Chapter 209

Other communes also expressed confusion when they heard that the Sujia commune wanted to harvest rice early. On the first day of harvesting rice, someone brought this matter to the county.

In the early morning, Sujia Village was still hot and stuffy, without a trace of wind. The rice ears hung heavily, drooping without movement, displaying a

Zhuzi and Fantuan made an early call to Zhao Xianfeng, asking if Xiao Yu could come over to play for a few days now that they had returned to Sujia Village.

To their surprise, Zhao Xianfeng informed them that Xiao Yu had gone to the capital to meet them, having taken the train yesterday. They hadn’t informed them earlier to give them a surprise!

Zhuzi and Fantuan exchanged glances, momentarily unsure of what to say.

Fantuan told Uncle Zhao that Xiao Yu’er should go to Zhuzi’s house first to find Grandpa Zhang to play for a few days. They have other tasks in the capital and will definitely return by the end of July.

Zhao Xianfeng has no choice but to do so temporarily.

Zhuzi immediately called his grandfather and asked him to accompany Xiao Yu for a few days.

The kids often talked about Xiao Yu, and Grandpa was naturally familiar with this little companion who grew up with them. He joked that after losing a group of grandsons, another grandson came to keep him company, much to his delight.

After making the phone call, Da Bao, Xiao Bao, Fantuan, and Zhuzi, the four laborers who could almost pass for adults, joined the adults in the fields to join the early harvesting force.

The four little ones naturally followed along, but being still young, they only got in the way. They were allowed to play with grasshoppers and dragonflies on the field ridges.

Li Yufeng and Su Xiaoxiao worked as logistics personnel, preparing mung bean soup and sour plum soup at home to provide supplies for people working in the fields at any time.

Han Cheng originally wanted to join them in the fields but was stopped by Su Weimin, who said that his hands, which had been injured and healed, couldn’t afford to be injured again. If he were accidentally cut by a sickle or straw, it would be troublesome. So he was sent to the threshing ground to thresh the grains.

Su Weimin said, “Don’t think that threshing grains is easy. It’s cooler standing in the rice fields, but it’s the hottest and most tiring work on the threshing ground. If you’re afraid of hardship, come down.”

Han Cheng: “…” 

When there was no work at the threshing ground, he would naturally find a place to cool off. He wouldn’t stand there all the time. But he gladly accepted his father-in-law’s good intentions. After all, these tasks also needed to be done. He went to the threshing ground with a few other people.

Fantuan and Zhuzi stepped on the cold and soft soil for the first time and found it quite fun. Harvesting rice was not a technical job, and Da Bao and Xiao Bao taught them a few times to learn, making it very smooth.

The members joked with Su Weimin, “Secretary Su, your city-born grandchildren are one more delicate than the other. They’re not afraid of getting dirty, and they work fast. But make sure they don’t get sunburned.”

Su Weimin responded happily, “Our children are not that delicate.”

Li Yufeng gave each of them a bamboo hat to wear, but the kids’ fair faces still turned red from the sun. Su Weimin felt sorry seeing this, but his daughter said that experiencing it firsthand was better than reading a thousand books. Only by working in the fields could one understand how rice grains were produced and truly grasp the meaning of “sweat drips under the wheat” and “every grain is hard-earned.” If they really couldn’t stand it, they would naturally come back.

“Da Bao, Xiao Bao, I found a big snail!” Fantuan had gone with Han Cheng to pick stone snails in the mountain streams when he was young, and he had also gone with Su Xiaoxiao to the seashore to pick sea snails. But this was the first time he had picked up a real pond snail!

The snail, thicker than his toes, opened its cover and exposed its whiskers, spitting out mud. As soon as Fantuan touched its whiskers, it quickly retracted into the mud, trying to burrow. Fantuan grabbed it playfully, enjoying himself.

Zhuzi looked enviously and said, “It’s so big.”

Li Yufeng brought them several small bamboo cages, which were used to hold things like snails and loaches.

Following Xiaobao’s advice, Fantuan soaked the bamboo cage in water and then threw the pond snails into it to rear them.

