nucmednet Chapter 30 Farm Work from the Beginning to the End of the Year
Chapter 30 Farm Work from the Beginning to the End of the Year
At the time, the whole family was overjoyed that she could pass the entrance exam for junior high school. Her older brother even excitedly took her to register. However, not long after, a series of misfortunes befell the family, and Lu Mingxi had to drop out of school.
Lu Yuanbo said, "I don't know!"
After saying that, he seemed to remember something and suddenly turned his head and said, "Third Brother, why did you suddenly ask about this?"
Could it be that you want Xiaoxi to go back to school?
Their family has no money, and nowadays, Lu Mingxi is one of the main contributors to earning work points in the Lu family!
Lu Yuanqing glanced at him, smiled, and said, "No way? You and Huanhuan both finished junior high school, but Xiaoxi and the others are illiterate!"
“They’ve graduated from primary school, so they’re not illiterate!” Lu Yuanbo said, stunned.
But he was also conflicted inside!
Back then, my dad often said that I must study, that studying is good.
Lu Yuanbo is so old, but he still doesn't feel that reading is any good. He has flipped through the books several times, but he still hasn't found any gold.
But Dad is so smart, everything he says is right.
Given the current situation at home, can they still support Xiaoxi and the others to go to school?
Lu Yuanqing shrugged and advised, "What are you worried about? Leave this to me."
"How do you plan to resolve this?" Lu Yuanbo asked.
The villagers worked hard all year to earn work points, which were barely enough to feed their family of eight for a year. There were no extra work points to exchange for money to send Xiaoxi and the others to school!
"You'll find out when the time comes!" Lu Yuanqing didn't explain, but smiled with a profound and unfathomable look, exuding a powerful aura.
But I was incredibly conflicted. Why was it so difficult to rationally use the rewards the system had given me? Was I really that stupid?! Ugh!!!
Lu Yuanbo nodded. This kid is a careless person who doesn't like to use his brain.
"If you have a way, Third Brother, could you let Huanhuan go to school too?" Lu Yuanbo asked, looking down and very embarrassed.
The family is already struggling financially; having Lu Yuanhuan in school means more than just paying for his tuition.
But he remembered the scene of Lu Yuanhuan crying under the covers after dropping out of school and returning home.
Unlike Lu Yuanhuan, who disliked studying and was beaten into junior high school by his father with a golden rod, Lu Yuanhuan got into junior high school on his own merit.
Moreover, Lu Yuanhuan was also a very good student, unlike him, who failed to get into high school and happily returned to the village to work.
Lu Yuanqing certainly had no objection; studying was a good thing.
"Of course! Huanhuan is in her first year of high school, right?"
“Yes, I attended the first semester of high school.” Lu Yuanbo immediately replied.
He was now filled with thoughts of how happy Lu Yuanhuan would be if she knew she still had a chance to go back to school.
“Okay!” Lu Yuanqing nodded knowingly.
High school now only lasts two years, so you might even be able to get into university!
No, we have to get Lu Yuanhuan back to school quickly. The college entrance exam is about to be canceled, so we can catch the last chance. Maybe she can still go to university.
…………
Sichuan and Chongqing have many paddy fields, most of which are used for rice cultivation.
Lu Yuanqing is a typical northerner who likes to eat noodles, but people here prefer to eat rice.
It was the rice transplanting season. Except for the paddy fields used as seedbeds, which were dry, the other paddy fields were kept dry all year round. Because they had turned the paddy fields over twice before transplanting, the soil was soft and mushy. When you stepped into the water, it was almost up to your knees.
The food is acceptable; after all, Lu Yuanqing likes noodles, and he can also eat rice, so he's easy to feed.
The local dialect did pose a challenge for him at first.
It's not that he can't speak it; he has the original owner's memories, and decades later, Sichuan and Northeastern dialects are the easiest to use online. He's heard some of them, so speaking them isn't too difficult.
Moreover, the Bashu language is not difficult; it is somewhat similar to Mandarin, and he used to be able to understand it and even speak a little of it.
However, in Shihua Village, all he could hear was the local dialect, which was subconsciously funny. He almost burst out laughing every time he fought two battles while cursing in the dialect.
"Auntie, I'm almost done here, throw some over here!" Lu Yuanqing shouted to the auntie throwing rice seedlings on the paddy field ridge.
Here, "auntie" is used to describe an older woman.
However, Lu Yuanqing still habitually refers to her as "Auntie," and he doesn't know when he will change this habit.
