RPAGF Chapter 60: First Time Eating Boiled Corn
Chapter 60: First Time Eating Boiled Corn
Very good!
The turmeric she planted with her parents all survived!
She had been worried that the medicinal herbs that grow on the mountain might not survive if planted in the field, but she never expected that they would actually survive!
We'll know how much turmeric we'll get from this season's harvest!
We'll sell half and keep the other half to plant again next year!
In the past month, the corn seedlings have grown to chest height, and the sweet potato vines inside have also grown vigorously, perfectly shading the turmeric seedlings from the outside.
The turmeric was planted late and grows slowly; it's only now grown to be the same length as the sweet potato vines.
The corn seedlings completely covered the inside, so outsiders passing by on the ridge couldn't see what was planted inside at all!
That's good; it's less likely to be discovered.
In that feudal and backward era, everyone was poor, and the villages at the foot of the mountain were especially impoverished.
The saying "those who live near the mountains live off the mountains" is simply a result of later generations using technology to gain the ability to exploit resources.
In this day and age, going into the mountains means risking your life!
Farmers in impoverished and remote areas can only rely on their meager farmland.
Everyone works hard all year, but it's barely enough to feed themselves. The food they save to exchange for money is simply not enough to live on.
Let alone oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and seasonings, people are reluctant to eat oil and salt. If a member of the family has a headache or fever, they have to endure it. They can't even afford a new piece of clothing all year round.
Because of poverty, everyone in the village looks down on you for being poor and fears you for being rich. Even close brothers can help each other out, but even members of the same clan will suppress each other.
If pushed too far, it's inevitable that some individuals will resort to dishonest means!
This field is planted with her hopes. As the saying goes, it's not the thief you should fear, but the one who has his eye on you!
If everything is stolen this year, how will we plant it next year?
Xiao Yu, who was holding her hand, was short and timid; she wasn't even as tall as a corn seedling.
She looked around but couldn't see anything. Her parents were busy in the fields, and she couldn't hear or see them. She felt a little scared.
"Sister, I...I'm a little scared."
Shen Xiaotang immediately gave her younger sister a pep talk, "Xiaoyu, don't be afraid. It's broad daylight, what could possibly happen? We're upright and have nothing to fear."
After saying that, she suddenly remembered that she was a reincarnated soul, a corporate slave who died suddenly in her previous life.
Strictly speaking, she could also be considered a wandering ghost!
Thinking of all this, she felt as if the sky had fallen and the earth had collapsed in her heart!
Good heavens, could there really be ghosts in this world?
The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. She immediately pulled her younger sister aside the corn seedlings and quickly scurried into the field.
Liu was turning over the sweet potato vines in the middle of the field to control their excessive growth. When she encountered weeds, she casually pulled them up and threw them into a pile.
Shen Qingchuan was squatting in the cornfield, pulling weeds.
Seeing her two daughters come in, Liu gave them some instructions.
"Tang'er, Yu'er, the field is dirty, don't get your clothes dirty. The corn leaves will rub against your skin and make you itchy. You two don't need to come with me next time, just stay home and play."
Yu'er stammered, "Mother, my sister and I were waiting outside. I was scared, so my sister brought me in."
Madam Liu smiled and said gently, "Silly girl, your father and mother are inside. If you need anything, just call out and we'll hear you. What are you afraid of?"
Yu'er grinned, "With Mother here, I...am not afraid."
Shen Xiaotang watched her parents working hard weeding, and she felt embarrassed to just stand there and watch. Although she was only six years old, she wasn't a real child.
"Xiaoyu, you squat here and play by yourself for a while. Your older sister is going to help Father and Mother weed."
"Okay, sister... go ahead."
After settling her younger sister in, Shen Xiaotang rolled up her sleeves and went into the field in the middle of the field where the turmeric was growing.
"Mom, you turn over the sweet potato vines, and I'll pull the weeds out of the turmeric seedlings."
