Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

In the evening, the people who went up the mountain came back, driving the family's ox cart to the door of their house. As soon as they entered the courtyard, Mrs. Chen saw it and said, "Old man, how are the crops this year?"

The old man had a smile on his face, "Okay, he looks great. Our family has a total of five feet. You see, there are so many." Two sacks were placed in the car. Of course, they were not full, that is, most of them were full. More bags.

Mrs. Chen also smiled when she saw it. "It's really quite a lot. Okay, let's pick out the seeds tomorrow, and wait until the ninth day of the Lunar New Year to plant the sticks. The work at home is almost done, so I'll seize the time to pick it out in the next two days. Come in quickly, I'm tired from the day. "

The old man led his son and grandsons into the house, "Let's all have a rest and eat soon. Wenhan, how are you two? Are you tired?" The old man looked at his two grandsons. These two children work very well, are willing to contribute, and are also dexterous. They are two good children.

"Grandpa, we are not tired. This kind of work is not tiring." Wen Cheng and Wen Han both said.

At this time Mrs. Chen came in and said, "Go and wash your hands, it's time to eat." So everyone went to wash their hands and prepare to eat.

The next day, the whole family was picking out crops at home, with tables placed on the kang and on the ground. Put two pieces of paper on the table, then grab some ginseng seeds and put them on it, and the guys started picking. This process of selecting ginseng seeds is not only about selecting bad ginseng seeds and grasses, the main thing is to sort out the good ginseng seeds and wait for them, which is usually called a road. The first road, the second road, the third road, the fourth road, from big to small, of course, when planting, stick to the big one. Only when the first road is gone will you drop to the second road. Keep going down, usually just to the fourth road. This one-foot-long ginseng seeds can usually be used to plant three to four-foot sticks. The Xu family will plant fifteen feet this year, so these seeds are enough.

Mr. Xue went out and got a lot of corn husks, soaked them in water until they were soft, and used them to tie the ginseng seeds. The selected seeds need to be tied up. One advantage of using corn husks is that they rot easily. Even if you forget to pull it off, it will rot in the ground and the ginseng will not be strangled. After picking a small handful of ginseng seeds, tear off a small piece of corn husks and wrap it around the ginseng beard twice. There is no need to tie knots, just twist it gently and tuck it inside.

This year's ginseng seeds are growing really well, and a lot of them have been picked out at the beginning, so they will grow bigger in the future. The selected plants should be placed in sacks or baskets lined with straw. Some will also use boxes. This can reduce the degree of damage to the plants.

There are not many of these seeds, and the family has enough people, so we can pick almost all of them in one day. Pack them up according to each level, and wait to be planted on the mountain. Pick out the remaining ones, which are usually too small and have broken whiskers or reed heads. There is another type, which is rust. This rust is a disease of ginseng. There are rust-like red spots on the ginseng skin, and some will grow into a large area. This kind of ginseng is not easy to sell. Even if the red rust is scraped off when brushing, white skin will easily appear when it is steamed, which will not be easy to sell. Water rust is usually caused by the quality of the soil. Sometimes, even if a good plant is put into the ground, water rust will occur due to poor soil quality. Even in modern times, this is unavoidable. The leftovers are usually steamed and dried, and then sold as beard.

The next day, Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Xue washed the remaining ones with water, then tied them into handfuls and placed them in a big basin for steaming.

Jinghan and others helped pick ginseng seeds for a day, so there was nothing to do, so naturally they still had to go up the mountain. It would be good to pick up more acorns before it snows. Many children in the village went up the mountain, and those who got along well with each other naturally got together. Fortunately, the forest is very big, so even if there are a lot of people, there won't be any disputes over territory. Furthermore, now that the Xu family has a successor, this is a big deal in the eyes of ordinary people, so adults will also tell their children not to mess with others. After all, the children had laughed at the children of the Xu family a while ago because of Wenchang's mother's incident, so this time the adults were all giving warnings and warnings, for fear of offending the Xu family.

The Xu family doesn't care about what happened in the past at all. If someone in their own family does something scandalous, they can't control what others say, right? Wenhan and Wencheng had already gone back to school, and only Jinghan, Jingya, Wenxuan, and Wenchang went to the mountain. After picking up almost all the acorns in the nearest place, they walked to a place a little further away. There are indeed many places far away, but we were so tired when we came back carrying acorns on our backs that everyone had to rest twice on the way. In fact, such a big child can't carry much. It's only about ten kilograms per person, which is pretty good. Wenxuan and Wenchang can't carry ten kilograms. Fortunately, they are diligent and go up the mountain whenever they have time, and they can pick up a lot.

Mrs. Chen and Mr. Xue were washing some ginseng seeds at home, when a person came in, it was the money matchmaker. When Mrs. Chen saw her coming, she quickly put down what she was doing and said, "Hey, her aunt, why are you free today? Come and sit down." After saying this, she brought a bench to Matchmaker Qian.

