CHAPTER 109: CHAPTER 109: DAILY FAMILY CHORES

After eating and drinking their fill, Jiang Hu and Jiang Yu directly took two stools and joined them together, taking a nap under the eaves.

The sun hadn’t reached here yet, and a gentle breeze blew by, making it much more comfortable than inside the house.

Last summer, Xiaomi and Tiedan stopped sleeping with their parents and instead started sleeping with their older brother and sister.

Xiaomi yawned and returned to bed, where her second sister was already asleep.

Understandably, her second sister was much more tired than her. Wheat was harvested directly with the ears taken home, spread on an oilcloth to dry, and then threshed with a flail.

The yard was small and the area covered by the oilcloth was limited, so the wheat ears were a bit thick, and her second sister flipped them over every once in a while.

Only after these were completely dried could they start threshing.

Seeing her second sister’s sun-reddened cheeks, Xiaomi felt sorry. She had nourished her family with Spiritual Spring water for two years, making them fair and tender, but after a busy farming season, they all turned into little dark kids.

But fortunately, after this period, they would slowly recover.

Second Mom lifted the door curtain and came in, seeing Xiaomi with big eyes open, looking at her second sister. She laughed softly, "Xiaomi, not asleep yet? Take a rest, you have to help this afternoon."

Xiaomi closed her eyes, "Mom, you should rest too."

This was a tiring period, not just for their family, but everyone within ten miles around was busy with harvesting. If the crops weren’t brought home, they really weren’t considered harvested.

Second Mom checked on Tiedan and then returned to her room for a nap.

Before sleeping, she thought about how the kids at home were gradually growing up, and with the two big ones, Tiedan and the eldest, sharing a bed, it was getting a bit cramped.

Maybe, after getting through this busy period, they should consider building a new house.

After the wheat was harvested, the little ones looked after the heap at home, turning the drying wheat spread every so often, while Jiang Hu and Second Mom continued cutting rape.

The rape didn’t need to be carried home, as there wasn’t enough space. Rape stalks were tall, so you just needed to cut a large bundle and set them on the stalks to dry for a few days. Then you could take a flail and oilcloth to the field for threshing.

This year, besides the Jiang family, others in the village also planted some rape, though not as much as the Jiangs.

When all this busyness finally wrapped up, half a month had already passed.

The constables who collected the grain tax consistently showed up on time, leaving Fu’an Village fully loaded.

"Xiaomi, want to go to the mountains?" Jiang Hu called out to her while carrying a bundle of rape stalks back and seeing Xiaomi boredly petting a cat.

After the wheat was harvested, older brother Jiang Yu returned to school, riding with Jiang Hu on the ox cart to town in the morning and walking back in the afternoon.

The journey wasn’t short, but Jiang Yu never complained of being tired.

Aside from Jiang Yu, someone else from the village went to school with him—Liu Yang’s oldest son, Liu Hai.

Now Liu Yang basically did everything like the Jiang family. Jiang Hu sent his son to school, so he gritted his teeth and sent his too.

Not just this one, but the second one will also go in the future!

Oh right, before last winter, Wang Xiang had another son, who is now seven or eight months old.

Upon hearing Jiang Hu’s voice, Xiaomi instantly jumped up and ran over to him, "I want to, I want to, is Daddy going to hunt today?"

Though the family kept plenty of wild chickens and rabbits, setting traps in the mountains in their free time was pretty fun too.

"Going to cut some bamboo and see if there’s good timber. When this autumn rolls around, we’ll build a new house."

Second Mom scooped a bowl of water and handed it to Jiang Hu to quench his thirst first, "What’s the rush, we just finished up. Let’s rest for a few days, it’s still early to build a house."

Jiang Hu drank the water and chuckled, "No rush. The fields are done and being idle is still idle."

Then he picked up a hunter’s knife and a basket, and waved at Xiaomi, "Come on, let’s go to the mountains."

Xiaomi cheered and trotted along, unconcerned about the heat, even calling out, "Xiao Hei, Xiao Mi, hurry up to the mountains!"

Xiao Hei, who was napping under the eaves, jumped up at once, and Xiao Mi leapt onto his back, being carried as they chased after Jiang Hu and Xiaomi.

Second Mom shook her head watching, it’s really something, going out in the heat of the day shouldn’t bother them.

Among so many people in the family, only this father-daughter duo loved running around, and not the kind of wandering into the village, but rather enjoying frolicking all over the mountains and fields.

It was better when the children were young. Now that Xiaomi was older, she didn’t need an adult to follow her anymore, doing her own thing with Xiao Hei and Xiao Mi, disappearing in a flash.

Turning her head, she saw Jiang Xiaoxue making clothes under the eaves, went over to sit next to her, "How long have you been sewing? Don’t strain your eyes, it’ll be hard to see when you get older."

Jiang Xiaoxue looked at Second Mom and smiled broadly, "It’s no big deal, Mom, I just started a while ago. My little sister said not to sew when it’s too dark, sew for a while, then rest your eyes, and it won’t be hard to see."

Even though Xiaomi was only two years old, everyone basically listened to what she said.

Second Mom picked up the things in Jiang Xiaoxue’s bamboo basket, surprised, "Are you making clothes for Xiaomi?"

Jiang Xiaoxue nodded, "Mm, Xiaomi doesn’t like wearing skirts, so I’m making pants for her too."

Second Mom looked it over back and forth a few times, "Xiaoxue is really amazing, soon you’ll be better than mom."

She had just started learning to use a needle last year, and now she could already make clothes quite well.

Flattered, Jiang Xiaoxue blushed deeply, "It’s really Mom who’s amazing, if it weren’t for your teaching, I wouldn’t know how."

Second Mom placed the clothes back in Jiang Xiaoxue’s bamboo basket thoughtfully, "Xiaomi mentioned it would be nice to buy an embroidery book. It looks like it’s worth getting for you."

Jiang Xiaoxue was delighted at first, but then quickly shook her head, "No, no, books are expensive, and it’s of no use, better to buy for my big brother, his study is important."

Big brother had only bought a few books for school and spent several taels of silver; they were too expensive, not to mention that an embroidery book wouldn’t help with gaining scholarly rank.

Second Mom said, "How would it be useless? Xiaoxue is so good at making clothes, learning embroidery and mastering it can even supplement the household. It’s said that girls who can do embroidery earn quite a bit."

The more Second Mom thought about it, the more it made sense, "When your dad comes back, I’ll discuss it with him. You’re still young, start learning slowly. In the future if you marry, you can earn money yourself to supplement the household; your in-laws and husband will treat you with respect."

Even though Jiang Xiaoxue was only five years old, she understood what marrying meant, her face turned red, and she didn’t oppose buying the book, leaving it to her mom.

Then Second Mom started pointing out some areas for improvement to Jiang Xiaoxue on the side. Although she didn’t know embroidery, she was pretty good at making clothes.

The mother and daughter were both self-taught and talented in needlework, quite the opposite of Xiaomi who had trouble even threading a needle.