The group worked diligently and finally finished harvesting the rice in the field by sunset.

Xu Lai was too tired to speak. She walked to the stream, stepped into the water, washed the mud off her trousers, and then walked home barefoot, carrying her slippers.

Xia Ning was exhausted. She had to harvest another field tomorrow, so she didn't plan to call Xia Ning over. This work was just too tiring.

She was almost at her doorstep when she remembered that she hadn't registered at the village committee to use the harvester, so she continued walking a little further.

The village committee's door was still open. Xu Lai knocked and went inside. Qin Huan was sitting at his desk, writing something.

She explained her purpose: "Secretary Qin, it's like this, my family has a large paddy field and we need to use a harvester."

Qin Huan took out a register. "Okay, register it here. We'll arrange the harvesting in a unified manner. When the harvester operator tells you how much it will cost, you can pay the rest."

Xu Lai wrote down her name and contact number, and said, "Thank you, I'll be going now."

Qin Huan nodded, "No trouble at all, take care."

After everyone left, she stood up and looked at the spot where Xu Lai had been standing. Only when she saw that there was no mud did she sit down with relief. She thought to herself, "I wonder if she washed up before coming to register. She came covered in mud."

Xu Lai walked home barefoot. When she got close to her door, she found the path too rough, but not wanting to get her shoes dirty, she carefully chose to walk on the part without pebbles.

She was skipping along when a car came up in front of her. She recognized it as Zhao Qingyun's, so she stopped and waited for him to drive it back.

As Zhao Qingyun got out of the car, Xu Lai happened to be walking towards the courtyard gate. He glanced at her feet and said, "Did you fall into the pond again?"

Xu Lai: "Huh?"

Zhao Qingyun gestured to her with his eyes to indicate that she was covered in mud. Xu Lai realized what he meant and said, "No, I went to harvest rice today. The fields were too wet, so I got a lot of mud on me."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qingyun raised an eyebrow. "Is it finished?"

Xu Lai sighed: "No, we'll have to cut for more than an hour tomorrow morning, and then we'll have to thresh the rice."

He asked tentatively, "Then I'll help you with the work. I have no idea what it feels like to harvest rice, and I'd like to try it out."

Xu Lai gave her a look that said, "You're out of your mind," but since there was free labor available, she figured she might as well accept.

She smiled and said, "Great! It would be wonderful if you could come and help." Then, as if remembering something, Xu Lai added, "Won't it interfere with your work?"

Zhao Qingyun checked the calendar on her phone, then turned it to Xu Lai and said, "Tomorrow is Saturday, I have the weekend off, did you forget?"

Xu Lai slapped her forehead: "Look at my memory! I haven't known what day of the week it is since I resigned. I wish I knew what day it is today."

After agreeing on their plans, the two went home separately. Xu Lai went upstairs first to take a shower. She was covered in mud. When she came out, it was almost eight o'clock.

Grandpa and Grandma had already eaten, but they left her some food on the table, covered with a dust cover, and left a lamp on for her.

Xu Lai pulled out a movie, sped it up, and watched it while eating. She finished her meal, but had only watched a third of the movie. She put her phone away and washed the dishes.

Then she locked the kitchen door to prevent mice from stealing food, then closed the yard gate and bolted the house door before going back to her room to sleep.

She got up at 4:30 the next morning. She was awake, but her soul was still asleep. Xu Lai patted her face and got up to wash.

Before five o'clock, she went into the kitchen to make breakfast. She cooked noodles again in the morning. She boiled water, threw in a handful of noodles, and put some lard, soy sauce, salt, and chopped green onions in a bowl.

She also fried three eggs, boiled them in water to make soup, and once it boiled again, she ladled it into a bowl, and the noodle soup was ready.

Then put the noodles into the bowl, and a bowl of noodles is ready. It's simple, and this is their breakfast.

Xu Lai got up too early and didn't have much of an appetite, so she only served herself a small bowl. Her grandparents got up at five o'clock, and after washing up, they were ready to have breakfast.

Grandma saw that there was not enough noodles in Xu Lai's bowl, and pretended to take some from her own bowl to give to her. Xu Lai quickly blocked her bowl, saying, "Grandma, I really can't eat anymore. This is enough. It's not like we don't have enough noodles at home. If I really wanted to eat, I would have cooked more."

Grandma had no choice but to give up. After breakfast, they went to the fields. The rice that had been harvested yesterday was still there. Grandpa moved the rice that had been piled up into small heaps together to make it easier to thresh later.

Zhao Qingyun arrived a few minutes later than them. He could have come with them, but just before leaving, Xu Lai saw his clothes and said, "These clothes of yours look like they're worn often. Go change into something else, or wear something you don't need anymore. That way it won't be too hard to wash."

He rummaged around at home and finally found a T-shirt that he had worn a few times. His understanding was: I don't wear it often, so I'll just keep this one.

Xu Lai gave him a sickle. Zhao Qingyun didn't touch it at first, but looked around to see how everyone else was harvesting.

They weren't the only family harvesting rice in the fields; many people in the village were doing it, and some were even harvesting entirely by hand to save money.

He watched for a few minutes and got the hang of it. Then he bent down and started working. There were many small insects in the field, such as ants and spiders. Xu Lai didn't know if there were leeches, but she had never encountered any.

She bent over and cut for a long time, then looked up to rest for a while. Looking at Zhao Qingyun's progress, she found that he was quite fast, almost as fast as her. She even wondered if he had done this before.

Zhao Qingyun swore this was the first time he had ever done this. If Ms. Yingqiu were there, she would be astonished. Her son, who was a germaphobe and pampered, was actually working in the fields and harvesting rice.

Grandpa divided the rice from another field into three piles and then came over to help harvest it.

Xu Lai moved to Zhao Qingyun's side and said to Zhao Qingyun, who was not slow at all, "Let's have a race to see who can harvest to the other side of the field first."

She pointed to the end and looked at Zhao Qingyun, who nodded: "Okay, let's have a competition. The loser grants the winner one request."

Neither of them would give way, and they started competing. Just as Zhao Qingyun was about to overtake her, Xu Lai mischievously scooped up a handful of mud and threw it onto his leg.

Seeing this, Zhao Qingyun followed suit, scooped up a handful of water, and threw it at her. The two of them played around for a while, and by then, their grandparents had already surpassed them by a lot.

Xu Lai signaled to stop, as the important matter was more pressing. In the end, Zhao Qingyun lost to her by a speed that was five rice plants behind.

Grandpa and Grandma also finished harvesting their rice. In the end, they finished harvesting the rice before the sun had fully risen.

The two went to the stream to wash off the mud, and Zhao Qingyun asked, "I lost. What do you want to ask for?"

Xu Lai thought for a moment and said, "I haven't decided yet, I'll owe you for now."