Chapter 8

Han Shuo, Pi Dan Doufu, and the other classmates ran like their lives depended on it to the station. Luckily, the three of them had long legs and ran fast, managing to grab seats in the back row.

Before long, waves of students poured into the carriage like locusts.

After the minibus was filled with students, it struggled to climb the winding mountain road.

It was almost six o'clock when I got back to the village. Before I even reached the village entrance, I could see wisps of smoke rising from chimneys and the faint smell of firewood wafting through the air.

In the countryside, children become independent at a young age. When Han Shuo arrived home, his nephew Han Ting had already returned from the village's preschool by himself. Presumably, Han Hong had instructed him to do so, so the little guy sat obediently on a low stool, his two tiny hands peeling broad beans.

Hearing Han Shuo call him, Han Ting raised his head, his eyes instantly lighting up. He dropped the broad beans and ran over shouting.

"Wow, Uncle!"

Why are you only just getting home!

Han Shuo put down his schoolbag and picked up his nephew.

Where is your father?

Han Ting tilted her head back and told Han Shuo, "Dad went to work and told me to wait for you to come back at home."

"And then you started peeling broad beans?" Han Shuo glanced at the half-bowl of broad beans he had peeled, then looked at the thin Han Ting and couldn't help but pinch his cheek.

In fact, in those days, very few children in the village were fat, but Han Shuo's feelings were still quite complicated.

He had been here for less than six months. To say that his feelings for Han Hong and Han Ting were very deep would be an exaggeration. But to say they weren't deep? Han Shuo did feel sorry for Han Hong and Han Ting, which he thought was mostly because he had taken over this body.

He put Han Ting down and let him play on the side while he peeled broad beans. Although children this age are sensible and obedient, they are naturally playful. Since Han Shuo had spoken, he ran off to chase the neighbor's yellow dog.

If Han Hong wasn't busy, he would never let his younger brother cook or do housework. However, sometimes he was too busy, and after waiting around and going hungry a few times, Han Shuo, who was new to the area, could only learn to use the traditional earthen stove in the countryside.

After six months, while the food wasn't exactly delicious, it was at least edible.

Dinner in the countryside is simple, with two dishes being leftovers from lunch. Han Shuo steamed a bowl of broad bean soup, scraped off a little lard after it was cooked, and the clear soup immediately became delicious. His whole family liked to scoop the soup and mix it with rice.

Han Hongcai returned home just as the uncle and nephew were finishing their dinner.

"Brother, where have you been?"

Han Hong took a bowl from the cupboard and went to the stove to serve rice. As he served, he said to Han Shuo, "Isn't it time to harvest the rice? I can't harvest our field by myself. I just went to ask Wang Mazi from the village entrance for help, but he's already been asked by someone else."

Han Hongsheng sat down at the table after finishing his meal. "I'll go to the village after I finish eating and see who's free."

Han Shuo frowned upon hearing this and said, "Every household is busy harvesting rice right now, where would we find spare manpower?"

Han Hong had a worried look on his face, but when he faced his younger brother and son, he smiled and acted very relaxed. "If I really can't find anyone, I can just stay for two days."

Recently, people in rural areas have been eager to harvest and thresh rice, and then take advantage of the good weather to dry the rice, because it is impossible to predict when it will rain. If there is continuous rain, the harvested rice will definitely mold if it is not dried in time.

Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu had originally planned to do a mission tomorrow, but after staying in this house for half a year and seeing Han Hong's difficulties, Han Shuo couldn't bear it.

There were no telephones in the countryside, otherwise he could have called Meng Yuxiu to tell him not to make a wasted trip tomorrow. But even if there were telephones, Meng Yuxiu's family most likely didn't have one.

Han Shuo sat on the stool, hesitating for a long time. Finally, he thought, "Never mind. Meng Yuxiu said he'll come tomorrow. I don't know if it will be in the morning or afternoon. I'll go harvest the rice first."

So he said to Han Hong, "Don't bother looking for anyone. I'll go harvesting rice with you tomorrow."

“There’s no need for you to cut it.” Han Hong was pleased with his younger brother’s understanding, but he still said, “You’re in your final year of high school now, so just stay home and study.”

"You know me perfectly well," Han Shuo said. "I'm not cut out for studying. How could you expect me to get into university?"

Han Hong laughed and said, "You still have a semester and a half left to work hard, right? What if you get accepted?"

Han Shuo twitched the corner of his mouth. "Brother, don't have too much faith in me."

"It's okay, I won't put pressure on you. Just do your best and learn as much as you can. Don't worry about harvesting the rice for me."

