CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 67: XIAOMI KNOWS NOTHING

With the ox cart, Jiang Hu felt much more at ease; the journey that used to take nearly three hours round trip was shortened to just two hours.

No need to wake up so early, and not as tiring either. Jiang Hu’s energy improved a lot, and he could tend to the crops in the field more.

Although he had the ox cart, Jiang Hu didn’t take his wife and children to town every few days. After all, the trip wasn’t short, and he didn’t dare to leave anyone alone at home. Bringing so many kids to town was no small task.

Besides, the town was just that, having been there twice took away any novelty.

Originally, corn had a shorter growth cycle than sorghum and matured earlier, but sorghum seeds were distributed by the court and planted over a month earlier.

By the end of August, during the peak of summer, the corn was ripe, and the sorghum was nearly ready for harvest.

Xiaomi was seven months old and could already stand while holding onto things, walking shakily, and speaking more clearly and fluently than before.

Tiedan wasn’t there yet, but he could call out "dad" and "mom" in simple words, or crawl around the ground without a problem.

The little guy whom they feared wouldn’t survive was now not only healthy and chubby, but even started speaking earlier than other babies.

Today was very hot, but luckily the thatched roof provided shade and ventilation. Xiaomi wore little cloth shoes made by her mother and slowly made her way toward the kitchen, holding onto the wall.

Tiedan, dressed in patched clothes, crawled around happily on the ground, chasing chickens and catching bugs.

It wasn’t that the second mother played favorites, with Xiaomi wearing unpatched clothes while Tiedan wore old, patched ones, it was just that it was unaffordable.

Xiaomi mostly just practiced crawling on the bed, while Tiedan was different; once he got nimble, he’d slip onto the ground all the time, crawling everywhere.

The new clothes originally made for the siblings, Xiaomi’s were still brand new, but Tiedan’s had become tattered and worn.

The main issue was that there wasn’t anyone extra in the family to care for the kids. Erni could only watch over them at most, not hold them in her arms.

Over time, Tiedan’s clothes became ragged.

"Xiaomi, why did you come over again? Didn’t I tell you to play outside? The kitchen’s hot."

The second mother came out of the kitchen, bent down, picked up Xiaomi, walked quickly, and placed her back under the eaves by the bedroom door.

The eaves were already piled with corn, and Erni was shelling the corn kernels while Tiedan played beside her.

Tiedan was a boy, still wearing crotchless pants, while Xiaomi was properly dressed in a little skirt.

Xiaomi had made it to the kitchen door with difficulty, only to be carried back by her mother in a few steps, leaving her slumped and powerless.

"Mother, Xiaomi wants to watch you cook."

Xiaomi was placed next to Erni, and the second mother grabbed a small stool and began shelling corn: "Cooking is hot, Xiaomi can play here."

Besides under the eaves, corn was also being dried in the yard. Although there weren’t any stone slabs or drying areas, Jiang Hu had bought waterproof oilcloth to spread on the ground to dry the grains.

The weather was good recently, so it was important to harvest the crops quickly and preferably get them dried so they could be stored directly.

Xiaomi, pouting, imitated her mother and second sister, picking up a corn cob and using her fingers to pick out the kernels one by one.

The corn under the eaves had been harvested yesterday and had been drying for a day. It was brought in under the eaves last night, making it easier to shell than the freshly harvested ones.

In the morning, the second mother took the children to the field where she picked corn, and Jiang Hu carried it home.

As noon approached and the sun became scorching, she brought the three little ones back, and they made lunch.

Before long, Jiang Hu and Da Wa came back from the field with one big and one small basket on their backs. As soon as they entered the yard, Jiang Hu tilted his basket, and with the sound of a crash, the corn cobs poured onto the ground.

Da Wa, not as strong as his father, had to wait for Jiang Hu to help him after pouring the corn.

Jiang Hu was strong, lifting the small basket Da Wa carried—just forty to fifty cobs—with one hand easily.

"Second mother, those few corns in our garden are huge, about two to three times bigger than those in the field."

Jiang Hu looked at the semicircle of corn around the garden, which he had previously found in the sorghum field and transplanted back into the garden.

Every time he watered the vegetables, he would water those corns too, and he always knew they grew better than the ones in the field.

But he never expected that this improvement would be so significant!

The corn in the field was only palm-sized, with a yield of just five to six hundred pounds per acre, thanks to Xiaomi’s blessings.

This year’s corn kernels were plump compared to before, when there were always sparse kernels. This was so much better, with the yield per acre increased by at least a hundred pounds!

But even so, it couldn’t compare to the ones in the garden; just one corn was as long as two from the field combined, thicker, with visible plump kernels!

Xiaomi, of course, knew what was going on; she had specially arranged for these improved seeds!

"Papa, let’s eat!" Xiaomi threw down the corn in her hand, stood up holding onto the wall next to her.

As for those big corns, she didn’t know, she didn’t know anything!

She was still just a little baby, only knowing to play and eat. How could she know about the things in the field!

Jiang Hu’s attention was instantly drawn back. He then wiped the sweat from his face and walked toward Xiaomi: "Alright, let’s eat, you’re hungry, right?"

Xiaomi quickly pointed at Tiedan, who was crawling around the pile of corn: "Xiaomi isn’t hungry, Tiedan is hungry."

Jiang Hu burst into laughter: "Alright, alright, Tiedan’s hungry, let’s all go eat."

The second mother clapped her hands, telling Erni to stop working and come eat first.

"Those few corns in the garden can grow even more, Brother Hu, let’s keep them for seeds, plant half next year to try."

They couldn’t use all of them for seeds. Sometimes, seeds looked good but didn’t grow the same. What if this corn turned out to be the same?

Jiang Hu nodded: "Okay, if next year’s corn is just as big and good, then we can plant all of them."

Da Wa handed over a bowl of water: "Dad."

He had already drunk a big bowl himself; this was poured for his dad.

The water in the bowl was a clear yellow, with a few small yellow chrysanthemums floating—wild chrysanthemums from the hillside behind the house, many of them.

Chrysanthemum tea had a slightly bitter taste but also a faint fragrance, making it quite comfortable to drink.

The second mother also steamed and dried the chrysanthemums, and they hadn’t changed color even after storing for a long time.

Jiang Hu placed Xiaomi and Tiedan back on their small dining chairs and downed the bowl in one gulp, feeling much more comfortable.

"Second mother, is there crown daisy today?"

"Yes, I blanched it for a cold dish."