Chapter 1 - 01

Su Wan tied the wooden basin with a rope and lowered it into the well, leaving it only half a foot above the water. The temperature in the well was low, so it wouldn't spoil even after a day.Every hour, she would lift the wooden basin up and turn the meat strips over again.Once the meat was thoroughly marinated and its color had deepened, Su Wan cleaned the large iron wok, placed the meat strips in one by one, and stir-fried them continuously over medium-low heat. Slowly, the moisture in the meat was cooked out, and the aroma of scallions, ginger, garlic, and meat wafted out of the kitchen.Su Wan wasn't in a hurry. She added more firewood, reduced the fire, and continued to extinguish the flames.The meat strips became firmer and firmer as they were stir-fried, and their surface became glossy with oil.She picked out a small piece and tasted it.It's perfectly salty, not too spicy, and even has a hint of sweetness at the end, making it more and more fragrant the more you chew.Su Wan nodded in satisfaction and spread the meat strips out on a bamboo sieve to cool.By evening, the Huo family's land had finally been completely leveled.Huo Chuan and the others carefully checked again, patching up any areas where they had missed spreading wood ash, before packing up their farm tools and heading home.Dazhu, Xiaozhuang, and Sanshi received their wages for the day and went home.Huo Chuan drove the oxcart, with Huo Guoshi sitting beside him. Both of them were too tired to even speak.As soon as the oxcart entered the courtyard, a delicious aroma of meat wafted over.Huo Chuan's stomach immediately growled.Upon hearing this, Madam Huo laughed and said, "You ate six steamed buns at noon, and you're hungry again so soon?""After working all afternoon, six steamed buns aren't enough to last until now."The two put down their farm tools and hurried toward the kitchen.Before even entering the room, Madam Huo asked, "Xiao Wan, what are you doing? It smells so good."Su Wan poked her head out of the kitchen, holding a pair of chopsticks in her hand."I made some dried meat for my husband. My parents are just getting back, I just finished making it, please wash your hands and try it, see if it's good.""Then I must try it." Huo Chuan immediately went to the water vat to scoop water.After washing their hands, Su Wan handed them two pieces of dried meat.Huo Chuan shook the water off his hands, took the jerky, and took a bite."It's really chewy and tastes great."Huo Chuan said, "Shi An will definitely love to eat it."Huo Guoshi also took a bite and nodded repeatedly."It's delicious. If I put it in a steamed bun, I can eat an extra one."She went into the kitchen and saw the bamboo sieve covered with strips of meat. She exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, you've made quite a lot.""About three pounds."Su Wan turned the dried meat over to let the steam escape: "My husband has five junior officers under his command, so we need to share some with them. That's why I made a little extra.""You've thought it through. Shi An is in charge of people now, so he can't just think of himself. If he shares a good meal with his brothers, they will remember his kindness and will take care of him when they go to the battlefield.""Have your father go to the post station tomorrow and send these things we've prepared there."Su Wan asked upon hearing this, "Have you finished working in the fields?""I'm done with work."Huo Guoshi rubbed her sore arms: "The fertilizer has been spread, the wood ash has been spread, and the soil has been raked smooth. Now it all depends on whether God will give us a rain. If it rains, the soil will be thoroughly irrigated, and we can plant the seeds the next day. If it doesn't rain, we'll have to carry water bucket by bucket to irrigate the land."They own a lot of land; if they really needed to fetch water, they would be busy for countless days.Su Wan glanced outside the courtyard.The past two days have been overcast, and the air is even more humid today than yesterday. Her spiritual senses are sharp, and she can detect even the slightest change in the weather."God will definitely give us rain."Su Wan smiled and said, "The air is more humid today than yesterday, so it should rain tomorrow."Huo Guoshi looked up at the sky."Is there a lot of water vapor? I didn't feel any."Su Wan changed the subject: "Mother, let me stir-fry some more noodles. It's tough in the army, and if my husband gets hungry sometimes, he can just make a bowl of stir-fried noodles with hot water. It'll be convenient.""This is