I fed each rabbit a drop of the spiritual spring water, then put them in the basket and herded the sheep home. The ewe's belly is quite big now, and she should give birth to lambs next month.

I happily went down the mountain and made myself a delicious mung bean porridge. I added white sugar when I ate it, and it tasted especially good.

Liu Maocai stayed after dinner. "Hongmei, I'll organize everyone to cut sweet potato vines tomorrow, and we can harvest the sweet potatoes the day after tomorrow."

"Okay, I don't want the sweet potato vines either, I'll give them to the old cow as feed."

"You have so many sheep, what do you feed them in the winter?"

"I'll cut more grass, and besides, sheep eat less than cows, so we can manage."

"Okay, if you don't have enough to eat, just go to the cowshed and get some."

Liu Maocai went back. Actually, he didn't need to come at all, but since Zhang Hongmei planted the sweet potatoes, he thought it would be good to say hello anyway.

Now that it's communism, Zhang Hongmei's sheep will also belong to the collective, but I'll try my best to get her some benefits.

The bell rang early the next morning. All the able-bodied men in the village carried baskets, sickles, and machetes; after all, they were going into the mountains, so it was safer to bring weapons.

Zhang Hongmei went along too. However, she went to herd sheep.

Er Lengzi walked with her. "Hongmei, have you had any success this time?"

"There was a dead rabbit the day before yesterday, and two injured rabbits yesterday. I took them home and I'm raising them. I think they'll survive."

“You want to raise everything. If this sheep has a lamb, there will be at least five or six lambs. You will have more than ten sheep. You won’t be able to afford to feed them.”

"Hehe, if we can't afford to feed them, we'll just kill them and eat their meat."

"That's a great idea, but the cooperative is about to be established, and then you'll have to hand everything over, so you won't be able to eat it anymore."

"How about we eat one in a few days? I really can't bear to do that. I probably wouldn't be able to eat it even if it were stewed."

"You're such a fussy girl. How about I sell it for you?"

"No, thank you. There's a disaster right now, and food is the most important thing. How can we sell it? Besides, even if it were communist, it would be for the people in our village. I don't care about the cost."

"Good girl, you have a conscience. The elders in the village didn't spoil you for nothing."

The two chatted for a while and it felt like they arrived in no time.

“This sweet potato field was planted by Hongmei. She voluntarily handed it over to the village. This shows that the child has a high level of awareness. We, as elders, should remember the child’s good deeds.”

Liu Maocai emphasized this point before we started working. The main goal was to win Zhang Hongmei's favor so that everyone would take better care of her in the future.

Everyone agreed, and they all knew the girl was grateful. Naturally, their impression of her improved even more.

At Liu Maocai's command, everyone got to work. Wang Hongxi wasn't there today; he was at a meeting in the township. Of course, we couldn't tell anyone that we were harvesting sweet potatoes in the mountains today, or we'd be in trouble.

The group finished cutting the sweet potato vines from six or seven acres in just three hours, and then they carried the vines back home.

This job was no easy task. To minimize the amount of running around, everyone's baskets were reinforced with extra sturdiness, and they even overflowed at the top.

More than fifty people couldn't get everything back in one trip. It took two trips to finally carry it all back. They didn't finish unpacking until 2 PM when they got home.

Zhang Hongmei did not go down the mountain with them; she still herded the sheep down the mountain at her usual time.

The next morning, all the able-bodied people in the village went out. This time, everyone carried large pickaxes.

No animals came to cause trouble all night. Everyone was happy to see the sweet potato burrows that had emerged from the ground.

The men swung pickaxes to dig, while the women and children were responsible for loading the baskets.

Wang Hongxi led the team this time, while Liu Maocai stayed home to oversee the weighing and warehousing.

The baskets are now filled with large sweet potatoes that haven't been damaged by the hoe. Once they're full, the women call on the men to carry them down.

Everyone was busy. The elderly who stayed at home were responsible for cooking, and this time the food was from the brigade's public grain.

Lunch was steamed buns with minced pork, which was both satisfying and filling.

The children were responsible for picking up the ones with pickaxe marks, and now that they've been separated and stored in the warehouse, they're easier to preserve.

Of course, some elderly people were also in charge of sorting in the warehouse. With a clear division of labor, there was no delay in work, and all the sweet potatoes were finally in the warehouse before dark. Dinner was also at the brigade headquarters, consisting of cornbread and wild vegetable soup.

It's estimated that only the people of Liujiatun in the entire township are able to get enough to eat right now.

Before the meal, Liu Maocai stepped forward and said, "Today, a total of 12,800 jin of sweet potatoes were put into storage, including 9,000 jin of first-grade sweet potatoes."

Everyone was thrilled. Anyone who could do the math understood that this meant each person could receive over 600 jin (300 kg) of sweet potatoes. They finally felt relieved; the village's crops hadn't been harvested yet, but they were certain they wouldn't go hungry this year or next.

Liu Maocai continued, "The weather is good now, so I discussed with the village chief that we should slice and dry the sweet potatoes tomorrow. All the women will be responsible for slicing, the men will be responsible for washing and carrying baskets, and the children and the elderly will be responsible for drying them."

After Liu Maocai arranged the work for tomorrow, everyone agreed and they started eating.

Even the simple vegetable soup, devoid of oil, tasted delicious to everyone. They felt reassured knowing they wouldn't go hungry.

Zhang Hongmei spent the whole day squatting and picking sweet potatoes, and her legs hurt. Before eating, she fed all the open-mouthed animals in the house, so when she got back, she went into her space, took a shower, and went to sleep.

After waking up, Zhang Hongmei felt that she could relax a bit, that she was no longer under such pressure, and that the space could rest.

The next day, Zhang Hongmei was assigned to dry the sweet potato slices. Er Ya had taken the day off yesterday, so the two of them worked together today. Zhu Zi was in charge of carrying the sweet potato slices for them, but he was replaced by Er Lengzi after only one trip.

"Hongmei, I estimate it will take three days to cut all the sweet potatoes, and five days to dry them. I think we should go to the sweet potato field early tomorrow before we start work."

"Could it be that Brother Er Lengzi has prey?"

"There should be. Let's set off at four in the morning and go take a look."

"Sure, maybe everyone can even have some meat broth."

The three made a promise, and the pillar was switched back. "Er Ya, Hong Mei, what does Er Lengzi want with you?"

Er Ya and Zhu Zi are cousins, and Zhang Hongmei still remembers the favor Zhu Zi did for Zhang Aiguo, so she doesn't hide it from him.

"We're thinking of checking out the traps in the sweet potato field tomorrow morning. Er Lengzi said there might be prey there."

"Can I go with you?"

"Okay, let's do it together."

Lunch was still cornbread and wild vegetable soup. After eating, we didn't rest and kept working.

I cut half of them in one day. Of course, the ones cut first were the ones with hoe wounds. Only the small, straight sweet potatoes were put into the cellar to be used for sweet potato cooking next year.

I was exhausted and hot that day, so after returning to my room, I took a shower and then slept for a long time.

Zhang Hongmei came out at 10:50, and Liu Erya arrived shortly after. Zhu Zi followed, and Er Lengzi was the last to arrive.

All four were equipped with the same gear, carrying baskets and machetes.

After going up the mountain, we didn't find any prey in the traps. We went to the bottom of the radish field and found only two dead rabbits. It was better than nothing; at least the soup would have some oiliness today.