It's June in a blink of an eye, and the weather is getting hotter and hotter. The scorching sun was in the sky for several days, and the two little ones in the family did not go out for several days, and were detained at home all day.

Shen's father took Shen Jinqian and the two brothers to go out to work in the fields before dawn for several days. When it doesn't rain, and the crops in the field are dry, people can only carry water and carry it into the field bucket by bucket.

Fortunately, Shanghe Village is close to the water source, and most of the Shen family's land is close to the water, which is much more convenient than other people's homes.

"Sister-in-law, I want to go out and play." Shen He found Liu Bicao who was taking care of the vegetable garden in the backyard.

Looking up at the sun hanging in the sky, for some reason, this year's summer came early, and it was only June, and it was too hot, let alone in July and August.

Thinking that she hadn't gone out for a few days, Liu Bicao thought for a while: "Okay, but later, when the sun goes down, my sister-in-law will take you and my little brother to the pond, and let's go pick lotus pods to eat." ”

As soon as he heard that he could pick lotus pods to eat, Shen He was very happy, and he stopped pestering the willow grass, and excitedly went to find Shen Jinyan, who was reading in the house.

It was dark late in the summer, and after Liu Bicao made the family's dinner, she waited for a while before going out with the two little ones.

Shen's father and they all took advantage of the fact that it was not dark and not so hot, so they all worked more in the field, and Shen's mother also went to the field to help.

"Bicao, where is this going?" Lizheng's daughter-in-law greeted Liu Bicao from a distance.

"Hello auntie." Shen He and Shen Jinyan, brother and sister, greeted her with a smile.

"Auntie, are you going back to cooking? Xiao He's greedy, so I'll take the two of them to the pond to pick lotus flowers. Liu Bicao replied to her softly.

Li Zheng's daughter-in-law was busy going home to cook the family's meal, and after saying a few words to Liu Bicao, she hurried home.

"Wow, sister-in-law, the flowers are blooming, can you pick them back?" Seeing the lotus flowers in the pond blooming, Shen He was so happy that he only clapped his hands.

Liu Bicao looked at the lotus flowers in the pond, some were open, some were budding, and some were still a small flower bone.

"Okay, we will pick the lotus pods, let's pick the lotus flowers again, but we can't pick more, otherwise the lotus root below will be broken." Liu Bicao agreed, touching Shen He's hair that was getting softer and smoother.

Shen He and Shen Jinyan nodded sensibly and followed Liu Bicao. Because she was carrying two children, Liu Bicao just started to the lotus canopy around the pond and put the picked lotus canopy into the basket that Shen Jinyan was carrying.

Shen He picked two lotus flowers and held them in his hands, Liu Bicao thought that the weather was getting bigger and bigger, so he picked the lotus leaves and went back, dried them to soak in water and drink.

In his left hand, he held a basket full of things, and in his right hand, he held Shen He, who was holding flowers in his hand.

"Yo, Xiaohe, are you holding beautiful flowers or are you beautiful?" It's not early at this time, and people in the village come and go, seeing Shen He's cuteness, they can't help but joke.

Shen He tilted his head and thought for a while: "My sister-in-law is the most beautiful." ”

"Haha, look at your little mouth, is your sister-in-law giving you candy, so good at talking."

Shen He heard that he was saying that she was good, and he was a little embarrassed to hide behind Liu Bicao.

"Sister-in-law Shunda, this is the lotus pod I just picked, it's fresh, take it back and add a snack to the second pillar of the big pillar." Liu Bicao took out a few lotus flowers from the basket and gave them to Shunda's sister-in-law.

Shunda's sister-in-law's family has a large population, and there is a mother-in-law on the top, and there are concubines on the left and right, life is not easy, and she also wants to add snacks to the two boys in the family, but she is embarrassed.

"Sister-in-law, you're welcome, speaking of which, I'm still asking my sister-in-law for help."

Hearing Liu Bicao say that she asked for help with something, Shunda's sister-in-law also took the lotus pod, "You are so polite, as long as we do everything." ”

Liu Bicao smiled, "That's the case, I heard that my sister-in-law has jujube saplings at home, and the family wants to plant two in the yard of the house, so I don't ask my sister-in-law's family for two." ”

Shunda's sister-in-law has many jujube saplings, and she doesn't plant them at home. He promised Liu Bicao to give her two and said that he would go to the house to dig at home.

