The family didn't have enough curtains, so Li Cuihua made her more than ten curtains the size of eight round pots, and a few smaller curtains the size of a basin.

Liu Erya also never went to school. At home, she ran back and forth between Zhang Hongmei's house, helping with a lot of chores.

The cabbages planted in the mountains have also been harvested. They don't need to be washed; just split them open and hang them on the rope under the eaves.

Er Lengzi goes to the sweet potato field to check on the cabbages every day. Only after Zhang Hongmei has finished cleaning all the vegetables at home does he ask her to help remove the cabbages.

It was the same group of kids who planted the cabbages. But this time, the adults were all carrying baskets to transport them back.

They would still transport the corn to the threshing ground, where the older generation would wait. Those who cared would wash it clean and set it aside to drain, while those who didn't would string it together with rope and tie it to the stakes where corn used to be stored.

The young and strong were responsible for carrying water and cleaning the vats. They also moved the dried vats into an empty room in the brigade headquarters. Then they set up a large pot to boil water, and the cabbages were just blanched in the boiling water before being put into buckets. Some people carried the buckets to the vats, while women waited to fill them with water – it was an assembly line operation.

Layer cabbage, sprinkle salt on top, then add more cabbage, repeating this process. When the jar is full, add large pumpkin leaves, weigh it down with sorghum stalks, and finally place a large stone on top.

Ten large vats of pickled cabbage were made from the cabbages grown in the mountains. In the end, Wang Hongxi drove an oxcart to buy twenty more large vats, which were delivered by someone else; otherwise, the old ox wouldn't have been able to pull them.

Otherwise, we won't have enough ingredients for pickling vegetables.

Now only pumpkins, squash, and winter melons are left in the mountains. It took Zhang Hongmei, Liu Erya, and Er Lengzi three days to carry them all into the cellar.

Originally, we wanted to send it directly to the brigade's warehouse, but Er Lengzi said we should wait and see how much others paid before we did.

Zhang Hongmei didn't care about the small amount of stuff, but since Er Lengzi had said so, she would leave it at that for now, since Liujiatun wouldn't go hungry next year. It wouldn't hurt her to take these things; she could even give some to others.

"Hey, if you need it, come and get it. I can't eat it all."

"What use am I? I'd never eat this stuff again, and I never want to eat it again." He was truly sick of it. Ever since his father went off to war and never came back, and his mother got married, he was all alone at home. Because he was too young to farm, he grew a lot of pumpkins, and just thinking about them now still makes his heart ache.

"Hongmei, you can cut all the pumpkins dry."

“Okay, let’s bring the pumpkin up too. I’m good at cutting it.”

"Brother Er Lengzi, I think you're good at anything involving knives," Liu Erya joked with him.

"Yes, it's because I have strong wrists that the village butcher Wang took me on as an apprentice. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be able to survive."

Er Lengzi felt a little sad. Although he had eaten at the homes of villagers when he was young, he was always polite and didn't want to bother others. It was the old bachelor, Butcher Wang, who took him in as an apprentice, taught him skills, and raised him. But he died before he could repay his parents' kindness.

Er Lengzi shook his head, jumped down into the cellar, and handed the pumpkins up.

There were a total of ninety-six large pumpkins, and it took the three of them a week to cut them all. Li Cuihua and Liu Maocai also used their evenings to weave two large mats for Zhang Hongmei, which covered the entire front yard. There was a wooden frame underneath the mats for ventilation.

The yard was full of dried pumpkins, which looked very appealing.

While they were busy, the men in the village were also busy, weaving mats and shredding the dried sweet potato vines into the livestock shed's storeroom, which would be the old cows' winter fodder.

Women wore veils, since there was a high demand for them.

Because Zhang Hongmei's vegetables are all grown in the mountains, they are harvested early. By the time she has finished, other people are already harvesting their vegetables.

Zhang Hongmei helped Er Ya with the work every day, and it was finished in just a few days.

Then, without stopping, they harvested the potatoes in the backyard. Ten whole burlap sacks of potatoes were put into the cellar, filling the small cellar to the brim.

The fruits of their nearly year-long labor were all gathered up. Hard work always pays off, and Liu Erya envied Zhang Hongmei for managing to save so much food.

After finishing all the work, Zhang Hongmei happily steamed two large pots of goat milk buns. She gave twelve to Liu Erya, two to each of them, ten to Er Lengzi, and ten to the old lady. She kept two for herself.

It was frosty this morning, and we put all the pumpkins, squash, and winter melons into the cellar.

It's almost the end of the month again. Zhang Hongmei hadn't been to school for more than two months. Before going to take the exam, she decided to steam goat milk buns for the principal and teachers to try. She steamed two large pots and put them on the back of her bicycle, taking out five extra for Zhuzi.

Zhang Hongmei pushed her bicycle and followed Er Ya and the other two. After all, the three of them always walked together. This time, they had too much stuff, and there were dried green beans and dried eggplants on the front crossbar.

Zhu Zi thought about taking the steamed buns home, but felt embarrassed. However, the steamed buns smelled so good that he was afraid of causing trouble if he brought them to school, so he had no choice but to eat them all along the way.

Upon arriving at school, Zhang Hongmei placed the food directly in the principal's office, telling him to distribute it as he saw fit. The old principal spent half the morning swallowing hard; it smelled so good.

The three of them walked home after school in the afternoon, their hearts heavy.

My classmates told me that their village barely had any harvest, only about a third of last year's, and they still have to pay grain taxes. How are they going to survive? There's still a year left!

But Zhang Hongmei knows there will be another drought next year. What should she do?

After holding it in for a long time, Zhu Zi said, "Hongmei, you'd better be more frugal from now on. Look at them, they're all starving."

"Yes, they're all quite pitiful. Half of the students in my class have dropped out."

Zhang Hongmei smiled reassuringly, "There are still two years of difficulties to overcome. This year, Liujiatun is lucky to be close to the water source and can fetch water to irrigate the fields. What if next year is even drier and we run out of water?"

I heard that some villages are now out of water. If there is no food, you can find other ways to eat, but how can you survive without water?

Upon returning to the village, the three went to the old lady's house, who was clearly the backbone of the village.

I told the old lady what I had heard at school. She didn't speak for a long time, and finally let out a sigh of relief. "There's nothing I can do. Everyone has to look out for themselves. I'm not so noble as to give away my own means of survival to others, so the three of you have to adapt too."

The three of them went home dejectedly, feeling helpless.

News is so scarce here. There are no newspapers, so we have no idea what's happening outside. Even the old lady only gets to see a newspaper once a month.

No, I need to go to the city and buy a radio myself, at least to stay informed about important events.

Yu Chenglong and his troops went to the battlefield, which should be a war with C. The border is too chaotic now, although he doesn't understand these things.