Chapter 91: Transplanting Medicinal Herbs
Ma Guihua felt that her husband had been particularly displeased with her these past few days. He would find fault with her in every way, and if there was anything he didn’t like, he would curse at her, a world apart from his usual spineless self.
On this day, just as she had finished cooking and sat down to eat, he looked at the thin porridge in his bowl, his face instantly darkened. He put down his chopsticks with a thud and cursed, “What is this, white water? There are not a few grains of rice in a bowl. How can I have the strength to work if I eat this?”
Ma Guihua said grumpily, “Don’t you know how much we’ve harvested this year? You still want to eat dry rice. Dream on!”
Lin Mancang cursed, “Isn’t it your fault that we have no harvest? When Shuang’er said it was going to rain, I said we should harvest the rice, but you wouldn’t let me. Now that we can’t get any rice, you’re blaming me. I really shouldn’t have listened to you in everything. Now, this family is not like a family, and who knows how many people outside are laughing at us!”
Hearing him mention Lin Shuang, Ma Guihua was furious. “You still dare to mention that ungrateful wretch! We raised her for so many years, and now she’s siding with outsiders and going against us in every way. She really deserves to be struck by lightning—”
“You still dare to say that about her—the one who deserves to be struck by lightning is you,” Lin Mancang interrupted. “If it weren’t for you, my nephew and I wouldn’t have been so estranged. Tell me, what good have you done in all these years since you married into our Lin family? You’ve been arguing with people over trivial matters all day. Tell me, which of our neighbors haven’t you fought with? Now, who in the village doesn’t talk about you behind your back? Even I’m suffering because of you.”
Ma Guihua was never a pushover. She slammed her chopsticks down with a “smack,” and the thin porridge in her bowl splashed on the table. “Lin Mancang! You’re pretending to be a good person now? Who was it that tacitly allowed me to treat that little girl like an animal? Who was it that ordered her to bring you your foot-washing water in the middle of the night?”
“Now that you see them getting rich, you want to pour all the dirty water on me?”
Lin Mancang’s face was ashen. He suddenly picked up the porridge bowl and smashed it on the ground.
The sound of the coarse pottery shattering startled the mother hen pecking at food in the courtyard, and it flew up to the wall.
Seeing this, Lin Xia screamed and quickly hid back in her room.
“You’re rebelling!” Lin Mancang, a world apart from his usual spineless self, had a ferocious look on his face as he grabbed Ma Guihua’s hair and slammed her head against the wall. “If it weren’t for you instigating me all day, would I have sold my own niece for eight taels of silver? Now the whole village is pointing at my back and cursing me!”
With every word, he would slam her head, and the wall plaster would fall on Ma Guihua’s twisted face.
The dog from the neighboring Wasong’s house began to bark wildly.
Ma Guihua couldn’t break free. Her head was slammed against the wall, and blood appeared on her forehead.
She had a fiery personality, and in all the years since she had married into the family, she had never been treated like this. Even Lin Mancang had never dared to hit her like this before.
Her head was in severe pain, and a wave of grievance welled up in her heart. She began to cry loudly.
When Lin Mancang finally let go of her hair, she turned and stumbled back to her room. “You, Lin Mancang! You’ve learned to hit people now. I’m leaving. You can be a bachelor like that dead cripple next door. I’ll let you. You’d better not beg me to come back!”
She had shared a bed with Lin Mancang for so many years. How could she not know what this man was thinking? It was nothing more than being envious that Lin Shuang had bought a house in the city and wanted to use her to please her.
It was a pity that he still didn’t know that his good niece was no longer the same as before and could no longer be manipulated by him.
She was also certain that Lin Mancang was a lazy good-for-nothing at heart. When he couldn’t get any benefits, and he was not willing to work hard, wouldn’t he come back and beg at her feet?
So she packed her clothes without any hesitation, took her bundle, and went to her parents’ house.
Seeing this, Lin Xia cried and chased after her. “Mother, what will I do if you leave?”
Ma Guihua and Lin Mancang’s eldest daughter, Lin Xue, had long been married. Lin Guo had gone to school, and only their second daughter, Lin Xia, was left by her side.
The silver that Ma Guihua had sold Lin Shuang for was to send Lin Guo to school.
Now, only her younger daughter, Lin Xia, was left at home. She still wanted her to stay here and be her ears. How could she take her with her?
