CHAPTER 75: CHAPTER 75: XIAOMI CAN WALK NOW

After this rain, many households’ grain suffered damage, either soaked by the rainwater or the sorghum in the fields was knocked down. Even those that weren’t fell had quite a few grains lost.

Even the Jiang family was no exception. The remaining sorghum in the fields clearly wasn’t as much as what had already been brought home.

But these natural disasters are unavoidable.

However, because of this rain, everyone wished they could immediately bring all the crops home in the days to follow, sparing no thought for the Jiang family’s harvest.

Of course, this is just temporary; once this busy period is over, there will definitely be those nosy individuals wanting to inquire.

But before that, a strange rumor slowly started spreading in Fu’an Village without the Jiang family knowing.

This was all thanks to Liu Yang’s whim that day.

He ignored his household’s grain and deliberately took a run around the village, then made a startling discovery.

It was lucky that his family was large enough to bring all the corn back that afternoon, thus sparing the corn from the rain.

That afternoon, Liu Yang specifically went to a few households where he had seen corn growing out of the sorghum fields and brought back a few stalks.

He was gossipy and had a good memory, even months later, he still remembered.

Originally, when a few peculiar and distinctive corn stalks suddenly grew in the fields, everyone kept it under wraps carefully, afraid others would find out and want to share the seeds next year.

Who knew Liu Yang would suddenly show up, claiming his family also had some, and asked if they noticed whether the land where their strange corn grew was on the path where the Jiang family worked.

If Liu Yang had only claimed his own family had them, others wouldn’t care, but mentioning the Jiang family made people think twice.

After making a round of visits, Liu Yang got a definitive answer!

All the fields where the special corn was found were walked past by Jiang Hu carrying the Little Lucky Star!

Could it really be thanks to the Little Lucky Star?

Is Little Lucky Star really that incredible?

Unknowingly, this theory quietly spread through Fu’an Village, making those whose fields didn’t grow the special corn both envious and intrigued.

Why couldn’t their fields be a bit closer to the Jiang family’s? That way they could catch some good fortune too!

Corn as big as an elbow, how big is that exactly!

At that time, while the Jiang family still knew nothing, rumors about the Little Lucky Star were flying everywhere.

Right then, the Jiang family was incredibly busy and had no time to care about others.

The yard was still covered with tarpaulins, and on top, thick sorghum ears were laid out, already sun-dried.

Jiang Hu wielded a flail, striking again and again to thresh the finally sun-dried sorghum. Under the sun, Er Niang and Da Wa picked up the threshed sorghum ears, shook them, flipped them over, and continued threshing.

They had just finished lunch and hadn’t even taken a nap. The sun was blazing, but also, the sorghum ears were dry and crisp, the best time for threshing.

A few days ago, the torrential storm seemed as if it had never appeared; the vegetable patches at noon were wilted from the sun, and there wasn’t a drop of moisture in the air.

Under the eaves, there was a large winnowing basket, bigger than a bed, with a small pillow and a few corn cobs tossed inside, where Tie Dan played joyfully alone, watched over by Er Ni.

Before long, Xiao Mi came out of the kitchen pushing a chair.

She could already walk on her own but couldn’t go far without stumbling; her leg strength was still insufficient.

Yet this didn’t hinder her at all; the small chair her dad specially made for their meals allowed her to have a bowl and utensils in front without needing to be held constantly.

Until one day, as Xiao Mi walked a few steps and almost lost her balance, she grabbed onto the chair, which slid forward a bit with her.

From then on, it was as if Xiao Mi discovered a newfound skill, pushing her little chair to roam around the house every day.

Intended to be placed in the large winnowing basket to play with Tie Dan, Xiao Mi left him to push her little chair toward the kitchen instead.

The whole family was used to it, and no one knew why Xiao Mi seemed to favor the kitchen above any other place, sneaking in every chance she got.

The kitchen wasn’t dangerous; Er Niang always kept the kitchen knife on a high shelf, and the water tank was taller than Xiao Mi, so she couldn’t climb in.

Seeing no danger for Xiao Mi in the kitchen, Er Niang didn’t stop her, trusting Xiao Mi, smart as she was, wouldn’t make a mess.

In fact, Xiao Mi didn’t do much in the kitchen beyond adding some Spiritual Spring water to the water tank every day.

Though she wasn’t as tall as the tank, raising her hand was enough to reach it. As long as no one was around, adding a bit of Spiritual Spring water was all too easy.

Oh, and there was also the refined rice and flour.

Every time her parents bought two or three pounds, they waited until they used it up before buying more.

She had plenty of these in her space, in various brands, types, and even shapes.

Every time her parents bought some and stored it in the kitchen cupboard without locking it up, she would sneakily add about half a pound to theirs.

A little bit wasn’t meaningful, too much would be noticeable.

Since refined rice and flour were expensive, doing this a few times helped save the family some money.

"Xiao Mi, why are you running into the kitchen again?" Er Ni looked at Tie Dan, who couldn’t wander far, sighed like a little adult when she saw Xiao Mi return.

"Second Sister, hug." Xiao Mi abandoned the small chair, smiling broadly, reaching for Er Ni.

Er Ni quickly picked her up, placing her back into the large basket, took off her small shoes, and fanned her with a palm leaf fan: "Xiao Mi, go to sleep quickly. If you don’t sleep, Tie Dan won’t sleep either."

The large basket was initially used for drying things, but left under the eaves in summer or directly in the yard at night, it was comfortable for a nap or to cool off.

Tie Dan, seeing his sister, hurriedly threw down the small pillow in his hand and crawled over with hands and feet.

"Sleep, sleep." To sleep soundly, he needed his sister there.

Xiao Mi patted Tie Dan helplessly, wondering why this little guy was so clingy.

At midday, the shade under the eaves was breezy, cooler than inside, where the siblings lay in the basket, Er Ni fanning away mosquitoes.

Even with the sound of their parents at work, they still quickly fell asleep.

Sorghum threshing continued for several more days of sun-drying, cleaning with a fan, bagging, and storage. After several busy days, they finally finished.

Alongside this, they also had to clear out the sorghum stalks from the fields, turning the soil to prepare for the next round of planting.

The Jiang family kept their heads down in their work and rarely visited others in the village, staying busy until the tax-collecting Government Officials entered the village with a few ox carts.