In Northwest City, Zhao Liangcai would not have expected that Qin Junyao missed him because she wanted to go into the deep mountains.
"Brother, you haven't given me some realgar wine yet?" Axe reminded Zhao Liangcai, who was staring blankly at a letter.
He didn't know who wrote the letter to his brother that made him forget about himself.
"What?" Zhao Liangcai, lost in thought about the letter, didn't hear Axe clearly.
Axe twirled his wrist, which was adorned with a colorful string, "Realgar wine, you haven't given me some realgar wine yet."
Zhao Liangcai glanced at the letter again, folded it, and tucked it into his embrace, then picked up the realgar wine from the table.
He dipped his finger in the realgar wine and dotted it on Axe's forehead, ears, nose, wrists, and ankles.
It was a custom on the Dragon Boat Festival to apply realgar wine to children to ward off poisonous creatures like the five venomous insects (snakes, scorpions, centipedes, geckos, and spiders).
"Alright, we'll go watch a play in a bit."
Zhao Liangcai wiped his hands, tidied Axe's clothes, and was about to take him to eat and watch a play.
Axe clutched Zhao Liangcai's clothes. "Brother, aren't we going to buy something for Sister Qin?"
Zhao Liangcai picked Axe up. "Everything is already ordered. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and I'm taking you out to play. When we go back, I won't be able to accompany you for a long time."
"It's all bought, then I won't play. Let's go home. I miss Aunt Qin and Sister Qin."
Axe's spirits were clearly low. Zhao Liangcai held him and sat back on the bed.
"They've set up a big stage at the east gate today. Aren't you really going to watch?"
Axe shook his head and hugged Zhao Liangcai's neck. "Brother, can you send Mother and Sister back? They don't like it here, and they don't like me."
"What's wrong?"
Zhao Liangcai asked again, but Axe didn't answer, only saying he wanted to go home.
Yesterday, he had seen his mother buy a beautiful colorful bracelet. This morning, while his brother was out meeting people, he went to find his mother.
That bracelet was tied to his sister's wrist. He thought that even if there wasn't a bracelet, there would be a colorful string, but there was nothing.
His mother also told him to ask his brother to buy a hairpin for his sister, the same kind as he bought for Sister Qin.
He didn't like his mother anymore. Whatever his brother bought for Sister Qin, she had to buy one for his sister too. If his brother refused, she would cry to him.
His brother was going to marry Sister Qin, so he bought many things for Sister Qin.
If his brother wasn't marrying Sister Qin, why would he buy things for his sister? Su Dan Novel Network
He himself never asked his brother for anything; his brother was very poor and had no money.
Zhao Liangcai saw that Axe genuinely wanted to go back, so he called the waiter to bring their food to the room, and they wouldn't go down to eat.
While Axe was eating zongzi and eggs, Zhao Liangcai wrote a letter and had it sent to Hua Niang at Wanhua Tower.
The betrothal gifts Zhao Liangcai was going to give Qin Junyao had been arranged with Hua Niang through correspondence long ago.
The main purpose of returning to Northwest City was to meet with Prince Luo's people to discuss the salt lake and the Northwest Grand Camp.
The fabrics and jewelry he bought openly at the shops were merely a ruse. His true purpose was for secret negotiations.
Hua Niang's preparation of jewelry, dresses, and other items took time. The purpose of Zhao Liangcai's letter was to urge Hua Niang to speed up the process and to send someone to pick them up.
Someone who could make Madam Qian willing to leave with them, someone who could make Madam Qian suffer through the rest of her life.
Axe was eager to return to Yangshu Village and insisted that Zhao Liangcai ride back on horseback instead of in a carriage.
Zhao Liangcai, unable to refuse Axe's persistence, packed some food and a cloth that could be used to tie Axe to him, and rode Xiao Fei back to Yangshu Village.
The items purchased would be brought back by Zhao Liangcai's personal guards, the porters.
