When the pears are green

Song Li rested at home for three days, and then began her life of going to the market and weeding again.

The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and people unconsciously put on light clothes. The Spring Triangle slowly retreats from the night sky, followed by the brilliant Milky Way stretching across the northeast and southwest.

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou sat on the edge of the field to rest. The weeds in the field had finally been pulled out. The two looked at the land with a sense of accomplishment, recalling every detail about it, from the cold wind in early winter to the heavy snow in severe winter, from the green grass in early spring to the fragrance of wheat in early summer.

"Qingzhou, I have been here for a year." Song Li lowered his head and played with the mud in his hand.

Jiang Qingzhou didn't say anything. He pulled Song Li and walked along the ridge towards the river.

Song Li stood by the river, looking at the swaying willow branches beside her and the yellow wheat waves in the distance, and she felt at ease.

Jiang Qingzhou bent down to pick up a few lumps of mud, put them into Song Li's hands, and motioned Song Li to throw them into the river.

Song Li swung her arms and threw the mud in her hand. The mud immediately sank into the river, a whirlpool appeared, and the ripples gradually expanded. She looked at the growing ripples and cheered loudly.

The women who were weeding nearby heard Song Li's cheers and all looked up, some with envy, some with disdain.

"Tsk tsk, shouting and yelling. Dahu has a good temper. Others may not be able to tolerate her." A woman stopped what she was doing and muttered softly.

"Stop talking, that young wife is very powerful." Another woman carefully reminded that the story of Song Li fighting two people alone in Wuzhuang Village was spread to Jiangjia Village by someone.

The woman who was muttering softly rolled her eyes at the woman who reminded her. She wanted to speak more, but immediately shut her mouth when she saw Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou walking towards her.

"Uncle Ping, let's go back first." Jiang Qingzhou put on the backpack and shouted to Jiang Ping who was still busy pulling weeds.

Jiang Ping raised his head and waved his hands hurriedly, signaling Jiang Qingzhou and the others to go back quickly. He looked at the few remaining weeds, thought of the pregnant Zhang Ying and the studying Jiang Qian, and his heart was filled with energy again.

After Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou returned home, they poured the grass in the basket onto the ground and began to chop the grass step by step.

"Sister-in-law, brother, the teacher said that we will have a holiday starting from tomorrow for a month. Let's go harvest the garlic from that half acre of land tomorrow!" When Jiang Qingye heard Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou talking about harvesting garlic in the afternoon, he quickly told them about the study's arrangements for a holiday.

After hearing what Jiang Qingye said, Song Xing quickly interrupted and said, "Sister, brother-in-law, Qingye is right. I will go home after the garlic is harvested."

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou looked at the two boys in front of them with satisfaction and promised them that they would go to harvest garlic together tomorrow.

In the afternoon, Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou sat together in the yard to bask in the sun. It was a rare opportunity for them to have such free time since the beginning of spring.

Song Li leaned her head on Jiang Qingzhou's shoulder and felt drowsy. Jiang Qingzhou was afraid that Song Li would catch a cold again, so he picked up Song Li, walked into the east room, and put Song Li on the bed.

Jiang Qingzhou had just taken off Song Li's shoes when there was a knock on the door. He covered Song Li with a thin blanket and hurried to open the door.

"Brother Jiang, the mulberries you mentioned last time are now fully ripe. I asked Lingling for your address and sent them to you." After Hu Zhimin finished speaking, he motioned to Kai Xin to take the two cloth bags off the ox cart.

Jiang Qingzhou hurriedly stopped Kai Xin and walked to the ox cart to pick up two cloth bags, one heavier and one lighter.

Jiang Qingzhou put the cloth bag in a cool place, thanked Hu Zhimin and Kai Xin, and asked them to go into the yard to rest for a while while he went to call Jiang Ping.

"Is Miss Jiang not here?" Hu Zhimin did not enter the yard immediately. He turned sideways and glanced at the yard, but did not see Song Li.

Jiang Qingzhou explained that Song Li was resting in the room because she was tired. Hu Zhimin looked at Jiang Qingzhou, who was even darker than before, and smiled and rejected him.

