Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 328: Madam Zhao arrives

“Sister!” Lian Ze laughed at her words and then sighed.

“Don’t sigh!” Lian Fang Zhou had an extremely rational attitude towards this matter from the beginning, so emotions came and went quickly.
In a blink of an eye, her expression had eased.
Seeing that Lian Ze was still conflicted, she joked: “When we make lots of money, will there be no good people willing to marry your sister? I predict there will be at least a hundred and twenty hearts!”

“Sister,” Lian Ze said solemnly, “if someone marries my sister for money, how could such a person treat her well, cherish and protect her? Don’t tell me not to worry!”

He snorted and added: “For such a person, I would never marry my sister to him!”

Amused, Lian Fang Zhou couldn’t help but laugh.
Seeing that she had embarrassed him, she bit her lip and forced herself to hold back: “Then don’t think about it.
There is a long way for the cart to reach the mountain, let’s talk about it when the time comes.
Besides, as long as we have a lot of money, even if I don’t marry, will your sister still suffer? Could it be that your future wife won’t tolerate your sister?”

“Sister!” Lian Ze glared at her with dissatisfaction.
When any half-grown young man talked about his own marriage, he would feel awkward and blush.
He lowered his head and looked at his toes, saying fiercely: “No one can be rude to my sister! Our sister will always be the master at home! No one is allowed to argue! People who are rude to my sister, peh!”

The corners of Lian Fang Zhou’s lips couldn’t help but overflow with a smile, not from the satisfaction of being able to control her brother’s house in the future, but because of his kindness towards her.

In the future, when he started a family, naturally he would have to live his own life.
Lian Fang Zhou was not a person with a strong desire to control, competing with her future sister-in-law for the right to manage the household.
She would only do such things if she was stupid.

However, Lian Ze’s words were sincerely from his heart and they would never changed.

In the future, he would be surprised at the ups and downs in his marriage.
It would even lead to his sister being almost heartbroken.

Fortunately, the end result would be satisfactory.

~

After this night, neither brother or sister mentioned the matter again and their lives went on as usual.

No one in the rest of the family knew that Lian Fang Zhou had received another marriage proposal, so it was even more impossible for outsiders to know.

At first, Madam Sun and Sun Zhang Xing felt a little awkward in their hearts around Lian Fang Zhou but when she smiled casually and greeted them with a smile, the couple felt relieved.
Everyone tacitly knew that the matter was over as if it had never happened.

At the beginning of midsummer, under the care of Lian Fang Zhou and the hard workers supervised by Qin Feng, the cotton seedlings had grown to nearly a meter and a half.
This growth was very gratifying!

At a glance, the cotton field was like a sea of green, filled with green branches and leaves with no gaps.
When the wind blew, the green waves moved from near to far and the leaves were lifted, revealing patches of white and grey.
The sight was magnificent.

Lian Fang Zhou felt that in three or four days, it was time to start topping.
This was the key to ensuring good cotton and also her special technique.
Therefore, she decided that the work would be done entirely by her own family.
No one else was invited, not even Aunt Zhang’s family, who was the most likely to offer to help.
She refused them all.

Perhaps this technique would spread in the future but she wanted to keep it a secret for as long as possible.

The middle months were the hottest and this weather was the worst for the spread of germs and disease in livestock.

In many villages, there would be a fowl plague outbreak almost every year and nearly half the chickens in each household would suffer.
Only those who survived the previous years would have the antibodies to avoid getting sick.
As for the others, they could only do their best, it was all up to fate!

In fact, the most important and critical reason for the plaque outbreaks was that chickens often drank dirty water.

In the summer, the water in the gutters, small ponds, and various puddles around the village would reek of rot.
It was easy to imagine how much bacteria it contained! Drinking this kind of water, it was not hard for those chickens to succumb to disease.

As early as the beginning of summer, Lian Fang Zhou solemnly instructed Lian Fang Qing and Madam Li to do a good job of disinfecting and sanitizing the chicken coops, especially their drinking water.
They must not be allowed to drink raw water, everything needed to be boiled and cooled.
Chrysanthemum tea was also added, specially brought from the pharmacist to clear away heat and detoxify.

They were given water three times a day at fixed times.
After drinking, the troughs would be removed and cleaned for the next use.

In addition, the mint and wormwood planted near the coops had grown very big and there were even some succulents planted nearby.
It should be safe and sound.

Many did not know, but succulents were the best plants to prevent chicken plagues.*

Originally, Yuhe county did not have succulents.
When they had first started planning Xiuyuan, Lian Fang Zhou had proposed creating a garden out of exotic flowers such as cacti, pitcher plants, night flowers, bachelor trees, and other unusual plants.
Su Jing He and the others thought this was an excellent idea and searched around.
Lian Fang Zhou had taken this opportunity to buy a lot of succulents and plant them beside the fence of the orchard and the chicken coops.

Lian Fang Qing always carried out her sister’s orders without hesitation and she took extra care to follow her instructions, spending most of her time on Xiaohuaguo mountain.

Although Xiao Hui had been raised by her since a puppy, his natural smell and aura had not changed, at least in the eyes of the chickens.
Ever since he had entered the coops and caused the chickens to panic, he had not been allowed to enter again.

When Lian Fang Qing went inside, Xiao Hui would wander out to the cotton fields.
Occasionally, he would meet one of the dogs on patrol and follow along to help.

Lian Fang Zhou was nervous for a few days.
After all, once a chicken farm was infected with an outbreak, there was no medicine to counter it, they could only be slaughtered.

She went out to observe for three days.
When she saw that Lian Fang Qing, Madam Li, and her daughter were all following her instructions, she was very relieved and turned her focus to the cotton, which had entered a critical growth period.

Finishing breakfast, Lian Fang Zhou was planning on going out to the fields with Ah Jian and Lian Ze when Madam Zhao arrived from outside, smiling.
She said: “Fang Zhou, are you going out?”

“Sister-in-law Zhao!” Lian Fang Zhou nodded at her, also smiling.
“I’m going out to the fields, where did my sister-in-law come from?”

It was no surprise she was curious, Madam Zhao was wearing a washed, faded sauce-red and brown dress and straw sandals.
The bottom of her hem was wet and covered with grass clippings.
Her flat bun was also a bit messy, with two or three leaves caught in the strands.

TN: *I have no idea what this means, I googled it but came up with nothing.
Maybe it’s a specific type?