dkrc Chapter 31 The Youngest Sister Goes to School and Digs for Goods
Chapter 31 The Youngest Sister Goes to School and Digs for Goods
When Xu Chunsheng led Xu Yaomei to the registration point, the eldest sister was already registering the child's basic information.
Coincidentally, the teacher in charge of registration was Tang Changping, who had previously eaten at the Xu family's house.
After teaching in the village for about two or three months, Tang Changping gradually became familiar with the villagers and was no longer as reserved as when he first arrived.
Without looking up, Tang Changping asked, "Which village are you from? What's your name? Which grade are you applying for?"
The older sister stood in front of the table and greeted her softly, "Teacher Tang, thank you for your hard work. Could you please help my little sister register?"
Tang Changping heard a familiar voice and looked up at the person in front of the table.
Then you see the eldest sister of the Xu family, wearing a blue floral dress with a white ribbon tied around her waist, and a long braid hanging down in front of her chest. She stands quietly in the sunlight, smiling at Tang Changping.
Tang Changping tightened his grip on the pen, his fingertips turning slightly red, before calming himself and speaking:
"Say it again, I didn't hear you."
Tang Changping completely forgot that his older sister had only greeted him and hadn't mentioned Xu Yaomei's situation.
Just as the eldest sister was about to speak, Xu Chunsheng interrupted her:
"My sister said, thank you so much, Teacher Tang, for helping me register."
Tang Changping felt a surge of heat rush to his head, and he was too embarrassed to look at the people in front of him anymore, so he could only lower his head and fill in the information.
Village: Xujia Village
Grade: First Grade
Name: Xu…
Tang Changping paused at this point, looked up at Xu Chunsheng:
"What's your little sister's full name?"
Hearing Tang Changping's words, Xu Yaomei gripped the table and said happily:
"Xu Chunle, Teacher Tang, my name is Xu Chunle. Teacher Tang, are you our teacher? What do you teach?"
Xu Yaomei still remembered the handsome older brother who had eaten at her home. She was already in a good mood today, and seeing the teacher she knew made her unable to stop asking questions.
"Shh--" The eldest sister picked up Xu Yaomei:
"Don't disturb Teacher Tang's work. You're a good girl today, so be polite."
"Alright, go pay the fees with Teacher Xu. You'll find out what I'm going to teach when class starts."
After registering, the three of them walked home chatting and laughing. Of course, the main one was Xu Yaomei, who was now full of longing for going to school.
As the group walked into the courtyard, they saw that it was filled with drying corn, half of it corn cobs and half of it corn kernels.
Seeing that the door was unlocked, the group knew that Mr. and Mrs. Xu had returned home.
It turns out that this morning, Mr. and Mrs. Xu took their third brother to school by car and also bought two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) of "flower glue cloth" to cover the corn.
Xu Yaomei happily ran into the house along the "path" left in the middle, shouting as she ran:
"Dad! Mom! We're back!"
Before long, Xu's mother's gentle voice could be heard from inside the house:
"Little sister's back! Tell Mommy, was school fun? Did you make any new friends?"
"School is so much fun! There are so many kids there, and they all envy me for wearing my new dress. They all wish they had a brother like my second brother. I even saw Teacher Tang when I registered..."
The siblings looked at each other upon hearing Xu Yaomei's voice and couldn't help but laugh.
Xu Chunsheng picked up the rake leaning against the wall and said to his older sister:
"You go in first, I'll turn the corn over."
A "rake" is made by connecting a long wooden handle with a toothed horizontal plank, and it is specifically used for turning and drying grains.
Xu Chunsheng took the rake and casually placed it on the corn kernels. Following the pattern formed by the corn kernels on the ground, he flattened the originally thick corn, and the excess corn formed a new pattern along the rake teeth.
Holding the rake in both hands, pressing down with the wrists, and pushing the rake back and forth along the grain, the corn that was originally pressed down was turned over with moisture, and sometimes you could even see the damp watermarks left on the ground because the corn was so thick.
Under the blazing sun, Xu Chunsheng's shadow was pressed into a small ball. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his brow, thinking that after the corn harvest, he would turn over the sweet potato vines in the field, and store them while the leaves were still tender, to feed the pigs in the winter.
Once I've finished these tasks, I'll go harvest Ophiopogon japonicus again. It's been almost half a year since I last harvested it, and the farmers should have some left over.
With these things on his mind, Xu Chunsheng finished turning the corn and went inside. He said to his family members who were shredding corn kernels in the main room:
"There's not much corn left. This afternoon I'll go to the woods to dig up some Ophiopogon japonicus, and while the sun is strong, I'll dry it. Then I'll go to the brigade to collect some more."
After hearing Xu Chunsheng's words, Xu's father said to him:
"Okay, then I'll go with you. It'll be faster with two people. It'll be cooler in the afternoon, then we can go and harvest the corn from the field."
After saying that, he turned to Xu's mother and said:
"When it cools down, you and the eldest go to the field to pick corn. Just pile it up at the edge of the field, and we'll carry it back when we get back."
It's so hot now, we need to hurry and bring the corn back from the field, otherwise a sudden downpour might cause the fallen corn to sprout again.
So, in order to save time, people usually carry the corn home with the husks on, and peel the husks at home when the sun is strongest at noon.
There's no need to dry the corn husks after pulling them out; just put them in the woodshed. In winter, you can easily grab a few to start a fire. It's very convenient.
However, the corn cobs need to be dried in the sun a little, otherwise the leftover ones will easily rot and attract ants and insects.
After lunch, the father and son told their family what they wanted and then took their small hoes to the woods to dig for ryegrass.
Xu's father followed behind Xu Chunsheng, watching him use a sickle to cut away the weeds and thorny vines blocking the way, and asked him:
"Shall we go to the place where you dug up Ophiopogon japonicus last time?"
"We won't go that far. We'll just dig around the edge of the woods. There are a lot of them there, but I basically dug them all up last time. We'll just pick the big ones and leave the small ones alone."
Wild lilyturf prefers a warm and humid climate and generally grows under sparse forests and beside ditches, especially in places with abundant humus.
The two walked into the woods and headed towards the shady slope. Along the way, they encountered a large clump of liriope. They used a hoe to gently clear away the surrounding fallen leaves and, once they found the right spot, they could dig it out in a few quick strokes.
Shake off the soil from the Ophiopogon japonicus, cut off the medicinal roots, and bury them back in the ground so that it can continue to grow.
Last time, Xu Chunsheng didn't cut all the Ophiopogon japonicus to save time and also to take some seedlings back to plant. This time, he doesn't need to keep any seedlings at all; he only needs to take the medicinal roots back with him.
Now, nobody in the village thinks Ophiopogon japonicus is valuable. They only dig some up for backup when they run out at home. They only need to dig some up near their own houses, so many of the wild Ophiopogon japonicus in the forest have not been dug up. This is why Xu Chunsheng and his father were able to dig up a lot of it along the way.
This made Xu Chunsheng overjoyed, thinking that when the price of Ophiopogon japonicus soared, other people would probably be unable to dig it up.
"Dad, let's dig up more, before anyone believes that Ophiopogon japonicus is valuable."
Xu Chunsheng also told his father about this.