Chapter 33 Roasted Corn
The second crop of rice grew well after being planted; it was truly a year of favorable weather. The rice in the neighboring Yao family's fields was also growing well. However, Yao Yuan had neglected to manage the fields during his injury, so the harvest would likely be less than that of Zhao Xuan and the others who cultivated their fields meticulously. But if they ate sparingly, they should be able to make it through the year.
Yao Yuan would come to the field from time to time, squatting down and gently touching the rice ears, seemingly trying to determine the harvest time. The Yao family clearly had more farming experience than Zhao Xuan and his companion. Earlier, when Zhao Xuan's rice was about to fill out, Yao Yuan had made several scarecrows and placed them in their field. In recent years, the number of birds had increased rapidly, and the fruits and grains in the field were their favorite food.
Some birds aren't stupid; they get used to scarecrows after a while and continue leisurely pecking at the rice in the field. So, you have to move the scarecrow to a different spot or change its shape from time to time. Yao Yuan tied a torn plastic bag to the scarecrow; when the wind blew, the plastic bag fluttered and made a sound, which helped to scare away the birds.
Now Yao Yuan carried several scarecrows to his own field to protect the grain that was about to be harvested.
Although Zhao Xuan and Yao's family became closer, they didn't usually bother each other too much in their lives; at most, their dogs would exchange some things between the two families.
In this desolate world, Zhao Xuan, Lu An, and a dog live quietly most of the time.
A month later, when Zhao Xuan and Lu An were both wearing thin long sleeves, their crops on the dry land had ripened.
The farm work at this time was not as arduous as the summer rice harvest. The two of them each put on a hat and gloves and were ready to go into battle.
The seven mu of dry land was planted with corn, peanuts, wheat, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. The wheat harvest was disastrous; one basket of seeds yielded three baskets of wheat, barely reaching a hundred jin (approximately 50 kg), and even less after hulling. The peanuts and corn barely reached the minimum acceptable size, small and thin, but at least they produced kernels. The corn stalks were not tall, and the kernels were not as large as Zhao Xuan had imagined, only slightly larger than carrots. The kernels were sparse, and each kernel was hard, requiring a long chewing time after cooking. The peanuts were also small, but plentiful, roughly two hundred jin (approximately 100 kg), more than enough to press for oil or make sauce.
To everyone's delight, the potatoes and sweet potatoes were the main crops. Zhao Xuan and Lu An planted a total of four mu of dry land. Before sowing, they applied some wood ash and then relied on the weather for their harvest. The four mu of land yielded a harvest of 1,100 jin of potatoes and 1,300 jin of sweet potatoes.
Crops in dry land are not as delicate as rice, so it doesn't matter if the harvest is a little late. Except for wheat, which is harvested more carefully, the other crops are harvested at a moderate pace.
The first crop harvested was corn. Wearing gloves, they picked each ear one by one. The remaining corn stalks could be left in the field for a few days to dry completely before being bundled up and taken home as firewood. Fresh corn could be boiled directly in water with a little salt, without removing the husks. Once cooked, it could be carried in their pockets as a day's ration. Sometimes, they would carry a few ears of corn in a basket while harvesting crops, and if they didn't want to go home at noon, they would simply find a shady spot to eat the corn on the cob, along with a jar of pickled radishes they had brought along—a leisurely meal indeed.
Sometimes Zhao Xuan would tear open the husks of cooked corn to reveal the kernels inside, then braid the soft, thin strips of husk into a plait under the corn cob, arranging it nicely in a bowl. If she was feeling lazy, she wouldn't even need to boil water for the corn; she would simply toss the whole ear of corn into the stove, cover it with ash, and then stir-fry some pickled vegetables or minced meat with lard. By the time these dishes were ready, the corn simmering over charcoal underneath would also be cooked.
Pickled vegetables and minced meat can be packed into food boxes, and when they finish their farm work around noon, they can open them and eat them on the spot. They also taste good with the fragrant roasted corn.
Zhao Xuan loves roasted corn, which is more fragrant and firmer than boiled corn. Sometimes she has to chew each bite for a long time, making her feel like an old ox. But the more she chews, the sweeter it gets, and when paired with a bite of oily minced meat sauce, it makes her feel especially good.
Zhao Xuan ate corn for a few days out of curiosity. He planned to dry the remaining corn, thresh it, grind it into cornmeal, and use the corn cobs as firewood.
Lu An hoeed off all the sweet potato leaves from the sweet potato field and piled them in the pigsty next door to be used as pig feed. The sweet potatoes and potatoes buried in the soil were carefully dug out with hoes.
Without the aid of chemical fertilizers, the crops were all thin and small, but fortunately there were many of them. Lu An led the way, turning over the potatoes, while Zhao Xuan followed behind, patting the small potatoes and sweet potatoes clean and throwing them into the basket.
They worked slowly, and hoeing and picking potatoes strained their backs. Zhao Xuan felt a sharp pain in his back every time he squatted down and stood up, but strangely, neither of them complained much this time.
Perhaps complaining is useless. Farming is inherently arduous labor; the wind, sun, and monotonous, mechanical movements take a heavy toll on their bodies. Zhao Xuan thought that if she complained, Lu An might not let her come to harvest the grain anymore, but these farm chores weren't just Lu An's responsibility.
Gritting her teeth, Zhao Xuan straightened up, dragged the basket full of grain to the edge of the field, and casually glanced at Lu An, seeing him working the land like a machine, his head covered in sweat, even his long eyelashes were covered in water droplets.
