Chapter 144

Just as Song Sancheng said, by three o'clock in the afternoon, all the peach trees had been planted.

Zhang Yanping was watching the water pump in the pond below, while the people above used hoses to water each tree thoroughly.

The others weren't idle either.

They were taking a day's wages, and although everyone worked quite hard, it really didn't feel right to finish before the sun went down.

So they picked up their hoes and simply dug two more deep trenches by the side of the mountain:

"Sancheng, aren't you planning to plant those... what are they, Cherokee roses? Is this depth okay?"

Song Sancheng went over to look: "Why wouldn't it be! It's just that I've troubled you all; the seedlings haven't even been transported here yet."

In fact, whether they could even buy them was another matter.

Everyone waved their hands: "You're paying us two hundred yuan a day; if we couldn't even do this little bit of work, wouldn't it be shameful to say so?"

"Exactly!"

"Are you planning to surround this side with iron mesh or build a trellis? If you're building a trellis, we can just cut the bamboo today while we're at it."

Song Sancheng quickly stopped them: "Iron mesh, iron mesh, don't cut the bamboo, no rush—otherwise, why don't you all go to my field and tidy up the land?"

"Sow the seeds that need sowing, transplant the seedlings that need transplanting."

And the water in the rice field needed to be filled, so the pond's outlet needed to be blocked; Old Man Li was about to harness the old ox to the plow.

Only then did everyone realize, and they walked down the mountain in twos and threes with hoes and shovels on their backs, whispering as they went:

"Sancheng, your investment this year is a bit large; don't lose money."

Song Sancheng also looked worried, appearing very honest:

"Indeed, but Tantan is determined to do a good job in the village. We're old and can't keep up with the times, but we can't dampen the child's spirit for this reason. Later on, with the burden of a family, it will be hard to do anything else."

That was true.

An aunt who had just stepped into the field furrow asked curiously: "Eh? Sancheng, didn't I hear at the beginning that you said Tantan was resting at home for a few months? How does it sound like she's going to settle down in her hometown for good?"

"Don't be foolish! What future does a girl have staying in the village? Look at my hands—"

She held out her hands: "This old woman's hands are all from doing farm work; is it a loss or not? The pressure in the city is high, but at least you don't have to do manual labor."

Song Sancheng was silent for a moment before saying in a low voice:

"Sister-in-law, it's not that I want to keep the child by my side, but the pressure on young people outside is just too great."

"When our Tantan came back, she still had gauze on her head! There wasn't a drop of blood in her face. When I went to pick her up, that square of gauze was covered by her hair, and I didn't notice it at first. Later, when I found out, she even told me she had bumped it!"

"It turned out that night, when I was scrolling through TikTok, there was a video saying there was a chain-reaction car accident on the Ninghai Bridge in our city, and this child was pulled out of the car by a young man wearing a mask!"

"Just a little bit more, and the car would have exploded!"

Speaking of this, Song Sancheng's eyes turned red:

"I used to tell her to be diligent at work, do more, don't argue with others, and perform well..."

"But you tell me, no matter how well she performs, the child ended up like this, and she still managed to save tens of thousands of yuan when she came home."

"It's not like we haven't been to Ningcheng; a casual meal costs dozens or hundreds. How do you think she saved that money?"

If he hadn't seen the child return and quickly regain her health, full of vigor, he would have really wanted to tell this story and take the child for a check-up to see if there were any aftereffects.

Hearing this, everyone sighed.

The aunt who spoke just now also looked pale:

"I regret it now; when the country said we could have a second child, I insisted that my grandson was too lonely... Now it's worse, two children in kindergarten, and the tuition alone is over thirty thousand yuan a year, and that's just for a very average kindergarten!"

"Plus interest classes and the like—you say the couple has to pay off a mortgage and raise children; where does the money come from? I don't even dare to ask."

"Every year in the second half, they go out to work, and the twenty or thirty thousand they earn is all used to subsidize them. Even so, life is still tight..."

Life is not easy!

Everyone chatted, each with their own difficulties, and for a moment, it seemed they naturally accepted the fact that Song Tan was farming at home.

But their hands were nimble.

The land in the fields had already been finely plowed by machines, so now it was just a matter of using rakes to level it, and then using hoes to build a few ridges according to the different vegetables...

Several nimble aunts were in the front two fields, taking the vegetable seedlings that had already grown and transplanting them here, while marveling: "Sancheng, I think your Tantan really has a knack for farming!"

"Look at these vegetable seedlings, they look so spirited! When there are extras later, share two with my family; I think these chili seedlings are really good..."

"Sure!" Song Sancheng was generous in this regard: "If we can finish transplanting tonight, everyone can share the extras."

There were still three or four hours before sunset; with twenty or thirty people scattered across these seven fields, how could they not finish?

Everyone laughed: "Then I think your seedlings really won't be enough..."

However, there was no shortage of seedlings in the village; the person who asked just saw that the seedlings were strong and couldn't help themselves... In the end, just as everyone said, after the seven fields were planted, the seeds and seedlings weren't enough!

Song Sancheng looked left and right: "Never mind, let's rest for a while; I'll bring some soybeans from home later and scatter them in."

By now, the sky had darkened; the tea-picking helpers on the mountain had already come down, and even those digging bamboo shoots had stopped work early—there was no help for it; the bamboo forest was darker than outside.

Everyone packed up in twos and threes, carrying their own water bottles and stools, and wandered back.

This long and laborious day was finally coming to an end.

Not until the figures were far away did Song Sancheng suddenly remember something and shout loudly: "Everyone, come help tidy up Uncle's house tomorrow!"

Someone responded from afar, but Song Youde walked out slowly with his hands behind his back, looking at the sky:

"Don't be in such a hurry to call people; tomorrow is Qingming Festival, and looking at the sky, I'm afraid it's going to rain early in the morning—wait until after lunch to see if it clears up before calling them."

Song Tan was tidying up things on the side, and hearing this, her heart stirred; she couldn't help but look at her grandfather, Song Youde—

A lifelong farmer is no joke; the moisture in the air was increasing, and there was a high probability of rain tomorrow.

Just right; spring rain is as precious as oil. With such a rain to nourish them, she wouldn't have to worry about the vegetables and peach trees planted today.

After thinking about it, she picked up a bundle of straw:

"I'm going to add some straw to the pigsty; I'm afraid it will be cold at night."

And by the way, go see Dawang and tell it that she would be coming to the back mountain tonight...

Provided to you by the great god Jingji Zhi Ge's "Song Tan Ji Shi"

144. Finish work and go home, free reading.