Chapter 22: 222. Snatch a Little Leisure from a Busy Life (1)

Their eighty mu of land lied in the innermost on the east side of the village, just under the foot of Dagong Mountain. After deciding to plant late rice, they instantly reallocated the hands at home. Except Ling Yun who had never done any farm work and had to stay home to serve the old couple and the few footboys, other labors, be it men or women, all got devoted into the work of making jam and going up to the mountains to collect rotten leaves and ploughing the field. Ling Jingpeng was responsible for the former part of the job, while Ling Chenglong led the latter part of the job. And Ling Jingxuan sank himself into the work of growing seedlings, totally burying himself in number two factory. And Yan Shengrui had to run among three sides. He’d go each side whenever he was needed. During this time, he also went to town to buy three cows from Guarantor Liu. The whole family was at full blast.

In ordinary time, if their action was so big, they would certainly attract a lot of the villagers to taunt, after all, no one had ever tried planting late rice. Some, like Ling Chenglong, even had never heard of it. Of course no one would believe it. But recently, the whole Ling village was stuck in the nightmare of a plague, especially after three days, they heard that Ling Xiaoying also got blisters all over her body, which made them more horrified, only afraid that they might get infected. And under the lead of the patriarch and those elders, they went to the old xiucai’s place insisting on burning Lady Jiang and her daughter to death. Even the village head Ling Qicai couldn’t stop them. And it seemed that Ling Qiyun’s xiucai title also didn’t work. The old Ling family had fall into an unprecedented mess.

After making sure that they’d buy land to plant the late rice with Ling Jingxuan’s family, Zhao Dalong and Han Fei took the time during the noon break to go to town and bought ten mu of paddy land from Guarantor Liu. And in recent days, they also didn’t go up the mountains to help. Every day, they’d go to the field with Ling Chenglong and others. Only after handling the eighty mu of land of Ling Jingxuan’s family did they start to be busy with their own land.

It was easy to get the rotten leaves, plus they got so many hands, plus four cows together to plough. Only a dozen days, including Zhao Dalong and Han Fei’s ten mu of land, they had finished ploughing all the ninety mu of land. Meanwhile, since the temperature was good, with the assistance of the Crescent Spring water, the supposed thirty days’ period for growing seedlings had been great shortened. Now the about ten millimeters high green seedlings had overspread the whole number two factory. In five or six days, they could be transplanted into the field.

“I hope the weather will be a little better this year. Our late rice is at the mercy of heaven.”

For the eighty mu of land, Ling Chenglong had taken great pains. He especially asked someone to buy him a few books on the rice planting in the south from town. During the day, he’d run between the field and the mountains. And at night, he’d read the books under the oil lamp, trying his best to study all knowledge about late rice. And because of that, he learnt that people usually breed the seedlings in July, plant in August, and harvest around the middle of October. Now they were already twenty days late. If the weather was a little better, harvesting wouldn’t be a problem. On the contrary, they’d lose everything.

“Look at how anxious you are these days. You even got blisters all over your mouth. Drink some cordate houttuynia tea to relieve your internal heat. Now that we have decided to do it, what’s the use of being anxious? Didn’t Jingxuan just say? The seedlings can be transplanted in a few days. We are just twenty days late. It’s no big deal.”

Looking at the blisters on his mouth heartbrokenly, Lady Wang handed him a cup of tea while nagging. Recently she also changed her coarse linen clothes again and went out to work with them. But they women were only responsible for collecting the rotten leaves, while men carried them down the mountain in baskets. So they didn’t have to spend much strength. For the late rice this time, even the old couple, Wang Jinyu and his sons also didn’t stay idle. Wang Ping’an even asked someone to send a message back home to ask his brothers to process a few mu of land to try the late rice. Whether they’d succeed or not, they wouldn’t lose much even if they failed. But what if they made it?

“How can I not be anxious? It isn’t a small amount of money for the seeds of eighty mu of land. Plus, we have put so many hands into this. If those hands go to pick wild fruit, how much jam can we make?”

Ling Chenglong was really under a lot of pressure. A honest rough man was afraid of nothing, but only afraid to drag others down.

“Dad, you’ll never earn enough money. We didn’t delay the job on the side of jam making. So don’t overthink things. I promise that if there’s no huge problem of the weather, we will definitely have a good harvest.”

Hearing their conversation, Ling Jingxuan who was having some small talk with Ling Jingxuan appeased him. Seeing that his dad was so anxious these days, he felt both sorry and helpless, only didn’t tell him their real family properties on impulse. But after a second thought, if his dad knew they could earn a lot of money making jam but still slowed it down to help him grow late rice, he’d be more anxious. So he dropped that idea.

“Well, I know, it’s just…”

“Why are you behaving like a woman? Since we already did it, what’s the use of being anxious?”

Before he finished words, the old man dropped his chopsticks hard, eyes wide opened. Ling Chenglong, who had always been afraid of him, reflectively shrank his body, and no longer dared to say another word. Ling Jingxuan and others couldn’t help snickering. This is called ‘there is always one thing to overcome another’. It worked much better than their saliva-wasting exhorting.

“Dad!”

Looking at her poor husband, Lady Wang stopped her dad. Chenglong is all for this family!

“Well, old man, say no more, Chenglong has already done good enough.”

Seeing that her husband was still bulging his eyes, Lady Sun quietly pulled the lower hem of his robes, and then turned to Ling Chenglong, “Chenglong, don’t take it to your heart. You know him, always so hot-tempered.”

“Hmm, mom, I know. Dad, don’t be angry, drink a cup of wine to dissipate your anger.”

With her in the middle to ease the atmosphere, Ling Chenglong had to stand up to pour a cup of wine to please him. That was his wife’s father, his father-in-law. What could he do?