When the pears are green

After Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou returned home, Song Li stir-fried all the remaining bean sprouts and waited for Jiang Qingye and Song Xing to return from school.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at the half pot of bean sprouts on the stove. He couldn't help but ask Song Li: "Xiao Li, can you finish it?"

"Of course you can finish it. You three are at the age of growing up. Although you can't eat too well, I will do my best to make sure you eat as much as possible. Only when you are full can you grow taller and fatter." After Song Li finished speaking, she touched Jiang Qingzhou's thin arm.

"I'm a lot fatter than before." Jiang Qingzhou said softly.

"But I think you're still a little thin." Song Li disagreed with Jiang Qingzhou's words.

After Jiang Qingye and Song Xing returned home, Song Li placed half a pot of bean sprouts in front of the three of them, told them to finish them, and then she took out the reserved half bowl of bean sprouts and slowly began to eat them.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Jiang Qingye and Song Xing eating bean sprouts in big mouthfuls, and felt his own appetite grow as well. The three of them quickly finished eating the bean sprouts.

Here, after Song Yue returned home, she happily told Zhang about Song Xing's current situation, saying that Song Xing was completely different from before. In the past, Song Xing was at most a polite child, but now he has become a little child who knows etiquette and morality.

Zhang listened happily. She felt that it was right to save money and send Song Xing to school.

In the afternoon, Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou went to the reclaimed wasteland together. The tips of tender green grass had already emerged from the ground.

"Qingzhou, we have clearly pulled out so many grass roots, why are there still so many weeds?" Song Li looked at the green beach with a little worry.

Jiang Qingzhou bent down and pinched off a grass sprout. He held it in his hand and looked at it again and again, then answered Song Li: "Xiao Li, this river beach has not been planted with crops for a long time. The weeds have been growing wildly here for nearly twenty years. It is naturally impossible to clear them all at once. As long as we are diligent, we can naturally pull out all the weeds in two or three years."

Song Li took the grass sprouts from Jiang Qingzhou's hand. She frowned and repeated Jiang Qingzhou's words: "Two or three years? Okay, let's do our best!"

Jiang Qingzhou gently scratched the tip of Song Li's nose and said to her with a smile: "Don't be afraid, as long as you persevere, you can always do it well."

Song Li nodded. She didn't have time to sigh at the strong vitality of the weeds. She had already foreseen that in the future she and Jiang Qingzhou would have to spend an entire spring pulling weeds here.

Some villagers are also reclaiming wasteland on the riverbank.

Song Li watched three or five villagers waving hoes and reclaiming the corners of the river beach.

In early winter last year, this place was still a river beach occupied by weeds and trees, but now it has basically been turned over by hoes or three-toothed rakes.

The crop yields of this era were not high, and a yield of one stone per mu was considered high, so whenever the government allowed the reclamation of wasteland, people would always do their best to reclaim more.

Song Li looked at the winding river emitting a cold light. She and Jiang Qingzhou slowly approached the river and felt that the water level was a little lower than in early winter.

"Qingzhou, is the river deep?" Song Li asked with a frown.

"I've never been in the water, so I don't know. I heard that the river is relatively shallow, about four feet. Why do you want to ask these questions, Xiaoli?" Jiang Qingzhou asked Song Li.

Song Li smiled and told Jiang Qingzhou: "I just saw that the water level is a little lower than when we reclaimed the wasteland last year, but now it is the dry season, so it is normal for the water level to be low. It is said that spring rain is as precious as oil. I am afraid that the spring drought will be too severe and lead to a decrease in wheat production, which will lead to an increase in grain prices. Let's go home and see how much wheat is left at home. If it is less, we can make plans early."

Seeing that there was no one around, Jiang Qingzhou hugged Song Li and said, "Xiao Li, you are right. Every spring, families who can't make ends meet will sell their land and daughters in exchange for food that can keep the family alive."

The two stood by the river for a while, whispered something, and then went home with smiles on their faces.

After Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou returned home, they counted the food in the west room. There were still two stone of wheat and two bags of food that Song Changhe had sent before he went out to work.

There are still about three months left before wheat harvest, and if we add in some time we can go digging wild vegetables, we should be able to hold out until the wheat harvest.

As the temperature gradually stabilized in the spring, Song Li increased the amount of bean sprouts. She and Jiang Qingzhou tilled the vegetable patch in the yard and began to prepare to plant garlic sprouts.

There is some garlic at home, which can be used as garlic seeds.

The spring wind was strong. Song Li looked at the dust in the sky and asked Jiang Qingzhou, "Qingzhou, has it been a long time since it rained?"

Jiang Qingzhou thought about it for a while, and then he said to Song Li: "It hasn't rained for more than half a month. However, the Qingming Festival is coming soon. I read a poem in a book: It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival. It should rain by then!"

"Let's hope so. If it doesn't rain soon, it will probably be a real drought. Let's go check on the garlic we planted last October. If it's dry, we'll water it." Song Li said worriedly.

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou quickened their pace and soon finished planting the garlic. Then they watered the plants thoroughly and covered them with wooden boxes that had been prepared in advance.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at the wooden boxes standing on the vegetable field. He asked Song Li, "Xiao Li, is this all right?"

Song Li nodded and replied, "Yes, it will be ready in about 20 days, and it won't delay the planting of vegetables for summer."

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou went to the village entrance together. They looked at the slightly cracked land and sighed.

Jiang Qingzhou comforted Song Li and said, "We can just water it tomorrow."

Song Li nodded. She saw a large frame standing next to the ditch in the distance and asked curiously, "Qingzhou, what is that?"

Jiang Qingzhou looked up and said to Song Li, "Xiao Li, that is a cart that has not been built yet. It should belong to the head of the village. Nearly one-third of the land in the village belongs to the head of the village. Apart from them, no one else can afford such a big cart."

Song Li recalled the scene she had seen in a book before, and she asked, "Was it trampled by people or pulled by cows?"

"It's pulled by oxen." Jiang Qingzhou patiently answered Song Li's question.

The ditches in Jiangjia Village are connected to the river. As long as the river water does not dry up, there will be water in the ditches. Therefore, it is much more convenient to irrigate the farmland and the yield will be higher.

The head of Jiangjia Village deliberately destroyed his own four-foot-wide farmland when digging the ditch. Therefore, the ditch in front of the farmland of other villagers was only three feet wide, while the head of the village had a seven-foot width, so he could buy a wheelbarrow and put it next to the ditch.

After listening to Jiang Qingzhou's story, Song Li couldn't help but admire the village head. It was true that one must give in order to gain.

However, the village head dared to do so because he had a lot of land and didn't care about the few feet wide land. Ordinary villagers only had a few acres of arable land, and even if they had to work a little harder, they didn't dare to waste any land.

The next day, Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou carried wooden buckets to water the garlic field.

Song Li saw that many villagers, from sixty-year-old men to little children, were carrying wooden buckets and bringing their families to water the wheat fields.

Gusts of spring breeze blew up layers of loess, and finally on the day of Qingming Festival, a drizzle began to fall.

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou went to visit the graves of Jiang's father and mother together. While they were telling Jiang's father and mother about the current situation at home, they kept hearing children running back and forth at the entrance of the village shouting, "It's raining, it's raining."