Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 195 - 0195 Preparing the Dowry 3_1

Chapter 195: Chapter 0195 Preparing the Dowry 3_1

Thinking about the word ’dowry’ and recalling the teasing from the gift givers, Feng Qingxue inevitably felt her cheeks heat up.

"Sis, your face is so red!" Feng Qingyun called out.

Coming back to her senses, Feng Qingxue said earnestly: "Even though the busy farming season is over, the weather is still very hot. I’ve been on a train for half a month and just got home from this tiring journey. Hence, I’m feeling hot."

Feng Qingyun muttered in understanding and then said: "Sis, it’s lucky you weren’t at home during the wheat harvest, otherwise you would have worked yourself to death. Even watching it was exhausting. There was cutting, threshing, drying and collecting, and many people complained that the heavens weren’t showing any favors. During the wheat harvest, there was constant heavy rain. There was no rain in the spring, but why so much in summertime? A lot of the wheat couldn’t be harvested in time and sprouted in the fields. The grains that were harvested couldn’t dry out fast enough and began to sprout under the moist straw, almost not enough for the public grain storage!"

Listening to her description, Feng Qingxue frowned, fully imagining the scene of busyness and feelings of desperation. She asked softly, "Was this year’s harvest unsuccessful?"

Everyone was certain that the harvest wouldn’t be good when it didn’t rain in the spring.

Feng Qingxue’s timing of leaving was quite fortunate, just before the busy farming season, so she is unaware of the situation at home.

"It wasn’t successful. Everyone is saying that we’re going to starve again in the second half of the year." Feng Qingyun replied.

Feng Qingxue gave a soft sigh.

"However," Feng Qingyun changed the subject, "Not only our uncle, even our second grandfather Shuanzhu made up his mind. Regardless of the top’s regulations, he nevertheless was determined to have everyone increase the cultivation of yam, corn and potatoes as much as possible. He said that these three crops have high yields and, perhaps by chance, the harvest could be sufficient to prevent our brigade from starvation."

According to the regulations, only fruits and vegetables can be grown in reserve fields, not staple crops.

Knowing how big of a risk Wang Zhenguo and Feng Shuanzhu were taking in doing such a thing, the common people are not oblivious. The families with more mouths to feed got more reserved farmland and grew more staple crops, which greatly added to their food supplies. Grateful, they all kept this a secret.

Because they couldn’t avoid eating vegetables in winter, every household still reserved a small part of the land for vegetable cultivation. They pointed to the reserved area with vegetables to outsiders asking questions as the real reserved land, so they were able to muddle through like this.

This method of the Wanglou Brigade and the Caohu Brigade was jointly discussed by Wang Zhenguo and Feng Shuanzhu.

No one starved to death in the Wanglou Brigade last year, making Feng Shuanzhu envious, so he personally went to learn from them.

As the commoners appreciated the kindness of these two branch secretaries, so they were extremely warm to Wang Fengqiao who came to visit Feng Qingxue, causing Wang Fengqiao to continually exclaim in admiration when she arrived at Feng Qingxue’s house.

Feng Qingxue smiled, learning about the truth from her sister.

After returning with Lu Jiang, she no longer darkened her face with makeup, but she still wore some, revealing perhaps a mere 30 to 50 percent of her natural beauty.

That was enough; her smile was like a blossoming flower.

Holding her hand, Wang Fengqiao sighed: "You are so beautiful and kind-hearted. It’s no wonder that Lu Jiang couldn’t wait any longer. You two arrived home yesterday, and this morning his father came to arrange the wedding date with me. He found several dates, one is lunar June 26, another is lunar June 28, the day after the beginning of fall, and one is lunar July 8, the day after Qixi Festival."

The dates chosen for significant events in farming households are always according to the lunar calendar, which would be August in the solar calendar.

Today is lunar June 18, leaving only eight days till the 26th.