When the pears are green

Chapter 202: Building a Thatched Hut

After Song Li, Jiang Qingzhou and Master Li carried the wood into the new house, they took Li Yi to the riverbank to cut reeds and cut thatch.

The river beach in Jiangjia Village is very long. The wasteland reclaimed last winter is a part near the village, and there is also a more remote part of the river beach that is overgrown with reeds and white grass.

After the busy farming season, many villagers come to the river beach to cut thatch to repair their roofs. The river beach, which used to be remote and desolate, has become lively.

Jiang Qingzhou and Master Li followed the path made by the villagers to cut reeds near the river.

Song Li bent over and kept cutting the thatch with the sickle in her hand. As soon as the long thatch was thrown on the ground, Li Yi quickly picked it up and put it on the cart on the side of the road.

The golden afterglow fell on the ground, inlaying a gentle and mysterious color on the white grass needles. The rustling sound of mowing the grass kept reaching Song Li's ears, along with the sound of several women talking and laughing softly.

"Aunt Liu, I heard that Xiao Niu's wife was taken away today. You are his neighbor. Is that true?"

"Yes, yes, my boss said that he left at dawn. He said that the two brothers came yesterday and slept at Jiang Xiaoniu's house for one night."

"Tsk, your boss knows everything. Li Jia is still the same as before, liking to stay in people's corners. He finally recovered from his illness, but his bad habits still haven't changed. Li Jia's wife, I heard that your husband is weak, is it true?"

"Hahaha... stop talking, Li Jia's wife's face is red."

"Bah, everyone calls you aunt, but you really know how to find out whether these unrelated nephews are okay or not."

"I'll tear your mouth apart if I let you talk nonsense."

There was a commotion in the white grass, and Aunt Liu, who had just spoken, started to wrestle with Li Jia's wife. Another woman quickly ran to the reeds and asked people to separate them.

Song Li didn't want to meddle in other people's business, so she took Li Yi to pull the cart to another place and concentrated on cutting the white grass. Soon the cart was full.

Song Li and Li Yi first took the white grass on the car back home, and then returned to the riverbank with baskets and hoes.

The two men first delivered the cart to Jiang Qingzhou and Master Li, and then returned to the place where they had just cut the white grass.

"Li Yi, let's dig something delicious." After Song Li finished speaking, he waved the hoe in his hand to loosen the ground, then squatted down and dug out several long white node-like roots from the soil.

Li Yi hurriedly squatted beside Song Li, and she imitated Song Li to pull off the long roots and put them in the basket.

"Sister, what is this?" Li Yi asked, pointing at the long roots in the basket.

Song Li patted the dirt off her hands, stood up and picked up the hoe again while answering: "It's Imperata root, it tastes sweet. When I get home, I'll wash it clean and give it to you to try. However, these things are cold, so don't eat too much at once, as it can easily cause gastrointestinal discomfort."

After hearing this, Li Yi nodded repeatedly and continued to dig out the white grass roots from the soil.

By the time Jiang Qingzhou and Master Li came over here from the reeds pulling the cart, they had already dug nearly half a basket of Imperata roots.

"Xiao Li, Li Yi, stop digging. The sun is about to set." Jiang Qingzhou smiled and called out to the two people who were digging happily.

Li Yi quickly brushed the dirt off his hands, rushed towards Master Li with the basket, and showed off his and Song Li's achievements to Master Li with a smile.

Song Li walked over slowly carrying a hoe, and the four of them walked on the path home facing the setting sun.

After returning home, Song Li took out a handful of Imperata roots from the basket, cleaned them, and shared them with everyone to taste.

"So sweet!"

The three children told Song Li with a smile, and Li Yi listened to Jiang Qingye and Song Xing bragging about how many white grass roots they had dug in the past while chewing.

Jiang Qingzhou listened to Jiang Qingye and Song Xing talking about increasingly outrageous numbers, and tapped their foreheads with a smile, asking them not to lead Li Yi astray.

Li Yi smiled and came to the rescue of the two: "Brother, I know they are just bragging. My sister and I have worked very hard to get so many. I just think it sounds fun."

Jiang Qingye and Song Xing lowered their heads in embarrassment. They used the excuse of reading a book and ran back to the main room in shame.

On a late autumn night, Song Li asked Song Xing, Li Yi and Jiang Qingye, who had cleaned up the kitchen, to go and rest first. She and Jiang Qingzhou wanted to weave the reed mats for building the shed first.

Master Li, who had just returned from adding clothes, also urged the three children who wanted to help to go back to their rooms and rest.

