After the family split, all the dried rice was given to the Xu Family. What was left for Xu Qinghe's household was all just freshly harvested.
Xu Nianhua followed Ji Ying to sun-dry the rice. Under the scorching sun, the mother and daughter kept turning over the rice, pushing aside stray straw, and dust from the rice would itch unbearably if it landed on their skin.
"Nianhua, stop turning, go inside and rest, or you won't be able to sleep later tonight." Ji Ying's face was red from the sun, and she couldn't bear for her daughter to get sunburned too.
"I'm fine. With two people, it goes faster." Xu Nianhua raised a smile, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and kept flipping the grains under the sun.
Xu Nianhua had purposely worn long sleeves and pants, plus a straw hat. It was tiring, but if Ji Ying had to do all the work herself, it would be far too hard for her.
The family didn't have much rice, but the mats they used for drying were the oldest, almost ready to be tossed out; even their rice rake was one Xu Qinghe had just made early this morning.
After the rice was all spread and turned, Xu Nianhua went to the vegetable garden to pick greens.
Ji Ying wanted to come, but Xu Nianhua wouldn't let her.
Xu Nianhua's reason was convincing: "Mom, you just stay here and keep an eye on the rice, turn it over another time. This way, I can be a little lazy too."
She had a reason for picking vegetables herself; with that stepmother Liu Sanmei's temperament, Ji Ying would probably end up empty-handed.
Xu Nianhua carried a big basket, planning to fill it to the brim.
The vegetable garden was in a mountain hollow right next to the Xu Family's house, almost like terraced fields—patches stacked layer by layer, all lush green and full of life.
It was harvest season for the vegetable garden.
Cucumbers, string beans, eggplants, water spinach, wild greens, amaranth, chili peppers, and hyacinth beans.
Every family in the village grew vegetables, but with so many in the Xu Family and Ji Ying being so hardworking, they'd opened up extra land and grew much more than most.
Whatever Xu Nianhua saw, she picked—even sweet potato leaves weren't spared. The fresh-picked vegetables looked especially crisp and lovely.
"Xu Nianhua, are you trying to clear out the whole garden?" Liu Sanmei came to the patch every day. Seeing Nianhua with a basket bursting full, her eyes went wide!
"Grandma, there are five of us at home, we've got to eat, right? Besides, family split or not, it was Mom who worked hard planting all these vegetables—from tilling, sowing, to fertilizing, it was all her. Grandma, you're so fair-minded, of course you wouldn't stop me picking, right?"
Xu Nianhua's face was all innocence, her big clear eyes seeming to say: If you won't let me pick, then you're just being unreasonable.
The good mood Liu Sanmei had after dividing the family was wiped out in an instant—a surge of anger stuck in her throat, neither up nor down. She thought about how the villagers already resented her family after the split, and if word got out that she wouldn't even let Ji Ying's family have vegetables—even the ones Ji Ying planted—then...
These thoughts flashed through Liu Sanmei's mind. She gave a snort and said, "When did you get so sharp-tongued, huh? Grandma's not stopping you, I just think you're taking too much. These greens won't stay fresh—some will go bad."
"Grandma, there are a lot of us at home," Xu Nianhua said with a smile, but her hands didn't slow down. Once the basket was full, she even pulled up seven or eight fresh edamame right in front of Liu Sanmei. Edamame, with the dirt and stems left on, could last several days just fine.