Chen Lan, her mother, and her mother-in-law pushed the baby carriage carrying the dragon and phoenix twins, along with the men, women, and children from the valley, to see Zhang Er Zhuang off.
Approaching the vegetable patch, Chen Lan pointed to the ten-plus mu of cabbage and said, "Brother Er Zhuang, when the time comes, we'll pack the vegetables into snake skin bags and stack them in that cabbage field. You can bring your men to pick them up there. Su Dan Novel Network.
When you get back to the camp, you must remember to tell your battalion commander and political commissar that from the day after tomorrow, Changbai Mountain will start experiencing heavy to moderate snowfall, along with five to six-grade winds. They need to prepare for the cold in advance.
And you absolutely must remember to tell them to send people to the valley to fetch the vegetables tomorrow morning. Did you get that?"
Zhang Er Zhuang, deeply moved, nodded repeatedly and said, "Sister-in-law, don't worry, I guarantee the mission will be accomplished! I'll rush back to the camp at forced march speed. As soon as I arrive, I'll report to the battalion commander and political commissar immediately about the heavy to moderate snowfall the day after tomorrow, and about sending people to the valley to fetch the vegetables."
With that, he stood at attention and gave Chen Lan and everyone who had come to see him off a standard military salute. Then, without looking back, he straightened his back and walked away with a large woven backpack on his shoulders.
Everyone watched his receding figure as it gradually disappeared into the mountains until it was no longer visible before turning their gaze away.
Chen Lan looked at her mother worriedly. Thank goodness! Although her mother was still reluctant to part, she was only dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, not overcome with grief.
Chen Lan had been worried that her mother would fall ill again from excessive sadness. Seeing her mother like this, it seemed she had finally let go, no longer holding onto the fantasy that her elder brother would suddenly return home. Now, her own heart could finally be at ease.
Perhaps because the weather was about to change, it was still quite cold outside, and the north wind was whistling! Chen Lan asked her mother and mother-in-law to take the twins and hurry home.
She, along with Uncle De, Uncle Fu, Xiang Dong, and Er Hu, and the able-bodied men of the valley, stayed behind in the cabbage field to harvest the cabbages.
This was what Chen Lan had discussed and agreed upon with Uncle De and Uncle Fu after lunch.
The twins, finally having a chance to come out, were fussing and absolutely refused to go home. They pointed at the cabbage field with their little fingers, wanting to watch everyone harvest the cabbages. They kept saying, "Mom, look, look!"
Her mother and Chen Lan were helpless against them, so they could only cover their little faces more snugly to prevent the mountain wind from chapping them.
Chen Lan took out a light coffee-colored cashmere scarf from the system warehouse and wrapped it around her mother. This was a scarf Chen Lan had prepared as a birthday gift for her mother at the end of the month.
Now, she couldn't afford to worry about birthdays; her mother's warmth was the most important thing.
She then opened the system with her mind and ordered another dark blue cashmere scarf from the same store.
She took it out of the system warehouse and handed it to her mother-in-law, saying, "Mother-in-law, this is for you. I don't know if you'll like this color, and I didn't ask your opinion beforehand, so I made the decision myself. Please don't dislike it!"
Her mother-in-law happily accepted the cashmere scarf, touched it, and said joyfully, "I like it, how could I not like it? I love it. It feels so soft and warm! It's clearly not cheap. I like this color too. Xiao Lan, thank you!"
After settling the grandmother and grandchildren, Chen Lan took out a large pile of large snake skin bags and a cleaver from the system warehouse. She casually picked up a bag and started to cut off the old leaves from the cabbages with the cleaver while packing the cabbages that Xiang Dong and Er Hu had already cut and placed on the ground into the bags.
Her mother-in-law, wearing her new scarf, also came over to help. Both mother and daughter-in-law were quick workers. Working together, they quickly harvested a mu of cabbage, filling dozens of bags.
Chen Lan estimated that one mu of cabbage weighed about five thousand catties.
She turned her head and looked around, not seeing her mother and the twins. They had probably gone home long ago because it was too cold.
Chen Lan stood up and massaged her sore back, asking, "Mother-in-law, how much sauerkraut are we planning to make in our valley this year?"
Her mother-in-law also stood up and massaged her back, saying, "Let's get the cabbages back today. Normally, we should let them dry for two days to get rid of the surface moisture. But since the weather is changing the day after tomorrow, we can only store some in the root cellar and make the rest into sauerkraut.
Sauerkraut is an indispensable dish in our northern households. One batch is prepared to last for a whole year!
It's delicious and appetizing for stews or as filling for steamed buns and dumplings during winter."
Everyone worked busily all afternoon until dusk. They had only managed to harvest five mu of cabbage, leaving another five mu to be harvested early the next morning.
Everyone gathered together, preparing to go back.
Chen Lan looked at the snake skin bags full of cabbage piled on the ground and said, "Mother-in-law, Uncle Fu, Uncle De, I think the cabbage we harvested today is enough for everyone in our valley to eat for a year.
The remaining five mu of cabbage in the field, let's give it all to the camp tomorrow. We don't have enough space to store it all. It would be a shame if it froze outside!"
Uncle De and Uncle Fu exchanged glances. Uncle Fu smiled and said, "Brother De, I don't know about these things. You tell me."
Uncle De wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I estimate there should be plenty. It's a bit too much. When we planted it, we didn't expect such a high yield.
Let's do as Xiao Lan suggested and give the remaining five mu of cabbage to the camp."
Then, he turned back to Chen Lan and said, "By the way! Xiao Lan, looking at the yield of these cabbages, the yield of the white radishes we planted this year should also be good, right?
Two mu, that's a lot of white radishes. Our valley probably won't be able to eat them all, and we're also growing vegetables in the greenhouses. Let's give more of the white radishes to the camp."
Chen Lan quickly said, "Uncle De, I was just about to talk about this. We harvested the radishes two days ago. The estimated yield is about five thousand catties per mu. The two mu should have produced over ten thousand catties in total.
They are all stored in a deep trench we dug over there. Tonight, we need to work overtime to pack five thousand catties to let the people from the camp take them away tomorrow."
Uncle De nodded and said, "Good! After dinner, we'll all pack them together. Xiao Lan, prepare more snake skin bags. Our valley has fewer people, so let's keep a little less. The camp has many people and is very short of vegetables, so let's pack more for them."
Since everything was decided, Uncle De led everyone back.
Chen Lan stayed behind to put all the bagged cabbages from the field into the system warehouse, and then followed everyone home.