Xiao Doubao also carried a bamboo cage with a lid on his back. Xiao Roubao and Yao Bao caught many grasshoppers and put them inside, intending to feed them to the hens when they returned home. Although he and Xiao Tangyuan were a little afraid of these things, as the older brothers of the group, fear was not an option. Even though he didn’t catch them himself, he still obediently carried them on his back.

Li Yufeng had previously taught Xiao Doubao how to weave bamboo dragonflies. He picked some reeds and made bamboo dragonflies for his younger siblings. He even made a flower crown for Xiao Tangyuan to wear on her head.

The kids playing happily on the field ridges heard that their older brothers had caught some big pond snails and all wanted to go see them.

Before they could move, they heard Xiao Zhuzi say he caught an eel. This got Xiao Roubao excited. He rolled up his trouser legs and ran into the field. However, he forgot that he had short legs, and on top of that, he was chubby! One corner of the rice field happened to be a shallower, marshy area. Xiao Roubao stepped on it, and the soft mud instantly engulfed his thighs. It was his first time in the fields, and he watched himself sink, completely panicked. He immediately burst into tears and cried for help.

The cubs on the field ridge were all scared, and Xiao Tangyuan also started crying. Xiao Doubao wanted to jump down to save him, but Su Weimin shouted, “Xiao Doubao, don’t come down. That corner is a swamp, and you will sink.” 

They usually try to avoid that area when planting seedlings. We just throw a few clumps of seedlings there to let it be. It’s not particularly deep for adults, but for Xiao Roubao, it’s deep enough. They didn’t expect him to jump down.

The young man closest to Xiao Roubao quickly ran over and picked up the little one. He smiled reassuringly and said, “Don’t be afraid; it’s not very deep.”

Xiao Roubao was so scared that he grabbed him and said he didn’t want to go back to the field anymore. The young man had no choice but to carry Xiao Roubao back to the ridge of the field. Xiao Roubao was too heavy and made the young man sweat nonstop.

The older brothers hurried over to check on their younger siblings. Zhuzi kept comforting Xiao Tangyuan, saying everything was fine.

Da Bao walked over and led Xiao Roubao to wash his feet by the stream. “Xiao Roubao, don’t run around alone in the future,” Da Bao pointed to the nearby grassland. “Do you see the grassland over there? That’s the deepest swamp; even cattle can get submerged there. So you must never run around, okay?”

Dabao also added a bit of scare, as although it was a swampy field where rice couldn’t be grown, it wasn’t so deep as to submerge a cow or a person. But to avoid any accidents, he wanted to instill a bit of fear. He was worried that Xiao Roubao might chase after dragonflies or grasshoppers in that direction if he didn’t make it sound scary enough.

Xiao Doubao was also frightened. Seeing that everyone was safe in the field, he didn’t stop Xiao Roubao from coming down. He felt guilty and said, “Don’t worry, big brother. I will definitely take good care of my younger brothers and sister and not let them run around again in the future.”

Dabao reassured him, “Xiao Doubao, don’t worry. It’s fine on the ridge, but you guys can’t just wander into the fields anymore. You should take Xiao Roubao back and change his clothes.”

The fields were a bit of a distance from home, and Xiao Doubao was worried about taking his younger siblings back alone. So he said, “Let me take them back.”

Dabao agreed, realizing that although the village kids were free to roam at a young age, his younger siblings weren’t familiar with the village. They might not even recognize the way back home, so it was better for Xiao Doubao to take them back.

Fantuan asked Xiao Tangyuan, whom Zhuzi was holding, “Xiao Tangyuan, do you want to go back and find our grandmother and mother, or do you want to stay here and play?”

Xiao Tangyuan still had tears hanging from his eyelashes. She held onto Zhuzi’s neck, looking pitiful. She pouted and said, “Find Mom.”

Zhuzi felt heartbroken, adjusting the flower crown on his sister’s head, and said, “Maybe I should take them back.”

