Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Chapter 1123 I really don't want to leave

Actually, it was clear from the fact that Huang Baoguo and his family insisted on eating at the stove pit when they arrived in the morning that they had an inferiority complex. They only agreed to sit down to eat because of the Wang family's tough attitude.

So Wang An arranged for them to live in the old house. Although the main reason was Wang An's dislike for them, it was exactly what Huang Baoguo and the others wanted.

If we put ourselves in Huang Baoguo's shoes, anyone in his position would probably just want to stay in the employer's side room or thatched hut, trying their best not to cause trouble for the employer.

Of course, the most important reason is that they don't want to annoy people, because this can be considered a kind of self-awareness.

After a short rest of more than half an hour, everyone got up from the kang (a heated brick bed) and came out of their respective rooms. At this time, Comrade Wang Dazhu was already sharpening his sickle.

As the old saying goes, "sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood," and this is especially true when it comes to harvesting crops.

Without a sharp sickle, not only can you not harvest wheat quickly, but you are also very likely to cut your hand with a dull blade.

That's right, it's easy to cut your hand with a dull knife.

The reason for this is that when harvesting crops, a dull knife is not easy to cut into the stalks. As a result, the knife is prone to slipping, and the middle part of the stalk is where a person's hand is. So, if the knife slips, you can imagine what will happen to the person's hand.

You have to believe me, while a dull knife is incredibly difficult to use for cutting crop stalks, it's absolutely lightning fast at cutting a person's hand. You'll get a cut the moment you touch it, no doubt about it.

After waiting a while, Zhao Cuiyun also came over from home.

After sharpening the knives, Wang Dazhu and his son Wang An started the four-wheeled vehicle and the hand-held tractor, respectively. After everyone climbed into the truck bed, the four-wheeled vehicle and the tractor drove out of the yard one after the other.

In the midst of our busy lives, it was already mid-October.

During these nearly 20 days, Wang An not only harvested wheat and rice for his own family, but also helped Shen Wei's family harvest wheat and rice, and finally helped Zhao Cuiyun's family harvest corn.

There was nothing they could do; apart from Zhao Cuiyun and her son, there wasn't a single animal in her household, let alone any large livestock.

So, in families like theirs, if they want to harvest their crops from the fields, they can only rely on people carrying them home, or they can find other jobs.

The "exchange of labor" mentioned here means that Zhao Cuiyun would work for a family with large livestock for two days, and then borrow their horse-drawn carts or mule carts to help transport crops.

However, to be frank, changing jobs like this during the autumn harvest is actually very, very difficult, because the autumn harvest is also known as "rushing to harvest".

In the south, people rush to harvest grain because they fear rain, which would cause the grain to become damp, moldy, or sprout, making it worthless. In the north, people rush to harvest grain because they fear snow, which would result in burying the grain that hasn't been brought home yet directly in the ground.

So when your family is in a hurry to bring the grain home, other families are also in a hurry. In this situation, who will exchange labor with you?
After finishing the land acquisition, Wang An also took some time to go into the mountains and retrieve the six guns and bullets he had hidden in a tree hollow.

When he got the gun and bullets, Wang An went to look at the six bodies, but they had all disappeared. He didn't know what animal had eaten them.

After harvesting the land, Huang Baoguo, his son, and Ergangzi went home to harvest their own corn before returning.

The main problem is that although Wang An's crops have all been brought home, the subsequent threshing, which involves threshing the wheat and rice, still requires manpower.

Besides these, Wang An's family also needed to collect a large amount of hay; a small amount wouldn't suffice. This was mainly because Wang An's family had too many livestock; if they relied solely on threshed wheat straw and rice straw, it simply wouldn't be enough to feed them.

Before the land was distributed to individual households, the straw in the fields was basically unwanted. It was either piled up at the edge of the field to rot naturally, or it was burned after the straw dried in the spring. So there was no shortage of hay at that time, and you could just take it home.

Starting this year, most families in the village have bought large livestock such as mules, horses, donkeys, and cattle for farming, and quite a few families have also bought sheep for small-scale breeding.

As a result, straw that no one wanted in previous years has become dry grass that most households collect.

There's no way around it; once winter arrives in Heilongjiang Province, snow becomes a daily occurrence, covering the mountains and fields in snow, making grazing impossible. As a result, crop stalks become essential for livestock such as mules, horses, donkeys, cattle, and sheep to survive the winter.

So before the snow falls, large-scale livestock farmers like Wang Anjia have to go to places with abundant vegetation, such as wastelands, to cut grass.

Actually, after they finished digging for wild vegetables and picking mushrooms, Wang Dazhu and his wife, along with Shen Wei, had been cutting grass. However, the grass they cut in those days was far from enough for Wang An's family to consume throughout the winter.

Thus, before the heavy snowfall, Wang An's family had already collected a large amount of hay, enough to keep their livestock well-fed for the winter.

Today is the day Wang An pays Huang Baoguo and his son, as well as Ergangzi, their wages.

As previously agreed, Huang Baoguo and Ergangzi would each receive 5 cents per day, while Huang Zhong would receive 3 cents per day.

Not counting the two days they went home to harvest corn, the three of them worked for a total of 16 days, so Huang Baoguo and his son earned a total of 12.8 yuan, and Ergangzi earned 8 yuan.

However, Wang An gave Huang Baoguo and his son 16 yuan and Ergangzi 10 yuan.

Wang An, still smiling, said to the three of them:

"Uncle Huang, Uncle Gangzi, you've worked really hard these past few days. Consider this extra money a bonus for you. Use it to buy two jin of liquor, hahaha."

When Huang Baoguo and Ergangzi saw that there was more money, Huang Baoguo waved his hand and said:

“Young Master An, this is unacceptable, this is unacceptable. We will only be paid for the amount of work we do. Besides, the food at your house is too good. It has made Ergangzi and me fat.”

After Huang Baoguo finished speaking, Er Gangzi also said:

"Yeah, Young Master An, even if you don't pay me, I'm still very comfortable with this job. I get three full meals a day, and there's meat with every meal. I can even have a drink at night. Don't laugh at me, but I've lived for over 30 years, and my family has never eaten like this before the Lunar New Year. I'd like to stay and work for you forever."

After Ergangzi finished speaking, Huang Baoguo also said with a sigh:
"Yeah, I wish we could keep doing chores at your place."

It's clear that these two really don't want to leave; they're not just saying nice things to Wang An.

The main reason is that after more than 10 days of eating and drinking, these three people have indeed gained a lot of weight, and their appearance is completely different from their previous pale and sickly look.

(End of this chapter)