The blind date was over, and the family had nothing else to do. Qian Shulan led the whole family to water the fields every day to earn work points.
Because we planted sweet potatoes this time and there were few people in the team, so we only watered them once every three days and it was too late for everyone to take turns.
However, the sweet potatoes in the field are almost ripe, and they will be everyone’s life-saving food next year.
Qian Shulan did not dare to be careless. She took everyone in the family, including the six-year-old Zhengjun, to the fields to earn work points.
The adults carried water with shoulder poles, and the children scooped water with gourd ladles to water the sweet potatoes.
The days go by fast.
After the frost, it is a good time to harvest sweet potatoes. At this time, the sweet potatoes are sweeter.
When harvesting sweet potatoes, be sure to dig, load, transport and unload gently to prevent the potato skins and tubers from being damaged.
But, tragically, the team only had one-third of the original tools left.
There were only a dozen or so shovels for peeling sweet potatoes, and Qian Shulan only received one.
Qian Shulan threw all the tools she had stolen before at the door of the warehouse, and then led the warehouse keeper to see.
After the warehouse keeper discovered it, he immediately went to call the brigade cadres over.
Everyone thought of the ghost stories. "Could these be the ones lost in Sunjia Village?"
Qian Shulan leaned forward and said, "Look, there is a Sunjia Village logo on it."
Everyone was discussing whether or not to return these tools.
Qian Shulan curled her lips and said sarcastically, "Give it back to them? They are also sending the tools up there to make iron. We might as well keep them in our own production team. At least these farm tools can play their due role."
Everyone looked at each other, obviously very tempted, but their faces looked a little unhappy. It is not nice to occupy other people's things.
Qian Shulan smiled and said, "We didn't steal this. It was a gift from God. We didn't do anything wrong."
Everyone thought the same. They certainly didn't steal the tool. They just didn't hand it in. They couldn't be considered guilty.
Finally, everyone unanimously decided to keep the tools for themselves. In order to prevent the matter from spreading, the temporary brigade secretary also asked everyone to sign a guarantee.
Of course, this was done after Qian Shulan's subtle reminder.
There were several families in the team that were related to Sunjia Village, so there was no guarantee that someone would not leak this matter. She had better be on guard.
With the tools, peeling sweet potatoes can be much faster.
Digging sweet potatoes seems like something that both adults and children can do, but after a while, children can't stand it. This requires a lot of strength in the hands.
Qian Shulan asked the children to help pick sweet potatoes.
Because work points are calculated based on the number of ridges, no one is lazy.
The adults each dug a ridge, and the children followed behind to pick up the fruits.
Because there were not enough tools, Xiaomei, who was so old, could only follow behind to pick up the grains. They threw them one by one on the edge of the field, piled them into a small hill, and then found a cart from the team to transport them to the threshing ground.
If the scorekeepers found any leftover sweet potatoes in the fields, their work points would be deducted. So everyone was paying attention. However, since the men had gone to the steel mills to make steel, it was not known whether the scorekeepers would check as carefully as in previous years.
Never mind, let’s just do it the same way as before.
Although Qian Shulan was also a scorekeeper, she could not check her own land. She had to ask other scorekeepers to come and check, just to prevent someone from abusing their power for personal gain.
However, the work points are no longer the original eight or ten points. They have doubled. This has greatly encouraged the members to work harder.
Qian Shulan was in charge of transporting the sweet potatoes. She had never peeled sweet potatoes before, and if she wasn't careful, they would break. It would be better to transport the sweet potatoes, which was a good way to make the best use of them.
Because the donkey carts, ox carts and horse carts in the team were requisitioned for the Great Leap Forward, her strength was quite useful in pulling carts.
Some young women saw Qian Shulan pulling a cart at her age and were worried that she would hurt her waist and tire herself out.
Qian Shulan waved her hands, looking confident, "It's okay, now is the critical moment. We can't let down. If we don't harvest these sweet potatoes, we will starve next year. It doesn't matter if I get a little tired."
Everyone admires her spirit.
But soon everyone found that Aunt Qian was still as skilled as ever, and she pulled the cart more skillfully than the young man. Soon, she left them far behind.
The Wang family was convinced that they could earn 156 work points a day.
