Three days after Li Shun's wedding, the bride returned to the door. After coming back, Grandpa Li always felt that the gift given by the Ran'er sisters was too heavy, not only that, but also wrote couplets and happy words for the marriage, which solved the urgent need. After the new daughter-in-law returned to the door, Grandpa Li sent Li Shun to the small courtyard to invite the Ran'er sisters alone, and asked the three daughters-in-law to tidy up a neat banquet and entertain the sisters once, and their hearts were slightly more comfortable. During the meal, Grandpa Li said to Ran'er:

"The wheat in the field will be opened in more than a month, so you two sisters don't have to worry about it, and when the time comes, you and Uncle Shun will go over to help harvest it."

"Grandpa doesn't need it, Lian'er and I can do it."

"Don't fight anymore, how old are you, how can you do such heavy work, it's decided."

This year's growth of East Wheat is indeed very gratifying, and I often lead Qinglian to the ground to see it. It is estimated that it should be able to beat seven or eight stones of wheat. Due to the lack of revenue for two consecutive years, the county has long issued a notice saying that it will be exempted from tax for one year this year. Ran'er said happily to Qinglian every time:

"Lian'er, we don't have to buy white noodles for the Chinese New Year this year, these wheat have been harvested, and if the rice is harvested again in autumn, it will be enough for us to eat for two years."

Planting two crops a year is the first time in Ran'er's memory.

"If you don't have to buy food to eat, sister, the money we sell for sour bamboo shoots will be enough for us to spend."

"Yes, I will have the money to buy new clothes for Lian'er to wear in the future."

Ran Er said to Qinglian in a long voice.

"If you want to buy it together, buy it separately for Lian'er, - don't."

Ran'er and Qinglian can discuss everything, but they can't buy things for Qinglian alone, even if it's a few pennies. If you don't buy double copies, Qinglian resolutely doesn't want to.

"The money for the sour bamboo shoots sold this year, except for the 400 yuan for Uncle Shun's congratulatory gift, the rest has not been touched."

"Save it, sister, and see how much money we can save in the future."

"Hehe, little money fan."

Ran Er pinched Qinglian's little cheeks, which were already quite fleshy, and teased.

"Lian'er is willing to be a money fan, a money fan is rich, but she can't be hungry."

Before sweeping the tomb during the Qingming Festival, Ran'er discussed with Qinglian that she would buy more sacrifices for her mother this year. Ran Er remembers that my mother likes to eat sweets, especially candied fruit. Although there are also shops in the village, they are not good, and when my mother is there, she never buys them from there. The two discussed for a long time, initially thinking of buying it in Yangzhuang, but they were afraid that there would be no good ones there, so they finally decided to go to Xiling Lake. Since the sisters met there, Qinglian was brought home by Ran'er and has never been there.

The day before the Qingming Festival, the two sisters got up early in the morning, did not run, did not read, simply ate breakfast, and set foot on the road to Xiling Lake. Qinglian still vaguely remembered, so she said to Ran'er:

"Sister asked Lian'er to lead the way and see if it was the right way."

"Okay, Lian'er will go ahead, my sister will follow, if you go wrong, beware of my sister punishing you."

"How is my sister going to punish Lian'er?"

"Punish Lian'er and copy the three-character scripture."

Ran Er thought about it and said. Qinglian listened to it and asked Ran'er with a smile:

"If Lian'er goes right, will my sister be rewarded?"

"Of course, there are awards, and rewards and punishments are my sister's motto to govern the family."

"Why has Lian'er never heard of this maxim of her sister?"

At this point, the two sisters laughed at the same time. The sound of crisp and cheerful laughter spread far and wide in the fields.

Twenty miles away, for the current sisters, is no longer a problem. In an hour's time, I came to the shore of Xiling Lake. Standing at the place where Ran'er sold eggs and the two sisters met, Qinglian asked Ran'er with some sadness:

"Sister, if I hadn't met my sister at the beginning, what would Lian'er be like now? Will it still be alive? ”

"Definitely, Lian'er is a rich and noble life. If she hadn't followed her sister, maybe Lian'er would have been the eldest lady in a wealthy family by now. ”

Hearing the sentimentality of Qinglian's tone, Ran'er half-jokingly comforted Qinglian.

"Lian'er doesn't like any eldest lady, Lian'er likes to be with her sister, and she is not afraid of starvation."

"No, I won't let Lian'er starve again."

"Lian'er letter. Let's go, go buy candied fruit for my mother. ”

Xiling Lake is not comparable to Yangzhuang, there are many grocery stores here, and the goods in them are also complete. Ran Er and Qinglian picked a larger grocery store and bought a pound of the best candied fruit from it. In addition, I also bought a pound of brown sugar and a pound of peach crisp, all of which are good. Ran Er remembered that her mother often had to drink brown sugar water. Every time, my mother would pour out a little for Ran'er to taste, and I still remember the sweetness of the brown sugar water.

The two sisters walked around the bustling streets of Xiling Lake for a while, and when they saw that it was almost noon, they said to Qinglian:

"Lian'er, let's go to that house to buy steamed buns to eat, shall we?"

"Okay, that bun is so fragrant."

Ran Er understood that it was not that the steamed buns in that house were delicious, but that Qinglian had been hungry for a day and a night at that time, and she would feel very sweet about anything she ate. When I came to the steamed bun shop, it turned out that the meat buns were three pennies, but now they have become three pennies. Ran Er didn't feel sorry for the money, so she bought ten buns for 30 yuan, and let the shopkeeper wrap them in two portions of oiled paper, and the two sisters each had five buns, strolling around the street while eating. Seeing a porridge shop, the two sisters went in again, drank a bowl of porridge, and then walked slowly towards the house.

