Chapter 131 Weak, pitiful and helpless
Qin Yao sighed helplessly, walked towards the kitchen, and lit a fire to boil water.
Add two more pieces of firewood into the stove to make the fire burn vigorously. While the water is boiling, go to the yard, pick up a wooden rake, and spread out the piled up millet.
The sun in late July is still very strong. The moisture on the ground, which was wet just now, has now completely evaporated. The millet has to be spread out and dried as soon as possible, otherwise it will go bad.
The wooden rake swept in front of the four siblings. They all took a step back, but did not leave. They just stood there looking at Qin Yao, at a loss as to what to do.
"Go back to the house and change your wet clothes. The hot water will boil in a while. Wipe your faces and drink a bowl of ginger soup to prevent colds." Qin Yao pointed to the children's room and waved her hand to signal them to go in quickly.
Sanlang was crying with tears and snot all over his nose. Qin Yao clicked his tongue twice and asked Dalang to help him wipe out his nose first.
"Mother, aren't you angry?" Si Niang asked in a low voice.
Qin Yao shrugged, "You didn't do it on purpose, why should I be angry? It's great that you can do this in such a short time. Go change your clothes quickly. I will be angry only if you are really sick!"
When you are sick, you have to take medicine, and taking medicine costs money. The money you spend is much more than the grains in the yard.
The four Dalangs looked at each other, breathed a sigh of relief, and went into the house to change clothes.
In fact, not much millet was wet, only the outermost layer. The grains inside had not been soaked yet. If you spread them all out and dry them in the sun for an afternoon, they would be dry.
The crops in the backyard were harvested early and were all in good condition. Qin Yao poured them out again and spread them out to dry. Looking at the fields of millet in the front and back yards, she felt drops of water rolling down her forehead, not sure if they were sweat or rain. She deeply felt the difficulties farmers face.
We really depend on the weather for our livelihood. It is not easy to expect good weather and good harvests.
She did notice that the weather was going to be unusual, but she was in the mountains quarrying and couldn't make it back in time.
There is no regular pattern to temporary rain, and it can only be seen a few minutes before it occurs, so it is naturally impossible to prevent it in advance.
But after all, it's because there is no rainproof cloth.
It seems that I have to prepare a few rolls of drying mats in advance next year. They are made of bamboo and come in different sizes when spread out, such as two meters by five meters, three meters by eight meters, etc. They are also very useful for drying other things, such as peppers, vegetables, etc.
Because Qin Yao had no experience in farming, she had never thought of this thing before.
"Aunt."
Dalang had changed his clothes at some point and came up behind him. The young boy blamed himself and said,
"The rain came too quickly. We couldn't harvest quickly enough and the grain got soaked."
Qin Yao placed the rake at the foot of the wall, walked up and patted his shoulder, "It's okay, it's only a little wet. It will be dry in the sun this afternoon. You have to turn it over more diligently, I have to go back soon."
Without her help, the quarrying team's progress would probably be very slow.
Before, we only took a few stones and had not realized the solidity of the stone mountain. Now the amount required has suddenly increased several times. Without explosives, it is not easy to take the stones by manpower.
Thanks to her great strength, she was able to hammer the long nails into the right spots and break the surface, thus knocking the stones off the wall.
No one else can do this job except her, and she has to rush back soon.
The hot water had already boiled. Qin Yao smiled at Dalang, who was under great psychological pressure, scooped some water to wipe their bodies, then used a small ceramic pot to scoop out the excess boiling water, and put some cut ginger slices in to boil.
Including herself, each of the five people, mother and children, was given a bowl of ginger soup to ward off the cold.
But Sanlang had already been infected, with two snots flowing down his nose uncontrollably and he had to sniff them from time to time.
Qin Yao asked him to come to her and touched his forehead. He didn't have a fever and could heal himself.
After telling the four brothers and sisters to stay at home and stay well, Qin Yao left again.
