The next day, after breakfast, Lu Xiaotang rode the bicycle into the city. It was the first day of the autumn harvest, and Xu An and Xu Ning had also gone to the fields early.

This year, the youth commune was assigned the task of harvesting soybeans, and Xu Ning, along with Sun Hao and Chen Xiangdong, each took on a workload of ten work points.

Xu An worked for eight work points, and the other male youth in the commune also took eight work points each. Among the female youth, only Chunhua earned eight work points, while the others received six. Wang Juanjuan, who had a family subsidy, only did two work points of work.

The siblings ignored everyone else and began to harvest the soybeans with their sickles.

This year, several people from the cow shed were assigned to pick corn in another field, not far from the soybean field.

The youth camp was too far from the fields, so they brought their lunch with them. After the siblings finished their meal and took a short break, they prepared to finish harvesting the remaining soybeans.

Upon reaching the field, Lu Xiaotang arrived on his bicycle. He took Xu Ning’s sickle and said, “I’ll take care of cutting the beans; you can go back.”

Xu Ning hurriedly said, “Brother Lu, what are you doing here in the fields?”

While cutting the soybeans, Lu Xiaotang replied, “I didn’t have much to do at home, so I came over. You should head back soon.”

Xu Ning decided to let Xu An return first. Xu An waved his hand and said, “Sister, you go back. I’ll stay here with Big Brother Lu. You can go home and cook.”

Seeing that neither of the two planned to leave, she rode her bicycle back home. In the yard, there was a large pile of coal, which must have been bought by Lu Xiaotang today to make into coal balls. In the kitchen, there were two pig’s trotters and a piece of meat.

She planned to prepare dinner earlier, making a portion for their parents at the cow shed as well, so she could deliver it to them sooner.

First, she started stewing the pig’s trotters, then went to the field to pick some green beans. There weren’t many green beans left, and they needed to pull out the plants in the next couple of days to prepare for planting cabbage.

She added some yellow beans to the pot with the two pig’s trotters, stewed a basin of food, cooked the green beans with potatoes, and boiled a few salted duck eggs. Then, she prepared two boxes of flatbreads.

Xu Ning made enough food for the three of them and took the leftovers to the cow shed. When she arrived, Grandpa Qi was just getting ready to cook.

During the busy farming season, Grandpa Qi took care of the cooking since he couldn’t do farm work due to his foot. The village remembered his past kindness and allowed him to watch over the cows at the shed, counting his work points the same as those working in the village.

She served the dishes to Grandpa Qi and said, “Grandpa Qi, I’ve prepared the vegetables. You just need to make some flatbreads or steam some rice.”

As soon as Xu Ning returned home, Lu Xiaotang and Xu An arrived as well. She was surprised and asked, “Did you finish harvesting so quickly?”

Xu An laughed and said, “Sister, Big Brother Lu works faster than you do. The people at the youth commune were so envious that we finished work early.”

After washing his face, Lu Xiaotang went outside to dig clay to make coal balls.

Xu Ning hurriedly said, “Brother Lu, why not wait until tomorrow to do it?”

“It’s fine; it’s still early,” he replied. “I’ll dig up the clay first.”

Xu An went with him, while Xu Ning took a bucket and a yoke to fetch water. They would need a lot of water for making the coal balls, so she planned to fill the water jar first.

When the two returned with a cart full of clay, Xu Ning had already filled the water jar. She cut open a watermelon for them to eat before they resumed working.

As Lu Xiaotang enjoyed a piece of watermelon, he glanced at the field and said, “These watermelons are quite large.”

Xu An proudly replied, “Big Brother Lu, I planted this watermelon! My sister and I took great care of it. Even Er Dan’s mother, who is an old hand at growing watermelons, can’t match the size of ours.”

Lu Xiaotang smiled and praised him, “Xiao An is really capable. Not only does he cook well, but he also takes great care of the crops.”

