Li Xi and Li Xiyue tried it once as she was told, and it wasn't difficult. They smiled and said, "Grandma, I got it."
"Our Yueyue is so smart." Grandma Yu said with a doting smile.
Yue buried herself in her work and soon finished pulling up a bundle, but she didn't know how to tie it.
Grandma Yu picked up a straw, pressed one end down with her thumb, wrapped the other end around it a few times, and then pulled it.
Li Xiyue followed the instructions and successfully tied the knot. She found the task novel and worked with great enthusiasm.
She learns everything quickly, and in no time she was doing it better than an expert.
Wang Jiaxing came over carrying an empty basket. Seeing the large pile of rice seedlings next to her, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Li Zhiqing, you're amazing!"
"This is work for the elderly and children. It's definitely easy for a young person like me. Please stop talking, or people will laugh at us." Li Xiyue was a little embarrassed.
She'd already gotten the better deal, so she couldn't pretend to be innocent.
Wang Jiaxing smiled, packed up the rice seedlings, and carried them to the adjacent paddy field.
Li Xiyue saw him throw bundles of rice seedlings behind the commune members who were transplanting the rice. The commune members could pick them up as soon as they finished transplanting. Since the rice was transplanted upside down, the seedlings had to be thrown behind them.
"When it comes to being the best at working, Xiangyang is the one." Grandma Yu pointed to the person working hard not far away. "He's the fastest at transplanting rice seedlings in our team."
Li Xiyue saw that he was indeed fast, planting far more rice seedlings than the others who were planting rice with him. Moreover, the seedlings he planted were neat and tidy, with the spacing between the seedlings in front, behind, left, and right all the same, as if they had been measured with a ruler.
Grandma Yu added, "But if we work hard, we can do just as well as him."
Li Xiyue dared not be presumptuous about such a matter. Everyone has their own strengths, and she was still better at treating patients and saving lives.
"Oh, right, Yueyue, remember to go to the river tonight," Grandma Yu added.
Li Xiyue asked in confusion, "What are you going to the river for?"
"You silly child, have you forgotten? Today is the third day of the third lunar month, the Shangsi Festival."
Shangsi Festival?
Li Xiyue looked completely bewildered, as it seemed that no one in later generations had ever heard of this festival.
Grandma Yu said, "The third day of the third lunar month is the Shangsi Festival, which is a very important festival for us. In the evening, the people of the brigade will hold activities by the river."
Li Xiyue had never celebrated this festival in her later life and wanted to know how it was celebrated, so she agreed.
"Oh dear, this damned leech!" Grandma Yu felt a little itchy on her foot. She lifted her foot and saw a leech sucking blood from a vein on the back of her foot. It had already sucked until it was round and plump. She angrily pulled the leech off and was about to throw it away.
Li Xiyue saw this and quickly stopped her, "Grandma Yu, don't throw it away, give it to me."
"These are leeches, they suck blood, be careful not to hurt yourself," Grandma Yu said worriedly.
Li Xiyue said, "It's okay, I'll wrap it in leaves."
She picked a wild taro leaf from the edge of the field, wrapped the leech in it, and tied it with straw so that the leech couldn't escape.
"Sister Li, why are you wrapping leeches?" Tiger poked his head over and asked.
Li Xiyue said, "Leech is a traditional Chinese medicine and can be used to treat diseases."
"Are leeches a medicinal herb?" Tiger looked at Xu Guoqing standing to the side.
Xu Guoqing nodded. "I think I heard my grandfather mention it."
"I have one here." Tiger lifted his foot to look at it, and saw a leech sucking his blood from his ankle. He pulled it off and gave it to her.
Seeing that his ankle was bleeding, Li Xiyue said, "Tiger, be careful of infection."
"It's nothing. Everyone around here gets bitten by leeches. The wounds are just a little itchy, but they'll be fine in a few days," Tiger said nonchalantly.
Li Xiyue looked around and saw that many people were pulling leeches off their feet, but no one seemed to care.
Has the person developed immunity after being bitten so many times?
Leeches are poisonous.
However, no one was hurt, which suggests that the leeches weren't that poisonous at this time.
Li Xiyue asked, "Are there many leeches around here?"
“There are plenty, look, they’re everywhere in the water.” Tiger pointed to the paddy fields.
Looking at it, Li Xiyue saw that there were indeed quite a few of them, swimming back and forth in the water, their movements so graceful and unsettling that it made one's skin crawl.
Fortunately, she was wearing high-top rubber boots and gloves, so the leeches couldn't bite her. But the villagers were all working barefoot in the fields, and many of them had leeches crawling on their feet.
Leeches are creatures that silently crawl onto your feet and suck your blood. You won't even notice them unless they've sucked enough to make your feet itch.
I can't keep looking at it while I'm working, so I usually only look at it when I feel itchy.
There are so many of them; once you pull one out, others will come to suck your blood. It's incredibly annoying.
Li Xiyue thought for a moment, looked around, and sure enough, she found Lai Di. She waved to the little girl, "Lai Di, come here."
Lai Di must have come to the field to catch insects, carrying a small net in one hand and a small bucket in the other.
“Leech is also a medicinal herb. You can catch it, but you can’t use your hands. You have to use a net,” Li Xiyue said in a low voice.
Lai Di's eyes sparkled. There were so many leeches! Wouldn't she be going to make a fortune again?
After hesitating for a moment, Lai Di asked in a low voice, "Sister, can I ask my eldest sister and second sister to help me too?"
“Sure,” Li Xiyue nodded. “If you have any close friends, you can invite them to join you.”
People are not worried about scarcity but about inequality. If one or two children benefit, others will have objections, but if there are many, there is no problem.
Lai Di happily agreed and ran off with the bucket.
Before long, she appeared in the field with three or four equally thin children, each carrying a small bucket and a net, scrambling to catch leeches.
Li Xiyue smiled. This way, not only could the number of leeches be reduced, but the children could also have enough to eat, killing two birds with one stone.
The children were very efficient. Right after they finished work at noon, Lai Di and a few others came to the educated youth settlement with their small buckets to "deliver" their work.
Everyone scooped out a small half-bucket, still fresh, crawling around in the bucket; it was enough to trigger trypophobia.
Li Xiyue gritted her teeth and poured all the leeches into a bucket, which surprisingly filled two small buckets to the brim.
She asked quietly, "I have candy and cookies, what do you want?"
"I want candy!" Lai Di raised her hand.
Her two older sisters also asked for candy.
Yesterday, my younger sister brought candy home. The three of them hid and shared it without letting Mom and my brother know. One piece of candy was too little for the three of them; they wanted more.
The other children wanted candy or cookies.
Li Xiyue gave each of them two White Rabbit candies and two cookies, repeatedly telling them not to let their families know. The children obediently agreed and ran off happily.
After the other children left, Erniu quietly came in, carrying a small bucket, and called out in a clear voice, "Sister."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