There are five adults in their family now: Qian Shulan, Sun Daqin, Li Chunhua, Zhou Xuemei and Wang Danna. In normal times, except for Wang Danna who can earn 7 work points and Zhou Xuemei who earns 10 work points, the others can earn 8 work points, a total of 41 work points.
There are four half-grown children: Zhengkang, Zhengguo, Xiaomei and Xiaohe. They each earn 7 work points, for a total of 28 work points.
The remaining three little kids are Xiaotao, Xiaolian and Zhengjun. They have never worked before, but if they had worked before, they could get 3 work points, for a total of 9 work points.
The total is 78 work points, which has now doubled to 156 work points.
Among them, Qian Shulan was the strongest, and she had the space, so she could do twice as much work as others. If she had not been afraid that others would notice something unusual, she would have been able to transport all the sweet potatoes in one go.
However, Xiaotao is also very strong.
When Qian Shulan pulled the sweet potatoes to the threshing ground, Xiaotao, a ten-year-old child, effortlessly lifted the sack that was taller than her.
Everyone was stunned. They all said that this child couldn't be better.
Zhou Xuemei felt so relieved when she saw this.
Before, because Xiao Tao was ill, the villagers said all kinds of things. Most of them said that Xiao Tao could not be raised.
Who would have thought that a trip to Beijing would cure the disease and make me completely better.
She felt proud and more grateful to her mother-in-law.
On this side, Qian Shulan pulled the cart to the threshing ground.
There are three ways to preserve sweet potatoes now: select the good ones and store them in cellars, peel the mashed ones, slice them and dry them in the sun, or grind them into powder.
The first method: Selecting the best sweet potatoes and storing them in the cellar was the original method used by most families. But now we eat in the canteen, and the team does not have such a large cellar. It is too late to dig now, and no one has the time to dig. Most people are not at ease to leave the sweet potatoes at the members' homes. So this method is directly ruled out.
The second method: rub the sweet potatoes into slices and dry them in the sun. Because sun-dried sweet potatoes are more likely to mold, this storage method can only be used for those that have been peeled.
Now only the third option remains.
Fortunately, the team has a special powder wiping machine. The team spent a lot of money to buy this thing from the county agricultural machinery station. When using it normally, we take good care of it. After use, we have to wipe the machine clean.
The steps of applying powder are very simple.
Step 1: Wash the sweet potatoes first, then pour them into the sweet potato grater.
Step 2: Use a bucket to collect the sweet potato residue.
Step 3: Wash the powder. Put two wooden sticks in a large vat with a grate and a sieve on top. Pour the sweet potato residue into the grate to dilute and stir, so that the powder dissolves in the water and separates from the residue.
Step 4: Squeeze out the moisture from the sweet potato residue, pour the powdered sweet potato residue onto the curtain, and spread it out in the sun. This powder is the sweet potato flour.
As for the remaining starch water, let it settle overnight. The next morning, pour out the clear water on top and take out the water from the starch lumps below. Put it in a container and it will turn sour after a few days. This is the sweet potato pulp, which can be used to make noodles.
However, most of them are to scoop out the sweet potato flour after it is clarified. At this time, the sweet potato flour can be used to make jelly. Of course, after drying, you can slowly make jelly and eat it. Beating the sweet potato flour with a mallet can make it more solid.
On the third day, cut the drained sweet potato starch into pieces and place them on paper or plastic sheets to dry in the sun. Once dried, they are called "dry starch". They can be used to make jelly, thicken soup, and most of them are dried starch noodles!
Qian Shulan learned how to make sweet potato noodles from her grandmother before, and it tastes especially good.
The threshing ground of the Wangjia Village Production Team was very large, twice as large as the playground where she went to college in her previous life. To the right of the threshing ground was a fish pond, and next to the fish pond was the only well in the team.
When Qian Shulan arrived, she dumped a cart of sweet potatoes directly beside the well, where many old ladies were already sitting on small stools, bending over and washing the sweet potatoes.
Seeing her coming, Liu Yueqin, who was brushing sweet potatoes, looked up, and then was so shocked that her eyeballs almost fell out, and her voice was very high, "Hey, third sister-in-law, how do you do this job? Be careful not to hurt your waist."
