”Wait a minute, sit down and talk with your father first, I’ll come over after I finish cleaning up.”

　　After Li Guihua cleaned up the dishes, she went to the kitchen to wash them. Tiedan helped her. During this time, the baby sleeping on the kang in the room cried, but Gu’s father acted as if he didn’t hear it. He didn’t move at all and just sat there drinking tea. He was annoyed by the noise and raised his voice to call out Li Guihua’s name.

　　It means to let Li Guihua come over to coax the child.

　　”Shall I go and take a look?” Seeing that his mother-in-law was too busy, Li Zhouzhou wanted to lend a hand. It was just to take a look at the child, which was not a big deal.

　　Father Gu didn’t care about that, as long as someone could coax and look after the child. Gu Zhao: “I’ll go with you.”

　　The baby on the kang was eight months old, fair and clean, and it was obvious that Li Guihua had taken good care of him and fed him well. He was crying loudly, but when Li Zhouzhou and Gu Zhao came, he stopped crying. He stared at the two of them with his big eyes curiously, kicked his legs and shook his arms, then pouted and started crying again.

　　”What’s wrong, husband?” Li Zhouzhou had never taken care of a child and was a novice. When he heard the child crying, he looked at his husband at a loss.

　　Gu Zhao had no idea, he just guessed: “Did he pee? Or is he hungry? Let’s hold him and see.”

　　Li Zhouzhou didn’t know how to start. He was used to doing farm work and was afraid that he might not be able to control his strength and hurt the child.

　　Gu Zhao opened the child’s cover and a smell came out, “Zhou Zhou, hand me the diaper, he must have pooped.”

　　The diapers were stacked next to them. Li Zhouzhou hurried to get them for his husband and watched him change them awkwardly but gently, putting the dirty ones aside. After he changed and cleaned the child, the child didn’t cry but grinned happily.

　　”Zhou Zhou, do you want to hold the child?” Gu Zhao showed the child to Zhou Zhou.

　　Li Zhouzhou took it nervously and carefully, held the child for a while, and the child even smiled at him.

　　So cute.

　　Li Guihua finished washing the pots and bowls, and came in hurriedly without even wiping the water from her hands. She didn’t hear the child crying, and when she came in she saw Gu Zhaohe and Li Zhouzhou holding the child and coaxing him. Her steps slowed down, and her voice became softer, “Is Goudan asleep? Give him to me.”

　　”Ahem.” Gu Si cleared his throat.

　　Li Guihua knew that this was a reminder for her to not forget to talk about business, so she put the sleeping Goudan on the bed. Fortunately, the child was easy to take care of and didn’t need to be held all the time. She went out and brought a bowl of washed dates and some tea, saying, “You two can eat and drink. The dates this year are especially sweet. I’ll pack a basket for you two to take back with you when you leave.”

　　”Okay, thank you, mother.” Li Zhouzhou thanked.

　　Li Guihua continued to talk, saying a lot, about how the family had many fields and the heavy burden since Goudan was born, and she talked about all sorts of things. Finally, she asked, “I heard from people that your family’s fields had a good harvest this year, and you paid almost two stone of grain tax alone. Is it true that nine acres of land had thirty-six stone of grain?”

　　”Yes, last year there was enough snow and water, and with the fertilizer, our family harvested a good crop this year, and we sold most of it to support my husband’s studies.” Li Zhouzhou listened to his husband and also talked about the financial difficulties at home, “Just the paper and pens cost a lot of money, and there is also the tuition for the teacher.”

　　Li Guihua nodded in agreement. She was about to ask for something else, but Father Gu coughed and couldn’t wait any longer. He asked, “What kind of fertilizer did you use? Is the harvest in the fields so good?”

　　”Yes.” Gu Zhao took over the conversation, and this time he gave a direct answer, “The dry fields are made from the ash from burning wheat straw. You don’t need to plow the fields on weekdays. Just burn the wheat stubble and let the wheat grow over the winter. In the spring of next year, after the rain and snow melt, you can apply fertilizer again a few days later. You can use feces, urine, ash, and water. It doesn’t matter if it becomes diluted. Just apply it.”

　　”Did you figure this out?” Gu Si asked.

　　Gu Zhao hummed, “I read it in a book and followed what my father said. My father said to give it a try, but it didn’t work.”

　　Gu Si even thought about when he would tell me, and then he remembered that the father his son was talking about was the one from the Li family. He immediately remembered that his son Gu Zhao had married into the Li family and became a member of the Li family. He felt indescribable for a moment.

　　Gu Zhao didn’t wait for any further questions and told him the paddy field fertilizer application method. He also said that this was the first time he tried it this year and he didn’t know how effective it would be. He thought that if it worked well, he would tell his family when he returned during the New Year.

　　Father Gu nodded, and the matter was settled. Li Guihua had one more thing to say, so she forced a smile and said, “Zhao’er, you are well-educated, can you give Goudan a good name?”

　　Originally, after accepting the 18 taels of silver from the Li family, Li Guihua was thinking of sending Hutou to school. But later, she became pregnant and the house at home was not big enough, so she had to build a new one. She also gave birth to a little son. With all these things piling up at once, Li Guihua gave up the idea of ​​sending Hutou and thought of building the house first and waiting for a few years before sending Goudan to school.