When the pears are green

The half-cloudy and half-sunny state continued until the afternoon. The sun was completely blocked by dark clouds at some point, and a strong wind swept across the entire plain.

The treetops rustled in the wind. The frightened donkey paced back and forth under the straw shed, calling out "Ah...Ah..." anxiously.

Two cats curled up in the straw stack, purring "meow...meow..."; the brave big black dog stood in front of the doghouse, barking "woof woof woof" at the peach tree that was swaying in the wind.

Song Li was awakened by the noise in the yard. She instinctively rubbed her eyes and went to close the window that was clanging in the wind.

The cool breeze completely woke up the still dazed Song Li, and she hurried to the yard to collect the clothes hanging on the long rope.

The clothes had been blown off by the wind long ago. Some fell on the ground, some fell on the bean racks, and some unfortunately fell into a wooden basin that still contained water.

Song Li looked at the scene in front of her helplessly. After slapping her forehead and stamping her feet, she went to pick up the clothes with a sigh. She put the dry ones on the eight-immortals table, and brought the wet ones together with the basins into the main room, waiting to wash them again after the weather cleared.

The dark clouds in the south were slowly moving towards the north. Song Li hurried into the new house to check on the pigpen, and at the same time spread the grass in front of the rabbit hutch into the chicken coop and the rabbit hutch.

After Song Li lowered the reed curtains around the millstone, she returned to the kitchen and poured the cooled rapeseed oil into a ceramic jar. She also put the hemp leaves that were not eaten at noon into a bamboo basket and covered it with the curtains.

The wind seemed to be a little weaker, and raindrops as big as beans fell on the ground, and the air was instantly filled with the smell of dust.

Song Li covered her head and ran into the main room, holding an oil-paper umbrella in one hand and holding two oil-paper umbrellas in the other, and left the house.

The wind on the road was much stronger than that in the yard. Song Li tried her best to avoid the trees swaying in the wind and walked slowly towards the river beach against the strong wind. The slanting rain quickly wet her dress.

The wind was stronger on the path in the field. Song Li didn't dare to go forward any further and had to retreat to the alley at the entrance of the village to wait for Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye to return from the riverbank.

The rain splashed against the orchid on the umbrella. Song Li let the rain splash onto her shoes and skirt, her eyes fixed on the path ahead leading to the river beach.

Two figures running with their heads covered were getting closer and closer. Song Li hurriedly took a few steps forward and handed the oil-paper umbrella in her arms to Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye who were dazed in the rain.

"Little Pear..."

"sister in law…"

"Don't say anything, go home quickly, and we can talk about it when we get home."

Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye, knowing they were in the wrong, looked at each other. Before they went to plant sesame seeds, they had clearly promised Song Li that if it was going to rain, they would come back in time regardless of whether the seeds were planted well or not.

The two followed Song Li in silence. Jiang Qingzhou looked at Song Li's thin back, his lips opening and closing, but he couldn't utter a word.

After returning home, Song Li first asked Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye to go back to their rooms to change their wet clothes, and then went to the kitchen to boil water and cook ginger soup.

Jiang Qingzhou, who had changed his clothes and had his hair loose, sat beside Song Li and explained, "Xiao Li, when it first rained, there was only one ridge left to plant, so Qingye and I thought we would go back after we finished planting. We didn't expect you to come to find us."

After a barely perceptible sigh, Song Li added firewood to the stove and whispered to Jiang Qingzhou: "Qingzhou, go get some ginger soup. You are my husband, Qingye is my brother, and it's raining so hard, I must go find you."

"Xiao Li, I will never do this again." Jiang Qingzhou held Song Li's hand holding the firewood stick and promised solemnly.

Song Li smiled slightly, slapped Jiang Qingzhou's hand away, and told Jiang Qingzhou to quickly get the ginger soup.

After drinking the ginger soup, the three of them took a hot shower.

The young Jiang Qingye and the always sickly Song Li were safe and sound, but Jiang Qingzhou, who had always been in good health, caught a cold.

On a stormy night, Song Li kept wiping Jiang Qingzhou's hot body with warm water.

Jiang Qingzhou, feeling uncomfortable all over, hugged Song Li, calling her mother and Xiaoli at the same time.

Song Li patted Jiang Qingzhou's back and whispered to him, "Qingzhou, be good. Drink some hot water and take a good sleep. I'll let Xiaoli get you some water. The water should be boiling."

Jiang Qingzhou let go of Song Li in a daze. Song Li hurried to the kitchen with an umbrella, and then returned to the east room carrying a ceramic jar filled with water.

After giving him water, Song Li wiped Jiang Qingzhou's still hot body again until the window turned white and Jiang Qingzhou's temperature dropped.

Song Li touched Jiang Qingzhou's forehead, which showed a normal body temperature. She could no longer resist the drowsiness that came over her, and fell asleep beside Jiang Qingzhou's arms.

When Jiang Qingzhou, who was exhausted, and Song Li, who had been tossing and turning all night, woke up, the sun had already risen to the zenith.

The two of them first looked at each other hazily, then suddenly sat up at the same time and looked out the window in horror.

"It's over, it's over, I actually forgot to make tofu." Jiang Qingzhou covered his aching head and wondered how to explain to Hu Zhimin.

Seeing this, Song Li hurriedly helped Jiang Qingzhou gently rub the painful area.

