Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 783 - 399: Cutting Smoke_2
Da Hua scraped at the fine sand with its paws and meowed twice.
"Look how clever Da Hua is, I only told it once, and it said it remembered," Lian Manman said laughingly as she placed Da Hua on the Kang bed to familiarize it with its surroundings.
Da Hua was still young and needed to be raised on the Kang, so they prepared a fine sand tray for it. Cats are incredibly clean animals by nature and almost never need training to avoid relieving themselves just anywhere. This fine sand tray was only temporary; as Da Hua grew older and could easily leap from the Kang to the ground and wander outside, it would naturally choose a more secluded spot outside for its business without anyone needing to worry.
For now, the daily task of changing Da Hua’s fine sand was assigned to Xiao Qi.
"The cat has been brought home?" Lady Zhang entered from outside and asked when she saw Lian Manman and Xiao Qi both sitting on the Kang, playing with a tabby kitten.
"Yes," Lian Manman nodded in response.
"Nice, with a tiger’s head and face, quite lovely," Lady Zhang sat on the edge of the Kang, took a good look at Da Hua, and asked, "Is it a boy cat or a girl cat?"
Tenant farmers didn’t refer to cats as male or female but rather as boy cats and girl cats.
"It’s a boy cat," Xiao Qi hurriedly said, "Mom, our cat has a name. My sister named it Da Hua."
"Oh, Da Hua? That’s a good name."
At lunch, Lady Zhang made the rice extra soft, and Lian Manman took less than half a bowl, mixed it with unsalted fish soup and shrimp shells, waited until it cooled to a warm touch, then brought it to Da Hua.
Smelling the fishy scent, the little kitten Da Hua kept meowing at Lian Manman. When Lian Manman placed the bowl before it, its head plunged into the bowl.
Seeing Da Hua enjoying its meal, Lian Manman finally felt at ease.
Cats are very independent creatures. Once a kitten leaves its mother, it quickly adapts to a new environment in order to survive.
After breakfast that day, Lian Shouxin told Lady Zhang that he was going to the old house to help Lian Shouli harvest tobacco.
"It’s time for harvesting. His uncle said he wouldn’t go to work at noon, and I’ll give him a hand, so we can finish by noon and get it hung up to dry," Lian Shouxin said.
Old Master Lian had planted a garden full of tobacco. Before leaving, he instructed Lian Shouli and Lian Shouxin several times to take good care of it as his tobacco crop for the next year relied on it.
This season was the right time for harvesting and drying tobacco; any further delay would be too late.
"The house construction, don’t you have to supervise it today?" Lady Zhang asked.
"No need," Lian Shouxin said he’d arranged with the foreman about the tasks that morning, and his presence wasn’t required.
The construction of Lian Manman’s family’s house was a significant project, and with Lian Shouxin being busy, he couldn’t be there all the time, so he hired a reliable person to supervise the work.
"Alright, then go and lend a hand," Lady Zhang said.
"Xiao Qi, coming with your dad?" After changing his clothes and grabbing his knife, Lian Shouxin didn’t leave right away but asked Xiao Qi. His tone and demeanor clearly showed he really wanted Xiao Qi to join him.
Xiao Qi was a sensible child and agreed, then hopped off the Kang.
Harvesting tobacco was more than just cutting it down. It had to be hung on racks to dry, involving several steps. Just for Lian Shouli and Lian Shouxin, it would take quite some time.
"Dad, I’ll go with you too," Lian Manman also got off the Kang and said. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
"I’ll go too," Wu Lang added.
"Good, good, everyone go," Lian Shouxin couldn’t hide his joyful smile any longer.
By the time Lian Manman and the others arrived at the old house, Lian Shouli was already cutting the tobacco in the garden. Lian Shouxin hastened to join him, knife in hand, and started cutting alongside him.
Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye were also in the garden, with a pile of hemp ropes and softened Malan grass beside them.
The children walked over to them.
"If we all work together, we’ll be faster," Lian Manman said.
Lian Shouli and Lian Shouxin cut the tobacco, each leaf carefully with the knife, leaving about an inch of the stalk on each leaf for easy handling and drying. Lian Manman and the others took care of placing the cut leaves together two by two, aligning the stalks and tying them tightly with Malan, and then piling them up neatly.
After all the tobacco had been cut, Lian Shouli and Lian Shouxin set up wooden stakes around the garden and propped up racks. Then, they twisted two hemp ropes roughly into one thick rope and tied it to the rack.
Next, they hung the pairs of bound tobacco on the rope. After drying for a while, accumulating dew overnight and being baked by the sun during the day, the green tobacco leaves would turn brownish-red, signifying they were well-dried.
Well-dried tobacco from the same crop, if dried properly, tasted good when smoked. If not dried well, it not only tasted bad but also frequently went out.
Good quality dried tobacco could fetch a nice price at the market.
During the drying process, the tobacco needed to catch dew but not rain. If the weather got too cold, the tobacco had to be brought indoors for warmth at night and could only be hung out to dry again once the temperature warmed up the next day. Turning the tobacco occasionally during drying ensured that the leaves evenly caught dew and sun.
Overall, drying the garden full of tobacco was not an easy task.
"These tobacco leaves, not just for one year, but for two or three years would be enough to smoke."
Close to noon, they had finished dealing with the entire garden’s tobacco, and Lian Yeye brought clean water for everyone to wash their hands.
"Fourth Uncle Lian," just at that time, a Little Monk ran breathlessly from outside, "hurry back, something big has happened."
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First update sent, asking for your likes.
There will be a second update tonight. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote and support. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
