Chapter 656 - 340: Selfish Human Nature (Part 2)

Chapter 656: Chapter 340: Selfish Human Nature (Part 2)

Juhua was reaching the end of her rope. ’These people deserve to be poor,’ she thought. ’When they have nothing, they get along peacefully. But the moment there’s a tiny bit of profit to be had, they start fighting.’

She had only planted the peach trees on a whim because she loved the beauty of peach blossoms and weeping willows everywhere. It was never for financial gain. The land wasn’t even theirs, so even if you planted the trees, you couldn’t really call them your own. But, just as He had said, no one was stopping them from picking the peaches. So why were they making such ugly faces about it? ’It’s so irritating to listen to!’

Huai Zi saw her sour expression and rubbed her back to comfort her. "Don’t be angry. I’ll go talk to the village chief later. This needs to be managed. We can all discuss a solution and set some rules. Otherwise, all those trees will go to waste. Someone might even chop them down for firewood one day, and you won’t be able to plant new ones fast enough."

Juhua nodded. She was still going to plant trees. It was easy enough, after all!

’I can’t possibly buy a huge plot of barren land just to plant fruit trees,’ she mused. ’The cost would be too high, and I don’t want to make a fortune anyway. Why go to all that trouble? But planting them like this, whenever it’s convenient, is different. It costs nothing, so I don’t have to worry if they die or if I lose money. They can just multiply like the wild trees on the mountains, making the environment more beautiful day by day. Just looking at it is soothing.’

Zhang Dashuan sighed and said, "The women are being short-sighted. Later, we men will discuss it and set a specific day for picking the peaches. No one will be allowed to pick them before that day."

Zhang Huai nodded. "That’s one way to do it. Honestly, everyone probably wants to wait until they’re ripe to pick them. But just like Mom said, they’re just afraid of being left behind and losing out. It becomes a competition, and in the end, the peaches are the ones that suffer."

After the meal, Juhua took a short nap. When she woke up, she and Huai Zi picked all the peaches in their backyard that were about eighty to ninety percent ripe. They carried them to the front yard by the basketful, washed them, and set them out to dry. The next day, under Yun Ying’s direction, they pitted the peaches, then scalded them with medicinal herbs, sun-dried them, and air-dried them in the shade. After this series of steps, they finally had delicious dried peaches that could be stored.

Once that was done, Huai Zi helped Qin Feng with the plans for his shop, found a young clerk to manage it and handle the purchasing of medicinal herbs, and then, in a rush of activity, it was time to transplant the rice seedlings.

The Zheng family and the Zhang family naturally partnered up to help each other. Since Zhao San’s family only had two laborers, they included him as well. Liu Yunlan and Shi Tou’s mother were in charge of cooking and feeding the pigs at home, while Juhua and Zhao Qing were tasked with watching the two babies.

Juhua knew her own limits and didn’t try to overdo it. She just sat under a peach tree with little Hulu, teaching him how to talk. Even when he didn’t make a sound, she chattered on endlessly, giving her unborn baby some prenatal education at the same time.

"Hulu, that’s a tree. Say ’tree’ for Auntie. This is a ’spoon.’ We use a spoon to eat eggs. Hulu, look, Mama is cooking. Call for ’Mama...’"

One moment she was pointing at the tree in the yard for Hulu to identify, the next she was holding up a spoon for him to name. Then she would point at Liu Yunlan, who occasionally appeared at the kitchen door, encouraging him to call for his "Mama." Her mouth was never still.

Although Hulu didn’t speak, his little head turned left and right with her movements, and his dark eyes followed her pointing finger. The aunt and nephew sat face-to-face under the peach tree—little Hulu in his baby walker. The sound of words, phrases, full sentences, and even lines of poetry echoed clearly through the yard, creating the atmosphere of a private school. But there was only one student. No, two—there was another one in her belly. They seemed to be listening with rapt attention, though who knew if any of it was sinking in.

The yard livened up when Shi Tou’s mother arrived with her two children. In stark contrast to the quiet little Hulu, the Zhao family’s third child—Zhao Feng—was a cranky baby who cried and fussed at the drop of a hat, completely wearing out his older sister, Zhao Qing.

The little guy’s name had been chosen by his older brother, which allowed him to escape the unfortunate fate of being named Zhao San like his father, just because he was the third child. The hair on his head stood up stick-straight like pine needles, not at all flat and smooth like little Hulu’s. He often wailed until his head was drenched in sweat.

Juhua watched as little Zhao Qing gently rocked the simple cradle, softly trying to soothe her baby brother. When that didn’t work, she would pick him up and walk a couple of laps. But Zhao Qing was only five years old; her arms would get sore after just a little while, and she would quickly put him back in the small wooden bed.

The baby was a real handful. The moment she put him down, he would start screaming and crying again. This sent Zhao Qing scrambling around him, shaking little Hulu’s rattle-drum to amuse him one moment, then grabbing a cloth doll to dangle in front of his eyes the next. She kept pleading, "Be good, little brother. Sister’s arms are sore. I’ll hold you again after a little rest, okay? Look, isn’t this little piggy fun? Oink oink..."

Juhua couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She went over and checked the little one. Everything was normal—no dirty diaper. He was purely crying for attention.

She said to Zhao Qing, "Qing’er, you can’t keep giving in to him like this. You’ll spoil him, and you’ll be the one who suffers for it later. I just checked him, there’s nothing wrong. If he wants to cry, just let him cry."

Hearing Juhua’s words, Zhao Qing hesitated, looking at the wailing baby in the cradle with a pained expression. She couldn’t bear to let her brother keep crying. She really was a responsible little big sister.

Juhua pulled the little girl over to sit in front of her and said sympathetically, "You’re still just a little girl yourself. If you keep indulging him like this, you’ll work yourself to death. Have you ever seen a baby who needs to be held all day? Everyone is busy to death. If he were this coddled, he’d starve. If it weren’t for you, your mom would probably just plop him in a wooden basin or strap him to her back. Who has time to soothe him constantly? Now watch. If we ignore him, he’ll cry for a while, run out of energy, and stop on his own. Don’t worry, nothing will happen to him. Didn’t Sister Yun Ying check on him and say he’s very sturdy? Crying for a bit is no big deal."

Zhao Qing must have been exhausted. She relaxed and sat down. Seeing little Hulu craning his neck to stare curiously at his crying cousin, she said with envy, "Sister Juhua, little Hulu is so well-behaved. He doesn’t make a peep."

Juhua whispered to her, "Let’s break your brother of this bad habit over the next few days. From now on, don’t let him see you. We won’t talk either. Let’s see how long he can cry. Come on, let’s sit farther away."

So, the two of them fell silent and quietly moved their stools out of Zhao Feng’s line of sight, gesturing to each other and stifling giggles. Little Hulu was amazed when they suddenly stopped talking but kept pointing and gesturing. He broke into a wide, toothless grin. But even when he laughed, it was a silent laugh, not a loud "GAGA" like Zhao Feng’s would be. Juhua thought her little nephew was just the coolest.

And so, the sound of Zhao Feng’s crying continued to echo through the yard.