Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 28 Don't give up on Xu Chunsheng!

Xu Chunhua ignored him.

"Slow down and let me say a few words."

Seeing that Xu Chunhua was ignoring him and kept walking, Qian Junwei hurriedly caught up with her and walked beside her.

"Chunhua, I'm telling you this very seriously, you can't let Xu Chunsheng plant any more of those Ophiopogon japonicus plants!"

"The price of Ophiopogon japonicus is very low right now; you really can't make much money!"

"He's hoping Mai Dong will get married, he might as well be hoping my Qian family will!"

Xu Chunhua frowned, still ignoring Qian Junwei, and quickened her pace, walking all the way to the Xu family's courtyard. Qian Junwei was still rambling on:

"The You family is already preparing to get engaged to someone else. Aren't your brother worried? I'm worried for him. After all, we used to be good friends."

Sister Xu picked up a bamboo broom from the courtyard and glared at Qian Junwei: "Say that again! Do you believe I'll hit you? Who's your good brother anymore?"

Qian Junwei didn't believe that Sister Xu would really hit someone, and he kept saying:

"Why not? He'll still be my younger brother when you marry me! And if you marry me, you won't have to spend every day weeding in the fields and feeding the pigs. Seriously, growing Ophiopogon japonicus is really unreliable, and you shouldn't..."

"Snapped!"

The bamboo broom slammed down on the ground at Qian Junwei's feet, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Whoa!"

Startled, Qian Junwei jumped aside, only stopping when he realized his older sister was really going to hit him.

"If you marry me, your Xu family won't lose out. You'll get all the three major betrothal gifts. Why bother planting so many Ophiopogon japonicus plants when you might not even see any money in return?"

"Whoosh! Smack!"

Hearing the sound of the bamboo broom cutting through the air, Qian Junwei quickly ran away, still quite unconvinced:

"Don't think I won't hit you just because you're a woman!"

His response was to his older sister continuing to pound on him with a bamboo broom. Seeing this, Qian Junwei finally left the Xu family.

Seeing this, the eldest sister breathed a sigh of relief, washed her hands, and prepared to cook cucumbers.

To boil cucumbers in water, you must use homegrown cucumbers. For tender cucumbers, simply cut off the stem. For slightly older cucumbers, peel off the tough outer skin. Once the water boils, put the cucumbers in the pot, cover, and cook. It's important to note that the cucumbers must be cooked whole so that the flavor is locked in by the skin.

When you see the cucumber surface shrivel up, it's cooked and needs to be taken out and cooled.

Just pick one up and take a bite. First, the aroma of cucumber fills your mouth, then it travels through your taste buds to your brain. The taste is very different from eating raw cucumber. If you add dipping sauce, the chili peppers will create a unique flavor.

This is one of the "boiled vegetables" that the Xu family loves most in the summer.

After lunch, Xu Chunsheng took two tall stools and walked to the "ditch" behind the house. He picked up a dry grass and wiped away the spider webs. He put the two stools together there, and this became Xu Chunsheng's "holy place" for a midday rest.

Xu Chunsheng lay down on the stool, his hands behind his head, his hat covering his face. He could smell sweat, but Xu Chunsheng didn't care. Occasionally, a breeze would blow, which turned into a cool breeze, a rare coolness in the summer.

"Second brother, second brother, you're drooling!"

Xu Yaomei lifted the hat off her brother's face and poked Xu Chunsheng's mouth with her finger.

"Um?"

Xu Chunsheng smacked his lips twice, then drowsily wiped them with the back of his hand; they were dry.

"You little rascal, you dare to scare your brother? I'll teach you a lesson!"

After saying that, Xu Chunsheng straightened up, grabbed Xu Yaomei who was trying to run away, and tickled her armpits with both hands, making her laugh out loud.

"Brother, hahaha, I was wrong, hahaha, I won't do it again next time, hahahaha..."

Seeing this, Xu Chunsheng finally let Xu Yaomei go, grabbed the hat from the stool and put it over her head, saying:

"Remember to wear a hat next time you go out in the sun, okay?"

"I know, Dad is calling you to go bend down and pull some grass. He said it's shady over there."

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, the sun began to set. The family, bundled up tightly, took their tools and went to the field to weed the liriope muscari. The "bent-head" area was still the first to be shaded.

Although there was no sun, the cornfield was still unbearably hot and humid.

