When the pears are green

Jiang Qingzhou took the basin from Song Li's hand and asked Song Li to sit aside and rest first. While he was cooking, Song Li could light the fire.

Song Li sat on a stool, supporting her chin with her hand, and watched Jiang Qingzhou busying around at the chopping board with a smile.

Jiang Qingzhou noticed Song Li's gaze, he turned around and smiled at Song Li, then continued to work. Song Li felt that this kind of life was warm and comfortable.

After dinner, Song Li touched the radish tops hanging on the rope, and she said to Jiang Qingzhou: "Qingzhou, I have an idea. I originally wanted to make some with green vegetables, but considering the cost, I still think it is more cost-effective to use radish tops. Now is the season for harvesting radishes. Can you help me collect some radish tops in the village? How much is one pound?"

Jiang Qingzhou thought for a moment, and then he said to Song Li, "Xiao Li, many families in the village use radish tops to dry vegetables or eat them directly as vegetables, but you may not be able to harvest much. Last year, someone harvested two kilograms for one penny. If you think it's okay, I'll ask Qingye to go to Xiaoshan's house and ask him. He grows a lot of radishes every year."

"Then let Qingye make a trip and buy as much as he can." Song Li thought about it and decided that even if he didn't buy many radish tops, it would still be much more cost-effective than buying green vegetables at one penny per pound.

Jiang Qingzhou called Jiang Qingye, who was writing on the ground, over and said to him, "Qingye, Xiaoshan's family has planted a lot of radishes. Go to his house and ask if they sell radish tops. One penny for two pounds. If they ask you what they're for, just say you don't know. Got it?"

Jiang Qingye nodded, opened the gate, jogged away, and disappeared.

"It won't be long before the news spreads, so we just have to wait at home." Jiang Qingzhou said with a smile.

After hearing this, Song Li also laughed along with Jiang Qingzhou. But as she laughed, she thought of a new problem and frowned in distress.

Song Li pulled Jiang Qingzhou's arm and said, "Qingzhou, we also have to consider the issue of drying. If we harvest a lot of radish leaves, what to use to dry them and how to dry them is also a problem."

Jiang Qingzhou looked at the long rope that was almost full, and said to Song Li, "Go buy another rope."

Song Li shook her head. A long rope costs about thirty coins, and the frost season is coming soon. If the leaves are frozen, they can no longer be dried. Buying a rope is not cost-effective.

Jiang Qingzhou looked around again, pointed at the corn stalks piled under the shed and said, "Xiao Li, use them. I'll find some strong branches to make triangular stakes and put the stalks on top. After we're done, we can continue to burn them."

"Sure. Let's pick the radish tops on the rope first to avoid being asked about them. When we cook in the evening, we can boil them in boiling water, dry them in the sun and steam them three times." After Song Li said this, she started to pick the radish tops.

Jiang Qingzhou hurried into the house to get the winnowing basket, and he and Song Li put the radish leaves in it together.

Jiang Qingzhou said as he collected them: "It's really a waste of firewood. The straw in our house was given by the Liu family who rented our land. We need the wheat and corn straw, and the rest belongs to the Liu family. Villagers rely on this straw to cook all year round, and there is a shortage of firewood in winter. People freeze to death every winter."

Jiang Qingzhou finished speaking and sighed.

Song Li saw a forest to the west of Jiang's house. She asked Jiang Qingzhou, "Can we just cut down the ownerless trees on the riverbank?"

"That's definitely not possible. Those without owners are owned by the government. If you cut them down without permission, you will be punished with twenty strokes of the cane. And every year in the first month of spring, the government prohibits cutting down trees, fishing, and robbing bird nests." Jiang Qingzhou said, and walked towards the kitchen with a winnowing basket.

Song Li thought of the ownerless bamboo forest next to her family's vegetable garden. She glanced at the two bamboos placed in the corner of the kitchen and suddenly felt scared. Twenty strokes of the cane, it hurts just thinking about it.

