Because they were used to harvest rice, the sickles were sharpened beforehand, their blades gleaming white.
When Liao Yujie met Qin Hanshu's cold gaze again, her heart tightened.
She forgot that the educated youth worked as a whole, and her slacking off affected everyone, including Qin Hanshu.
Liao Yujie is now genuinely afraid of Qin Hanshu.
Seeing Qin Hanshu's sickle move, Liao Yujie hurriedly shouted, "I won't slack off anymore, okay?!"
After saying that, Liao Yujie bent down and began to cut rice. Her skill was no less than that of Zhang Kangmei, a skilled worker.
Before long, Liao Yujie caught up with the schedule. The female educated youth group finally finished their task by the time lunch was delivered.
In order to expedite the harvest, during these busy farming days, the brigade specially organized people to steam buns and then deliver them to those working in the fields.
Everyone ate their steamed buns with buckwheat tea, which marked lunch. After a short rest, they resumed their work.
The intensity of the work was several times that of before, and the newly arrived educated youth finally experienced the hardships of farmers.
Under the midday sun, Qin Hanshu swayed precariously.
At this moment, Accountant Niu ran over and said to Qin Hanshu, "Little Qin, we're short-handed over at the drying ground. The Party Secretary wants you to go there."
Accountant Niu, who usually dresses impeccably, has changed into a work outfit today, except that she still has those black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose.
The educated youth had already heard that Accountant Niu was not actually nearsighted; he wore glasses to pretend to be an intellectual.
He had never actually attended school; he only learned a few characters and accounting skills from his father.
Seeing that he refused to take off his glasses even after getting out of bed, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.
Accountant Niu noticed this and his expression immediately turned sour.
Without mentioning anyone else, he pointed at Zhang Kangmei and said, "You still have the nerve to laugh! Look at the rice you harvested, there's still such a big stalk left in the field! It's substandard, redo it!"
That's blatant lying. Zhang Kangmei is considered one of the best workers in the female educated youth group.
Accountant Niu's statement was purely targeted.
After saying that, ignoring Zhang Kangmei's protests, he pretended to adjust his glasses and urged Qin Hanshu, "Go quickly, just go find the orchid at the Party Secretary's house."
Qin Hanshu was puzzled, but seeing that Accountant Niu was urging her, she didn't ask any more questions and put away her sickle to walk to the edge of the field.
Behind her, Liao Yujie asked, "Accountant Niu, did you notify the wrong person? The Party Secretary wants me to go to the drying ground, right?"
Accountant Niu clicked her tongue impatiently. "You're questioning my competence? And you notified the wrong person... Do you think I'd make such a basic mistake?!"
Liao Yujie watched Accountant Niu's retreating figure and spat.
Zhao Ru asked, "Why did you go to the drying ground?"
Liao Yujie rolled her eyes at her and said impatiently, "The job at the drying ground is to turn over and dry the grain. It's the easiest job during the autumn harvest."
Liao Yujie grumbled, "I'm clearly closer to the Party Secretary's family, so he should be taking care of me. Why is he always thinking of Qin Hanshu instead? Even when he was laying floor tiles for Qin Hanshu the other day, he didn't care that my cave dwelling doesn't even have any furniture..."
When Mingming was staying at the Party Secretary's house, the Party Secretary's family treated her very well.
As Zhao Ru listened to Liao Yujie's complaints, her grip on the sickle tightened.
***
Accountant Niu pointed out the direction to Qin Hanshu and then let Qin Hanshu go to the drying ground on her own.
After the rice is harvested, it is threshed using half a bushel, and then the threshed rice is taken to the drying ground to dry.
The drying ground was quite large, and there were seven or eight people there, either older women or young girls.
First, they use rakes to remove the straw leaves from the millet, then spread it out evenly on the drying ground. Every now and then, they adjust the thickness of the rake to ensure the millet is dried evenly.
This job doesn't require constant work; you can relax in the shade during your free time, which is much easier than working in the fields.
As soon as Qin Hanshu arrived, Zhou Ruilan jogged over to her, waving happily, "You're here!" Her big eyes shone with intense affection as she looked at her from afar.
This kind of inexplicable goodwill...
Qin Hanshu smiled politely and said, "Comrade Zhou Ruilan."
Zhou Ruilan quickly retorted, "Just call me Lan Hua. Or, to be even more affectionate, you can call me Lan Hua Hua. My dad likes to call me that when he's happy."
"...Orchid," Qin Hanshu looked around, "Why don't I see Aunt Zhao?"
Zhou Ruilan said, "My mom is in the fields. My dad told me that you can stay with me in the drying yard for the next few days and don't need to go to the fields."
Qin Hanshu thought for a moment and tentatively said, "The Party Secretary has taken such good care of me, I don't know how to repay him."
Zhou Ruilan quickly shook her head, "No need for repayment! It's all what I should do!"
Qin Hanshu asked in bewilderment, "Should be??"
Zhou Ruilan seemed to realize she had misspoke and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
Just as Qin Hanshu was about to ask further, an elderly woman walked over, looked Qin Hanshu up and down, and said, "Lanhua, who is this woman? She looks unfamiliar."
Many people in the production team had never seen an educated youth.
Zhou Ruilan said, "She's a former educated youth who came recently, Little Qin."
The old woman smiled and said, "I thought she was your third brother's girlfriend."
Zhou Ruilan glanced at Qin Hanshu, then feigned anger and said:
"My third brother hasn't even come back yet, how could he have a girlfriend?! Aunt Qi, don't talk nonsense, lest you ruin the reputation of that young Qin, the educated youth!"
Aunt Qi smiled sheepishly, "My bad, my bad. Lan Huahua is getting better and better as she grows up, just like Chunmiao when she was young."
Aunt Qi quickly turned and left, walking towards a few elderly women not far away.
Qin Hanshu saw her waving her hands repeatedly at the elderly women, "She's not the third son's girlfriend! No!!"
Zhou Ruilan said to Qin Hanshu, "She's the easiest person to find out about in our village, just ignore her."
Qin Hanshu nodded, then casually asked, "Your third brother must be very popular with matchmakers, which is why those old ladies are so eager to ask about him."
“That’s absolutely right!” Zhou Ruilan smiled with pride. “My third brother hasn’t been home once since he joined the army, but he’s never stopped being asked to marry someone.”
The main reason is that he has the qualifications; he is indeed a rare and outstanding young man in the dating market.
While imitating Zhou Ruilan in gathering straw, Qin Hanshu chatted idly, "So, neither the Party Secretary nor Aunt Zhao had any ideas for you?"
In this era, marriages are mostly arranged by parents. Especially for someone like Zhou Ruilan's third brother with a special profession, it's quite normal for his parents to choose him and then simply tell him to come back and get married.
Zhou Ruilan shook her head. "My parents said they won't let my third brother have an arranged marriage. They have to wait until the other person comes back, meets him, and agrees before it's settled."
“But he’s not young anymore, so…” Zhou Ruilan looked at Qin Hanshu, “My parents are quite anxious about my third brother’s marriage, and they hope he can find someone on his own!”
Qin Hanshu: "..." What does this have to do with her? Why are you looking at her like that?
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