Qian Shulan wiped the sweat from her forehead and replied with a smile, "It's okay!"
Without waiting for Liu Yueqin to persuade her again, the old lady who was squatting beside her and bending over to work said in a veiled tone, "Shoudong's mother, please stop persuading him. He is still young. How can he compare to you and me, who are both half-buried old men."
Liu Yueqin was a little embarrassed and quickly laughed it off, "Third sister-in-law, that's not what my sister-in-law meant. She's just worried that you might have sprained your waist. She's just caring about you." She didn't even believe what she said and kept talking in a low voice.
Qian Shulan leaned over to look at the person. Oh, it was her! This person was Wang Shouquan's biological mother, named He Cuilan. She had had several conflicts with the original body and had not been in contact for more than ten years. However, in Qian Shulan's opinion, it was the original body's love of taking advantage of others that led to the estrangement between the two families.
Qian Shulan smiled at He Cuilan, as if she didn't care about what she said at all. She said in a gentle voice, "Sister-in-law, I said you have such a bad temper. It's been more than ten years and you still haven't calmed down. Do you want to turn yourself into a frog or something?"
He Cuilan was so angry with her that she was about to speak.
Qian Shulan seemed not to notice her change of expression, and continued to ask with concern, "By the way, sister-in-law, how is the mask I made for Shouquan's child wearing?"
He Cuilan was stunned. Is this true? How could she not know? However, the men had been at the steel plant for several months and had not even returned for the Mid-Autumn Festival. How could she know? However, Qian Shulan could not possibly tell such a lie. Once the men returned, they would be exposed. Qian Shulan should not be so bored. She felt a little embarrassed at the moment. She was speechless.
Seeing that He Cuilan didn't say anything, Liu Yueqin tried to smooth things over and pretended to be angry at Qian Shulan, "I say, third sister-in-law, we are relatives after all. You made masks for Shouquan, but didn't you think about our Shoudong?"
Qian Shulan smiled and said, "Everyone knows that you, Liu Yueqin, are the most skilled craftsman in our Wangjia Village. How dare my Chunhua, with her mediocre skills, show off in front of you, Guan Gong. I heard from my third brother that you made several for Shoudong, and even he made some. He was teaching us, and when he was taking something out, he accidentally dropped it, and we all saw it. Don't deny it."
Liu Yueqin was praised and her smile became brighter, but she was still modest, "No, he just likes to show off."
The two chatted and laughed for a while, and Qian Shulan sighed, "Our team is old and young, and there are too few young and capable wives. While I can still pull, I will help with the work, and when I get tired, I will help with the powdering. I won't tire myself out."
Liu Yueqin hurriedly warned, "Then you better be careful. If you feel like you can't pull it anymore, come over and help wash the sweet potatoes."
Qian Shulan nodded in agreement, then pulled the cart away.
He Cuilan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "This person is just stubborn. He won't listen to advice. After more than ten years, he is still the same."
Liu Yueqin knew that her eldest sister-in-law was kindhearted and that she was giving in. She smiled and tried to give her a way out. "I think my third sister-in-law has changed for the better. She's even willing to give away masks. I guess she wants to mend her relationship with you."
He Cuilan felt a little uncomfortable, but she didn't say anything. If you bring up the trivial things from more than ten years ago again, people will think you are petty.
Since she had taken the initiative to come forward, He Cuilan felt that if she continued to be pretentious, it would be too petty, so she should forgive her! She was also secretly wondering whether she should find something decent to give back.
I am not the kind of person who likes to take advantage of others.
Because there were too few people and harvesting sweet potatoes was urgent, after all, we had to plow the land and plant wheat next, so no one dared to delay.
It was difficult to see clearly at night when digging the sweet potatoes, so everyone transported the sweet potatoes that were not transported during the day to the threshing ground overnight.
Qian Shulan put some of the things that were piled up in the space into her room in advance. The things were piled all over the bed. Fortunately, there were no glass windows in the house, so the situation inside the house could not be seen from the outside. Otherwise, she really didn't dare to do this.
While it was dark and no one was paying attention, Qian Shulan put the sweet potatoes into the space and then transported them to the threshing ground.
Of course, Qian Shulan would also help other members with the transportation.
