When the pears are green

Chapter 127: Labor in Exchange for Goods

Jiang Qingzhou did not answer directly. He looked at Song Li beside him and asked for Song Li's opinion.

Jiang Dong then looked at Song Li nervously, and Song Li smiled and replied, "Brother Dong, sister-in-law, we worked hard for a long time to grow these mulberry seedlings. Even if I don't want them, I can take them home to feed the chickens. Of course, I can't give them away for free."

"My sister-in-law is right. We two can help you with the work. It's not for nothing." Jiang Dong looked at Jiang Qingzhou again with embarrassment.

Jiang Qingzhou turned his head away. He was not going to get involved in this matter.

After Song Li saw this, she continued to say to Jiang Dong: "Since Brother Dong has spoken out, if you help me plant two rows of seedlings, I can give you some mulberry seedlings."

Jiang Dong quickly agreed. He pulled the woman to Song Li, who squatted down to demonstrate to them how to thin out the seedlings.

Jiang Dong and the woman watched Song Li's movements carefully, and they guaranteed that they could complete it according to Song Li's requirements.

"In that case, Brother Dong and Sister-in-law, let's get started." After Song Li finished speaking, Jiang Dong and the woman immediately started working one by one.

Song Li walked to Jiang Qingzhou and asked softly, "Will Qingzhou think I'm unkind?"

"Of course not. Even though they are unwanted seedlings, if we give them away for free, people in the village will surely come to ask for them, which will be very troublesome. It's better to do it this way from the beginning." Jiang Qingzhou removed the hair that was stuck to Song Li's face, and then helped Song Li comb the hair back to the back of her head with her hands.

The rough fingertips slid across Song Li's face, and the tips of Song Li's ears slowly turned red. She whispered to Jiang Qingzhou: "Qingzhou, let's go to work too."

Jiang Qingzhou pinched Song Li's red and hot ears. Song Li lowered her head to look at the Jiangdong couple who were working not far away. She kicked Jiang Qingzhou angrily, but Jiang Qingzhou easily dodged it.

Song Li looked at Jiang Qingzhou who was making faces at her not far away and laughed. She stuck out her tongue at Jiang Qingzhou, then bent down and continued to work.

Jiang Qingzhou also hurried to the row of mulberry seedlings next to Song Li and continued thinning them out.

The Jiang Dong couple worked very quickly. After they finished their work, they saw that Jiang Qingzhou and his wife had not arrived at the field yet, so they waited quietly on the ridge of the field.

When Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou arrived at the field, Song Li asked Jiang Dong and his wife, "Where are Dong Ge and his wife going to plant the mulberry seedlings?"

"Sister-in-law, we want to plant along the wall." The woman, who had been keeping her head down, replied quickly.

Song Li glanced at the women not far away and asked, "Sister-in-law, are you going home directly or continue to work?"

"We planted some sorghum and have finished it. We were originally planning to ask my brother and sister-in-law for some mulberry seedlings and then go home." The woman answered with a smile. She had already seen that Song Li was the one in charge of the household.

Song Li thought for a moment, and then she continued: "In this case, you can go and get the remaining things back, and then go home from here. I don't want to attract other people's attention."

The woman pushed Jiang Dong and Jiang Dong hurriedly walked towards his own fields.

Li's wife, who had fought with Zhang Ying before, stopped Jiang Dong and asked, "Did Da Hu give you mulberry seedlings?"

"Aunt, it hasn't been given to me yet. Layue and I just finished our work, and my sister-in-law asked me to come back to get something." Jiang Dong answered truthfully.

Li's eldest wife, who had wanted to go with Jiang Dong to ask for mulberry seedlings, asked in disbelief, "With just a few mulberry seedlings, did the young wife let you work?"

Jiang Dong nodded quickly. He didn't say anything more to Li's wife, and hurriedly carried his own hoe and carried his own basket to Jiang Qingzhou's mulberry field.

The woman next to him teased Li's wife: "You can also help them with the work and ask for a few trees."