After walking away, Shen Jinyan looked at Liu Bicao, as if he had something to say.

"What's wrong? Do you have something to say to your sister-in-law? ”

"Sister-in-law, no one in the family wants to plant jujube trees, why does sister-in-law say that?"

Liu Bicao looked at Shen Jinyan with an incomprehensible expression, and patiently followed the temptation: "When my sister-in-law didn't say that I wanted a jujube tree at the beginning, did my sister-in-law Shunda pick up the lotus pod?" ”

Shen Jinyan didn't answer immediately, but thought about it and shook his head: "No." Then he said, "It was my sister-in-law who asked for the jujube tree and then Shunda's sister-in-law took over the lotus pod." ”

Liu Bicao nodded and agreed: "Then do you know why?" ”

"I don't know."

"Nothing is done, Shunda's sister-in-law usually doesn't have a particularly close relationship with our family, so she won't ask for our things for no reason. Shunda's sister-in-law is not a person who can be greedy for small gains, so she will be embarrassed to ask for it. ”

"However, after my sister-in-law offered to ask for her jujube tree, my sister-in-law Shunda felt that she had helped us, so she asked for a lotus pod."

"Yes, that's great. That's people coming and going. You see, in normal times, we and Aunt Chen's family are like this, and the exchanges between people cannot only ask for but also pay, and of course they can't just give. ”

Shen Jinyan nodded, indicating that he understood what Liu Bicao said.

Liu Bicao took the two of them to the field, and by the way, they went home with Shen's father and Shen's mother.

"Dad, my mother is home for dinner." Shen He stood on the ridge and shouted Shen Father and Shen Mother in the center of the ground. Shen Jinqian and Shen Jinxin went to fetch water at this time.

Shen's father and Shen's mother heard Shen He's shout, and straightened up in response: "Let's leave when your eldest brother and second brother come back." ”

Seeing this, Liu Bicao put down the basket and went to help. Shen He and the others were guarding the basket on it.

After a while, Shen Jinqian and Shen Jinxin came back with water.

"Why are you here?" Shen Jinqian walked to Liu Bicao's side.

Seeing that he was covered with sweat, Liu Bicao wiped him with his sleeve.

"I'll take Xiaohe and Jinyan to the pond to pick lotus flowers, and come over by the way to wait for you to go home for dinner."

A few people didn't let Shen He and Shen Jinyan wait, and they quickly did the last remaining work in the field, packed up their things and went home.

Shen Mei, who went home first, watched a few people come back, and hurriedly went to the kitchen to fetch hot water to wash their hands and faces for a few people.

The weather was hot, so the table was placed in the yard, Shen Mei and Liu Bicao set up the dishes and chopsticks, and Shen's father and Shen mother also washed it, just to start eating.

"Dad, how long will it take to work in the field?" During the meal, Shen Mei asked, these days, Shen's father and Shen Jinqian's brothers both go out early and return late.

Father Shen sighed, "There was only a snow disaster last year, I just hope there won't be a drought this year." ”

"Dad, I heard from Third Uncle Chen that there have been droughts before?" Shen Jinxin was hungry, shaved a few mouthfuls of rice, and devoured it. Shen He was afraid that he would choke, so he hurriedly scooped a bowl of soup for him.

Father Shen didn't speak for a long time, maybe he remembered the drought that Shen Jinxin said.

But Shen's mother opened her mouth: "It was many years ago, and only your eldest brother was born in the family, and there is no you." There was no harvest of the crops, there was famine everywhere, and there was ...... Alas, that's how we fled here. ”

"Is it really that serious? Will it be ...... this year?" asked Liu Bicao worriedly.

Shen Jinqian sandwiched the food for her, "It's not clear now, let's see it in a while, if it doesn't rain again, it's not clear." ”

"God still doesn't let people live, it's either heavy snow or drought." Shen He took a heavy bite of the dish and chewed hard, as if he was treating the dish as God.

Shen Jinxin snorted: "What's this, I also heard that there was a flood, and that one was even more serious, and it washed away all the houses." ”

"Alas, natural disasters are inevitable, and the important thing is that some people take advantage of natural disasters to cause man-made disasters." Father Shen sighed heavily.

Shen Jinqian was also frowning, thoughtful, not knowing what he was thinking.