Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 83 - 81 The Harvest Begins in August

After entering August, Shen Yunfang became even busier.

Early in the morning, Shen Yunfang got up without going out. After drinking a cup of hot sheep’s milk, she dived into the backyard to start picking vegetables. The vegetables in the backyard were all ripe.

String beans, eggplants, persimmons, large chili peppers, small chili peppers, cucumbers—she picked the large ones, and left the overripe ones untouched, saving them for seeds later on.

When planting, Shen Yunfang had collected seeds from several families, so there were many varieties, including several types of string beans.

There were Curved Yellow, Rabbit’s White Eye, and Oil Beans.

She took a few empty baskets to sort and store the vegetables. Once enough had been picked, she poured the vegetables into the space, pre-divided into roughly one-square-meter-sized cells.

There wasn’t much space left, so it couldn’t be wasted carelessly.

She grew plenty of vegetables and certainly couldn’t eat them all in one season, so she planned to keep a large portion fresh in the space for preservation and to dry a small portion to stew with meat during winter.

She then picked up a basket, selected some misshapen fruits, and after washing them with well water, she sat down at the front yard entrance and started briskly chopping the vegetables with a kitchen knife.

She sliced the string beans into shreds and the eggplants and cucumbers into slices, then laid them out on mesh racks over stools to dry in the sun.

Afterward, she took the remaining eggplants and cucumber ends to cook pig fodder—during this bountiful season, even the pigs at home deserved an extra meal.

Only after feeding the pigs did she have time to cook for herself. She went to the backyard to pick a tender horned melon, quickly sliced it into thin pieces.

She didn’t do much else. She took out two golden cornmeal pancakes from the space, scooped a small spoonful of lard from the oil jar into the pot to melt, and when the oil was sizzling, she fried the pancakes in it. After both sides turned golden brown, she moved them to a plate. Then, she took out an egg, cracked it into a bowl, stirred it with chopsticks, and scrambled it in the remaining oil in the pot. Just before taking it out, she tossed in the sliced horned melon, stir-fried it briefly, sprinkled some dissolved salt solution, and removed it from the stove.

She also scooped out a bowlful of cornmeal batter from a basin in the space, and her meal was ready.

Ever since hunting the wild boar family, Shen Yunfang’s diet had improved considerably. She borrowed a pig-slaughtering knife from the Wang family and slowly butchered the few pigs in the space at home. The oil in her home’s oil jar filled up, allowing her to fry and cook more often. Eggs weren’t just boiled in clear water anymore, frying mushrooms was no longer just a dream. Overall, her meals steadily improved, featuring meat or eggs every time.

In just two or three weeks, she felt her face round out.

Even when work resumed, Shen Yunfang remained busy.

Firstly, she continued to grapple with the wild vegetables on the entire hillside. As long as they grew, she had to keep striving, for herself, the chickens at home, and the two pigs.

Secondly, she discovered a small patch of wild grapes growing lushly.

She had once encountered a Chinese date tree in the mountains, but the tree was too tall. After the dates ripened, she tried many methods but couldn’t pick the fruit, which frustrated her.

Stumbling upon the wild grapes was an unexpected delight, so whenever she had time, she would go check on them, picking the purple, ripe ones to preserve in the space. Obtaining fruit during this period was challenging, so she treasured it greatly.

Thirdly, she collected pine cones.

Since spring, to keep the west room warm, the kang was always lit, and with daily cooking of pig feed and earthworms, her household’s firewood consumption was astonishing. To support sustainable development, Shen Yunfang collected pine twigs and dug soil to fertilize the home’s chives when she had free time.

This month, while visiting the pine forest, she found fresh pine cones scattered on the ground, in addition to fallen pine twigs. Curiously picking them up, Shen Yunfang found the cones weren’t empty; they contained plenty of pine nuts, which added to her workload.

She made trips to the pine forest every few days to collect newly fallen pine cones.

Once she had enough for a pot, she would cook five-spice pine cones at home, a taste reminiscent of her childhood.

Naturally, the ones she couldn’t eat were stored in the space.

After work, Shen Yunfang was still busy.

After a simple meal at home, she started making various kinds of pickled vegetables.

Her family already had a jar of pickled vegetables and a jar of soybean paste from last year.

This year, under Dashuan’s wife’s guidance, she made a new batch of soybean paste, and she didn’t want to be limited to eating just pickled vegetable lumps this year, so she rolled up her sleeves and started making pickles.

Spicy and sour cucumbers, sweet and sour garlic, garlic eggplant, pickled string beans, and so on. She tried making all the pickles she knew from her previous life, and they were quite successful. However, she now had fewer pickle jars at home, so she had to take another trip to the county town when she found some free time.

