You are my golden finger

The day before the Dragon Boat Festival, the clan leader pulled out the two fattest pigs from his own pigsty and began to slaughter them, because they were going to make rice dumplings today, with pork belly, mung beans and peanuts as filling. The glutinous rice, mung beans and peanuts were provided by Lin Xijin. There were plenty of rice dumpling leaves on the mountain, so the women could pick them up by going up the mountain.

Some of the men went fishing and fried fish balls; some killed ducks and roasted them in the oven at Lin Xijin's house; some killed pigs and cut out the best pork belly.

Grandma Liu and Grandma He instructed the young wives to wash the leaves, wash the soaked glutinous rice, mung beans, and peanuts, wash the meat, cut it, and marinate it. When everything was ready, the skillful young wives were responsible for wrapping it. Aunt Mu Xiong and Aunt Jian An were responsible for scooping rice, one small bowl of glutinous rice for one zongzi, and almost every zongzi was the same size.

The place was busy.

In the evening, several large pots were set up in the drying yard behind the ancestral hall. Zongzi were put into the pots, and soon the air was filled with the fragrant aroma of zongzi.

The children were chasing and playing around, taking in the scent of the rice dumplings, and were reluctant to leave.

However, they were destined to be disappointed and they would not be able to eat tonight.

On the morning of the Dragon Boat Festival, the morning mist had not yet completely dissipated, and the leaves of the camphor trees were still covered with crystal dewdrops, when the ceremony of worshipping the ancestral temple began. Firecrackers blasted, gongs and drums sounded, and the dragon and lion dance team began their performance.

Most of the people who come to watch the dragon and lion dance performances are uncles, aunts, boys and girls. The adults in the village are very busy, killing fish and ducks, washing and cutting vegetables... everything is going on in a busy and orderly manner.

All the dishes for today's banquet are made from local ingredients. We killed a big pig and made rice dumplings, boiled pork bone soup, braised pork and sweet and sour spare ribs. We caught fish in the pond and made fried fish fillets and steamed fish. We killed ducks in the village and made roast duck and sour sauce boiled duck, and braised tea eggs. We also mixed in the cucumbers grown by the villagers and fried a plate of green sweet potato leaves. It was a table full of Shiziwo's special harvest banquet.

At noon, the banquet started as scheduled. The clan leader and the village head both raised their glasses, and all the people in the village, young and old, stood up.

"What's on the table, folks?"

"Pork, duck, fish!"

"how did it get here?"

"Jin'er (Sister Jin) asked everyone to feed her!"

"Today, we can have such a sumptuous banquet and no longer go hungry every day. We have to thank Jin'er. Everyone should be more diligent and work harder in the future to live a better life!" The clan leader and the village head cooperated tacitly and gave the villagers some emotional chicken soup for the soul.

Lin Xijin was not used to such sentimental scenes, so she could only raise her glass, smile and nod to everyone.

The food was eaten up in no time, except for the one rice dumpling each. Most people were reluctant to eat it, so they took it home and saved it for today's dinner.

In the afternoon, there were garden activities. Fishing competitions, duck trapping in the pond, word puzzles, counting competitions, and three-legged races for couples... all pushed the lively atmosphere of the Dragon Boat Festival to a climax. The winners received three or five copper coins, and the losers received two candies. It must be said that the relationship between the villagers in Shiziwo has reached an unprecedented harmony.

People from other villages who came to watch the fun were extremely envious. The next day, some parents asked matchmakers to go to the village to propose marriages to the boys from Shiziwo. They wished they could marry their daughters to Shiziwo, so naturally the girls became popular.

But at this time, the villagers of Shiziwo are not in a hurry. They all hope that their children can wait a few more years before getting married. Wouldn’t it be better to learn more skills and make more money?

The boys wanted to follow the motorcade to Kyoto and other places to see the world. When they heard the matchmaker was coming, they turned around and ran away, not to mention going on a blind date.

Some people who couldn't see their own weight even set their sights on Lin Xijin, but were rebuked by the villagers of Shiziwo: "What are you thinking? You can't even get a chance to eat!"

