Chapter 70 Chapter 70 Wheat Harvest

Miao Ying patted Huo Xing's shoulder heavily and asked in surprise, "When did you come back?"

A smile appeared on Huo Xing's expressionless face. He picked up Miao Ying with one hand and placed him on the ox cart. Then he went to see his grandmother, who was also smiling. "You're back? Are you okay? Are you not hurt?"

"Grandma, everything is fine. How about you? What did the doctor say?" Huo Xing saw the medicine bag on the ox cart at a glance and knew that his grandmother was sick.

"It's nothing, I'm just old and useless." The grandmother was very happy to see her grandson come back, and she felt a little more energetic.

The next person to drive the cart was naturally Huo Xing. For some reason, Miao Ying felt relieved when he saw Huo Xing coming back. He swayed on the ox cart and soon closed his eyes.

Feeling his shoulder sink slightly, Huo Xing turned his head and saw that Miao Ying had fallen asleep leaning against him.

The grandmother also saw it, and then said, "Xiaoying has worked hard these days." Although the grandmother didn't say it, she knew it in her heart. Miao Ying had been running around these days, worrying about the family's food, clothing, housing and transportation, worrying about the family's harvest, and caring about the two children's studies. All these things should have made him breathless, but he never complained and always had a smile on his face.

When they returned home and stopped the car, Miao Ying was still asleep. Huo Xing carried her back to the room and let her sleep. Then he helped her get out of the car, boiled the medicine, and went to Ye Feng's house to return the ox cart.

Li Hongying was not at home, so he went to the fields with Fu Lingzhi. The wheat harvest had already started. Miao Ying had originally planned to take his grandmother to see a doctor, boil some medicine for her, and then go to the fields.

Now that Grandma and Miao Ying had rested, Huo Xing took his farm tools and went to their fields. From a distance he saw two figures in the fields.

Fu Lingzhi was not very good at working, so after the morning, they didn't make much progress in their wheat field.

Seeing Huo Xing, Li Hongying put down the sickle in her hand and waved at him: "Ah Xing? You're back?"

Huo Xing nodded, and without saying anything else, he started to harvest the wheat from the other end, far away from Fu Lingzhi.

Huo Xing was also a good worker. After a while, large tracts of golden wheat fields fell down and were neatly laid out on the ground.

Li Hongying and Fu Lingzhi were far behind him in progress. They had finished harvesting the last piece of land before lunch. There was no need to rush to take the harvested wheat home. They could dry it in the field for a while and then take it back when it was almost dry.

When they finished harvesting the land and returned home, Miao Ying had already prepared dinner. Because of the busy farming season, they had to eat better. They cooked a piece of bacon left over from the Chinese New Year. After cutting it into thin slices, it became crystal clear. They also cooked some radish rolls that had been dried in the winter in the water used to cook the bacon, which was full of salty and fragrant flavor.

There is also a pot of mixed stew, with pork belly, cabbage, radish and potato stewed in one pot. Some mixed flour pancakes are stuck on the edge of the pot. The soup is sticky and it is very delicious to dip the pancakes in it.

Miao Ying didn't eat much. He didn't like to eat much these two days and just drank water. He also loved to drink water at this time last year. After all, that day would be in a few days, so he was finally not without experience this time.

They had to harvest the crops at home before the disease broke out in the next two days. After dinner, everyone could have a short rest. Li Hongying was indeed a little tired, so she went back to her room to rest after dinner. Fu Lingzhi didn't go home, so Miao Ying asked him to rest in the guest room. After cleaning up the kitchen, Huo Xing pulled Miao Ying back to the room.

As soon as he entered the room, before he even closed the door, Huo Xing held Miao Ying's face and kissed her. The room was left with a crack, which Huo Xing kicked shut.

Both of their breaths were hot. Miao Ying's hands were holding Huo Xing's hair. The familiar feeling made Miao Ying tremble all over, and he immediately became distracted.

When Huo Xing's hand was untying his belt, Miao Ying finally regained his composure for a second and held Huo Xing's hand. His usually clear voice turned hoarse: "I have to go to work in the afternoon. We'll talk tonight."

Huo Xing was stunned for a moment, then kissed his lips again and held his face with his hands again.

After an unknown amount of time, Miao Ying felt very thirsty and pushed Huo Xing off him, saying breathlessly, "I want to drink some water."

Because he loved drinking water recently, the water bag was placed beside his bed. Huo Xing picked it up, and Miao Ying held the water bag and drank it. When he finished drinking the water, Huo Xing wanted to come closer, but Miao Ying put his hands on his chest and said, "Wait, wait."

Rather than lust, he wanted to be well fed and warm, so he asked Huo Xing: "How was going out this time?"

Huo Xing then took out his purse from his bosom. This time he went to the provincial capital, he did not earn as much as last time. He made two trips of escort, and the wages for each trip plus the reward from the master made him a total of ten taels of silver. Adding some odd jobs he did, he brought back a total of thirteen taels of silver.

Miao Ying held the silver ingots and sniffed them gently. This was the smell of money.

Miao Ying then told him about recent events at home: "Anyway, this is it. I've already asked a blacksmith to make an iron ring with the money I earned and have carried it up the mountain. Now I'm just waiting for you to come back. We also need to make a firing pin and then build a frame so we can start pressing oil."

