The village chief looked around at the surrounding villagers.
Seeing their eyes full of hope and eagerness, I knew that this matter had already been successful without having to waste any time on my own.
However, he really didn't know if the girl would get paid for teaching people tricks. After all, if the fish is raised well, not only for his own rations, but also for selling it in the town, he can make a lot of money. Yes. For the villagers, this is a big gain.
Moreover, things that come for free are always not cherished. Once they are taken care of, if something goes wrong, I'm afraid there will be another muddy lawsuit.
The village chief raised his hand and pressed it down, and said to the villagers who were waiting for his answer, "Don't worry, wait for ten days after the paddy fields where fish are raised by the banker and the Zhang family have harvested. We are farmers, but Food is still the most important thing.”
This was not unreasonable. At least some of the excited people calmed down a little and stopped chasing him to ask about learning the method.
"If this method of raising fish does not affect the grain harvest, then I will go out of my way to help you and ask the farmer's girl if she is willing to teach you this recipe."
When the village chief said this, everyone was satisfied. Who knew that Zhuang Keqing and her husband Shen Ling had been taken care of by the village chief, and as long as he was willing to come forward, the girl would not pay a high price to embarrass them.
"Then please leave it to the village chief!"
The surrounding villagers smiled more sincerely, and they all stepped forward to help the village chief down, but the old man waved his way and gave way.
"You guys should go back first. If anyone is willing to come to the farmer to help on the rice harvest day, please let me know."
If the farmer harvests two acres of paddy field by himself, it will probably take him two days to harvest it, but if he is a skilled man, he can almost harvest it in one day.
At this time, everyone was concerned about the yield of food in the fish fields, and they were also thinking about the methods of the fish fields. They wanted to leave a good impression on the farmer, and they even said they would help.
The village chief did not expect the villagers to be so enthusiastic, so he randomly selected four people and asked them to come to help with the harvest.
The fish from the Zhang family were harvested and the fish baskets were carried away. Everyone got the village chief's assurance and left happily. However, the village chief did not go home when he got off the field. Instead, he walked in the direction of the banker's house.
"Dad, aren't you going back?"
Li You couldn't figure out what his father was thinking, but the old man had been running away for a long time and kept on going, so he didn't want to tire himself out.
"No reply, no reply!" The village chief thought his son's question was annoying, so he just waved his hand and said, "You come with me to the banker again."
At that time, Zhuang Keqing was killing fish, Qin Manzhi took Aman to deliver fish to Li Guihua, and Shen Ling practiced left-hand calligraphy on the stone slab.
Killing fish was really not an easy job. Zhuang Keqing was not skilled and it took him a long time to cut open five fish.
Throwing the processed fish into the basin, she caught another one and was about to scale it when she heard the door to the small courtyard opened.
She looked up and saw that the village chief, who had been gone for a while, was back.
"Grandpa village chief?"
After throwing away the fish in his hand, Zhuang Keqing washed his hands in the water and stood up.
The village chief, on the other hand, got straight to the point and asked, "Would you like to teach the village about your method of raising fish in rice fields?"
Zhuang Keqing was stunned for a moment when she was asked. She then responded and smiled, "Originally, my two acres of paddy fields were used as experimental fields. Now that the harvest is good, it proves that the method is feasible. I am willing to share it with everyone."
"No cash?"
"Why do you need to collect money?"
The village chief's cloudy eyes stared at the girl's clear and transparent amber eyes. After a long time, he nodded repeatedly and laughed heartily, "It is indeed good. I saw it right."
"I have already arranged the rice harvest at your house, but someone will come to help you, so you don't need to worry about it anymore."
As the village chief spoke, he raised his legs to leave. Zhuang Keqing quickly picked up a few more fish and said, "There are so many at home that I can't finish them all at once. I need your help."
"You girl, you're used to doing favors." The village chief laughed and cursed, and asked Li You to pick up the fish before he really left.
That night, every household in the village was talking about fish farming in rice fields. Some even excitedly counted the fish production of their own rice fields. This thought made them so happy that they could not sleep.
The days flew by, and it was just a blink of an eye to see the rice ears turn from green to yellow. That morning, while Zhuang Keqing's family was still having breakfast, four men came to the door of their small courtyard.
He said he was here to help with the rice harvest.
