The women of the Chen family first took a bath in the dark in the courtyard with the door closed.

The men were chatting outside.

Chen Xian was thinking about what to sell after the wheat was harvested.

Only then can the house be rebuilt; there's little hope for a brick and tile house for the time being.

The sixth month of the lunar calendar.

Chen Xian looked at the stars, rested his chin on his hands, felt the cool breeze, and said softly, "Dazhu, Erzhu, how about we go to town to sell oil-splashed noodles after we finish harvesting the wheat?"

Chen Erzhu pondered for a moment: "I wonder, Dad, how much do you plan to sell a bowl for? Five coins for a small bowl? Six coins for a large bowl?"

Chen Xian nodded, "Let's give it a try first."

Once the grain is harvested and the flour is milled, we won't need to buy flour from others anymore; we can earn a living through hard work.

Cuihua called out, "Dazhu, we're done washing."

Then the Chen family members groped around in the dark in the courtyard, and the women closed the door.

The men stripped down to just their underwear and rubbed themselves a couple of times in the yard to get rid of the smell of sweat.

Dazhu laughed and said, "If it weren't for Dad bringing water from the mountain before, we probably wouldn't even be able to take a bath during the busy wheat harvest. That sticky feeling is really unpleasant."

After a long day, I just collapse into bed and go to sleep.

The next day, the rooster crowed.

The Chen family continued working with their sickles.

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

The dew was very damp, and soon everyone's heads and clothes were soaked.

Many people in the villages have already started harvesting wheat.

Da Cheng's mother, Gou Dan's mother, Gui Hua's sister-in-law...

The group started teasing each other.

"It's good to have more people. Da Zhu's father married two wives, and they've helped his family with a lot of chores."

People began to feel a little envious.

Then I thought again, having to pay taxes based on population doesn't seem so appealing anymore.

Dog Egg's mother watched as Li Niang and the others bent over in the field, starting to harvest wheat.

He then looked at his daughter-in-law, who was burly and strong, but she only worked for a short while before starting to slack off.

He said he felt weak.

He ranted, "It seems that when looking for a daughter-in-law, whether she can do farm work or just being strong isn't enough; it depends on the person."

The daughter-in-law was clearly not one to be trifled with, and said arrogantly, "Mother, take a break, what's wrong with that? You can't treat me like livestock. Even the oxen in the fields know to let them rest and drink some water."

Dog Egg's mother said irritably, "Alright, alright, I know. You've rested enough, now get up and get to work."

There's only so much farm work to do; if one person does less, the other will have to do more.

The old woman from the Jia family sneered, "With so many people in the family, how could there not be enough time to harvest the wheat? If you harvest wheat now, it will all be green and shriveled. Da Zhu's father is really confused."

The eldest grandson, Jia Bang, standing next to him, looked shifty and sneaky.

"Grandma, I heard from Tiger that he smells meat from next door every day at home, and I want to eat meat too."

Granny Jia said irritably, "I want to eat too. If you want to eat, go get it yourself."

"What kind of era is this, eating meat every day, a spendthrift good-for-nothing."

Tiger was the boy who lived next door to Chen Xian.

Education in the countryside is that simple and brutal.

Granny Jia didn't even realize that her words had inadvertently revealed her true thoughts.