After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

The sun was still scorching in the afternoon.

Chen Xiaoyin carried a basket on her back and a small basket in her hand as she walked towards the field. Su Xiaoqing and the children had already picked quite a few that morning, but if you looked closely, you could still find some on the ground. She bent down and picked them up one by one, sweat streaming down her face, but she didn't bother to wipe it away.

On the threshing floor, Chen's mother was turning over soybeans to dry, occasionally glancing up at the sky. The old man said that the weather might be bad this autumn, so they had to hurry up and dry the grain before storing it.

Su Xiaoqing waited at home until the children woke up, washed their faces, gave them some water, and then took them to the threshing ground. The four children ran around excitedly as soon as they arrived, playing around the mats. Chen's mother and Su Xiaoqing watched the children while turning over the grain to dry.

When the sun set, Chen's father and his two companions still hadn't returned.

Su Xiaoyin returned from the field with a basket half full of beans she had collected. Although it wasn't much, it added up over several days.

"Mom, I'll cook dinner." Su Xiaoyin tied on her apron and went into the kitchen.

Su Xiaoqing also came to help. The two sisters worked together seamlessly, one tending the fire and the other chopping vegetables. Dinner was simple: they reheated the leftover stewed fish from lunch, made a few flatbreads, and cooked a pot of porridge.

It was completely dark when Chen's father and his two companions finally dragged their weary bodies back. Their clothes were soaked with sweat, and their faces and hands were covered in mud, but their eyes were filled with satisfaction—they had harvested a lot of soybeans today, faster than expected.

"Let's eat!" Chen's mother called out.

The family sat around the table in the courtyard, eating by the moonlight. The four children had already finished eating and were running around in the yard, giggling.

Father Chen took a sip of porridge and said, "Today's harvest was good. Let's continue tomorrow. At this rate, the land at the foot of the barren mountain will be harvested in two more days."

Chen Dashan nodded: "Dad, I'll get up a little earlier tomorrow and sharpen the sickle first."

Chen Xiaohe chewed on a pancake and mumbled, "I got up early too, I'm going with my older brother."

Su Xiaoyin added a spoonful of food to Chen Dashan's bowl: "Eat more, you must be exhausted today."

Looking at her family, Chen's mother felt at ease and warm. Although she was tired, as a family, supporting each other, life would eventually get better.

After dinner, Mr. Chen took his two sons to wash up. Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing cleared away the dishes, while Mrs. Chen led the four children into the house, preparing to put them to bed.

Night deepened, and the Chen family courtyard gradually quieted down. Tomorrow, the sun will rise as usual, and the autumn harvest will continue. But everyone knows that as long as the family is together, they are not afraid of any hardship or fatigue.

The first day of the autumn harvest passed by in a flurry of activity and exhaustion.

----

On the tenth day of the autumn harvest, before dawn, Chen's mother got up.

She dressed in the dark and tiptoed out of the room. The courtyard was quiet, with only the low chirping of autumn insects. She stood on the veranda and looked up at the sky, her brows furrowing tightly—the eastern horizon was darkening, the clouds hung low, the air was stuffy, and there wasn't a breath of wind.

This is a sign that the world is about to change.

In the kitchen, Su Xiaoyin was already up, adding firewood to the stove. Hearing footsteps, she turned around and asked, "Mother? Why are you up so early?"

Chen's mother waved her hand: "I can't sleep. The weather is strange, we have to hurry up and harvest." She walked to the stove and helped add water to the pot. "You two sisters have worked hard these past few days. I'm going to the fields today too, I won't be setting up the stall."

Su Xiaoyin was taken aback: "Mom, what about the county town..."

"I'm not going," Chen's mother said firmly. "Food is the most important thing. We can set up the stall again, but if the food rots in the fields, all our hard work for the year will be wasted."

Su Xiaoyin nodded and said nothing more. She quickly made breakfast, but her heart was heavy—even her mother had to go to the fields, so this year's autumn harvest must be quite unusual.

As dawn broke, the family hurriedly ate breakfast. Standing in the yard, Mr. Chen looked at the sky and said to his two sons, "Today, finish harvesting the remaining thirty mu of land. Dashan and Xiaohe, you two be quick and efficient; harvest as much as you can."

Chen Dashan nodded: "Dad, I can feel my legs. The weather is definitely going to change today."

Chen Xiaohe also stopped his usual playful demeanor and nodded seriously.

Chen's mother tied a headscarf around her neck, shouldered a sickle, and said, "Let's go, to the fields!"

Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing stood at the gate of the courtyard, watching their parents-in-law and husband walk away, both feeling a weight on their hearts.

"Sister, let's hurry," Su Xiaoqing said. "We need to quickly gather the grain in the drying yard, or it will all be ruined if it suddenly rains."

The two sisters turned and went back into the house, first waking their four children. Stone rubbed his eyes, still half asleep, and asked, "Mother, are we going to the threshing floor again today?"

Su Xiaoyin squatted down and looked at him seriously: "Shitou, it's going to rain today, so the four of you can't go out. You're the older brother, so you have to look after your younger siblings. Stay inside and play; don't go out into the yard, understand?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Tou's little face turned serious, and he nodded vigorously: "Don't worry, Mother, I will definitely keep a close eye on them!"

Su Xiaoqing had already taken out the prepared pastries and sesame candy and placed them in a small basket on the kang (a heated brick bed), and also filled a pot with cooled boiled water. She said to Shitou, "Eat this if you're hungry, and drink water if you're thirsty. Your mother and aunt might not be back for lunch, so be good yourselves."

Qingqing leaned closer and asked, "Auntie, where are you going?"

Su Xiaoqing patted her head: "Grandpa, Grandma, and Dad are harvesting grain in the fields. It's going to rain, and the grain can't get wet. Mom and Auntie are going to help. Be good at home, okay?"

Qingqing nodded: "Okay."

Aji and Afu were still young and didn't quite understand, but seeing their older siblings nodding, they nodded along with them.

Su Xiaoyin felt a pang of sadness, hugged each of the four children, and then took Su Xiaoqing's hand and went out the door.

---

The threshing floor was covered with freshly harvested grain that hadn't fully dried. Without a word, the two sisters began filling their baskets. This year's new cellar was large enough to hold it all, but they had to carry it back basket by basket. They made several trips back and forth, their backs aching from exhaustion, but neither dared to rest.

"Sister, look over there!" Su Xiaoqing suddenly pointed into the distance.

Su Xiaoyin looked up and saw it was Chen's mother. She had returned from the fields sometime earlier and was striding towards the threshing ground.

"Mother? Why are you back?"

Chen's mother took the basket from her hands: "Your father and the other two are in the fields. I came back first to help you harvest the grain. These things on the threshing ground are important. If they get wet in the rain, all our efforts will be wasted."

With the three of them working together, the speed increased considerably. By the end of the morning, all the grain in the threshing ground had been loaded into the cellar.

---

In the field, Chen's father and his two sons worked frantically to cut, bundle, and transport the crops.

Chen Dashan's legs were becoming increasingly uncomfortable, a sore and swollen feeling that felt like countless ants crawling inside his bones. He knew this was a sign that things were about to change, so he gritted his teeth and remained silent, his hands moving even faster.