Phi-Fic Chapter 47 Farm Work That Never Stops
Chapter 47 Farm Work That Never Stops
The dramatic farce subtly led the villagers to gradually accept the fact that this year's grain distribution would be 30% per person and 70% per worker.
But accepting it is one thing, suppressing the urge to cause trouble is another, and feeling unhappy about it is yet another.
People weren't very enthusiastic about work; there was a general feeling that if you don't let me have an easy time, I can't fight back, so I'll just give up.
That morning, just as dawn broke, Lu Yuanqing got up as usual, washed up quickly, ate breakfast, and then led Lu Yuanbo and the others to prepare for work.
At the end of June, only the mornings were truly comfortable throughout the day.
Once you start working, it gets unbearably hot as soon as the sun comes out. Without tall trees to provide shade, it's torture.
There's no way around it, it's just so hot here in the summer!
Lu Yuanqing, a typical northerner with a very northern accent, was not used to such heat.
You should know that the last time he enjoyed heating before he transmigrated was in October! This time, he enjoyed it before November.
"Xiao Nan, while the sun isn't too strong yet, take Xiao Bei and the others out for a walk. Come home when it gets hot, okay? But don't go to the pond! Do you hear me?" Lu Yuanqing instructed.
Keeping the two children locked up at home every day isn't a good idea. The most important thing is that Xiao Bei and Xiao Zhong are over two years old. Due to the disaster, their health was already poor, and now they can't even walk properly. Going out more often will help them get some exercise.
At least when I walk faster, I won't have tremors anymore!
"Okay, Third Uncle, I'll remember!" Lu Mingnan immediately promised loudly, as if he had been given special attention.
Seeing how well-behaved he was, Lu Yuanqing ruffled his hair and left.
There are two ponds in Shihua Village.
The village is located in a fairly large area, but it contains little to no lotus leaves or lotus roots, and even the fish have become very scarce after three years.
This pond is used by villagers to wash clothes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and so on. Most importantly, when there is a water shortage in the paddy fields, this pond is drained.
During the autumn harvest of corn and millet, it's so hot that villagers go swimming in the pond at night.
It can be said to be extremely useful.
The other pond is smaller and is located near the end of the village.
However, it does contain lotus root and water chestnuts, and a good harvest can be obtained every year.
The Lu family's house is located near the end of the village, very close to this pond.
Lu Yuanqing then reminded Xiao Nan, who was out playing, not to take her younger siblings to such a dangerous place.
Time really can change a person.
In just a few months, Lu Yuanqing, who never worked in the fields, was transformed into someone who insisted on working in the fields every day.
For those born in the 00s, waking up every day means going to work in the fields, which is a disaster.
But he's actually gotten used to it now.
Lu Yuanqing wiped away a tear of bitterness in his heart. He didn't even dare to think carefully about how he had persevered; it was too hard.
Thinking about how miserable he was, Lu Yuanqing dug the soil a few times.
The villagers were terrified of hunger, so as soon as the potatoes were harvested, they started planting sweet potatoes.
These sweet potatoes are planted now, and they can be harvested after the autumn harvest of millet. There's no time to rest at all.
"Hey, Yuanqing's really putting in a lot of effort this year! Digging so diligently!" A woman working in the same area nearby said jokingly.
"Haha! Young people are just full of energy!" another man said with a laugh.
But they all secretly looked at Lu Yuanqing with disdain.
What an idiot!
What's the point of working so hard if I'm still bullied by that bastard Zhao Zhongcai?
They won't waste their energy!
If you work too hard, you'll get hungry even faster, and then you'll have to eat so much food!
Lu Yuanqing's eyes darted around, but his hands didn't stop moving. He raised the hoe and dug a small hole, one after another. Lu Mingdong worked with him, one digging and the other planting sweet potato seedlings.
"What can I do? My family is so big! If I don't work hard and earn more work points, the grain I get won't be enough for everyone to eat!"
Lu Mingdong squatted on the ground, looked up when he heard this, and saw a sly look flash across Lu Yuanqing's lips.
Very well, Uncle is going to fool people again!
"That's true, Yuanqing, you have a lot of children!"
"However, it's still Zhao Zhongcai's fault. If he hadn't suddenly come up with this 'three days of labor and seven days of work' thing, your Xiao Nan and the others would have been able to get a lot of food. If they had been frugal, they could have barely made ends meet."
"You bet he's out of his mind! He's got his head stuck in a door, isn't he? He's always messing around with this idiot stuff!"
"I think it's just immoral, and they'll get their comeuppance sooner or later!"
"That's right, that's right, he's the captain, maybe..."
If they continued, things would get serious, so in the end they could only mutter a few words under their breath, and everyone around them pretended not to hear them.
Lu Yuanqing calmly listened to their cursing of Zhao Zhongcai. When the accusations gradually subsided, he put down his hoe, stood on the ground, and looked at the skinny man who had been talking the most enthusiastically. He said, "But the brigade leader has already consulted with the commune leaders, and this year our village will definitely follow the 'three-for-seven' distribution system."
The truth is often unacceptable.
Fortunately, after the farce of throwing excrement, when the villagers heard about this fact again, they at most just cursed Zhao Zhongcai a few times.
Lu Yuanqing watched with a smile as they once again excitedly denounced Zhao Zhongcai.
“Yuanqing, you’re our village accountant. You’re a good kid, you can’t learn from that bastard Zhao Zhongcai!”
"Yeah yeah!"
Seeing their angry and admonished faces, Lu Yuanqing smiled knowingly and said, "Aunties and uncles, don't worry! I'm just an accountant, only in charge of the village's accounts and money. Production matters are handled by the brigade leader, so I definitely won't do it."
If you've already criticized Zhao Zhongcai, then you can't criticize him anymore!
"Sigh, I'm really having a headache too. Look at my family, I'm the only one who can barely get the full work points every day. Yuanbo and Huanhuan are still young, how many work points can they earn? The most important thing is that I have three little ones at home who just eat and don't do any work. What can I do? I can only work my butt off!"
Lu Mingdong didn't even look up this time, and just rolled his eyes at the land.
"Yuan Qing is still suffering too much, with so many burdens at home..."
Lu Yuanqing sniffed and waved generously, "So! I can only work hard to earn work points. The brigade leader said that work points will account for 70% of food in the future. I have to get the maximum number of work points every day so that I can get a lot of food when it's distributed."
"How much can you earn with work points? The amount of grain you get is probably less than what the original population used to have!" an old woman said with dissatisfaction.
This is actually the real reason for their dissatisfaction.
In the past, the 30% of work points allocated to grain yielded very little.
Therefore, they simply do not believe that 70% of the work points will be more than 70% of the population's food in the past.
If the accounts don't balance out, then naturally people will feel uneasy.
They used to be able to get enough food to feed themselves without working, but now they have to work to get it.
Even if you understand this principle, it's not so easy to accept.