CHAPTER 79: CHAPTER 79: BUSY FARMING SEASON

With Aunt Xie’s start, one after another, many people brought their seeds and came over. They didn’t have any other business, just wanted Little Mi to touch their seeds and then say a phrase for a bountiful harvest.

Little Mi welcomed everyone without refusal.

After all, the more solid her nickname, Little Lucky Star, the better life would be for their family in Fu’an Village, right?

Besides, just sharing a few handfuls of seeds doesn’t cost her anything, and when every household gets a bountiful harvest, it won’t make their family seem too special.

When the wheat was being planted, everyone came to Jiang’s family to collect manure, and now no one was saying that raising cattle was useless anymore; everyone had their eyes on the cow dung.

However, this time, Jiang Hu did not allow free use anymore.

He divided half of the cow dung, directly poured it into the pit, stirred it, and still asked everyone to exchange as before. He kept the other half for his own use.

Doing so inevitably led to some murmurs, but Jiang Hu didn’t mind at all. He believed one shouldn’t always back down; otherwise, people would think his family was easily bullied.

He indeed wanted his family to live stably in Fu’an Village, but that didn’t mean he would tolerate everything. Necessary temper had to be shown; otherwise, people would only take advantage further.

Clearly, after his previous assertiveness at the chieftain’s house concerning the manure discussion and his decisiveness in handling cow dung, Jiang Hu quickly made others in the village understand.

He, Jiang Hu, was indeed willing to share blessings, but it didn’t mean he would let them do whatever they wanted; he had his own arrangements too.

Jiang Hu did make some concessions; originally, when each household came to exchange one tub of manure daily, he agreed to let them take two tubs just for those few days.

Two tubs weren’t much, but when mixed with their own manure, it was barely enough for an acre of land. Besides, his family had been raising pigs for several months, and chicken, rabbit, and cow dung were all piled into the pit, unlike the previous rainwater.

Wheat seeds were scattered into the fields, sprinkled with very diluted manure water, then covered lightly with fine soil. After a few days, they would sprout.

Little Mi didn’t get mad at those people; she had stored quite a bit of dishwashing water in her space, which was genuine Spiritual Spring water, not the kind expelled after eating and drinking.

Just in time, after everyone took their manure away, she could add a good amount of dishwashing water to it.

When the wheat was done sowing, others generally had no more tasks, but the Jiang family still had to cut sweet potato vines and dig sweet potatoes.

Liu Yang, who liked being helpful, brought his family along to help.

He himself went with Jiang Hu to dig sweet potatoes, while his son Liu Hai helped Da Wa clear the sweet potatoes from the mud heap, and Wang Xiang stayed at Jiang’s home with Second Aunt, chopping sweet potato vines and spreading them on oilcloths to dry.

Dried sweet potato vines could be stored through the winter and used to feed pigs after being cooked.

Little Mi went with Er Ni to feed and water the rabbits and chickens, secretly adding a lot of Spiritual Spring water to their bowls.

"Little Mi, look, I found more eggs," Er Ni came out of the chicken coop, happily showing two eggs to Little Mi.

One white, a domestic egg, and one green, a wild egg!

"Give it to Grandpa Ding," Little Mi pointed to the wild egg.

Old Man Ding surprisingly liked wild eggs. Wild eggs had a stronger taste, and even though Little Mi cheated with Spiritual Spring water, there was still a bit of taste, which she didn’t like.

Of course, if they were scrambled, there wouldn’t be a taste, but Second Aunt liked to steam them, and the flavor was more noticeable that way.

Nonetheless, Old Man Ding liked eating them. In return for the ox cart, Little Mi generously offered to give it to Grandpa Ding!

Er Ni nodded, "Yes, it’s already five, and we can deliver them to Grandpa Ding tomorrow."

Five eggs a month were considered the compensation for using the ox.

It used to be domestic eggs, now wild eggs. Wild chickens don’t lay eggs as often as domestic ones. A wild chicken would typically lay only two or three batches of eggs a year, but who can blame Little Mi for the Spiritual Spring water trick?

Though not as frequent as hens, laying one every few days was manageable.

The sisters returned hand in hand, with Er Ni continuously reminding Little Mi to watch her step and not trip.

Wang Xiang saw them and admired, "Second Aunt, you’re really blessed, with a son and a daughter, and both are so adorable and obedient."

Second Aunt, who was just pulling the naughty Iron Egg out of the pig fodder pile, had a fat grub the size of a finger in his hand!

"Obedient, my foot! Look at this one, never a moment’s peace. I wish he was half as worry-free as Little Mi."

In a flash, Second Aunt snatched the grub from Iron Egg’s hand, just before it almost got into his mouth, feeling completely worn out!

Wang Xiang lightly chuckled, "Second Aunt, don’t be greedy. Who can compare with Little Lucky Star? Besides, Iron Egg is much more obedient than many other kids."

Second Aunt nodded, "That’s true. He was so tiny that I almost thought he wouldn’t survive, and now he’s so mischievous."

She casually tossed the grub into a nearby bamboo basket and moved Iron Egg aside.

When Little Mi came over, Iron Egg immediately ignored the insect and crawled towards her swiftly, "Sis, sis."

His fragrant sister!

Little Mi had always been much bigger than Iron Egg since birth, and now she was still half a head taller than him.

She leaned against Second Sister, grabbing Iron Egg by the shoulder and pulling him up, "Walk properly, stop crawling everywhere."

The pants were already worn through in several places from crawling, and mother had to patch them up time and again. It was exhausting just to watch.

"Hehe, sister," Iron Egg snuggled into Little Mi’s arms, grinning foolishly.

Little Mi was helpless. An almost one-year-old little rascal, what did he know?

Just then, Er Ni pulled over a small stool for Little Mi to sit on.

"Little Mi, you sit here and play with Iron Egg for a while. I’ll go put away the eggs," Er Ni said.

"Okay, Second Sister." Little Mi hugged Iron Egg tightly. This little guy couldn’t walk on his own yet, but he could stand up by holding onto her knees.

Wang Xiang looked on, full of envy, "The siblings really have a good bond. With Little Mi around, your Iron Egg hardly ever cries."

Second Aunt nodded in agreement. Indeed, even if Iron Egg did cry, he’d immediately start smiling as soon as he saw his sister.

Wang Xiang suddenly touched her belly, a bit of sorrow in her expression, "If I hadn’t lost my child, they should be about the same age as Little Mi and Iron Egg now."

Second Aunt, who was chopping pig fodder, paused suddenly and looked at Wang Xiang hesitantly, "Wang Xiang, you were also pregnant before?"

Wang Xiang let out a bitter laugh and continued her work, "Yes, I was just newly pregnant when we had to flee because of the war. The adults escaped, but the baby didn’t make it."

Indeed, she wasn’t as lucky as Second Aunt. Even though her in-laws and husband protected her, the long journey and insufficient food and drink led to losing the baby before three months.

Second Aunt knew that on the path of fleeing, many women lost their children, and many infants didn’t grow up.

But she didn’t know that Wang Xiang was among them.

Second Aunt didn’t know what to say. Current words of comfort seemed a bit insincere.

After thinking a bit, she patted Wang Xiang’s shoulder, "Don’t lose heart; perhaps, after waiting a bit longer, that child will return to your belly. Then, with better conditions at home, he won’t have to suffer, right?"

Wang Xiang smiled and nodded, "That’s right. If he had been born then, he might not have survived. Now life is getting better, and he will surely come looking for his mom again."

The two quickly moved past the topic and started talking about raising rabbits and wild chickens.