1970.
As dawn broke, Zhou Mingqian, clutching his blanket, smacked his lips and thought, "Where did this beautiful fairy come from?"
"Zhou Mingqian, the sun's already high in the sky, why aren't you up yet?"
Zhou Mingqian was just about to ask the fairy's name when he was startled awake by his mother's loud voice. He rubbed his eyes, pulled back the bamboo curtain to look outside, and said, "Mom, you lied to me again. It's not even dawn yet."
Zhou's mother didn't care about anything else and banged on the door, yelling, "You brat, it's time to harvest the wheat, and you're still lying down? Get up right now!"
Zhou Mingqian sighed and pounded the blanket hard. "Ahhh, when will I finally be free from work?"
Zhou's mother rolled her eyes from outside, "Wait until the day you stop eating."
Zhou Mingqian slowly got dressed, opened the door, and said, "So you do know how to get up?" He then prepared to take a bite.
Zhou Mingqian had expected this. "Mom, can you stop being so childish? I'm already an adult. If you keep pulling my ear, how will I ever get married?"
Zhou's mother gathered her strength and couldn't help but yell, "So you still know how to get a wife? With your lazy, sloppy attitude, what good girl would dare to marry you? It's the summer harvest, and your father said that if you dare to slack off and not go, he'll just send you away by yourself."
Zhou Mingqian's lifeline was gripped. "Mother, how can you say such things? There's an old saying, 'While parents are alive, the family doesn't separate.' I'm still the eldest son, and you'll all be following me from now on. Besides, the matter of getting married is only because I haven't found someone I like yet."
Zhou's mother looked at her confident eldest son with a speechless expression. "Alright, stop arguing with me and get to work."
Zhou Mingqian wailed, "My dear mother, look at me! My fair and clean face won't look good if it gets tanned."
"Zhou Mingqian, if you keep nagging me, you can get out of the Zhou family!" Zhou's mother was truly tormented by her eldest son's shamelessness.
"Hehe, Mom, I was just joking. If you're going, you have to be fair. Zhou Mingjiao is on vacation, isn't she? She has to go too."
“You only care about your sister. She’s so young. No way,” Zhou’s mother refused without even thinking.
Zhou Mingqian curled his lip, "Hmph, I knew it, sons are just worthless cabbages."
"Don't be so sarcastic," Zhou's mother said, raising her hand again.
A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle. Zhou Mingqian went to wash his face, but he didn't forget what he wanted to fight for: "Mom, I can go to work, but I want to eat eggs."
"Eat, eat, eat! Or I'll cut off your old mother's flesh and feed it to you," Zhou's mother thought her eldest son was a troublemaker.
But Zhou Mingqian didn't care about any of that. He went straight to the chicken coop and found it was still warm.
He didn't mind at all, and just made some egg water and drank it. He smacked his lips and muttered, "It would be better if I added some sugar."
It's a pity, but my mother locked them all in the cupboard.
Zhou Mingqian went to collect his sickle, along with water and dry rations. After dawdling for a while, he was one of the last to arrive. As he walked along the path, the sky was slowly beginning to brighten.
As the sun rose higher, the temperature also increased. Zhou Mingqian straightened up, wiped the sweat from his brow, and rubbed his lower back. Looking around, he saw everyone in the wheat field wearing straw hats, bending over, and harvesting the wheat with swift sickles.
Sweat was visibly soaking through his clothes, slowly sliding down his cheeks and dripping into the soil.
Zhou Mingqian looked up at the sky, the glaring sunlight making him instinctively shield his eyes with his hand.
"Zhou Mingqian, you're slacking off again! The people tying up the wheat behind you don't even have any left to tie."
Zhou Mingqian chuckled, "I'm just gathering my strength. Besides, I've only just started resting."
The surrounding villagers couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey, Mingqian, you've only just started your rest period. You've gone to poop three times, drunk water three times, and looked up at the sky and the ground countless times."
Zhou Mingqian was embarrassed. "Uncle Tian, are you specifically keeping an eye on me?"
"Go away, who has time to watch you?"
"Ha ha ha ha".
Making fun of Zhou Mingqian brought a burst of laughter; they all knew what kind of person the eldest son of the brigade leader was.
He's the kind of lazy bum who's always wasting his time, yet he's also got the looks of a pretty boy. If it weren't for the girls at home, they probably would have been seduced by him long ago.
Fortunately, Zhou Mingqian was unaware of those people's intentions, otherwise he would have coughed up blood. He valued soulmates.
As the sun grew stronger, Zhou Mingqian felt sweat blurring his vision. "Huh, why is it swaying like this?"
Zhou Mingqian stood up, shook his head, and wondered why it was still swaying.
Amidst the dizzying spin, "thump."
"Oh dear, something terrible has happened! The brigade leader's pampered son has fainted."
"Aunt Zhu, please stop watching the commotion."
The person carrying the person helped find a shady spot and gave them some mint water.
Zhou Mingqian felt the coolness in his mouth, "What's wrong with me?"
"What else? You've really made something of yourself, Zhou Mingqian. You can't even faint while harvesting wheat," Zhou's father couldn't help but yell, his old face contorted in embarrassment.
Zhou Mingqian was still aggrieved, "Dad, you know I'm delicate and weak, you shouldn't have assigned me the job of harvesting wheat."
Zhou's father was speechless and roared, "You're a grown man now, you have to support the family."
Zhou Mingqian didn't care about anything else and volunteered, "Dad, I think I should go home and rest for a while."
Zhou's father's face darkened again. "What are you dreaming about? Go and bundle the wheat for me."
Zhou Mingqian stretched out his long, slender, fair hands. "Dad, look at my hands. Can you bear to see them riddled with holes from being cut by the wheat? If he faints again, we'll have to spend money on medicine."
Zhou's father said angrily, "Go and guard the wheat field for me. If you dare to cause any more trouble..."
Zhou Mingqian knew when to stop while he was ahead, so he said, "Okay."
Seeing her father preparing to leave, she asked, "Dad, where are you going?"
"Go to the county town to pick up the educated youth," Zhou's father said irritably. He was really making things worse. No educated youth had ever come to their remote area. They thought they could avoid it, but now they had to go pick them up during the summer harvest. It was really causing a lot of trouble.
Zhou Mingqian's eyes darted around. "Dad, why don't I go with you?"
There is no better son than a father.
"Don't get any funny ideas from me."
“Dad, how could this be a crooked idea? I’m a decent-looking guy, after all. I can’t let you down when I go to the county town to pick someone up,” Zhou Mingqian racked his brains to avoid being lazy.
Looking at Zhou Mingqian's pale face, Zhou's father nodded, agreeing that he was right about that.
"Okay".
Zhou Mingqian was just going to try his luck, but to his surprise, his father actually agreed.
He looked at his father suspiciously, "Dad, you're not going to trick me, are you?"
Mr. Zhou glared at him and yelled, "Go if you want, don't go if you don't want to."
"Hehe, I'm going, I definitely will. I'm going to pick up the educated youth. I'll go back and pack my things."
Zhou's father took a deep breath and then stopped looking.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
