Chapter 135

135. The wet rice couldn't be put directly into sacks; it had to be dried, otherwise, it would mold and rot and couldn't be eaten.

But in this ten-day rainy weather, there was no sun, and the rice couldn't be dried. After a long time, the wet rice would still mold and rot after being wet.

"It's all your fault! The Li Zheng clearly said to harvest the rice early, but you insisted on waiting a few more days until the rice was fully mature. Now that you've waited for trouble, are you happy!"

"Can you blame me? Who knew this ghostly weather would rain again!"

For a time, those families who didn't harvest the rice early, besides regretting their initial choices, also blamed each other.

And those families who harvested the rice early clasped their hands together to thank the Li Zheng for his foresight.

When the Li Zheng came over wearing a coir raincoat, Jiang Wei was using an iron to smooth out clothes. In the ten days of rainy weather, the washed clothes couldn't dry, so she could only find an iron from the space to help.

"Xiaoxiao's mother, this rain keeps falling, and I don't know when it will stop. There are still many families in the village whose rice hasn't dried. What do you think we should do?"

As soon as the Li Zheng entered the courtyard, he didn't even take off his coir raincoat and sat under the eaves with a sad face, sighing: "Xiaoxiao's mother, you are well-read and know more than us mud-legged people. Can you think of a way for us? Otherwise, I'm afraid that if this continues, the people in the village won't even be able to pay the grain tax this year..."

Jiang Wei thought for a moment and asked, "Uncle Liu, are there many families in the village who have earthen beds?"

"There are quite a few." The Li Zheng nodded hurriedly.

Xuzhou is neither south nor north. It is very hot in summer and very cold in winter. Most families have built earthen beds in their homes, but there are also a few families who, because they are poor, haven't built earthen beds, and the beds they sleep on are just simple beds made of four large stones as bed feet with a wooden board on top.

"That's good." Jiang Wei said again, "You tell everyone to spread the rice on the bed, and then heat the bed to dry it..."

"This will probably cost a lot of firewood, right?" After listening to Jiang Wei's explanation, the Li Zheng frowned worriedly.

But there was no other way; this was the only way to save the damp rice.

Thus, he said goodbye to Jiang Wei and hurried home.

After returning home, the Li Zheng thought for a moment, then put on his coir raincoat and went out again. He beat gongs and drums to gather everyone at the ancestral hall, conveyed Jiang Wei's words, and told everyone the method of heating the bed to dry the rice.

"Why does this Jiang woman have one idea after another? For these thousands of jin of rice, how much firewood will it take to dry it? Her family has no rice, so she doesn't know how expensive firewood is!"

The speaker was Li Dayong's wife. She said with a face of dissatisfaction that a bundle of firewood could be sold for three or four wen in town.

But this time, no one helped her.

"Third Sister-in-law, if you don't want to heat the bed, just wait for the rice to rot at home. No one is forcing you." At this time, Auntie Wang, who had always been at odds with the Jiang family, suddenly spoke up, "Jiang's idea is for our sake. Her family has no rice, so she could have completely ignored us. She thought of a way for everyone, and you're still complaining."

"Exactly!" Qiulian Niang also stood up and said, "Xiaoxiao's mother wouldn't harm us. This firewood is all over the mountains and doesn't cost money. At most, it takes some effort. If you don't heat the bed and the rice all rots, you won't even have a place to regret it."

"Bah, how many benefits did Jiang give you that you speak for her like this?" Li Dayong's wife roared without showing weakness.

"Stop arguing!" The Li Zheng shouted, his severe gaze sweeping over Li Dayong's wife, "If you don't want to heat the bed, forget it. I'll say it again: those who are willing to heat it, heat it; those who don't want to spend firewood, find your own way!"

He was willing to ask Jiang Wei for a way for the villagers, but whether they were willing to implement it in the end depended on the individual.

Stared at by the Li Zheng, Li Dayong's wife closed her mouth sullenly and didn't dare to say anything anymore.

Seeing the Li Zheng get angry, Li Dayong didn't dare to say anything either, glared at his wife, and secretly hated her for talking too much.

After the previous incident of harvesting rice, the villagers didn't dare to easily question the Li Zheng's words. Moreover, Qiulian Niang was right. This firewood didn't cost much money and was all over the mountains. Although it had been raining for the past few days and the firewood on the mountain was wet, every family had some firewood stored for cooking, so they could use that first.

Thus, everyone obediently went home to heat the bed.

The Li Zheng also went home to prepare to arrange the heating of the bed.

Those who harvested the rice early, although they didn't suffer from the second heavy rain, had been raining continuously, and some rice hadn't dried, so they also planned to use this method of heating the stove to dry the rice to remove the moisture for better storage.

The Li Zheng arranged for the women and elderly in the family to heat the stove at home, while he took Liu Dagang and put on coir raincoats to go up the mountain to cut firewood.

The firewood on the mountain had been rained on and couldn't be used after being brought back; it had to be dried for a while.

Jiang Xiaoxiao's family lived at the end of the village, close to the foot of the mountain. In the past few days, she could see many people going into the mountains. It seemed that her mother's method had been implemented.

However, there was a lot of rain, and the mountain road was inevitably slippery and difficult to walk. When the villagers had problems in the mountains, don't blame it on her mother...

"What are you thinking about?" Jiang Wei sat under the eaves sewing autumn clothes and couldn't help but ask.

Jiang Xiaoxiao was twisting and playing with the silk thread her mother had taken out from the space. It was a high-quality silk fabric, with excellent toughness and softness. It wouldn't be like the hemp thread twisted from ramie used in this era, which was not only not wear-resistant, but the clothes made were coarse hemp cloth, which was very abrasive to the skin when worn.

"Mother, why did you sew the cuffs?" She pointed to the autumn shirt Jiang Wei was sewing halfway and said.

Jiang Wei was stunned, and after a while, she spread the whole autumn shirt flat and looked at it carefully. It was indeed sewn wrong.

Autumn shirts generally had two layers, and a living opening had to be left between the two layers of cloth. When winter came, they would stuff reed catkins or rice straw into the two layers of cloth to keep warm. She had originally wanted to sew this living opening, but she didn't expect that she had also sewn the cuffs.

Jiang Wei coughed in embarrassment and silently put the needle and thread back into the sewing box, "Forget it, when the rain stops, I'll go directly to the ready-to-wear shop in town to buy ready-made ones."

Jiang Xiaoxiao was silent.

Her mother was good at everything, fitting the omnipotent female lead setting in novels, but this needlework... was really not worth complimenting.

"Mother, I remember Auntie Qiulian's needlework is very good. Why don't we ask her for help?" Jiang Xiaoxiao suggested.

"That's fine." Jiang Wei thought about it and agreed.

Buying ready-made ones in town, the fabrics available were few, and most of the ready-to-wear clothes sold in town were coarse cloth, which she didn't like. But if she went to Qiulian Niang to order them, she could bring the fabric herself, and she could have whatever fabric she wanted for the clothes.

She still had several large boxes of fabric piled up in her space, including cotton cloth, silk, wool, leather, chemical fiber, and chiffon, most of which were high-quality fabrics only available in the modern era.

At that time, she would ask Qiulian Niang to make a few more pieces. She also had a lot of fabrics woven from down and cashmere in her space, so she would ask her to make winter clothes together.

(End of chapter)