Chapter 44 - Plant

“Li Miao, this chicken,” Yang Dashan took two deep breaths, slowly and hesitantly said, “My tongue is a little numb and painful when I eat it, but packs more punch compared to when drinking wine. After eating one piece, I want to eat two more pieces.”

“Dashan, you should eat more. Don’t hold back when you’re eating.”

Zhao Zhan was overjoyed with this response. He pushed the chicken toward him and said, “This dish is called chili chicken. It’s made with millet peppers.”

After the food was devoured, Yang Dashan and Li Miao were finally full. They looked at each other and felt a little embarrassed, “The food at your house is too delicious. I didn’t even know that I could eat that much.”

“Li Miao, you can take the rest home. I’ll pack the leftovers for you. Zhao Zhan will tell you how to cook it, and you can take the recipe home and try it out yourself.”

“Jiaojiao, we’ve already eaten. I think we get along well, so I won’t hide it anymore. I’d like to ask if you have any more soybean and millet seedlings?”

“If there’s any extra, can you share some with us?” Li Miao tried to stay calm, but she was still a little embarrassed. “We won’t take it for free. We’ll pay for it.”

“Li Miao, what nonsense are you talking about? These things are from her dowry. How can we ask them for payment? Besides, we haven’t even separated from the family. Where can we find land to plant?”

“This is from your dowry?”

Li Miao knew how important a dowry was to a woman. She regretted being so direct. “I really didn’t know. No hard feelings?”

“Li Miao, to be honest, we wanted to ask if you were willing to plant them with us.” Yue Jiaojiao smiled gently and explained, “Zhao Zhan and I can use these soybeans to make a lot of things, so we don’t have enough for our own two fields. If you are willing to plant them with us, as long as there is a harvest, we will definitely spend money to harvest them.

“And don’t worry, wheat is eight copper coins per five hundred grams in the market, and soybeans are twelve copper coins per five hundred grams. We won’t let you suffer a loss.”

Zhao Zhan grabbed a handful of soybeans and millet peppers and placed them on the table. “The annual output of wheat is about three hundred stacks. I harvested these soybeans some time ago. I have about five hundred stacks of soybeans.”

“That much?” Yang Dashan carefully put the soybeans in his hand, pinched one, put it in his mouth, and bit it. “I don’t think this is a soybean. It’s more like a golden looking bean.”

As he spoke, he sighed regretfully and looked troubled. “It’s not that I don’t want to plant it with you, but I haven’t moved out yet. My parents will be the ones to decide what to do with the land at home. I’m afraid that it won’t be given to us.”

Li Miao let out a long sigh at the thought of his parents-in-law. Her eyes reddened as she held Jiaojiao’s hand.

“Jiaojiao, I’m not afraid of my family’s scandal. Look at me and Dashan. We’ve been married for almost eight years, yet we still have no kids.

“I finally said that I was pregnant last year, but I don’t know why, I didn’t manage to keep it. I haven’t heard any news from them since.

“So, even if my in-laws treat me badly, I would only have to accept it. That’s not counting the money we earn every day, but it never becomes more than enough.

“I want to plant this with you guys because I want to save a few copper coins. At least I can have money to find a doctor so that I can understand why we cannot have children.”