Joe's Farming

The two Gu Feng brothers stayed in the house for a long time without coming out.

Qiao Yu was tending to rosemary in the yard. He had transplanted the seedlings into the flowerpot that Gu Feng had found for him, which was very similar to the succulent flowerpot he had in his previous life.

In his previous life, the plants he grew best were rosemary and mint. He knew that the most important thing for growing rosemary is to have loose and breathable soil. One of his colleagues dug the soil directly in the community garden, but whatever he planted died.

The soil in Qiao Yu's pots of rosemary is made from rotten pine bark from the mountains, chicken manure dried in the sun, wood ash from the stove, crushed gravel from rocks on the back mountain, and soil from the vegetable garden.

It is rich in organic matter and breathable. It can be grown in a flowerpot. If it is too cold in winter, you can move it back into the house depending on the situation. If it still dies like this, then he can only say that he must have been punished by God of this world.

Hongxiu couldn't find anything to do, so when she saw Qiao Yu tending grass, she went over to take a look out of curiosity.

"Brother Qiao, why are you raising grass?"

Qiao Yu smiled proudly.

"This isn't grass. It's called Sea Dew, and I grew it with great difficulty. When it grows a little bit longer, I'll pluck some off for you to smell. It's a very suitable spice for frying meat."

Hongxiu nodded.

There are a few bare pepper trees in the yard, which I heard were also planted by Qiao Yu.

"I noticed you like to grow these spices and stuff."

"Well, dishes taste good only when they have enough seasoning. People here don't grow these very often, and those who have land at home mostly grow their own food. I plan to plant cash crops on all our land next year and sell our own products."

Hongxiu asked in confusion: "What are cash crops?"

"Exactly. Other people grow things for their own consumption, but what I grow is specifically for sale. Like peppers, fruits, Sichuan peppercorns, potatoes, and this morning dew of the sea, which I usually call rosemary."

Hong Xiu nodded in understanding. Then she couldn't help but worry, "What if we can't sell it? Wouldn't this year be wasted?"

Qiao Yu chuckled.

"It's okay if we can't sell them. We can use them slowly in our store. I don't know if the production will be high in the first year. Maybe we won't even have enough for ourselves."

Hongxiu didn't quite understand, but she thought Qiao Yu was very powerful.

Qiao Yu noticed that although she was talkative than usual, her brows were furrowed and she looked like she was worried about something.

"Are you worried about big brother?"

Qiao Yu pointed it out directly.

Hongxiu avoided his gaze and said embarrassedly: "I, I don't know where to go."

Qiao Yu put down the rosemary in her hand, pulled Hong Xiu to sit aside, and said seriously: "What do you mean you don't know where to go? Just stay here and be with us."

Hongxiu's eyes were wet.

"Brother Gang has woken up... He may not need me. I should always plan for my future."

Qiao Yu scratched his head, but didn't know how to persuade him, so he said directly: "You can't live for your brother all your life, right? It's a good thing that he woke up. There's no need for you to leave after he wakes up."

"He won't need my care anymore once he gets better. If I don't leave, will it hinder him from starting a family?"

Qiao Yu finally understood that Hongxiu had more than just thoughts of repaying her elder brother.

"Wait a minute, I'll go check it out for you."

Qiao Yu immediately stood up and rushed into Gu Gang's room.

Hongxiu immediately stopped him: "Hey, hey, hey, Qiao Ge'er, what are you doing? What if, what if he doesn't want to..."

When Gu Feng opened the door, he saw Hongxiu pulling Qiao Yu in the yard, and his face darkened.

When Hongxiu saw Gu Feng, she quickly let go of her hand.

Qiao Yu immediately rushed forward and whispered to Gu Feng what Hong Xiu was thinking.

Gu Feng raised the corner of his mouth, patted him on the back, and signaled him not to be anxious.

Gu Feng walked towards Hong Xiu and spoke in a gentle voice.

"Miss Hongxiu, my brother wants to see you for something. He is waiting for you in the house."

Hongxiu nodded, as if she was going to face some kind of judgment, and pushed open the door resolutely.

Qiao Yu leaned over from behind Gu Feng, wanting to take a look, but found that the door was closed again.

After a long while, there was no sound from inside.

Qiao Yu looked at Gu Feng with some concern.

Gu Feng put his arm around the man and walked out.

"We ate too much just now, let's go out for a walk to digest the food."

Qiao Yu: ???

The air in the mountains was cold, but Gu Feng's embrace was warm. The two walked to a high place. Although everything around them was withered, the afterglow of the setting sun added a hazy filter to the desolation, which gave it a unique beauty.

