Chapter 268: Indeed Favoritism
Chapter 268: Indeed Favoritism
In the village, peanuts and sweet potatoes were often planted together.
The harvest of peanuts and sweet potatoes also occurred around the same time.
Otherwise, if others had finished harvesting and your field was left unattended, the field mice would all flock to your field for a feast.
During this era, field mice were still abundant in the fields. If you didn't visit your field for a while and walked along the field path, you'd see holes dug by mice.
As soon as Jiang Xia appeared in the village's peanut field, everyone in the entire field couldn't help but look at her.
Jiang Xia: "..."
Was she really that much of a spectacle?
Tian Caixia, upon seeing Jiang Xia's arrival, was also taken aback and asked, "Xia, why are you here?"
Jiang Xia smiled and replied, "Mom said we were harvesting peanuts today, so I came to help."
She glanced at Tian Caixing, who was frowning while harvesting peanuts, and knew that Tian Caixia had already thought of a plan. She intended to rely on free labor from Tian Caixing and then let him leave.
The other village women were also surprised to see Jiang Xia, as she had never worked in the fields since her marriage.
Even the vegetable garden seemed to be untouched by her!
The villagers knew that the Zhou family treated her like a treasure, taking her out to sea but never asking her to do any work.
As Jiang Xia stepped down from the peanut field, Zhou Mu smiled and said, "Xia, you can sit there and pick the peanuts into the basket. I brought a stool for you."
See?
Even for fieldwork, they assigned her the easiest task, showing how much they cared for her. In other families, they would bring the peanuts home and slowly pick them at night, but here, they hurried to pull them out during the day.
An older pregnant woman, around Jiang Xia's age, expressed her envy, "The most doting mother-in-law in the village is your aunt. Any daughter-in-law who marries into your family is truly blessed."
Zhou Mu was well-known in the village for her diligence and amicable nature.
However, she had to do everything herself at home, even with her eight-month pregnancy. She washed clothes, cooked meals, fetched water, watered vegetables, worked in the fields, and more, while her husband, after returning from his early morning to late-night fishing trips, would just lounge in his chair like a lord.
The woman purely envied Jiang Xia for having such supportive in-laws, not realizing that her words could stir up trouble, as there was more than one daughter-in-law of Zhou Mu in the field.
As soon as she spoke, Tian Caixia, who was bending over and pulling out peanuts with all her might, felt a bit uneasy. Why didn't Zhou Mu ask her to pick the peanuts instead? But then she thought, it was already good that Jiang Xia came.
Lao Er's family didn't show up at all.
If they didn't come, that was fine. Later, when the peanuts were harvested, they would send two bags to them, and after pressing the oil, they'd deliver twenty to thirty pounds of oil!
Jiang Xia was indeed better; she never slacked off when working, learning quickly and performing well.
Tian Caixia looked at Jiang Xia's slender arms and legs, guessing she couldn't even pull up the peanut plants. But Jiang Xia's hands were quick, and she could pick all the peanuts, which was good enough. That way, Tian Caixia could rest at home in the evening instead of continuing to work.
Tian Caixing had always heard Tian Caixia complain about her in-laws' favoritism when she visited her parents' home. Today, he truly experienced it; it was indeed favoritism.
Everyone knew that sitting and picking peanuts was easy, but bending down to pull them out was tiring, and you'd be exhausted by the end of the day.
Zhou Mu let her younger daughter-in-law sit and pick peanuts, while the older one had to bend over and work. The favoritism was too obvious.
Moreover, her younger sister-in-law only had one acre of peanuts, yet she was helping to harvest three acres. Wasn't this favoritism?
Tian Caixing leaned towards Tian Caixia's ear and whispered, "After we finish this acre, forget about the rest. Let them do it themselves. I'm going out to sea with Axin tomorrow! Don't worry about them!"
