Chapter 35: The Two Younger Brothers Are Also Strong Laborers

Xie Linli rubbed his eyes, “No way, Grandpa, you also slept until ten o’clock?”

In his impression, Grandpa always slept the latest and woke up the earliest, he seemed tireless.

Lin Xinghua thought about many things from the past, he smiled and said nothing.

Xie Lin’an threw him a big broom, “Hurry up and sweep, sweep it clean, otherwise the wheat will be dirty, the flour will be dirty, and no one will eat the buns.”

Ye Xiaozhen also got up, holding a mouthwash cup, a toothbrush and toothpaste.

She washed her face carefully, applied some face cream, and then went to the kitchen to cook.

By the time she finished cooking, they had almost cleaned up the yard.

After dinner, Xie Lin’an went to work, Lin Xinghua took his two grandsons to harvest wheat.

The wheat on the west mountain ripened faster, so they harvested it first.

Xie Linli and Xie Linqi were only in junior high school, but they were fourteen years old, they could be used as strong laborers.

Children at this time went to school, unlike in later generations where there was a specific age requirement.

Generally, several villages nearby shared the same primary school, and the school only had two or three classes.

Because the school was too small, they couldn’t recruit a new class every year.

So, usually, they would recruit a class every two or three years, which led to the students in the same class being several years apart in age.

At that time, Lin Xinghua was afraid that his brothers were too young and would be bullied, so he let them go to school later, they didn’t start school until they were seven or eight years old.

Seeing them all go out, Ye Xiaozhen wanted to steam buns again.

But she had said yesterday that she wouldn’t steam them today, if she steamed them again today, wouldn’t she be breaking her word?

But she said she wouldn’t steam them yesterday because her two brothers were back, she was afraid it wouldn’t be convenient.

Who knew they would go to the field to harvest wheat today?

This… well, she’s a fool anyway, she can steam them if she wants to.

Ye Xiaozhen went back to the room and put the flour in the mixer.

There were not only green beans in the jars at home, but also pickled mustard greens.

The pickled mustard greens could be used as a side dish, and the leaves could be used to make some pickled mustard greens buns.

She arranged everything.

By the time they were almost at noon, they brought the wheat back from the field, and Ye Xiaozhen had already steamed ten baskets of buns and steamed bread.

Xie Linli and Xie Linqi pulled a cart of wheat back, one of them was responsible for pulling the cart, and the other was responsible for holding the cart, they were both sweating profusely.

As soon as they entered the yard, they smelled the aroma of buns.

“It smells good, Big Sister-in-law, did you steam buns?”

Ye Xiaozhen smiled faintly and handed them the buns.

They hurriedly reached out to take them, but then they saw their dirty hands and retracted them.

“Big Sister-in-law, put them down first, I’ll wash my hands.”

They drew half a bucket of water, washed their hands, and also washed their dirty faces, then they ate the buns in big bites.

“Wow, this pickled mustard greens flavor, it’s really delicious.”

These two guys ate in a rough way, just like Xie Lin’an, but they were a little slower than Xie Lin’an.

Xie Lin’an could finish two bites, they still needed three or four bites.

Nowadays, there are no machines, wheat is harvested manually.

They first cut the wheat with the stalks, then pulled it to the threshing ground in the village to separate the wheat from the stalks, when they got home, it was just wheat stalks and wheat grains.

The wheat stalks were used for firewood to cook, they were placed outside the yard, and after they dried, they were pulled to the firewood room.

The wheat grains still needed to be spread out in the yard and dried in the sun for two days before they could be collected, otherwise, if the wheat grains were still wet, they would easily rot if they were piled together.

They had buns and steamed bread for lunch, so Ye Xiaozhen didn’t make rice, she picked some seasonal vegetables from the nearby field, stir-fried two or three dishes, and made a soup.

There was no meat, they didn’t go to buy any.

Lin Xinghua saw that she had made many more steamed buns, and after dinner, he said to Ye Xiaozhen, “Grandpa can’t go with you to sell them this afternoon, I’ll go next door and ask your Grandma Liu to come and help.”

Ye Xiaozhen nodded.

Grandma Liu was happy to do this.

She had eight children, six of them were sons.

Her two daughters had already married, and five of them had also gotten married, only her youngest son was still single, and she had already asked a matchmaker to find him a wife.

Her old man had already passed away, but she was still in good health.

Her children were filial, and her status in the family was high.

She didn’t have to do any work, she just took care of her grandchildren, and she would take them around the village all day long.

When Lin Xinghua asked her to come and help sell steamed buns, she agreed immediately.

Before she came in the afternoon, she had already spread the word in the village.

Others were puzzled, “Didn’t they say yesterday that they wouldn’t steam any today?”

Grandma Liu laughed, “Who knows what a fool will do? She said she wouldn’t steam them yesterday, but she steamed them again today.”

What a good saying, “You never know what a fool will do.”

Soon, the news spread, and in the afternoon, everyone came running to Ye Xiaozhen’s place with basins and baskets to buy steamed buns.

There were only a hundred buns in ten baskets, and ten baskets weren’t many, if you came too late, you wouldn’t be able to buy any.

Not only Lin Xinghua’s family was harvesting wheat, but also several other families had started harvesting.

Everyone was busy in the fields, and they wanted to eat something good and convenient, so her buns and steamed bread sold faster than the previous days.

Each family bought a large pile, and they were sold out quickly.

Ye Xiaozhen wanted to give Grandma Liu two yuan, but she refused.

“I only helped for a while, and they were sold out in a few minutes, how can I take your money? Come on, take it.”

Ye Xiaozhen thought that she wouldn’t take the money, so she filled a basin with her own steamed buns and gave it to her.

Grandma Liu didn’t refuse this time, she smiled and said, “I’ll take this, I love your buns.”

In the evening, Xie Lin’an came back and told them that he had found two people, and they would come to help tomorrow.

Six yuan a day, and they would also have to provide meals, he told Grandpa to buy a piece of meat.

It wouldn’t be good to let them only eat vegetables.

The next day, Lin Xinghua went to town to buy meat, and soon two helpers arrived.

“This is Xie Lin’an, is this Xie Big Brother’s house?”

Ye Xiaozhen looked at the two strangers, he was about to speak, but Xie Linli ran out of the house.

“This is Xie Lin’an’s house, you two must be the ones my brother called to help.”

“Yes, yes, who are you?”

“I’m Xie Lin’an’s younger brother.”

Ye Xiaozhen saw that he was entertaining the guests, so she went back into the house.

Having two more people to help harvest wheat in the field would be much faster, she had to turn the wheat over more often, and she had to move the harvested wheat grains in the afternoon.

The work at home was concentrated in the afternoon, so she still planned to steam a lot of buns and steamed bread in the morning.

Just as the flour was put into the mixer, Lin Xinghua came back, carrying a pound of meat in his hand.

“Xiaozhen, this piece of meat is for two meals, add more green peppers.”

Meat was always in short supply in this era, Ye Xiaozhen understood what he meant, and nodded hurriedly.

Lin Xinghua put down the meat, picked up a bucket of water and went to the field.

At noon, Ye Xiaozhen made rice and two large plates of green pepper and pork strips.

A few strong laborers, one pound of meat per meal, how could that be enough?

Ye Xiaozhen took half a pound of meat from her refrigerator and added it to the dish.