In the afternoon, everyone in Shili Village received the notification.

Each family contributed two laborers to harvest the crops despite the rain.

Everyone was filled with grievances, but the captain always kept his word.

I don't know who spread the rumor, but it's said that Bai Jiaojiao came up with this ingenious idea at the brigade leader's house.

The villagers couldn't help but feel sorry for Bai Jiaojiao.

"This girl, she really doesn't know her place after just a couple of compliments."

"Yes, she's sitting on the kang (heated brick bed) while we're out here rushing to harvest? Isn't that just making things difficult for us!"

Some villagers are in poor conditions and don't even have raincoats.

Some were covered with plastic sheets, while others wore straw raincoats that had been passed down for generations. In short, there were all sorts of people in the field, cursing and swearing as they worked.

"If Bai Jiaojiao has the ability to dry these wheat grains, fine. But if she lets these wheat grains that we harvested in the rain sprout in the warehouse, I'll teach her a lesson!"

"So what if her husband is Shen Heng? Does she really think we wouldn't dare to touch him?"

They couldn't disobey the captain's orders, but that didn't stop them from finding someone to vent their anger on.

With that in mind, everyone got excited and wanted to see how Bai Jiaojiao would handle the situation, so the wheat harvesting efficiency increased significantly.

Bai Jiaojiao wasn't sitting on the kang (heated brick bed) as they said; instead, she peeled two ginger stalks and boiled a large pot of ginger soup to distribute to the villagers.

The brigade leader then led a group of people to thresh the harvested wheat in the warehouse. The wet wheat was set aside and sent to the villagers' homes so that each household could dry it. The waste firewood was compensated with work points based on the amount of wheat dried.

During the busy farming season, no one can be idle, even on rainy days.

Li Lide was very unhappy to see people bustling about in the fields that should have been quiet, and some even carrying wheat to the brigade's warehouse, so he went to the brigade leader's house.

"Hey Lao Zheng, what kind of captain are you? This is ridiculous! You need to get everyone to stop right now. If a bunch of people get sick, who can take responsibility for that, you or me?"

Li Lide also heard that this was Bai Jiaojiao's idea, so he didn't approve of it from the start and ordered Zheng Xu, the captain, to immediately withdraw the order.

The village head decides which village's production team it is. Zheng Xu usually doesn't want to argue with Li Lide about these useless things. Apart from assigning tasks, recording work points, and distributing grain, he doesn't care about anything else.

Now, Li Lide also wants to get involved in the labor tasks, and Zheng Xu feels that he is being too frustrated as the team leader.

"Village chief, this is a decision I've made after careful consideration. We not only need to deliver the grain tax, but more importantly, we need to ensure our fellow villagers have enough to eat. If this wheat isn't harvested, are we going to let everyone go hungry all year? Don't worry, village chief, I'll take responsibility for anything that happens!"

"You'll take responsibility? What benefits did Bai Jiaojiao give you?"

Li Lide didn't expect Zheng Xu to be so stubborn, not even consulting him, and now his tone was so harsh.

"Village chief, what you're saying is extremely insulting!"

Zheng Xu still looked unhappy, and Li Lide didn't want to fall out with him, so he kept quiet.

"Brother, don't blame me if things go wrong! That Bai Jiaojiao is a menace!"

After Li Lide finished speaking, he shook his head and left.

Zheng Xu let out a deep breath.

Hopefully, that fried wheat flour will actually sell at the supply and marketing cooperative; otherwise, Li Lide will keep bringing this up for the rest of his life.

It took everyone two and a half days of hard work in the heavy rain to harvest the remaining 20% ​​of the wheat in the field. When the weather is good, a group of children would pick up every single grain of wheat that was scattered on the ground, but this year they could only leave it as it was.

At this point, nearly two tons of wheat from the field had all been stored in the warehouse.

Of the 80,000 jin of wet wheat, only 60,000 jin remained after being roasted. There was even more loss when grinding it into flour. The total amount of roasted wheat flour that was put into bags was 65,000 jin.

As Li Lide had predicted, seven or eight villagers with health issues did indeed fall ill after being caught in the rain.

The village's old accountant discussed with Zheng Xu that since he got sick while working for the collective, the health station should record the cost of injections and medicine in the village's accounts.

The sick were treated, and the grain was returned to the warehouse, so no one in the village complained.

Zheng Xu was even bolder. In the past, he would deliver the fried wheat flour to the collective first, then to the individuals. This time, he delivered some fried wheat flour to each household according to their usual work points, so that everyone could taste the fruits of their labor.

Everyone was even happier after trying it.

These days, everyone's mouths are so bland, but with such good food to eat, their tongues immediately soften.

"You know what, that little girl from the Bai family is quite resourceful."

"That's why people say you have to be knowledgeable. We old farmers rarely leave the village in our entire lives, so how would we know that this thing exists?"

"If the government doesn't accept these fried noodles, we won't have to worry about them."

There were also dissenting voices: "Even if you're not worried about food, you can't eat this every day. Can you even use this stuff to make dumplings or steamed buns?"

"That's better than nothing!"

"The village chief is so stingy! If he had brought a couple more sickles earlier, all this wheat would have been good!"

No one knows who first thought of Li Lide, but as the story spread, everyone began to resent him.

If there were no other options, that would be one thing, but in their village, they've practically laid their hands on their waistbands and are practically wetting themselves.

Who wouldn't feel regret?

Shen Heng earned ten work points a day, and Bai Jiaojiao earned six work points a day. Together, they earned sixteen catties of fried wheat flour.

Bai Jiaojiao got the fried wheat flour, immediately made a bowl with sugar, and handed it to Shen Heng with a smile: "Brother Heng, here you go, we have plenty this time."

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