Rebirth in Famine: She Thrives by Lucky Space

Chapter 830: Chapter 830: Harvesting Vegetables

After the two finished their lunch and rested for a while, Jiang Xinyu coaxed the two children to sleep, used a quilt to block the edge of the kang, and wanted to go to the private plot with Du Fengying.

”Xiao Jiang, you don’t need to come. It’s not much, I can do it slowly myself.”

”It’s fine, I’m keeping track of the time, I’ll be back soon enough.”

The two of them pushed a cart, carried baskets, and each held a small hoe.

On the road, they encountered several people who were just headed home for lunch. This year’s harvest was good, and every household had surplus grain, so they still ate three meals a day at this point.

”Teacher Jiang, are you two going to harvest the cabbage?”

”Yes, there’s nothing else to do now, and it’s quite late, so it’s better to bring them in.”

After a few polite exchanges, the two pushed the cart onward.

”Go home and call the kids over to help out,” the man directed his wife, while he went to line up for grain distribution.

The private plot was roughly an acre’s worth of cabbage, with radishes in the corners and the watermelon patch.

The two of them worked at a pretty quick pace. The mature crops were placed on the cart, while the immature ones were put in the basket. These were to be made into sauerkraut or sun-dried into cabbage slices.

They hadn’t even finished cutting one cart before a group of children showed up.

The speed increased significantly. One cart was filled with cabbage, and Jiang Xinyu pushed the cart home.

They neatly stacked everything in the yard. Upon returning, it still needed tidying up before moving to the cellar.

Heading inside to check, the two little ones were still asleep, so she tiptoed back out.

She was in charge of pushing the cart back home, with two girls helping, as once home, they still needed to unload the cart. By the fourth cart, Shi Xian woke up, and his loud cries could be heard outside.

Jiang Xinyu took off her coat, washed up, and entered the house to feed them.

”Why are you in such a hurry? Your brother and sister weren’t like this,” Jiang Xinyu said, pointing at her son who was gulping eagerly.

The little girl was already used to it; she lay obediently on one side, even though Shi Xian had woken her up. She had a good temperament, unlike her biological mother.

Crying at the drop of a hat without any opinions of her own—Jiang Xinyu really couldn’t stand that. She firmly believed the little girl needed more teaching. Jiang Xinyu couldn’t even imagine raising a child like that.

While she fed the children inside, the cabbage outside was still being brought in. These children at home could do any kind of work.

So, when Jiang Xinyu returned to the field, almost all the cabbage was cleared out.

”Teacher Jiang, should we harvest the radishes too?”

”Harvest them all, they won’t grow anymore, better to bring them back.”

Jiang Xinyu went home and boiled water to make brown sugar water in a thermos for the kids working in the field to drink.

Before it got dark, all the cabbage and radishes were brought home.

Jiang Xinyu gave each of them a handful of Big White Rabbit candies. After all, it was milk candy, and the children loved it.

Neither of them was in a hurry to move everything into the cellar. The cabbage needed to air out to reduce moisture for better storage, and the outer cabbage leaves also needed sorting.

”Xiao Jiang, do you still want to make pickled vegetables?”

Jiang Xinyu looked at Du Fengying quizzically.

”Don’t you know about pickled vegetables? You wash the radish greens, cut them into small pieces, steam them until cooked, let them cool, put them in a jar, cover with shredded raw radish, and after about a month, it’s ready to eat—it’s sauerkraut.”

Jiang Xinyu thought for a moment, ”Let’s just make a little bit; our family hasn’t tried it before.”

”They’re not actually tasty; you can use them as stuffing or stir-fry them and mix in some flour when they’re ready.”

Du Fengying didn’t like it. Back in those days when there was nothing else to eat, this pickled vegetable was a meal substitute, but it was sour. Even thinking about it now made her feel nauseous.

In the evening, the two of them had sorghum rice porridge; the new rice was fragrant. Jiang Xinyu had an extra spoonful.

Since the family had a small population, there wasn’t much burning, so the two of them boiled water for a bath today.

Jiang Xinyu also bathed the two little ones. Shi Xian was a rowdy one, limbs flailing about excitedly, never staying still.

The next day was the day for dividing money, and everyone was very excited. This time, Jiang Xinyu didn’t rush. The two of them were in the yard sorting cabbage. They checked each one carefully, stripping away the rotten leaves.

There were more than seven hundred mature cabbages. They weren’t in a hurry, slowly transporting them to the cellar.

Lunch was just a simple meal, and finally, by three in the afternoon, all the cabbages were in the cellar.

The remaining cabbage leaves filled two large baskets which they loaded onto the cart to take to the livestock barn as fodder.

”Xiao Jiang, I’m off to get the money.”

Actually, Du Fengying and Shang Zhenkun only earned work points during the autumn harvest, which didn’t convert to much money, but money was money, no matter how little.

Jiang Xinyu tidied up the courtyard, changed clothes, and spent time with the two children.

Now, if they woke on their own, as long as they weren’t hungry or wet, they could play by themselves.

Each time Jiang Xinyu went out, she ensured the edge of the kang was secured. Since they couldn’t crawl yet, there was no worry about them falling off.

Tomorrow, she wanted to take the two children to have their photos taken; it was actually two days early, but since the weather was good, being early by a day or two didn’t matter. So she picked out some clothes for the two children, as well as some from Shi Jing and Feide’s childhood days.

She hadn’t made many clothes for the two little ones; they mostly wore hand-me-downs from their siblings.

There was a knock at the door, it turned out to be Li Xue coming over.

”Teacher Jiang, I’m having some trouble with my math.”

”Come in, and I’ll help you. You’re progressing quickly. Remember to balance study and rest, don’t strain your eyes.”

”I know. I help my second aunt cook every meal.”

Jiang Xinyu led Li Xue inside and lit a candle. ”Teacher Jiang, are you tidying up clothes? Let me help you.”

Jiang Xinyu shook her head with a smile, ”No need, everything’s ready. I’m thinking of taking these two to the city for photos tomorrow, just picking out a few outfits for them to wear, taking several pictures.”

Li Xue bit her lip, then decided to ask, ”Teacher Jiang, are you going to the county or the city for the photos?”

”I was thinking of going to the county, it’s much safer. Why, is something up?”

”Teacher Jiang, I want to take my younger brothers back home for a visit. My eldest sister-in-law is due in two months. We’ve been away for quite a while now, and I’m getting a little worried about home.”

”Okay, but I can only take you as far as the county; you’ll have to get the bus to the city yourselves.”

Li Xue nodded excitedly, ”Yes, we’ll go tomorrow and come back the day after.”

It only took about ten minutes for Jiang Xinyu to explain. The little girl left happily. Seeing that it was getting late, Jiang Xinyu began to prepare dinner. Since the sweet potatoes were drying outside, she decided to make sweet potato porridge tonight.

Du Fengying came back late, primarily because she was discussing transferring her household registration with the Li Family brothers.

”Village Chief Li, our village has already issued the migration certificate.”

”Alright, I’ll issue the settlement certificate for you; you just need to get it stamped at the police station.”

Only then did Du Fengying feel relieved. Even if she wasn’t staying at Little Jiang’s house in the future, at least she’d have a place to live.