Chapter 53 Harvesting Corn
"They're growing so fast," Su Tangtang exclaimed softly, gazing at the lush green spinach field before her.
Huo Yizhou nodded slightly, "Time flies. In just over a month, the recording will be over."
Su Tangtang responded softly, "Once the cotton harvest is finished, our journey will come to an end."
“Yes,” Huo Yizhou replied.
The two walked back side by side.
As autumn deepens, it gets dark earlier.
“It’s almost the Mid-Autumn Festival,” Su Tangtang suddenly said as they approached the courtyard.
Huo Yizhou tightened his grip on her hand slightly, "Mmm."
As soon as I stepped into the yard, four fluffy puppies happily rushed over, wagging their tails like rattles.
Every time Su Tangtang sees them, her heart melts with cuteness.
She crouched down and picked up both of them, while the other two anxiously circled around her feet.
Su Tangtang couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Brother Zhou, hurry up and hug them."
Huo Yizhou readily agreed, "Okay."
As he spoke, he hugged the other two into his arms as well.
Su Tangtang smiled and said, "I really love them."
Huo Yizhou said gently, "We'll bring it with us when we go back."
Su Tangtang nodded vigorously, "Of course I'll take it with me."
The two played with the puppy for a while before going inside.
Huo Yizhou washed two pears and handed one to Su Tangtang.
Su Tangtang took a bite, her eyes lighting up. "So sweet!"
Huo Yizhou leaned closer, "Let me try it."
Su Tangtang looked at the pear in her hand, then at the one in his hand, "Don't you have one?"
He chuckled softly, "I'd like to try yours."
Su Tangtang: "..."
I still handed the pear over.
Huo Yizhou smiled and approached, but instead of taking the pear, he gently kissed her lips. When they parted, he looked at her with a smile in his eyes, "It really is very sweet."
Su Tangtang blushed immediately and said, "Brother Zhou, stop, don't be so frivolous."
Huo Yizhou smiled, then feigned a sigh, "I thought you would say it was sweet."
Su Tangtang's face burned even hotter. She realized that Huo Yizhou had become somewhat glib and slick, but she quite liked him this way; he seemed very vibrant.
The next day, everyone gathered at the program site on time.
Once everyone was present, the director raised his voice and said, "Isn't the Mid-Autumn Festival just around the corner?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The director then announced, "The Mid-Autumn Festival is the time to eat mooncakes, so the production team has discussed with a pastry chef in town that we will make mooncakes together two days before the Mid-Autumn Festival."
“That’s great! I’ve never made mooncakes myself before,” Zhou Yan said first.
Meng Meng excitedly added, "Me too, I can't wait!"
Everyone else agreed, and the atmosphere became lively.
The director then changed the subject, saying, "However, there's a prerequisite for making mooncakes: all the corn in the field must be harvested."
Everyone: "..."
There are only ten days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In other words, they had to harvest all the corn within eight days.
Su Tangtang asked, "Director, are we going to break the corn by hand? Can't we use a combine harvester?"
The director explained, "I noticed that the villagers break the pieces by hand, so let's all try breaking them by hand."
Gu Qingke frowned. "Breaking it by hand takes too much time."
The director insisted, "But that's how everyone in the village got by."
Qiu Nan also complained, "The weather is so hot, and walking back and forth in the cornfield, the corn leaves are so prickly."
Qu Xian suggested, "Director, we can rent a harvester. That way we can harvest faster, and I checked the weather forecast; it's going to rain in the next few days."
The director hesitated upon hearing this.
Su Tangtang chimed in, "We can also help the villagers with the harvest, making things easier for them too."
Everyone thought it was a good idea and urged the director to agree to rent a harvester.
Finally, the director relented.
“However, there was a rain a few days ago, and a lot of corn stalks fell down, so the harvesters might have a hard time harvesting them,” the director added, remembering something. “But it’s okay, we can use the machines to harvest the easy ones, and we’ll handle the difficult ones manually.”
