Autumn is a season of harvest, but also a busy one.

Everyone is cutting the tender vines of sweet potatoes with leaves, carrying them back to hang on trees to dry, and then picking the dried leaves to boil in water to feed them when needed.

Another method is to cut the fresh vines into small sections, put them into a stone jar that can hold water, tamp them down firmly, fill the jar with water, and weigh it down with a stone slab, so that the fresh vines are soaking in the water.

When it's time to feed the pigs, remove the stone slab. Except for the top layer of sweet potato vines, which have turned black due to exposure to air, the vines underwater have turned golden yellow.

You can feed the pigs directly after scooping it out. Pigs prefer the soaked pig feed to the sun-dried leaves.

However, the number of stone jars that could be held was limited, and some of the stone jars in Xujia Village were destroyed by the refugees who had gathered there earlier.

Each household could only get less than a mouthful of intact stone water, which they all used for holding drinking water, and most of them still had to be dried in the sun.

So, every household was cutting and drying pig feed. Xu Genqing was the busiest, not only cutting vines but also dealing with his mother, Qin.

Qin has been scolding him for three days, and now the mother and son are still scolding each other while working in the field: "You should be herding the cattle properly, why are you so careless? You're such a grown man, and you still let the cattle run away."

Xu Genqing stammered, "Oxen have legs, and everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Besides, I've fed them well, so they won't get lost in the village!"

Qin continued to scold, "What kind of work requires two people to do? Lianhua was here too, how come she didn't see the cow? Is she blind or deaf?"

Lotus was cutting vines nearby, pretending not to hear being scolded, but the corners of her mouth were already slightly upturned.

Xu Genqing was annoyed by his mother's scolding and retorted, "Anyway, you're free, so you can herd cattle from now on, while Lianhua and I will have work to do."

When Qin heard that she had to herd the cattle herself, she immediately flew into a rage, threw down her sickle and jumped up: "Why does it have to be two people doing the work? You two are just trying to shirk your responsibilities."

"Xu Genqing, I gave birth to you and raised you. Now, after living half my life, I haven't enjoyed a single day of happiness and still have to be a cowherd. Just give up on that idea."

As she spoke, she noticed that Lotus, who was looking down, seemed to be smiling. She immediately shifted her focus and started cursing at Lotus again: "Lotus, you little brat, you still have the mind to laugh."

That day, the cow ran away and was caught by that gossipy Genshengwa, who then dragged me around and chanted scriptures for ages.

They said they would deduct from our future allowance for using oxen. If I hadn't pleaded for us, you would have had to do all the plowing and tilling yourself from now on.

"You're all useless! Not only did the ox run away, but you also ruined half the vines on the ground."

Hearing her mother-in-law's incessant scolding, Lianhua finally couldn't help but laugh, covered her face, and ran away.

The shouting and cursing in the fields attracted the attention of the villagers who were working in the fields.

It's not uncommon for cattle to run away while herding; it happens to everyone. All you need to do is find the cattle and compensate for the loss.

But Qin had enough of being tormented by Xu Gensheng, who came to her door.

She was stuck at home listening to cattle-raising stories for half a day until Xu Genqing and Lianhua returned carrying sweet potato vines, at which point she was finally freed.

Not only did she have to compensate others for their vegetables, but she also had to endure this injustice. She had nowhere to vent her anger, and she glared at her son and daughter-in-law who had made a mistake and cursed them for three days without stopping.

Li Laoshi, leading his old mule, was also moving sweet potato vines in the field when he heard Qin Shi scolding her son and daughter-in-law. He picked up a clod of dirt and threw it at the nearby woods, shouting, "Where did these annoying wild doves come from! If you knew them, you'd think they were looking for food, but if you didn't, you'd think they were mating!"

Qin was a widow, and she had been widowed at a young age. How could she not understand that Li Laoshi was insulting her for making a fuss? She was so angry that she picked up a carrying pole and chased after him.

