At eight o'clock in the evening, the Song family's yard was once again crowded with people.
It's a rare occasion that my seventh cousin didn't go home. He is now standing by the stove, preparing a midnight snack for everyone.
Song Tan also advised him: "Seventh cousin, you should go back. You are so old, don't stay up late. We can just cook some noodles at night and cut some braised meat prepared during the day... We can do this job."
If you put more bok choy in the noodles, the taste won’t make everyone feel neglected.
My seventh cousin snorted, "Why are you afraid of staying up late? I'm telling you, don't look down on us older people. We eat well, sleep well, and don't stay up late. Our health is better than yours."
"Besides, I won't stay up all night with you. You take Qiao Qiao to the fields and pick a few more baskets of cabbage. I'll make some dumplings at home and you can eat them at night. I'll go back by myself after I'm done."
Song Tan couldn't help but be moved: "Seventh cousin! How can you be so considerate! Don't worry, I will definitely take good care of you in your old age. If you need to go to the hospital, I will hold one in each arm!"
The seventh cousin glared at her and said, "You have no respect for your elders!"
But there was a smile on his face.
If someone had said this two months ago, my seventh cousin would have really felt uncomfortable.
Because people are getting older, they can feel it. Their energy and endurance are not as good as before, and even a good night's sleep is extremely rare. When talking about birth, aging, illness and death, they are somewhat pessimistic and negative.
But since coming to Old Song's house, none of this is a problem anymore.
I fall asleep as soon as I get home and wake up when the rooster crows in the morning. I can even take a stroll on the way. I feel so energetic!
Moreover, not only did I not feel tired from stir-frying big pots of food every day, but it became more spiritual and meaningful.
My seventh cousin thought: Maybe it’s time to return to one’s roots, the soil and water in this hometown are good for nourishing people.
Of course, there is a drawback, which is that I can never drink the tea given by Song Tan at night.
Make a cup in the morning and drink it until the afternoon when it has no taste. It's just right.
If he can't resist the urge to take another sip at night - that's it, he can stay up all night!
Although he didn't feel anything the next day, my seventh cousin is old and takes good care of his health, and he would never do such a thing.
…
The yard was noisy at the moment, and Ulan was distributing headlamps and screens to the people who came to work.
The vegetable garden was pitch black, so it was convenient for everyone to work with a small lamp on their heads. As for the gauze net, it had to be covered on the head. After all, some flying insects had already appeared in April, and when the lights were turned on at night, they would rush to the flame like moths!
Without covering it with a net, the bugs can still be annoying even if they don't bite.
Most of the people who came to work were women from the neighborhood. They were very skillful in tidying up the vegetable fields and were still laughing:
"I've been doing farm work for so many years, but this is the first time I've brought this lantern."
"Of course not," someone nearby responded, "No one has ever cleaned up the vegetable garden at night! At most, we planted sweet osmanthus in those few years and got up in the early morning to pick them..."
Song Tan estimated that they would have to load the truck and set off at 1 a.m., and everyone would have to toil in the fields for more than 4 hours.
Although the weather in April is not cold, it is still a bit chilly at night. She thought for a moment and said, "Cousin, can you help me make a pot of Tremella soup before you leave?"
The white fungus on their mountain is really worth a sip.
Uncle Seven didn't even raise his head: "Let Qiao Qiao cook it. This soup won't go bad no matter how you cook it. I'll teach you later."
"OK."
After Song Tan finished speaking, he called out to Qiao Qiao: "Let's go, pick some baskets of cabbage from the fields to make dumplings."
Two mu of Chinese cabbage, when illuminated at night, is a vast expanse of lush green. The jade-white stems stand upright, looking so energetic.
Unfortunately, it just can’t last long, which is one of the reasons why Song Tan plans to plant peppers in the next crop.
Because it's hot, this will become stale if you wait a while, which is troublesome.
The one in charge of looking after the vegetable garden is a three-horse black-backed Spanish shepherd.
They have good jumping ability and it doesn't take them long to jump from one end of the vegetable garden to the other. Seeing Song Tan coming over in the middle of the night, the two dogs were so excited that they whimpered and wanted to come over to rub against his spiritual energy.
The thin legs nimbly avoided the cabbage ridges and stepped on the plum blossom pits in the soil. Song Tan couldn't help laughing and rubbed the dog's head one by one: "There is not much spiritual energy tonight."
So, don't expect anything. This is really not the time to rush around at night to release spiritual energy.
Then he coaxed them: "Although I asked you to watch over the vegetable garden, I didn't ask you to stay here every day. Go and play when you need to play, and just pay attention and listen to the noise."
Old man Li is now very diligent in tending to the rice fields. There is usually nothing to do during the day, but mainly at night.
But now only the cabbages have matured, so there is no need to worry too much for the time being.
The Sanbao Blackback disagrees with this:
"Woof!"
"Okay, okay."
Song Tan couldn't help but kiss it on the forehead again: "I know you have to work hard, but there's nothing to do tonight. You can play or sleep if you want."
"When I come back, I'll bring you some dog food."
As soon as these words were spoken, the four BMW dogs beside them whimpered, with an extremely reluctant expression. They looked at Song Tan with a pair of wet and pitiful eyes.
Qiao Qiao shouted, "Sister, don't buy dog food. They don't like it. They just want to eat our food."
Isn’t it
Not to mention the delicious things we sometimes add to our own meals, dogs generally prefer to eat human food!
It’s not that I can’t afford it. In fact, a lot of dog food is much more expensive than human food, but right now…
She could only touch Sibao's head with heartache: "There is nothing to eat in the fields right now. I can't cook a pot for you guys every time, right? I will be scolded if I do that."
"Be good, bear with it for now. It's summer now, so I'll arrange all the vines and vegetable leaves for you."
By then, there will be workers coming to build the house. There will be more of them, so it won’t be that obvious if there is more or less when cooking. These babies can eat whatever they like. They are smart, so it doesn’t matter what they eat.
Qiao Qiao had already plucked a basket of Chinese cabbage, and then confirmed again: "Sister, after the vegetables are ready, are we really going to the amusement park?"
Song Tanhao stressed helplessly: "Sell the vegetables first, and then you can go to the amusement park."
"Go home and make the dumplings later, then you have to go to bed. Sleep until everyone comes back and I cook dumplings for them, then we'll set off."
Song Tan herself didn't really need to sleep, but Zhang Yanping insisted on taking turns driving with her, so she let him go to sleep first.
Alas, this silly cousin’s good days will only last a few days.
After all, when the construction team arrives in a few days, he will be forced to sleep with his seventh cousin.
The old man is very energetic. I heard that he gets up at 4 or 5 in the morning to go out for a stroll. At his age, what if he wants to have a young man as a companion
Even if he didn't wake up, Zhang Yanping might not be able to fall asleep if he heard the noise of people getting up at home.