good."Huo Guoshi immediately said, "The one you stir-fried last time was delicious. Add a little salt and it can be eaten as a meal, add a little sugar and it can satisfy your cravings. Stir-fry more this time."Su Wan counted the things she needed to send."Wouldn't cooking too much make the burden too heavy?"Huo Chuan, who had been listening to the two talking in the courtyard, spoke up."If the total weight is kept under six pounds, the post station won't charge too much extra money."Su Wan said, "The clothes and shoes aren't heavy, but the dried meat weighs three pounds, so we can only fry about two more pounds."Huo Chuan went into the kitchen and reached out to take another piece of dried meat."Fry four or five catties, give two catties to Shi, and keep the rest for drinking. When we're busy with autumn planting, we won't have time to cook breakfast, so a bowl of this will keep us full."Su Wan nodded with a smile."Okay, I'll cook it tonight."Huo Guoshi glanced at the increasingly low-hanging clouds outside the courtyard, and a sense of anticipation rose in her heart."If it really rains tomorrow, Shi'an's things can be sent out, and our family's autumn planting can begin."Huo Chuan took a bite of the dried meat, looked up and said, "This rain really has to come."After dinner, Huo Chuan and Huo Guoshi went back to their room to rest early.These past few days, the two of them have been going to the fields before dawn and not returning until dark. Once the work in the fields was finished, the tension they had been holding in finally eased, and exhaustion washed over them.Su Wan tidied up the dishes and chopsticks on the table, took them into the kitchen to wash them, and scooped out five catties of white flour from the flour vat.She had only planned to stir-fry noodles, but when she saw the peanuts and sesame seeds in the corner, she took some of each out as well.After pouring the peanuts into the pot, she slowly stir-fried them over low heat. If the heat was too high, the outside would burn while the inside remained uncooked. Once the peanuts released their aroma, she removed them from the pot, let them cool for a while, rubbed off the red skins, and then crushed them with a rolling pin.Then she toasted the sesame seeds in a pan until fragrant and added them together with the crushed peanuts.After washing the pot clean and drying it, Su Wan poured in the flour and slowly stirred it with a spatula.The flour was initially a little damp, but after frying for a while, it loosened up and gradually darkened in color. Su Wan then added sesame seeds and crushed peanuts, and the aroma of the flour in the kitchen grew stronger, mixed with the fragrance of peanuts and sesame seeds, making one's mouth water.After frying five jin of flour, she divided it into two portions.One portion was salted and stir-fried to make a savory flavor. The other portion was sweetened and reserved to make a sweet porridge.Huo Chuan likes salty drinks. After preparing the soup, he adds a few drops of sesame oil and sprinkles some chopped green onions. Drinking a big bowl of this soup can keep him going for half a day.She and Huo Guoshi preferred sweet flavors, especially during busy farming seasons when they were tired and hungry. They could simply pour hot water over their food and drink it, which was very convenient.Once both types of fried noodles are cooked, do not immediately pack them into a jar, otherwise they will easily become damp and clump together.Su Wan took two clean bamboo sieves, spread the fried noodles out to cool, then made herself half a bowl of sweet noodle porridge and sat down to drink it slowly.It's very fragrant because of the added sesame and peanuts, and it's also very oily.After Su Wan finished drinking, she washed the bowl clean, covered the bamboo sieve with a layer of gauze to prevent small insects from falling in, and weighed it down with a stone to prevent the wind from blowing the cloth away at night.After finishing all that, she was covered in sweat. Su Wan returned to the backyard, took a nice, relaxing shower, and went back to the new house. As she was drying her hair, a sudden gust of wind picked up outside.The windows rattled softly in the wind, and the branches of the trees in the yard swayed constantly. Not long after, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, followed by a clap of thunder.Su Wan walked to the door and looked up.The clouds in the sky were low and the wind was full of moisture; the rain was really coming.She took a handful of mugwort, lit it, and placed it by the door to repel