Chapter 38: Chapter 38 Preparing for Rice Transplanting
"Brother, I’ll go talk to Aunt Hui about the helpers," Jiaojiao said.
"Alright, go ahead. I’m off to the fields to find Uncle Hui and tell him we’ll start planting rice tomorrow," Feng Xi replied.
Feng Xuxu and Feng Xi left the house one after the other. Feng Xi intended to search for Uncle Hui in the fields, but to his surprise, Uncle Hui was already returning, hoe in hand, conversing with Aunt Hui in the courtyard.
"Uncle Hui, I was just about to go find you in the fields!" Feng Xi naturally took the hoe from Uncle Hui and placed it in the woodshed.
Uncle Hui shook the water off his washed hands and said with a chuckle, "Then it’s good timing that I came back."
"I’ve got some good news for you. My little sister said that we can start planting rice tomorrow." Feng Xi announced with a big smile.
"Really? Ah, I’ve been looking forward to this day. I must go tell the others quickly so they can prepare." Uncle Hui laughed heartily for a moment before it dawned on him that several other families in the village were waiting for this news. He hurried away without even changing out of his dirt-covered clothes.
Aunt Hui and Feng Xiuxu were just discussing who to ask for help with the work tomorrow when suddenly they heard Uncle Hui’s excited "Really?" Aunt Hui shivered with fright, almost throwing the bundle in her hands. She turned and glared at her husband, only to see that he had hurried off. She turned back, looking puzzled at Feng Xiuxu, who told her about the rice planting starting tomorrow. Upon hearing this, Aunt Hui was so overjoyed that she couldn’t close her mouth, constantly repeating "good, good, good."
"Mom, I’m back," Zhang Jiaojiao announced as she entered, carrying a wooden basin.
Feng Xiuxu looked at Sister Jiaojiao and stepped forward to take the basin, lifting the lid to reveal several neat, clean blocks of tofu. She touched the tofu with her fingertips, finding it tender and slightly warm with a bit of elasticity—apparently, it had just come out of the pot not long ago. The tofu was pleasingly white, and Feng Xiuxu quickly thought of several tofu dishes she was eager to try making for everyone that evening.
"Feng Xiuxu, your big nephew, and all of us are here," said Feng Da, Feng Youfa’s eldest son, as he led the way into the courtyard.
"Yeah, big niece, we’re all here," added Feng Yong, the younger son of Feng Yousheng, with the people following behind them entering the courtyard laughing and joking. Uncle Hui and the village head also entered behind them.
Seeing so many people heading toward Zhang Hui’s home, the villagers with good tidings followed to join the excitement, forming pairs of threes and groups of fours and fives, pushing and pulling each other as they gathered at Zhang Hui’s doorstep. The crowd, men and women, old and young, was complete, creating quite the hubbub.
The village head looked at the people outside the courtyard, noting some who were purely there to mock, others who came to watch the spectacle.
The village head cleared his throat, folded his hands behind his back, and addressed the crowd within the yard, "Now, everyone knows, we start preparing for the rice planting from tomorrow."
As soon as the village head’s words fell, a hum of discussion arose from outside, loud and animated—mixed with envy, scorn, and even jealousy, all sorts of comments were thrown around.
In contrast, those within the yard were very quiet, all waiting for the village head’s next instructions.
"Beginning tomorrow, everyone will take turns planting. We’ll all help one family plant the rice, and once it’s done, we move on to the next one. This way, it’s faster, and everyone can easily learn. During this period, Zhang Hui’s family will provide meals until the rice planting is completed," announced the village head. As his words settled, the noise from outside ceased, replaced by the cheers arising from the people inside the yard.
"Alright, everyone settle down. For fairness’ sake, let’s draw lots. There are numbers on the papers, arranged from smallest to largest." The village head gestured for Feng Xiuxu to bring out the materials for drawing lots. Feng Xuxu put down the box, and the crowd closed in around it, each taking a turn. In a short while, everyone had picked theirs.