Now is the time when Ophiopogon japonicus grows. If we don't manage it and let the weeds steal all the fertilizer from the ground, next year's harvest will definitely be lower. So no matter how tiring it is, we have to persevere and pull out the weeds.

Without the shade of corn, the work would be much easier, but this large patch of Ophiopogon japonicus would definitely be sunburned and withered by the scorching sun.

Now, let's talk about the Qian family at this time.

The temperature was scorching, and the cicadas were chirping incessantly, which was quite irritating.

After entering the house, Qian Junwei took a sip of wine, then threw himself onto the sofa, muttering to himself:

"I told you not to listen to me. When you can't make money from Ophiopogon japonicus, you'll have nowhere to cry. You'll be begging me for a dowry then."

"By then, won't I be the one calling the shots? If you don't follow my lead now, what will happen later... hmph!"

When Qian's mother entered the living room, she overheard Qian Junwei talking about the Xu family. She heard him mention that he had gone to the Xu family to see Xu Chunhua, and that she still had no intention of marrying him. Qian's mother, somewhat annoyed by his lack of self-control, asked:

"There are so many young girls in the village, why do you insist on marrying that one from the Xu family?"

Qian Junwei slumped onto the sofa and waved to his mother:

"Mom! You don't understand. Xu Chunhua is not only hardworking, but also beautiful. If she gives you a grandson, he will definitely be handsome too."

"Besides, the Xu family is so poor. If I really marry her, we'll be the ones to decide what happens. She can serve you in the house, and you won't have to do laundry or cook for yourself anymore."

"You've got some ideas. I really should marry someone who's hardworking and good-looking. That's why my grandson is so well-behaved."

Qin Junwei took another sip of wine from the bottle, then let out a sigh:

"Sigh~"

"I'm going out to have some fun. This lousy place, I don't know what the old man was thinking, insisting on building a house here, there's nowhere to go."

As he spoke, he got up from the sofa, took a step, and steadily pushed a Jialing motorcycle out from the corner of the main room.

Qian Junwei turned the key and slammed his right foot down on the starter lever.

"boom--"

The motorcycle sputtered as Qian Junwei rode steadily toward the road.

As they approached the town, Qian Junwei spotted a somewhat familiar figure—it was You Xiaoxia.

"Squeak—"

Qian Junwei stopped the car next to You Xiaoxia with the brakes. A pebble was kicked up by the tire and hit You Xiaoxia's foot, startling her.

"Qian Junwei! What are you doing!"

"Xia, why are you home alone? I haven't seen Xu Erwa playing with you lately?"

Hearing Qian Junwei's words, You Xiaoxia became angry:

"How would I know? What he does is none of my business!"

Hearing You Xiaoxia say this, Qian Junwei laughed: "I see him busy managing the Ophiopogon japonicus every day, it looks like he's saving money for your family's dowry."

"How could that be? Has he contacted you recently?"

You Xiaoxia chuckled coldly and retorted with a question to Qian Junwei.

Qian Junwei spread his hands: "Now Xu Chunsheng treats me like an enemy. All he does all day is pluck grass, nothing but Ophiopogon japonicus."

"He's been focusing on Ophiopogon japonicus all day long, and he's even ignoring me."

You Xiaoxia felt angry whenever she thought about Xu Chunsheng's recent indifference.

Qian Junwei smiled:

"He likes you so much, the reason he's not contacting you now might be to surprise you. He's really hoping Mai Dong will make a lot of money so he can marry you!"

You Xiaoxia still refused to believe it: "Impossible! His attitude towards me is terrible right now!"

"You know Xu Chunsheng, right? Once he's made up his mind to do something, he won't say it until he succeeds."

"He's deliberately not contacting you now to see your attitude. If you're firm, he'll definitely be able to scrape together enough money to marry you in the future."

Qian Junwei didn't want You Xiaoxia to give up on Xu Chunsheng. He knew that You Xiaoxia was a vain person. Once she set her sights on Xu Chunsheng, she would make him spend more money on her. In that case, the Xu family would have to come to his family again to pay more money.

"Really? You son of a gun."

You Xiaoxia felt a secret joy in her heart.

"You son of a bitch, I've been his brother for so long, no one understands him better than me."

Qian Junwei was very certain.

You Xiaoxia fell into deep thought and nodded slightly.