Harvesting

The next morning, they started harvesting rice. Li Yu’s family’s rice field was at the entrance, so it was much more convenient to harvest. The six of them finished harvesting half an acre of rice in no time.

Liu Changmin went back to carry the mixing bucket to the ground. Li Yu quickly helped him take it down and placed it in the open space. Laidi and Li Qing carried the grain and passed it to Li Yu and Liu Changmin. Li Yu took it and smashed it against the side wall of the mixing bucket. In a few moments, the grains on the rice stalks fell into the mixing bucket.

Seeing that Li Yu was done in a few hits, Liu Changmin raised his thumb and praised, “Xiaoyu, as expected of divine power.”

Li Yu smiled and continued to remove the grains. It only took them a day to collect the two acres of grains.

Li Yu asked Li Mei to go to the village to buy a few sun pads and dry the grains in the wasteland outside the house.

Li Yu realized that she had only collected less grains than expected. She sighed in her heart. This yield was too little!

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After the grains were collected, Li Mei and her husband explored the wasteland at home. Li Qing and Laidi went to the forest to dig fertile soil. Li Yu carried the pickled vegetables to the crossroads.

Li Yu walked to the intersection and saw that there was no convoy on the road. Just as he was about to put down the backpack, the shopkeeper of Shunfeng Inn stood at the door and waved at Li Yu. “Miss Li, come over. I have something to discuss with you.”

Li Yu glanced at the fat shopkeeper and walked over with a smile. “May I know what you want to discuss with me?”

The fat shopkeeper looked at the pickled vegetables in Li Yu’s backpack and smiled. “Miss Li, you can send me your pickled vegetables for sale! I’ll take a copper coin as commission for every jar you sell.”

Li Yu thought to himself: His shop is here. There are many caravans that feed livestock. It’s feasible to put it here.

“Shopkeeper, I only earn three to four copper coins per jar of pickled vegetables at home. If I sell them on consignment, I’ll give you one copper coin for two jars at most. If you think it’s okay, I’ll put a few jars of each kind with you. I’ll pay you according to the number you sell.”

The shopkeeper thought about it and felt that it was fine. The place was empty anyway. He could sell ten cans a day for five copper coins!

“Miss Li, if a large caravan wants pickled vegetables, your few jars are not enough!”

“My house is in West Mountain Village. It won’t take more than a quarter of an hour to drive there. Just bring someone with me to note the address.”

The fat shopkeeper nodded and smiled. “Okay, I’ll have to get my assistance to go with your.”

“Alright, shopkeeper. You know my surname is Li, so what’s your name?”

“My surname is Liu and my name is Yong. My family is in East Mountain Village. Your uncle and I are related.”

Li Yu bowed to him. “Thank you, Uncle Liu.”

Shopkeeper Liu smiled. “Miss Li, you’re too polite. Let’s help each other!”

Li Yu picked up five cans of pickled vegetables from the back basket and said to Liu Yong with a smile, “Uncle Liu, the wooden stopper is painted with a bar to represent cabbage sauce, the two bars denote pea sauce, the three bars denote minced meat; the vegetable sauce is 20 copper coins a can. The meat sauce costs 30 copper coins each.”

Shopkeeper Liu read them one by one and muttered a few times before nodding. “I’ll remember.”

“We set it in a hurry today. I’ll bring an account book next time. In the future, we’ll record how much we hand over every time.”

“Good, good. I didn’t expect you to be so thoughtful at your age.”

“I have no choice. No one wants to make a living at such a young age. You know the situation at my house.”

Shopkeeper Liu nodded. “That’s true.”

Li Yu came out of the inn. Shopkeeper Liu sent a worker named Zhu Zi to follow Li Yu to the Li family’s residence.

Zhu Zi followed Li Yu to the Li residence with a red face. After recognizing the door, he turned around and ran off.

Li Yu entered with a smile. When Zhaodi, who was at home drying the grains and vegetables, saw that Li Yu was back so quickly, she thought that she had sold out again. She asked happily, “Cousin, were the sauces sold out again?”

Li Yu shook her head. “How could it be so fast? I left it at the inn for sale.”

Zhaodi was a little disappointed when she heard that. She said to Li Yu, “Cousin, Liu Yong is the second son of the Liu family’s patriarch. The inn we call Second Uncle is owned by the patriarch’s family.”

Li Yu was even more relieved when she heard that. She took the hoe and went to the wasteland.

Some land had already been plowed. Liu Changmin and his wife were picking up stones from the ground. Li Yu also picked them up.

As Li Yu picked it up, she thought that she had to go to the forest to find some roses to plant around the ground.

The few of them worked for a day and drove out four to five acres of land. Li Qing and Lai Di also carried a lot of fat leaves and scattered them on the ground.

Li Qing poured the leaf fertilizer out of his backpack and walked to Li Yu’s side. “Sister, I’m going to school the next day. Don’t work too hard at home. I’ll come back to work when I come back from school.”

Li Yu patted the soil on Li Qing’s body. “Don’t worry about this side. In two days, I’ll hire a few people to help with the plowing. Aunt and the others can go back and repair their house.”

Li Qing was relieved to hear that Li Yu would hire someone to work. “Okay! I understand.”

The few of them had just walked to the door when a twelve or thirteen-year-old dark and thin boy walked up to Li Yu nervously. “Sister Li, I heard that your family is hiring people to plow the wasteland. Can I come to your house to help you? I don’t want money. I just want food.”

When Li Qing saw him, it was as if he had seen his old self. He tugged at Li Yu’s collar. Li Yu patted Li Qing and smiled as she nodded at the boy. “Sure! I was just worried about not being able to find someone to work!”

The boy’s eyes lit up when he saw Li Yu and his sister. He bowed to Li Yu and said, “Thank you, Sister Li. Thank you, Brother Ah Qing. I will work hard.”

Li Yu smiled at him and said, “But I have to pay you for my work. You’re young, so I can only give you a few coins, a wallet, and three meals a day.”

The boy’s eyes reddened at the mention of three meals. “Thank you, Sister Li. I’ll be here first thing in the morning.”

“Hey! Isn’t this the Jiang family’s Xiao An? Is your father feeling better?” Li Mei walked over from behind and asked.

Jiang Xiao’an lowered his head sadly and said, “Aunt Li, my father has already left. Aunt Li, Sister Li, my mother is still waiting for me at home. I’ll go back first.”

Jiang Xiao’an turned around and ran towards the village. Li Yu turned around and asked Li Mei, “Aunt, what happened to his father?”

“Sigh! His father couldn’t get up after falling when he went to work two years ago. When was carried home, he collapsed on the bed. His family also fled to settle down here. His mother’s health isn’t good, and she’s sickly. Sigh! How are they going to live with one sick and one weak?”

Li Qing looked at Li Yu. “Sister, he’s so pitiful!”

Li Mei nodded and looked at Li Yu. “Yu’er, why is An’zi looking for you?”

“He came to me asking for work. He said he didn’t want wages, only food. Auntie, he looks rather pitiful. Let’s go and see!”

“Sigh! She’s an orphan and a widow. There’s no one at home to help her. There’s probably no rice left to cook. Let’s go take a look!”

“Sister, can we give him some rice?” Li Qing looked at Li Yu, who nodded. “Sure.”

Li Yu went home and scooped up a few catties of rice. Li Mei led her towards the village.