January is the most leisurely time of year for people in the countryside; even Zhou Erlang, who was always busy weaving bamboo baskets, stopped his work. Except for those few days around the Lantern Festival, when he took Eldest and Third to set up a stall in the town to sell bamboo baskets, he was not very busy.
Manbao took the opportunity to bring up the matter of clearing land for her eldest sister.
Before Zhou Xi could refuse, Zhou Dalang quickly finished the rice in his bowl and said, "Alright, once we're done with breakfast, we'll all go together. I've seen the patch of land Manbao chose; it's not very big, and there aren't even any trees. It will be easy to clear."
Ms. Qian glanced at her eldest daughter, who wanted to refuse, and nodded, "Hmm, let's go with Manbao's idea."
To Zhou Xi, she said, "That piece of land will be yours, and in the future, you can keep all its yield for yourself."
Zhou Xi felt somewhat uneasy and lowered her head to acknowledge with a sound.