Han Shuo: "No, with one more helper, we might be able to finish harvesting in one day tomorrow. Why drag it out for two days? What if it rains later and it gets delayed again?"

After listening to Han Shuo's words, Han Hong thought about it carefully and then said, "Well then, I'll find someone to take a look again tomorrow morning. If no one can help, you can come with me."

"OK."

The next day, after breakfast, Han Hong went to the village to look for people, but after searching around, he couldn't find anyone. So he asked Han Shuo to get ready and go to the fields.

The two brothers had a busy day. There were no rice-threshing machines in the village yet; every household only had square rice mortars made of wooden planks. Han Ting was home alone and wanted to go to the fields with his father and uncle, so Han Shuo carried him into the mortar, made him sit down, and put a few sickles in as well.

Han Shuo cautioned him, "Don't play with the sickle, be careful not to cut your hand, understand?"

Han Ting nodded. "Okay."

Han Hong found a thick hemp rope and tied the heavy rice mortar tightly. Then he threaded both ends through a carrying pole, and the two brothers would each carry one end to the field two kilometers away.

Considering that they would be busy all day, Han Hong took a thermos and a small bag of tea with him when he left home, and the family set off.

They arrived quite early, and along the way, the other villagers were carrying loads on their shoulders and in their hands, walking towards the farmland outside the village as the sky began to lighten and the morning dew moistened the air.

Upon reaching the edge of the paddy field, the two brothers slowly squatted down and lowered the heavy rice mortar. The people from the neighboring field had just arrived and hadn't started harvesting rice yet. Seeing the tall, thin boy next to Han Hong, they chatted with Han Hong for a while.

"Han Hong, is your younger brother here to help you harvest rice today?"

“I told him not to come and to stay home and study, but he wouldn’t listen and insisted on coming.” Like most parents, Han Hong said this, but he couldn’t stop smiling.

"That's because I feel sorry for you, my older brother."

Han Hong stood on the edge of the field and offered a cigarette to the person in the next field, saying, "Our Xiao Shuo is a bit naughty, but he's still very sensible."

While Han Hong was chatting, Han Shuo poured two large cups of boiling water from the thermos into enamel teacups, then took some tea leaves from the bag, put the lids on the cups, and placed them on the edge of the field.

Han Ting was still shorter than the rice stalks, but he grabbed a sickle and insisted on going to the field to harvest rice. Han Shuo grabbed him and lifted him onto the edge of the field, taking the sickle away from him. "Be careful with your hands. You'll be crying if you cut yourself. You can help us harvest rice when you grow up."

After settling Han Ting in, Han Shuo called out to Han Hong, "Brother, shall we cut it now?"

Han Hong stubbed out his cigarette and hurriedly called out, "Coming!"

This was Han Shuo's first time harvesting rice. It was quite simple; anyone could do it. The two brothers started cutting from the edge, gathering a handful of rice stalks with their left hands and quickly and sharply cutting them with a sickle in their right hands. The harvested rice was piled to one side.

To be honest, Han Shuo thought physical labor was not bad compared to staring at books. However, this thought only lasted until before the sun came out. After the sun came out, he was so hot that he would run to the edge of the field after cutting only a short section, grabbing a teacup and gulping down water.

Seeing this, Han Hong stopped what he was doing, looked up at Han Shuo and said, "Shuo, take Tingting back! It'll get even hotter later!"

Han Shuo put the lid on the teacup and continued working in the field. "It's alright, I can just drink more water."

"Okay, if you can't handle it, just tell me."

"Okay." Han Shuo squatted down, gripping the sickle.

After cutting crops all morning, Han Shuo's back was almost ruined. However, after lunch, he went back to the fields.

In the morning, Han Shuo was cutting something while wondering when Meng Yuxiu would arrive. He had only told Meng Yuxiu the name of his village, but the houses in the countryside didn't have house numbers. He wondered if Meng Yuxiu, being such a shy person, would ask around.

If you ask around, his house is easy to find. He's just out in the fields harvesting rice again.

Han Shuo could only lift his head occasionally while cutting rice, hoping to spot Meng Yuxiu on the path in Tianban.

Around 2 p.m., Han Shuo was engrossed in his work when he overheard the woman from the neighboring field talking.

"Where did this boy come from? He looks completely unfamiliar."

Upon hearing this, Han Shuo suddenly realized what was happening and immediately stood up to look around.

Meng Yuxiu was seen pushing his bicycle and standing on the dirt road in the middle of the field. He was dressed in a clean white shirt and black trousers, looking as if he had come to the field to sketch, only missing a drawing board.

