After breakfast the next day, Lu Xiaotang rode his bicycle into the city. Today was the first day of autumn harvest, so Xu An and Xu Ning also went to the fields early.
The Youth League Institute still assigned people to do the job of harvesting beans this year, and Xu Ning, Sun Hao, and Chen Xiangdong all received ten work points for this job.
Xu An earned eight work points, and the remaining male educated youth also received eight work points. Among the female educated youth, only Chunhua received eight work points, and the rest received six work points each. Wang Juanjuan had a subsidy from her family, so she did work worth two work points.
The brother and sister ignored others and started harvesting beans with sickles.
This year, the people in the cowshed were given a piece of land to harvest corn, which was in another field not far from the bean field.
The Youth League Home was too far from the fields, so they brought their own lunch. After the meal, the brother and sister took a short rest and then prepared to go and harvest the rest.
As soon as they reached the field, Lu Xiaotang came over on his bicycle. He took the sickle from Xu Ning and said, "I'll do the harvest, you go back."
Xu Ning hurriedly asked, "Brother Lu, why are you here in the field?"
Lu Xiaotang said while cutting beans, "I don't have anything to do at home, so I came here. You should go home soon."
Xu Ning asked Xu An to go back first, but Xu An waved her hand and said, "Sister, you go back first. Brother Lu and I are here, so you go back and cook."
Seeing that neither of them was going back, she rode her bike home first. There was a pile of coal in the yard, which should have been bought by Lu Xiaotang today to make coal briquettes. There were also two pig's trotters and a piece of meat in the kitchen.
She planned to prepare dinner early, and also make the portion for the cowshed and send it to them early.
I stewed the pig's trotters first, then picked some beans from the field. There are not many beans left, so I have to pull out the bean seedlings in the next two days and prepare to plant cabbage.
I added some soybeans to two pig's trotters and stewed them in a pot. I also stewed potatoes with beans and boiled a few salted duck eggs and made two boxes of pancakes.
Xu Ning left enough food for the three of them and sent the rest to the cowshed. When she got there, Grandpa Qi was preparing to cook.
During the busy farming season, it was Grandpa Qi who cooked the meals. His feet prevented him from doing farm work, and the villagers, remembering his kindness in the past, let him look after the cows in the cowshed, and his work points were counted the same as those of the villagers who worked there.
She brought the dishes to Grandpa Qi and said, "Grandpa Qi, I have prepared the dishes. You just need to make some pancakes or steam some rice."
Xu Ning had just returned home when Lu Xiaotang and Xu An came back. She asked in surprise, "You finished the mowing so quickly?"
Xu An smiled and said, "Sister, Brother Lu works faster than you. The people in the Youth Institute are very envious of us because we finish work so early."
Lu Xiaotang washed his face and went outside to dig clay to make coal briquettes.
Xu Ning hurriedly said, "Brother Lu, why don't we do it tomorrow?"
"It's okay. It's still early. I'll go dig up the clay first."
Xu An also went with him, and Xu Ning took the bucket and shoulder pole to fetch water. A lot of water would be needed to make coal briquettes, so she filled the water tank first.
When the two of them came back with a cart of clay, Xu Ning had also filled the water jar. She cut a watermelon and let the two of them eat it before they continued working.
Lu Xiaotang ate a piece of watermelon, then went to look at the field and said, "This watermelon is quite big."
Xu An said proudly, "Brother Lu, I planted this watermelon. My sister and I took good care of it. Erdan's mother is also an expert in growing watermelons. The watermelons she grows are not as big as ours."
Lu Xiaotang smiled and praised, "Xiao An is really capable. Not only does he cook well, he also takes good care of the crops."
Xu An felt a little embarrassed when he was told he was capable. He was already that old and was not Xu Mo, yet Brother Lu still praised him like that. However, he was still very happy in his heart.
Lu Xiaotang did this until it was dark and could no longer be seen, then he stopped.
After dinner, he did not go to the cowshed. Instead, he sat on the kang and talked with several people, then went to rest.
When Xu Ning got up in the morning, Lu Xiaotang had already made all the coal briquettes, cleaned the yard, filled the water tank, and was now making a fire to cook.
Lu Xiaotang saw that she had gotten up and said with a smile, "Get up! Go wash up quickly, the meal will be ready soon."
Xu Ning asked, "What time did you get up? Or did you not sleep all night?"
Lu Xiaotang smiled and said, "I just get up two hours earlier than you. I always get up at that time in the army. I'm used to it."
When Xu An got up, he saw that the meal and coal briquettes were ready, and he thought that his sister and brother Lu had done it.
Thinking about how they got up so early to work while I slept in, I said embarrassedly, "Sister, Brother Lu, why didn't you call me?"
Xu Ning looked at him and smiled, "Don't be embarrassed, I just got up too, and Brother Lu did it all by himself. Go wash up, we'll have dinner soon."
After dinner, when Xu Ning was washing the dishes, Lu Xiaotang and Xu An had already gone to work, and neither of them allowed her to go to the fields.
She cleaned up the vegetable patch in the yard and prepared to go to Uncle Dashuan's house in the afternoon to plant the cabbage seedlings she had ordered.
They didn't bring lunch when they left, so Xu Ning prepared some and sent it to them.
I steamed a pot of steamed buns, took some meat sauce, a dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and some shredded potatoes.
When she arrived, the two were still mowing the field. Several educated youth were already sitting there to rest. Wang Juanjuan and Gu Wenjing were sitting together, talking and staring at Lu Xiaotang and Xu An. They saw her coming.
Wang Juanjuan said with a smile, "Xu Zhiqing, come over and deliver the food!"
Xu Ning nodded and walked over. She walked to the end of the field and called out to the two men to stop and come over to eat first.
She took the steamed buns and vegetables out of the basket, and two people came over from the field.
Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei, who were also preparing to eat, winked at her. She asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you two? Are your eyes cramped?"
Wei Lanlan, Yang Xiaomei...
Xu An glanced at Lu Xiaotang, picked up the steamed bun and started eating. Now everyone in the village probably knows that the two are dating.
In the morning when he and Brother Lu were going to work, they met the village head's wife and several aunts on the road. The village head's wife greeted the two of them warmly and praised Lu Xiaotang for being like an older brother and helping with the work as soon as he came.
At that time, Brother Lu smiled and said, "Aunt, actually I'm not Xu Ning's cousin. I'm her boyfriend. We were engaged when we were young. She was still young two years ago, so she said I was her cousin because she felt embarrassed."
The village chief's wife slapped her thigh and said, "Oh, so it turned out to be a childhood marriage. I was wondering how well-matched you two would be when you two stand together."
Several wives from the village also praised the two men for their talents and how well they matched. Chen Xiangdong and Wei Lanlan happened to be there at the time and must have heard it.
Xu An glanced at his sister, who was giving a steamed bun filled with meat sauce to Brother Lu, then looked at the white flour bun in his hand, snatched the bottle of meat sauce from his sister's hand and put it next to himself.
Xu Ning stared at the bottle of meat sauce that was taken away, then glanced at Xu An and said with a smile, "Xiao An, I saw that you had a steamed bun in your hand, so I was going to give it to you after you finished eating."
Xu An...is this what he did for?
Lu Xiaotang picked up the steamed bun in his hand, took a bite, and pressed down the corners of his lips.
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