The director nodded and said, "The production team can help rent a harvester, but you'll have to pay for the rental and fuel yourself."
Everyone: "..."
The Shen and Meng families were the first to express their opposition.
"Neither of our families has much money left."
The director calmly responded, "Then you can choose to break the corn by hand."
At this moment, Gu Qingke spoke up, "If we help the villagers harvest corn for free, could the production team give us some subsidies?"
The director shook his head. "Since you yourselves offered to do it for free, of course there's no compensation."
Su Tangtang couldn't help but interject, "Director, are you a real tightwad?"
The director glared at her, but Su Tangtang just smiled and didn't say anything more.
The director continued, "You guys figure it out yourselves."
Then the ten people gathered together to discuss.
Qu Xian said, "The four of us—Huo Yizhou, Su Tangtang, and Gu Qingke—can all operate combine harvesters."
“A large harvester can harvest more than 100 mu a day. If we rent one and a few people take turns operating it, it should be quick,” Qu Xian analyzed.
Gu Qingke looked troubled. "But we don't have the money. We can't afford to rent the equipment."
Qiu Nan tentatively suggested, "How about... you try to borrow some?"
Gu Qingke remained silent.
Meng Meng looked at Qiu Nan earnestly, "Brother Qiu Nan, if your family has a lot of money, could you lend us some?"
Qiu Nan was speechless for a moment, and regretted bringing up the matter of borrowing money.
Lin Lang glared at him, then smiled and said to Meng Meng, "I'm really sorry, my family isn't well-off either."
After being rejected, Meng Meng's face turned pale, and she had already cursed Lin Lang countless times in her heart.
She then looked at Zhou Yan's family.
Zhou Yan quickly declined, saying, "We don't have much left either. The vegetables were just planted and haven't been harvested yet."
Okay, it seems no one wants to lend it.
Meng Meng was furious, but she couldn't vent her anger.
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
Su Tangtang broke the deadlock, saying, "If you really don't have any money, just break it by hand. It probably won't take much longer."
Meng Meng retorted, "No matter how fast we are, can we be faster than a combine harvester?"
Su Tangtang nodded, "That's definitely not as good as it."
Shen Yingying chimed in, "Can't you lend us a little? We'll definitely pay you back on time."
Meng Meng chimed in, "That's right."
Everyone knew that lending money to Shen Yingying's family might be okay, but Meng Meng's family always delayed repaying the money, so no one was really willing to do it.
In the end, everyone decided to cover the expenses for the two families first, on the condition that they repay the money as soon as they sold the corn.
Both Shen Yingying's and Meng Meng's families readily agreed, and after discussing the matter, they informed the director of their decision.
The director agreed and arranged to contact someone to rent a harvester that afternoon.
The next morning, the machine was driven to the village entrance, but the rental fee was much higher than expected, at 2,500 yuan a day.
Originally, everyone thought that around 1,000 yuan a day would be enough, but it turned out to be much higher. Divided among the five households, each household had to pay 500 yuan a day.
As soon as the harvester arrived, in order not to waste the rental fee, Su Tangtang and her group drove straight into the cornfield without saying a word.
Yesterday, they had already discussed with the village chief and agreed to help the villagers harvest corn for free. The villagers were overjoyed when they heard the news.
But some people were worried. These were the combine harvester operators who usually made a living during the harvest season. When they heard that Su Tangtang and others were helping to harvest corn for free, they were so angry that they drove their machines and blocked the edge of the field.
"Aren't you disrupting the market?" the two drivers said agitatedly. "Several companies that had made agreements with us have now cancelled their orders! How are we supposed to make money if you keep doing this?"
This was something Su Tangtang and the others hadn't anticipated.
They originally intended to help for free, saving the villagers time and effort, as well as some expenses.
"You either charge the standard rate, or nobody gets any money today!" a tall, dark-skinned worker declared firmly. "And the price must be the same as ours!"