He hadn't found Han Shuo yet in the golden sea of ​​rice, and was searching aimlessly one by one.

Han Shuo waved at him and shouted, "Meng Yuxiu!"

Meng Yuxiu looked over, parked his bicycle by the edge of the field, and then walked towards Han Shuo.

Han Shuo's shout caused Han Hong to stop what he was doing and look up.

Han Shuo quickly put down his sickle and ran to the edge of the field.

Meng Yuxiu rode for more than ten kilometers under the scorching sun, and his fair face was slightly flushed from the heat.

Han Shuo was quite embarrassed. Back at school, he had confidently declared that he wouldn't work on weekends, but Meng Yuxiu had to travel a long way before he even had time to do anything.

"Damn, you've worked so hard!" Han Shuo fawned, fanning him with his palm. "Oh dear, what bad luck, I didn't expect something to happen today."

Meng Yuxiu's throat was practically parched. He asked Han Shuo, "Is there any water? I'm thirsty."

"Yes, yes, yes." Han Shuo hurriedly handed his teacup to Meng Yuxiu.

Meng Yuxiu took the teacup, lifted the lid, but his eyes inadvertently glanced at another teacup on the edge of the field.

He then stared at the water stains on the rim of the glass and frowned slightly.

Han Shuo immediately realized that he had fallen into his germaphobia again.

"Don't worry, this is just mine." Han Shuo raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "You can always use mine, right? We've kissed so many times already, you probably won't mind."

Han Shuo's voice wasn't loud, but when he said it so bluntly, Meng Yuxiu still glared at him.

"Can't you keep your voice down?"

Han Shuo leaned closer and whispered, "I said we've kissed so many times..."

Meng Yuxiu interrupted without saying a word: "You don't need to repeat yourself."

Han Shuo chuckled as he looked at his flushed face. "Drink up."

Meng Yuxiu drank several mouthfuls before he recovered.

Han Shuo said apologetically, "I still have rice to harvest. Why don't you sit here with my nephew for a while and wait for me to finish?"

Meng Yuxiu then noticed a child sitting on the edge of the field. Upon seeing the stranger, the child tilted his head back and stared at him curiously.

"How much longer are you going to cut?"

"I don't know, just cut off the rest."

Meng Yuxiu glanced at the rice in the field, which was still half full. He estimated that it would probably be tomorrow before he could finish harvesting it as Han Shuo had suggested.

He came here to complete the mission, and it would be agonizing to just sit and wait, so he asked Han Shuo, "Are there any more sickles?"

Han Shuo was taken aback, but then immediately realized what was happening.

"Yes, yes, yes!" He quickly grabbed a spare sickle from the rice mortar and exclaimed excitedly, "Damn, what a great bro! I'm really impressed with you! I never expected you to be such a good person!"

Meng Yuxiu took the sickle and said, "Since we're already here, let's hurry up and finish cutting."

"Great! With you joining us, it's like adding wings to a tiger! To repay you, you can stick out your tongue tonight," Han Shuo said shamelessly with a smile.

Meng Yuxiu rolled his eyes slightly, speechless.

Just as the two finished their conversation and were about to go down to the field, Han Hong stopped what he was doing and frowned as he watched them for a long time.

"Xiao Shuo, who's here?"

"Oh, my classmate is here," Han Shuo said, making up an excuse. "He was supposed to be here to tutor me today."

Han Hong listened and came to them.

Meng Yuxiu was always quite aloof when dealing with people his own age. Although Han Shuo was older than him in the 21st century, Han Shuo was only seventeen years old here. Coupled with Han Shuo's personality, he still maintained his own self in front of Han Shuo.

But Meng Yuxiu was still a seventeen-year-old boy in both centuries, and he seemed somewhat reserved when facing elders. In particular, Han Hong, who worked in the fields year-round, looked like he was in his thirties.

"This is my brother, and this is Meng Yuxiu," Han Shuo casually introduced the two.

Meng Yuxiu didn't know how to address Han Hong properly, so he simply followed Han Shuo's example and said, "Hello... Brother."

"Sigh..." Han Hong responded amiably, his expression a little awkward. Unfortunately, Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu's understanding of this world was still not deep enough.

If they knew enough, they would understand that Han Hong's embarrassment was like a parent seeing their child's crush suddenly appear at their door, feeling like their 17-year-old cabbage had been eaten by a pig.

A note from the author:

From the brother-in-law's perspective...

Han Hong was busy harvesting rice when he heard his cabbage suddenly squeal with delight. He looked up and saw a white, tender pig appear out of nowhere on the road in Tianban.

Then I saw my own cabbage being fanned and watered by the pigs...