mosquitoes. Then she moved a stool and sat under the eaves.The night breeze carried away the heat accumulated during the day. My damp hair was blown by the wind and dried up in no time.Several more claps of thunder echoed in the distance.The village dogs barked a few times, but were quickly silenced by their owners' scolding. The sounds of people opening doors and collecting laundry echoed from various yards, and some even ran out to check on the fields.After waiting for so many days, the rain has finally come.Once Su Wan sat down and the fever subsided and her hair was completely dry, she extinguished the mugwort and carried the stool back into the house.She fell asleep shortly after lying down.In the middle of the night, large raindrops suddenly pounded on the roof tiles.At first, the rain was just a few scattered drops, but soon the sound of rain became continuous. Water dripped from the eaves of the yard, and the ground, which had been dry for a long time, was quickly soaked.In the front yard, Huo Chuan opened his eyes.As he listened to the sound of rain outside, a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.The land at home is just waiting for this rain. As long as the rain soaks through, we can sow the seeds after a day's rest, and we won't have to carry buckets of water to irrigate the land anymore.This rain will save us at least ten days of hard labor.Huo Chuan turned over, closed his eyes, and quickly fell asleep again.In Sujia Village, Su Dashan also woke up. He put on his clothes, walked to the window, and pushed it open a crack to look outside.Rainwater streamed down from the eaves, and the ground in the yard was already flooded. It was hard to see clearly from a distance, but just by listening to the sound of the rain, you could tell that the ground was thoroughly soaked.Su Dashan breathed a sigh of relief.Still half asleep, Su Wangshi asked, "Is it raining heavily outside?""big."Su Dashan closed the window and said with a smile, "We don't need to carry water to irrigate the fields anymore. We can start planting as soon as the rain stops."After hearing this, Lady Su felt relieved.Tonight, countless farmers were awakened by the sound of rain.But nobody thought it was noisy.Many people felt very at ease after listening to the rain for a while, and even their fatigue lessened considerably.Everyone slept soundly that night.The next day, the rain had subsided considerably. Su Wan knew that her in-laws were exhausted from the past few days and wouldn't get up so early, so she slept for half an hour longer than usual, not getting up until the end of the morning.The courtyard was damp, and water was still dripping from the eaves.Inside the kitchen, she opened the stone, lifted the cloth, and touched the fried noodles in the bamboo sieve. Having been left overnight, the fried noodles were completely cooled and smelled wonderful.Su Wan took out some oil paper, packed two jin of fried noodles into it, and tied it tightly with thin hemp rope.She put the remaining fried noodles into two earthenware jars, one sweet and one savory, to keep for the family to drink during the autumn planting season.After putting away the fried noodles, she began to make breakfast.She couldn't bear to throw away the little bit of fat left over from cutting lean meat yesterday, so she kept it hanging in the well.Su Wan cut the fatty pork into small pieces, fried it in a pan to render the oil, and then added the eggplant and stir-fried. The eggplant absorbed the oil and softened quickly, and the aroma came out immediately after adding salt.She mixed another bowl of dough, rolled it into a thin pancake, brushed it with lard, sprinkled it with a little salt and chopped green onions, rolled it up, rolled it out again, and put it in the pan to bake.The fried dough sticks were pan-fried until golden brown on both sides and smelled wonderful when they came out of the pan.After making the pancakes, she chopped two cucumbers, mixed them with minced garlic and vinegar, and finally prepared a small dish of chili sauce.Huo Chuan and his wife only woke up after breakfast was all laid out on the table.Huo Chuan came in after washing his face and saw the fried dough on the table. He immediately sat down, picked up a dough, spread some chili sauce on it, rolled it up, and took a big bite.The flatbread is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with scallions and lard mixed together, and served with chili sauce, making it incredibly delicious.Huo Chuan narrowed his eyes: "It smells good, really good."Huo Guo put some eggplant on