Chapter 258

Moving soil is extremely hard and exhausting work.

It is even more grueling and tiring than carrying grain during the autumn harvest.

Grain is the already harvested product; while it is tiring to carry, there is a sense of security and joy in knowing that every load brought back is a reward.

Carrying soil, on the other hand, is full of uncertainties. You don’t know how much yield you will get, and there is no sense of security or joy.

In the memories of the villagers of Mountain Water Village, the last time they hauled soil from the mountain was to build the road that connects the village to the official road outside.

The villagers were experienced; each selected a spot, with the women clearing wild grass and shrubs, filling bamboo baskets with soil, and the men using shoulder poles to carry two baskets of soil to the carts, which were then pulled back to their own fields.

This process repeated over and over.

Families without carts or sufficient labor also had the women doing the hard work of carrying and hauling soil.

The Wang Guifen family had one of the largest plots in Mountain Water Village, so even with three strong laborers at home, it wasn’t enough. If they relied solely on the three men to carry and haul soil, they would be half dead before it was time to start farming!

So, the three sisters-in-law also took turns hauling soil from time to time.

By the end of the day, everyone’s shoulders were red and swollen, and their arms ached so much they couldn’t lift them.

They found a shady spot to sit and each family took out the dry food they had brought—during busy farming seasons, they saved time by not going home to cook.

Early in the morning, they prepared food for the midday meal to bring along, enough to fill their stomachs.

Zhao Lan endured the pain, massaging her shoulders. If she didn’t work out the knots, they would swell by the next day, and the pressure of the shoulder pole would bring tears to her eyes from the pain.

Zhang Lan was the same, gasping from the pain, but still pressing and massaging her shoulders.

Wang Guifen took out the prepared food from the bamboo basket. The two sisters-in-law had taken care of her, letting her haul soil only once or twice, so her shoulders were the least injured.

The bamboo basket was covered with gauze, and inside was the family’s lunch.

Cornmeal mixed with a few goose eggs, finely chopped green onions, made into pancakes, filled with small pickles, fresh crunchy cucumber strips, and stir-fried potato strips, rolled into tight rolls, delicious!

Wang Guifen first handed a stuffed egg roll pancake to each of her two sisters-in-law, then to her two brothers-in-law and her husband, and finally to herself.

“Smells so good! Delicious!”

“Sister-in-law, your cooking skills are getting better and better.” “With this food, the hard work is worth it.”

“These are all ingredients we usually have at home, but today they taste so good prepared this way!”

The five people praised without reservation, making Wang Guifen blush.

Being praised and recognized is a happy thing, but she didn’t keep it to herself and said directly, “I learned this from Shuiqing. I think this way of eating is suitable for busy farming days, more convenient than dry food.”

Fried noodles are fragrant, but without hot water, the aroma is much reduced with just cold boiled water, and fried noodles can’t be paired with dishes. Carrying bowls and chopsticks in the fields can easily break them, which is not convenient.

Pancakes are better, with goose eggs and vegetables, nutritious. Shuiqing called it, called it nutritional balance!

She didn’t know about the balance, only that it was really tasty!

“It’s also because sister-in-law learned well! If it were me learning, it wouldn’t taste as good.”

“I want to eat these egg rolls again tomorrow.”

Other women saw Wang Guifen’s family eating happily and heard their praise, stretching their necks to see what it was.

Several came over to ask how to make it.

They might not have potatoes, but in autumn there were many vegetables that could be substituted.

If they didn’t have cornmeal, they could use black flour to make pancakes; there’s always a way!

Now with the income from rabbits, it wasn’t impossible to give those working hard some goose or duck eggs to boost their strength.

The more they looked, the more they felt that these egg pancakes, though looking expensive, actually used few ingredients, were filled with a lot of vegetables, delicious and filling, worth it.

Fan Erzhu and others also stared at the egg rolls in Wang Guifen’s family’s hands.

Sun Jinhua, hearing it was taught by Hu Shuiqing, felt immediate disgust.

She heard Zhang Hui and Zhao Lan, the two younger sisters-in-law, praising Wang Guifen, calling her good sister-in-law and great sister-in-law, and felt very uncomfortable.

Why were other people’s younger sisters-in-law so respectful and full of praise for their sister-in-law, while her own would rather benefit outsiders than her?

“Mom, can you make those rolls for us to eat tomorrow?” Fan Sizhu asked enviously while gnawing on his rough black bread.

Sun Jinhua replied irritably, “Eat what? Didn’t you hear? It needs cornmeal, eggs, and potatoes. We have nothing. How can I make it?”

Fan Erzhu took a deep breath and said coldly, “If we don’t have it, find a way. If other families can make it, why can’t you?”

Sun Jinhua was taken aback, glancing timidly at her son, feeling a bit scared.

If it were Zhaodi, she would have slapped her already, but Zhaodi wouldn’t dare talk to her like this.

Suddenly, an idea struck her, and she appeased her second son, “Alright, alright, when we get back, I’ll have Zhaodi make it for you. She stayed at your second aunt’s house for two months, so she surely knows how.”

Fan Erzhu responded with a grunt from his nose.

Sun Jinhua smiled obsequiously.

Sanzhu and Sizhu saw this exchange and thought about how their second brother was similarly overbearing when asking their mother for fabric padding for his shoulders. It wasn’t a request but a command.

And their mother had agreed with a smile.

It turned out their mother responded better to this attitude, so they decided they should command her similarly in the future.

“By the way, why hasn’t Second Uncle’s family come?” Fan Erzhu, having settled the food issue for tomorrow, took a moment to show concern for his second uncle.

His second uncle’s family now had Uncle Damu’s fields in addition to their own, so they had a lot of work. Weren’t they anxious?

Fan Sizhu had already asked around on the way and stepped forward to say, “They said they had to go out this morning and would come to haul soil when they got back.”

Fan Sanzhu was extremely envious, “Second Uncle’s family has servants! With the same amount of land, he has over twenty servants, so they don’t need to personally haul soil.”

In the past, he thought being their parents’ children was great, but after the family split, he increasingly felt that being Second Uncle’s child was better…

Fan Qian wasn’t pleased to hear this. He turned to his son and said coldly, “Their fields may be about the same as ours, but they have significantly more land and forest!

They have over a hundred acres to plant potatoes. The fields need plowing, fertilizing, and sowing. Even without mentioning fertilizing and sowing, just plowing alone is exhausting for those twenty-three servants!

And now they have to haul soil too. If your second uncle’s family doesn’t help at all, those servants will be worked to death.”

Since the family split, Fan Jin’s fields were no more than his, and he had been somewhat smug about it. Then Fan Jin bought all of Fan Damu’s fields and forest!

Originally, he had four sons, who were relatively older, while Fan Jin’s eldest children were two useless daughters. His own family had much more labor compared to his brother’s. But then Fan Jin went ahead and bought over twenty servants and even managed to support them all!

There hadn’t been any rumors of him selling people either.

Maybe he was just putting on a show and barely holding on.