When the pears are green

Jiang Qingzhou gently pushed open the door of the east room and tiptoed to the bedside, only to see Jiang Huan playing with the red string in Song Li's hand with his eyes open.

"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" Jiang Qingzhou leaned over to the bed and gently held Jiang Huan's little hand.

Song Li used the red string to tease Jiang Huan while explaining: "Maybe it's because it was too lively at noon and I don't want to sleep."

Jiang Qingzhou took the red rope from Song Li's hand to tease Jiang Huan, and smiled as he asked Song Li to lie down and rest first.

Song Li lay in bed, looking sideways at the father and son playing, and asked Jiang Qingzhou softly: "I have read Su Dongpo's "Bathing Poem" before, and the last two lines are: I only hope that my son will be stupid and rude, and will become an official without any disaster. Qingzhou, what kind of life do you think Huan'er will have in the future?"

"Xiao Li, he is only one month old today. Why bother thinking about what will happen in ten years? As long as he can grow up happily and safely, that's enough. No matter he is smart or dumb, if he is not good at studying, he can practice martial arts. If martial arts is still not good enough, we can prepare more fields. There are 360 ​​professions, and there is always a lifestyle suitable for Huan'er." After Jiang Qingzhou finished speaking, he stretched out his hand and pinched Song Li's face, telling Song Li not to think too much.

Song Li spread out Jiang Qingzhou's palm and rubbed the newly grown calluses on it with her fingers.

The following days were a bit difficult for Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou. Jiang Huan changed from his usual well-behaved self and started crying and refusing to sleep at night.

After staying up all night, Jiang Qingzhou was afraid that Jiang Huan was crying because he was sick, so he went to the clinic early in the morning and asked the old doctor to come to his house to check Jiang Huan's pulse.

After checking the child's pulse, the old doctor shook his head and told Jiang Qingzhou: "The child is not sick. Many babies who are just one month old are like this. They cry at night, but they will be fine in a month or two. I have a method. Boil white radish and give it to the child's mother. Remember, it is white radish, not the common green radish. I bought it at the market in town. Now is the radish season. You can try your luck."

After Jiang Qingzhou sent the old doctor back to the clinic, he hurriedly drove his donkey cart to the market.

Today is not a market day, and there are only a few vendors setting up stalls on both sides of the busy street.

Jiang Qingzhou came forward to take a look, but did not see the white radish he wanted.

Just as Jiang Qingzhou was about to leave, an old man with gray hair stopped him and said, "What do you want to buy, young man? You just look at it without saying anything. Today is not a market day, so I can't bring everything. Tell us and see if anyone has it. If so, we'll bring it to you the day after tomorrow when there's a market day."

Jiang Qingzhou turned around and replied with a smile: "Uncle, I want white radish."

The old man laughed after hearing this, and his two loose front teeth swayed as his lips opened and closed.

"Wait a moment. There's a woman who comes here every day to sell white radishes. She should be here soon."

"Okay, thank you for telling me, uncle. I'll go buy something else first and come back later."

Jiang Qingzhou turned around and drove the donkey cart to a nearby butcher's shop to buy a piece of ribs. The ribs were used to make soup for Song Li, and the rest could be used for stir-frying or making dumplings.

When Jiang Qingzhou returned to the market again, the old man who had just spoken to him pointed to a stall not far away and told Jiang Qingzhou: "That woman is coming. Her husband is a cripple. It's not easy for him to come here with his children every day to sell radishes."

Jiang Qingzhou thanked the old man and walked quickly to the woman's stall and asked, "Sister, how much are the radishes?"

The boy next to the woman was frightened by the donkey and quickly hid in the woman's arms without daring to look up.

The woman said something to comfort the boy, then raised her head and smiled and replied, "Little brother, the radishes are two cents a pound. They were just pulled out of the ground this morning. How many would you like?"

Jiang Qingzhou glanced at the haggard woman and the snotty-nosed boy, and asked the woman to weigh all the radishes on the stall.

"Thank you, little brother. Let me weigh it for you." The woman pushed the boy away and reached for the scale in the backpack.

The boy rubbed his nose with his patched sleeve and put his arm around the woman's left leg.

