Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Juhua hurried over with a small stool and began helping them. After asking how Liu Yunlan was doing, she said admiringly, "Mom, these sunflower heads are huge! They’re so much bigger than last year, and every single seed is plump. We’ll probably have a big harvest this year, won’t we?"

Mrs. Yang smiled. "I reckon we’ll get a few hundred pounds. I planted a ton of them in the sweet potato trenches and used duck manure as fertilizer, so they got plenty of nutrients. Just look how big they’ve grown! Your father is still out cutting them down. He’ll have to make several more trips before he’s done."

Liu Yunlan smiled and asked Juhua, "Your family planted a lot too, right? When are you harvesting?"

Juhua replied, "My mother-in-law said we’ll be harvesting in a couple of days, too. Once the seeds are out, this bright sun will be perfect for drying them."

Mrs. Yang pushed the sunflower heads closer to the two women to make them easier to reach. She smiled and said, "The ones at Juhua’s place grew well, too. Huai Zi’s mother used plenty of fertilizer. She says that although they’re just little things, most families can’t do without them. You can roast them for a snack when you have free time, and they save you money when you have guests over. Besides, Juhua loves them more than anyone."

As they spoke, Qingmu entered the courtyard carrying another load on his shoulder pole. He dumped it on the ground, creating another large pile, and Juhua and Liu Yunlan were suddenly hemmed in by the sunflower heads. The two dogs came over for a sniff, but deciding they didn’t like the smell at all, they wagged their tails and wandered off.

Qingmu glanced at his pregnant wife first. When he saw her smiling sweetly at him, he gave her a warm smile in return. Then, he grinned at Juhua and teased, "It’s all well and good for you to help out your family, but what about cooking for your in-laws?"

Juhua beamed. "I could just tell them all to come eat over here. It would save me from having to cook one meal, at least."

Mrs. Yang and Liu Yunlan watched with smiles as the siblings joked around.

Amused, Qingmu looked at his sister and sighed theatrically. "We raised you for nothing. You don’t even think to bring things back home to us."

Juhua immediately asked, "What do you want, Brother? Just tell me. Whatever you fancy, I’ll bring it back for you." She said this with a completely straight face, as if making a serious offer.

Qingmu burst out laughing. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t get it out. Instead, he shot his sister a look, went into the kitchen for some water, and then headed back out with the empty baskets on his shoulder pole.

Mrs. Yang washed her face and sat down to help them shuck the seeds.

Seeing that her mother-in-law’s back was soaked with sweat, Liu Yunlan quickly said, "Mom, you should go change into dry clothes. You’ll catch a cold if the wind hits you when you’re this sweaty."

Mrs. Yang chuckled. "I’m not that delicate. It’s still hot out, so I’ll be dry in a minute. Juhua, why aren’t you wearing gloves? You should put them on—this work is hard on the hands."

Juhua looked as if she’d just woken from a dream. She turned to Liu Yunlan and said, "How could you forget too, Sister Yunlan? I’ll go get them." With that, she stood and went to her old room—Mrs. Yang had kept it for her so she’d have a place to stay when she visited.

She fished two pairs of cloth gloves from a cabinet, then turned and tossed one pair to Liu Yunlan. Once she put her own pair on, shucking the seeds wasn’t so rough on her hands.

The thing was, she didn’t mind chores like washing vegetables, but she knew that if she wasn’t careful with tasks like pulling weeds in the garden, her hands would look like old tree bark before she even turned twenty.

She didn’t mind wearing simple clothes or going without makeup, but she couldn’t stand the thought of her hands becoming as rough as tree bark while she was still so young. That was why she had sewn several pairs of gloves to keep ready. Naturally, Liu Yunlan used them too.

Liu Yunlan laughed. "I haven’t been out pulling weeds lately, since Mom has been taking care of the vegetable garden. That’s why I completely forgot about the gloves."

Juhua expertly shucked the sunflower seeds, a steady RUSTLE filling the air as they fell. She said, "It’s so much easier to shuck these with gloves on, and faster too—the extra friction helps. Mom, you should go find a pair to wear."

Mrs. Yang shook her head, saying it was too much trouble. She added that the gloves would be hot and that she could work more nimbly with her bare hands.

Just as Qingmu returned with another large load, Zheng Changhe came back too, also carrying a pole laden with sunflower heads. Seeing Juhua in the courtyard, he smiled. "Daughter! Helping your old dad out, are you? Don’t you have to go make dinner?"

Mrs. Yang laughed. "Qingmu was just teasing her about that. She’ll have to go home to cook soon. Changhe, are we just going to leave the stalks in the field to dry?"

Zheng Changhe said, "Just leave them in the field to dry. It’ll save us the trouble of bringing them back and having them take up space. Once they’re dry, we’ll carry them home and pile them in the kitchen to use as firewood."

He lifted the hem of his tunic to wipe away his sweat, then took the bamboo flask Qingmu offered him and took a long swig of tea. He let out a deep breath. His eyes fell on the sunflower seeds the others had shucked, which were spread out on large winnowing baskets to bake in the hot sun. They were black with white stripes, each one large and plump. A wide, contented smile spread across his face.

Juhua, who was used to her father’s sheer delight at every bountiful harvest, smiled and said, "From now on, Dad, you can carry a pocketful of roasted seeds with you and crack them to your heart’s content."

Zheng Changhe grinned. "You bet. This winter, when I’m chatting with your father-in-law, I’ll have something to snack on. Juhua, the chestnuts are almost ripe, too. A lot of the burrs are already splitting open. I saw some rabbit droppings near a few of the trees, so I think they’ve been coming to eat the fallen ones."

Juhua laughed. "Why don’t we set some traps? If we catch a few rabbits, we could have ourselves a feast."

Qingmu sat down beside Liu Yunlan, picked up a large sunflower head, and began to shuck it. "That would be tricky," he said. "It’s not like up on the mountain. It’d be terrible if we failed to catch a rabbit but had a person fall in one of the traps instead."

"Then let’s not bother," Mrs. Yang said quickly. "If someone gets hurt, we’ll be the ones paying for their doctor."

After more chatting and laughing, Juhua had filled another dustpan with seeds. Mrs. Yang urged her, "Hua’er, you should go home and make dinner now. We can finish these up quickly, so go on and tend to your own matters."

Zheng Changhe laughed. "What’s the rush? You think they’ll starve? She can just cook when Huai Zi’s mother gets home." He was just hoping Juhua would stay a little longer.

Mrs. Yang shot him a glare. "You’re all talk. Your son-in-law will come home to no dinner. If Juhua were always lingering here at our house, I guarantee you’d be more worried than anyone."(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)