On her way out, she picked two small baskets of fresh vegetables from the backyard and after clarifying the return time with Uncle Yougen in the county town, she headed to the procurement station with two baskets in hand.

Starting in March, she found time to visit the county every month, mainly to establish a good relationship with Jiang Hui at the procurement station and incidentally send letters to that guy Li Hongjun. Then, she’d go to the supply and marketing cooperative to sell her leftover eggs and casually buy some necessities for home. If she had time, she’d also go to the public bathhouse for a bath and to take care of personal hygiene, so by now she was quite familiar with the county town and no longer felt like a stranger.

When Shen Yunfang arrived at the procurement station, she saw Jiang Hui and Shen Yunfeng sitting at the entrance enjoying the cool breeze.

Jiang Hui was still keeping her hands busy with knitting needles, her head down, not interacting with Shen Yunfeng next to her.

"Sister Jiang, here I am again," Shen Yunfang greeted with a smile.

The two people at the entrance turned their heads upon hearing the voice, but their expressions were different.

Jiang Hui happily put her knitting needles on the stool, stood up, and said, "Oh, it shows you still have some conscience. I’ve been thinking about you, why has this girl been away for such a long time."

Shen Yunfeng had a nonchalant expression as she sat comfortably in her chair, her hand resting on her bulging belly. She was now over eight months pregnant and would be giving birth soon; nobody really minded if she was a bit lazy.

"Sister Jiang, you’re really wronging me. I’ve been so busy at home lately. Now that I’ve finally managed to find some time, I hurried over," Shen Yunfang said as she took Jiang Hui, who had walked into the sun, back to the entrance. "This is our homegrown produce. I thought it wouldn’t be convenient for you to buy vegetables in the county, so I brought some for you. Don’t look down on them."

Jiang Hui happily took the basket from her. After their several interactions, she had already come to see Shen Yunfang as a little sister and didn’t stand on ceremony with her. Taking the basket, she said, "Why would I look down on these? I couldn’t be happier. My little devil at home will be thrilled to see these."

At the top of the basket were several pinkish persimmons that looked delicious.

At this time of year, it was practically impossible to find fruit, so having persimmons to eat was quite a treat.

"Ha-ha, we have plenty at home. Let Hongming come over to my place for a couple of days. He’ll definitely have enough to eat," Shen Yunfang pulled up a small stool and sat down as well. "Sister Feng, you’re about to give birth, aren’t you? Everything’s going well, right? I brought a basket for you too, so Aunt Xue can enjoy some fresh vegetables."

It was only then that Shen Yunfang addressed Shen Yunfeng beside her. It was impossible not to talk to her, and as the younger one, it was proper for her to speak first.

"Hehe, you’re really thoughtful. But we’re not short of vegetables at my house, my mother comes to deliver them every week," Shen Yunfeng didn’t even glance at the basket.

These things were common and cheap; it was the height of vegetable season, and even the best vegetables sold for only five cents a pound. If you waited until evening, a dime could buy a large pile.

Besides, the Xue Family really didn’t lack vegetables. Shen Yunfeng’s mother, out of love for her eldest daughter and to curry favor with the in-laws, would send a basket of vegetables to the Xue Family every few days. They had plenty to eat.

"Well, that’s great. I don’t have enough for myself anyway. Since you don’t want them, I won’t be polite and will take them all. It’s not easy for Yunfang to come all this way; we can’t just let her take them back." Jiang Hui couldn’t stand the pretentious air of Shen Yunxiu. What was she so proud of? Just because she had married a guy who held a minor leadership role in the supply and marketing cooperative? There was nothing special about that.

"Alright then, Sister Feng doesn’t want them, but if Sister Jiang does, I’ll give them all to you," Shen Yunfang handed over the other basket she was holding to Jiang Hui as well.

Jiang Hui happily accepted it, placing it with the one she had just received.

"Hehe, what brings you to the county today?" Jiang Hui knew that Shen Yunfang tended the sheep for the production team, which normally didn’t allow time off without a deduction of work points.

"Well, the vegetables are all harvested now, so I wanted to pickle some for myself. We don’t have any more jars at home, so I came to the county to buy a few," Shen Yunfang explained.

When Shen Yunfeng heard her talking about buying things at the supply and marketing cooperative, she involuntarily straightened up, expecting Shen Yunfang to ask for her help.

But Shen Yunfang didn’t catch on to her hint at all, not even sparing her a glance, so she never noticed the subtle gesture. Besides, Shen Yunfang had been coming to the supply and marketing cooperative every month and had met Jialong, her cousin-in-law, several times already. She could deal directly with Jialong if there was anything she needed.