"Bah, I don't even want it even if it's given to me for free." Li's eldest daughter-in-law spat on the ground angrily.

Several women looked at the rude wife of Li with disdain, and then went back to their own farm work.

Jiang Qingzhou took the hoe and dug out several nearby mulberry bushes along with the soil as Song Li instructed, then called Jiang Dong to come and put the mulberry bushes into the basket.

After Jiang Dong finished packing, he picked up the basket and thanked Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou again.

Jiang Qingzhou smiled and told Jiang Dong and his wife to go back quickly, and reminded them to cover the mulberry seedlings with leaves or rags in the first few days of planting to prevent them from being killed by the sun.

Song Li looked at the backs of Jiang Dong and his wife going away, and she couldn't help but sigh: "Qingzhou, I hope more people will come to ask for mulberry seedlings. It's good to exchange labor for goods."

"Or, I'll ask the head of the village for help and see if there are any other people in the village who want to plant mulberry seedlings. If so, we'll plant the seedlings and let them do the work." Jiang Qingzhou thought this was a good idea.

Song Li looked at Jiang Qingzhou who was serious. She walked over, patted Jiang Qingzhou on the shoulder and said, "Forget it. I'm afraid someone will take advantage of the opportunity to steal."

The sun slowly sets in the west, and the golden afterglow casts a shadow on the reeds and the river surface, and bursts of "quack quack" sounds of wild ducks can be heard.

Song Li looked up at the scene and recalled the time when she, Song Yue and Xing'er went to catch wild ducks. A year had passed and everything had changed.

Jiang Qingzhou saw that the villagers on the riverbank had started to leave, so he began to call Song Li and Jiang Qingye to go home together.

Song Li looked back at the sparkling river again. A few white birds flew by and disappeared into the green woods. She came back to her senses and followed Jiang Qingzhou back home thoughtfully.

After Jiang Qingzhou opened the courtyard gate, he asked Song Li and Jiang Qingye to go home first, and he went to Jiang Ping's house.

Song Li didn't want to move either. After asking Jiang Qingye's opinion, she decided to just cook a simple meal.

After Jiang Qingzhou came back, he asked Jiang Qingye, who was originally making the fire, to practice calligraphy first, and then asked Song Li to sit down and make the fire while he went to cut vegetables and cook.

Song Li asked Jiang Qingzhou: "Have you seen the second sister-in-law and the others?"

Jiang Qingzhou nodded and told Song Li: "I told my second brother that they will also go to thin out the seedlings tomorrow."

After dinner, Jiang Qingzhou boiled a pot of hot water and asked Song Li to take a bath first.

When Jiang Qingzhou finished his shower and returned to the east room, he saw Song Li lying motionless on the bed, so he gently closed the door and slowly walked to the bed.

Song Li slowly opened her eyes and looked at Jiang Qingzhou. Jiang Qingzhou smiled and said, "I thought you were asleep!"

"No, I'm waiting for you to rub my waist, and I'll help you later." Song Li turned over, and Jiang Qingzhou gently rubbed her waist.

But Song Li fell asleep very quickly, so Jiang Qingzhou had to pat his waist a few times and fell asleep quickly as well.

At noon the next day, Jiang Qingzhou's two cousins ​​found Jiang Qingzhou who was working and said they wanted some mulberry seedlings.

Song Li, the capable young wife who seldom goes out in the eyes of the villagers, once again made a request, asking them to get mulberry seedlings by working like the Jiangdong couple.

However, since he was Jiang Qingzhou's cousin after all, Song Li asked the two of them to pick a row of seedlings together, and then gave each of them six clumps of mulberry seedlings wrapped in soil.

The villagers who were watching from the sidelines saw that Jiang Qingzhou's uncle had not gotten any advantage from Song Li, so they added new suffixes to Song Li: unkind, mean. Then they turned their attention to the mulberry fields of Jiang Qian's family.

Jiang Qian was just a weak scholar, but he was not a pedantic or face-conscious scholar, so he naturally made the same request as Song Li.