Seeing that things were not going well, Li Laoshi abandoned his old mule and jumped down the waist-high embankment.

Unable to hit him, Qin could only slap her thigh and curse from above: "Li Laoshi, if you dare come up here, I'll chop you up in half!"

Li Laoshi chuckled from below: "Am I stupid? If you old hag want to chop me up, why would I come up here? Unless you come down, then I'll let you chop me up!"

Qin was furious and looked for a way to go down and beat Li Laoshi.

But there was no path across this embankment, so Qin had no choice but to sit on the ground and begin to slide down.

Li Laoshi clapped his hands and laughed: "Qin Shi, with all these thorny vines on the ground, doesn't your butt hurt?"

Xu Genqing couldn't stand his mother being amused by Li Laoshi. He couldn't possibly argue with Li Laoshi, as that would only embarrass himself and Lianhua.

All he could do was run over and pull Qin Shi, who was sliding down the slope, up: "Mother, you know Uncle Li is a scoundrel, why bother arguing with him?"

Qin, caught in a dilemma, seized the opportunity and said, "Yes, he's a scoundrel. Anyone who lowers themselves to his level is ashamed."

She patted the dirt off her bottom, didn't even glance at Li Laoshi, and walked away as if nothing had happened.

However, he did not criticize Lianhua and Xu Genqing again.

After the people of Xujia Village finished cutting the sweet potato vines, they started digging up the sweet potatoes. In the local dialect, they were "harvesting sweet potatoes," which is a very vivid description.

This time, instead of using people to dig, they used oxen.

When I bought the calf in the summer, it was eight months old. Now it's a year old. Although it's not fully grown yet and can't pull a plow, it's old enough to be trained to plow the land.

So, with two oxen pulling the plow side by side, and someone in front helping to pull it while someone behind held the plow, they began to till the land and harvest sweet potatoes.

The calf walked along the row by row, and the experienced plowman followed the calf, shaking the plow from side to side to turn the soil over and reveal the sweet potatoes inside.

This cow belongs to Jiang Zhi, so naturally she gets to use it first.

At this moment, Errui and Xiaoman followed behind the plow, quickly moving the exposed sweet potatoes to the side to prevent them from being covered again by the soft soil.

Jiang Zhi and several women were picking sweet potatoes with baskets, wiping the mud off the sweet potatoes, and separating them into different categories based on size and whether they were damaged.

While sorting the sweet potatoes, Pi asked Jiang Zhi excitedly, "Auntie, are you taking these sweet potatoes to the county government again? What can you exchange them for?"

They already knew that the last time they sent wet grain to the county government, they could exchange it for bricks, stones, and timber.

Although the grain belonged to Aunt Jiang, she had said that anyone who had previously borrowed grain and returned it all could borrow a share of wet grain in exchange for timber and bricks.

That means they're buying things from Aunt Jiang at a low price.

This news caused a sensation throughout the village.

Previously, everyone ensured the quality and quantity of grain returned.

Taking food from starving people should have been a difficult task; at the very least, someone would have cried and refused to pay, or made some morally blackmailing remarks.

However, none of the villagers in Xujia Village had any intention of shirking their responsibility. Almost as soon as the topic of returning grain came up, they all voluntarily brought their newly harvested rice and corn to the warehouse for inspection.

It wasn't that the people of Xujia Village were particularly enlightened; it was simply that the eight-person group was not to be trifled with.

Xu Gensheng alone can make people's ears uneasy. If they want to resist violently, Xiaoman Wuyang and the others will have to use force to enforce the law!

Xia Xiucai had been lecturing for a while now, spouting off a whole set of Confucian classics, etiquette, integrity, and shame, which immediately made people feel ashamed and embarrassed.

Those who listen will benefit; now everyone can borrow and exchange for what they urgently need, and even have more expectations for the days to come.

They thought that if they followed Village Chief Jiang, they would definitely be able to eat three meals a day in the future.