In the grange of Gufu and in the fields of Xiaogujia Village and Dagujia Village, people are smiling and harvesting winter wheat.

The agricultural officials of Jinyang City came here two days in advance. He walked in the field with a blanket on his back, first pinched six or seven ears of wheat from the Gufu Grange and carefully harvested them, and then went to Xiaogujia Village and Dagujia Village, where he also pinched some ears of wheat and harvested them.

The local parent official Yu Xianfu is also there. He had brought an official with him early in the morning, and was standing in the scorching sun discussing the winter wheat harvest with the onlookers.

Xiao Zhixian, who arrived late, got out of the carriage and saw the golden ears of wheat and busy farmers in front of him, and he always had smile lines on his face.

Qingshu stayed in the county seat for three days and then said goodbye to Xiao Zhixian and Mrs. Xiao. Mrs. Xiao tried her best to keep it, and Qing Shu explained that the winter wheat in the field was about to be harvested, and she had to go back and watch it herself. Mrs. Xiao released her. At the same time, Xiao Zhixian asked Qingshu to leave one day late, because he wanted to personally send Qingshu back and see Qingshu's winter wheat by the way. Therefore, Qing Shu stayed in the county seat for one more day, and left the county seat with Xiao Zhixian when the city gate was opened in the early morning of the fifth day, and returned to Kangxi Town.

Xiao Zhixian was worried about the winter wheat in the ancient mansion, and came out without even drinking tea in the ancient mansion, and hurried to Zhuangzi.

Yu Xianfu greeted him and saluted Xiao Zhixian, who got off the carriage, "The student has seen the teacher." ”

"No need to be polite. Where is Lord Liu? Xiao Zhixian looked around to find the figure of the agricultural official, just to know how the winter wheat harvest on the Gufu Grange compared to last year? Of course, the harvest has only just begun, and the actual yield is not yet known. But he was anxious to hear what the agricultural official's estimated output was.

"Lord Liu went to the wheat field in Xiaogujia Village." Yu Xianfu knew what Xiao Zhixian wanted to ask, "Lord Liu has estimated that the yield per mu of wheat fields in Gufu is one to three liters higher than last year, and the yield of wheat per mu planted by the villagers of Dagujia Village and Xiaogujia Village is comparable to that of Gufu last year. ”

"Good, good, good." Xiao Zhixian was happy to hear this, and said three good things in a row. He went into the wheat field, bent down with a happy face, grabbed a cut straw, and rubbed the ears of wheat in his palm. The grain of wheat is separated from the ear of wheat, and the grain is large and full. He couldn't stop nodding.

Yu Xianfu followed Xiao Zhixian's side, took the aged wheat ear from the master's hand and dragged it in the palm of his hand, "My lord, this is last year's wheat ear, you compare and compare." ”

When Xiao Zhixian and Yu Xianfu were discussing wheat, not far away, Qing Shu, who came with Xiao Zhixian, stood on the field, looking at the four figures who were shouting and running into the wheat field, and instructed, "Be careful, don't touch the wheat grass that hasn't been cut, and don't step on the ears of wheat if you cut it." The wheat fell into the ground and could not be harvested. ”

Chen Qiaojiang shouted loudly without looking back, "I know, I know, my sister is too wordy." ”

Qingyang quit, "Who are you talking about?" ”

Luo Xiaorong and Hao, who were running after the two of them, followed and coaxed, "Yes, yes, who are you talking about?" ”

Chen Qiaojiang knew that he couldn't say this, so he turned around and ran to Steward Wu, who was bending down to cut wheat, "Give me the sickle, I'll try." ”

Steward Wu didn't dare to give him a sickle, and the action of cutting wheat in his hand did not stop, and he refused when he opened his mouth, "This is not good." The young lady has explained that the young masters are not allowed to touch the sickle. ”

Chen Qiaojiang cut and no longer worried about the sickle. Because he knows that Qing Shu has always been a talker, and if he can't say it, he can't do it. If he dares to be clever and disobey Qingshu's intentions, what awaits him is not only the punishment of twisting his ears, but also the punishment of holding a wooden board with the words "I was wrong" written on it and walking around the house three times. He felt that it didn't matter if he twisted his ears, and the man was not afraid of the pain. The other is not good, he thinks it is very humiliating, it is too shameful for a man.

At this time, the ox cart of Lamai Straw arrived.

Qingyang rushed to the front, "I'll come, I'll come, I'll lead the scalper." ”

Wu Xiaoshan agreed, handed the reins of the scalper to Qingyang, and then said, "Young master, the little one said stop, you have to let the scalper stop." The little one says go, you have to drive the scalper forward. ”

Qingyang said that he knew, and walked forward with the scalper in the car.

Luo Xiaorong grabbed a few wheat straws that had pinched off the ears of wheat in his hand and waved them to drive the cattle, wanting the cattle to go faster. The wheat straw hit the ox painlessly, and the ox ignored it, and walked slowly and slowly with its tail flicking.