Song Li rubbed Jiang Qingzhou's face and said to him, who was still frowning, "Qingzhou, don't worry. Let's go and apologize to Mr. Hu right now. You suddenly had a high fever last night, which was unexpected."

Jiang Qingzhou nodded slightly. There was no other way except this.

After Jiang Qingzhou's head felt a little better, the two of them hurriedly put on their clothes and left the room, only to find that Lu Che and Jiang Qingye were not at home.

Song Li found a note left by Jiang Qingye on the wooden table in the kitchen. It read: "Brother, sister-in-law, leave the food in the pot. I'm going to the restaurant to deliver tofu and bean sprouts. I'll tell Ping An not to go to the village to do business today."

"Here, this is what Qingye left." Song Li handed the note to Jiang Qingzhou with red eyes.

Jiang Qingzhou glanced at it indifferently, and the hand holding the note began to tremble with excitement. The child who once needed protection was now able to provide shelter and solve problems for this family.

"This kid has really, really grown up." Jiang Qingzhou put the note back on the wooden table with a smile, then wiped the wet corners of his eyes as if wiping sweat.

Song Li took the still warm food out of the pot. Although it was very salty, just like Jiang Qingye's cooking style, the two of them found it extremely delicious.

After Jiang Qingye came back, Song Li quietly returned to the east room, leaving the yard for the two brothers who wanted to talk in private.

Three days later, Jiang Fei started delivering green grass to the Jiang family every day as agreed.

At about the same time, Zhang began to visit Song Li frequently, sometimes with Song Xing and Song Yue, sometimes with Song Changhe, and she came to the Jiang family almost every three to five days.

Song Xing told Song Li that he gave the recipe of the straw fan to Song Changsong, who often helped with housework. Song Li smiled and praised Song Xing for his good work.

Song Li didn't want Zhang to go through so much trouble, so she asked Zhang to stay at home for a while. Zhang was happy to let Song Changhe go back alone, and asked Song Changhe to wait until the corn grew taller and then come to pick her up home.

About twenty days later, Jiang Qingzhou heard from Jiang Ping that Jiang Fei's father had passed away. Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Ping went to Jiang Fei's house to help for a day, and quietly told Jiang Fei that he didn't need to send green grass anymore, and the account was written off from then on.

The summer vacation at the bookstore was over soon, and Zhang Ping'an followed Song Xing and Jiang Qingye to the bookstore to study. Zhang Ping'an adapted quickly, and after a day or two, he became friends with Zhang Feng, who was from the same village.

After Zhang Ping'an went to school, Ruyi and Chen Yuan made a special trip to Jiang's house. The corn was growing taller, and it was not safe for the three children to go to and from school on weekdays, so they let Song Xing, Jiang Qingye and Zhang Ping'an temporarily live in Chen Yuan's house and move back after the autumn harvest.

After obtaining the consent of Jiang Qingzhou, Song Li and Zhang, Ruyi, who was well prepared, immediately asked Chen Yuan to move Song Xing and Jiang Qingye's bedding, clothes, etc. onto the ox cart and take them away.

Ruyi looked at the items piled on the ox cart and secretly admired how smart she was. With more people at home, the reckless Chen Yuan could be more restrained.

After several heavy rains, the corn quickly grew to a height of one person. Zhang held Song Li's hand and was reluctant to leave. Song Li repeatedly assured Zhang that she would eat well during this period. Only then did Zhang follow Song Changhe and leave Jiangjia Village, looking back every few steps.

Jiang Qingzhou stopped his business in the village half a month ago. Apart from delivering goods to the restaurant and digging grass every day, he spent the rest of his time with Song Li. Every morning and evening, he would take Song Li for a walk in the village or pick cicada shells in the woods. On cloudy days, he would also take Song Li to the riverbank to fish or to the riverside to dig grass.

The scorching heat of the 24th solar term was unbearable. Song Li, who was already pregnant, could not eat. She lay lazily on the rattan chair all day and gradually became thinner.

Jiang Qingzhou thinks about letting Song Li eat more every day. This year, except for a small portion of peaches that are given away, the rest are all left for Song Li to eat slowly.

When the watermelons were almost ripe, Chen Yuan came over to keep Jiang Qingzhou company. The two of them guarded the watermelon field day and night, leaving Ruyi at home to take care of Song Li.

Jiang Qingzhou and Chen Yuan would drive a donkey cart to nearby villages and towns to sell watermelons from time to time. Apart from those given to Lingling, Kaixin, Zhang Er, Yang Yu, Mr. Li, Jiang, and Jiang Qingzhou's two cousins, most of the watermelons were sold to Hu's Restaurant.

After half a month, the originally fair-skinned Chen Yuan became darker.

Chen Yuan drove the ox cart slowly away from Jiangjia Village. Behind him, two roosters with their legs tied were pecking at each other. Ruyi held the two baskets filled with watermelons and corn tightly, fearing that if Chen Yuan was not careful, the baskets would fall over.

After Jiang Qingzhou cleaned up the melon vines in the melon field, he took advantage of the season to plant two acres of radishes.

After the hottest days of July, the corn slowly turned yellow and the night wind became cooler.

That night, Song Li sat in a rattan chair and nibbled on a pig's trotter leisurely, sometimes listening to Jiang Qingzhou telling stories from a book, and sometimes looking up at the stars in the night sky.