Soon it was time to harvest the early rice, and the entire village, young and old, turned out. The harvesting grounds were put on hold; the priority was to quickly harvest the rice and also to plant the late rice. The whole village was bustling with activity.
These days are incredibly hectic and busy. The weather is scorching hot, and people tire easily, wanting to sleep as soon as they finish work. Because it's so hot and they're so dirty, every year around this time, both men and women go down to Moon Bay to bathe. Of course, they go after dark; the men go upstream, and the women go downstream in the river bend. This is an established custom that cannot be broken.
Those who went to bathe were mostly married women, but a few bolder, more outspoken unmarried girls also went. While bathing, men and women would shout across the river bend, saying lewd things, which was probably the most open thing in that era.
The male educated youth also went to the river to bathe, and often became the target of the women's teasing. Whenever this happened, the male educated youth would be teased by the bold and shrewish women until they blushed.
Zhao Mingyue never takes a bath. First, her parents forbid it, and second, she herself doesn't want to. Why should men bathe upstream while women bathe downstream? How much cleaner can smelly men be than women? This is clearly a manifestation of the low status of women.
There was a large water vat in front of her house. Every morning, Zhao Minglang would help fill the vat with water and leave it to sit in the sun all day. When she came back from work in the evening, the water would be a little warm. She would then boil a pot of hot water to add to the water, which was enough for Zhao Mingyue to take a clean and refreshing bath.
The weather was exceptionally hot and humid that day. Everyone was busy in the fields, drenched in sweat. Zhao Mingyue, afraid of cutting her arms, wore a long-sleeved shirt and arm sleeves while harvesting rice. She was soaked in sweat, then dried, then soaked again, countless times. In the afternoon, dark clouds rolled in on the horizon, and rumbling thunder could be heard intermittently; a heavy rain was brewing.
The production team leader shouted, "Everyone, let's work harder! We need to finish harvesting what we cut today. It's going to rain tonight, and if it gets wet, we'll have to eat the seedlings."
The weather was so hot that after the rice was harvested, it was piled up. If it wasn't threshed in time, it would sprout after being soaked by the rain and in the high temperature for a day or two. So everyone put in their best effort to thresh all the harvested rice before the heavy rain came.
Finally, before dark, everyone had finished threshing all the rice, and they were all exhausted. Zhao Mingyue sat on the edge of the field, panting, while the women packed up their straw hats and sickles: "Let's go, let's go bathe in the river."
The men joked, "Hurry up, I'm going to peek later."
"If you dare come, we'll rip your shorts off." The women retorted defiantly.
Zhao Mingyue smiled and shook her head, then stood up, ready to go back. Cheng Meilai saw Zhao Mingyue and pulled her along, saying, "Come on, Mingyue, let's go bathe in the river."
Zhao Mingyue quickly declined, "No, sister-in-law, I'm not going, you guys go."
Another young woman came over: "You're soaking wet! It's like you just took a bath, all dirty and hot. Go cool off in the river. What kind of fun do you think you can get up to sitting in that half-foot-deep basin? Come on, let's go together!"
Zhao Mingyue was pulled into the river by two young wives for the first time. Well, it wouldn't be quite right to say it was the first time. Before she was ten years old, she often went swimming in the river with her father and brothers. Swimming was a basic life skill for people in the water town, and it was something they had to learn.
Dark clouds loomed overhead, but the river, after a day of scorching sun, was at a very comfortable temperature. After a long day of tension, busyness, and high-temperature distillation, soaking in the water, feeling the cool river water enveloping and gently caressing you, was an indescribable feeling—incredibly comfortable and refreshing. No wonder they all love to bathe in the river.
There were quite a few people bathing in the river bend. The women from Zhao Mingyue's production team came directly from the fields without bringing any changes of clothes. They all took off their outer garments, wearing only their undershirts, and washed their outer garments in the water. It wasn't completely dark yet. Zhao Mingyue was concentrating on washing her clothes when Chengmei came over and glanced at Zhao Mingyue's half-exposed upper body, saying, "Mingyue is indeed well-endowed."
Zhao Mingyue was focused on washing clothes when she heard Cheng Mei say that. She turned her head and stared at Cheng Mei's face and chest, then chuckled and said, "Hehe, sister-in-law, you're much better looking than me." She had seen a lot in her past life, even sunbathing on the beach in a swimsuit, so she really didn't care about such risqué jokes. It was just that she was still a virgin, so she couldn't be too open about it.
