Chapter 229 - Awaiting Labor (1/2)
“No! The port construction is at a crucial stage, so there can’t be any problems. Godfather, you need to go and look over it! Moreover, you have never farmed before, so you will probably be a hindrance if you came!” Yu Xiaocao rejected her godfather’s suggestion, and then said, “Maybe… Tomorrow, Mother can dig the pits in front while I scatter the seeds. Is that okay?”
Fang Zizhen continued to refuse, “You hand is injured. What if it got dirty and caused an infection? At that time, you wouldn’t be helping out, but causing more problems!”
Xiaolian and Yu Hang rushed to say, “Tomorrow, I won’t go to the docks (I won’t collect seafood) and will go help out in the fields instead!”
“Alright! Everyone stop talking!! It’s merely ten or so mu of land, yet you’re all fretting so much. In the future, if we buy a hundred or so mu of good farmland, wouldn’t you guys worry so much that you can’t even sleep at night? It’s decided. Tomorrow, your mother and I, along with Cao’er, will continue to work in the fields. Cao’er will watch on the side to ensure that nothing goes wrong and won’t need to do anything at all! Everyone else should do what you need to do!” At this time, Yu Hai brought forth his weight as the head of the household and made the final decision.
Before sleeping, Xiaocao went to the west courtyard next door as usual, and took her godmother’s pulse with her bandaged little hand. Although her godmother was pregnant, with a proper diet and the nourishment of the mystic-stone water, her health was much better than when she first came to Tanggu Town. Yu Xiaocao took off her hand, feeling relieved.
Lady Fang gently grabbed her small hand, which was wrapped like a pig’s hoof. Her heart slightly ached as she teased her, “Oh! Our Eldest Young Miss has just worked for a day, yet your little hand has already turned out like this ah?”
Yu Xiaocao pouted and grumbled, “It’s just Godfather making a fuss over a small matter. I merely got a few blisters, but he wrapped my hand as if it was fractured.”
Fang Zizhen came in and touched his wife’s belly. He looked at Xiaocao’s hand and said to Lady Fang, “You didn’t see it. On her fair and tender palm, there were several peanut sized blisters. It bled quite a lot after being popped. Ay! It’s just ten or so mu of land. It’s not like we can’t afford to hire people! If worst comes to worst, we can pick out a few strong ones among the refugees and hire them. Why do you need to do everything yourself?”
Yu Xiaocao laughed, “We’re already attracting too much attention in the village. We just bought over ten mu of farmland, if we also hire people to work in the fields, wouldn’t people talk about us behind our backs?”
“Just let them talk. If they have the ability, they can also buy land and hire workers!” Fang Zizhen said angrily.
Yu Xiaocao knew that her godfather was worried about her, so she smiled and changed the topic, “Godfather, Godmother will probably go into labor next month at the latest. The conditions in the countryside aren’t very good and the midwives aren’t very professional. I reckon that she should go back to the town tomorrow and wait for delivery?”
Speaking of the unborn child, Fang Zizhen immediately revealed a silly smile and giggled, “I have already discussed this matter with your godmother. We’ll go back to town when your family’s corn and potatoes are planted.”
Fang Zizhen now firmly believed in his goddaughter’s medical skills. His wife wasn’t young anymore, and this was her first child, so they didn’t have any experience whatsoever. Without his goddaughter around, he would feel uneasy! However, his daughter had signed a military writ with Royal Prince Yang for the cultivation of corn and potatoes. So it couldn’t be delayed. Fortunately, there were still a couple of months before his wife’s due date. He had learned the term ‘due date’ from Xiaocao!
Looked at her madam’s big, round tummy, Linglong though that it was more safe to return to town earlier. She said in a low voice, “Madam, let Zhenzhu accompany you at home tomorrow. This servant will go help out in the field. With an extra worker, things will get done faster!”
Lady Fang looked up with smiling eyes and glanced at her most trusted handmaid. She smiled at Fang Zizhen and said, “These two maidservants, Linglong and Zhenzhu, have suffered a lot since we arrived in Tanggu Town! Usually, handmaids like them are like daughters of a humble family, who won’t need to do any chores. They all have several maidservants who work under them. However, since coming to Dongshan Village, they have to make a fire for cooking, plant vegetables, and gather vegetables. It really has been hard on them ah!”
Zhenzhu hurriedly said, “Madam, you’re overpraising us! Madam is tolerant, magnanimous, kind, and benevolent. When this servant went back to the Xia Household, my sisters all envied me for having such a good master!”
Linglong gently massaged Lady Fang’s shoulders and said with a faint smile, “That’s right! There are advantages to living in the capital, but there are also advantages in staying in Dongshan Village. Our Dongshan Village has a picturesque scenery that relaxes one’s mood just by looking at it. We can eat delicacies from the land and the sea every day. This servant’s face has gotten rounder ah. In my opinion, although the capital is big, it’s more comfortable living in Dongshan Village!”
Lady Fang patted Linglong’s hand and said with a smile, “You two are both clever and lovely. I, your madam, knows this very clearly! Alright, tomorrow, Linglong will take Wangfu and his wife to see if there’s anything you guys can help with in the fields.”
Early in the morning of the next day, the three members of the Yu Family went to the fields with Linglong and two servants of the Fang Household. After working for the entire day yesterday, they had already planted nearly two mu of land. Madam Liu had nearly mastered the technique of digging the pits. Under Xiaocao’s guidance, she swiftly got the hang of it.
Wangfu had come over from the estate in town. Before selling himself into the Fang Estate, he was also an experienced farmer. When doing farm work, the Wangfu couple was even faster than the Yu Hai couple. As if it had a life, the hoe in his hands dug quickly and well. Wangfu’s wife followed behind her husband and skillfully scattered the seeds and buried them with soil. The two worked very well together.
As a child of servants of the Xia Family, Linglong had grown up the estate of a wealthy family, so she had never done farm work before. Fortunately, dibbling wasn’t hard. At the beginning, she was still relatively unfamiliar with how to do it, but she gradually learned how to do it.
Yu Hai carried a bucket of water and followed behind them and sprinkled some water on the buried seed. There couldn’t be too much water because the seed might go bad from being soaked in too much water. But there couldn’t be too little water either because that might reduce the rate of germination. However, seeds that had been washed by mystic-stone water didn’t have these concerns.