Sun i stood up and pulled the two children close to her, gently comforting them, "Don’t listen to your Aunt Hu Zi. Your uncle and I would never abandon you."
At this point, the children’s eyes were already red; they stared at Sun i and nodded.
Zhao Zhitong glanced at Hu Zi’s wife, then at her mother, before running to her two brothers’ side and whispering to them, "You guys, don’t listen to Aunt Hu Zi’s nonsense. Her words are like farts."
Hearing her daughter speak so bluntly, Sun i glared helplessly at Zhao Zhitong. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
"It just ans her words stink," Zhao Zhitong shrugged, laughed cheerfully, then made a funny face at Sun i and ran off to help with the wheat.
Hu Zi’s wife, however, didn’t think she had said anything wrong. She continued, addressing Sun i, "Sun i, I’m not wrong. I’m telling the truth. It’s good for the children to hear this. It will teach them that they need to be filial, or they’ll be struck by lightning!"
Sun i responded helplessly, "Those words are very hurtful to the children. You shouldn’t say such things to them anymore!"
Hu Zi’s wife still wanted to say more.
At this mont, Shi Tou’s wife, who was nearby, spoke up, "Hu Zi’s wife, that’s enough. Stop talking. Can’t you see Sun i is getting angry?"
Actually, Shi Tou’s wife agreed with Hu Zi’s wife. Raising another’s children is often thankless; few truly grow attached, and most of the ti, when their birth parents return, all your effort cos to nothing. But seeing Sun i was angry, she decided to intervene.
Hu Zi’s wife pursed her lips and muttered quietly, "I didn’t say anything wrong. Honestly, they just don’t appreciate good intentions."
Seeing Sun i glaring at her, she imdiately waved her hands dismissively. "Alright, alright, I won’t say any more. Happy now?"
Sun i knew Hu Zi’s wife ant well, but such things shouldn’t be said in front of the children; it would indeed hurt them.
Finally, under Sun i’s comforting words, Zhao Yu and Zhao Cheng managed to smile again. They both grabbed small wooden pitchforks to help thresh the harvested wheat.
Zhao Zhitong, already tired of flailing the wheat, saw her two brothers with their pitchforks and ran over to join them.
She couldn’t do much, really, just hopped from one spot to another, thoroughly enjoying herself.
In the end, she even scattered the pile of wheat Sun i had just gathered, making Sun i exclaim, "Tongtong!"
"AH!" Zhao Zhitong cried out, scrambled up, and ran towards ho. "Mom, I’m going to do my howork!"
Sun i sighed helplessly and once again gathered the scattered wheat.
Due to the absence of modern threshing machines, wheat had to be processed in the most primitive way: dried, beaten, and then winnowed.
The threshed grain then needed to be sun-dried for several more days until completely dry before it could be bagged and stored in the granary.
Once the wheat harvest was complete, the fields were cleared. Farrs would then plant other crops.
Corn had not yet been introduced to the area, so they typically planted soybeans and peanuts. These had a short sumr growing season and would be ready for harvest in the autumn, after which winter wheat would be planted.
Consequently, the household was extrely busy during this period. Eldest Uncle had stopped going to the county town to sell dicinal herbs, which ant the herbs the children had recently dug up couldn’t be taken to market.
However, there was a complication: more than half of the twenty mu of land that Mrs. Wang had allocated to Zhao Dong’s family during the property division was sloped.
"No wonder she acted so generous at the ti! The thief!" This was what Grandmother had angrily called Mrs. Wang later on.
Irrigating sloped land was difficult, and it was mostly poor soil, making it uneconomical for growing standard crops. Therefore, Zhao Dong decided to return to his old profession: he would plant fruit trees on all the sloped areas to create a Zhao Village orchard.
So, after the soybeans were sown, Zhao Dong prepared to make a trip to the county town.
Firstly, they had earned one hundred taels of silver from selling a prescription earlier. Combined with their other savings, they now had enough money to redeem Zhao Ya.
Secondly, he wanted to see if any fruit tree seedlings were for sale in the county town.
Upon hearing they were going to the county town the next day, Zhao Zhitong beca very excited and imdiately started pestering Zhao Dong to take her along.
Zhao Dong looked at his daughter, puzzled. "Don’t you have school tomorrow? Aren’t you afraid your Teacher will be angry if you skip class to go to the county town?"
Zhao Zhitong mimicked Zhao Dong, playfully tapping his head and laughing. "Are you silly? Tomorrow is a day off!"
Zhao Dong patted his own head as he rembered. He’d been so busy lately, and without a calendar, he’d lost track of the days.
"Alright," he said. "Since it’s a day off, you can go. Zhao Cheng and Zhao Yu can co too."
"Wow, Dad, you’re the best!" Zhao Zhitong was overjoyed. She hugged Zhao Dong, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then quickly ran off to do the howork her Teacher had assigned.
Having spent more ti together recently, Zhao Cheng and Zhao Yu had beco more relaxed and were also thrilled at the prospect of going to the county town.
Zhao Cheng rushed off to help Zhao Dong chop firewood, while Zhao Yu was called over by Zhao Zhitong to read with her.
Zhao Yu was quite intelligent and more diligent than his cousins. Although he was the last to start studying with Zhao Zhitong, he was the best learner.
At that mont, he was lying beside Zhao Zhitong, reciting poems with her.
Zhao Cheng, on the other hand, was like Sun Daqing – not very quick-witted. However, he didn’t get bogged down trying to master characters; instead, he focused diligently on arithtic. As he chopped firewood, he would practice by counting each piece, perhaps adding one, then two, in his head. This was a thod Zhao Zhitong had taught him: since he struggled to morize things abstractly, he should use a familiar activity. For instance, while chopping firewood, he could count how many pieces he had chopped.
When he got stuck in his counting, he would turn to Zhao Zhitong and ask, "Little sister, what cos after forty-eight?"
Zhao Zhitong would reply, "Big brother, forty-nine cos after forty-eight."
Zhao Cheng would nod repeatedly. "Right, right, it’s forty-nine." Then, muttering "forty-nine" to himself, he would chop the next piece of firewood.
Seeing this harmonious scene at ho, Sun i couldn’t help but smile. She truly loved this kind of simple, peaceful happiness.
Because they were going to the county town, the family got up very early the next day.
When Zhao Dong ca out pushing the flatbed cart, Zhao Zhitong, Zhao Yu, and Zhao Cheng excitedly began loading the dried herbs they had prepared onto it.
In reality, it was mostly Zhao Cheng and Zhao Yu doing the carrying, with Zhao Zhitong just tagging along and running around behind them.
Because of the recent busy farming season, the young cousins hadn’t had much ti to dig for herbs. In almost a month, they had only managed to gather one hemp sack full.
Sun i brought out so dried rations from the kitchen, placed them in the cart, and then the group set off.
They first made a detour to the Guang Ju Restaurant in the marketplace. Sun i planned to sell a prescription there first.
Otherwise, after bringing Zhao Ya ho, they wouldn’t have much silver left for daily expenses.
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