As the sisters were walking along the road, they saw the yellowed wheat in the fields on both sides of the road, rising and falling in the wind like yellow waves. The air was filled with the fragrance of ears of wheat. Ran Er suddenly remembered two lines of poetry from the ancients, so she read them out casually:

The south wind blows barley yellow frequently

The jujube flowers have not fallen, and the shade is long

"My sister also teaches Lian'er to compose poetry, right?"

"Sister won't either, this is the verse of the ancients. My mother didn't let my sister learn to compose poetry, saying that girls who like poetry are easy to provoke. ”

"Oh, that's the case, that Lian'er doesn't learn anymore."

The next morning, the sisters carried a basket containing offerings for their mother, candied fruit, walnut crisp, boiled eggs, fried bean sprouts, and a clay pot of brown sugar water. Qingming should be a sad day, but the sisters are in a very good mood this year, and they believe that their mother has not left, but has been guarding them here, so today is also the first time that Ran'er and Qinglian have spoken to their mother in a tone without sadness.

The content of the words is almost all that the sisters have seen and heard. Wheat, Uncle Shun married a daughter-in-law, little swallows built a nest, how much did the sour bamboo shoots sell, etc. What the sisters are looking forward to the most is to see the paper ashes hovering and flying in the air after burning the paper money, which is a direct proof that the mother is by her side. Every time I was able to get my sisters' wish, and it was the same today.

"Sister, today's paper ashes have been flying for the longest time."

"Yes, I guess my mother heard all the good news, so I'm also happy."

"Well, definitely. In the future, we will tell my mother more good news so that my mother can be happy. ”

In May, Ran'er's paddy field is located in the sun, so the wheat ripens early, Li Shun came to see it once on the first day of junior high school, and said to Ran'er:

"Ran'er's wheat is almost there, the day after tomorrow, if the weather is good, I will come to help you harvest the wheat."

On the morning of the third day of the new year, the two sisters got up and looked up at the sky first, and when they saw that it was a sunny day, they hurriedly prepared sickles, ropes, and breakfast and lunch. Grandpa Li and Uncle Shun helped to harvest the wheat and said that they would have to eat a meal. After a while, sure enough, Li Shun, Grandpa Li, and Aunt Shun were followed behind. The sisters hurried out.

"Grandpa, Uncle Shun, little sister-in-law, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Ran'er is ready, let's have breakfast and then go to the ground. ”

"Yet, are you ready for breakfast? It's okay, I wanted to eat it when I got home. In this way, Ran'er is not hungry now, grandpa will go to the field to work first, and come back to eat later. ”

Hearing what Grandpa Li said, Ran'er asked Qinglian to boil water at home, heat the food in the pot, and followed Grandpa Li to the ground with a sickle. Two acres of wheat is not a big deal for Li Shun and Grandpa Li, not to mention the help of the little sister-in-law and Ran'er. When all the wheat had been cut and fell to the ground, the four of them came back for breakfast. Ran'er prepared quite a hearty one, a big bowl of scrambled eggs, a bowl of fried bean sprouts, a plate of pickled bamboo shoots, and a pot of rice.

After breakfast, Grandpa Li said to Ran'er:

"Grandpa will go back and clean up the field, and let your uncle Shun help pull the wheat into the field."

Cutting wheat is relatively easy, the most troublesome thing is that after the wheat is received in the yard, it must be dried, the ears of wheat must be pinched, it must be crushed with stones, it must be raised, and then the wheat grains are dried, and after it is dry, it is bagged and pulled home, which is considered to be harvested.

For four or five days in a row, Ran'er was busy in the field, Qinglian boiled water and cooked at home, and on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Ran'er's two acres of wheat were finally pulled back to the small courtyard, and Uncle Shun helped move them to the north wall of the east room and stacked them.

"Sister, how much wheat has been beaten in total?"

"Lian'er guess?"

Qinglian shook her head, Qinglian didn't have much of a concept of how much a stone was, so she naturally couldn't guess.

"There are more than nine stones, which is about the same as the yield of rice."

"Is it that we always eat white noodles and buy them for a year?"

"I can't eat it in a year. You can eat it for fifteen months, and you can still drop wheat bran. By the way, Lian'er, do you think we should raise pigs? ”

"When we went to the village that day, we saw that the family was producing pig manure, and my sister would be very tired from raising pigs."

"It's okay, Lian'er is responsible for feeding the pigs and chickens, and my sister is responsible for padding the soil and getting out the pig manure, how about it?"

The two sisters agreed to ask Uncle Shun to help invite a craftsman another day, and after a day's work, a pigsty was built. The sisters were afraid that the smell of the pigsty would be too great, so they built the pigsty outside the fence wall, in the southwest corner of the house. Not far from the grass pavilion, you can see clearly from sitting in the pavilion. There are more southeast winds here, but there are few southwest winds, so Ran'er chose there. Little pig seedlings, the sisters went to Yangzhuang to catch the market, and asked the shopkeeper Zhou to help choose. A little pig seedling cost less than two thousand dollars, and Qinglian felt distressed for several days. Every time you feed the pigs, you have to mutter:

"Xiaohuahua, if you don't eat well and don't grow meat well, but I'm sorry for my sister's two thousand dollars, I'll see if I can feed you when the time comes."

Xiaohua is the name given by Qinglian to the little pig seedling, which is a small pig with white spots on a black background.