"Alright, Yuanqing, watch out, or you'll get splashed!" A woman on the paddy field ridge threw a large bundle of rice seedlings tied with straw toward Lu Yuanqing.
Snapped!
The aunt threw it with great accuracy, landing it just shortly behind Lu Yuanqing. He could easily reach behind him and grab the remaining handful of sticks he had.
Lu Yuanqing thanked him, ignoring the mud splattered on his pants and clothes.
Everyone works in the fields; by the end of the day, who isn't covered in mud?
He only has one thing on his mind right now. Well, you know, Lu Yuanqing used to be a second-generation rich kid from a land expropriation deal! He's never done farm work before.
Lu Yuanqing straightened up, waded his muddy hands in the murky water to convince himself they were clean, and then rubbed them against his back.
So... what if the rice seedlings he planted float to the surface when he comes to check tomorrow morning?
Before planting the rice seedlings, he carefully observed Lu Yuanbo's technique, but he could only see the movements on the surface of the water. What about the muddy water? How deep should the seedlings be planted?
He doesn't know!
Lu Yuanqing appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was panicking.
Oh no, what if they all float up if the depth isn't deep enough?
Should I insert it deeper?
But what if it's too deep and affects growth?
"Don't worry, host, I'll help you!"
The system's voice suddenly appeared in Lu Yuanqing's mind, and it was as if he heard heavenly music.
"Really?" Lu Yuanqing hurriedly asked in his mind, "System, how do you want to help me?"
"Give me a puppet that looks exactly like me? So I can have the puppet do all the work? Or should I give you my body so you can do the work, and then you can leave and let me come back?"
System 666: "..."
When will its host stop daydreaming?
"No!" The system decisively shattered his daydream. "I can analyze the data based on the movements of experienced workers in the village, and that will tell you how deep you need to plant the rice seedlings."
"I'll remind you, host, that if you try a few more times, you should be able to get almost as good as the pros!"
“…Oh!” Lu Yuanqing said.
What a waste of joy!
After the whole village had been planting rice seedlings for several days, Lu Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief.
Farmers really have a hard life.
He is now also one of the hard-working members.
However, after planting the rice seedlings, Lu Yuanqing secretly checked on them a day later and found that they hadn't floated up. He actually felt a sense of accomplishment.
Clearly, Lu Yuanqing, who had never done farm work in his previous life, relaxed too soon.
We just came out of the paddy field, and tomorrow we have to start digging up the potatoes.
Potatoes! Grain!
The villagers, who had been starving for so long, got up before dawn to dig potatoes in a panic.
The brigade leader said that after the potatoes are harvested this time, the villagers can borrow grain from the brigade, specifically the potatoes harvested this time, so that everyone can have grain. When the grain is officially distributed after the autumn harvest, the amount borrowed from the brigade will be deducted.
This is fantastic news! After transplanting the rice seedlings, the villagers, who had been on the verge of death, suddenly became incredibly energetic.
Even in mid-May, the weather in Sichuan and Chongqing starts to get a bit hot.
So, whether it was because everyone wanted to eat potatoes too much or because the midday sun was too hot, once the potato digging started, every morning at the crack of dawn, the brigade leader would chase them to the fields.
Lu Yuanqing was truly on the verge of tears.
"I'm so tired! So tired!"
Lu Yuanqing carried his hoe uphill when he heard a tired voice beside him, which startled him so much that he almost thought he had blurted out his innermost thoughts.
When she came to her senses, she realized that it was Lu Mingxi who was complaining of being tired.
At home, he and Lu Yuanbo were assigned to dig potatoes, while Lu Yuanhuan and the others were responsible for carrying the dug potatoes in baskets back to the village.
"Xiao west, hang in there. Everyone has been working very hard lately, and very few people have been slacking off. With so many people, we should be able to finish in less than a week," Lu Yuanqing said, pretending to comfort Lu Mingxi.
In fact, he really agreed with Lu Mingxi.
Farm work is a real nightmare for children.
That's true for him too!
However, Lu Yuanqing was concerned about his image, so he always maintained an adult demeanor when talking to them, for fear that if he appeared immature, they would think he was unreliable.
Therefore, even though Lu Yuanqing's inner thoughts were incredibly complex, he still outwardly imitated Lu Guobin's mature and composed demeanor.
Lu Yuanbo is a rough man, but he has been busy since the spring plowing began in March. He is also tired. "Come on! After the potatoes are harvested, we still need to weed and fertilize the corn and soybeans. Brother, you'll probably have to carry manure then."
Lu Yuanqing: "..." Huh? What to choose?
Heavens! Why have you done this to him!
