Second-hand rice dealers are very fond of this beautiful rice. If it is transported to the rice mill, they can definitely get a good price. They make a living by the price difference.

However, he also heard that the Xu family should not be short of this money.

"Your business is booming now, but I heard that something went wrong with the rice a while ago. Can you still sell it? If not, just send it to the rice mill. Don't just keep it to yourself and lose money."

The other party also made a well-intentioned suggestion, and Xu Fuqiang could tell whether it was good or bad, but the tentative meaning in the words was also obvious.

This is how it is in the village. The habit of asking questions about things behind people’s backs cannot be changed.

He smiled innocently, appearing wise but foolish: "In our family, we listen to my daughter. She makes the decisions. I don't know about these things."

"Well, now you are enjoying the blessing of having a daughter. You are very enviable."

Xu Fuqiang smiled and said, "Your eldest daughter will graduate from college soon, and you will soon enjoy your life."

The man smiled bitterly, "What kind of blessing is that? I paid for her education, but she only went to a junior college. She couldn't even afford the college entrance exam. She can only earn three to five thousand yuan when she goes out to find a job. She can't even support herself. How can I ask her for money? Brother, to be honest, I'm under a lot of pressure too. My younger sister is still in high school, and she needs money all the time. She relies on the rice harvesting business all year round."

"Yeah, who doesn't have pressure?" Xu Fuqiang echoed.

If Qingzhi hadn't come back to grow vegetables, their family's situation would probably be even more difficult now.

A truck compartment can carry about one ton of rice. The truck, filled with rice, drives to Xu's house and stops on the dam in the yard. Then the pin on the lower half of the rear of the truck compartment is removed, and the rice flows down.

The driver drove the truck slowly forward a few steps, and the rice was piled on the dam in the yard into a shape that looked like connected mountains.

Finally, there was some rice left. The pillars at the bottom of the truck slowly rose up, tilting the carriage, and the car slowly moved forward two steps.

With two "clangs", all the freshly harvested rice fell onto the dam in the yard.

The truck drove away and continued to pick up the rice.

Xu Fuqiang hired some laborers, six of them, all of whom were hardworking and diligent fellow villagers from the neighborhood, and paid each of them 100 yuan a day.

Everyone used wooden rakes to spread the rice flat so that it could be dried in the sun. Since there was not enough room in the yard to dry the rice, they spread it along the roadside.

There are few cars in the village, and you can only see a few cars a day, not to mention the small road near Xu Qingzhi's home, where almost no cars pass by.

When the rice harvest is good, everyone in the village dries the rice like this. If there is no more room, they hang the rice along the two-way road, leaving half to dry and the other half for cars to pass.

Of course, no one would go to the main road to sunbathe.

Two tons of rice may sound like a lot, but actually, it only takes one field to dry.

But Xu Qingzhi could no longer sit under the persimmon tree, so he moved to sit under the eaves.

Looking at the golden rice in the yard, the familiar rice fragrance wafts into my nose, and I feel like I am flashing back to the past.

After a long time, the truck drove back twice and dropped the rice on the hundred-meter-long cement road. It spread out to dry, occupying half of the cement road.

Xu Fuqiang had no experience and had not considered that his family had contracted dozens of acres of land in the second half of this year, and he had not figured out how much land would be needed to dry all of it, and he did not hire many laborers.

There was no land to dry the rice, so he could only think about harvesting the remaining rice tomorrow. By then, he would see if the village collective threshing ground on the mountain over there could be cleaned up and the rice could be dried there tomorrow.

Today we harvested about six tons of rice from about ten acres of land.

Wang Yanmei prepared some chrysanthemum tea in advance for the people who came to help today to drink while they rested.

After the rice was spread out and everyone was sitting under the eaves to rest, two black nanny cars drove towards the Xu family.

Xu Fuqiang asked, "Who is here?"

If we drive from this direction, his house is the only one there.

Sure enough, the car was parked on the side of the road and could not be driven to the door of the house because the yard was full of rice.

A group of people got off the car.

Xu Qingzhi took a sip of tea and replied to her father leisurely, "The helpers are here."

"Aunt! Uncle!"

He was so excited, wow, he could finally eat the food cooked by his aunt again.

He has to help with the work anyway, so there's nothing shameful about eating for free.

Xu Fuqiang squinted his eyes and muttered, "Who is this?"

Wang Yanmei stood up excitedly and clapped her hands, more enthusiastically than welcoming her own son: "Why are you here? Why didn't you tell your aunt in advance?"

However, the rice drying on the ground blocked those who came.

There was no place for everyone to stay, so they could only stand where they were.

Wang Yanmei had already stepped on the rice and walked over enthusiastically. "It's okay, just step over. It won't be a problem."

With the permission of the host, the group dared to step over. But everyone was also reserved, so they only stepped on one spot in a row and did not dare to step everywhere.

When they got closer, Xu Fuqiang could see clearly that it was: "Xiao Jiang! There are so many of you here, are you also here to travel in Dongyang?"

"No, uncle, we are here to help with the work." Jiang Xiao said very politely, and then introduced him to others: "This is my teacher, Zhou Zheng."

Zhou Zheng took the initiative to extend his hand and greet Xu Fuqiang and Wang Yanmei: "Hello, I am sorry to bother you these days."

Xu Fuqiang and Wang Yanmei saw that the other person was about the same age as them, and the moment he spoke, he was known as a cultured person. They were not good at socializing with cultured people, so they just laughed and said, "Hello, hello."

They had heard from their daughter that someone was coming to help, so they were not surprised.

Zhou Zheng looked at the young girl beside him, "I guess this is the owner of the famous Fuwang Farm, what's your name?"

"Xu Qingzhi, just call me Qingzhi." Xu Qingzhi nodded politely and called respectfully, "Mr. Zhou."

Zhou Zheng smiled and said, "Okay, Qingzhi."

Then he held out his hand for the others to come forward and introduce themselves.

"Hello, my name is Zhou An, and I'm his daughter." Zhou An is Xiao An, who does the mooncake and vegetable review for Fuwang Farm. She was very excited to know that her father was coming to Fuwang Farm for research. She persuaded her father for a long time before she agreed to let her father bring her here.

"My name is Zhou Ran, her younger brother."

"My name is Mo Wenshan. You can call me Wenshan or Xiaoshan."

"I don't need to introduce myself." Jiang Xiao said happily, "Aunt, Uncle and Qingzhi all know me."

"I'm Bian Chang." The young guy looks a bit like a member of a boy band and is quite handsome.

"My name is Tian Li." He looks strong and sturdy, the kind who works hard.

"I'm Liu Wen, he's my brother Liu Wu, we're twins."

Every time I see twins in real life, I am surprised. They really look alike and I don’t know how to tell them apart.

There is only one person left.

He was wearing a white shirt, clean light-colored jeans, and a pair of sneakers, exuding a strong youthful vibe.

"Auntie, hello uncle, I'm Yu Zhou."

When Xu Qingzhi heard this, his eyes instantly fell on him, and his head seemed to be buzzing.

Yu Zhou curled his lips, "Qingzhi, long time no see."

Jiang Xiao was surprised: "Do you know each other?"

"Yeah." Yu Zhou nodded, "I'm also from Meicheng, and Qingzhi and I were high school classmates."

(End of this chapter)