Fantuan thought for a moment, then turned around and walked back to the place where Xiao Roubao had just sunk. He walked carefully down, holding onto the ridge with both hands and saying, “It’s understandable that you’re scared. Although this place doesn’t eat people, you are still young. This swamp is very deep for you. Look, the deepest part can reach your big brother’s thigh. If no one sees you when you come down, you will be buried inside and unable to get out, so you cannot run around. The swamp over there is even deeper; even I dare not go there, understand?”

Han Cheng had always believed in teaching children to respect the depth of difficulties and dangers, whether it was mountains, seas, or fields and swamps.

Xiao Tangyuan, seeing that the swamp “doesn’t eat people,” was not as scared anymore. She wiped away her tears and nodded.

Xiao Roubao, who almost got “eaten,” has always been well protected by his brothers. For the first time, he experienced what danger felt like and gained some insight.

Finally, Zhuzi took his younger siblings back, while the three brothers continued to harvest rice.

The members who were harvesting rice saw this scene and envied it, saying, “The secretary’s children are really well-educated.”

“Indeed, they look good, they’re well-educated, the older ones teach the younger ones, and they’re all top students in school. Even Dabao and Xiaobao are as outstanding as Xiaoxiao back then, topping the class every year.”

“Have you forgotten who Xiaoxiao and Director Han are? Xiaoxiao was the provincial champion, and she’s also a university student in the capital. I heard Director Han even passed some special exams, even more impressive than a university student. These kids from their family will definitely all go to university in the future.”

“Definitely, on such a hot day, Director Han is helping out at the threshing ground. Look at Fantuan and Zhuzi; they’re not at all delicate, not complaining even while doing such dirty and tiring farm work.”

-o-o-o-o-o-

Su Weimin led everyone to work vigorously in the fields. When the leaders from the county came to the old Su’s house, Su Xiaoxiao and Li Yufeng had just prepared some sour plum soup and mung bean soup to relieve the heat.

“Who are you?” Su Xiaoxiao naturally didn’t recognize them.

The county leaders introduced themselves. The two gentlemen who came were the director of the agricultural office and a clerk. Su Xiaoxiao invited them to sit down, and Li Yufeng poured them each a bowl of sour plum soup.

After saying hello, Su Xiaoxiao said, “My dad and his team are busy harvesting rice in the field. Mom, why don’t you go to the fields and bring Dad back? Just say Head Chen from the county came to inquire about the situation.”

Head Chen and his staff exchanged glances; quite efficient indeed. They had only reported yesterday, and today they couldn’t wait to start harvesting. There must be something fishy going on.

Head Chen naturally couldn’t sit still. He stood up and said, “I’ll go with you. We need to get everyone to stop working and wait a while before harvesting the rice.”

Su Xiaoxiao finally understood their purpose: “Head Chen, my family has been farming for three generations. My father knows that it’s best to harvest rice in ten days. The decision to harvest early this year is based on various weather anomalies. We’re worried that the typhoon might come early in these days. If we wait, we might not be able to compete later, so we’d rather lose half of the mature harvest than risk losing 95% of the ripe rice.”

Head Chen looked at Su Xiaoxiao calmly and said, “Are you Su Xiaoxiao, who was admitted to Peking University as the provincial champion last year, right?”

Su Xiaoxiao smiled and nodded. “I am.”

Head Chen nodded and said, “You’re academically talented, but you know nothing about farming, right? Or are you studying meteorology?”

Su Xiaoxiao was momentarily stunned. She indeed knew nothing about farming and shook her head. “I really don’t understand farming, nor am I studying meteorology.”

Head Chen said, “Before coming here, I asked the meteorological experts in the county. They didn’t detect any signs of an early arrival of the typhoon. Since you’re not studying meteorology and know nothing about farming, then it seems that you’ve purely instigated your father to harvest rice early for your own benefit, causing losses to the public, right?”

Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t react for a moment, feeling utterly bewildered. What did it mean that she instigated her father to harvest rice early for her own benefit, causing losses to the public? She understood every word, so why couldn’t she understand it when put together?