Chapter 39: The Harvest Season

Upon returning, everyone set up a table in the courtyard, each taking two mooncakes, cutting them into small pieces with a knife, and placing them on a plate.

Then, while admiring the moon and eating mooncakes, they occasionally sang songs and chatted about their hometowns from all corners of the country.

Once the mooncakes were finished, everyone dispersed. Tomorrow would mark the start of the harvest season, and a good night’s sleep was essential.

The next day, as dawn barely broke, the Educated Youth residence was already bustling. Everyone had to be at the threshing ground by sunrise to begin the harvest.

Today, it was Pan Yu and Tan Yanlu’s turn to cook. They got up in the middle of the night to prepare a pot of cornmeal and sweet potato porridge.

Each of the dozen or so people had a bowl, and after eating, they headed to the threshing ground.

By the time they arrived, a large crowd had already gathered, waiting to receive their tools. At the Brigade leader’s command, the ten Team leaders led their members into the fields.

Cutting sorghum, harvesting rice, gathering corn, digging up sweet potatoes, reaping millet, collecting beans, and picking peanuts—the harvest season was a nightmare for this labor-intensive society.

Even Jiang Pan Yu, who was accustomed to farm work, was no exception. Under the scorching sun, she swung her sickle tirelessly, cutting sorghum without pause.

Behind her, a chain of tasks awaited: harvesting sorghum, bundling it, and then transporting the bundles to the threshing ground for drying and threshing.

Moreover, there were people closely following to collect sorghum heads. Stopping was not an option; any pause would be met with constant urging.

At this time, you wouldn’t want to go to the bathroom because all the water in your body had turned into sweat.

The towel draped around her neck was already soaked with sweat, her body covered in grass debris, and the sorghum leaves occasionally scratched her skin, causing intense itching.

But you couldn’t scratch it because the more you scratched, the itchier it became.

During the rush harvest, there was no break at noon because there was no need to return to cook. Instead, everyone ate from the communal pot rice.

This was the only advantage of the harvest season—you didn’t have to provide your own food; the team took grain from the granary to cook the communal meal.

After a morning of hard work, everyone was almost unable to stand straight, their backs aching and teeth gritted. If you wanted to sit down and rest, you had to support your waist and slowly lower yourself.

However, no one wanted to sit at this moment because it was time to eat. If you didn’t queue up, you might not get anything to eat.

The communal meal was simple: coarse grain cornbread and wild vegetable soup, with a few drops of egg drop in the soup, which was considered a rare bit of meat.

After eating and resting briefly, everyone had to get up and continue working.

This harvest season lasted for half a month before it was barely completed.

All the grain from the fields had been transported to the threshing ground, and the Brigade leader finally announced that there was no need to rush the harvest from dawn to dusk.

Starting tomorrow, normal work hours would resume. Many cheered with joy, but the new Educated Youth were so exhausted they cried. Jiang Pan Yu was also thoroughly worn out.

The little bit of weight she had managed to gain had completely disappeared after the harvest.

Fortunately, the hard work was over. Now, they only needed to dry and store the sweet potato vines, corn stalks, sorghum stalks, and other crops from the fields.

In the village, cows and donkeys rely on a mixture of chaff, dry grass, and picked-out shriveled beans to fill their stomachs and keep warm during the winter!

Then, everyone heads to the hemp fields to cut hemp. Hemp is a plant that doesn’t require much care; it grows well and abundantly as long as it’s near water.

When the hemp grows tall, flowers, and its leaves gradually turn yellow, it’s time for harvest.

The hemp stalks are cut, the leaves are removed, leaving only the green stalks, which are then broken in half. The two sections are twisted apart by hand to peel off the green outer layer.

The smooth, white stalks are discarded to the side and dried to be used as firewood.

Near the hemp fields, there’s a large water pit filled with water. The peeled green layers are thrown in to soak.

After about ten days to half a month, when winter sets in, the soaked hemp skins are fished out. The outer rough layer, which has rotted from soaking, is scraped off with a hemp knife, leaving behind the greenish-white hemp.

If the hemp knife is used multiple times, the hemp becomes even whiter.

Once dried, the white hemp is ready, and the village organizes the women to twist hemp ropes.

The neatly collected hemp is brought out, and a small portion is sprayed with water. The women then twist the hemp ropes on their knees, making them as thick or thin, long or short as needed.

Twisting hemp ropes requires even thickness and seamless joints, which tests both skill and patience.

The most common use of hemp products is for making rope to stitch shoe soles, as well as for tying things. Even the hemp used in mourning attire comes from this.

In an era without leather or rubber shoes, cloth shoes made with hemp were essential.

It takes women a long time to stitch a pair of shoe soles and complete a pair of cloth shoes.

“Twisting hemp isn’t too bad. You can earn three or four work points a day, and at least you’re indoors with a warm heated brick bed. Everyone chats, and the day passes quickly.

The men have it harder—building reservoirs, repairing irrigation channels, and doing the ‘three clearings.’ The ‘three clearings’ involve using a field rake to remove all weeds from the ridges and fields, which are then turned into green manure.

There’s also civilian construction labor, where they participate in road construction, completing the required earthwork for designated sections.

These tasks all earn work points and include a free lunch. Many villagers participate, but most are heavy laborers, and it’s mostly men who go.

The cold wind blows hard, and after a few days, it can make your face bleed. They earn more work points, about six or seven.”

Yang Guiying spread out the corn stalks while explaining to Jiang Pan Yu what needed to be done next.

In short, there’s no time to be idle. In the countryside, people work like this all year round. If you don’t work, you won’t eat. For the sake of survival, everyone has to labor like this.

It’s tough and exhausting, but that’s how people lived in those times.

After finishing the work in the fields, everyone still has their own tasks. For example, at the educated youth residence, the radishes, pumpkins, and various autumn vegetables planted earlier need to be quickly harvested and stored so there’s food to eat in the winter.

They also need to hurry and gather firewood, pine needles, and fallen leaves from the mountains before it snows. Otherwise, there won’t be enough firewood in the winter, and they’ll suffer from the cold.

Fortunately, there are many people at the educated youth residence, and Li Gaoyang assigns tasks reasonably, so no one complains. Everything is being prepared methodically for the winter.

By the time all these tasks were completed, it was already mid-September. A full month of good weather allowed the grain to be threshed and stored smoothly.

The brigade leader waved his hand and granted everyone an extra day off, allowing them to rest well.

Everyone was delighted, and many discussed how to make the most of this rare break.

However, the educated youth at the residence slept until noon on their day off before getting up to cook and fill their stomachs.

Jiang Pan Yu looked at her skin, which had darkened by more than two shades, and felt like crying.

She had finally gained a little weight, but the autumn harvest had taken it all away. Now she was dark, thin, and dry, truly more like a village girl than a village girl.

At this moment, she couldn’t help but envy Tan Yanlu. Despite being exposed to the sun every day and doing the same work, her skin hadn’t darkened much. Could it be because she was the reincarnation of a celestial Koi Spirit and thus immune to sunburn?

Jiang Pan Yu glanced at her own skin again, so disgusted that she didn’t even want to look at herself.

The Gossip System couldn’t stand it any longer and reminded her, “Host, have you forgotten about the mission rewards?

Among the last mission rewards was a jar of snow cream with beautifying properties!

It has sun protection, nourishing, whitening, and beautifying effects. Why aren’t you using it?”