Upon hearing what she said, Cheng Meilai exclaimed, "I didn't expect Mingyue to be so outgoing! Everyone come and see, it's a rare sight indeed!" She then started calling out to everyone.
The women and girls swarmed around her, and Zhao Mingyue, seeing the commotion, realized they were going to devour her alive. She quickly crouched down, took a deep dive, and left the spot. Zhao Mingyue's swimming skills weren't just at the rudimentary level she'd reached as a child; they were honed in pools and the sea in her previous life. Her underwater swimming was quite impressive; she could dive several meters in one breath.
So when those people gathered around, Zhao Mingyue had already popped her head out in the middle of the river. Since they couldn't see her, they searched everywhere. Someone turned around and said, "That girl Mingyue has gone to the middle of the river."
Cheng Meilai laughed heartily: "Mingyue, if you swim any further, you'll end up in a group of men!"
Zhao Mingyue was still feeling smug when Cheng Mei reminded her. She turned her head and saw that right in front of her to the left was the men's territory. However, because it was dark, no one could see anyone else clearly. The group of men also noticed her and started shouting, "Who's that? Why don't you just swim over here?"
"Come on, come wash over here."
A group of men burst into laughter.
Zhao Mingyue blushed with embarrassment and quickly swam back into the river bend. She was a very good swimmer, using a standard freestyle stroke and swimming very fast, which amazed everyone watching.
As soon as Zhao Mingyue returned to the group of women, they all swarmed around her, splashing water on her and teasing her, "See if you can still run away. Next time, if you accidentally slip into the men's group, we won't warn you." There's a saying among them: "diving into the men's group."
Zhao Mingyue begged everyone for forgiveness: "My dear sisters-in-law, please forgive me. I promise I will never be naughty again."
Cheng Mei said, "Alright, stop teasing Mingyue. Hurry up and wash up and go back. It's going to rain heavily soon."
Zhao Mingyue also took the time to wash her hair and clothes. Cheng Meilai said to her, "Mingyue, you're so good at solving puzzles. I've never seen you go into the water before."
Zhao Mingyue chuckled: "I'm just keeping my true abilities hidden."
Chengmei said, "Then next time we go snail hunting, you should come too. It'll be more lively with more people." These days, it's not easy to eat meat. Meat is expensive, with pork costing seven or eight cents a pound. After a day's work, you can't even buy a pound of meat. So, in order to treat themselves, people can only catch fish and snails.
Zhao Mingyue hesitated for a moment, then said, "Okay."
After showering, everyone was soaking wet. Zhao Mingyue wrung out her clothes and put them back on, knowing she needed to hurry back to shower and change. The women hugged their arms and ran shivering home along the riverbank.
When they reached the main road, they ran into several educated youths who had just finished showering and were heading home. Shen Xuyue was among them. Zhao Mingyue was soaking wet, her clothes clinging tightly to her body. Although they were wrinkled, her graceful figure was still visible.
A group of women, laughing and joking, walked past the group of educated youth, heads down, rushing forward. Although it was dark, it wasn't completely black, and their features could still be seen clearly as they got closer.
One of the male educated youths asked, "I didn't expect you to have such a heroine among you! Who swam to the middle of the river today?"
Cheng Meilai was bold and outspoken. She turned around and said, "What, you want to challenge Mingyue to a competition?"
Zhao Mingyue quickly pulled Cheng Mei back. This is getting more and more outrageous. It's one thing to joke around, but why bring up the competition?
The male educated youth laughed and said, "Alright, shall we issue a challenge and have a contest?"
Cheng Meilai chuckled and said, "That depends on whether Mingyue agrees or not."
Zhao Mingyue quickly covered Cheng Meilai's mouth: "Don't listen to her nonsense, I'm not good enough, I won't compare with you." After saying that, she quickly ran away.
As Shen Xuyue watched the slender figure disappear into the night, he felt a surge of joy. A male educated youth put his arm around Shen Xuyue's shoulder: "You're smitten again, aren't you?"
Shen Xuyue pushed his arm away: "Go away, what nonsense are you talking about, don't cause trouble." But the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.
The man sighed, "This girl is quite good. She's good at both academics and martial arts, and her figure and looks are all excellent. It's a pity she's from the countryside."
"So what if she's a country girl? Can't a golden phoenix fly out of the mountains?" Shen Xuyue said indifferently.
"Well, I told you so. I'm really tempted."
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