Everyone in the Qiao family in Yunjia Village was very happy when they saw Qiao Mingjin and her daughter coming back. They rushed back from the fields.
"elder sister!"
"Little uncle, big uncle..."
Before the carriage even stopped, Wan'er jumped over happily.
"Why are you guys back too?"
Qiao Mingjin watched Mingjue lift her daughter up high, pulled Mingheng close to her and asked.
"The second brother said that the mother alone in the family might be too busy. Anyway, the second brother and I were only in the Liu family, not in the academy, and there weren't that many rules. We just told Yuan Liu, and he let us back.
He said he would go there after he was done with his work at home."
Qiao Mingjin nodded after hearing this.
"Little uncle, look at our carriage! Wan'er came in the carriage just now! It's the carriage driven by my mother!"
The little thing lay on Mingheng's shoulder and screamed excitedly. This was the first time she rode in a carriage driven by her mother. She didn't even want to stay in the carriage, so she sat in the driving seat with her mother and hummed music all the way.
The little thing's face was very red at this time. I don't know if it was because of the heat or because he was overly excited.
Mother Qiao's hands were still stained with mud, and she was very happy to see her five children gathered together. She looked at the children playing at the door of her house with her lips slightly raised at the entrance of the hospital.
"Come into the house quickly, what a group of people like this are standing at the door." Grandmother Lan said.
Everyone then led each other into the house.
Mingyu and Mingqi brought everyone water from the kitchen.
Qiao Mingjin looked at this little girl who came back two days early to help, and asked with a smile: "Did you help at home? Are you lazy?"
Mingjin bulged his eyes and said angrily: "How can I be lazy! My mother picked me up before dawn and didn't let me sleep for a while. She pulled me down in the dew early in the morning before dawn.
land."
Qiao Mingjin laughed after listening to the girl pouting.
I took her to have a look. I had only been back for two days and it was indeed a little dark. It seemed that she was not lazy.
After chatting for half an hour, they had lunch and without taking a break, the whole family went out together again.
Qiao's mother asked Qiao Mingjin to stay at home. Qiao Mingjin didn't respond. She changed into Mingyu's old clothes and followed her out of the house with an excited Wan'er.
The busy farming season is a time for the whole family, young and old alike.
Even the youngest children can find something to do. For example, guarding the place where the millet is dried to prevent chickens and ducks from harming the millet.
Even elderly people like Lan, who don't usually go to the fields, have to work in the kitchen to prepare meals and tea for the family. They run several times a day to the fields, deliver water and meals, and do all the work.
Housework at home.
Father Qiao no longer holds books, and his health has improved a lot during this period. Although his waist and legs are not good and he cannot cut rice, he can still help carry rice, beat rice, or help with drying.
Millet.
Although there are many people in the family, the main people harvesting rice in the fields are Qiao Mu, Mingyu, and Mingqi.
Ming Qi, who was jumping up and down, could only be counted as half of the labor force. Fortunately, Qiao Mu and Ming Yu were both quick with their hands and feet. The speed of cutting the rice could keep up with the speed of threshing the rice.
Mingjue is responsible for carrying the burden.
The rice cut by Qiao Mu, Ming Yu and Ming Jue was tied into bundles and carried to the field ridge. Ming Heng then pulled the ox cart to load the rice and transport it to the rice threshing area.
Mingheng, a kid who had been chopping firewood with Qiao Mingjin for several months, had some strength. He bundled the rice from the field ridge and carried it to the cattle cart on the slope. Although it was not as much as Mingheng, it was still more than half.
Some.
The two brothers picked up the rice from the field and put it on an ox cart. Then Mingheng pulled the ox cart and sent it to Qiao Mingjin and Qiao's father. They let them thresh the rice. Then Mingheng took the opportunity to return to the field to help.
Cut rice for a while.
Now that Qiao Mingjin is here, she is not very good at harvesting rice. Mother Qiao felt sorry for her, so she sent her and Father Qiao to harvest rice.
This life looks easy, but it's not.
There were no rice threshers in those days. It was just a rolling bed with nails nailed in the shape of a long bench, and then a bundle of straw was carried up and beaten to make the rice fall off. Otherwise, a large round stone was used and was pulled by cattle on the rice straw.
Roll it over again.
It looks easy, but it is also strenuous work.
Not only did the straw sting people, but it also made my skin itchy.
After holding the rice straw and beating it twice, my waist and hands were sore and hard. I couldn't lower my waist and my hands were weak. It was really difficult to do that job.
Qiao Mingjin's face was red from beating her and she was sweating like rain. The freshness at the beginning was gone in just two strokes. She couldn't lift her hands, and couldn't even bend down to hold the rice straw.
Originally this was an easy job, and if a skilled person could do it, the speed should be faster than those who cut rice in the fields.
But when she saw Mingheng unloading a small mountain of rice on the ground, she felt weak. Why did the rice disappear after such a long time, and there were more and more rice?
It seems that I am really used to living a comfortable life.
Father Qiao saw her panting aside and felt very distressed. He said, "Ms. Jin, gather up the threshed grains on the ground and send them to your grandmother so that she can dry them in the sun."