They would also bring back Madam Qian and her daughter, who were still in Northwest City enjoying the Dragon Boat Festival and watching plays.
Zhao Liangcai and Axe spent the Dragon Boat Festival on the road, while the Qin family spent the entire day in the wheat fields.
"Uncle Hou, my family has little land, so we'll finish soon. You should go back quickly; the wind is getting stronger," Qin Fu said to Old Man Hou, who had come to help with the harvest, looking at the dark clouds and the whistling wind.
"Your family's young master should cut your own first. Stop talking and get to work," Old Man Hou said, entering the Qin family's wheat field with his scythe and starting to cut wheat.
At breakfast, the sky was clear and cloudless. After the meal, a strong wind began to blow.
The wheat from both the Qin and Hou families could be harvested in the next two days.
The Qin family had planned to rest at home on the Dragon Boat Festival, as they had been very busy in the preceding days. They would have enough time to harvest if they started early the next day.
Unexpectedly, in less than the time it took to eat a meal, the wind outside was strong enough to flatten the wheat, and dark clouds appeared in the sky. The wheat had to be harvested before the rain.
Harvesting wheat is not an easy task.
A common saying goes, "Your arms will ache the first day, your back the second, and your backside will burn the third." Harvesting wheat can truly make you too tired to pick up chopsticks or a bowl of rice on the first day.
Summer wheat ripens very quickly. In the morning, the wheat ears might still look a bit green, but after being exposed to the sun at noon, the wheat ears turn yellow by the afternoon.
If it's not harvested the next day, the wheat ears will be fully ripe by the third day, and ripe wheat ears will shed grains.
As the saying goes, ninety percent ripe, a hundred percent harvest; a hundred percent ripe, a ten percent loss. By the time the wheat is fully ripe, even a ninety percent yield is considered good.
Therefore, during the wheat harvest season, there is also the saying of "snatching grain from a tiger's mouth."
Today was even more so. This wind blew without any warning, and the rain came just as quietly.
"Big Brother, Third Sister is too fast. We can't keep up with her," Qin Er Niu said to Qin Da Niu, holding a scythe in one hand and wiping the sweat from his forehead with the other, referring to Qin Junyao, who was far ahead of them.
"Then why are you still resting? Hurry up and cut," Qin Da Niu also did not expect Qin Junyao to be so fast. Not only was she fast, but the stubble she left behind was also neat.
Qin Mu, who was tying the wheat behind Qin Junyao, was also surprised by Qin Junyao's speed.
Her speed was almost catching up to Qin Fu's.
"Jun Yao, rest if you're tired," Qin Mu shouted from behind Qin Junyao.
"Got it, Mother," Qin Junyao replied, but she continued to cut wheat with her head down.
The scythe in her hand was her own accustomed one from her spatial dimension, which she had sharpened to an extreme degree with a whetstone.
Coupled with her frequent wheat harvesting in the spatial dimension, her movements were as smooth and natural as if guided by muscle memory.
The tied wheat was loaded onto carts and taken to the shed that the Qin family had set up in advance, waiting for the sky to clear so they could be sun-dried.
After the Qin family finished, they were going to help the Hou family. By then, it had already started to rain.
Some villagers, upon learning that the Qin and Hou families were harvesting wheat, came with their own scythes to help.
"Brother Qin, your families' wheat ripened earlier than ours," Li Chengfu, the son of the gossipy Granny Li, said to Qin Fu, picking a wheat grain and throwing it into his mouth.
Qin Fu straightened up. "Perhaps it's because we're closer to the desert, which causes it to be hotter."
"That's possible. I just checked my family's wheat, and it's still very green and not ready for harvest. I hope this rain doesn't last long."
Qin Fu bent down to cut wheat again. "Didn't they say we have little rainfall here? Will it be sunny tomorrow?"
"Who can say for sure? We sometimes don't get a single drop of rain all summer, and sometimes we get all the year's rain in one go."
"Looking at these clouds, it won't be short."