After a few quiet instructions, she wiped the blood from her head and left without looking back.
…
After returning from the city, Jiang Huaizhen first went to the woodshed to burn some incense.
Old Madam Jiang had seen the two of them leave one after the other in the morning. Now, seeing a black cloth bundle on the horse’s back, she understood everything.
Thinking that her granddaughter had not yet quit this profession and had been fooled by these two, she was angry, and her words were laced with sarcasm.
There was still some porridge from the morning. Lin Shuang silently went to pick some vegetables.
She beat a few duck eggs, stir-fried a dish of cucumber and eggs, and made a vegetable dish, and lunch was ready.
After Jiang Huaizhen had finished burning the incense in the woodshed, her stomach was rumbling. She still went to coax the old woman first.
The old woman ignored her, so she had no choice but to come and eat.
Seeing two white and plump steamed buns on the dining table, she asked in surprise, “When did you buy these? I didn’t even see them.”
Lin Shuang said, “I bought them before the execution. You just didn’t notice.”
The old woman had gotten up in the morning and had made porridge, a pot that would last for a day. Jiang Huaizhen had done physical labor, and porridge for lunch would definitely not be filling, so she had bought her some steamed buns to go with the porridge.
Jiang Huaizhen’s heart warmed, and she rarely had a bold thought. She moved closer to kiss her, but she heard the “patter” of footsteps at the door and quickly shrunk back, sat up straight, and began to eat.
Ping’er appeared from somewhere, her whole body dirty. Seeing them return, she ran into the room, skipping, and called out, “Auntie.”
Lin Shuang turned to look at her and said with disgust, “Go and take a bath and change your clothes. If Grandma sees you later, she’ll definitely scold you.”
Ping’er looked at the large steamed bun on the table. “I also want to eat a big steamed bun.”
“I’ve saved one for you. Go and take a bath first.”
“Auntie, help me get some water.”
Jiang Huaizhen was about to get up but was pressed back down on the stool by Lin Shuang. “You eat yours.”
With that, she stood up, got a bucket of warm water for her, poured it into a large basin, and then hung a clean change of clothes on a nearby stool.
The little girl was holding onto the edge of the basin and acting spoiled. “Auntie, can you scrub my back…”
“In your dreams!” Lin Shuang flicked her on the forehead. “Wash properly. If you’re not clean, you won’t get a steamed bun.”
“Alright then.”
“Remember to soak your dirty clothes after your bath.”
“I know, Auntie.”
Seeing her answer so obediently, Lin Shuang turned and went back to her room.
As soon as she sat down and picked up her chopsticks, she couldn’t help but nag, “It’s a good thing we don’t have children. A little baby, how can we take care of it?”
Jiang Huaizhen, who was picking at her food, heard this, and her hand, which was holding the chopsticks, paused, but she didn’t say anything.
Seeing her like this, Lin Shuang’s heart itched. She nudged her with her knee and said softly, “If we had a child, would you dote on it?”
Jiang Huaizhen’s chopsticks almost fell. “What, what are you talking about… we won’t have a child.”
Lin Shuang looked at her with interest. “Just a hypothetical.”
Hearing the teasing in her tone, Jiang Huaizhen simply ignored her, her ears red, and she lowered her head to eat seriously.
“You block of wood!” Lin Shuang cursed lightly. “You have no taste at all.”
After they finished eating, it was already the Hour of the Monkey(3 PM to 5 PM). Lin Shuang was busy sorting out the medicine seedlings she had brought back last night.
Planting medicinal herbs was a profound science.
Unlike crops, the growth cycle of medicinal herbs was relatively long. Including common medicinal herbs such as astragalus, codonopsis, and angelica, the growth period was between 2 and 3 years.
And for example, ginseng and he shou wu generally needed 4 to 6 years or even longer to harvest.
The longer the cycle, the higher the price. If an ordinary family chose to plant these medicinal herbs, they would not be able to get a return in the short term and would not be able to afford it.
She had promised the villagers to plant with them, and she had also chosen those medicinal herbs with a one-year cycle.
Her family now had seven mu of land. The two mu of paddy field were still used to plant rice as before. The remaining five mu of dry land, Lin Shuang planned to plant one-year-cycle medicinal herbs on three of them, including isatis root, angelica dahurica, danshen, schizonepeta, prunella, and motherwort, half a mu for each.
