Chapter 12: Chatting in the village

At the end of February and the beginning of March, it is the rare leisure time for farmers throughout the year.

The New Year has passed, the children have dragged their families away, the swallows on the beams have not yet returned, and the abandoned land occupies a large area of land, with withered yellow and gray-brown tones occupying the land.

Except for the large areas of dark green in the distant mountains, the whole village is in a lonely and silent state.

And today, the fields by the bamboo forest of the old Song family are lively again.

"Song Sancheng, what's wrong with your family this year? Have you made a fortune and are planning to do a big job? So many fields need to be tidied up?"

"That's right, Old Song, what do you plan to plant? There are two pieces of tea trees in the field, don't you want them anymore?"

Everyone was invited by Song Sancheng to tidy up the fields.

In the corner, the plow machine is roaring, and before plowing, they must first tidy up the weeds and miscellaneous trees in the field.

Otherwise, the small machine might get stuck.

Fortunately, there are many people, and working together is not only interesting but also quite efficient. After tidying up a piece in the front, the plow machine plows it twice in the back, which is just right.

The people who came are also about the same age as Song Sancheng.

At their age, going out to work, generally factories don't want them.

Those who do hard labor can relax the age requirements, but the boss is also afraid of accidents.

Plus, people in their forties or fifties, who suffered and suffered when they were young, have some illnesses in their bodies...

Now staying in the village, they are just busy for a while and resting for a while, striving not to add burden to their children.

Therefore, when Song Sancheng invited people to work, 150 a day for bending over and exerting effort, it's not a good job, but everyone is willing to come.

They are old, and they also want to be lively.

Song Sancheng also sighed: "This tea is not valuable, and there is such a large piece on the hillside. I haven't managed it for many years here... what's the point of keeping it?"

That's true.

They are not a famous tea hometown here, just ordinary tea in the mountain valley. Stir-fried and sold outside, it's fragrant and sweet to drink for 50 yuan a catty, but there are really few people willing to pay for it outside.

The tea trees in the fields here were purely because they couldn't stand the fields being bare at the beginning...

But they are old!

They really can't do the farm work that requires hard labor, so they slowly resigned themselves to fate.

"Then what do you want to do by tidying up the fields and mountains?"

The person who asked was the neighbor, Li Baoni.

Speaking of this, Song Sancheng didn't know how to open his mouth.

How to say it?

His own daughter quit her job and plans to come back to farm?

How many young people in this day and age can farm? If it gets out, people in the village will laugh to death!

So he said lightly: "Nothing, my Tan Tan's work is too hard, and her body can't take it anymore. I told her that farming at home needs a helping hand, so let her recuperate at home for a year or half a year, and then go out to work."

That's true.

Which family's young people are not struggling outside?

Neighbor Li Baoni also sighed: "That's true, my daughter came back for the New Year, her face was waxy yellow, and when asked, she was working overtime until one or two o'clock—the salary is just that much, and nothing is left all year round."

Li Baoni's daughter sells clothes in a chain store. She has a sweet mouth and can talk. Now she is a manager, occasionally doing inventory late at night, traveling on business to expand stores, etc., which is also hard work.

It's just that the environment has not been good in the past two years, the salary hasn't risen, and she has to worry about being laid off...

Speaking of children, every household has a scripture that is hard to read.

Zhou Maozhu, who was further away, also sighed: "My son said last time to ask us old couple to live with them in the city, and help take care of the children—the chili in the supermarket at the door is more than ten yuan a catty! Can we afford to eat that?"

"Taking care of children, sending them to kindergarten in the morning, picking them up in the evening and sending them to interest classes, and they are not in the same place. The bus made me dizzy, and the air conditioning is blown in the house every day. Where is it as warm as burning our stove."

"I stayed for a week, and I couldn't take it anymore, so I came back first."

As for the old woman at home, of course, she couldn't bear to part with her grandson and stayed there to take care of him with all her heart.

Regardless of whether farming is reliable or not, Song Sancheng's reason is decent:

"Tan Tan also said that the food in the past few years hasn't been as delicious as before. I thought, anyway, the person stayed, so I might as well plant some vegetables and rice for the child, and it will be fragrant to eat myself."

People in the village were also happy when they heard this.

"Song Sancheng, you are the one who farms the most in the village this year, you've become a landlord—when your rice is ripe, I won't buy rice, I'll buy yours."

"That's right, Old Song, I'll buy it too. The rice outside looks white, but it's all polished. There's no nutrition, and it costs several yuan a catty, and it's not as fragrant as the rice we planted ourselves."

Song Sancheng didn't dare to promise: "My family only plants two fields, and it's not enough for my own family to divide, so I won't sell it, I won't sell it."

Who hasn't farmed in the field?

When everyone heard this, they were unhappy: "Two fields add up to several acres, what, your family eats thousands of catties of rice a year?"

Song Sancheng also laughed: "Then what can I do? My rice seeds are good, the taste is good, but it's expensive. The best yield is only 1,000 catties per acre. One thousand catties produce seven hundred catties of rice, which is enough for two or three people to eat for a year."

"When the time comes, my old man and old lady, the child's grandma, uncle, aunt, uncle... doesn't every household have to divide some?"

"Just this little bit, it's only enough for our own family to eat."

The human relationship in the village is like this. Neighbors and relatives always have to divide some, not much, but they have to express their feelings.

Everyone calculated, and it couldn't be much, but there must be more: "No, I must eat your family's rice this year, otherwise you won't come when your family transplants seedlings!"

Everyone agreed one after another.

The meaning of saying this is that helping to transplant seedlings will definitely not mention money.

Song Sancheng didn't dare to respond: "Just these two fields, we don't need two days to transplant seedlings ourselves... eat, eat, eat, come to help when harvesting rice, and you'll be full of rice!"

Everyone was laughing and laughing, and when a field was tidied up and they were ready to change places, someone remembered:

"Then you tidy up these twenty acres of land, just plant a few acres of rice, what are you going to do with the rest?"

Song Sancheng didn't hide it: "Plant vegetables."

"I'm thinking that we don't use pesticides, and when the time comes, ride a tricycle to the city to sell them, it won't lose money."

That won't earn much either.

Without pesticides, the grass and insects will be layer by layer. It's too late for the couple to tidy up, let alone worry about it.

Plus, their road is not easy to walk, the village-to-village bus is once a day, and it costs 40 yuan to go back and forth to the city...

The vegetables have to be fertilized and exerted, and there are so many vendors in the vegetable market, all of whom are from the countryside near the urban area, closer than them, and the competition is also great...

After earning and earning, it's all hard-earned money.

Everyone calculated an account in their hearts, it's really not cost-effective!

However, thinking about it: "This is fine, Old Song, you have to watch Qiao Qiao at home, we are old, and no one wants us to work, it's quite good to plant some vegetables ourselves."

"When the time comes, I'll come to the field to pick and buy!"

Most of the varieties planted in the village are single, and the maturity seasons of each household overlap, so many times vegetables also need to be bought.

In addition, it is okay to sell pigs in the countryside, and it is okay to kill pigs for yourself, but it is illegal to kill pigs for sale, which is not allowed.

Tan Tan is going to plant rice, watermelons, various vegetables, chestnuts on the mountain... will raise bees, because Chinese milk vetch honey really cannot be missed! And many wild vegetables.

Raising pigs, dogs, chickens, ducks, and geese, as well as fish, shrimp, and water chestnuts.

And what other crops do you like, welcome to leave comments! ===== CHAPTER 13 =====