Xiao Tao also joined the team to help. Her small figure stood at the edge of the threshing ground, imitating the adults, clumsily using her little hands to stir the wheat grains to make them spread out more evenly, her little face full of seriousness.
Chen Yan stood at the edge of the threshing ground, watching the efficient harvester, then looking at the huge silver carpet of wheat and the golden grains drying on it, before finally fixing his gaze on the focused figure in the driver's seat. He walked over to the brief pause Jiang Chan had taken and handed her a water bag filled with water.
"Take a break," Chen Yan said, his voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible concern.
Jiang Chan took the water and gulped down several mouthfuls, then wiped away her sweat.
She glanced at the sky, then at the silver carpet. "This cushion... is enough."
"Hmm." Chen Yan nodded, looking at the evenly spread wheat grains on the silver carpet. "This 'divine mat'... truly solved our immediate problem. What else do we need?"
Jiang Chan shrugged, her gaze sweeping over the busy crowd and the bountiful fields: "I don't know yet." A hint of relief lingered in her eyes; with these tools, farming didn't seem so difficult anymore.
The roar of the combine harvesters echoed across the fields for more than two hours. By the time the last golden waves of wheat were shaved flat by the steel behemoths, leaving only neat stubble in the fields, the sun was already beginning to set.
Beside the combine harvester, several more canvas sacks filled with fresh wheat grains were piled up. On the vast, silvery drying ground, the wheat grains that had been spread out earlier had been exposed to the sun for most of the day, the moisture evaporating, turning them a brighter, more golden color, and emitting a rich, dry wheat aroma.
The newly harvested wheat grains were quickly carried over and evenly spread across the remaining spaces of the silver carpet. The entire threshing ground was covered with a thick layer of flowing golden sand! In the afterglow of the setting sun, it shimmered with a warm and intoxicating light!
The air was filled with the dry, comforting fragrance of newly harvested wheat! The busy crowd gradually stopped what they were doing. They stood at the edge of the threshing floor, on the ridges of the field, beside the harvesters... their eyes were all focused on that silver carpet covered with gold.
No one spoke. Only the rustling of the wind through the stubble field and the gentle flow of the river in the distance. Old Sun was the first to step forward. He crouched down shakily, stretched out his calloused and cracked hands, and carefully scooped up a handful of golden wheat grains.
The wheat grains, dry, plump, and heavy, warm from the sun, rolled in his rough palms. He watched, watched… his cloudy old eyes were instantly blurred with tears! Large, scalding tears fell without warning onto the golden wheat grains, spreading into small, dark spots.
"Grain...grain...real grain..." he choked, his voice hoarse and broken, trembling with sobs, "There's so much grain...so much food we can't finish..."
His crying was like a floodgate opening. A man suddenly squatted down, his hands gripping the mud at the edge of the threshing ground, his shoulders heaving violently as he let out a suppressed, beast-like wail!
A woman covered her face, tears streaming down her face through her fingers as she wept silently, her body trembling slightly.
Many people simply stood there, gazing at the golden mountains and silver carpets of crops, tears silently streaming down their faces. Those tears contained the relief of surviving a catastrophe, the bittersweet solace from the wounds of prolonged hunger, and the overwhelming impact of the undeniable abundance before them!
It's finally... finally, I no longer have to worry about going hungry, a belated sense of security!
Xiao Tao ran to Jiang Chan's side, tilting her little face up with her big eyes full of confusion, pointing at the adults who were silently shedding tears: "Sister Jiang, why...why are they crying?"
Looking at the silent tears before her, Jiang Chan felt a mix of emotions. She knelt down, stroked Xiao Tao's head, and said in a low voice, "Hmm, she's probably... afraid of being hungry."
She stood up, took a deep breath to suppress the soreness in her heart, and called out loudly to the crowd, who were immersed in overwhelming emotions: "Don't just stand there! The grain has to be harvested! We need to eat! We'll have an extra meal tonight! Plenty of rice! Plenty of meat!"
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