And the remaining two mu would be used to plant astragalus, codonopsis, angelica, and licorice, these two to three-year-span herbs.
The seeds of medicinal herbs could be stored for a long time, generally for one to two years, and astragalus and codonopsis could even be stored for about five years. The seeds she had bought back from Yinzhou, even if she couldn’t finish planting them this year, she could wait until she had time to reclaim more land and continue to plant them.
The seedlings she had brought back were half astragalus and half he shou wu, both of which were medicinal herbs with a growth cycle of over two or three years.
Directly transplanting these already cultivated seedlings could greatly shorten the harvest cycle of the medicinal herbs.
These seedlings were dug up with the soil, and their roots were also wrapped in moss and wet cloth. On top of that, the weather was starting to cool down, so it was no problem to transplant them within three to five days.
The two of them carried their hoes down to the fields. One was in charge of digging the holes, and the other was in charge of planting the seedlings.
When they had plowed the fields a few days ago, the burned fertilizer was mixed with pig and chicken manure, which became the most fertile farm manure. A little was buried in each hole, which was enough to support the nutrients that these seedlings needed.
Old Madam Jiang was angry, but since the family was busy with farm work, she also came to help, holding a hoe and burying the soil behind them.
After Ping’er had finished her bath, she didn’t dare to roll in the mud. She was carrying a bamboo tube and was running around in the furrows. Suddenly, she held up a wriggling earthworm. “Auntie! An earth dragon!”
“Put it back,” Lin Shuang said without looking up. “This is a good helper for loosening the soil.”
The little girl stuck out her tongue and put the earthworm back in the soil.
It wasn’t until a large and two small figures appeared at the entrance of the valley and walked toward them that she stopped.
Old Madam Jiang stood on her tiptoes and looked. “Oh, Mainiang is here with her two flowers!”
Hearing that Dahua and Xiaohua were here, Ping’er stood up, turned her head to look, and then let out a cheer, jumping up and running in that direction.
When the mother and her three children got closer, Zhang Mainiang smiled. “Last time, the children packed the bamboo weevils and sent them over. I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to return the plates. I just finished plowing those few pieces of land today, so I had some free time to bring them over.”
Old Madam Jiang admired Zhang Mainiang’s diligence and ability, and her attitude toward her was also particularly good. “What are two plates worth? If you’re busy, just forget it. You can have Ping’er go and get them later.”
“I haven’t been here for a long time, so I came to see,” Mainiang smiled and pushed Dahua, who was next to her. “Go, take the fruit and give it to Grandma Jiang and the aunts.”
Old Madam Jiang squinted her eyes and asked, “What fruit?”
“Caitou picked a few pomegranates on the mountain. I tried one, and it’s quite sweet. I brought them over for everyone to try.”
Dahua carried a small basket to Old Madam Jiang and handed one to her.
Old Madam Jiang waved her hand. “My old teeth can’t chew this. You little ones can have it.”
Seeing that she wouldn’t take it, Dahua took the basket to Lin Shuang.
Lin Shuang took the pomegranate and rubbed it on her clothes. “I’m just thirsty. Our Dahua came at just the right time.”
Dahua smiled shyly.
Xiaohua, who was next to her, stood on her tiptoes, picked the reddest one from the basket, and ran to Jiang Huaizhen. She didn’t say anything and just looked up at her, handing it to her.
Jiang Huaizhen took the pomegranate and gently brushed her little red cheek with the back of her hand.
The little girl let out a “ya,” twisted her little bottom, and ran to her mother, burying herself in her embrace.
Seeing this, the crowd couldn’t help but laugh heartily.
Mainiang looked at the medicine seedlings on the ground and asked, “Are you going to plant medicinal herbs?”
“Yes,” Lin Shuang wiped her sweat. “We’ll try planting them this year. If the harvest is good, you can also plant them next year.”
Zhang Mainiang thought for a moment. “I don’t know if I’ll have time. Anyway, if I can’t plant them next year, I can still plant them the year after, right?”
“Why not? Any time is fine.”
Zhang Mainiang smiled. “Then I’m not worried. We’ll see then.”
With that, she walked over, took the hoe from the old woman’s hand, and helped to dig the holes.
She had worked all year round and was already an old hand in the fields before she was thirty. Her hoe was fast and steady, and it was no wonder that Old Madam Jiang admired her.
