Chapter 66 : Autumn Harvest Begins

Nangong Ruochen glanced at her inadvertently extended tongue, his eyes darkening slightly, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. This girl’s unintentional actions stirred something in his heart but she didn’t even realize it. Thinking of this, he smiled helplessly.

That evening, Yun Siying really did get to enjoy a delicious meal. Nangong Ruochen used wild boar meat to make braised pork, stewed meat with vermicelli, cold braised eggplant, and a cabbage and tofu soup.

“Thank you. Everything tastes amazing,” Yun Siying said, her cheeks stuffed with food as she kept picking at the dishes while talking.

“We all have Siying to thank for being able to eat like this. In the past, Nangong would only cook one dish per meal” Han Yuecheng complained a little.

“Be grateful there’s food to eat at all. You two used to cook half-done meals that would give people diarrhea for days,” Nangong Ruochen exposed their dark culinary history.

“Don’t bring that up again! We’ve learned how to cook now,” Han Yuecheng protested, clearly embarrassed and wanting to forget that episode.

After some bickering, everyone finished the meal quickly and left the table feeling full and satisfied.

Then Chen Banghua brought over three bags and handed them to Yun Siying. “These are thank-you gifts from Li Dazhuang and Jiang Aimin. One of the bags is from Yuecheng and me.”

Yun Siying opened the bags and took out the contents: five cans of malted milk, five packs of White Rabbit milk candy, a box of biscuits, a box of chocolate candies, four bottles of canned fruit, two pounds of peach pastries, two pounds of sponge cakes, three pieces of bacon, three cured rabbits, three cured chickens, and thirty eggs.

“I’m afraid both families spent quite a bit on these gifts.”

“It’s two lives we’re talking about, just accept them with peace of mind,” Nangong Ruochen said.

Yun Siying pulled out the bacon, cured rabbits, cured chickens, and eggs. “We’ll cook these during the autumn harvest to nourish ourselves. I’ll take the rest with me.”

“Siying, the autumn harvest begins tomorrow. The team leader asked me to tell you that you and I will take turns driving the tractor to transport the grain,” Nangong Ruochen said, looking at her.

Yun Siying had heard the autumn harvest was grueling, work began at five in the morning and lasted until eight or nine at night. After the whole season, people would be exhausted to the bone. That’s why many would stock up on good food ahead of time to replenish their energy. So, she was very pleased with the team leader’s arrangement. Driving a tractor was definitely easier than working in the fields.

“Then I’ll drive in the morning and at noon. I’ve got something to do in the afternoon, I need to go into the county,” Yun Siying said. She was looking forward to seeing how much money the Shu mother and son had brought, surely they’d also brought a lot of supplies.

“That’s fine. We’ll take turns, and you can head out when the time comes,” Nangong Ruochen replied, though he was quietly wondering what she was so busy with, she’d been a bit mysterious lately.

“Great! Then I’ll take care of making dinner,” Yun Siying said happily.

—

“Yinyin, why did I give birth to such a useless person like you? Another 200 yuan stolen? Are you using that as an excuse because you didn’t want to hand the money over to the family?” Xu Ziying scolded angrily. Since Shu Ruxue came back, she had been feeding her well and treating her well, but had gotten nothing in return.

“Mom, the money really was stolen. How would I dare lie to you? I still need that money to fix my teeth…” Shu Ruxue lowered her head and stood aside miserably. This wasn’t what she had wanted to happen.

“You’d better find a way to get back to the city soon and get that thing. If I didn’t still need you to help me achieve my goal, I wouldn’t even bother with you. You’re truly useless,” Xu Ziying snapped.

“Mom, the Shu family mother and son will come to the brigade to see me tomorrow. They’ll definitely bring money. After they leave, I’ll give all the money to you,” Shu Ruxue continued.

“Alright, child, I know you didn’t mean to mess things up. When those people come, make sure to treat them well,” said Li Gang, who had been silent until now.

“Be more careful in the future. If you keep being so careless, no amount of money will be enough to cover your spending. Mom is doing this for your own good,” Xu Ziying’s tone softened.

After Shu Ruxue left, Xu Ziying turned to ask, “Old Li, what do you think?”

“The Shu family is well-off. Yanyan is about to graduate, and it’s time to consider her marriage,” Li Gang said calmly.

“You mean…” Xu Ziying’s eyes lit up with excitement. This really was a golden opportunity. They’d been stuck at the bottom for so long, it was time to climb up.

“It’s just as you’re thinking. When the time comes, we can use the Shu family’s influence to help support our Mingqiang and help him serve the country better,” Li Gang added, his eyes gleaming.

“But will Yanyan agree?” Xu Ziying knew her daughter’s preferences, she liked good-looking and wealthy men.

“She’ll agree. Just look at Yun Siying’s appearance, her brother must be good-looking too. With that kind of family background, he’s bound to impress Yanyan,” Li Gang said confidently. He knew his daughter was ambitious.

—

At five o’clock the next morning, the villagers gathered at the threshing ground, picked up their farming tools, headed to the fields, and began harvesting rice. The educated youth also brought their own lunches with them.

A crowd of people rushed into a golden sea of rice. Some bent down to cut rice quickly, others threshed it with cans, some tied up the straw, and others packed the threshed rice into sacks and moved them to the tractor. The rice was then transported to the threshing ground for drying.

Everyone worked in sync, forming a smooth assembly line from the fields to the drying area.

Around ten o’clock, Wang Haixia saw Yun Siying and Nangong Ruochen sitting leisurely on the tractor, and her face twisted with jealousy.

Seeing the team leader giving instructions at the edge of the field, she felt it was unfair and complained, “Team Leader, we’re all educated youth why doesn’t Yun Siying have to work?”

The team leader, seeing it was Wang Haixia again, assumed she was causing trouble and said with a frown, “Wang Haixia, who told you Yun Siying isn’t working?”

“What kind of work is she doing? Isn’t she just sitting there on the tractor doing nothing?” Wang Haixia retorted, clearly thinking the team leader was covering for her.

“Yun Siying and Nangong Ruochen are assigned to drive the tractor during the autumn harvest,” the team leader replied impatiently.

“How could Yun Siying know how to drive a tractor?” Wang Haixia said, full of disbelief.

At that moment, an older man who was threshing rice stopped and said, “Wang Haixia, Yun Siying drives very well, we all saw it with our own eyes.”

“I’m sorry, Team Leader, I misunderstood. I apologize,” Wang Haixia said, her face pale and flushed. She quickly admitted her mistake, but her eyes still burned with resentment.

—

At noon, everyone sat in the fields and ate the food they had brought. Nangong Ruochen went back home to heat up their meals and brought them back. The four of them sat together and ate two-grain rice and braised pork, making many others around them drool with envy.