Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 989 Mother

The villagers shouted. The village's old scholar brought a scale and weighed it, and it turned out to be more than six stone! Two stone more than the highest yield the fat shopkeeper had said. Landlord Zhang's face flushed and whitened, and his hands, twisting his beard, were shaking. Su Qingyuan handed him three stone of rice: "This is to repay your debt. The rest is enough for our family to eat." Landlord Zhang took the rice and suddenly said: "If you still farm this land next year, I will waive half of your rent." Su Qingyuan smiled and nodded, but in his heart he was thinking - next year he would expand the planting and try to grow some vegetables to sell in town. Wang looked at the rice piled in the yard, her eyes red. She secretly stuffed two eggs into Su Qingyuan's cloth bag. Su Xiaobao saw it and clamored to eat some too. Wang slapped him: "These are for your sister to nourish her body. She has worked hard!" Su Qingyuan took the remaining rice to grind. When he came back, he saw Lin Yan standing at the gate of the yard, holding a silver hairpin in his hand - simple in style, but polished to a very bright shine. "I... I bought it with the money I earned from collecting herbs." He stuffed the silver hairpin into her hand, his ears turning red like ripe apples. "Your hair has grown longer, so you can use it." Su Qingyuan's fingertips touched the cold silver hairpin, and her heart was filled with a little rabbit. She took out a small bag of freshly milled rice and handed it to him: "This is for your mother, try the new rice." In the spring of the following year, Su Qingyuan not only planted rice, but also planted some cucumbers and beans beside the field. She used modern methods to build a rack, and the vegetables grew fast and well. Lin Yan helped her transport the fresh vegetables to the town, and they were quickly sold out. Once when she was selling vegetables, the wife of the county magistrate passed by, tasted the cucumbers she planted, and praised them repeatedly: "These cucumbers are crisper than those grown in the mansion!" She immediately agreed to order vegetables from the Su family every month, and the price was very fair. The Su family's life gradually improved. Su Laoshi no longer went out to do odd jobs, but stayed at home to help with farming; although Wang Shi still loved Su Xiaobao, she would leave the door open when Su Qingyuan came home late; Su Xiaobao was no longer naughty and would help water the vegetables. At the market after the autumn harvest, there was always a long line in front of Su Qingyuan's vegetable stall. She hired several women from the village to help, paid them wages, and taught them how to select seeds and apply fertilizers. Lin Yan set up a medicine stall nearby, and business was also very good. "Qingyuan, look who that is?" Lin Yan touched her arm. Su Qingyuan looked up and saw Zhang the landlord coming with an accountant. Zhang the landlord bowed and said, "Miss Su, I want to grow rice with you in partnership. I will provide the land, you will provide the technology, and we will split the harvest in half." Su Qingyuan smiled and said, "Okay, but I have a condition - I have to hire poor people from the village to help, and the wages must be good." Zhang the landlord was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "As you wish." On the way home, the setting sun stretched their shadows very long. Lin Yan suddenly stopped and took out a small cloth bag from his arms: "My mother said... ask if you are willing..." His voice became smaller and smaller, and he stuffed the cloth bag into her and ran away. Su Qingyuan opened the cloth bag, and inside was a pair of silver bracelets, which were a set with the silver hairpin from last time. She touched the pattern on the bracelets, and suddenly remembered the day when she just crossed over, lying on the cold earthen kang, thinking that she would be trapped in this poor place for the rest of her life. "What are you thinking about?" Wang came over with a newly made cotton-padded jacket in her hand, "I made it for you, winter is coming soon." She stuffed the cotton-padded jacket into Su Qingyuan's hand, and muttered as she turned around, "Lin is a good boy, you have to hurry up." Su Qingyuan stood in the yard holding the cotton-padded jacket, looking at the rice drying on the bamboo poles, golden, like stars scattered all over the ground. She knew that she was no longer the Su Qingyuan who had no relatives - here she had the fields she planted, the people she cared about, and a real home. At the beginning of spring, Su Qingyuan's rice planting method was promoted throughout the county. The county magistrate personally wrote a plaque for her with the words "Agricultural Expert" and hung it on the gate of the Su family's courtyard. Lin Yan's medicine shop was also opened, right at the street corner of the town. On the counter were mints planted by Su Qingyuan, green and full of vitality. Su Qingyuan stood on the ridge of the field, watching the busy figures of the villagers, with the heavy ears of rice in her hands. The wind blew across the rice fields, raising green waves and carrying the fragrance of new rice. She thought of modern laboratories, those sophisticated instruments and complex formulas, but felt that the solid feeling of stepping on the soil at this moment was the most precious. Lin Yan came over and handed her a bamboo tube: "You must be thirsty, drink some water." His fingers were stained with the juice of the herbs, but they were very warm. Su Qingyuan took the bamboo tube and drank a sip. It was sweet honey water. Children's laughter could be heard in the distance. It was Su Xiaobao and the children from the village flying kites by the field. The kite flew very high, like a free bird. She knew that no matter what era, life was earned by one's own hands. Just like the rice in this field, as long as one is willing to work hard and take good care of it, there will always be a day of harvest. And this piece of land that she cultivated with her own hands has long become the deepest concern in her heart. It is a home warmer than any hometown. As the sun sets, the two walk side by side on the ridge of the field, their shadows overlapping, like twin wheat plants growing in the land, roots connected, slowly growing towards the sun. Lin Yan watched her dig a ditch less than three feet deep, "I'll call a few friends to help, and just give them food." Su Qingyuan shook her head: "No, I can do it myself." She knew the situation of the Su family, how could they have food to eat. She secretly carried a few sweet potatoes from home, roasted them in the fire, and gave half to Lin Yan: "Fill your stomach first." The roasted aroma of sweet potatoes filled the air. Lin Yan took a bite and exhaled due to the heat, but there was a smile in his eyes: "It tastes better than the ones my mother bakes." On the day the drainage ditch was dug, Su Qingyuan collapsed on the ground due to exhaustion. The muddy accumulated water flowed into the river along the ditch, revealing the moist black soil. Lin Yan handed over a bamboo tube with cold tea in it: "I asked the owner of the drug store, and he said he could give you the seeds on credit first and pay you back after the autumn harvest." Su Qingyuan looked at his tanned cheeks, and her heart warmed. She took the bamboo tube and took a sip. The tea had a faint fragrance of bamboo leaves. On the day of sowing, Lin Yan brought a few classmates with him. They helped to level the land and sow the seeds, while Su Qingyuan evenly spread the collected wood ash on the fields. Wang stood at the entrance of the village for a long time, curled her lips and went home, but she steamed an extra sweet potato for dinner and placed it on the stove - although she didn't say who it was for, the sweet potato was still warm when Su Qingyuan came back. As the rice sprouted, Su Qingyuan encountered a new problem—many weeds had grown in the field. If they weren't pulled, they would rob the crops of their nutrients. She was squatting in the field pulling weeds when she saw Su Xiaobao running over with a bamboo pole, ready to throw rocks at the field. "Mom said you're planting weeds, and I told you to pull them out!" "Stop!" Su Qingyuan rushed over to protect the rice seedlings, but the bamboo pole hit her on the back, causing her to grimace in pain.