After planting the cabbage and radishes in the private plot, the autumn harvest began.

That evening, Xu Ning took some rice, flour, pork, eggs, and red sugar steamed cake and placed them in her backpack to bring to the cow shed.

When Father Xu opened the door and saw how much she had brought, he said, “Why did you bring so much? You can take more after you finish this. It’s not good for people to see.”

“It’s fine. I’ll put it in Grandpa Qi’s room. With the autumn harvest coming, we won’t eat coarse grains tonight. I want my mom and Aunt Lu to use more oil when cooking this time. I bought more than usual,” she replied. “I’ll boil a few eggs every day, and tomorrow I’ll bring some meat sauce over.”

With the food in her storage space, plus the rations allocated to a few families each year, they would have more than enough to eat until returning to the city.

The autumn harvest was the most exhausting time of the year. If they didn’t eat something good to replenish their strength, their bodies would really be worn out.

Even in the village, where some families struggled financially, they would prepare oil-rich foods for the strong laborers in the family before the autumn harvest. The few people in the cow shed would have to do the heaviest and most tiring work during this period.

This was Xu Ning’s second autumn harvest since arriving here. At this moment, as she gazed at the endless fields of corn, soybeans, sorghum, wheat, and rice, she truly felt the joy of the harvest. Her sweat was part of it too.

With the village head’s call of “Start harvesting,” everyone, beaming with smiles, grabbed their sickles and headed into the fields. Xu Ning was assigned to shuck corn. Although she was fully dressed and bundled up, by the end of the day, her body itched terribly.

She had hoped to return early for a bath, but the village head called for a meeting. He said that running back and forth took too much time, so starting tomorrow, lunch would be eaten in the fields.

That meant she would need to prepare lunch in the morning to take with her. This arrangement was actually better; there was no need for constant trips, and they could rest a bit in the fields after lunch.

In the morning, Xu Ning got up to make pancakes, stir-fry some shredded potatoes, and prepare a bit of meat sauce, packing it all neatly in a basket to take with her to work.

Her parents and Uncle Lu and Aunt Lu could only take some pancakes and pickled vegetables for lunch, as they didn’t dare to bring more. The night before, Xu Ning had sent them a few pounds of cookies to keep in their pockets for a quick snack when they got hungry.

The autumn harvest came to a close as everyone transported truckloads of sun-dried grain to the village warehouse. Next up would be the grain tax and the distribution of rations.

Xu An was also getting ready to go to school. Xu Ning took him to register, and Mother Xu made him a new backpack and a set of new clothes. Aunt Lu prepared two pairs of shoes for him, while Xu Ning bought him a pencil case, pencils, and notebooks.

The elementary school was right next to the village committee office. Early in the morning, Da Lin and Jianmin came from the village specifically to pick him up. Both were in the fourth grade, so the three of them would be classmates from now on. Watching the three of them walk to school hand in hand, Xu Ning turned to Xu Mo beside her and said, “Little Mo, when you’re a bit older, I’ll take you to school too.”

“Big sister, I don’t want to go to school. Let Second Brother go. I’ll help you work at home,” he replied.

Xu Ning ruffled his hair and said, “Little Mo, you can work and go to school too! Look at your Second Brother; he goes to school during the day, but after classes, he can still gather pigweed to earn work points. Once he graduates, he can even go to the city to work and earn a salary!”

Little Mo thought for a moment and said, “Big sister, then I’ll go to school too! I’ll earn money to give to you.”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you to earn money for me!”

The chestnuts and pine nuts on the mountain were ripe, and Xu Ning planned to go pick them today. When Xu Mo heard they were going to gather mountain goods, he happily grabbed his small backpack.

Seeing Xu Mo eagerly filling his basket, Xu Ning looked around to make sure no one was watching and started putting chestnuts and pine nuts into her storage space, intending to take them out when they got home. Xu Mo was young; he wouldn’t notice if she took a few extra.

Today, there were fewer people on the mountain. The autumn harvest had just finished, and most villagers were busy collecting what they had planted in their private plots. Generally, they would only go into the mountains after dividing the grain.

Unlike the educated youth, each villager had two mu of private land, and regulations were not very strict here. Many villagers had planted some crops in their fields. The educated youth from the commune had all gone to the city today.

As Xu Ning descended the mountain with her haul, she passed the cow shed and called for her mom and Aunt Lu to join them in picking; there was plenty up on the mountain, and they could gather a lot in a day.

While she picked, she continued to store items in her space, while her mom and Aunt Lu made several trips carrying baskets back to the cow shed.

When Xu An got home in the afternoon, he was stunned to see a huge pile of chestnuts, pine nuts, and hazelnuts. He grabbed his backpack and dashed back up the mountain.

Upon reaching the mountain, he saw his sister and Little Mo picking on one side, while his mom and Aunt Lu were on the other. He set down his basket and, without even saying hello, joined in the picking.

A little later, Father Xu and Uncle Lu arrived with their baskets. No one spoke; they each found a spot and quickly filled their baskets.

The group spent three days gathering on the mountain. The village announced that they would distribute grain tomorrow. Xu Ning knew the grain distribution would take all day, with most of the morning spent waiting idly, so she planned to go back in the afternoon to pick more while there were fewer people around.

As she passed the cow shed, she once again called for her mom and Aunt Lu to join them. With grain distribution happening, there were even fewer people on the mountain. They usually waited until everyone else had finished before going to collect their own grain, so they all went back up the mountain to gather for another day.

Xu An had been running up the mountain every day after school. Their home was nearly overflowing with their haul this year. Thanks to her space, Xu Ning had managed to collect more than both her and Xu An had together in half a month last year.

After the grain was distributed, when Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei came looking for Xu Ning to play, Xu Ning was just about to take Xu Mo back up the mountain. Wei Lanlan asked, “Now that the autumn harvest is done, what are you all doing?”

Xu Ning thought that the girl must be a bit clueless. Hadn’t she eaten the pine nuts, hazelnuts, and chestnuts that Xu Ning collected last year? Surely she remembered that they didn’t just appear magically. Realizing that the two might have simply forgotten, she replied, “We’re going to the mountain. The chestnuts and pine nuts are ripe now, and we want to gather some for winter. Do you want to come with us?”

Little Mo chimed in, “Sister Wei, Sister Yang, there are plenty of mountain goods up there! Come pick with us!”

Excited, the two girls asked Xu Ning to wait for a moment while they rushed back to grab their baskets to join them on the mountain.

And so they spent a few more days picking. Their home was overflowing, and there was a lot stored away as well. Xu Ning decided to take some into the city to share with Zhao Jianshe and Su Hongying.