The main crops planted in Huaihua Brigade in spring are rice, corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peanuts and taro. Now it is time to plant all the crops except rice.
When it was time to get off work, Gu Aiguo gathered everyone in front of the brigade headquarters and told them that the seedlings had grown and that they would start planting them tomorrow.
The weather is getting hotter, so we have to plant rice in the morning when it is cool, otherwise we will get roasted if we work under the scorching sun.
Before transplanting rice seedlings, you have to pull the seedlings first. If you want to transplant rice seedlings early, you have to do this work early, so you have to set out to pull the seedlings at 4:30 and pull them for an hour first.
Then some people were assigned to plant the rice seedlings, some to pull the seedlings, and some to carry the seedlings to the fields.
Those who pull the seedlings are usually the elderly, children and women, while those who plant the rice are women and men with nimble hands and feet.
Carrying seedlings is a strenuous job that requires strong men to do. The roots of the seedlings are covered with mud, and a load of mud weighs at least more than 100 pounds. A weak man cannot do this job.
Because of the heavy workload and having to get up early, Chen Qiangwei did not dare to enter the space to work that night, but went to bed early.
The next morning, not only Chen Qiangwei and Wang Xiaomai had to get up early, but even Gu Sannai had to get up early. Although she couldn't pull the seedlings, she could tie them up.
The pulled seedlings should be tied into bundles of appropriate size and placed in dung buckets. After the two dung buckets are full, they should be carried to the paddy fields.
The three of them got up at four o'clock. Wang Xiaomai quickly made a fire and cooked some sweet potatoes and three eggs. Each of the three of them had two sweet potatoes and one egg. After eating, they went to the rice field fully armed.
Chen Qiangwei was still holding a bunch of rice stalks left over from last year. The rice stalks had been soaked in water last night. After being soaked, the rice stalks were very tough and very suitable for tying seedlings.
Along the way, many people went to the rice fields. Some carried dung baskets, and some held rice planting lines with sticks connected at both ends.
The transplanting line is an auxiliary rope for transplanting rice seedlings. When transplanting rice seedlings, each person pulls a rope from one end of the ridge to the other end of the ridge at a distance of one meter, inserts a stick into the ground, and one person stands between the two ropes to start transplanting rice seedlings.
Gu Aiguo also had more than a dozen torches lit. At 4:30, the sky was still dark and it was impossible to see clearly, so they had to light torches for lighting.
The educated youth, Liu Jinhua, Bi Dazui, Zhao Zhaodi and others were assigned to a rice seedling field.
Pulling seedlings is a memory engraved in her bones. When Chen Qiangwei stood on the seedling field, it awakened long-lost memories, but she still humbly learned from Liu Jinhua.
Liu Jinhua was teaching Chen Qiangwei and five other newly arrived educated youth how to pull rice seedlings. Seeing that Chen Qiangwei and the others were listening attentively, her impression of them became better.
Liu Jinhua swallowed and said, "Okay, this is probably it. You guys try it first and I'll see if it's right."
Chen Qiangwei and the others found their spots and began pulling up the rice seedlings, one in a row. Chen Qiangwei and Wang Xiaomai had no problem with this; one had been pulling rice seedlings since childhood, while the other had lived in the countryside for over a decade. Pulling up rice seedlings was no big deal for them.
Han Qianshan and Si Yujue are men with great strength, so they have no problem holding the roots of the seedlings and pulling them up. However, since it was their first time doing this job, they didn't find the right method at first. After trying a few times, they got the hang of it.
The only one who got into trouble was Xu Hongli. Although she had many brothers and sisters, her father was the only worker in the family, and they had always lived a tight life. However, she was a real city dweller.
This was her first time pulling seedlings, and when Liu Jinhua was explaining how to pull them, she seemed to be listening carefully, but she was always looking at Chen Qiangwei, so she didn't hear much of Liu Jinhua's explanation.
"Oh, no, no, Xu Zhiqing, you'll tear the seedlings apart if you do that. Without roots, the seedlings won't survive even if they're planted in the field."
Liu Jinhua stopped Xu Hongli again. "What did I say just now? Put your hands at the roots of the seedlings, the roots! Not on the leaves. Put them a little lower. Oh my god, I'm so anxious."
Liu Jinhua's loud voice rang out one after another, and everyone in the rice field cast dark glances at Xu Hongli. Some even thought that she did it on purpose to avoid work. After all, it was not uncommon for educated youth to do this before.
Although it was dark and the torches were of limited brightness, Xu Hongli could still easily feel the gazes from all around her.
Her face flushed with shame. Following Liu Jinhua's instructions, she grasped the seedlings' roots with both hands and exerted all her might until she finally pulled out a complete seedling. She said shamefacedly, "Aunt Liu, I'm sorry, I misheard."
Seeing that Xu Hongli had mastered the method and successfully pulled out the seedlings, Liu Jinhua nodded and stopped talking. Today's task was heavy. After pulling out the seedlings, she still had to plant them.
Although everyone was pulling the seedlings, they were also observing the educated youth working from the corner of their eyes.
"Among this group of newly arrived educated youth, I think Chen and Wang are good. Han and Si are also very good. As for Xu, he's really good."
The person who was speaking gave a thumbs up when talking about Chen Qiangwei and Wang Xiaomai, but shook his head when talking about Xu Hongli.
They were all educated youth from big cities. It was obvious that Chen Zhiqing's family background was far better than Xu Zhiqing's. Not only was Xu Zhiqing's family background not as good as Chen Zhiqing's, but he was also a lag in his work.
Many people agreed with her words, "That's right, Chen Zhiqing is energetic and efficient. If you don't know her, you'd think she's been in the countryside for years. High school students are different. They learn things faster than others."
"The one who surprised me the most was Si Zhiqing. I didn't expect that he could work so efficiently." Si Zhiqing has a handsome appearance and looks like a young man from a wealthy family in the city, but he is not afraid of being tired or dirty when doing his work. Although his personality is a bit cold, he nods and greets everyone he sees.
Xu Hongli had been listening to people talking about the five new educated youth all morning. All she heard were praises for Chen Qiangwei and disparagements of her. This made her so angry that she wanted to lose her temper, but she didn't have the confidence that Chen Qiangwei had, so she could only glare at Chen Qiangwei fiercely.
Xu Hongli saw Chen Qiangwei, fully armed, while she could only pull the seedlings with her bare hands. She was shocked and shouted at Chen Qiangwei, "You're actually wearing long pants to go to the fields. Isn't that such a waste?"
The rice fields were wet and muddy, so although everyone wore long trousers, they would roll up their trouser legs before going out to the fields.
Because muddy pants are difficult to wash, you have to scrub them vigorously in the river or beat them with a stick. Clothes tend to rot if you wash them too much, so it's rare for someone like Chen Qiangwei to go out in her trousers without even rolling up the bottoms.
Chen Qiangwei gave Xu Hongli an ambiguous look and said, "Well, I advise you to do the same as me."
Xu Hongli said with disdain, "Who would be as extravagant and wasteful as you, throwing good pants into the mud like this?"
Xu Hongli only had two pairs of pants to wear, and she couldn't bear to ruin them like this. If they were damaged, she would have nothing to wear.
Chen Qiangwei shrugged, she had already reminded him anyway.
"Ah! Help! What is this?"
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