Vegetable Seedlings

Xiaoguo looked reluctantly at the two of them as they departed. She sighed helplessly and walked back to the courtyard alone. Looking at the exceptionally quiet courtyard, she sighed again. It seemed that she had to get used to living alone in the house again.

Just as she was about to turn around and close the door, she suddenly paused and widened her eyes. Had she forgotten something very important?!

The image of Jiang Danhe turning around and patting his chest with a smile, appeared in her mind.

“The contract?!”

The other day, Jiang Danhe tricked her into signing the contract that made her promise to have a baby with him the next time he came back. She had not taken it back yet!

Xiaoguo scratched her head in frustration. Her hair, which was dark and smooth moments ago, had become a mess.

Over the past two days, Zhuang Zhuang and Jiang Danhe had been causing so much trouble that she had forgotten about stealing the contract. This was really infuriating!

No matter how frustrated Xiaoguo was, Jiang Danhe was feeling refreshed. After leaving Zhuang Zhuang at Teacher Kong’s house, he sped up and went on his way.

Along the way, he did not stop smiling. He gently stroked the contract in his arms, looking forward to returning home the next time.

Jiang Danhe made a decision in his heart. When he was done, he would immediately apply to return to his hometown to visit his family!

—-

At this moment, the weather had completely stabilized. It stopped fluctuating between hot and cold. Spring was gradually making way for summer.

Outside the window, the cuckoos kept chirping. To Xiaoguo, the sounds of cicadas and cuckoos were representative of summer.

Peach Blossom Village was close to the mountains and the sea, so even though the temperature was high, it didn’t feel too hot.

On this day, Xiaoguo finally removed the curtains from the door and windows. She had already talked about removing them, but she kept procrastinating. As soon as she brought Zhuang Zhuang back, the first thing the mother and son did when they got home was to remove the thick curtains.

“Mother, where should I put this?”

Zhuang Zhuang dragged the thick curtains and tried to pick them up.

Xiaoguo quickly took it from him. “Hang them on the rope and sun them before we store them away.”

Taking advantage of the fact that there was enough sunlight today, she let the curtains sit in the sun for an entire day. The ultraviolet rays would help to kill any bacteria on the curtains.

As soon as she was done hanging them up on the line, Mrs. Yang arrived. With her bulging stomach and two sour apricots in hand, she went into the house and sat down on a stool. Along the way, she kept muttering, “Aiyo, my waist and legs are so sore…”

Xiaoguo took one look and turned her head away. Her teeth were aching for Mrs. Yang. “Sister-in-law, can your teeth take so many sour apricots in a day?”

“They are not sour. They are very delicious.” Mrs. Yang looked at her as if she didn’t know anything about delicious food. After saying that, she offered one apricot to her, but Xiaoguo refused repeatedly.

Mrs. Yang turned around and gave it to Zhuang Zhuang. When he saw her, he quickly ran away.

“Why is he running?”

“Haha, that sour apricot you gave him the last time almost made his teeth drop out.”

Xiaoguo sat down and explained with a smile. Mrs. Yang had given Zhuang Zhuang some sour apricots the last time. At first, Zhuang Zhuang thought that the fruits were sweet, so he stuffed a whole fruit into his mouth. As soon as he bit on it, he felt like his soul had left his body. Drool started dripping from his mouth and he immediately looked like a little old man with his features all scrunched up together.

Xiaoguo still could not forget the scene back then. She would laugh out loud whenever she thought of it.

“Haha, I remember now…” Mrs. Yang laughed as she chewed on the sour apricot. Her brain had been acting up recently. She had difficulty remembering things that had happened not long ago. If no one mentioned it, she would never have recalled anything.

Xiaoguo shook her head helplessly. It was said that pregnancy brings on stupidity for three years. It seemed that the saying was right.

“The weather has been getting hotter recently…”

Mrs. Yang took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off her face impatiently. She wasn’t thin to begin with. With her pregnancy and recent weight gain, she was almost turning into a ball.

“It’s not officially summer yet.” Xiaoguo poured a glass of water and placed it beside her hand, gesturing for her to drink it.

Mrs. Yang nodded and picked up the water. She finished it in one gulp and wiped the corners of her mouth. “It’s already so hot before summer. Who knows how hot it will be in summer? The weather this year is really abnormal. It’s probably going to be another year of extreme weather.”

