CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 27: GATHERING GRAIN

EDITOR: INSCHAIN

At night, Yun Jiao lay in bed, tossing and turning with her thoughts.

She was still in her adolescence, and the most urgent task was to take good care of her body, to grow taller and gain some weight. Otherwise, it would be too late after this period.

Her physical foundation was actually quite good, but due to the setbacks over the past half year and the sudden decline in living standards, her body had become somewhat frail.

The trouble now was that although the family had enough rice and vegetables to eat, she needed protein, which meant she needed to eat meat.

She recalled that there was a butcher in a town two miles away, but even if she bought meat and brought it back, it wasn’t convenient to cook and eat it.

This family was like a pack of wolves, and she didn’t want to let those people benefit.

What should she do?

Suddenly, Yun Jiao thought of her medicine storage. She had tried it before and found that external items could be placed inside.

What if she set up a pot inside and cooked her own meat?

Soon she dismissed this idea. The medicine storage was set to constant temperature and humidity because many Chinese herbs easily mold and get infested.

It was a closed space; cooking inside would likely leave the oil fumes with nowhere to go.

Yun Jiao was troubled, unable to think of a good solution for the time being.

The next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Jiang Family celebrated it much like usual.

Forget mooncakes, there wasn’t even an extra dish on the dining table.

It was apparent that everyone was somewhat dissatisfied, but no one dared to say anything.

Early the next morning, before dawn, Mr. Jiang was in the courtyard banging on a pot, waking up the entire household of the Jiang Family.

Everyone hurriedly ate some miscellaneous grain cakes cooked the night before and headed to the fields at the first glimmers of dawn.

Mr. Jiang didn’t mention anything about Jiang Youzhi’s hand being unfit for farm work. When they got to the field, he distributed the sickles.

Thank heavens, there were six sickles in total at home. The second uncle, third uncle, Jiang Erlang, and Jiang Youzhi were all strong laborers, each receiving a sickle.

Mr. Jiang, still robust despite his age, was also a skillful worker. He took one sickle for himself and gave the remaining one to Si Lang.

Si Lang was already fifteen this year, still a young lad but not lacking in strength.

The women and children at home were assigned to thresh the grain.

Mrs. Chen instructed Yun Jiao along with Da Ya, Er Ya, and San Ya to pick up the grain that had fallen on the ground.

Collecting grain was much easier compared to harvesting; it just required constant standing up and squatting or bending over.

Across the field ridge was the field of the Zhang family. Their eldest son’s newlywed wife, Taohua, entered the household just a few days before Yun Jiao. The two families were neighbors, and perhaps because they were both new brides, Taohua enjoyed having casual chats with the previous Yun Jiao.

Taohua was considered Yun Jiao’s only friend in Qingshan Village.

Taohua was also assigned to pick up grain. By this time, it was daylight, and she was conveniently near the field ridge, while Yun Jiao wasn’t far away. So she chatted idly with Yun Jiao while picking up grain.

Yun Jiao responded with "mm" and "ah" while keeping her hands busy.

Taohua said mysteriously, "I heard that the village chief’s family is looking for a marriage prospect for their youngest son, and they’ve enlisted Matchmaker Qian from the neighboring village."

Yun Jiao casually responded, suddenly remembering that Matchmaker Qian was her own second aunt.

Taohua looked envious, "Whoever marries into their family will be in luck. They have a lot of land, and the youngest son is the late-born child, beloved like an apple of the eye. I’ve heard they’re determined to find him a good match."

As Taohua said this, she dropped the grain in her hand, stood up, "Sigh, picking up this grain is making me dizzy—" She fainted before finishing her sentence and fell to the ground.