Put the letter and the money order on the table. When you have time, go to the county to collect the money from the post office and find a way to return it to Yu Chenglong.
More than half a month passed in a flurry of activity, and Liu Maocai organized everyone to harvest sorghum.
The women cut the sorghum heads, and the men dug up the stalks. Afterwards, they carried the sorghum heads back to the threshing ground.
The older children were responsible for peeling the leaves off the sorghum ears, while the older people were responsible for scraping the sorghum. The younger children were responsible for carrying the scraped sorghum ears, also called broom stalks, to the open space to dry.
Harvesting sorghum ears is not something just anyone can do; Liu Maocai only selected experienced workers. After scraping off the sorghum grains, they still need to be used to make a broom, so the stalks have to be neither too short nor too long.
Some people used special scissors to harvest sorghum, while others used sickles. From a distance, all you could see were their hands constantly waving, yet the sorghum ears in their arms seemed to keep piling up.
Carrying sorghum stalks is hard work, but you have to distinguish between good and bad. The good ones, the first-class ones, are used to weave mats, which are very useful. They can be used to dry things and also for building roofs.
The second-class ones were kept to make curtains, while the worst ones were kept for firewood.
Zhang Hongmei's job was to help the elderly scrape sorghum. She would lay the hoe flat on the ground, sit on the ground, press one leg down on the hoe handle, hold the sorghum stalks down on the hoe blade, press down on the sorghum stalks with one hand, and pull the stalks off with the other hand.
The job is easy; it involves applying lacquer, and there are also people who come to collect sorghum rice to dry.
This year, some sorghum production appears to have not decreased due to variety issues, but older people still say the sorghum rice is not good, although it is much better than sorghum from previous years.
Liu Maocai specifically asked that the largest and best-quality sorghum ears be picked out separately, as these were to be used to save seeds.
Now, everyone in the village, adults and children alike, is in the fields, on the threshing floor, and even those with mobility issues are scraping sorghum.
Because the work wasn't urgent, everyone took their time, and it took a whole month to harvest all the sorghum.
During this month, everyone ate their own food. Since the wheat had been distributed, some families didn't care and had little grain left, while others were more frugal and had more grain left.
Fearing backlash, Wang Hongxi discussed the matter with the old lady Liu Maocai and decided not to buy any more grain. However, this year's harvest wouldn't be distributed. They would wait until after the autumn harvest to set up a large canteen.
Zhang Hongmei had no objections. In her previous life, the egalitarian system of "eating from the same pot" didn't even last three years before it ended, but it still seemed feasible in Liujiatun.
This year, Zhang Hongmei provided seeds for 80 mu of sorghum fields out of 200 mu, yielding a total of 24,000 jin of sorghum, with a yield of 300 jin per mu.
The remaining 120 mu of land only yielded a total of 18,000 jin.
The final decision was to eliminate the old sorghum varieties and keep 2,000 jin of new varieties.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as all the grain from the fields was stored in the warehouse. There were still many odd jobs to be done, and the children were freed up.
Everyone was discussing the commune, communism, and the communal dining hall.
Zhang Hongmei was fine with either way, except that her sheep would probably have to go to the government. Her ewes were doing well, giving birth to six lambs. The village's barefoot doctor even helped with the lambing. In his words, he used to be a veterinarian.
Zhang Hongmei looked up at the sky, thinking, "I really can't be sick. Could it be that he was the one who treated Xiao Hongmei back then?"
Now that she has twelve sheep at home, including lambs, Zhang Hongmei has become a shepherd again.
But what makes her happiest is that she gets a big bucket of goat milk every day. It's not that she's stealing food from the sheep; it's because she's fed them well that the milk production is high.
They can drink goat milk openly again. Liu Erya comes over every day to drink two bowls, and she has obviously grown taller.
Therefore, Xiao Shitou and Sanya also came over to drink every day, so the three children of the Liu family, like Zhang Hongmei, stood out among the dark-skinned and thin children.
When the villagers inquired, they learned that drinking goat milk was good, so many families came to ask for goat milk.
Sensible families would occasionally send Zhang Hongmei something, and some people thought it was only right, as it was a collective gesture.
Zhang Hongmei couldn't be bothered to argue with them, and wouldn't accept anything even if they offered her a gift. But she genuinely disliked those who were expected to do so.
Wang Hongxi spoke the truth. They raised the sheep themselves, and you're acting so self-righteous. How can you be so shameless?
The return of the sheep to the communal household was a matter for later, so fewer people came to ask for sheep milk.
Zhang Hongmei cooks a big pot of goat milk every day, and gives it to children who come over to play.
Some people love to drink it, like Shitou, while others don't.
It's getting cooler in the mornings and evenings now, so we have to wear long-sleeved clothes. The cabbages in the mountains aren't growing very well, but they'll be fine if they're dried.
Zhang Hongmei's radishes are growing well. Although it's a bit early to remove them now, she's worried about animals disturbing them, so she'll remove them first.
Er Ya and Er Lengzi went up the mountain together.
Zhang Hongmei secretly asked Er Ya, worried that Er Lengzi's family wouldn't want him to work for her. Er Ya nodded.
"You're really stupid, you've forgotten everything. Er Lengzi lives alone, what objections would his family have?"
Zhang Hongmei was embarrassed. Xiao Hongmei didn't have much of an impression of Er Lengzi, so she didn't know him.
It took three days to remove all the radishes, and the cabbages too. I didn't want the animals to benefit from my hard work.
The cabbages in the yard will be left to be harvested after the first frost.
I dried a whole bag of green beans and half a bag of dried eggplant. I did it all at night when I got home, since that's when the autumn harvest is the most important.
Once the radishes are harvested, they should be shredded and dried. I used to love eating steamed buns with dried radish shreds.
Li Cuihua came over to teach Zhang Hongmei how to pickle sauerkraut using radish greens. Her mother had made it before, but she didn't like it.
But I'll just make a small batch for now; if I don't eat it myself, I'll give it away.
It's actually very simple. Just wash the radish greens and cut them into one-centimeter pieces. Blanch them in boiling water, let them cool naturally, then select small radishes, grate them, and mix them with the radish greens. After that, put them into a jar. Place a few clean sorghum stalks on top, and then weigh it down with a stone.
"You can start eating the prepared dishes in ten days."
"I won't cook it myself, but if it gets too sour, I'll just bring a whole bowl to your house to eat."
"Okay, I'll make you vegetable pancakes with fillings later."
Zhang Hongmei really didn't like this food, but she didn't refuse it.
After that, Zhang Hongmei started cleaning the radish greens, blanching them as well, but not until they were fully cooked, just until they were soft. Then she spread them out to dry on a bamboo mat.
All the large radishes were put into the cellar. The remaining three large baskets of radishes were washed, shredded, and dried.
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