Free Web NovelChapter 447: Chapter 235: Bathing in the River
Juhua was puzzled. It was one thing for the ducks to lay their eggs outside—after all, they spent most of their time in the river. But the chickens clearly stayed around the courtyard, and she’d even prepared five nesting boxes. Was that still not enough for them to lay their eggs? The fact that they still had to go lay them outside was just preposterous.
’If she found out which hen laid its eggs outside, she’d chop its head right off. A hen that didn’t produce an income certainly couldn’t be fed for nothing. Besides, the younger chicks had grown up, and the new pullets had already started laying. She wouldn’t feel the least bit of heartache for culling a few of the old hens.’
She grumbled about it to Meizi in annoyance, and Meizi bent over with laughter as she listened.
But today, it seemed as though the chickens and ducks were deliberately trying to spite Juhua. One after another, they all laid their eggs in the fields. She actually found more than a dozen of them.
Meizi watched the chickens cheerfully chasing and pecking at grasshoppers and the ducks snatching up loaches and craning their necks to swallow them whole. She said happily to Juhua, "I bet it’s because they ate so well this morning that they just couldn’t hold their eggs in."
Juhua said, "Even so, they should have laid them at home. Hmm, that might really be the case for the ducks. My ducks usually lay their eggs at night, but they’ve all laid them now—I’ve already picked up five. But the chickens shouldn’t have waited this long!"
Meizi laughed. "No one ever set a rule for which two-hour period they have to lay their eggs. As long as they’re laid during the day, it just proves they ate really well this morning."
Juhua said with a beaming smile, "I’m just teasing. If what they ate today has any effect, it should be on tomorrow’s eggs anyway. We’ll have to let our flocks out separately tomorrow. Otherwise, we won’t know whose eggs are whose."
Meizi nodded vigorously at the suggestion. ’My chickens are sure to lay a bunch of eggs tomorrow, too,’ she thought in anticipation. ’I’ll have to remember to bring a small basket.’
After running back and forth across the paddies a few times, their straw sandals were soaked through. But it didn’t matter. The sandals were mostly for appearances—it wasn’t proper for a young woman to go around barefoot—and they were meant for wading in water to begin with.
The sandals were woven so densely you couldn’t see the tops of their feet. If it were up to Juhua, going barefoot would have been perfectly fine. Whenever she felt unbearably hot, she always wanted to wade in the water, or even go for a swim in the river. But then she would think about her family’s reaction and decide against it.
Once, when she went netting shrimp with Qingmu, the crystal-clear water in the shallow creek looked so inviting that she took off her shoes and socks, rolled up her pant legs, and started wading playfully. The sight frightened Qingmu. He first glanced around in all directions, and seeing no one, he hurriedly urged her to put her shoes and socks back on, even moving to help her himself.
Juhua asked, surprised, "But don’t all the women who transplant seedlings in the paddies take their shoes off?"
Qingmu put on a stern expression and told her, "They are married women. Besides, they keep their pant legs down. Who else is like you, going into the water barefoot with your pant legs rolled up like that?"
His speech made Juhua resolve to never be so careless again.
No matter how much Juhua enjoyed herding the ducks, she could only do it for a few days. Soon, the fields were first plowed and then harrowed by Zheng Changhe until the earth was soft, muddy, and level, ready to be planted with rice seedlings.
The early summer ritual of transplanting rice seedlings was underway once more. With everyone’s help, the Zheng Family managed to plant all their paddies with late-season rice. They had already been busy harvesting for days, and now they had to immediately follow it up with transplanting. Everyone was so exhausted they felt like they’d worked off a layer of skin.
Everyone who worked busily outside was tanned a shade darker. Qingmu and Zhang Huai’s complexions had also deepened, but it only made them look more burly and solid. Such an outcome was inevitable after such intense physical labor, followed by hearty eating and drinking.
Watching the two men finish their lunch, faces already covered in sweat again, and then run over to the well to draw water and wash up, Juhua couldn’t help but shake her head.
She said to Qingmu, "Brother, I’ve got some melons and cucumbers chilling in the well. Why don’t you pull them up? They’ll be perfect for quenching your thirst."
Zhang Huai’s mouth started to water. He laughed and said, "So that’s what that basket hanging on the rope is for! I was wondering. It’s full of melons, then. Are they ripe?"
Juhua saw him repeatedly pressing a cotton cloth soaked in well water to his neck, looking as if he’d love nothing more than to douse himself from head to toe. She said to him, "They’re all ripe and very fragrant. You’ll feel much more comfortable after you have one. But you shouldn’t keep cooling yourself with well water like that. You just broke a sweat and your body is still hot. Using cold water like that is bad for you—it’s easy to get sick. I chilled some chrysanthemum tea in the well. If you both drink plenty of that, you won’t feel so hot. I also made a lot of grass jelly that’s been chilled in the well water too. It’ll help you cool down from the heat."
Hearing her words made Zhang Huai’s heart feel warm—no, cool and refreshed. In any case, it was a very comfortable feeling. He smiled and replied, "Alright! I get it. That grass jelly is delicious. I had a huge bowl of it just yesterday." ’Qingmu mentioned he wanted to go bathe in the river this evening,’ he thought to himself. ’I bet Juhua won’t allow that.’