"Headman, I can’t read; I don’t understand this," Feng Sheng said with a red face, scratching his head. After speaking, he felt embarrassed and let out a few awkward laughs to cover up the embarrassment of his illiteracy.
"Well, hehe, I can’t make it out either," Feng Fang also chuckled embarrassingly.
Feng Sheng stepped forward, clapped Feng Fang’s shoulder, and spoke earnestly, "We couldn’t afford to go to school, but we’ve got to at least make sure our children get an education. Not for the sake of official titles, just so they can recognize a few big characters."
"Yeah, my son is ten this year; no matter what, he needs to go to school to learn to read a few big characters," Feng Fang sighed heavily.
The headman glanced over everyone; none of them had been to school. Their eyes dimmed, all because they were poor. If they were wealthier, perhaps things could’ve been different. He silently vowed that during his tenure as headman, he would ensure the villagers became prosperous and that the children would have books to read.
"Everyone, bring them over one by one, and I’ll read them out for you. Make sure you all remember well," the headman said, taking the slips of paper from the villagers and started to read aloud, "Feng Guang is first, Feng Gang is second, Feng Cong is third, Feng Da is fourth, Feng Yong is fifth, Feng Li is sixth, Feng Sheng is seventh, Feng Fang is eighth, Feng Xiquan is ninth, Feng Liang is tenth, Feng Xiang is eleventh, Feng Jian is twelfth, Zhang Hui is thirteenth, all right, everyone got it? Starting tomorrow, everyone comes over for breakfast, and then Feng Xuxu will lead everyone to the fields to teach you how to transplant rice,"
"Alright, we’ve all got it clear. I didn’t expect Brother Zhang’s family to provide meals too. That’ll surely give us more strength to work, right, folks?" Feng Cong said, hearing the headman finish, and also hearing about the meals, he jovially teased his good brother, Zhang Hui.
Hearing Feng Cong’s playful words, Zhang Hui quickly waved his hands and said, "It’s not that I’m being generous, but it’s Feng Xuxu who is paying for the meals to supplement everyone’s food."
After hearing what Zhang Hui said, everyone cast grateful glances towards Feng Xuxu.
As the sun sank in the west, the sky was adorned with sunset clouds, the fiery glow painting half the sky, signaling that tomorrow would be fine weather.
"It smells so good, Xuxu, what are you cooking?" Jiaojiao followed the delicious scent to find Feng Xuxu in the kitchen making food.
"Sister Jiaojiao, your nose is really sharp; you could smell it from that far away," Feng Xuxu said, watching Jiaojiao sniffing vigorously, amused by the greedy look on Zhang Jiaojiao’s face.
"You little wench, are you saying my nose is better than a dog’s?" Jiaojiao refused to be teased by Feng Xuxu and started to tickle Feng Xuxu’s itch.
"Hahaha, Sister Jiaojiao, I was wrong, I won’t dare again," Feng Xuxu, who was most ticklish, hastily pleaded for mercy from Sister Jiaojiao.
"Hmph, let’s see if you dare to make fun of me again!" Jiaojiao looked triumphantly at Feng Xuxu, knowing well how afraid she was of her ticklish hands.
"Alright, Sister Jiaojiao, the food will be ready soon. You can try my cooking in a bit," Feng Xuxu said with a smile, shaking Jiaojiao’s sleeve.
Jiaojiao laughed and brushed off Feng Xuxu’s hand that was tugging at her sleeve, then turned and walked to the cupboard, took out bowls and chopsticks, and began setting them on the round dining table.
Feng Xuxu lifted the lid of the pot, blew on the steam rising from it, and seeing that the food was nearly ready, bent down to extinguish the fire in the stove. Before serving, she sprinkled some coriander over the top, and a fragrant dish of Dongpo tofu was ready to be served.
