Chapter 1127

In fact, from the moment Huang Baoguo and the others arrived this morning and insisted on eating by the stove, it was clear that they suffered from an inferiority complex; it was only due to the firm attitude of Wang An’s family that they were willing to sit at the table to eat.

Therefore, Wang An arranged for them to stay in the old house. Although the fundamental reason was Wang An’s disdain for them, for Huang Baoguo and the others, it was exactly what they wanted.

If one were to put oneself in their shoes, no matter who was in Huang Baoguo’s position, they would likely only want to stay in the side rooms or grass huts of the employer’s home, trying their best not to cause trouble for the employer.

Of course, the main thing was also not wanting to be a nuisance, because this could be considered a form of self-awareness.

After a short rest of more than half an hour, everyone got up from the kang one after another and walked out of their respective rooms, and by this time, Comrade Wang Dazhu was already sharpening his sickle.

As the old saying goes, "Sharpening the knife does not delay the work of cutting firewood," and as for going down to the fields to harvest crops, this is even more true.

If you don't have a sharp sickle, not only will the speed of cutting wheat not be fast, but it is also very easy to cut your hand with a dull blade.

That’s right, it is easy to get cut by a dull blade.

The reason for saying this is that when harvesting crops, a dull blade does not easily cut into the stalks; in this case, the blade easily slips, and the middle of the stalk is where a person's hand is, so whenever the blade slips, one can imagine the result for the person's hand.

You must believe that while a dull blade is a real pain in the ass for cutting crop stalks, if it cuts a person's hand, it is absolutely lightning fast; it’s no wonder that a single touch results in a gash.

After waiting for a while longer, Zhao Cuiyun also came over from her home.

After sharpening the knives, the father and son, Wang Dazhu and Wang An, cranked the four-wheeled vehicle and the walking tractor to start them, and after everyone climbed into the cargo beds, the vehicle and the tractor headed out of the courtyard one after the other.

Amidst the busyness, time flew by to mid-October.

In these nearly 20 days, Wang An not only harvested wheat and rice for his own family, but also helped Shen Wei’s family harvest theirs, and finally helped Zhao Cuiyun’s family bring in their corn.

There was no other way; besides her and her son, there wasn't even a breathing animal in Zhao Cuiyun’s home, and naturally, there were no large livestock either.

So, in their family's situation, if they wanted to bring the crops back from the fields, they could only rely on people carrying them home on their backs, or else trade labor.

The "trading labor" mentioned here means Zhao Cuiyun would go help a family with large livestock work for two days, and then borrow their horse-drawn or mule-drawn cart to help haul the crops.

However, to tell the truth, wanting to trade labor like this during the autumn harvest is actually a very, very difficult thing, because the autumn harvest has another name called "emergency harvesting."

In the south, emergency harvesting is done for fear of rain, as grain that gets damp will mold or sprout and become worthless, while here in the north, emergency harvesting is done for fear of snow, which would lead to grain that hasn't been brought home in time being buried directly in the fields.

So when your family is in a hurry to bring grain home, other people’s families are in a hurry too; in this situation, who is going to trade labor with you?

After finishing the fields, Wang An also took the time to go into the mountains once to retrieve the 6 guns and ammunition hidden in the tree hollow.

When retrieving the guns and ammunition, Wang An specifically went to check on the corpses of those 6 people, but the corpses of all six had disappeared; it is unknown what kind of animal ate them.

After finishing the fields, the father and son Huang Baoguo and Er Gangzi went home once, and after harvesting their own corn, they came back.

The main thing was that although all of Wang An’s family’s crops had been brought home, the subsequent threshing, which is removing the grains from the wheat and rice, also required manpower.

Moreover, besides this, Wang An’s family also needed to collect a large amount of hay; a small amount wouldn't do.

The main reason is that Wang An’s family has too many livestock; if they relied only on the threshed wheat stalks and rice straw, the livestock at home wouldn't have enough to eat.

Before the land was divided among households, the stalks in the fields were basically in a state where no one wanted them; they would either pile up at the edge of the field to rot naturally, or wait until spring when the stalks were dry to burn them with a fire, so there was no shortage of hay back then; you could just haul it home as you pleased.

But starting this year, in order to farm, the vast majority of families in the village bought large livestock such as mules, horses, donkeys, and cattle, and there were no shortage of families buying sheep for small-scale breeding.

With things set up this way, the stalks that no one wanted in previous years have instead become the hay that the vast majority of families need to collect.

There is no other way; in this place of Heilongjiang, once winter sets in, snow becomes a common occurrence, and there is snow everywhere across the mountains and plains, making grazing impossible, so crop stalks have become the winter necessity for mules, horses, donkeys, cattle, and sheep.

Therefore, before the snow falls, large breeding households like Wang An’s family have to go to places with lush vegetation, like wild grass meadows, to cut grass.

Actually, when the wild vegetable digging and mushroom picking ended, Wang Dazhu and his wife, along with Shen Wei, had been cutting grass all along, but the grass cut during those days was far from enough for the consumption of Wang An’s family for the whole winter.

Just like this, before the heavy snow fell, Wang An’s family had already collected a large amount of hay, and it was certainly more than enough for the livestock at home to get through the winter.

And today is the day Wang An pays the wages to the father and son Huang Baoguo and Er Gangzi.

According to the previous agreement, Huang Baoguo and Er Gangzi each get 50 cents per day, and Huang Zhong gets 30 cents per day.

Not counting the two days they went home to harvest corn, the three of them worked for a total of 16 days, so the father and son Huang Baoguo got a total of 12.8 yuan, and Er Gangzi got 8 yuan.

However, Wang An gave the father and son Huang Baoguo 16 yuan and gave Er Gangzi 10 yuan.

Wang An said to the three of them with a smile:

"Uncle Huang, Uncle Gangzi, you have worked quite hard these days. This extra money is a bonus for you. You can buy two jin of liquor to drink later, hahaha."

When Huang Baoguo and Er Gangzi saw the extra money, Huang Baoguo waved his hand and said:

"Young Master Xiao An, this won't do, this won't do. We should just get paid for the work we do. Besides, the food at your house is too good; it’s made both me and Er Gangzi fat."

After Huang Baoguo finished speaking, Er Gangzi also said:

"Yeah, Young Master Xiao An, even if you didn't pay me, I feel like this work is very comfortable. Three full meals a day, with meat in every meal, and I can have a drink at night. I’m not afraid of you laughing, but I’ve lived for over 30 years, and even before the New Year, our family never ate like this. I want to keep working at your house and never leave."

After Er Gangzi finished speaking, Huang Baoguo also said with a face full of emotion:

"Yeah, it would be great if we could keep working at your house."

It was clear that these two really didn't want to leave, and they weren't just saying nice things for Wang An to hear.

The main thing was that after eating and drinking for more than 10 days, the three of them had indeed gained some weight, which was completely different from their sallow complexions before.

(End of chapter)