Matchmaker Qian sat down and looked at Mrs. Chen, "Sister-in-law, I really have something to do here this time. Doctor Tao from the town asked me to come again. At that time, his mother said that he had fallen in love with a girl from the town, but this Tao If the doctor disagrees and refuses, then the marriage will not happen. Then he asked me to see if your Huixin's marriage is settled. If it is not, he will come to propose marriage. " The mother-in-law was a little embarrassed. After being a matchmaker for so many years, she had never encountered such a thing.

After hearing Matchmaker Qian's words, Mrs. Chen pondered for a long time before speaking. "Her aunt, logically speaking, since you are here, I can't refute your reputation. But this matter is really unpleasant. Tell me, how can there be such a thing? If he wants to propose marriage, he can propose marriage. It won't work if you don't. What's wrong, my Huixin can't get married? Her aunt, go back and tell Dr. Tao that this marriage is a bit inappropriate. His family's threshold is too high for us to reach. "Ms. Chen is also one. She couldn't agree to the marriage if she was an angry person.

Matchmaker Qian also sighed, "Sister-in-law, I don't want to come either. They didn't handle this matter properly, but they couldn't help but Doctor Tao kept begging me. You don't know, he only has your family's wisdom in his heart, and all he wants is Marriage Huixin came in, so I begged for a long time before I came. Sister-in-law, you should think about it again. If you don’t care about anything else, just have this intention. If you can do it, it will be fulfilled for them. Well, I think Doctor Tao will definitely treat Hui Xin well in the future, don’t you think?”

After hearing Matchmaker Qian's words, Mrs. Chen thought for a while, "Let's wait until my old man comes back and discuss it. According to my opinion, I don't want to get married. Doctor Tao's mother doesn't sound like a light-hearted person. My Huixin has a weak personality. Isn't she going to be bullied? Whose daughter is not spoiled? Should I send her to his house to be angry? Let me ask her what she wants."

After hearing this, Matchmaker Qian felt that it made sense. After all, this was a major event in a lifetime and should not be taken lightly. "Okay, sister-in-law, think about it carefully and ask Huixin what she means. I'll leave first and come back in two days to hear the news." After saying that, Matchmaker Qian left.

Seeing matchmaker Qian go away, Mrs. If you are really married, why don't you give us Hui Xin a hard time? Hui Xin has been in poor health since she was a child, but she can't be angry anymore. "This Hui Xin is almost the one Xue thinks about. She loves Hui Xin no less than Jing Ya and the others, but she doesn't want it. The wise heart suffers.

"Really? That's what I think too. This wise woman has finally become much stronger these days. I can't bear to marry her to such a family. Will I have to bear the consequences then?" Mrs. Chen also agreed with Mrs. Xue. It's best not to agree to it. "Okay, let's discuss it with your father tonight. I don't think it's possible."

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were washing the ginseng seeds while talking. After washing, they slowly pulled them out one by one. Put it in the big basin. "Just steam it in the evening, there isn't much, so quickly dry it in the sun, mix it into the beard and sell it."

In the evening, after dinner, Mrs. Chen talked about the Tao family's affairs. Zhixiang had just returned from a meeting with friends. Hearing what his mother said, he felt that this was not possible, "Mom, I'm afraid this won't work. The Tao family does have good conditions, but the Tao family's mother-in-law is quite cunning. I'm afraid Huixin won't get along with her. Not coming. It would be okay if they can separate their families, but if they can't, then Hui Xin will have to suffer."

Mrs. Chen looked at Huixin and said, "Girl, this is your life-long event. What do you think about it? Let us help you make up your mind." Mrs. Chen is an enlightened mother who is very concerned about her children. Respect the wishes of your children.

Huixin sat there, a little lost, "Mom, I don't know what to do about this matter. Logically speaking, parents make the decision on this matter of marriage. Huixin listens to her parents," and then she stopped talking.

When Mrs. Chen saw her daughter's face, she knew that she still had Doctor Tao in her heart. Huixin had been in poor health since she was a child and had not been in contact with many men. Doctor Tao was good-looking and gentle, so he had an excellent impression on Huixin. Ms. Chen was also a little embarrassed. If she fulfilled her daughter's wish, she was afraid that her daughter would have a difficult life in the future. If she doesn't get it done, she's afraid that even if she gets married to someone else in the future, she still pretends to be Dr. Tao in her heart, which will cause even greater trouble. I ran out of ideas for a while.

The old man thought for a while and said, "Since Dr. Tao is the second child, it's better to let them get married and separate. If they can agree to this, we will make them happy. If they don't agree, then forget it." Old lady, do you think this is possible?"

Mrs. Chen nodded, "That's all it can do. When Matchmaker Qian comes again, I'll tell him this and see how the Tao family reacts."