The Stepmother From A Peasant Family Skillfully Farms - Chapter 18
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- Chapter 18 - Clearing Land
When the water in the pot boiled, Su Mulan first blanched the sweet potato leaves with boiling water, then cleaned the pot and sautéed a garlic clove. Once the pot was fragrant with garlic, she added water, cooked the huo lao noodles, and put in the sweet potato leaves.
Finally, she added a little vinegar, and the fragrant and delicious garlic sweet potato leaf he luo noodles were ready to be served.
Just as the noodles were placed on the table, Bai Shuiliu finished peeling and slicing the last sweet potato, washed her hands, and came to sit at the table to eat.
The sweet potato leaves were vibrant green, complemented by the slightly browned flatbread. Enhanced by the rich garlic flavor and accompanied by crisp cucumber salad, in such scorching weather, after finishing the meal of bread and soup, they were drenched in sweat, yet felt utterly refreshed.
Even Su Mulan herself let out a satisfied burp.
After finishing the meal during the hottest part of the day, when there wasn’t much else to tend to inside the house, Su Mulan asked the children to rest inside for a while to avoid the heat. Meanwhile, she herself wore a straw hat and turned over each piece of sweet potato slices that had developed a hardened surface from drying, to prevent them from sticking to the bamboo basket.
Under the scorching sun, it was the peak time for drying. The bamboo basket itself was starting to feel warm to touch. When she reached out to flip the sweet potato slices, her hands turned red from the heat.
With no other choice, Su Mulan scooped up a ladle of water to moisten her hands before handling the dried sweet potatoes.
With all this hustle and bustle, coupled with the blazing sun, Su Mulan was sweating profusely, her entire back drenched in sweat.
Bai Shuiliu leaned against the window and watched for a long while, biting her lip in deep thought. It wasn’t until Su Mulan finished flipping all the dried sweet potato slices and went back to rest that Bai Shuiliu finally sat back on the bed. She looked at Bai Zhuye and Bai Midou, who were already fast asleep, and then turned to Bai Lixia.
“Mom seems like she really has changed,” she said softly.
In the past, if they were outside flipping sweet potato slices under the sun like this, it would definitely be the four of them, and absolutely no one would be allowed to wear a straw hat or scoop cool water. If anyone worked slowly, they would receive a torrent of scolding.
Bai Lixia pursed her lips and thought for a long time. “Let’s observe a bit more.”
“Yeah,” Bai Shuiliu nodded and lay down. “Let’s rest for a bit. Mom said we still have work to do this afternoon.”
Bai Lixia also lay down, but she couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. She held a dried banana leaf in her hand, waving it to fans Bai Zhuye and Bai Midou.
Su Mulan returned to her room and tried to sleep for a while.
The bed was hard, the room was stuffy, and with many mosquitoes buzzing around, Su Mulan estimated she had only dozed off for about half an hour when she woke up.
Wiping the sweat off her body, she looked at the sun slightly leaning westward in the sky and sighed helplessly.
“I really don’t want to go out and be roasted…”
However, given the current situation at home, lying down flat was out of the question. Su Mulan rallied herself, washed her face, and also called the children in the west room to get up. She then started to allocate tasks for the afternoon.
Apart from Bai Zhuye staying at home to watch over the drying sweet potato slices, preventing cats and sparrows from stealing them, and flipping them after an hour to ensure even drying, the other three followed Su Mulan to find land to clear.
Land was fundamental to a farming family, and with limited resources at hand and some free time, Su Mulan believed it prudent to diversify between small business ventures and farming. This approach would enhance resilience against risks and increase income sources.
Moreover, during this dynasty, to promote recuperation and encourage agriculture, the government only required a small tax of three coins for newly cleared land at the yamen. This made it possible for individuals to claim the land as their own.