The woman patted the boy's hand gently and said, "Yongning, be good. After I weigh these radishes, we can go home and play with your sister. Didn't your father tell us to sell the radishes and buy some meat? When we get home, I'll make dumplings for you, okay?"

The boy let go of the woman's left leg with anticipation, and stood aside obediently watching the woman weigh the radishes.

The woman's scale can only weigh ten kilograms at a time. Jiang Qingzhou told the woman not to be anxious and just weigh it slowly.

After weighing it five times in a row, the woman smiled and told Jiang Qingzhou: "Little brother, the total weight is 45 kilograms."

After Jiang Qingzhou paid the copper coins, he carried the radish to the donkey cart and put it away.

The boy became bolder and leaned against the woman's legs, curiously looking at the donkey that was sniffing around leisurely.

"Mom, what is this?"

"It's a donkey."

"Can you ask Dad to buy me a donkey, too?"

"Well, sure. Then when you get home, you can help your father with more work. When you grow up, you can learn to be a bamboo craftsman from your father, okay?"

The boy nodded happily. The woman carried the backpack and let the boy sit on the wheelbarrow, and pushed the wheelbarrow to the butcher shop at the corner of the street.

Jiang Qingzhou first piled the radishes he bought under the eight-immortals table in the main hall, and then went to the east room to see if Song Li and Jiang Huan were awake.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Song Li who was sleeping soundly, and picked up Jiang Huan who was quietly playing with the quilt.

"You, you don't sleep at night and make your mother suffer because of you." Jiang Qingzhou scolded Jiang Huan in a low voice while carrying Jiang Huan towards the west room.

Song Li slept until the afternoon and woke up. When she opened her eyes, she saw Jiang Huan lying beside her. Jiang Qingzhou was sitting on a stool beside the bed, sewing clothes quite skillfully.

"Just put it there, I'll sew it for you later." Song Li said with a smile to Jiang Qingzhou who was holding the needle and thread.

When Jiang Qingzhou heard Song Li's voice, he quickly put his clothes and needlework on a stool beside him, then rubbed Song Li's long hair and said, "I stewed radish and pork ribs for you. Huan'er just slept for a while, so he should sleep for a while longer. Get up and eat."

"Well, after dinner I'll go to my second sister-in-law and ask for her experience. We can't just rely on white radish. What if it doesn't work and Huan'er will continue to cry. Adults can just bear with it and it will pass, but Huan'er's crying is too pitiful. Qingzhou, have you eaten?" Song Li asked Jiang Qingzhou while getting dressed.

Jiang Qingzhou quickly said that he had already eaten and asked Song Li to go quickly.

Jiang Qingzhou was simmering the pork rib soup over a low fire. When Song Li lifted the lid of the pot, a rich aroma wafted over her.

After dinner, Song Li went to Jiang Qian's house.

Zhang Ying, who was coaxing the child, heard Song Li's intention and smiled and told Song Li: "Sister-in-law, my mother taught me a spell: The sky is in a panic, the earth is in a panic, there is a child crying at night in my family, if a gentleman passing by recites it three times, he will sleep until dawn."

"Second sister-in-law, does this spell work?" Song Li asked curiously.

Zhang Ying patted the child and replied, "To be honest, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

"Qingzhou called a doctor, and the doctor said we could try boiling the white radish. Sister-in-law, what's the child's name? I don't even know it yet." Song Li asked, gently touching the child's little hand.

Zhang Ying looked at the child in her arms tenderly and replied, "Baozhu, Jiang Baozhu."

"As precious as pearls, it is indeed a good name." After chatting with Zhang Ying for a while, Song Li hurried back home.

Between the spell and the white radish, Song Li firmly chose to believe what the old doctor said about the white radish.

Boiling the white radish was indeed effective, and Jiang Huan did not cry again that night.

Jiang Qingye and Song Xing asked for four days off from the study and helped Jiang Qingzhou harvest the radishes and plant wheat in the fields.

Jiang Qingzhou made dried vegetables with radish tops, and then started his tofu business in the village again.

The weather is getting colder and colder, the leaves have all fallen without us noticing, and the first snow has quietly arrived.