When the pears are green

After the Qingming Festival, vendors would start selling chicks along the alleys of the village, ringing bells and carrying bamboo baskets on large shoulder poles.

Song Li was sitting in the yard sewing clothes. She heard bursts of shouts of "Chickens for sale" accompanied by the sound of crisp bells, so she put down her needle and thread and went out to see.

When the vendor saw Song Li open the gate, he stopped and asked, "Miss, do you want to buy some chicks? My chicks are very happy. Come and have a look."

Song Li nodded, asked the vendor to wait a moment, and went home to get the backpack.

After Song Li came out, the peddler happily put down his two baskets and staggered them, then took out some millet from the bag on his shoulder and sprinkled it into the two baskets.

The chicks immediately started chirping and ran back and forth in the basket pecking at food, making the scene lively.

Song Li squatted on the ground and looked carefully. She looked up and asked, "Brother, how much are the chicks?"

"Five cents for two, cheaper than in town!" the vendor replied with a smile.

Song Li looked at the lively little chicken. She smiled and said to the vendor, "It's indeed cheaper. I want some."

The vendor quickly placed a mat on the ground and put the lively chicks inside for Song Li to choose from. Song Li looked at this one, then that one, and suddenly felt overwhelmed.

When Zhang Ying and his neighbors heard the hawkers' shouts and the ringing of bells, they all went out to watch.

Seeing that the chicks were in good spirits, Zhang Ying decided to buy a few. The roosters could be slaughtered and eaten during the confinement period, and the hens could be kept to lay eggs to supplement the family income.

Seeing that Zhang Ying was five or six months pregnant and it was inconvenient for her to squat, Song Li took the basket from Zhang Ying and helped her pick out ten.

Many women and children gathered around the mat circle, the women were talking about how to judge the quality of chicks and how to distinguish roosters from hens. The children looked at the fluffy chicks and kept begging to buy more.

After Song Li helped Zhang Ying to select, she combined the method Zhang Ying taught her with the method the women said, and finally selected forty chicks. Seeing that Song Li bought a lot, the vendor gave her two more.

After Song Li returned home, she followed Zhang Ying's instructions and raised the chicks separately in an empty pigsty. She fed them warm water and crushed steamed bread grains. When the chicks could eat grass, she kept them together with the hens at home.

After Jiang Qingzhou finished selling bean sprouts at the market, he rushed to the bookstore to pick up Jiang Qingye and Song Xing to go home together.

When the three of them stepped into the yard, they heard a "chi chi chi" sound coming from the corner of the yard.

Jiang Qingye and Song Xing followed the source of the sound and finally found the group of chicks in the pigpen. Some were lazily basking in the sun, some were pecking at food leisurely, and some were carefully drinking water.

"How cute!" they both praised at the same time.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at the two people's backs, smiled, then put down the backpack and walked into the kitchen to help Song Li who was cooking to light the fire.

"Xiao Li, did you buy the chicken in the village?" Jiang Qingzhou asked.

Song Li nodded and told Jiang Qingzhou that she bought two for five cents in the village, and the vendor gave her two more, a total of forty-two. Then she asked if Jiang Qingye and Song Xing had returned.

Jiang Qingzhou smiled and told Song Li: "It is indeed cheaper than the ones sold in Heihe Town. I went to the bookstore to pick them up and came back together. They are looking at the chickens now!"

Song Li nodded, and then talked to Jiang Qingzhou about the mulberry tree.

If you plant mulberry trees on the three acres of land at home, you will need about a thousand trees, and it will cost a lot of money just to buy the mulberry seedlings.

Song Li wants to plant mulberry trees through the sowing method. Compared with mulberry seedlings, mulberry fruits are relatively cheaper.

Jiang Qingzhou felt that what Song Li said made sense, so he decided to go to the grain store with Song Li in the afternoon.

After a while, Jiang Qingye and Song Xing came in while talking about the chicken. They helped Song Li serve the rice, and after the meal, they helped Song Li wash the pots and dishes.

After Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li sent Jiang Qingye and Song Xing to the library, they went to the grain store to inquire. The owner of the grain store told them that it was not the season for mulberries to mature, and they could wait until May or June before sowing them. At that time, the mulberries were fresh and had a higher germination rate.

The two men thanked the owner of the grain store. They did not stay in the town, but went straight home and immediately picked up their tools to weed the riverbank.

In addition to going to Heihe Town to sell bean sprouts, Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li usually go to the reclaimed wasteland to weed.

After half a spring, even though Song Li took sun protection measures, she still felt that she was getting darker at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The river beach has been very busy since the beginning of spring, with many villagers bringing their families to pull weeds in the hope of planting crops together after the summer harvest.

Song Li put the edible saltwort in a basket to steam and eat at home in the evening, and put the tender grass in a backpack to feed the chickens at home.

While working, Song Li told Jiang Qingzhou that mulberry trees are full of treasures. They can not only be used to raise silkworms, but also to weave baskets with their branches, and their branches and bark can be used as medicine. In the history that she knew, every dynasty would encourage farmers to plant mulberry trees. Farmers can sell silk by planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms, or they can weave silk to sell, which can not only promote social and economic development but also increase treasury revenue.

Jiang Qingzhou listened carefully to Song Li's words. He told Song Li that there were not many people planting mulberry trees in Heihe Town. Some families would plant a few trees in front of or behind their houses or in the fields. Therefore, there would not be many people raising silkworms, but there would be people who would come to collect silk.

"It's good that someone will buy it. Aunt Changrong can weave cloth, and I can become her apprentice. Then we can not only sell silkworm silk but also silk fabric." Song Li said to Jiang Qingzhou with a smile.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Song Li's face, which was wrinkled by the spring breeze. He took Song Li's hand and said, "Xiao Li and I will learn together."

Song Li was amused by Jiang Qingzhou's words. She smiled and made a pinky promise with Jiang Qingzhou, telling him not to break his promise when the time comes.

When Jiang Qian returned from school, Jiang Qingzhou went to find Jiang Qian and told him what the owner of the grain shop had told him.

Jiang Qian was willing to wait until early summer with Jiang Qingzhou to sow and plant mulberry trees.

After a few days, after two or three chicks were killed, they were moved to the chicken coop to live with the hens.

Song Li often stood next to the chicken coop with a wooden stick in her hand. When the hens wanted to bully the chicks, she would wave the stick into the coop.

After three or four days, the hens and chicks were finally able to live in harmony.

Since the garlic sprouts were planted, Song Li has to open the wooden box every few days to see if they need watering and how they are growing.

That night, Song Li opened the wooden box again and found that the garlic sprouts were ready to be harvested. She calculated the date and found that the day after tomorrow was the day of the Heihe Town Assembly, so she decided to go and sell them with Jiang Qingzhou.