The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Not to mention how the Chen family members talked about and complained about Chen Shugen's dishonesty and unreliability, Chen Cui's life was still relatively harmonious.

During the day, after sending her three children to school, she would take Sui Sui home to do some housework and bask in the sun. No one disturbed them, and the mother and daughter felt comfortable at home.

On February 19th, it was Suisui's first birthday. It happened to be a ten-day holiday at school, so his brothers were all at home.

The school has one day off every ten days, which is similar to the officials’ rest days.

When the children had holidays, they would find work to do at home or outside to reduce Chen Cui's burden.

Unfortunately, there was still a lot of firewood at home and the water tanks were full, so there was almost nothing to do.

Chen Cui experimented several times in advance and finally made a successful egg cake on this day.

Although it is steamed in a pot, it is still fluffy and soft. With goat milk and sugar added into it, it is sweet and delicious, with a strong milky flavor. Several children like it very much.

Although there was no first birthday party, nor the so-called "Zhuazhou Ceremony", they just had a slightly sumptuous dinner together as a family, but Chen Cui still felt very warm.

Although she was not allowed to wear red or green, Chen Cui still made a new plain dress for Sui Sui and tied her short hair into a small bun on top of her head.

During these days, Suisui has not only gained weight, but his skin has also become whiter and his hair is darker than before. It is no longer the original yellow hair. After dressing up like this, he looks quite "cute and beautiful".

Of course, her skin color is still a long way from being fair, and these compliments only come from the filter of her family.

After March, the weather gradually became warmer. Chen Cui plowed the vegetable garden in the backyard again, poured all the wood ash she had saved into the soil and used it as base fertilizer.

Chen Cui has also bought the vegetable seeds. When the temperature gets higher in a while, they can be planted.

It’s a bit worrying that there’s no rain in the fields. Some people have already started to fetch water to irrigate the wheat anxiously.

Of Chen Cui's five acres of land, three acres are close to the river and are planted with wheat, while the two acres farther away from the water are planted with millet, which is more drought-resistant.

When she had nothing to do, Chen Cui went to the fields to take a look and found that many people had already started to move, carrying shoulder poles and buckets to transport water to the fields.

Yes, now is the time when wheat is jointing and heading. If there is a lack of water at this time, the harvest will definitely be affected. This is what “wheat hopes for rain in March” means.

Everyone was busy, so Chen Cui couldn't just sit there and do something. There had been a lot of rumors about her in the village recently. If other people's wheat fields were watered while her wheat fields were still dry, the gossip would be even louder.

Although she was not afraid of these voices, the wheat harvest was not high to begin with, and if the yield was reduced due to drought, the loss would be even greater.

After sending her children to school, Chen Cui unloaded the shed and seats from the mule cart, loaded the newly purchased large wooden barrel and the water buckets from home onto the cart, and went to the river to fetch water to transport to the fields.

When she was filling the cart with water, she tied Suisui to the cart with a belt to prevent her from getting off and running around.

She can walk more steadily now, and can walk around the house easily. Chen Cui has to put all the chairs and sundries against the wall to prevent the child from tripping over things.

The wooden barrels and basins on the mule cart were filled with water, and Chen Cui drove the cart to her own field.

Although pouring water into the fields is a little troublesome, as she has to water one ridge at a time, pouring water slowly and moving constantly, her way of watering the fields is already very easy compared to others carrying water on their shoulders or in their hands.

Of course, when Chen Cui was watering the fields, she also smuggled a lot of water out of the space. She could have irrigated half a ridge of land, but she only irrigated an entire ridge, saving a lot of effort in irrigation and drawing water.

At noon, when Chen Cui was driving her mule cart home for lunch, she met Chen Meihua who was delivering lunch to her husband and father-in-law in the fields.

Chen Meihua's family has more than ten acres of land, but there are only two and a half real laborers: her husband, father-in-law and Changgen.

Changgen is thirteen years old this year and can be used as a half-person. The two children below are too young, one is five years old and the other is three years old. They still need someone to look after them and are of no use at all.

When Chen Meihua saw Chen Cui, her eyes were a little evasive. Just as the two greeted each other and were about to pass by, Chen Meihua suddenly called out to Chen Cui.

"Cui, last time I went back to my parents' home, I told my mother about your three children going to school and buying a mule cart. My sister-in-law heard about it and spread the gossip in the village. Now many people in Chenjiagou know about it."

Chen Meihua bit her lip, stamped her feet, and told everything: "Cui, I'm sorry, it's my fault. I shouldn't have told these things to my family. My brother has beaten my sister-in-law, and she dare not say anything nonsense anymore, but some of those words have been spread. I only found out recently. I...I'm sorry for you and Uncle Shangen!"

After Chen Meihua learned about this, she felt guilty and sad, and felt that she had let down her good sister's trust.

Chen Cui wondered what she was going to say, but it turned out to be this.

In fact, she had expected the news to spread to Chenjiagou. After all, the two villages were not far from each other, and it was only a matter of time before they got in touch with each other.

Let's just say it. It's impossible for her to hide away her earnings forever just to avoid gossip. She won't spend the money she earns, won't send her children to school, won't buy a mule cart, and will save on necessary expenses. Then what's the point of making money!

"Sister Meihua, I thought it was nothing. It's just a small matter. It's not worth you telling me about it. It's not a big deal. Even if you don't say it, they will know it by then. It's okay. Don't take it to heart. I won't blame you. I'm in a hurry to go home for dinner. I don't want to chat with you anymore!"

Chen Cui waved and said goodbye to Chen Meihua who was standing on the edge of the field.

In fact, lunch was prepared in the morning, so she just had to heat it up. She also steamed a bowl of egg custard for Suisui and poured fried minced meat on it, and that was it for both mother and daughter.

Now that the weather is a little warmer, the child's cotton-padded clothes have been changed into thinner ones. Chen Cui has started to train Suisui to eat with a spoon by himself.

I basically taught her the spoon method a few times, and the rest was up to her own practice.

Give her a wooden spoon and bowl, and there's no need to worry about them breaking. Just put on a big bib and let her eat by herself. How much she can get in the end depends on her ability.

At the beginning, Suisui struggled for a long time, but most of the egg custard was either on the table or on the bib, and only a few made it into his stomach.

Unable to get the food into her mouth, she angrily banged the table with the spoon, screaming "ah ah" in her mouth, but her eyes were staring at Chen Cui who was eating, as if accusing her of why she didn't come to feed her.

Chen Cui took the rice out of her mouth, then took her hand and demonstrated the correct eating posture, how to successfully put the rice into her mouth.

By the time Suisui was finally able to finish most of a bowl of rice and only spill a little, it was already April.

The weather was getting hotter, but it still didn't rain. The wheat had entered the grain filling stage and needed water even more, so the villagers had to start a new round of watering the fields.