He worked at the quarry until sunset in the evening, then led the team back and everyone went home.
When passing by the water mill, Qin Yao went in to take a look. Everything was normal and the cash box was taken home by Erlang.
As she walked home, she could smell the fragrance of rice from a distance. She took a deep breath and her stomach growled. She got hungry quickly because she was doing heavy physical work.
"Mother!"
Si Niang's cheerful voice came from above her head. When the little girl saw her, she immediately ran down the hill to meet her.
"Mother, the millet has been dried. Granny Wang came to our house again today. My second brother brought back two eggs. My eldest brother is cooking vegetable and egg soup. We will be able to eat soon."
"Mother, are you tired? Is the work hard? Do you still want to go tomorrow?"
The little girl tilted her head back with her big watery eyes open, and chattered non-stop like a sparrow in the tree.
The horse followed slowly behind the mother and daughter. Qin Yao couldn't wait to see the short legs beside her, so she picked up Si Niang and kissed her little face.
The little guy immediately buried his head in the crook of her neck and rubbed it gently like a cat.
While she wasn't paying attention, he gave her a kiss on the cheek, then raised his little hand to cover his face, leaving a gap between his fingers to peek at her expression.
Seeing her laugh, he put down his little hands and giggled too.
"Mother." Si Niang called her softly.
Qin Yao hummed.
She is also called "Aniang~"
"Hmm?" Qin Yao looked at her in confusion. The little girl just smiled at her with eyes full of admiration, and confessed very seriously: "Fourth Sister likes you the most!"
Qin Yao's heart softened, and she deliberately asked back: "Really? Is it your first favorite?"
Si Niang nodded her head without hesitation, "Yes! Si Niang loves Ah Niang the most, the most in the world!"
Qin Yao raised the corner of her mouth and touched Si Niang's forehead with her forehead, "Little flatterer."
"That Si Niang is my mother's flatterer." Si Niang hugged Qin Yao's neck tightly and shook her head proudly.
The mother and daughter returned home talking and laughing. All the millet in the yard had been harvested and put into bamboo baskets and placed under the porch and on the open space.
The framed grains were too heavy for the four siblings to carry, so Qin Yao moved them into the main room after they were packed, and then took them out in the morning so that they could spread them out to dry.
A part of the front yard was caught in the rain, so Qin Yao picked it out and put it aside. After drying it for a day tomorrow, it can all be stored in the granary.
The dinner was quite sumptuous, with white rice, egg and vegetable soup and braised pork ribs.
Qin Yao had to praise Dalang's cooking skills, "You can even make such a complicated dish as braised pork ribs, Liu Dalang, you are amazing!"
Dalang was a little embarrassed and said, "I learned it from my grandmother and my second aunt."
The implication is that the masters taught well.
Qin Yao waved her hands, "No, no, no, you have to work hard to achieve this result. Don't deny your ability. You are talented."
For example, she is impatient to learn these complicated dishes. It takes a long time to prepare the dishes, and after cooking she has to clean the stove and wash the pots, which wastes time.
"Da Lang." Qin Yao said to Da Lang while chewing on the ribs, "Men who can do housework are very popular in the marriage market. I won't worry about you getting married in the future."
"Cough cough cough!"
Dalang started coughing violently. He was so frightened by his stepmother's bold and straightforward words that he choked on his food and started coughing until tears came out.
Qin Yao looked at him with disappointment, but she was thinking about Liu Fei.
The fifteen-year-old boy would be in the third grade of junior high school in modern times, but Zhang was already looking for matchmakers to find a wife for him.
It looks like they want to settle the marriage before the New Year and get married next year.
According to this age, her Dalang is nine years old this year, which means it will be his turn in six years.
"It's too early." Qin Yao whispered to herself, then looked at Dalang and shook her head. She had to be at least eighteen before talking about marriage.
Dalang's heart tightened when he was looked at -
Weak, pitiful, helpless.