollinate the flowers. Zi Qing had no choice but to take a small hoe to weed, loosen the soil, and dig up earthworms. Looking at her labors results, she always felt very happy. Whether they could build a house this year depended on these watermelons. So Zi Qing tended to them with great care. Not only chicken manure, but also the rice washing water and the bloody water from washing bones were all poured in. Of course, the chicken manure had to be left for a period of time to rot and ferment before being diluted and used.

  Zeng Ruixiang and Shen brought their two sons and were busy all day, finally finishing the peanut points.

  The next day, when Zǐ Qíng got up early, everyone older than her had already left the house. On the table, breakfast was laid out, and a small bowl of rice porridge was sitting in hot water, which was for Zǐ Xǐ. When Zǐ Qíng went out, she saw the muddy ground by the well and then took a look at the vegetable garden, where most of the celery had been cut off. She guessed that Shěn Shì must have gone to town to sell vegetables. Zǐ Qíng returned to the house and saw that her two younger brothers were still asleep, so she cleaned up the well first.

  Its almost ten oclock now, and Shen Shi and Zi Lu have returned. Shen Shi also bought a piece of sky blue cotton cloth and a piece of coarse white cloth, saying she wanted to make an interlined garment for the men in the family. "Todays vegetable selling money is all spent and not enough, fortunately I still had some with me. Ziqing, this time the money was not enough, your mother didnt buy you flowered cloth. Your father is often away from home and cant always wear old clothes. Your older brother will be ten years old soon, so your mother will make one for him first. Next time we sell vegetables, your mother will definitely buy a beautiful piece of flowered cloth for Ziqing."

  "Its okay, mom. Brothers clothes are torn again, he should wear something better for school. But, mom, next time we buy flower cloth, I want to wear the same as you, and you should make new clothes too." Ziqing often washed clothes knew that cotton fabric was not durable, after washing a few times it would fade, after scrubbing a few times it would tear, and poor children couldnt always have new clothes, so their clothes were always patched up with patches, basically to the point where you couldnt see the original shape of the clothes anymore.