By this time, Wu Lang had already gone to the backyard to greet Lady Wu Wang and returned, even bringing the clothes Xiao Qi had brought for changing.

When Lian Manman and Lian Zhizhi went to the kitchen to wash the muskmelons and cut a watermelon, bringing it out on a large tray, Xiao Qi had already been fished out of the water tank by Wu Lang, dried and changed into clean new clothes.

"Come on, let’s eat melon," Lian Manman called to Wu Lang and Xiao Qi.

The group of children laughed all the way to the backyard, heading into the Upper Room East Room. Everyone ate melon together, and after some chat, Lady Wu Wang finally took her leave, naturally taking with her the half basket of fresh water chestnuts that Lady Zhang had prepared for her.

After Lady Wu Wang left, Wu Lang asked Lady Zhang if Wu Wang’s visit brought any news from Taicang. Lady Zhang just shook her head, saying there was none. Lian Manman then knew that Lady Zhang had made up her mind not to let them know about it. However, in the following days, Lian Shouxin’s face remained gloomy, even Xiao Qi’s attempts to coax him rarely brought a smile. Lian Manman secretly speculated and concluded that Lady Zhang had told Lian Shouxin the news.

...

The days passed quickly, and soon it was the Major Heat solar term. The hottest time of the year had arrived, which was also the wheat harvest season. Spring wheat had a relatively short growing period and was sown earlier than other crops, thus it was harvested first. Wheat harvest is different from crops like corn and sorghum; its timing is crucial and cannot be done too early or too late. If too early, the wheat grains wouldn’t be fully mature, and if too late, the grains could fall off the ears. The timing with a difference of merely a day or two could result in missing the right moment.

The wheat harvesting season is also the most averse to rain. If the wheat matures and cannot be fully harvested before the rain, the grains will sprout, affecting the yield.

Hence, when it comes to wheat harvesting, it’s often preceded by the word "rush."

Lian Shouxin observed the field for several days before finally waving his hand.

"The wheat is ripe, time to start harvesting."

Harvesting wheat is generally similar to harvesting millet. It involves using a scythe to cut down the entire wheat plant, bundling it up, and transporting it back to the drying ground. To rush the wheat harvest, Lian Shouxin brought along three long-term workers, invited Wu Yugui and Wu Jiaxing father and son to help, and hired a few short-term workers as well. It took a full day to harvest all ten acres of wheat.

After the harvest, only the short stubble remained in the fields. Lady Zhang, Lian Zhizhi, and Lian Manman didn’t participate in the harvest, but they weren’t idle either. The three donned their field clothes, wore straw hats, tied their pant legs tightly with straps, wrapped their feet, and each carried a basket to pick up wheat ears in the harvested fields.

In ten acres of fields, the three went back and forth twice and also called Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye to help.

Farming is exhausting, and every grain carries the sweat and toil of the farmers, so nothing should be wasted. Even those illiterate farmers, who can’t read a single character, understand this simple truth. Therefore, it’s common to hear adults at the table telling children not to leave any grains in their bowls. They don’t explain the big principles, and even if they do, kids may not understand. Many adults simply warn that leaving grains in the bowl will result in pockmarks on their faces, or in other places, it’s said that they will marry a pockmarked spouse.

And surprisingly, this scare tactic often works effectively.

The harvested wheat was transported to Lian Manman’s family’s barnyard for drying, and as the wheat ears were all picked up, Lian Shouxin led the workers back to the field. They needed to quickly clear the wheat stubble, prepare the land, and plant a new crop.

The wheat stubble is fine, and once dug out, any adhering soil was knocked clean and left out. As this stubble isn’t good as firewood, Lian Shouxin piled it in a large pit at the field’s edge, doused it with water, and added some manure to compost it.

In order to speed up the work, instead of laboriously using iron hoes to dig up the stubble, they let the mules and oxen pull the plow, and the workers just needed to follow behind, gather the turned-over stubble with the iron hoes, and transport it to the edge of the field.

After the ten acres were prepared again, half was planted with soybeans, and the other half with cabbage.

Planting vegetables in the field had never been done by the tenant farmers in Thirty Mile Camp. But Lian Manman had her plans.

The five acres of cabbage were, of course, for pickling and selling as sauerkraut this year. These cabbages, being planted earlier than those in the home garden, would naturally be harvested earlier, perfectly timing to bring sauerkraut to the market early and sell more. The five acres of soybeans were even less worrisome. Soybeans have many uses: making tofu, extracting oil, sprouting, and so on.

And these soybeans, naturally, would be harvested much later than those planted in the spring. Lian Shouxin was a bit worried. Although in farming, when faced with a seedling shortage and lack of time to replant the original crop, substituting with soybeans is common, and late harvest isn’t an issue, planting this late was a first.

Lian Shouxin worried that the beans wouldn’t mature properly.

"Even if the beans are too tender by then, it doesn’t matter," Lian Manman smiled, "Tender beans are perfect for selling as edamame."

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Here is the second update, the pink votes are stagnant, asking everyone for pink support.

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Recommended Ruoyan’s completed book: "The Brocade Screen Chronicles" light house fight farmland tale, the petty matters and entanglements in the grand mansion.

Book number: 1771214

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