Chapter 361

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

The next day.

The sun climbed up three poles, roasting the crop fields scorching hot.

Chai Mi and Song Qiushui returned from the county, and without having time to go home, they went to the fields.

As a result, when they got to the fields, she saw at a glance that in her own cornfield, Second Uncle Chai Youlu and the older boy Dongzi were silently cutting corn stalks, working quite nimbly.

But where was Second Aunt Sun Baihe? She had vanished without a trace.

The fire in Chai Mi's heart flared up with a "whoosh."

But fire was fire; since no one knew where Sun Baihe had gone, this fire had nowhere to go.

Chai Mi had to go home first. She took a few steps into the courtyard, only to find Sun Baihe sitting on a small wooden stool at the door of her house, slowly shelling a handful of beans, while chatting idly with Chai Youqing, who was lying under the window nursing his waist, in a desultory way.

"Second Aunt," Chai Mi frowned displeased, "are you planning to shell those beans until noon when it's time to cook?"

Sun Baihe paused, piling on her usual smile: "Oh my, Chai Mi, you're back? Well, I was thinking of making you a side dish for lunch. The weather is too hot; I went to the fields for a stroll, my eyes are blurry and my head is dizzy..."

"Dizzy?" Chai Mi interrupted her, her gaze sweeping over her flushed face, "Then don't tire yourself out. No matter what, health comes first. Second Aunt, if you wear yourself out, this niece of yours can't afford to compensate... Second Aunt, if you're tired, just stay put, it's fine."

Sun Baihe's smile froze. She heard Chai Mi's displeasure and explained: "This... this is what you're saying, can Auntie really not do any work?"

"You can work! Find something else to do." Chai Mi propped the inverted donkey bicycle against the wall, dusted off her hands, "From tomorrow on, you cook the noon meal. Not only cooking, there's one more important matter—Xiu'er is at Ganzhu'er Primary School and gets out early. My dad's waist is bad, my mom has to look after the third child and the livestock at home. These few days, you'll have to work hard and ride a bicycle to pick up Xiu'er for me."

Sun Baihe was stunned, then exclaimed: "Pick up Xiu'er? That's nearly half an hour round trip! That would delay work... and besides, this, this work isn't easy either! Furthermore, my cooking isn't that delicious..."

"It's fine... I'll still pay you twenty yuan." Chai Mi said with a smile: "You can't do the field work, but this cooking and picking up work is sheltered from wind and rain, surely that's doable? If you still can't do it, then I'll have to renegotiate the wages with Second Uncle and Dongzi."

Chai Mi knew very well that Sun Baihe was just lazy, wanting to shirk work but unwilling to give up that twenty yuan. Having her pick up the child and cook seemed easy, but actually tied up her time, preventing her from loafing around everywhere.

Sun Baihe opened and closed her mouth, looking at Chai Mi's clear black-and-white eyes, then glanced at Chai Youqing pretending to sleep with his eyes closed in the corner, and finally swallowed her words. She understood now: this niece was decisive and meant what she said. If she kept arguing, even her own husband's and son's wages might be deducted. "Okay... okay. What time does Xiu'er get out of school?"

"Four-thirty in the afternoon. You need to leave at four, don't be late and make Xiu'er wait." Chai Mi finished speaking, no longer looked at her, and turned into the house.

She calculated in her mind: it would keep her from loafing around in front of her eyes and annoying her, and also keep her from shirking work in the fields and spoiling the atmosphere. Having Xiu'er picked up was also giving this lazy aunt some proper work to do.

In the afternoon, the threshing floor was piled with mountains of grain.

But looking at it, although there was a lot, it was estimated that it could produce three to four hundred jin of millet at best.

The yield of this grain was still very low.

In this era, although machines existed, most grain was still threshed on the threshing floor. The Chai family had some wasteland of their own, which they used as a threshing floor, and they could just go there when needed.

This grain was always precious, with low yield. Harvesting a few hundred jin per mu was considered the heavens opening their eyes, a good year. Tended carefully from spring planting to autumn harvest, sweat dripping like it was split into eight petals, finally looking forward to those heavy grain ears in the courtyard.

Right now, although there were some machine noises—after the commune was dissolved, the old diesel thresher in the brigade could occasionally wheeze a couple of breaths, or the small foot-pedal or hand-cranked threshers bought by some wealthier families were starting to appear—this threshing work was still far from being completely mechanized. The most important and most laborious "threshing" step, nine times out of ten, still had to be done on the open and bright threshing floor, relying on people swinging tools, relying on livestock pulling stone rollers, relying on the heavens granting wind, bit by bit.

