nycdaug Chapter 45 Arriving Home
Chapter 45 Arriving Home
While Xia Shiyu was fiddling with the seeds, Yu Juan returned. As soon as she saw Xia Shiyu with the seeds, she asked, "Why is there another batch of seeds here? They don't look like the same kinds as before."
Xia Shiyu said, "These are the seeds I just got, lettuce seeds. Soon after planting them, we will be able to eat lettuce."
Yu Juan was quite pleased to hear this. "Oh, that's great! Lettuce is perfect for wrapping grilled meat to cut through the greasiness. The lettuce you grow will definitely taste even better."
"The meat at barbecue restaurants isn't fresh, and it might even harm your health. It's better to eat meat from your own farm or pick out good quality meat at the market."
Xia Shiyu took it to heart after hearing this, and after thinking for a moment, she spoke directly.
"Mom, let's buy a couple more chickens and ducks. Pigs aren't convenient, but chickens and ducks are. We often have leftover vegetables that aren't very good quality, so we just throw them to them. They'll grow meat that tastes good after eating good vegetables."
Their family only has a few chickens now. Yu Juan raises them purely so that the family can always have eggs to eat, and can also kill a chicken to eat during the Chinese New Year.
Anyway, it's the same whether you do agricultural production or animal husbandry on the side. If you don't have much, you can sell it and eat it yourself, which is healthy.
Yu Juan thought the idea was pretty good, so she nodded, "Later I'll go to the market and buy two more chicks and ducklings to raise together."
"Yes, Mom, don't worry about raising them. Just be careful about diseases. If the chickens and ducks get infected, they'll all die."
"I understand. Don't worry, I managed to keep all my pigs alive even when the African swine fever outbreak was at its worst a few years ago. I'll be careful about these things."
The two discussed the matter for a while when Xia Shiyu's phone suddenly rang.
Xia Shiyu picked up the phone and realized it was her father. She answered, "Hello, Dad."
"Xiaoyu, I'm in the city now, I reckon I'll be home by noon."
After listening, Xia Shiyu asked again, "Okay, do you need me to pick you up halfway, Dad?"
Xia Lihua said from the other end, "It's okay. Your Uncle Shunhai also said he wanted to go back to the village, so I'll just ride in his car."
"Okay, I understand."
After hanging up the phone, Xia Shiyu told her mother that her father was coming back, "but he's coming back in Uncle Shunhai's car, so we need to cook more food for him to have lunch."
Yu Juan nodded, "It just so happens that I have a fish in my fridge. I bought one yesterday, so I'll cook it and eat it today."
Xia Shiyu nodded, "It just so happens that we can pick those vegetables from the garden to eat."
After dinner, Xia Shiyu planned to go out and do some chores, but unfortunately the two dogs were still small, otherwise they could have kept her company.
Xia Shiyu rode her tricycle to the field to check on the growth of the vegetables. Yesterday's lettuce had served as a reminder, and she still needed to come and see if these vegetables would develop any diseases.
Fortunately, after looking around, she found that the vegetables were all healthy, which put her mind at ease.
She realized that farming is not an easy task after she started growing her own vegetables. She was very lucky, at least the vegetable seeds were good, and she didn't have to worry about pests, diseases, or taste. She just needed to carefully plan and plant them properly.
If we really let her do things blindly on her own, we'll be completely lost.
She looked around carefully and then went to check on the leek field. The first batch of leeks had almost all been harvested, except for one field that was planted later and would mature more slowly.
When she came up, she ran into Old Man Li, the supervisor she had arranged.
Old Man Li is what the villagers call him. To be honest, Old Man Li has had a hard life. His parents died when he was young, and he grew up eating food from many different families.
As they grew up, they finally got married and had children. Although they were struggling financially, they managed to live a happy life. Unfortunately, their son died in a car accident a few years later, leaving only the elderly couple.
Moreover, the two elderly people are getting old and can only farm at home. The villagers say they are pitiful and will give them some benefits.
After Xia Shiyu returned, she kept trying to find someone to help look after the fields. There was no way around it; the vegetables she grew were too attractive to the animals, especially the cows and sheep that the villagers raised, which would occasionally come by and take a bite.
Although many villagers knew that she rarely brought her cattle and sheep over after she leased land on the mountain, there was no guarantee that a few would still come and cause trouble. She thought about it and discussed it with her mother, and decided that it would be good to ask Old Man Li to come and help take a look. The wages didn't need to be very high, otherwise he wouldn't accept them.
So Old Man Li and his wife stayed here to help keep an eye on things, and they would take turns from time to time.
“Grandpa Li, when you have nothing to do, go back inside the shed and rest. It’s very hot outside.”
Old Li chuckled and waved his wrinkled hands. "It's alright, it's alright. It's quite cool now. You're here to see the chives, right? I'm watching that patch of land; they're not ripe yet."
Xia Shiyu: "I just came up to pick some vegetables and take a look around. It's fine. I'll go back in a bit."
"Okay, okay."
Around 10 o'clock, Xia Shiyu returned home with the vegetables she had picked. She parked her car at the door and went inside.
Yu Juan was already starting the fire. When entertaining guests, they usually put the pressure cooker on early in the morning to stew either pork ribs or pig's trotters. Today, Yu Juan was stewing pig's trotters.
“Your dad really likes pig’s trotters, so I’ll stew some for him.”
Xia Shiyu washed her hands and asked, "Okay, Mom, is there anything else I need to do?"
"Go wash and chop those vegetables, and peel some garlic too."
"it is good"
Xia Shiyu was washing the vegetables and cutting the meat when she heard a sound coming from the doorway.
She quickly got up. "I'll go out and take a look."
Once you come out, you'll see two people getting out of the car; the tall, thin one is Xia Lihua.
Xia Shiyu hurriedly went out to greet them, "Dad, Uncle Shunhai, you've arrived."
"Hey, we've arrived. Let's go in and have a seat."
Xia Lihua, carrying the items, beckoned Zhang Shunhai to go inside.
Zhang Shunhai initially declined a few times, saying, "No need, I'll just eat at home."
"Hey, don't be so polite with me, just come in and eat, it's fine."
"OK then."
Xia Shiyu followed behind and welcomed the two inside, then brought out a watermelon, cut it into pieces, and took it out.
"Uncle, have some watermelon first, the dishes will be ready soon."
"Okay, okay, I understand."
Xia Shiyu put the melon down and went into the kitchen. Yu Juan was already cooking the last dish, and it was ready shortly after she came in.
"Come and take the dishes out."
Xia Shiyu agreed and went to help serve the dishes. After everything was set up, she called for dinner to be served.
"Wow, this is such a lavish spread," Zhang Shunhai exclaimed.
"No, that's not true. Most of the vegetables are grown at home," Yu Juan said with a smile.
Sitting down, Xia Lihua asked if anyone wanted a drink.
Zhang Shunhai waved his hand, "Hey, I don't drink, I don't drink. I have to drive later, so I can't drink."
"Alright then, let's eat the vegetables."
After making his greetings, Xia Lihua took a bite of food himself.
Because of the hot weather, the first thing he picked up with his chopsticks was the plate of cold water spinach.