Free Web NovelChapter 445: Chapter 234: Letting Out the Chickens and Ducks
With two rice threshing machines, life became much easier for the Zheng Family. Still, Qingmu sent one over to Zhang Huai, telling him to quickly finish harvesting the rice from his few acres of fields so he could come help the Zheng Family while his father plowed and harrowed.
Zhang Huai had already been planning to help him out once his own work was done, and with the threshing machine, it would be even quicker.
He and his parents stored the rice from their acres in the granary. Then, as Qingmu had instructed, he carried the threshing machine over for Zhao San to use. Afterward, he went to lend the Zheng Family a hand, while his father, Zhang Dashuan, plowed and harrowed the fields in preparation for transplanting the rice seedlings.
Even before Zhao San could come over to help, the Zheng Family had finished threshing all their rice. There was simply no comparison between machine and manual threshing.
During this time, Shorty Zhou and Li Changming also came to help the Zheng Family. This was not only because they were all neighbors now, but also because their own rice ripened a little later, so it was considered a form of labor exchange. Shorty Zhou told Zheng Changhe that the Zheng Family didn’t need to return the favor; just letting his family borrow the threshing machine when the time came would be enough.
Zheng Changhe readily agreed, saying that since they were all neighbors, it was only right to help each other. He added that by next year, when everyone was doing better, it wouldn’t be impossible for them all to buy their own threshing machines.
Next, Zheng Changhe also began preparing the fields, while Mrs. Yang stayed home to sun-dry, air, and winnow the grain clean before storing it in the granary. Qingmu, working as if fighting a battle, went to help Zhang Huai transplant his rice seedlings. The goal was to finish the work at Zhang Huai’s house first so that they, in turn, would be free to help him.
Seeing how exhausted her parents were, Juhua came up with all sorts of soups and dishes to help them recover their strength. She had already slaughtered several young roosters, and considering it was summer, she also killed an old duck to make a stew.
This made Mrs. Yang’s heart ache. "Why did you have to kill an egg-laying duck?" she lamented.
Juhua was quite frustrated to hear this. "Mother," she said, "it’s not like we’re relying on selling eggs to save money anymore. We raise these animals to be eaten. It’s fine that the old duck is gone; the young ones will start laying eggs soon anyway. We’re working so hard right now. If we wear ourselves out, won’t we just have to spend money on doctors? There’s that saying, ’skimp on food, save money for medicine.’ We’re better off eating well now than getting sick from exhaustion and suffering later."
Mrs. Yang listened and laughed. "Alright, alright. It’s already been eaten, so there’s no point in talking about it. I’m just not used to it yet. It always feels like such a waste to kill an egg-laying bird."
Juhua patiently tried to reason with her. "Why do you think we work ourselves to the bone? It’s all for food, isn’t it? We grow wheat to have white flour, grow rice to have rice to eat, raise pigs to have meat, and naturally, we raise chickens and ducks to eat them too. In the past, we didn’t eat them because we didn’t have enough money and had to sell them. Now that we have money, if we still don’t eat them, what’s the point of earning so much?"
Mrs. Yang rolled her eyes at her and smiled. "I know, I know. What’s done is done. When we eat them all, we’ll just hatch another brood."
Juhua beamed. "Yes! That’s the spirit. Mother, I’m going to find a moment to drive the chickens and ducks to the rice paddy to eat their fill. If we don’t go soon, Father will have plowed over all the fields."
Mrs. Yang also knew this was the best time to let the chickens and ducks into the fields—they laid more eggs when they could eat live food. So, she helped Juhua tie long strings to the birds’ feet, getting them ready to be taken to the fields at dawn.
The next day, just as the sky began to lighten, Juhua and Mrs. Yang each led a long, straggling line of chickens and ducks, pulling them along to the empty, harvested fields. The sight was quite comical.
As expected, the birds were in high spirits once they reached the fields.
The chickens searched everywhere for insects, fallen grains of rice, and even weeds, pecking around meticulously as they wandered leisurely through the open fields. The ducks, on the other hand, waddled about, darting around furtively with their flat beaks poking nonstop. They specialized in finding small fish, loaches, and river snails in the ditches and shallow puddles. Of course, the small green frogs in the dirt also became their prey—the big ones had already hopped away.
Juhua had originally planned to pull up a handful of straw, sit on a ridge between the paddies, and play the part of a leisurely duck herder while enjoying the early morning summer scenery. But she was a hardworking girl now. She had brought a sickle with her, intending to cut some fresh grass from the ridges to take back for the pigs, making sure not to waste the fine morning hours.
The summer morning was fresh and full of life. The flowers and grasses along the ridges, still holding dewdrops, looked vibrant and glossy green, as if completely unconcerned by the scorching, fiery sun that would come at noon.
The sun had not yet risen over the horizon, and the world was just beginning to wake. Yet the fields were already a bustling mix of activity: people harvesting rice, plowing, harrowing, and transplanting seedlings. Everyone was full of vigor—if they didn’t get more done during the cool morning, it would be much less pleasant once the sun came out.