This mountain range has ushered in a brief autumn. It's a bit cool in the mornings and evenings, so you need to wear light long sleeves. The temperature rises at noon, and it still feels like summer. The difference is that in summer, even if you hide in the shade, it still feels stuffy at noon. But here, as long as you find a shady spot where the sun doesn't shine, you'll feel cool. There are fewer mosquitoes, and you don't need to go home at noon. You can comfortably take a nap leaning against a tree trunk.
It was the hottest time of day, and Lu An was working under the blazing sun. Zhao Xuan had filled two baskets with potatoes and was preparing to transport them home.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes with a little dirt on them can be stored for a long time after drying off the surface moisture. They can be stored in baskets in a dry, cool place until next year. They were placed along with the rice in two rooms on the third floor prepared for grain storage.
Besides being filled with millet, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, the two rooms also contained several old pumpkins and large winter melons. These were brought back by Zhao Xuan while he was wandering around the village. They were clearly no longer tender, but they could be fed to the pigs. If the winter melons and pumpkins grow well, a single vine can produce many fruits. Zhao Xuan brought back dozens, and the pigs have already eaten most of them.
The abundance of grain filled both rooms perfectly; one room was used to store wheat, millet, and corn, while the other room was used to store potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peanuts with fine soil still attached, along with some large melons.
When winter comes and we have plenty of free time, we can take some of this grain, grind it into flour, and dry it into rice noodles to eat. But that's a long way off.
Overall, Zhao Xuan and Lu An were very satisfied with the harvest from the seven acres of dry land. Their bodies had gradually adapted to the intensity of farm work, and the busy farming season of the past ten days had not made Zhao Xuan feel any more tired than when harvesting rice.
After harvesting the dry fields, they were fortunate to have a sunny period. The high temperatures and lack of rain for more than ten days allowed them to dry their crops. While the two young men were drying and storing the grains without their feet touching the ground, it was time for the Yao family's rice to be harvested.
Because the Yao family had helped them harvest rice, Zhao Xuan and Lu An discussed it and decided to help each other, so they also rode their tricycles to help them transport rice.
Although there are three people in the Yao family, Zhang Xiaohe is missing an arm, and the dog is a child, so their combined labor capacity is less than that of Zhao Xuan and his wife.
The Yao family also wanted to take advantage of the good weather to finish harvesting the rice as soon as possible. They usually left early in the morning and did not return until evening, but even so, their progress was not fast because Yao Yuan was the only one who could harvest the rice.
Harvesting rice requires two hands, which Zhang Xiaohe couldn't do herself. She could only follow behind him and tie the rice stalks. She knelt on the ground, pressing down on the rice stalks with her knees, and used one hand and her mouth to tie them up. The rice stalks were tied with thin, long rice leaves pulled out from the rice plants. The yellow, dry rice leaves had very sharp edges. When Zhao Xuan and Lu An rode their tricycle into the field, they saw Zhang Xiaohe's cut lip.
Zhao Xuan felt pain just looking at it. She soaked a handkerchief in boiled drinking water and handed it to Zhang Xiaohe: "Sister Xiaohe, use this to wipe your wound first. The autumn dew is particularly toxic. Be careful not to let it get infected."
The knowledge that autumn dew is poisonous was told to her by her grandmother. At that time, Zhao Xuan was still very young. When her grandmother said this, she was wrapped up tightly, and her grandmother would hold her little hand when crossing the ridges of the fields, so she never really experienced this.
She came here last autumn, and in order to get something to eat, she rolled up her trousers and dug for taro in the mud. An unknown sharp leaf, covered with glistening water droplets, cut her calf. It was just a shallow cut, but it never healed. It became red, swollen, and ulcerated, and it kept recurring until after winter, when it left an unsightly scar on her calf.
Since then, she has been particularly careful about the wounds caused by the plants, fearing that the inflammation would kill her.
Zhao Xuan took Zhang Xiaohe to the edge of the field to treat her wounds, then quickly bundled up the rice stalks. He then carried the stalks of rice to the small threshing machine by the edge of the field and began threshing them. Lu An then loaded the threshed rice into baskets, put them into the back of the tricycle, and transported the full load of rice to the Yao family's house.
The Yao family lived far from the fields, and it took a lot of time and effort to travel back and forth.
The dog is in charge of cooking for the whole family. For a little kid, he is quite good at cooking. The rice is steamed sweet potato rice that is fluffy and soft. The soup includes river fish soup that has been cooked until it is milky white, as well as radish soup with minced meat. The side dishes are dried vegetables pickled by Zhang Xiaohe, which are packed in small jars. When you want to eat, you use clean chopsticks to pick them out and mix them with rice.
Zhang Xiaohe's pickled vegetables are delicious. They contain dried tofu, dried eggplant, and dried mustard greens, soaked in sesame oil and chili. They have a long shelf life and become more flavorful the longer they are soaked.
Sometimes the dog would bring back fresh fruit—tender cucumbers, yellow pears, and grapes. The dog found a rickety bicycle with a flat tire and a crooked handlebar. Lu An patched the tire and straightened the handlebars. With the new bike, he rode even faster, still incredibly fast on the narrow ridges between the fields. However, he still couldn't reach the ground, and had to jump off every time he got off, which terrified Zhao Xuan.
Zhao Xuan enjoyed all the pickled foods Zhang Xiaohe made, and would ask for the recipe every time he tried a new one. Zhang Xiaohe was happy to share. The Yao family wanted to provide all their meals during the few days Zhao Xuan was helping out in Lu'an, but Zhao Xuan refused. The Yao family was generally struggling financially compared to the two of them; they had only grown one season of rice, and food was already scarce, so Zhao Xuan felt embarrassed to take advantage of them further.
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