When the pears are green

Song Li put the cart in the shade beside the courtyard wall. She saw Jiang Qingzhou's eyes looking towards the west room from time to time, so she smiled and told Jiang Qingzhou: "Qingzhou, I asked Qingye to go out to find grass. He can't stay at home to read. It will be more effective if he relaxes a little."

"It's better to let him go out for a run. When I come back, I'll see that the cabbages in the field are dry. Let's go water them." Jiang Qingzhou took out his own purse from his bag and handed it to Song Li together with the purse that Song Li had just given him.

Song Li happily weighed the two purses in her hands, then skipped into the east room. She took out the wooden box hidden in the cabinet, and poured the copper coins into it. The "rustling" sound was very pleasant to the ears.

Song Li hid the wooden box again. She walked into the yard and took the wooden bucket from Jiang Qingzhou's left hand. The two of them went to the vegetable garden together to water the plants.

It hadn't rained for nearly a month. When Song Li was watering the crops, she could always hear villagers nearby who were breaking corn in the fields complaining that if it didn't rain, wheat planting might be delayed.

"It will always rain. Wheat is different from corn. Even if we plant it a month or two late, we can still harvest wheat in May next year." Jiang Qingzhou is more optimistic, because as far as he can remember, although this plain has not been blessed with good weather, it has never really pushed the people living here into a desperate situation.

Song Li nodded. She hoped that it would rain before planting wheat as Jiang Qingzhou said. Although there was a canal at the edge of the field, it was too tiring to carry buckets of water to irrigate the field with just her two arms.

The cabbages on half an acre of land were watered quickly. When she and Jiang Qingzhou returned home, Jiang Qingye was sitting at the gate of the courtyard waiting for them to come back, with a backpack next to him filled with half-green and half-yellow grass.

"Sister-in-law, there is almost no green grass left. Most of it is half green and half yellow." Jiang Qingye saw Song Li looking at the backpack, and he quickly stood up and explained to Song Li.

Song Li quickly smiled and said that she knew. After all, the season had arrived, and it hadn't rained, so it would be strange if the grass didn't turn yellow.

Jiang Qingye saw Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou holding wooden buckets in their hands, so he asked them if they were going to water the cabbages.

Jiang Qingzhou nodded, handed the wooden barrel to Jiang Qingye, and carried the backpack into the rabbit nest and emptied it out.

The doe rabbit is about to give birth again, but there is no grass to be found, so this is the only way to feed it for now.

Song Li chopped off the green parts and supplied them to the female rabbits first. She asked Jiang Qingye, who was throwing grass into the rabbit nest, where he found the grass.

"It was at the river beach. Jiang Yang and I went there together. He wanted me to go fishing with him in the afternoon." After saying that, Jiang Qingye threw some slightly yellowed grass into the chicken coop.

Song Li looked up and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She told Jiang Qingye that he could go, but he must pay attention to safety and not go into the water.

Jiang Qingye quickly agreed. After feeding, he happily went to Jiang Yang's house, holding a piece of steamed bread that Jiang Qingzhou asked him to bring.

Around mid-afternoon, Kai Xin drove a ox cart to Jiangjia Village. On the ox cart were not only two young men but also something similar to a scale.

Kai Xin first saluted Jiang Qingzhou who opened the door, and then continued: "Brother Jiang, long time no see. I came to buy pigs according to the boss's instructions. The boss has already discussed it with Madam Jiang this morning."

"Xiao Li has already told me that Kai Xin and the two young men should come in first." Jiang Qingzhou said and invited Kai Xin and the other two into the yard.

Kai Xin turned around and told the two young men standing next to the ox cart: "Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang, take the scale off the ox cart."

The two young men hurriedly carried the scale into the Jiang family and happily explained to Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou: "Mrs. Jiang, Mr. Jiang, don't think too much. The boss is afraid that you don't have a scale that can weigh hundreds of kilograms, so he asked me to bring the big scale from the restaurant. Please measure the scale, Mr. Jiang, if it is inaccurate, you can calibrate it again."