Su Wan's plate and said with a smile, "If it smells good, eat more. You don't have to rush to the fields today, so you can eat slowly."Huo Chuan grunted in agreement and took another big bite of the fried dough.He gazed at the light drizzle outside, feeling extremely happy."This rain came just in time; the ground should be thoroughly soaked.""It's been most of the night, it should be quite hot by now."Huo Guoshi took a sip of the fried noodle paste: "After the rain stops, let it dry a bit more today, and we can start autumn planting tomorrow."Huo Chuan nodded.The three of them finished their breakfast at a leisurely pace.Su Wan cleaned up the dishes and put the dried meat, which had already cooled, into an oil paper bag. She laid the new clothes she had made for Huo Shi'an flat, put the fried noodles and dried meat in the middle of the clothes, and then carefully wrapped them up with the clothes.She placed the shoes and socks on top, then took a sturdy piece of cloth, wrapped everything up, and tied it several times with hemp rope.Su Wan picked it up, weighed it in her hand, and then handed it to Huo Chuan."Dad, it should be less than six pounds."Huo Chuan took it and tested its weight: "Less than that, at most five and a half jin. The post station won't charge much."The rain had stopped outside, but the sky was still overcast.Fearing it might rain again, Huo Chuan went back inside to put on a raincoat and a bamboo hat, and carefully protected the bundle in his arms.Huo Guoshi took out some copper coins and handed them to him."After you finish sending the package, go buy two chickens. Not roosters, but hens, preferably the healthiest ones."Okay, I understand.Huo Chuan took the money, put it away, and led the cow out of the courtyard.The ground was muddy, making it inconvenient to drive the oxcart, so he rode the ox directly.Su Wan and Huo Guo watched him walk away before closing the courtyard gate.After the rain stopped, there were several puddles of water in the yard.The chickens ran out of their coop, stepped into a puddle, and flapped their wings, splashing mud and water everywhere. Two chicks followed behind, their downy feathers all wet.Upon seeing this, Huo Guoshi quickly picked up a broom."This water needs to be swept out, otherwise the chickens will get sick from walking in the mud all day. We also need to check the pigsty area to make sure the water doesn't overflow."Su Wan brought over another broom."Mother, I'll go with you."The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law started from the corner of the wall and gradually swept the accumulated water out of the courtyard gate.It took the two of them quite a while to clean up the puddles.Huo Guoshi went to the pigsty to inspect it.A shed was built over the pigsty, and it didn't leak inside, except for some water seeping in near the entrance. She shoveled in dry soil and then covered it with a layer of wheat straw.When the pig saw her coming, it immediately stood up with a grunt."Just ate and already hungry again?"Despite saying that, Huo Guoshi still added some chopped vegetable leaves to the feeding trough.After finishing all that, she washed her hands and went to the general store. When she came out, she had half a bag of beans and a small winnowing basket in her hands.These beans were seeds saved from our family's harvest.Before autumn planting, shriveled, moldy, and insect-bitten beans should be picked out, leaving only plump beans for planting.Su Wan glanced at them and suggested, "Mother, let's go to the pavilion to pick them. It's cool there, and we can also see the lotus flowers."Huo Guo was about to go check on the pond. It had rained so heavily last night; she wondered if the lotus had been damaged."Okay, let's bring some tea too.""Um."Su Wan took the earthenware pot and two teacups. Huo Guoshi, carrying Douzi, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went out together.It had just rained, and the village roads were a bit muddy. However, the path around the pond was paved with pebbles, and the rainwater flowed away through the cracks in the stones, so you didn't have to worry about getting your shoes dirty.Before the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law even got close, they heard voices.Unable to work in the fields today, the villagers finally had a day off. Many had eaten breakfast and then brought their children to the pond. Several women sat in the pavilion, while other villagers and children gathered by the pond.Several women saw them and immediately stood up."Shi An's mother, Xiao Wan, are you