Seeing that there was something interesting, Chen Qiaojiang immediately ran over, climbed onto the slowly moving ox cart, and then stood in the middle of the ox cart and shouted, "General Chen is here, and all the soldiers obey the order." ”

Qingyang listened, turned around and shouted, "Go down, go down, you can't even beat me, you can't even be a soldier, what kind of general is it?" ”

Chen Qiaojiang said with his nostrils facing the sky, "I am, I am the general." ”

Hao took the pieces of soil in the field and threw him at them, "Dad is the general, you are not." ”

"Stinky boy, you're looking for a fight." Chen Qiaojiang said and jumped off the ox cart.

Hao grimaced at him and turned to run away.

Qing Shu stood on the ground, happy to see them fighting, so he dismissed the idea of taking them into Zhuangzi, and instructed Steward Ding to keep an eye on them and not let them make trouble, and left half of his followers down, and he himself took half of his followers into Zhuangzi.

The men in the Zhuangzi were busy in the fields, and the women in the Zhuangzi were busy around the stove and around the well.

There are laundry and drying clothes by the well. In the simple thatched hut set up in the courtyard, there are people who pick and wash vegetables, some who handle pork that has just been delivered, and some who mix noodles. This thatched hut occupies half of the courtyard and consists of sixteen wooden pillars with thick bowl mouths and a thatched roof. If it was hot today, the men didn't want to crowd into the dining hall to eat, so they built this tent and came out. It is airy and cool, making it a great place to eat for those who work under the scorching sun.

Qing Shu did not enter the kitchen, but sat in the thatched hut and talked to the women. At this time, a woman in the kitchen shouted that it was time to bring water to the field, and asked a person to go in and look at the pot in which the broth was boiling. Guan Daniu's lady who was picking vegetables agreed, said to Qing Shu with a little restraint, and went into the kitchen. Suddenly, a stout woman of about twenty years old came out with two large wooden buckets of water on a flat pole. This is water that is boiled in the morning and dried for the work in the fields.

Xiao Juan looked at the size of the barrel and smacked her tongue and asked if she wanted to help. The woman refused, and in a rage she picked up the water and left.

Xiaojuan asked the sister-in-law Wu who cut the meat, "Whose lady is this?" ”

"The lady who has just passed the door in the aquatic life, she is strong, diligent, and very refreshing!"

Xiaojuan smiled and said to Qing Shu, "Miss, the slave maid looks, the strength of the aquatic lady is greater than that of the slave maid. Carrying two buckets of water that weighed, he didn't walk at all, and he was steady. ”

Qing Shu smiled and said nothing, but thought in his heart that Cheng Niangzi did have a vision.

More than a month ago, she asked Mrs. Cheng to help find more than 20 unmarried girls. Then half a month ago, he married five men on Zhuangzi and came back, and he also betrothed to nine other men. When the wheat is harvested and the good days are up, they will bring back the bride to the nine betrothed. Needless to say, this aquatic lady is one of the five brides who came back first.

The selected women are all girls from good families in nearby villages. For various reasons, they were not able to marry at the age of fifteen to eighteen, and became local old girls.

Let's just say this aquatic lady. She has a stout body, eats a lot, and is not outstanding. Therefore, until the age of 20, only two families came to the door to propose marriage. It's a pity that these two families have a very bad reputation, so her father and mother didn't respond.

Let's talk about Guan Da Niu's lady. She was the eldest daughter in the family, and when she was eleven years old, she lost her mother and was forced to grow up, take care of her five-year-old brother, and take care of all the household chores. After that, her father married again, and in the face of the same stepmother who was the same before and after people, she tried her best to fight for everything she could for her younger brother, and launched a thirteen-year-long rally battle with her stepmother, and became a twenty-four-year-old girl. It's too late for the stepmother to hate her, how can she really arrange the marriage for her. So, the younger brother, who had just started a family, begged Cheng Niangzi, hoping that her sister would have a good home.

Of the rest, eight or nine were because their families were too poor, and their parents really couldn't give a dowry, so they became old girls who couldn't get married. There was a girl who was divorced by her husband's family. The betrothed husband's family said that his son would marry her if he was admitted to Xiucai, so he let her wait until he was eighteen years old. It's just that as soon as the prospective husband was selected in the exam, he immediately disliked her background as a Zhuang family, and disliked her for not knowing a single word, so he retired his relatives. She was seriously ill in anger, and then the ones who came to propose marriage were either older widowers who could be her father, or idle chickens and dogs in the village. She swore not to marry these people, so she dragged her around and became a twenty-one-year-old girl.

Others dislike these women as old girls who can't get married, but Qingshu doesn't think so. Moreover, the men in her village were not young, between twenty and twenty-seven or eighteen, and she never thought of marrying them a little girl of fifteen or sixteen. Therefore, when she learned that these women were not bad and diligent and capable, she asked Cheng Niangzi to arrange the matter of seeing each other.