Qiao Yu has always disliked dusk, because after dusk the world would lose its colors, always giving him the illusion that the end of the world is approaching.

Qiao Yu pulled her scarf closer and spoke softly.

“The world is so beautiful.”

Gu Feng looked at his husband, whose face was tinged with gold by the setting sun.

"Joer is so beautiful."

Qiao Yu chuckled.

This man of his is always good at talking.

The two kissed in the last ray of sunshine, and when it was completely dark, they supported each other and went home.

"So Big Brother said he would be responsible for Hong Xiu?"

Gu Feng told the story of Gu Gang.

"Yes. But my eldest brother said that he must have his own house first before marrying someone."

Qiao Yu raised his eyebrows.

"It's going to snow soon. We have to wait until next spring to build a house. Don't we have to wait any longer? No, Hongxiu has waited for so long. Go and persuade Big Brother."

Gu Feng said in surprise: "Did Miss Hongxiu tell you that?"

Qiao Yu glared at him and said, "Do I need to say this? She almost cried in front of me just now. She is a girl who has raised your brother for seven years. Now that she is sober, she still made him wait for so long? Our house is not shabby. It is perfect for the two of us to chat in bed in the middle of winter!"

The ancients were too traditional. In such cold weather, shouldn't young lovers hug each other and spend the winter together?

Seeing that Gu Feng still didn't move, Qiao Yu shook off his hand.

"Let me go and talk. I tell you, for things like this, you have to strike while the iron is hot. You can only feel at ease after the rice has been cooked!"

Gu Feng was almost amused by his husband. It was true that the eunuchs were anxious even though the emperor was not.

"Wait for me, I'll go with you."

The two of them walked quickly back to their yard, only to find Hongxiu and Bailan chatting and laughing in the yard while preparing dinner.

There were lanterns hanging in the yard and in the house, making the place bright.

"Boss, you're back. The dishes are almost ready. We can eat soon."

Bai Lan said this when she saw Qiao Yu and Gu Feng coming back.

They hadn’t finished the hot pot at noon, so they planned to blanch the leftovers as well.

Qiao Yu smiled and said, "Okay, call Da Zhuang and Su Qing as well. There's a happy event tonight."

For the first time, Gu Feng felt that her husband had some potential to be a matchmaker.

Gu Gang was sorting out his old things in the house. They were all preserved by Hongxiu with great difficulty. There weren't many of them, but each one held memories.

"Brother." Qiao Yu opened the door and went in without any hesitation.

Gu Gang was happy to see Qiao Yu. After hearing what Gu Feng said in the afternoon, he realized that this brother-in-law who loved cooking was so capable. He was so good to his younger brother, children and himself.

Gu Feng followed in and shrugged helplessly at his elder brother.

"I heard from my husband that my eldest brother wants to marry Hongxiu?"

Qiao Yu went straight to the point.

Gu Gang's face turned red suspiciously, and he said solemnly: "Yes, I just told her that, and she agreed."

Qiao Yu immediately said, "Of course she agrees. She has liked you for a long time. But I heard that you want to wait until next year to marry her? Brother, you can't delay a girl. What if she falls in love with someone else next year? What will you do?"

Gu Gang was stunned: "She won't."

Qiao Yu shook her head: "Will she think so too, that you are deliberately delaying? Who can guarantee that she won't think that you needed her care before and couldn't leave her, but now that you are better, you don't need her anymore. It's such a long winter, and you let a girl worry about gains and losses and stay at home without any justification. I don't think it's appropriate."

Gu Gang had never expected this, and Gu Feng also felt that his elder brother was not sensible after hearing it.

"What should I do?"

Qiao Yu smiled and said, "Let's settle this while we eat! Tomorrow, Gu Feng and I will go find the bridesmaid and give Hong Xiu a betrothal gift. You just have to put up with it temporarily and treat this place as your bridal chamber."

Gu Gang smacked his lips and said, "Qiao Ge'er, this is really too much trouble for you."

Qiao Yu waved her hand: "Anyway, my husband and I have been very free recently, so we just happened to do this important thing before the New Year! My husband will feel at ease when he sees that you have a family. Isn't that right, husband?"

Gu Feng nodded. He really wanted to see his elder brother's marriage settled as soon as possible, but he didn't expect Qiao Yu knew about it.

"Then it's settled! Big brother, let me congratulate you first! My sister-in-law is a loyal person, and you will definitely have a prosperous life in the future. As for the house, we will also renovate it in the spring of next year, and we will hire someone to do it together then!"

Gu Gang smiled and nodded vigorously: "Yeah!"