Qiao Mingjin glanced at Qiao's father, took a few deep breaths, and wiped his forehead with his sleeve in an awkward manner. Then he dragged two baskets and shoveled in the grains that Qiao's father had taken off.
Then, he picked up two baskets full of millet and brought them to Lan, who was only two or three meters away, so that she could remove the debris, remove the rice straw and other debris mixed in the millet, and then spread the millet on the straw mat.
It's up to dry.
"Mother, mother!"
"Alas." Qiao Mingjin put down the two baskets of millet with difficulty, and Wan'er ran towards her.
"Mom, I helped my great-grandmother with work!"
Qiao Mingjin touched her daughter's soft hair, looked at her red little face, and said with a smile: "Oh, what kind of work does Wan'er do for grandma?"
"I helped the old lady drive away the chickens that came to eat the millet! I also helped to dry the millet. But the bamboo rake is not easy to use, it is too tall and too big, so my mother didn't bring Wan'er's small bamboo rake."
Qiao Mingjin smiled: "It's okay, then rake more slowly. But you have to keep a close eye on it, and don't let the chicken eat the millet."
"Yeah. As soon as the chickens come, Wan'er will beat them away!"
Lan next to her looked at Qiao Mingjin, who was sweating, and said, "Take a break. There is still water in the pot next to you. Take a few sips to calm down."
Lan looked at Qiao Mingjin and turned around to pour the water. She sighed secretly. If she hadn't been... how could Jinniang do such a job? How could her grandchildren be as hard as they are now...
"Grandma, please take a sip and take a rest."
"good."
Lan took the cup and put down the griddle for raising millet.
Qiao Mingjin raised the grate high and bumped it according to her memory...
Just a gust of wind blew over, and the rice straw and other debris blew all over her head and face. Her clothes were covered with broken rice straw, and she couldn't open her eyes.
"Wahahaha...Sister, you are not winnowing the grain, you are pouring it on yourself, hahaha..."
Mingheng pulled another cart of rice up from the field. Seeing that his father was the only one at the threshing area, he walked towards the place where the rice was dried to dry.
He didn't expect to see his sister in such a mess.
Lan was stunned at first and took two steps forward. Then she saw her little grandson teasing her eldest granddaughter. The corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve up and she started laughing.
"Keke, mom, are you okay? Wan'er, let me give you a blow."
Qiao Mingjin patted her body while giving Mingheng a fierce look.
Mingheng didn't feel dissatisfied, and pointed out with a smile: "Sister, you have to face the direction of the wind. If you face the wind, of course it will blow all over your face."
Lan also walked over and helped her brush off the rice shavings on her body.
"Sister, look at me."
Mingheng picked up the grate basket on the ground, filled half a grate basket with grains, and tipped it up with the wind at his back.
The impurities, rice scraps, etc. mixed with the millet in the grate basket were blown out by the wind and fell not far away. The remaining heavy grains stayed in the grate basket.
This was done several times until the grate basket was filled with clean grains, and then they were spread out on the mat to dry.
This job looks easy. However, it is also a technical job, and it is also challenging. Most novices cannot master it.
Qiao Mingjin did it several times, but either the millet and the rice shavings were knocked out, or the rice shavings were still mixed with the millet and remained in the grate.
She had no choice but to go back to her physical work in despair.
In the evening, when it was dark, the family loaded the half-dried millet on the oxcart and took it back. The other rice-threshing beds, stone rolls, baskets and other items were left in the open space.
Nowadays, people don’t pick up lost items on rural roads. Every household has these things, and no one will steal them.
Those who have bullock carts are fine, but if they don't have bullock carts, moving them back and forth is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Lan went home first and made dinner. The whole family was so tired that they almost lost all strength. They opened their mouths and dug in without caring about what was in front of them. Even Wan'er ate one bowl more than usual.
Qiao Mingjin was afraid that she would accumulate food, so she took her to the homes of her two uncles in the Yun family so that she could eat.
The child actually patted his belly and said he was just full.
It seems that a lot of effort was put into it.
After a tiring day, they didn't bother to say a few words, so they went to rest.
It wasn't until she woke up the next morning that Qiao Mingjin asked Mother Qiao: "Mom, didn't you invite anyone? And the 100 acres of paddy field I bought, don't we have to harvest it ourselves?"
Mother Qiao smiled and said, "That's a hundred acres of paddy field. We only have a few people in our family. How long will it take? I have discussed it with your grandma. We have left ten acres of paddy field for our own cultivation.
Mom can take care of the five and fifteen acres of land by herself. In addition, she has given your two uncles twenty acres each. Your grandma will only take 30% of the land from your two uncles.
Rent. The remaining fifty acres will be rented out. We don’t need to worry about it. Your two brothers will come back to help us with our fifteen acres of land. Our family will be busy for a few days.
.Besides, it’s difficult to hire people for this idea. Even if you can hire people, the wages will be very high.”
Qiao Mingjin nodded after listening, and then asked: "How about the wasteland? And the mountainous area?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation, monthly vote, and your support
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