Song Xing and Jiang Qingye refused, and they both wanted to share some of the burden with Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou. Li Yi also joined in the fun, and she didn't want to lie on the bed alone and be bored.

Song Li glanced at the three people who insisted on helping, smiled and agreed with them that they would go back to their room and sleep after Dingxing came out.

The three of them were afraid that Song Li would go back on his word, so they nodded quickly.

Jiang Qingye peeled the reed stalks while asking Song Li: "Sister-in-law, what is a fixed star?"

"The fixed star is Yingshi, which is the second star of Shixiu, also known as Xibi. It and the two stars of Dongbi make up four, forming a square. Whenever it appears, people know that winter is coming, and they begin to repair their houses and prepare for the cold winter." Song Li said while looking at the night sky. It was still dawn, and it was still early for the hour of Haiwei when the fixed star appeared.

The howling north wind blew, and Song Li, who had broken her promise, drove Jiang Qingye and the other two back to their room to sleep. She, Jiang Qingzhou, and Master Li moved the reed stalks into the kitchen and began to weave reed mats.

Master Li peeled the skin of the reed stalks while talking. Jiang Qingzhou took the peeled reed stalks and arranged them together. Song Li lay beside the arranged reed stalks and pulled the reeds together stitch by stitch. The three of them divided the work and cooperated, and two reed mats slowly took shape in Song Li's hands.

When the first reed mat was ready, Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou asked Master Li, who was feeling a little sleepy, to go back and rest first. Master Li rubbed his sore eyes embarrassedly and slowly returned to his room.

As Song Li cut the thread in her hand from the reed mat, she stretched her waist and cheered: "Finally it's done."

Jiang Qingzhou smiled and pinched Song Li's cheek, and the two of them rolled up the reeds and placed them in the corner outside the kitchen.

"Qingzhou, do you see that? Those two stars in the west are the fixed stars. We call it the Autumn Quadrilateral." Song Li held Jiang Qingzhou's finger and pointed it to the sky, and drew a square composed of four stars vertically and horizontally.

Jiang Qingzhou responded with a smile: "I saw it. It's getting late. We still have to set up the shed tomorrow. Let's rest early."

Song Li immediately thought of the heavy snow last year, and planned in her mind to inspect the roof after the shed was built.

After a day of hard work, Song Li fell asleep. When she woke up again, the millstone had been placed in the new house.

Jiang Qingzhou took Song Li to the new house to see the millstone, and said that if Song Li was not satisfied with the position of the millstone, he could ask Jiang Ming and Jiang Chen for help to move the millstone.

Song Li looked at the millstone placed in the southwest corner, smiled and said there was no need to bother anymore, this location was good.

Two days later, the shed was finally built.

Before it got dark, Song Li took a bucket and a rag and cleaned the millstone that was covered with dirt and grass.

"Qingzhou, once the wooden barrels and wooden boxes are finished tomorrow, we can start making tofu. By the way, what day is tomorrow?" Song Li was still not used to keeping track of dates, and habitually treated Jiang Qingzhou as her own living calendar.

Jiang Qingzhou, who was sweeping the floor, frowned and thought about it in his mind, then smiled and said to Song Li: "Tomorrow should be the 27th. Should we go to the market the day after tomorrow to sell some of the garlic sprouts?"

Song Li did not answer immediately. She pulled Jiang Qingzhou to lift a corner of the wooden board that was placed on the garlic sprouts. Seeing that the yellow and white garlic sprouts were already one foot long, the two decided to go to the market to sell the garlic sprouts the day after tomorrow.

However, before the garlic sprouts could be harvested, they were bought by Kai Xin who came to the door specially the next day.

"Mrs. Jiang, it's still the same as usual, twenty kilograms of mung bean sprouts and ten kilograms of soybean sprouts. How about the old price?" Kai Xing asked Song Li with a smile.

Song Li naturally agreed, and then explained to Kai Xin that the bean sprouts would not sprout when the weather got cold.

"Don't worry, Madam Jiang. Our boss is also aware of the situation. As for the garlic sprouts, I can make the decision first. Four cents a pound, five pounds a day, until all the garlic sprouts are harvested. How about that?" Kai Xin asked Song Li.

Song Li smiled and nodded, then pointed at the millstone and said to Kai Xin: "Thank you Kai Xin, when I make the tofu, I will treat you to some hot tofu."

"Thank you, Madam Jiang." Kai Xin originally thought that this millstone was used to grind flour, but he didn't expect it was used to make tofu.

He was happy thinking that when he got back to the restaurant, he could tell the owner about Song Li's plan to make tofu, so that he could replace the relative of Mr. Liu who supplied tofu to the restaurant.