He broke down here, but Lu Yuanbo didn't stop. "Huanhuan, we'll weed during the day to earn work points. Let's be quick and not slack off. Let's finish the task as soon as possible and go home to dig potatoes from our private plot. I think the potatoes in our private plot are growing well today, so we can harvest more grain."
Lu Yuanqing: "..."
Yes! We planted potatoes in our family's private plot.
You know, when he was preparing his own land, he was thinking of planting some vegetables, but before he could even say it, Lu Yuanhuan hurriedly ran to Lu Guobin's house to get potato seeds and planted them.
The family was so poor that they ate all the potatoes they had saved for seed, which made Lu Yuanqing wisely shut his mouth.
This family needs more food; we can't waste the land planting other things.
"Once the potatoes are harvested, we'll plant sweet potatoes instead."
"Fourth Uncle, do you only grow sweet potatoes? Tie Dan said his mother will grow some peanuts."
"Peanuts won't fill us up, so let's plant more sweet potatoes today. With the grain we get after the autumn harvest, we'll definitely be able to get through tomorrow. Maybe we'll even have some left over so we can have a few full meals."
"I want to eat my fill!"
"I want, too!"
Lu Yuanqing had nothing to say; he listened to them silently.
Once again, I feel sorry for myself, and also for the vast number of farmers.
They work tirelessly year-round, yet the food they receive is only enough for a few full meals.
They might not even be able to get a full meal and would have to make do with what they could.
Hey!
Things will get better!
You won't know how hard life is until you experience being a farmer, especially these days.
The family chatted and dreamed about the future (as long as they had enough to eat), and then they started to divide the work: some dug potatoes, some picked them up, and they carried them back to the village one by one.
Lu Yuanqing dug up quite a few with a few strokes of his hoe, splitting each one in half.
Lu Yuanbo: "Brother, be careful, it's all broken. If the captain sees it, we'll get a scolding!"
Lu Yuanqing chuckled awkwardly, thinking to himself, "System, hurry, your host needs you!"
He had no experience, but the system had precise data analysis, and with that, Lu Yuanqing quickly mastered the knack of digging potatoes, and not many were damaged.
Transplanting rice strains your back, digging potatoes strains your hands.
After a long day, Lu Yuanqing looked at his hands, which had developed several blisters, and really wanted to cry without caring about his image.
"Host, you're gripping the hoe too tightly!"
Lu Yuanqing sniffed, "Why didn't you say so earlier!"
"...I wasn't paying attention to you..." I was busy helping him calculate the potatoes underground!
Lu Yuanqing snorted, also feeling that the system couldn't be blamed.
The original owner of this body had done farm work, so even though he was not used to it at first, he managed to get through it despite the difficulties because of his familiarity with the body.
However, even if the original owner's body was skilled at farm work, it didn't mean that the work wasn't tiring! The original owner didn't have the ability of superhuman strength, and he asked the system several times, wanting it to give him the ability of superhuman strength, or at least give him it as a reward next time.
However, the system cruelly rejected him, telling him to rely on himself in everything and stop dreaming.
Lu Yuanqing cursed it in his heart several times in anger, but the system said it could hear him.
"Brother, give me your hand!"
Just as he was lost in thought, Lu Yuanhuan's voice rang out.
Lu Yuanqing turned his head and saw a needle.
"What are you going to do with a needle?" Lu Yuanqing was shocked.
Lu Yuanhuan gave him a strange look. Why did it seem like Third Brother was afraid of needles?
"You have a few blisters on your hands, right? I'll pop them and squeeze out the fluid. It won't hurt so much tomorrow!"
"...Can we wait for it to heal naturally?" Lu Yuanqing swallowed and asked.
Lu Yuanhuan: "Then it will hurt a lot when you hold a hoe tomorrow."
Lu Yuanqing silently reached out his hand.
He genuinely wanted the blisters on his hands to heal on their own.
But not working is obviously not an option.
Lu Yuanhuan held his hand, took a needle in one hand, and carefully punctured it for him.
"Third Brother, you shouldn't have developed blisters on your hands for years, so how come they've reappeared after just one day of digging potatoes?"
Lu Yuanhuan was very curious.
"I gripped the hoe too tightly. I'll be more careful tomorrow!" Lu Yuanqing explained.
The original owner's hands weren't fair and delicate; they had long since become weathered hands due to the torment of years of farm work.
You can clearly see the calluses on your palms.
However, since it was Lu Yuanqing's first time holding a hoe, and he held it for a whole day, he naturally gripped it very tightly, which is why blisters appeared again.