The Chai family had taken root in this area for several generations. In the early years, they reclaimed wasteland, and near the ditches and depressions at the east end of the village, they managed to create several irregular small plots. Those places were not proper farmland, with thin soil and many stones, and crops couldn't yield much there. The Chai ancestors simply leveled them out, using them as their own threshing floor. Over the years, trampled by feet and pressed by stone rollers, the ground became as hard as stone slabs, smooth and dry, the best place for drying and crushing grain.

By the autumn harvest season, this Chai family threshing floor became a treasure. The Chai family used it themselves naturally conveniently, carrying bundles of grain and pushing wheelbarrows straight there.

Spread out, leveled, taking advantage of the scorching sun, the grain ears crackled as they dried. When the time was right, the strong laborers at home would harness a donkey or an old yellow ox, pulling heavy stone rollers, going round and round, creaking as they crushed, or people would use wooden sticks to beat the grain ears, and that would do.

After rolling over several times, or beating a batch, they would use a wooden fork to shake off and remove the crushed straw, leaving behind grain mixed with chaff and husks. At this time, they had to hope for a good wind, using the wind force, winnowing with a wooden winnowing fork, lifting high, the heavy grain fell straight down, while the chaff and husks were blown far away by the wind.

This winnowing work was both physical labor and technical work, requiring eyesight and dexterity of hand.

Mainly because it was very choking, ordinary people really couldn't do it. Because the wind didn't necessarily blow toward one alley mouth; sometimes it choked the eyes, especially uncomfortable.

Other villagers eyed this ready-made threshing floor, sometimes coming to chat, offering a cigarette, smiling and begging to borrow it. The Chai family were mostly honest; as long as they weren't using it themselves and the floor was empty, they mostly nodded and agreed. After all, they were all fellow villagers, seeing each other's faces every day.

Chai Mi's small amount of grain was also taken to the threshing floor.

Originally there wasn't much; hitting it with a stick themselves was also fine.

But the chaff and such were too dirty; dirtying the house and then cleaning up was troublesome, so it was better to go to the threshing floor for convenience.

Chai Mi had nothing much to do in the afternoon and was planning to tidy up that bit of grain.

This bit of rotten grain was damn losing money.

It also injured Chai Youqing's waist, delaying many things. The problem was the yield wasn't high; the only advantage seemed to be that the grain stalks could be used to tie corn stalks in late autumn.

Just as she was about to go out, Song Qiushui arrived.

Song Qiushui was a bit tired lately; after all, her old mother's waist hurt and cooking was hard, her old father's cooking tasted bad, she had nothing to eat in the morning, ate poorly at noon, and didn't eat at night, causing her to feel a bit dizzy even when walking now.

"Let me help you thresh the grain?"

"Forget it. If you have nothing to do, just help me pick up Xiu'er later. My second aunt... she's not working properly. I don't know if the pay is too little or what, but these past two days she's been loafing around." Chai Mi said somewhat helplessly.

Song Qiushui was even worse at work; Chai Mi dared not go looking for trouble by asking Song Qiushui to work.

Besides, recently the Meng clan couldn't do any work, and Song Qiushui was exhausted from killing and frying chickens.

Seeing that Chai Mi didn't want to do it herself, Song Qiushui agreed to help pick up Chai Xiu in the evening.

On the threshing floor, Second Aunt Sun Baihe was lazily winnowing grain, chaff drifting carelessly, far less dense than the idle gossip spouting from her mouth.

"Doing this for twenty yuan a day? That's sending off a beggar! That dead girl Chai Mi, money fills a bottomless pit, yet she's deducting from her own family here..." Her voice was neither high nor low, just enough for Chai Youlu and the older boy Dongzi, who were working with their heads down nearby, to hear. The wooden winnowing fork in her hand tossed the grain up and down, and a large portion of the dust raised fell back onto her own feet.

Sweat beaded on Chai Youlu's dark face, his brows knotted into knots, and he growled in a muffled voice: "Say less! Taking people's money to work is only right and proper!"

"Right and proper?" Sun Baihe seemed to have had her tail stepped on. She slammed the wooden winnowing fork onto the grain pile with a "clang," hands on her hips, spittle almost spraying onto Chai Youlu's face. "Chai Mi is sharp with her calculations! Sending me to cook and pick up the child, sheltered from wind and rain, sounds easy, but is that bit of work worth twenty yuan? She's just finding another way to say I don't put in enough effort in the fields, finding another way to deduct my pay! I, Sun Baihe, have been helping out in the village for more than a day or two, and I've never seen such a difficult employer! Chai Mi has money, she can spend it however she wants, but she's pinching pennies on us relatives who are really selling our strength!"

"Second Aunt." Chai Mi didn't know when she had stood at the edge of the threshing floor, looking at Sun Baihe's face flushed red with excitement, with no expression on her own face.

Sun Baihe felt inexplicably guilty under that gaze, but then straightened her back: "Oh, the head of the household is back? Just in time! Let's talk this over, this wage..."