In the end, they were so busy that they didn't know how many times they had carried the sweet potatoes. They were also sighing in their hearts that it was faster when there was help.
After transporting the sweet potatoes, Qian Shulan returned home. Before that, she had asked Xiaomei to bring the children back to boil water.
Now that the hot water was ready, she immediately called everyone over, "Wash yourself up before going to bed, and pay attention to personal hygiene, otherwise you will get sick."
Although everyone was very tired, the mother-in-law was too intimidating and no one dared to disobey.
After washing up step by step, everyone fell asleep.
The next day, Li Chunhua got up at daybreak to cook.
It was her turn today. Xiaomei got up to help her.
Qian Shulan had asked them to make pancakes before, and she saved them in her space.
Even if other things were temporarily cleared out, this thing was not taken out for fear that it would grow mold.
I don’t know what’s going on this year. It’s already November and the weather is still so hot. It’s not like the usual temperature drop after the frost.
Therefore, this year's sweet potatoes are not as delicious as in previous years.
After dinner, Qian Shulan took her three daughters-in-law and children to the fields.
I have been racing against time like this for more than ten days.
By the time all the sweet potatoes were harvested from the fields, Qian Shulan felt like her waist was about to break.
After the harvest, everyone went to the threshing ground to help, washing the sweet potatoes, rubbing them with flour, and drying them in the sun. They were busy as hell.
Thanks to the good weather this year, there was not a drop of rain during the entire autumn harvest. The sweet potato flour was dried very well, put into sacks, and stored in the production team's warehouse.
By the time everyone finished all this, it was already a month later.
Some teams, perhaps because they believed the nonsense that the yield per mu was 10,000 kilograms, just left the sweet potatoes in the fields without harvesting them.
Qian Shulan strictly forbade the children to go and dig.
Although she felt it was a pity to leave it on the ground, she couldn't let her child take the risk. If caught, he would be criticized and paraded through the streets. She didn't want such a thing to happen in her family.
However, she doesn't have to worry about the children not being able to go.
At night, Qian Shulan took advantage of no one's attention and ran to the sweet potato field to harvest sweet potatoes.
She has the space in her hand. If someone comes, she can just hide in the space. There is no danger at all. She can use these sweet potatoes to save people next year, which is better than letting them rot in the field.
Of course, the reason why she dared to do this was because she would never be discovered.
In the end, the women in the village couldn't bear to see the sweet potatoes rotting in the fields anymore, so they secretly ran to the next team to dig them up, stealing half and keeping the other half.
Qian Shulan was speechless. Isn't this clearly telling people that you stole their sweet potatoes
Qian Shulan directly put the sweet potatoes they left behind into the space.
But, she obviously didn't expect that Sun Daqin would have the courage to steal.
Moreover, she saw it. What's more terrible is that she was not the only one who saw it, but also people in the village saw it together.
Qian Shulan hid in the space and watched several women she knew secretly digging sweet potatoes.
When she got home, Qian Shulan wanted to ask Sun Daqin to stop, but then she was stunned. Sun Daqin didn't take the sweet potatoes back at all.
She clearly saw Sun Daqin going to steal sweet potatoes, so why did Sun Daqin come back empty-handed
What is going on
Qian Shulan decided to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing circumstances.
The next day, Qian Shulan secretly followed Sun Daqin, wanting to know where Sun Daqin hid the sweet potatoes after stealing them every day.
Soon, she found out that Sun Daqin had buried the sweet potatoes directly in the private plot behind their new house.
Of course, it is no longer their family’s private land, but belongs to the team.
I planted sweet potatoes before, and after harvesting them, the land was left empty.
Sun Daqin was buried there and could not be seen at all.
Qian Shulan secretly guessed that Sun Daqin hid the sweet potatoes here because she wanted to wait until Zhengkang and the others were hungry before taking them out to feed the children.
So, I didn't intend to expose it.
The author has something to say: Thank you little angels for the mines, muah
Liu Liu threw 1 mine. Throwing time: 2018-06-17 16:40:45
Yu Lingling threw 1 grenade. Throwing time: 2018-06-18 11:00:26
Liu Liu threw 1 mine. Throwing time: 2018-06-18 12:58:30