133 What Can I Do? It Must Be My Good Fortune
Xie Heng’s words caused the expressions of the gossipers to change drastically.
They looked as though they had eaten flies. They had failed to make Xie Heng disgusted at Zhao Chuchu and instead gagged at his response.
None of them could spend their families’ money in such a manner. If they misspent even one cent, they would be scolded by their mothers-in-law and husbands!
“It doesn’t sit well with you to see Da Lang letting me spend money like this, right? Bear with it. I still have many areas that I will spend money on. Da Lang will let me do as I please. No matter how you provoke him, he will not listen to you. Marrying a scholar is the beauty; they are very reasonable.”
!!
Zhao Chuchu chimed in, pouring oil onto the fire.
“Da Lang, all your money is mine, right?”
“Yeap. It is all yours.”
Zhao Chuchu looked at the gossipers. She shrugged and said, “I also do not know what to do. Why is Da Lang so nice to me? What can I do? It must be my good fortune.”
The gossipers nearly coughed blood after hearing Zhao Chuchu say this. Their expressions were dark as they left without another glance.
Madam Kong, who was also helping in the field, could not help but laugh and say, “Da Lang is really nice to you. Those girls always get scolded by their mothers-in-law and husbands. They provoked you because they are jealous of you.”
“The more jealous they get, the more it reminds them of their misfortune when they see me,” replied Zhao Chuchu. “They have too much time on their hands if they have time to come between a couple. These people will sooner or later get their just desserts due to their mouths!”
“Why are you so concerned about them? The pan is already full. Why don’t we head to that side of the field first?”
“I can do it,” said Zhao Chuchu as she walked over to the pan and prepared to carry it over herself.
She had not expected Xie Heng to reach there first. While he lifted a load on his shoulders, he also carried a wooden bucket full of seedlings with his left hand.
Madam Kong said, “Aiyo, Da Lang, put that down at once. Let my eldest carry it. You are a scholar. How can you do such hard labor? Don’t hurt your hands.” She then shouted at Niu An, “Son, go over and help him. Da Lang’s hands are meant for reading and writing. They are essential.”
“Scholars aren’t different from ordinary people. I can do this,” said Xie Heng, turning down Niu An’s help.
Niu An looked at Madam Kong.
The latter wanted to say more, but Xie Heng had already disappeared into the distance.
He was even more stable than Niu An when carrying his load.
However, when Zhao Chuchu wanted to carry the seedlings, Madam Kong did not relent.
Zhao Chuchu could only allow Niu An to carry them.
Neither Xie Heng nor Niu Tongsheng knew how to throw the seedlings, so Zhao Chuchu followed them to that side of the field. Madam Kong, her mother-in-law, and the Chen clan sisters-in-law were helping pull out the seedlings in the field.
Niu Tongsheng was fertilizing the field.
Not all the people who came to see the throwing of seedlings were here just for fun.
All of the villagers were farmers. Once they heard Zhao Chuchu’s explanation of how to throw the seedlings, they all understood what to do. Many people came to help out.
It wasn’t long before the two loads of seedlings were all planted.
At the same time, the villagers miraculously found that throwing seedlings was actually very easy.
“Chuchu, if these seedlings truly can live, it will be much faster than planting them one by one!”
“Isn’t it? With so many hands, it only took a while for us to finish such a large field. We didn’t even need to bend our backs.”
“Da Lang, was this method of throwing seedlings really written in the books?”
…
Xie Heng nodded his head and answered, “Yes. I don’t know where my father found these books. I saw that they were of no use in the examination, so I burnt them with the medical book. Fortunately, Chuchu read it and remembered it. Otherwise I would have committed a grave sin.”
“Is this actually useful?”
“Chuchu’s prescriptions are all useful. I believe this method will also work out.”
“In a few days, all of you will see whether these seedlings live,” Zhao Chuchu replied. “According to the book, the seedlings will usually grow out in five days.”
“We will see then. If they can truly grow this way, we will adopt this method in the future. Otherwise, each time we plant the seedlings, our backs will hurt like crazy,” said Niu Tongsheng. “Come, bring over the remaining seedlings. I believe, at this rate, we will be done with the other fields by noon.”
Under normal circumstances, it would take a day for three people to plant seedlings on more than an acre of land.
However, with the speed of throwing seedlings, three people could cover three acres in a day!
Today, many people were here, so they would only need the morning to finish Zhao Chuchu’s several acres of fields.
There were two furrows of seedlings left in the field. Zhao Chuchu gave these to Niu Tongsheng.
However, she reserved some to fill any relatively empty patches that appeared after the seedlings sprouted.
“Thank you for your help, everyone. Please come to my house for lunch,” Zhao Chuchu invited the people who had helped out. “I went to town yesterday to buy supplies.”
“There is no need to be so courteous. It was but a simple matter,” they said as they turned down her offer while smiling.
“The food has already been prepared. If all of you don’t come, how long will we need to finish all the food? Please don’t turn down my offer. Once the village chief is done, all of you can come over to my place to eat,” insisted Zhao Chuchu, not allowing them to reject.
Yesterday, Xie Heng had already braised a pig head, trotters, duck, and eggs. Today, with a few more dishes, it would be enough to feed everyone.
While the villagers continued helping Niu Tongsheng with seedling throwing, Zhao Chuchu and Xie Heng returned first.
The wok they had was too small. Zhao Chuchu went to the Niu residence to borrow their rice pot. She also invited their family over for lunch.
When Madam Kong saw Xie Heng holding the ladle, she could not believe her eyes.
“Da Lang, are you the one who cooks for the household?”
“Yes, Chuchu doesn’t like working in the kitchen.”
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You did not look like you would treat your wife so nicely. None of the men in the village come into the kitchen like you. Moreover, you are a scholar.”
Every family treated their scholars like treasures.
A scholar in the kitchen was unheard of.
“A scholar also needs to eat. Chuchu has her own matters to attend to. It also doesn’t take much time to prepare a meal,” said Xie Heng. It was rare for him to explain in such detail.
...
Madam Kong quickly said, “You’d better get out of the kitchen. Tell me what dish you are making. I’ll do it.”
She could not accept a scholar in the kitchen. She pushed Xie Heng out and said, “With us around, you and Chuchu can just sit back and relax.”
Xie Heng was speechless.
When he saw that Madam Kong and her daughters-in-law had already occupied the kitchen, he could only surrender the place to them.
“Just stir fry some vegetables, get the chicken ready and add some salt to the winter melon bone soup simmering on the stove,” instructed Xie Heng as he left the remaining dishes to them.
When Madam Kong looked into the pot of master stock, she smelled a rich aroma that made her swallow her saliva involuntarily.
She exclaimed, “The Xie clan is truly generous in spending!”
Until now, Madam Kong still remembered the pork meat that Zhao Chuchu had given them that day.
She never imagined that she could taste it again today.
However, what astonished them the most was that the rice they would have was pure white!
They were eating better than during the new year!
...
Madam Kong looked distressed as she could not help but tell Zhao Chuchu, “Chuchu, why don’t you mix in some brown rice? Life is not easy on you as well. Don’t be so wasteful.”
“It is normal to have some white rice after a hard day’s work. You don’t need to worry. Da Lang said that now that he can see, he can earn more money in the future,” said Zhao Chuchu. She felt tired of having to explain this every time.
Sigh. The farmers of the Wei Dynasty were too poor.
Hence, when they cooked, they even had to keep count of how much rice they ate!
When she collected her bountiful rice harvest and everyone else planted this improved crop the following year, they would not need to go hungry again.
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