"Tang'er, you don't need to lift a finger. I'll do the weeding after I finish turning over these. You're still young, so don't try to do everything. It's not like the twenty acres of land we used to have now, it's only four acres, so it's much easier."
“Weeding is a small job, it won’t be a problem for me to help out a little.”
Seeing how diligent her daughter was, Mrs. Liu felt very sorry for her.
She secretly blamed herself and her husband for being too weak in the past, which had fostered their daughter's habit of always rushing to do chores from a young age.
At such a young age, other six-year-olds are still playing at home.
Shen Xiaotang looked at the turmeric, which was growing very well, and she even had the energy to weed it.
……
Two months later, the crops in the field were almost ripe, and the corn was ready to be cooked and eaten.
Shen Xiaotang asked her father to pick a few when he came back from the fields, and she put them in the pot to cook when she steamed cornbread.
In my previous life, everyone called it boiled corn.
Oh well, when in Rome, do as the Romans do!
She cooked it, took it out of the pot, put it in a wooden basin, and then chilled it with cold water until it was no longer too hot to handle before taking it to the yard.
"Father, Mother, Xiaoyu, come and eat some boiled corn."
Liu was washing the quilt cover when she softly replied, "Yes, Mother is coming right away."
Now that all the weeds in the fields have been cleared, and with nothing else to do, she takes apart and washes the quilt.
Every day, the husband would go to the fields to find some work to do, such as pulling up small weeds and turning over sweet potato vines.
One reason was that he had been used to working since he was a child, and he felt uneasy and restless if he didn't have work to do. Another reason was that he was afraid someone would steal their corn.
Stealing a couple of ears of corn or digging up a couple of sweet potatoes isn't a big deal, but the real fear is that someone will discover they've planted turmeric and secretly dig it up.
Those were my daughter's precious treasures. On their second trip into the mountains, the father and son were almost attacked by a crazed wild boar.
These were all earned with lives, so we absolutely must protect them!
Shen Qingchuan was tidying up farm tools in the yard. Some of them were rusty, so he took them out and polished them on a stone.
It gleamed brightly in the sunlight and was incredibly sharp!
Xiaoyu, who was playing in the yard, was the first to gather around, and Shen Xiaotang picked out the tenderest one for her younger sister.
"Xiaoyu, you're still young. Eating too much of this will cause indigestion. Try one first, and we'll cook more next time."
Xiaoyu nodded obediently, "Okay."
The parents put down what they were doing, wiped their hands, each took a stick, and the whole family gathered around to eat them.
"Mmm, it's so...delicious. This is the first time I've ever eaten boiled...corn."
Xiaoyu munched on corn, feeling quite satisfied, and couldn't help but sigh.
However, she stuttered as soon as she opened her mouth, which seemed somewhat out of place.
Shen Qingchuan laughed and said, "As long as Tang'er and Yu'er like to eat it, we will plant it again next year and make sure that you two sisters can eat it in the future."
This reminded Liu of the days before the family division, and she felt uneasy, so she couldn't help but mutter to herself.
“In the years before we separated our family, we cultivated all twenty acres of land. When the corn was ripe, my father-in-law wouldn’t let us cook it, saying that cooking it would be a waste of grain. He said that if the corn was ripe, we could grind it into flour and eat it for several more meals.”
"But my mother-in-law would always pick them and secretly cook them at night, and I always caught her!"
So, it turns out that only the eldest son's family is cutting back on food, but it's actually saving food for their entire extended family.
But they are adults, so they can save money, but why treat the two children differently and keep their meals a secret from them?
It's chilling!
Hearing his wife's dissatisfaction, Shen Qingchuan's expression also turned serious.
“Father and stepmother did wrong. We were too weak before. We can’t let the two children suffer with us anymore.”
"Yes, it's fortunate that we listened to Tang'er and separated the family, otherwise how could we be living such a good life now?"