Tian Caixia immediately refused in a low voice, "No, Axin won't agree. Big Brother, don't say more. Let's hurry up and finish this, then there are five acres of sweet potatoes, sesame to harvest, and several acres of rice and three acres of sugarcane to collect! We can't go out to sea. For the next half a month, we won't need to go out to sea. We must finish harvesting all the crops before we can go out again!"
"Alei and Jiang Xia are going to Suicheng tomorrow, and Lao Er's couple will be working. We're relying on the two elders, me, and Axin for the fields. Fortunately, you came; otherwise, Axin and I would be exhausted!"
Hearing that they wouldn't go out to sea for half a month, Tian Caixing grumbled, "I'm not helping you with all this harvesting. We need to harvest our peanuts at home, and I'm leaving tomorrow."
"If you can't do it, don't force yourself! With so much work to do, how can you expect the two of you to manage? You've already divided the household, I can help you, but why should I help the other two? Don't be so foolish!"
Tian Caixia said, "If we don't do it, should we just watch the elders do it themselves? Axin will come to help his parents when he's free! Won't he help his own biological father? Alright, don't say more, if I dare not help, he'll divorce me! Big Brother, please stay a few more days and help me harvest the rice in the fields before you leave!"
"I don't have time, I forgot about the crops maturing in the fields, I have to go back and harvest peanuts tomorrow too, or your sister-in-law will be furious. After we finish at home, I'll come back to help you!"
"Alright!" Tian Caixia secretly rejoiced, finally, he's leaving!
Fortunately, she was clever.
Jiang Xia also noticed that Zhou Mu intentionally gave her lighter tasks, so she smiled and said, "Mom, I'll go back to pick them later, let's harvest the peanuts first."
When Jiang Xia rode her bicycle past a villager's home, she saw peanuts drying in the corner, including the plants, with an elder sitting at the entrance slowly picking the peanuts. It seemed they could be brought inside and dried while picking.
Jiang Xia found a row and started harvesting peanuts.
Harvesting peanuts was simple; just pull them out by the roots since they grew in the ground.
Although this was Jiang Xia's first time harvesting peanuts, she was always quick at work, and she was no slower than Tian Caixia and Zhou Mu, even a bit faster.
This body might be delicate, but Jiang Xia's endurance was excellent, and she was focused and diligent. After half an hour, Jiang Xia caught up with Tian Caixia and Zhou Mu, having finished harvesting a row of peanuts.
She then moved on to the next row.
Being skilled workers, the five of them finished harvesting an acre of peanuts by noon.
Jiang Xia caught up and surpassed the others, harvesting two rows of peanuts, more than Zhou Mu and Tian Caixia, and almost as much as Zhou Chengxin.
Since it would take over forty minutes to walk home, they had lunch right there in the fields.
The villagers had long noticed Jiang Xia's diligence and couldn't help but praise her in front of Zhou Mu, "I didn't expect Ailei's wife to be so efficient."
"Yes, I thought she was delicate, turns out she's very capable!"
Tailao smiled and said, "You don't know her well enough, Xia knows so much!"
Zhou Mu smiled, "Xia is very capable at everything, she's even better at dividing fish, her hands are like a scale, she can grab the right amount every time, I'm not as fast or accurate as her."
"You really got a treasure! She's capable and brings you good fortune, if she has a grandson, it would be perfect."
Tailao smiled proudly, "That's right! I said Ailei got a treasure."
Zhou Mu looked at Jiang Xia sitting on the field path eating and chatting with He Xinghuan, smiling widely, Xia is indeed a treasure.
The women of Zhou Mu's age couldn't help envying her.
After lunch, everyone continued harvesting peanuts.
Jiang Xia also got up and continued working.
They worked until around four in the afternoon, finishing the harvest of another acre of peanuts, when Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Fu returned from the sea and rushed over.
At that moment, the family was loading the peanut plants onto a cart.
Zhou Fu came on a motorcycle, arriving before Zhou Chenglei.
Zhou Mu was surprised, "Why are you back so early?"
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(End of Chapter)
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