When Qin Junyao heard her father calling her to plant sandworm, she was using her left hand like a vacuum cleaner to suck the dust from the mat into her spatial dimension, while her right hand held a rag to wipe the mat.
"Got it, Dad, I'll be right out."
Seeing her father leave, Qin Junyao took out a bag of sandworm seeds she had collected in her spatial dimension.
She put on her straw hat, wrapped her face with a scarf, and carried her ever-present basket to the courtyard.
"Junyao, you and your elder brother go first. I'll go to the Hou family to call your Grandpa Hou, and we'll go together."
Qin father helped Qin Daniu harness the ox cart, loaded two sealed bags, a plow, and farming tools onto the cart, and then went to the Hou family.
Qin Junyao, sitting on the ox cart, saw a couple walking by. She patted Qin Daniu, who was driving the cart, "Brother, are you still carrying firewood for that Zhang family girl?"
Qin Daniu was slightly taken aback by his younger sister's question. He looked ahead, "What Zhang family girl?"
"The one at the village entrance who greeted you, the one you told me and Mom not to talk about."
"I don't know who you're talking about," Qin Daniu was clearly playing dumb, not wanting to bring it up.
Qin Junyao nodded to show she understood, her eyes darting around. "Then I get it. I'll tell Mom you have more than one Zhang family girl."
"Yaoyao!"
Qin Junyao heard the obvious displeasure in Qin Daniu's tone. "Brother, are you angry? I'm sorry, I..."
"It's not your fault. Zhang Dani is getting engaged."
Qin Daniu cracked his whip heavily in the air, as if to vent his frustration.
This was the first time Qin Junyao heard the Zhang family girl's name from her eldest brother. She hadn't expected her to be getting engaged.
She knew the Zhang family girl had wanted to tell Qin mother about this that day, but Qin Daniu had anticipated Qin Junyao's actions and said he didn't want his family to know right now.
Later, Qin Junyao saw Qin Daniu returning from the mountains with a smile several times and thought her brother's spring had arrived. But now...
"Sigh," Qin Daniu's sigh broke the silence. Before Qin Junyao could ask, he spoke on his own.
"She came to see me yesterday and asked if I wanted to marry her. For twenty taels of silver, she would live with me peacefully. If not, she would get engaged to someone else."
Qin Junyao didn't press further, listening quietly.
"She's the eldest daughter in her family, with two younger sisters and a younger brother. Her father gambled and last year, he pawned her mother to the casino."
Qin Junyao, who had been watching the ground move under the cartwheels, turned her head sharply to look at her eldest brother driving the cart after hearing what Qin Daniu said.
She understood why her brother hadn't asked her to tell Qin mother about Zhang Dani's existence, nor had he agreed to marry Zhang Dani.
Qin grandmother often mentioned at home the importance of not getting involved in gambling or associating with people who had gambling addiction.
If this were to happen to Qin Erniu, he might fight for it. But for Qin Daniu, the eldest grandson of the Qin family, even if he liked her very much, he would most likely give up.
"Brother, do you like her very much?"
Qin Daniu turned and glanced at Qin Junyao. "Yaoyao, I don't know what 'like' is, but I want to marry her and live with her."
.
Upon arriving at the place to plant sandworm, Qin Junyao absentmindedly helped Qin Daniu unload the plow from the cart and then held the plow steady as Qin Daniu harnessed it to the ox.
Her mind was still on Qin Daniu and Zhang Dani.
Given her brother's indifferent nature, the fact that he could say he wanted to live with Zhang Dani meant he truly wanted to marry her.
The key to this matter lay with Qin grandmother and her gambling father.
Qin father arrived quickly. The Hou family came with all their members, leaving only Uncle Hou Si and his wife at the threshing ground.
With everyone present, Qin father opened the bags he brought from home, revealing the seeds.
"Dad, is it the right time to plant wheat now?" Qin Junyao asked her father, looking at the seeds in the bag.
"Silly girl, this isn't wheat, it's barley," Qin father scooped up a handful of barley, which looked very much like wheat, and placed it in Qin Junyao's hand.
"The Tubo people grow this. It grows fast, is cold-resistant, and the yield is a bit low, so we grow less of it."
Qin Junyao knew about barley, but she didn't know it looked so much like wheat.
In modern times, barley is mainly produced in the Tibetan areas and is a staple food there. It seemed to be the same in this era. Su Dan Novel Network
"Oh, I haven't seen any for sale in Yan County," Qin Junyao secretly transferred a few seeds into her spatial dimension and put the remaining barley back into the bag.
"Its yield is even lower than wheat, and it doesn't taste as good as wheat, so fewer people buy it. We'll just plant it; as long as it grows, it's fine."
Qin father said as he scooped some seeds into a small wooden bucket and handed it to Qin Junyao, "There are only two hundred catties of seeds, which is not much. If we harvest this batch, we can plant more next year."
Qin Junyao took the wooden bucket and said to her father, "If it's not good to eat, it can be used for brewing wine."
"This can be used for brewing wine?"
Qin Junyao nodded, "Wheat can be brewed into wine, so this can too."
"That's true."
The Gobi land, where the wolf poison had been completely dug up, was already soft. After plowing it once, the other weeds in the soil were turned up. Once the grass was picked clean, they could form ridges to plant sandworm and barley.
Sandworm seeds are very small, and those from the spatial dimension have a high germination rate, so the seeds are used sparingly.
To give the sandworm enough space to grow, there should be more than two feet between two rows of sandworm, with a row of barley planted in between.
The areas where the Qin and Hou families planted sandworm had all been agreed upon with Zhao Liangcai, exchanging it for the land Qin Junyao had bought herself.
The Hou family's land was bought from Qin Junyao. It would not be changed to the Hou family's name for the time being. Whether they would exchange land or pay money later could be discussed.
The most important thing now was to plant the sandworm well and prevent wolf poison from growing here again.
By noon, they wanted to have some dry food to fill their stomachs. The sky darkened again, and everyone had to rush home to harvest the wheat.
As soon as the wheat was put in the shed, the rain began to fall.
"Fortunately, there was no wind today. If there was strong wind, we would have had to move the wheat indoors. The shed is still a bit small," Qin father said as he entered the house last, wiping his face with the towel Qin mother handed him.
Qin mother looked at the rain outside with some concern, "Didn't they say there would be little rain? Why is it raining non-stop?"
"I don't know. The elders in the village say it hasn't rained at this time of year for many years. If it continues like this, it will be difficult for others in the village to harvest their wheat..."
Qin father and Qin mother chatted while looking at the rain outside. Qin Junyao went to Qin grandmother's room.
"Grandma, what are you doing?"
"If you have something to say, say it. You look like you're up to no good," Qin grandmother sat by the table, holding a brush, painting something.
Qin Junyao touched her ear and walked to Qin grandmother's side to look at what she was painting.
"Grandma, you paint so beautifully. What kind of flower is this?"
Qin grandmother put down her brush and glanced at Qin Junyao. "If you have something to say, say it."
"There's a Zhang family at the village entrance, does Grandma know them?" Qin Junyao sat opposite Qin grandmother, grinding ink.
Qin grandmother picked up her brush and started painting again. "There are several Zhang families, which one are you referring to?"