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

Before it was completely dark, the summer heat in the courtyard had mostly dissipated. The leaves of the old locust tree rustled in the evening breeze, and occasionally a few withered leaves would swirl down and land on the bluestone ground. Several hens huddled by their nest, their heads buried under their wings, already asleep. The Chen family was eating their dinner in the courtyard. Thin porridge, cornbread, a dish of pickled vegetables, and a bowl of scrambled eggs—simple, but satisfying.

Chen Dashan finished his porridge, wiped his mouth, and looked at his father, asking, "Dad, have you found any workers for the autumn harvest yet? We need to finalize things in advance, so we don't catch up later. The people we hired last year were reliable workers; it would be best to use them again this year, since they're easy to work with."

Mr. Chen was drinking his porridge when he heard this. He looked up, put down his bowl, nodded, and said firmly, "It's settled. It'll still be the two brothers from the Li family and the eldest son from the Zhao family. We'll hire two more people this year, making a total of five. With enough people, we can harvest quickly, and we won't have to worry about the weather turning bad and the grain rotting in the fields. We have a lot of land, so the sooner we finish harvesting, the more at ease we'll be."

Chen Xiaohe, who was munching on a cornbread, swallowed it upon hearing this and picked up the conversation. He had been busy working up and down the mountain lately, his face tanned a deep red, and he had lost a bit of weight, but he was in good spirits: "The melon patch on the mountain has been cleared, the vines pulled down, the withered leaves swept away, and the soil turned over. I was thinking of adding some extra manure now to nourish the soil." He paused, his tone becoming serious, "In recent years, our melons have gained a reputation in the county town. Many regular customers only buy our melons and won't buy from others. I've been thinking that the melon patch needs to be well-managed; we can't ruin our reputation. Now that the melon season is over, we need to let the land rest and recuperate so it can be productive again next year."

After listening, Mr. Chen thought for a moment, went over his youngest son's words in his mind, and nodded, saying, "What you said makes sense. Let's do it your way. Let's add some more fertilizer to the field and take advantage of the spare time before the autumn harvest to fertilize the land so that the melons will grow well next year."

Chen Dashan stood up, placed the bowl on the stove, and turned to Chen Xiaohe, saying, "I've woven a few more fish baskets. The previous ones had been used for a year or two, and the bamboo strips were rotten, with several leaks. Even if I patched them, they wouldn't last long, so I might as well replace them with new ones. I'll go fishing more often during this period, catch more fish, clean them, and dry them in the sun to eat in the autumn harvest. The autumn harvest is hard work, and we need meat every meal; we can't rely on just pickled vegetables."

Chen Xiaohe's eyes lit up, and his voice rose a little: "Big brother, how about we go dig some traps in the back mountain? Let's see if we can catch some wild game. It's been so long since we've hunted any wild game since we've been busy at home. I'm really craving a smoked wild rabbit. The ones we smoked last winter were all gone after the New Year, and I still haven't had enough."

Hearing this from the side, Mr. Chen became interested, his voice filled with eagerness: "Then I'll go with you tomorrow. I don't have anything important to do tomorrow, so I can stretch my muscles."

Chen Xiaohe paused for a moment, looked up at her father, and said hesitantly, "Dad, aren't you supposed to go to the general store in the county town tomorrow? My sister-in-law and Xiaoqing need to rush to finish their embroidery. Didn't you say you'd go to the store these next few days so the two sisters could finish it before the autumn harvest?"

Father Chen slapped his forehead, gave a wry smile, and said with a self-deprecating tone, "Look at my memory, I forgot. I'm getting old and useless, I forget what I just said." He picked up his bowl, took a sip of porridge, and put it down again. "Then you two go ahead and try to catch a few more wild rabbits and pheasants. We can smoke them up and eat them slowly, and we can also make a dish to go with the wine during the autumn harvest."

Su Xiaoyin was tidying up the dishes in the kitchen when she heard their conversation. She poked her head out and wiped her hands on her apron. "I soaked some soybeans. Dashan and Xiaohe, make a few more blocks of tofu tomorrow morning. I'm going to dry the tofu. We can stew it with meat during the autumn harvest. It's chewy and even more fragrant than fresh tofu. It's also good for braising. Make a lot and store it. We won't have to worry about selling it."

Chen Dashan responded and added, "Dry more tofu. It'll be delicious stir-fried with chives later. Chives will be in season in autumn, and the first batch from the field is so tender, it'll be perfect with them."

Chen Xiaohe was squatting by the well washing dishes when he suddenly remembered something. He looked up and called out to his father, "Dad, when you come back tomorrow, buy a few more sets of offal. Take them back and have my sister-in-law marinate them into cured meats. The cured pork liver she made before was delicious, fragrant, and perfect with alcohol. Let's make a lot and save some for the autumn harvest. The autumn harvest is tiring, so we need to eat something good to nourish ourselves."

Su Xiaoyin came out of the kitchen, draped the rag she was carrying over the clothesline, and replied, "Okay, let Dad buy some, and Xiaoqing and I will make them. We can make cured pork liver, cured pork intestines, and cured pork heart; it's not difficult. With the strong winds of early autumn, they'll be ready in a few days."

She remembered something else and turned to Chen's father, saying, "Dad, when you go to the county town tomorrow, ask Mom when the children's school will have its autumn break. The autumn harvest is early this year, so we don't want it to clash with the school's holidays. If Shitou and the others take too many days off and fall behind in their studies, the teacher will be unhappy."

Mr. Chen nodded, lit his pipe, took a puff, and the smoke billowed from his nostrils, slowly dissipating in the twilight: "Alright, I'll ask your mother tomorrow."

His voice softened slightly, but his tone carried an unwavering certainty: "This year, Shi Tou and the other two are all working in the fields. They're not young anymore; it's time they learned the proper ways to work. A farmer's children can't have never even worked in the fields, be ignorant of the five grains, and be lazy. How will they manage the household in the future? The work in the fields will eventually be handed over to them."

Chen Dashan was washing his feet by the well when he heard this. He looked up, his voice filled with worry, and counted them off one by one from the stone: "Dad, what can they do? They're so young. They can barely lift half a bucket of water without wobbling. Don't hurt your back."

Father Chen tapped his pipe on the sole of his shoe and slowly counted, "They can pick up wheat ears and grains in the fields, help turn grains over to dry in the threshing ground, and do a lot of other things. It's not about making them do heavy work, but about letting them know where grain comes from. In the future, the barren hills and fields of our family will eventually be handed over to them. The earlier they learn, the earlier they mature. I don't expect them to be able to work as laborers now, but they need to know that every grain is hard-earned."

The four of them nodded in agreement. Chen Xiaohe, being the youngest, thought a bit further ahead. He squatted down to gather the bowls and chopsticks from the ground into a basin, muttering, "Shitou is a very smart kid. He doesn't need much teaching; he'll learn after seeing it twice. Aji is a bit slower; he'll need to be taught more times."

The moon rose, its gentle light spilling into the courtyard, casting the shadow of the old locust tree on the ground. The fire in the stove hadn't completely died down; its residual warmth seeped through the walls, making it cozy and cozy. Tomorrow would be another busy day—setting fish traps, digging snares, making tofu, going to the county town to sell goods, and preparing for the autumn harvest. Life goes on like this, one thing after another, at its own unhurried pace.