Before Su Tangtang and the others could respond, the villagers became unhappy, and the scene immediately became noisy, with everyone criticizing the two workers:
"My God, are you guys crazy for money?"
"They're helping us for free because they genuinely care about us!"
"Exactly! If I have to pay you, I might as well break them by hand!"
Seeing the villagers overwhelmingly criticizing them, the workers also got angry. "We spent over 100,000 yuan to buy harvesters, aren't we just hoping to earn some money to support our families in these two months? If you do this, how are we supposed to starve?"
With both sides deadlocked and machines facing each other, neither side could start work, resulting in chaos on site.
"Everyone, please be quiet," Huo Yizhou's calm voice rang out.
The crowd gradually quieted down.
He turned to the combine harvester operator and said, "How about this? You can do the same as us and help the villagers harvest corn for free first."
Before he could finish speaking, a short, stout man interrupted, "Why should we? We don't do charity!"
"Please let me finish," Huo Yizhou said calmly but firmly, "In the end, we will settle the payment with you at the market price."
The two masters exchanged a glance, pondered for a moment, and then nodded. As long as there was a profit to be made, they were willing to do anything.
"Okay, let's do it this way!"
The village chief was deeply moved upon learning this, saying, "I can't accept this."
Su Tangtang stepped forward and said sincerely, "We've been filming here for almost half a year, causing a lot of trouble for the village. It's only right that we do what we can to help."
The village chief repeatedly expressed his gratitude, and other villagers also expressed their thanks.
A storm has finally turned into a warm current.
After the decision was made, the crowd gradually dispersed and went back to their own fields.
Meng Meng couldn't help but mutter, "We didn't agree to give them money. Whoever made the promise should pay for it themselves."
Su Tangtang glanced at her and said, "Don't worry, I won't make you pay."
Meng Meng gave a light hum, "That's good."
Zhou Yan couldn't help but shake her head, "I'm really impressed, you're too stingy."
Meng Meng disagreed, "It wasn't something we agreed to in the first place."
Lin Lang couldn't stand Meng Meng's behavior any longer and said, "When everyone was discussing solutions, why didn't you say a word? You just stood there watching."
Meng Meng immediately retorted, "Didn't you guys come up with a solution either?"
Lin Lang said frankly, "We agree with Huo Yizhou's proposal and are willing to pay for it."
Zhou Yan nodded, "So are we."
Meng Meng was speechless.
Shen Yingying was furious. She was angry that Meng Meng spoke without thinking. They might have been able to refuse the money, but now that everyone had expressed their opinion, it wouldn't be appropriate for them to refuse.
She tugged at Meng Meng's sleeve, signaling her to stop talking.
Meng Meng pouted and finally quieted down.
Since they only rented one harvester, Huo Yizhou took the lead and started harvesting from the first plot of land, while the other two workers started harvesting from the plot at the end of the village.
What used to be a single machine is now being used by three machines working simultaneously. A cornfield that was expected to take one or two days to harvest can now be basically completed in one day.
From morning till night, except for a short break at lunchtime, everyone is busy in the fields.
By evening, all the corn in the village had been harvested, and everyone was carrying it home bit by bit.
Su Tangtang and her group were worried about not having a vehicle to transport the corn.
After all, everyone uses their own car, so it's really awkward to ask to borrow it.
We finally decided to transport it back tomorrow; we'll just leave it in the field today.
Just as I was about to leave, I saw several villagers who had finished harvesting corn early arriving in their cars.
"Are you getting ready to leave?" Grandpa Wang and Aunt Wang said when they saw them.
Su Tangtang nodded, "Yes, we don't have a car. We'll try to figure out how to get one home tomorrow."
Aunt Wang said, "We're here now, so we can help you carry it back."
Upon hearing this, Su Tangtang immediately said gratefully, "Thank you so much, Aunt Wang."
Aunt Wang waved her hand with a smile, "We are the ones who should be thanking you. If it weren't for your help, we would still be picking corn one by one in the field right now."
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