When they talked about family matters, the ambiguous atmosphere in the room was swept away. Miao Ying said a lot to Huo Xing: "I have contacted the young master of the Fu family. When we squeeze out the oil, we will take it to him to discuss business."

Huo Xing nodded: "Okay."

Miao Ying did not say anything about Fu Lingzhi and Fu Lingyou. This was Fu Lingzhi's secret and he had to keep it for him. Besides, Huo Xing was not the kind of person who liked to listen to gossip.

After talking for a while, it was time to go out to work again. Li Hongying had already rested well. She first helped her grandmother warm the medicine, and now she had put on the backpack and was ready to go out.

Miao Ying had a good sleep in the morning and was full of energy. He was fully armed, covering his arms and face tightly, and followed them to the field.

Miao Ying and Fu Lingzhi weren't very fast at work, so when they huddled together and talked while working, their movements slowed even further. Huo Xing was the main laborer, and after bending over, he rarely stood up again.

There were quite a few people working at this time. Some people in the adjacent fields were working while chatting.

Miao Ying and Fu Lingzhi were also talking: "I'm going up the mountain with Huo Xing in a couple of days. It will probably take quite a while. I'd like you to help me take care of the old and young at home."

Fu Lingzhi nodded: "I know, if you go out, I will live in your house."

After spending so much time together, Fu Lingzhi also regarded the two elders of Miao Ying's family as relatives. His grandmother was kind and Li Hongying was gentle. They taught him a lot. Miao Ying was also a very good person, and he could feel very relaxed around him.

Miao Ying nodded and patted his shoulder: "I won't say thank you."

Fu Lingzhi looked at him wrapped tightly and said that he would do the same tomorrow. Miao Ying looked at his face that was red from the sun and his hands that were tanned, and said that he would help him fix it tomorrow as well. He was a good young man, but he became sloppy after coming to his house.

This intensive wheat harvest lasted for two days. Grandma cooked for them at home. After two days, they finally finished harvesting the limited land they had.

On the day of the harvest, Miao Ying prepared a large table of dishes to thank Fu Lingzhi and to reward Huo Xing.

The weather has been very sunny recently, and the harvested wheat is now drying in the fields. When it is almost dry, we can prepare to bring it home for threshing. After threshing, the wheat needs to be dried again before it can be collected. Part of it will be used to pay taxes, and the other part will be used as the family's grain reserve.

But his family doesn't have much land, so there probably won't be much food left. In order to keep more food, they are still prepared to pay some money.

When thinking about paying taxes, Miao Ying realized that Fu Lingzhi did not have a household registration yet. He would have to ask him where his household registration was someday. Without a household registration, he was an illegal resident.

In ancient times, people were so unaware of what day it was that they only knew that the harvests were divided into four seasons. Now the wheat harvest is in May of the Gregorian calendar.

The weather has been good these days, and the wheat in the field has been completely dry after two days of drying. They immediately transported the harvested wheat home, and then began to thresh it. The wheat straw was piled in the woodshed, which could also be burned.

Huo Xing asked Miao Ying for his opinion and asked him if he needed to rest these few days. Miao Ying felt that he had not been drinking as much water as before, so he planned to wait until all the harvests were harvested before making a decision.

It was easier to bring the wheat home than to harvest it. Huo Xing was very strong, and the wheat was pressed tightly. The family quickly carried the wheat back home. When they were building the house, they took the need to dry the grain into consideration, so they leveled the ground outside the house for convenience.

Grandmother had been feeling better after taking medicine these days, but Miao Ying still didn't allow her to work. She couldn't sit still, so she moved a small stool and sat in the wheat pile, rubbing the wheat ears.

Miao Ying's rapeseed could be harvested as well. He didn't let Li Hongying and the others go, and went alone with Huo Xing.

The force used to chop rapeseed is much greater than that used to cut wheat. Huo Xing did not let Miao Ying move, and did it all by himself. He used a hatchet to chop off the rapeseed stalks from the bottom, and then piled the rapeseed like wheat.

Huo Xing seemed to be tireless and swung his sword for a while. Miao Ying followed beside him and picked up all the fallen bean pods, making sure not to waste any.

They did not put the harvested rapeseed in the fields to dry, after all, it was a novelty. Although the relationships in the village were very harmonious, they still moved all the seeds back home to reduce unnecessary trouble.

After all the harvest was completed, Miao Ying could no longer bear it and had a day off to eat some meat. However, considering that there were elderly people and children at home, he still felt a little hesitant and was not very satisfied.

But he also knew that his day was coming soon, and he would have to go up the mountain with Huo Xing. It would be best if he could bring rapeseed with him this time and try to squeeze out the first barrel of oil with their wooden press.

But his body's reaction was too late to wait for the rapeseed to dry, so he could only urge Huo Xing to quickly prepare things and go up the mountain, and asked Fu Lingzhi to take care of the elderly and children at home.

Afterwards, Huo Xing carried their packed things and went up the mountain. As for the rapeseed for oil extraction, they would have to wait until the end of these few days before Huo Xing would come down the mountain to transport it.

Miao Ying was walking in front, very impatient.