Chai Mi ignored her, walked straight to the grain pile, bent down, grabbed a handful of grain that had just been rolled, still mixed with lots of broken straw and husks, spread it in her palm, and held it up before Sun Baihe's eyes. Among the grains, glaring broken chaff and flat husks took up nearly half.

"Second Aunt, was this grain winnowed by you?"

Sun Baihe glanced at it and argued stubbornly: "The... the wind wasn't right! Who can blame it if it can't be winnowed?"

"The wind wasn't right?" Chai Mi suddenly threw her hand, and that handful of grain mixed with lots of impurities "splash" fell all in front of Sun Baihe's feet, kicking up a small cloud of dust. "How did my father end up lying down? It was showing off, thinking the earth wouldn't turn without him! The result? He's lying on the kang! Second Aunt, if you feel those twenty yuan aren't worth earning, if you think I, Chai Mi, am stingy, the gate is open, you can settle up and leave right now! I, Chai Mi, will hire someone else!"

"You..." Sun Baihe was choked until her face cycled green and white, pointing at Chai Mi, her finger trembling straight, "Fine! Fine, you Chai Mi! Turning your face and refusing to acknowledge people, is that it? Leave then! Who cares about your few..."

"Mother!" Dongzi at the side grew anxious, tugged at Sun Baihe's hem, his eyes full of pleading. Fifteen yuan a day, to a half-grown lad like him, was no small income.

Chai Youlu also sighed heavily, his big hands covered in old calluses rubbing against his trouser legs, muffled voice: "Chai Mi, your Second Aunt she... she has a knife mouth but a tofu heart, her work is not muddled..."

"Second Uncle, how the work is, everyone's eyes are watching. My Chai Mi does things, particular about mutual willingness, fair and reasonable. If Second Aunt feels wronged, I absolutely won't force you to stay. Wages, calculated by half day, ten yuan, I'll give you right now."

As she spoke, her hand was already reaching into her pocket.

This decisive bearing thoroughly cowed Sun Baihe. If she really left, the money in hand would fly away not to mention, in the village she'd get a reputation of "not working honestly, driven away by the employer," who would hire her to help work afterwards?

Sun Baihe's chest heaved violently, she glared viciously at Chai Mi, as if wanting to swallow her alive, but in the end she abruptly bent down, scooped up the wooden winnowing fork on the ground, and in a fit of pique fiercely shoveled up a big forkful of grain mixed with chaff, using all her strength to fling it into the air! Grain kernels and fragments were brutally tossed skyward, then blown by a chaotic wind into a scattered mess, quite a lot directly pasting back onto her own head, onto her body.

"Damn! I'll work, can't I?! You living ancestor!" She practically roared it out, voice carrying a sobbing tone of extreme stifled grievance, movements heavy and chaotic, purely venting.

Chai Youlu and Dongzi seeing this, didn't dare say anything more either, hurriedly lowered their heads and continued the work in their hands.

Altogether worked a day and a half, Sun Baihe basically spent it all slacking and cutting corners, is this how work is done?

Countryside hiring people, all are short-term labor.

If not working properly, in a moment they'd be sent packing, Chai Mi had already given Sun Baihe plenty of face.

Just then, the threshing ground entrance transmitted a dragging yet urgent footstep sound, accompanied by stifled pained groans. Chai Mi's heart jumped, she sharply turned back—

Only to see Chai Youqing hunched at the waist, one hand pressing dead tight on his lower back wound, face ashen, forehead full of cold sweat, currently step by shuffling step, extremely arduously inching toward this threshing ground side. Every step he took, that face twisted by pain went a shade whiter.

"Father!" Chai Mi cried out in alarm, quick steps rushed over.

"What are you coming out for?! Don't want your life?!" Chai Mi both anxious and angry, reached out wanting to support him, yet afraid of touching and hurting him.

"No... no matter..." Chai Youqing squeezed out a few words from between his teeth, tried to wave wave hand, but pulled at the wound, pain making his vision go black, body swaying. His gaze passed past Chai Mi, lips trembling, "Grain... grain... wind... wind wants to change weather..."

Chai Mi followed his gaze to look; the sun had at some point been mostly covered by several sheets of lead-gray thick clouds, and over the distant fields, the wind indeed rolled up some dust, spinning in whirls.

The work on the threshing ground had only proceeded to half, the rolled grain just spread out waiting for wind to winnow, if before rain can't finish, this grain soaked by rain will mold, all white worked.

"Oh my heavens!" Chai Youlu also threw the tools in his hands and ran over, looking at big brother's appearance, both anxious and panicked, "Big Brother! Your waist... how could you get off the kang!"

"I see it's going to change weather..... came over to take a look."