Being complimented for being capable made Xu An a bit shy. He was already grown up, not like Xu Mo, yet his Big Brother Lu still praised him like that. Still, he felt quite happy inside.

Lu Xiaotang worked until it was so dark that he could no longer see.

After dinner, he didn’t go to the cow shed. The three of them sat on the kang and chatted for a while before heading off to rest.

When Xu Ning got up in the morning, Lu Xiaotang had already finished making all the coal balls, cleaned the yard, and filled the water jar. He was now in the kitchen, tending to the fire to cook.

Seeing her awake, Lu Xiaotang smiled and said, “You’re up! Hurry and wash up; breakfast will be ready soon.”

Xu Ning asked, “What time did you wake up? Did you stay up all night?”

Lu Xiaotang chuckled, “I only got up two hours earlier than you. I used to wake up at that time in the army, so I’m used to it now.”

When Xu An got up, he saw that breakfast was ready and the coal balls were done. He thought that his sister and his Big Brother Lu must have worked together to accomplish everything.

Thinking about how they had gotten up early to work while he had slept in, Xu An felt embarrassed and said, “Sister, Big Brother Lu, why didn’t you call me?”

Xu Ning smiled at him and replied, “Don’t feel embarrassed. I just got up too; it was all Brother Lu who did the work. Go wash up quickly; breakfast will be ready soon.”

After they finished eating, Xu Ning was washing the dishes when Lu Xiaotang and Xu An went off to work. Neither of them let her come to the fields.

She decided to tidy up the vegetable garden in the yard, preparing to go to Uncle Dashuan’s house in the afternoon to pick up the ordered cabbage seedlings for planting.

Since they hadn’t brought lunch with them, Xu Ning prepared some food to take to the two of them.

She steamed a pot of buns, made some meat sauce, cooked scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and stir-fried some shredded potatoes.

When she arrived at the fields, the two were still harvesting. A few other youth were sitting there resting, and Wang Juanjuan and Gu Wenjing were sitting together, chatting while watching Lu Xiaotang and Xu An. They noticed her coming over.

Wang Juanjuan smiled and said, “Xu Zhiqing, are you here to deliver lunch?”

Xu Ning nodded and walked over. When she reached the edge of the field, she called to the two of them to stop for a moment and come over to eat.

She took the buns and dishes out of the basket, and the two of them came over from the field.

Nearby, Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei were preparing to eat as well and exchanged knowing glances with each other. Xu Ning, puzzled, asked, “What’s wrong with you two? Did your eyes cramp up?”

Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei…

Xu An glanced at Lu Xiaotang and started eating a bun. He thought that the whole village probably knew by now that the two were seeing each other.

Earlier that morning, when he and Lu Xiaotang were heading to work, they had encountered the village chief’s wife and a few other aunts along the way. The village chief’s wife greeted them warmly and praised Lu Xiaotang, saying he really looked the part of an older brother, coming to help with the work.

At that moment, Lu Xiaotang smiled and said, “Auntie, I’m not actually Xu Ning’s cousin. I’m her boyfriend. We were betrothed as children, and she was too shy to admit it until recently.”

The village chief’s wife slapped her thigh and exclaimed, “Oh, so you were betrothed! I knew it! You two look so well-matched standing together.”

Several other village wives praised the two of them for being a good match. At that moment, Chen Xiangdong and Wei Lanlan happened to walk by and likely overheard the conversation.

Xu An glanced at his sister, who was handing Lu Xiaotang a bun filled with meat sauce. He looked at the plain steamed bun in his hand and quickly grabbed the meat sauce bottle from his sister, placing it next to himself.

Xu Ning was momentarily taken aback by the sudden removal of the meat sauce bottle. She looked at Xu An and smiled, “Xiao An, I was just waiting for you to finish your bun before I gave you some.”

Xu An…

Lu Xiaotang took a bite of the bun in his hand and pressed down the corners of his lips, trying to suppress a smile.