Chapter 17: End of the Emergency Harvest

Xie Yuanyuan pouted, and An Yinan tapped her forehead, "Alright, that person is just like that, it's not worth getting angry over. Come on, taste the food I made."

An Yinan watched Wang Chunmei walk away, her eyes narrowing slightly.

The four of them set up a table in the courtyard and brought out three dishes; although there were only three, the portions were quite generous.

The four of them actually drank every drop of the sauce from the plates clean.

"This is what life is all about," Xie Yuanyuan said, unable to straighten her back from being so full.

An Yinan went into the house and brought out a thermos, pouring a bowl for each of the three of them. It was hawthorn water she had boiled, mainly to aid digestion, as she was worried about the little girl Xie Yuanyuan overeating.

"Eat a little less, aren't you uncomfortable from being so full?"

Xie Yuanyuan waved her hand, "No, wasting good food is the real sin."

The best thing she had done since coming to the countryside was following An Yinan; otherwise, she would have cried to death, only being able to smell the food but not eat it.

An Yinan smiled and shook her head, reaching out to tidy things into the kitchen, then used the hot water that had been kept warm to wash the bowls and chopsticks clean.

An Xiangbei held a book, reading it seriously, while the three of them chatted idly and continued to process the chestnuts.

Finally, as it was getting dark, they finished processing the chestnuts they had carried back over the last two days.

"I don't need my share either. Just make some for me when you're done," Zhang Qian said, waving his hand and refusing the chestnuts in the cloth bag.

Xie Yuanyuan ran off even faster; she was clumsy with her hands, and nothing could compare to the delicious food Nan Nan made.

"That works too, then I'll just store them for now," An Yinan nodded.

The work whistle in the village blew three times in total: the first time to wake up, the second to prepare for work, and the third to head to the fields.

Once the whistle blew, An Yinan quickly got dressed, simmered millet porridge over a small fire, and mixed a side of spicy cabbage.

After the siblings finished their meal, each took a water canteen and quickly headed off to work.

"Nan Nan, are you going to snap corn or haul sacks this morning?" Auntie Li asked, checking in on An Yinan's intentions first.

Over the past two days, the two had become much closer; the shift in address from "Educated Youth An" to "Nan Nan" showed just how close Auntie Li felt toward her.

"Either is fine, Auntie Li, you decide the arrangement." An Yinan truly didn't mind; no matter what she did, her Work Points wouldn't be low.

"Then I won't go to the men's team to borrow anyone; the job of hauling sacks will be left to you," Auntie Li said without standing on ceremony.

If they went to borrow people from the men's team, they could only come over to help haul after they finished their own work; not only would they have to give away Work Points, but the men wouldn't be happy about it either, as it would delay their noon rest.

If her own team could finish the hauling, it would save the Work Points and be more convenient.

"Done," An Yinan nodded.

She first snapped corn with the main group, and after finishing five rows, she began hauling sacks to the edge of the field. In just one morning's work, she earned a full forty-plus Work Points...

With her chasing behind them to haul the sacks, the women's hands became much faster, and for the whole morning, they didn't have time to slack off or joke around.

They were no worse than the men's team.

When the noon whistle blew, several people were so tired they could barely stand, but when they looked back and realized they had actually earned over ten Work Points in one morning—

Their backs straightened, and their spirits lifted.

Everyone did their own cooking for lunch, after all, they had earned over ten Work Points in half a day.

With this comparison, people were even more proactive in the afternoon, hitting a new high.

Auntie Li smiled until her eyes narrowed; in all these years, this was the most impressive the First Sub-team had ever been.

The emergency harvest lasted for over twenty days, and after the final potatoes were collected, the Captain finally announced, "Emergency harvest finished."

Those four words made the three-person team leap for joy in their hearts.

An Yinan calculated the time; in half a month, they would dig up potatoes and sugar beets, and then there wouldn't be much work left.

Over these twenty-plus days, Xie Yuanyuan felt she had lost at least ten pounds.

"Finally finished the emergency harvest, I've been tired like a dog day after day," Xie Yuanyuan said, rubbing her small arms; she had even started to feel muscle soreness recently.

"Going to the County tomorrow?" An Yinan took a sip of water.

"Going! Braised pork, here I come, Xie Yuanyuan!" As she spoke, she swallowed her saliva; the way this girl was obsessed with food was truly something else.

Zhang Qian didn't speak, just nodded.

Originally, they were going to take An Xiangbei with them this time, but little Xiangbei refused.

"The weather is getting cold, and there isn't enough cow grass yet. I promised Huzi I'd go cut cow grass tomorrow," little Xiangbei said with a stubborn look; he couldn't break a promise he made to someone else.

"Then should I bring you some books tomorrow?" An Yinan asked.

This time, little Xiangbei nodded firmly.

An Yinan secretly calculated the time; she had to let little Xiangbei go to school next year. If he fell too far behind in knowledge, he would lose the motivation to move forward.

Recently, with the guidance of her and Zhang Qian, little Xiangbei had learned almost all the third-grade material.

After the autumn harvest ended, Uncle Niu also began pulling the ox cart. Although Uncle Niu charged a fee, the money collected had to be turned over to the Brigade, and then the Brigade would calculate Work Points for Uncle Niu.

"Morning, Uncle Niu," An Yinan handed the ox cart fare to Uncle Niu.

Uncle Niu nodded with a chuckle.

After the rush of the harvest, everyone was dark and thin, but this Educated Youth An hadn't changed at all.

This had to be credited to the sunscreen...

The ox cart was full of people, and Uncle Niu jumped onto the cart, patted the old yellow ox lightly, and the cart slowly began to move.

Upon arriving at the County, An Yinan looked at the two of them, "I need to go to the Food Station to buy some meat first."

"I'll go straight to the State-run Restaurant and help you get a spot in line," Xie Yuanyuan patted her chest, taking full responsibility for the task of getting a number.

"Done," An Yinan nodded. After parting ways with the two, she went to the Waste Recycling Station first.

The old man was already swaying in his rocking chair, basking in the sun in a half-asleep state.

"The little girl is here again? What do you want this time?"

An Yinan looked at the old man, "You actually remember me?"

The old man stopped rocking and chuckled, "The thing I, this old man, am most proud of is my ability to recognize people. As long as I've seen someone once, I basically never forget them."

"Old man, you are impressive."

"I'm looking at some books and ceramic jars." An Yinan gave the old man a thumbs up.

The old man nodded, "Go find them yourself, just bring them over when you're done, I'm getting old."

An Yinan walked into the large pile of books, slowly searching for books suitable for An Xiangbei, and unintentionally saw the Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry Series, as well as some high school textbooks.

She picked out all the middle school and high school textbooks she found, thinking to herself, these shouldn't be prohibited books, right?

She really didn't dare to take the English books, and besides, her English truly didn't need books.

Afterwards, she went to the area with ceramic jars, picked and chose a pile, and placed them beside the old man.

"Old man, let's start with these."

This time the old man was even more casual; he glanced at them randomly and didn't even flip through the books.

"Three yuan."

Books are heavy by nature, and she had chosen many this time, and there were more ceramic jars than last time; she hadn't expected it to only cost three yuan...

The books weren't even put on a scale.

"Many thanks, old man." An Yinan handed the money to the old man, then moved the items to the woods outside, and only after seeing no one around did she put everything into her space.

She then took brown sugar, eggs, rice, flour, and a piece of meat out from her space.

Only then did she go to the State-run Restaurant.