It was a market day. In front of the flavor snack shop and grocery store in Gufu, there are five stalls selling snacks. The people working on the stall were not the people in the shop, but the bachelors on the grange who obeyed the command of Gu Yuanhe and Steward Wu. The old girls who were selected by Mrs. Cheng either followed their fathers and mothers, or followed their brothers and sisters-in-law to catch the market. Guan Da Niu's lady is an exception, she came with her younger brother.

The girls didn't know about each other, and the bachelors on the Zhuangzi didn't know either. The girl's father or sister-in-law stopped in front of the stall and pretended to buy something while looking at the men who were busy working at the stall. If the girl's father or sister or sister-in-law has a match, they will ask the girl to come forward and buy something from the person in the match. At this time, the two sides will definitely meet each other.

After the girl bought something and retreated, the girl's father and brother and sister-in-law took her to stand in a conspicuous place, and then quietly showdown with the girl. At the same time, Steward Wu, who always pays attention to the situation, will call the person who is in the photo to Cheng Niangzi and pick the words away.

There is Cheng Niangzi, a matchmaker who threads the needle in the middle, if the man and the woman both look at each other, then the matchmaker is almost done. First close the eight characters, close the eight characters and then make a slap, skip some steps in the middle, hire and look at the days to get married.

Marriages are not done one by one, but are a bit like group weddings. The one who watched the days gave two good days, the first day said that there were five couples suitable for marriage, and the next day was that the rest were suitable for marriage. Therefore, half a month ago, there were five men in Zhuangzi who married together. The other betrothed marriages are to marry together after the wheat is harvested.

When the five couples in front of them were worshipping the church, Steward Gu and Mother Su insisted on letting Qing Shu sit in the high hall, but Qing Shu resolutely refused. Finally, Mr. Lu sat on the top and received this bow from the newlyweds.

Qing Shu sat in the shade of the thatched hut to help pick vegetables, and from time to time glanced at the brides who were working hard. She was very satisfied with Cheng Niangzi's vision, and at the same time pondered about Steward Wu's marriage.

Steward Wu's father and mother once betrothed to Steward Wu. It's just that there was a flood in Steward Wu's hometown that year, and half of the people in the village died in this disaster, and Steward Wu's fiancée did not escape. Disasters are often followed by plagues or contagious diseases. When Steward Wu heard the news of the disaster in his hometown and rushed back, his sick father and brother were already helpless. In the end, he buried his father and brother, and left his hometown with his sister-in-law and nephew Wu Xiaoshan.

Now twenty-five-year-old Steward Wu should solve a lifelong matter. Thinking of this, Qing Shu looked at Sister-in-law Wu.

Sister-in-law Wu is in her thirties, thin, good-natured and doesn't talk much, she is a very gentle woman. She is Wu Xiaoshan's mother and Wu's sister-in-law.

Qing Shu watched her cut out a thin and well-proportioned slice of meat, "Sister-in-law Wu, what kind of lady do you think you should find for Steward Wu?" ”

Sister-in-law Wu's action of cutting meat immediately stopped, and she looked at Qing Shu eagerly, "Miss, you ...... You, you're going to kiss my brother? ”

Seeing her excited like this, Qing Shu couldn't help laughing and nodded.

Sister-in-law Wu was overjoyed, and as soon as the kitchen knife was put down, she was a little nervous. She looked left and right, quickly pointed to the delicate-looking bride who was holding Chai He over, and said to Qing Shu in a low voice, "Miss, Brother Hammer likes to show off his temperament and good temper like this." ”

When Qing Shu heard this, he observed the bride that Sister-in-law Wu was referring to.

Sister-in-law Wu saw that the young lady stopped talking, so she returned to her original position and took a kitchen knife to cut the remaining bit of meat.

After a while, Qing Shu retracted his gaze, asked Xiao Juan to take some processed meat, noodles, vegetables and other ingredients from here, and then moved to the small courtyard where he lived when he came occasionally. Although the small courtyard is small, there is also a small kitchen, and there is no shortage of pots and pans in the small kitchen. Although he came in a hurry, he also brought some seasoning and dried bamboo shoots on the carriage. She sent Xiaoya to fetch the seasonings on the carriage, and asked Xiaojuan to fetch water to clean the pots and pans that had not been used for a while.

Xiao Zhixian and Yu Xianfu were both in the fields, she didn't plan to prepare a sumptuous feast, and wanted to entertain them with a peasant dish of two dishes, one soup and one pickle. There is some work to be done on the staple food, and she is going to cook finger cakes, and they will definitely like it in Qingyang.

When the kitchen was cleaned up and the seasonings were complete, she began to prepare lunch. At this time, how did she know that there was a rice rubber, on the way to come.