Free Web NovelChapter 437: Chapter 230: Talk of a Bountiful Year
Juhua didn’t argue, however, because feng shui was really about a kind of natural harmony. If the geography was suitable for living and the natural environment was ecologically balanced, then the people who lived there would feel comfortable in body and mind. Even if life wasn’t perfect, they would surely find it easier to let things go and move on from any setbacks.
When people said a place had bad feng shui, if you set aside the superstitious elements, it really just meant that some environmental factors were off, making the location unsuitable for whatever purpose people had in mind for it.
The conversation inevitably turned to the village girls and their marriages. Meizi felt she had absolutely made the right choice in marrying Li Changming. ’It just goes to show,’ she thought, ’you have to make your own life a good one. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter who you marry.’
She didn’t say this out loud, of course, just chuckled to herself in delight!
Xiu said softly, "Jinxiang is engaged now, too. To someone from over at Xiatang Market."
Meizi and Juhua were stunned. "Is that true?" they asked hurriedly. "How could Uncle Li bear to marry her off so far away?"
Cui glanced at her sister, and seeing she wasn’t speaking, she chimed in, "My dad said that Changyu met the young man while he was away on business. He thought he was a great guy, so he came back and told his second uncle about him. After that, the engagement was arranged."
Xiu added in a low voice, "I heard the father in that family passed away, and the mother remarried, taking a young daughter with her. She left three sons and one daughter behind. But all the siblings did very well for themselves. The eldest married his cousin, and the second found a wife without spending a single tael of silver. Once their lives improved, they arranged a respectable marriage for their sister too. Now only the youngest son is left, and he’s apparently quite sought-after."
Juhua gasped in surprise. "Oh, wow," she said. "I know that family—I’ve heard my mother talk about them." She then recounted the story the Yang Family had told two years prior, about how the second son’s mother-in-law had shown great judgment in picking him as a son-in-law.
Meizi and the two sisters listened, marveling at the tale. A mother-in-law like that was truly rare, and that family was certainly fortunate. Now, the Li Family had shown the same keen eye by choosing the third son.
Cui smiled. "My dad says Changyu really sings the third son’s praises. Changyu was the one who approved the match first."
’The second son’s mother-in-law and Changyu have good judgment, and so do I,’ Meizi thought. ’My Changming is second to none. Look, even my own mother said his family wasn’t a good match back then, but see how well things have turned out? My mother-in-law is so much more hardworking now!’
’You need good judgment to pick a husband,’ Xiu thought. ’I wonder what kind of man Mom and Dad will pick for me.’ Suddenly, Liu Sanshun’s smiling, round face flashed in her mind, and she couldn’t stop herself from blushing. She remembered her father once saying that Sanshun was the fastest rice transplanter in the village. ’And now he’s looking into raising fish,’ she mused. ’He’s such a hardworking and capable young man. Fatty Liu is truly a lucky father!’
For a moment, they all fell silent. Juhua found herself thinking of a day under the blazing sun, remembering the sight of Zhang Huai threshing wheat alongside her brother and parents, all of them dripping with sweat.
’Farming folk pick sons-in-law based on diligence, hard work, and honesty,’ she thought. ’In a city, those are probably the exact qualities that would be overlooked. To get ahead in the city, you need quick wits and sharp judgment. Even if you don’t have to be a perfect socialite, you still need to be perceptive.’
Farmers had their own standards for choosing people, just as they had their own standards for tending the fields.
During the days when the rice plants began to head and flower, Zheng Changhe and Qingmu inspected the paddies even more meticulously than usual. They had planted the seedlings earlier this year and weren’t sure how it would turn out, so they naturally had to tend to the fields with extra care.
Watching the rice form its grains, then head and flower, and finally, seeing it gradually ripen from green to yellow, their initial anxiety slowly transformed into joy. Juhua often tagged along to watch the process as well.
To be honest, Juhua didn’t really understand any of it. She had never studied agriculture. Even though she’d grown up in the countryside in her past life, what girl paid attention to farming methods? The most she ever knew was the outcome—whether the harvest was good or bad that year. Later, as her studies became more demanding, she had even less time to think about such things.
She enjoyed going to inspect the fields, mostly just to see the vast expanse of green, but she also wanted to learn the secrets of cultivation from the very beginning.
One evening, while the Yang Family was at home, she followed Qingmu to the paddies to check the water levels. The fields couldn’t be dry at this stage, but the water couldn’t be too deep, either. Once the grains of rice started to grow firm and full, the water level had to be lowered. Then, just before the harvest, the fields had to be drained completely. Otherwise, the rice roots would rot, and the stalks would collapse.