Under the layers of protection of the villagers, no one dared to jump in front of Lin Xijin.

After the Dragon Boat Festival, the villagers became busy. The wheat fields were golden, shining in the sun, exuding the scent of maturity.

Harvesting, threshing, and storing the wheat. Although the weather was good this year, the wheat yield was not high, so after paying the land tax, there was not much left for the family to eat.

Although they were worried, the farmers had no time to sigh. They didn't care that they were tanned and even had several layers of skin peeled off. They plunged into the fields and started summer farming.

However, most of the fields in Shiziwo were not planted with beans like in previous years, but were used to plant sweet potatoes and potatoes following Lin Xijin's example.

Although they were worried, the amazing speed of Lin Xijin's family's prosperity and the support they provided to the villagers of Shiziwo in the past ten months made everyone worship her almost like a god. They worked hard to turn the soil, build ridges, plant seedlings, and transport pond water to irrigate the land, completely following the procedures set by Lin Xijin, without any doubt.

Lin Xijin's family only left ten acres of land in Shiziwo to grow sweet potatoes and potatoes. Since they had not planted wheat before, they had already planted them. In another month, they could harvest the first crop together with corn.

However, there was a lot of wheat planted in the town and the two farms in Kyoto, and it was quite difficult to harvest and plant.

The farms in Kyoto have tenant farmers and farmhands, so there is no need to worry.

If the farm in the town relied solely on the farming and breeding teams at home, it would be a bit difficult.

Just when Lin Xijin was worried, the general's mansion sent fifty retired veterans. Most of them had some degree of disability, but it did not affect their basic work.

Lin Xijin selected ten people who were easy on the feet and relatively strong to form a team. The remaining forty people were temporarily arranged in the farm, and they were asked to harvest wheat together with the people in the breeding group, and then plant sweet potatoes and potatoes.

Although these veterans all have certain degrees of physical disabilities, they were specially selected by the General's Mansion. Apart from the fact that they have no relatives at home and live a lonely life, their basic labor is not affected.

Soldiers have been through iron discipline and baptism of blood and flesh, and they are the last to cheat and play tricks. In addition, when they arrived, Lin Xijin provided them with good living conditions, checked and treated their bodies, and gave them spiritual spring water to drink, so everyone felt like a new life. Everyone liked this little master, and naturally their enthusiasm for work was unprecedentedly high.

In just over ten days, the wheat harvest and summer planting will be completed.

Lin Xijin asked the breeding and raising team of Shiziwo to return, and selected eleven people who could roughly read and count and took them home to train them for the next step of opening stores in the town and county.

In summer, the sun rises especially early, the breeze blows through the treetops, and the air is filled with the fragrance of trees.

Boys and girls were practicing boxing and kicking with loud humming and grunting sounds. Uncle Muxiong, Uncle Jianan and some other adult men were also following suit. A group of old men and women had already gathered at the top of the camphor tree, practicing Tai Chi in a very serious manner.

Lin Xijin felt very relieved when she saw that the sadness on their faces had completely disappeared and they were full of energy.

"Uncles, how do you feel after practicing for a while?"

“We’re much more energetic!”

“I feel much better!”

"Thank you, Jin girl!"

Everyone answered at once.

"Now that everyone has learned Tai Chi, I won't come here every day anymore. The key to exercise is persistence. If you keep practicing for a long time, everyone will live a long life."

"Don't worry, Jin girl. We will persevere in order to live a long life!" Everyone answered with a smile.

"Jin'er, the carriage you wanted has been prepared. Can we help you deliver it to your home?" Uncle Jian'an asked.

"Oh, no need. I'll have someone drive the horse to your house later and just harness it and take it back."

"Okay, this saves trouble."

After breakfast, Lin Xijin asked ten veterans of the team to lead horses to the clan leader's house to harness the carriage and pull it back. Then he packed the strong liquor, finished medicines and cosmeceuticals and made preparations for transportation.