done with everything at home?""I'm done with work."Huo Guoshi quickly took two steps and hurriedly said, "Please sit down, there's no need to make room for us, it makes me feel embarrassed."Aunt Zhao moved her basket to the side."What's there to be embarrassed about? We're the ones who should be embarrassed. This pavilion was built by your family, and now that the hosts are here, of course we have to give up our space."The woman next to her said, "That's right. We've been taking up your space to cool off, so we can't not even leave you a place to sit.""We're all from the same village, why make such a big deal out of it?"Despite her polite words, Madam Huo and Xiao Wan sat down.Su Wan poured two bowls of tea and pushed them towards the women."It's freshly brewed, ladies, have some tea.""We're not thirsty, you can drink."Aunt Zhao saw that they were carrying beans and asked, "Are you planning to plant soybeans?""yes."Mrs. Huo poured the beans into a winnowing basket and said, "Our family plans to plant five mu of soybeans, but we haven't picked the seeds yet. We're not going to the field today, so we'll pick them out first to avoid being scrambling tomorrow."Su Wan grabbed a handful of beans and started picking them out.A woman said enviously, "Your family has so much land, you can grow whatever you want. My family doesn't have enough food, so we have to plant more millet this year."Aunt Zhao said, "My family will also grow millet, but we also plan to plant an acre of peanuts. Peanuts can be pressed for oil, and the children will have some snacks during the New Year.""My family only grows half an acre of peanuts. It's not that we don't want to grow more, but we simply don't have that much land. The rest of the land has to be used to grow grain, otherwise our whole family will go hungry."When it comes to autumn planting, each family has its own plans.Su Wan quietly picked through the beans without interrupting.As Huo Guoshi picked beans, she talked to a few people, but every few words she would look up at the pond, afraid that the villagers and children would be tempted to pick them.Despite a night of wind and rain, the lotus flowers in the pond are still growing very well.The leaves, washed clean by the rain, lay on the water's surface, while smaller leaves peeked out from the gaps, with only a few slightly bent by the rain.Several children squatted by the pond, craning their necks to look at the lotus leaves.Suddenly, a child exclaimed, "Come quick! There are so many water droplets on the lotus leaves, and they can even move!"That shout immediately drew all the children nearby.Where is it?"Yes, it really exists!"Why isn't the water seeping into the leaves?The children drew closer and closer, and one of them had already stepped into the wet mud by the pond.Upon seeing this, Su Wan immediately shouted a reminder: "Be careful, don't fall into the water, everyone back up!"The women who were talking paused, then immediately looked at the children.When Aunt Zhao saw that her grandson was leaning forward and about to fall into the water, her face immediately changed."Listen to your auntie, everyone stand back!"He quickly walked out of the pavilion and pulled his grandson back."It just rained, and the pond is deep. If you fell in, you wouldn't even make a bubble! Who told you to stand so close?"The other women also went over and shooed their children back."Take two steps back, and don't get near the pond.""If you dare to move any closer, I won't bring you here anymore."The children were quite obedient and all stepped back.When the women looked at Su Wan again, their eyes held a hint of approval.They were so focused on talking about autumn planting that they didn't notice the child had run to the water's edge. If a child had fallen into the pond, it would have been too late for them to regret it."Xiao Wan is so thoughtful."Aunt Zhao patted her chest: "Of all the people standing here, she was the only one who noticed the child was too close to the water.""That's right, none of us saw that, nor did we think of that."Hearing everyone's praise, Huo Guoshi smiled broadly, her eyes and brows relaxing."My daughter Xiaowan is always meticulous in everything she does."The children retreated to a safe spot, but their eyes remained fixed on the water droplets on the lotus leaves.The water droplets gathered in the middle of the leaves, round and clean. When the wind blew the lotus leaves, the water droplets rolled around with them, but did not disperse.Not only have the children never seen it before, but even adults find it strange.