After Jiang Qingzhou came out of the kitchen, he saw Song Li staring at the two bamboo poles. He thought of the time when he and Song Li first met, when Song Yue and the others cut down the ownerless bamboo forest.

Jiang Qingzhou tried to comfort Song Li, saying, "The bamboo forest is fine. Bamboos grow fast, and no one will care unless they grow too fast."

Song Li then breathed a sigh of relief. She had been wondering why the bamboo forest was ownerless and why she hadn't seen any adults cutting down bamboos. At most, there were children cutting down a few bamboos to play with.

There was a sound coming from the gate of the courtyard, and Jiang Qingye and Jiang Xiaoshan each came in carrying a basket full of radish leaves, followed by a middle-aged woman in a gray cloth shirt.

Jiang Qingzhou walked over to help the middle-aged woman take off the backpack on her back. The middle-aged woman smiled at Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li, with a calculating gleam in her eyes and wrinkles appearing at the corners of her eyes.

When Jiang Xiaoshan saw Song Li, he laughed twice in embarrassment, then walked behind the middle-aged woman, rubbing his hands helplessly, and called out, "Mom."

Jiang Xiaoshan's mother reached out and touched Jiang Xiaoshan's head, then said to Song Li embarrassedly: "Niece-in-law, the child can't speak, don't argue with him."

After hearing this, Song Li smiled and said, "Aunt, I'm not angry to begin with. How could I take a child's words seriously? Generally speaking, adults don't talk nonsense, and children won't talk nonsense either, don't you think?"

Jiang Xiaoshan's mother opened her mouth but no sound came out. Song Li said to Jiang Qingzhou beside her: "Qingzhou, weigh it for your aunt."

Jiang Qingzhou first weighed the backpack filled with radish leaves, then weighed the empty backpack, and then used the same method to weigh the basket.

After hearing the number, Song Li calculated it in her mind and said to Jiang Qingzhou, "Twenty-nine pounds and six ounces. Give aunt thirty pounds." After that, she took out fifteen copper coins from her purse and handed them to Jiang Xiaoshan's mother.

Jiang Xiaoshan's mother took the copper coin and said to Jiang Qingzhou with a smile: "Da Hu, I'll take it. Hey, Xiaoshan, let's go home!"

Looking at the backs of Jiang Xiaoshan and his mother walking away, Jiang Qingye asked Song Li: "Sister-in-law, do you dislike Xiaoshan?"

"I didn't, I just don't like his mother who gossips." Song Li said while turning over the radish leaves with her head down.

Jiang Qingye was still struggling over whether to continue playing with Jiang Xiaoshan. After hearing what Song Li said, he happily squatted beside Song Li and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, I'll help you wash the vegetables."

Without waiting for Song Li to speak, Jiang Qingye put the radish leaves into the wooden basin and began to wash them carefully.

Villagers who came to sell radish tops came one after another. By evening, Song Li had collected a total of 80 kilograms of radish tops.

Song Li looked at the pile of radish leaves. She smiled and said to Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye, "Qingzhou, Qingye, we have a lot of work to do. We all need to stay up a little later tonight. I'll go cook, Qingye will wash the radish leaves, and Qingzhou will set up the rack!"

After Song Li finished speaking, she went back to the kitchen to boil water. After the water boiled, she first boiled the dried radish tops, then put them in a ceramic pot and let them simmer overnight, and then hung them out to dry the next day.

After dinner, Song Li saw that the cleaning was almost done, so she asked Jiang Qingye to clean up the kitchen and then go back to his room to sleep, while she and Jiang Qingzhou went to build the wooden frame.

After setting up the wooden rack, the two of them hung all the washed radish tops out to dry.

Song Li stretched her back, then pointed to the night sky and said to Jiang Qingzhou, "Look, that's Cassiopeia." Song Li then drew a big "W" on the ground, and then pointed to five bright stars in turn for Jiang Qingzhou to see.

Jiang Qingzhou sometimes looked at Song Li with a smile, and sometimes looked up in the direction Song Li pointed.