Some villagers have started to harvest rice recently. Zhuang Keqing was afraid of rain, so she planned to go to the fields to harvest rice in the past two days. Although the village chief had said that he had arranged it for her before, she wanted to not always rely on others for things. Yesterday she
Tongniang and Aling agreed to get up early to work today.
Even the farm tools had been placed in the yard. I just planned to start working after dinner, but unexpectedly, helpers came.
Two of the four men who came here were unknown to each other. One of them was Liu Da from the Liu family, and the other one didn't know whether to say he was familiar with them or not.
"Girl, second uncle just wants to help." Zhuang Er stood at the door, smiling honestly.
Zhuang Keqing didn't have any special dislike for Zhuang Er. She knew that this second uncle didn't have any evil intentions and didn't know how to look at people's faces. He spoke more straightforwardly and didn't have any bad intentions in his heart, unlike Zhuang San and her cheap nanny.
Don't hit the smiling person with your hand.
After all, people are helping out with good intentions, and there is no need to do anything, just treat it as a normal relationship.
Qin Manzhi also saw Zhuang Er. She was stunned for a moment, then looked at her daughter's expression and understood.
She came forward to ask a few people to sit down and rest for a while, but the men shook their heads and just said that they had come to ask them to clean up the yard first. After a while, the rice came back and they had to hurry up and crush it.
After a few people finished speaking, they left. Zhuang Keqing saw that they all had their own sickles attached to their waists, and it seemed that they had all been prepared in advance.
"Mom, our family has to cook two more dishes for lunch, and the rice needs to be simmered more."
"Well, that's what it should be." Qin Manzhi nodded.
The farmland at home is small, and the four of them can almost finish it in half a day, and it won't last past the afternoon at the latest. There is no reason for people to come to help themselves, and there is no reason to let people go back hungry.
So after breakfast, Qin Manzhi took Aman on his back and helped Zhuang Keqing in the kitchen while Shen Ling cleaned the yard.
Since we have to grind rice later, the yard needs to be swept clean first, then flushed with water, and then the rice can be put in after it dries.
Shen Ling swept carefully. Although he had read some agricultural books before, he had never personally experienced the busy farming season, and he did not know how the various processes were done. He only followed Zhuang Keqing's instructions step by step.
The sun was quite good today, and the ground where the water washed over dried up soon after, but it was just hard work for the people working in the fields.
"Aling, why don't you go deliver some mung bean soup to the uncles who are helping in the fields?" Seeing that Shen Ling was busy, Zhuang Keqing shouted, "It's still a bit hot today, so we have to let people drink water, right?"
Shen Ling nodded, went into the kitchen, picked up the earthen pots, counted four more bowls, stacked them together, tied them with ropes, and left the house.
Along the way, there are golden rice ears hanging down on the roadside. Farmers wearing straw hats are bending down to work in the fields. At this time, you can tell which one is doing good work and which one is doing rough work.
If it is done well, the mowed fields will be neatly arranged in ridges, and the rice stubbles will be almost the same height. If it is done poorly, the fields will look like dogs have gnawed them, and they will be ugly and tight.
When Shen Ling came to the banker's farmland, he saw only four men, working in groups of two, busy in the fields without raising their heads. Bundles of rice were already piled on the edge of the fields.
At this rate, we should be able to finish it before noon.
Zhuang Er finished mowing a ridge and was about to tie it up. When he looked up, he saw Shen Ling standing on the ridge of the field and smiled and said hello.
"Niece-in-law, why are you here? It's hot and you should go back quickly."
Niece-in-law?
Shen Ling has never met Zhuang Er, but Zhuang Keqing mentioned her two brothers from her father's side, so she immediately made some guesses.
"Second uncle, Ke'er asked me to bring mung bean soup. You guys can drink some first to quench your thirst."
Although he didn't often interact with the villagers, Shen Ling still had a lot of due etiquette. He called a few people who were working to take a break, lined up the large porcelain bowls, filled them with mung bean soup and handed them over.
These men originally looked down upon the banker's son-in-law. They felt that the boy was too thin, could not lift his shoulders or lift his hands, and did not look like he could do farm work. I don't know what trick was used to trick the mother and father. The woman, who had been taken advantage of for no reason, still willingly asked him to continue his studies.
But now that I have met a real person and seen the other person's conversation and behavior, I feel that my thoughts are superficial.
This boy is really different from the mud-legged ones like them. If he were his son-in-law, he would definitely ask for permission to continue studying.