Jiang Qingzhou walked a few steps to Jiang Ping's house, called Jiang Ping out, and told him that the mulberry seeds mentioned last time had been delivered.

"Boss, how much is one pound? I'll settle the bill for you." Although Jiang Qingzhou did not tell Jiang Ping about Hu Zhimin's identity, Jiang Ping could still guess from Hu Zhimin's clothes and behavior that he should be a big business owner.

Hu Zhimin smiled and glanced at Jiang Ping, who was in a humble attitude. He said, "Brother Jiang and I are friends. I promised to sell it to you at a discount. I will give you two cents per pound."

Jiang Ping and Jiang Qingzhou looked at each other. They were a little bit unbelievable about the price Hu Zhimin said. This price was much more favorable than what they had asked at the grain shop before.

Kai Xin saw the two people's incredible expressions, so he hurriedly explained: "Dad Jiang, Brother Jiang, our boss has a large mulberry garden. There are a lot of mulberries this year. Even if we don't sell them to you, they will be eaten by those hateful birds. Ten kilograms of mulberry seeds can grow one acre of mulberry seedlings. According to Brother Jiang, we have prepared a total of fifty kilograms of seeds."

The two thanked Hu Zhimin again and went home one after another to get the copper coins.

Kai Xin took the copper coins and put them into his purse, then handed them to Hu Zhimin who was standing beside him.

Hu Zhimin explained the process of growing mulberry seedlings in detail to Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Ping, and told them that they could go to Li's shop to find him at any time if they encountered any questions.

Hu Zhimin saw that he had almost finished talking, so he said goodbye. He was the first to get on the ox cart, and happily sat in front of the ox cart, waving the whip to drive the ox cart away slowly.

Jiang Qingzhou handed the lighter cloth bag to Jiang Ping. Jiang Ping thanked Jiang Qingzhou again and hurried home to germinate the seeds according to the method Hu Zhimin told him.

Jiang Qingzhou untied the cloth bag, which was filled with flat egg-shaped seeds. He found two large wooden basins and placed them in the main room, then poured the seeds into the two basins and finally filled them with warm water to soak.

Song Li was awakened by the sound of Jiang Qingzhou pouring water into a basin. She quickly got up to see what was going on.

"Qingzhou, what is this?" Song Li asked while leaning against the door.

Jiang Qingzhou raised his head and replied with a smile: "These are mulberry seeds. Mr. Hu just sent them over. Did I wake you up?"

Song Li shook her head and said that she had woken up. She squatted beside the wooden basin and looked carefully at the densely packed seeds in the basin, then asked, "Does it need to be soaked for twelve hours?"

Jiang Qingzhou nodded, and then told Song Li about the method of growing mulberry seedlings that Hu Zhimin had mentioned.

After hearing this, Song Li began to think about how long cotton cloth would be needed for so many seeds. After she thought it over, she returned to her room and took out some old clothes that she had never worn and placed them on the eight-immortal table beside her, ready to soak them in water and cover the seeds with them tomorrow.

Song Xing and Jiang Qingye, who had just returned from school, curiously gathered around the wooden basin. They wanted to secretly insert their fingers into the seed, but were quickly stopped by Song Li who was standing by.

The next day, after breakfast.

Song Li and three other people went to the fields near the village entrance to harvest the garlic on half an acre of land.

The four of them spent a whole morning finally transporting all the new garlic back home. Thanks to the cart that Chen Yuan left at Jiang's house, they saved a lot of effort.

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou filled the basket with fresh garlic, and they planned to send some to Jiang and Master Li in the afternoon.

"Qingzhou, do you want to give some to Constable Chen?" Song Li asked.

Jiang Qingzhou recalled the scene he saw in Chen Yuan's courtyard that day. He said that Chen Yuan lived alone.

Song Li thought for a moment, smiled and said that she would send some to Chen Yuan after the sweet and sour garlic was pickled. Although Chen Yuan told them that they could use the car as they pleased, Song Li felt that they could not use it for nothing, and she had to give Chen Yuan something to thank him.