The whole family traveled through ancient times with their house

Zhang Xiaoqi was still a little worried, so he warned his three sons, "You must keep an eye on these boys and make sure they don't harm the crops planted by Madam Jiang."

"Got it, Dad."

"Dad, don't worry."

"Dad, if anyone dares to harm Aunt Jiang's crops, we won't take him out to play anymore."

"Okay." After hearing his youngest son's domineering assurance, Zhang Xiaoqi felt at ease and went back to do his own things.

Jiang Yan: Looking at the rice drying on the oilcloth, she resigned herself to her fate and sat in the shade of a tree nearby, doing needlework.

In the rice field, Yichen looked at the children coming in groups carrying shovels, and she felt bad in her heart. The second crop of rice that she and her mother had been looking forward to for many days was about to be gone.

What to do? Seeing the happiness on the faces of those children, just because he was the first one to dig out the loach.

Looking at the boy's most innocent smile, Yichen swallowed back all the words she wanted to say.

It’s just the second crop of rice. At worst, she’ll just eat less rice.

In order to bring the purest and simplest smiles to the children's faces, Yichen chose to give up the second crop of rice on behalf of her mother.

Alas, even if the mother and daughter eat sparingly, the rice at home is almost gone.

Yichen wanted to sigh. The look on her face, as if she was owed eight hundred dollars, was completely inconsistent with the bustling and noisy scene around her.

Sansheng had already dug up several loaches, and his enthusiasm for digging loaches was even higher, so he completely forgot about his sister Chenchen.

Fortunately, just as he was bending down to pick up the loaches he had dug out, he caught a glimpse of his sister, Chenchen, still sitting listlessly on the edge of the field. Her little face was as wrinkled as a bun, and he didn't know what was wrong.

Thinking that his sister Chenchen was unhappy, Sansheng lost all his enthusiasm for digging loaches. He threw away the shovel in his hand and sat down next to Yichen.

"Sister Chenchen?"

"Brother Sansheng, why don't you go dig for loaches?"

"My brothers and the others are digging, so I don't want to dig anymore."

"Oh."

"Why isn't Sister Chenchen digging for loaches?"

"I'm tired."

"What did sister Chenchen do? Why are you so tired?"

"I thought there would be some lost ears of rice in this field."

"Sister Chenchen, you won't be able to pick up any rice ears."

Yichen: …?

"You didn't see it then. After the uncles finished harvesting the rice, they started searching all over the ground. My mother said that with their attitude, if a grain of rice fell on the ground, they would crawl on the ground to pick it up."

"Aunt Guan is exaggerating."

"That's not an exaggeration at all." Sansheng glanced at someone not far away, then lowered his voice and continued, "Wang Xiaolang was so angry that he cried."

"Why are you crying out of anger?" Yichen followed Sansheng's gaze and glanced at the young boy who was working hard to dig loaches.

"Xiao Lang told me he wanted to come over and pick up some rice ears so he could pound them into rice to feed his grandparents. But he wasted his time because those uncles and aunts picked up rice faster than our chickens."

When Yichen heard Brother Sansheng compare the uncles and aunts in the centurion's office with chickens, she almost burst out laughing, and the depression of the second crop of rice also dissipated.

She was just about to say that she could go digging loaches with Brother Sansheng when she heard her mother calling her.

"Chenchen, Chenchen~"

"Hey, here I come!" Yichen responded and ran home on her short legs. When she reached the gate, her mother handed her a thin bamboo pole.

"Mother~"

"Take care of the rice while Mommy goes to cook."

"Hey."

"Watch out, don't let our chickens and ducks peck at them, and also be wary of those birds perched on the treetops."

"Mother, I know."

When Yichen saw her mother go into the kitchen to cook dinner, she sat in the shade of the yard, staring at the rice spread on the oilcloth in a daze.

Jiang Yan washed the rice and put it in the pot, then chatted with Yi Chen: "The paddy fields are so lively, why do you seem unhappy?"

"Mother~"

"What's wrong?" Jiang Yan didn't expect that her daughter had learned to stutter when speaking.

"mother…."

The little guy slowly walked to the kitchen door and then talked to his mother about Wang Xiaolang.

"Well, he's a good and filial child."

"Mom, can we help them?"

Jiang Yan pondered for a moment before saying to her daughter, "Let me think about it."

Yichen knew that her mother's words meant that she would help.

For dinner, Jiang Yan cooked sorghum rice porridge, and the dishes were pickled eggplant and mixed cucumber.

Yichen likes to eat pickled eggplant, especially when her mother adds a little minced meat to it, which makes the flavor even more unique.

Yichen ate with gusto, and from time to time she looked up to secretly watch her mother's expression.

"Is there something wrong with my face?"

"No."

"So you're treating me like a meal? My dish seems quite salty. Eat two bites before you look at it."

"Puchi~ Mom, you said we can't tell jokes while eating."

"Okay, Mom won't tell you anymore."

Then the mother and daughter ate quietly until they put down their bowls and chopsticks, and heard footsteps outside.

"Girl~"

"Hey."

"We are here to help you harvest the rice." Guan held a torch, and Zhang Xiaoqi followed with his three sons.

"Sister Guan, brother-in-law, have you eaten?"

"I just finished eating. I put down my bowl and came to help my sister harvest the rice."

"Yes." Zhang Xiaoqi kept the captain's instructions in mind and made sure to help Madam Jiang dry the rice and put it away properly.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaoqi glanced at his wife. Guan understood what he meant and came close to Jiang Yan, whispering, "Wait until the rice is dry, then put it in your west room."

"Didn't the captain say to put it in the cellar?"

"What cellar? That's what the captain told everyone."

"Oh."

"My boss and I have thought it through. We'll build a pad on the ground next to the west room and put the sacks of rice on top. This way it won't get damp easily and it can also keep out rats."

"Well, that's a good idea."

After Jiang Yan finished speaking, she brought up another matter with Guan. "Sister Guan, there's still a lot of work waiting for me in the fields. I'd like to hire a boy from our banner to help me watch over the rice, just for a day."

"Oh, your brother-in-law and I were negligent. Someone really needs to be involved in this matter."

"Why don't we ask the young man from the Wang family to come and help? He won't be paid, but we'll provide him with three meals a day."

"Oh, you little brat are eating me out of my house. The three meals you eat each day are more than the wages I get."

"It's okay. As long as he can take good care of the rice for us, that's better than anything else."

"Okay, I'll ask Dasheng to talk to the Wang family later. They will definitely agree."

Sure enough, Dasheng went to the Wang family to ask, and all four members of the Wang family nodded in agreement. Wang Xiaolang even followed Dasheng over and bowed deeply to Jiang Yan. The seven-year-old boy knew that this was Aunt Jiang helping them.

Jiang Yan accepted his gift and asked him to come early tomorrow.

"Okay, goodbye Aunt Jiang, I will come early tomorrow."

"Okay, see you tomorrow."