Xiaoguo smiled and didn’t say anything. Although she didn’t know what the temperatures were like in the village, based on the previous year’s temperature alone, this place was unlikely to get hot enough to kill anyone.

“By the way, what vegetables are you planting this year?”

Mrs. Yang recalled that her mother-in-law had already started looking for vegetables to plant, but Xiaoguo had yet to start.

“I don’t know. It should be the same as last year.” Xiaoguo shook her head. She was really not in a hurry to plant vegetables.

“Two days ago, there was a vegetable shop at the village entrance. My mother-in-law bought a lot of eggplants and beans.”

“They sell it at the village entrance?”

Mrs. Yang nodded. “They’ve been selling vegetable seedlings for the past two days. If you want to buy them, you can go and take a look. They’re open at dawn, but they only stay open for about two hours.”

Mrs. Yang had heard it from her mother-in-law.

“Then I’ll go and take a look first thing in the morning.” Xiaoguo nodded. The opening hours were quite short, but it was understandable. The main reason was that the seedlings would not survive in the sun. Once the sun shone on them, their roots would wilt.

The next morning, Xiaoguo woke up early and did not wake Zhuang Zhuang up. She had wanted to go by herself, but Zhuang Zhuang quietly got out of bed.

“Mother, wait for me.”

Although Zhuang Zhuang was speaking in a daze, his hands were nimbly putting on his clothes. It was for fear that if he was a second late, Xiaoguo would not bring him along.

“There’s no hurry. Take your time.”

When Zhuang Zhuang heard her words, he nodded. But he continued to put on his clothes quickly.

When the mother and son were done packing, they picked up a small basket and walked towards the village entrance, armed with some silver.

When they arrived at the village entrance, they bumped into a few stall owners unloading their carts.

“Are you selling seedlings?”

Xiaoguo walked forward and asked. Then, she received an affirmative answer from the other party. She held Zhuang Zhuang’s hand and looked around. Last year, she bought vegetable seeds. This year, she was going to buy vegetable seedlings and plant them directly.

She still had some leeks in the vegetable plot. During this period of time, they had grown quite a bit. The first crop of leeks will be ready for harvesting soon. Apart from the leeks, her coriander plants had also sprouted. The other vegetables she planted were all consumed in the last season, so there were quite a number of seedlings that she had to buy.

After strolling around, Xiaoguo stopped in front of an old woman with Zhuang Zhuang. Indeed, the vegetable seedlings from all the stalls were pretty good and there were many varieties for sale. However, after taking a look around, the old lady’s seedlings were still the best. The prices were quite reasonable too.

In the end, she bought a basket full of seedlings at a discount. The varieties included chili, cucumber, eggplant, beans, loofah, tomatoes, and some leafy green vegetables.

With a basket full of ‘treasures’, the mother and son happily walked home.

As soon as they got home, Zhuang Zhuang wanted to help with the planting, but Xiaoguo was not in a hurry. “Let’s eat first. We’ll do the planting after breakfast.”

Zhuang Zhuang put down the basin excitedly and ran back to her. “Then let’s hurry up and eat!”

“Little brat!” Xiaoguo pinched his little nose and returned to the kitchen with a smile.

Zhuang Zhuang followed closely behind her and skipped into the kitchen.

After breakfast, Xiaoguo asked Zhuang Zhuang to wash the dishes while she drew water from the well. Before planting the vegetables, she had to water the ground once. As she had already turned the soil during her free time, there was no need to do so again.

After pouring more than ten buckets of water in a row, the ground was completely soaked. When there was water pooling on the surface, it was the right time to plant the seeds.

Zhuang Zhuang helped to hand over the seedlings while Xiaoguo dug holes with a shovel to plant the seedlings. In one go, they managed to finish planting everything.

Beside planting the seedlings, they also had to surround each seedling with a ring of soil so that it would be easier to water the plants.

Xiaoguo held a shovel and piled up soil around the seedlings. Zhuang Zhuang followed behind, waiting to water the plants.

“Mother, do we need to water the plants?”

Xiaoguo was about to say that there was no need, but when she looked up, she saw him with a gourd dipper in his hand. He looked very eager and so she nodded. “Go ahead and water every pit. Just one scoop will do.”