Song Li waved her hands quickly after hearing this. She smiled and said to Kai Xin, "Kai Xin is joking. My husband and I naturally trust Mr. Hu. Would you like to drink some water before catching the pigs?"

The Zhang brothers smiled and shook their heads. Zhang Da, who had a sullen face, asked Kai Xin: "Kai Xin, which one did the boss order?"

Happy walked to the pig pen, pointed at the pig lying on the south side of the wooden trough and said, "That's the one."

Zhang Da walked to the south side of the pig pen and quickly climbed in. He sat on the frightened pig before it could stand up. Zhang Er then jumped into the pig pen and held down the pig's hind legs.

The pig couldn't move. It made a "buzzing" sound and tried to stick its head out to bite Zhang Da.

Jiang Qingzhou quickly jumped in and held down the pig's head. Zhang Er half-knelt on the pig's hind legs. He took the hemp rope that Kai Xin handed over and tied up the pig's legs neatly.

After several attempts, Jiang Qingzhou and the Zhang brothers finally lifted the pig out of the pigsty. They put the pig on the scale and it weighed 223 kilograms.

Kai Xin took out a small abacus from his bag and calculated, then said to Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou with a smile: "Mrs. Jiang, Mr. Jiang, according to the price we agreed on this morning, the price of live pig is six coins per pound, which is a total of 1,338 coins."

Song Li quickly calculated in her mind and found that it was indeed the number Kai Xin had calculated. She nodded to Jiang Qingzhou, who quickly responded with Kai Xin.

Kai Xin saw that Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li had no objection, so he took out two silver ingots from his bag and said, "Brother Jiang, this silver ingot is one tael, which is seven hundred coins. To save trouble, I'll give you two taels and you can give me sixty-two coins, okay? It saves us from weighing the silver back and forth."

"Okay, Xiaoli, go get the copper coins." Jiang Qingzhou handed the silver ingot that Kai Xin handed over to Song Li, and Song Li took the silver ingot and went to the east room.

Jiang Qingzhou went to the kitchen to pour some water and brought it to the Zhang brothers and Kai Xin. The three of them quickly thanked Jiang Qingzhou. The Zhang brothers drank it in big gulps, and Kai Xin also took a few sips.

This was the first time Song Li had seen a silver ingot. It was shaped like a boat, with three lines of characters carved in the middle like a couplet. The top line was engraved with Bianzhou, and the bottom two lines were Yongfeng Year and Craftsman Li Wenjie from right to left. She turned the silver ingot over and took a look. The bottom was smooth and had no characters.

Song Li put the silver ingot into the wooden box, counted out sixty-two copper coins and strung them together with a rope. She returned to the yard and handed the copper coins to Kai Xin, asking him to count them.

Kai Xin took it and put it directly into his bag. He smiled and said that he trusted Song Li.

After the Zhang brothers moved the scale onto the ox cart, Jiang Qingzhou and Kai Xin helped them lift the pig onto the ox cart.

After the three happy people drove away in the ox cart, Song Li closed the courtyard gate and took Jiang Qingzhou to the east room. She took out the silver ingot from the wooden box and showed it to Jiang Qingzhou, and asked what the inscription on it meant.

Jiang Qingzhou explained to Song Li: "This silver ingot was cast in Bianzhou during the Yongfeng period. When I went to pay the land tax to my aunt's family this spring, I saw the notice posted by the government office saying the fourth year of Yongfeng."

"I see." After Song Li put the wooden box away, she asked Jiang Qingzhou, who smelled like pig, to change his clothes first.

Jiang Qingzhou held Song Li's hands and acted coquettishly. He wanted Song Li to help him. Song Li was afraid that Jiang Qingye would come back suddenly, so she quickly broke free and ran to the door.

"Acting coquettishly is something only children do. Qingzhou is already an adult. You change first and take it out and I will help you wash it." Song Li said with a smile and closed the door.