Back to 1984: I built a chicken farm on a barren mountain.

Chen Xiaofang was stunned. She knew what her older brother said was true, but so was her reluctance to part with him...

After a long silence, she finally spoke:

"Brother, let's release them all then..."

Chen Wenfeng patted Chen Xiaofang's head and said:

"You know, some things can be kept in cages, while others need to be raised in the wild. This nest of hedgehogs needs to be raised in the wild. Although you can't see them every day, you know, they're always lively and energetic, which is a wonderful thing."

Chen Xiaofang listened to Chen Wenfeng's words without saying anything, but simply nodded heavily.

Chen Wenfeng didn't know how much his sister understood, but her choice had already given the answer.

When the family took an oxcart to harvest corn from another plot of land, they deliberately took a detour and came to the two acres of land where they had harvested corn on the first day.

Chen Wenfeng accompanied Xiaofang, carrying the chicken coop, and led the nest of hedgehogs to the place where they were first caught.

Chen Wenfeng placed the cage in place and had Xiaofang open the cage door.

Two adult hedgehogs escaped from the cage, looking back as they ran, while the baby hedgehogs followed their parents out.

The brother and sister watched quietly, and once the two large hedgehogs were sure it was safe, they turned back and picked up the straggling baby hedgehog in their mouths. After doing this several times, the entire litter of hedgehogs finally disappeared deep into the cornfield.

Chen Wenfeng patted his sister on the shoulder and said:

"Let's go. If you miss them, you can come back to see them later."

......

The hard work of the autumn harvest was coming to an end soon thanks to the efforts of the whole family. Niu Da and Niu Er also came to help during this time. With the help of these two brothers, the harvest speed doubled instantly. Looking at the corn piled up like a small mountain in the yard, Chen Wenfeng felt a sense of satisfaction. This satisfaction was a sense of security and happiness.

That evening, after bringing all the corn home, the family, as usual, husked corn under the lamp. Chen Wenshui's hands ached terribly from husking. He said:

"When will we be able to peel them all? It's so tiring..."

Chen Shouyi and Wang Guizhi exchanged a glance, about to speak, when they heard Chen Wenfeng say:

"Although it's tiring, I'd rather be tired if I can husk so much corn every day."

Chen Shouyi and Wang Guizhi were both stunned. Aren't these our words?

In his previous life, Chen Wenfeng would always complain about being exhausted during the autumn harvest. Chen Shouyi and Wang Guizhi would say the same thing. At the time, Chen Wenfeng couldn't fully understand his parents' meaning. But after he was reborn, he gained a deeper understanding of life, spring planting and autumn harvest, and how to acquire wealth through hard work.

Yes, farmers have worked hard all year and are finally able to reap the harvest. Who wouldn't want to harvest as much as possible?

They are willing to endure any hardship, even if it means being more tired.

After hearing what Chen Wenfeng said, Chen Wenshui seemed to understand a little.

Sometimes, growing up is not just about increasing age, but also about understanding something at a certain moment.

The incandescent light in the courtyard and the starlight in the sky complemented each other, and occasionally a moth would fly onto the light bulb, making a fluttering sound.

On autumn nights, even the wind carries the joy of harvest.

"The corn harvest is almost complete. Let's harvest the walnuts on the hillside tomorrow."

Wang Guizhi said.

"I think it's good to pick some wild jujubes along the way."

......

The next morning, Chen Shouyi hitched up the oxcart, threw a snakeskin bag onto it, and placed three long sticks on it.

Chen Wenfeng brought two sickles and a winnowing basket.

Chen Shouyi asked in bewilderment:

"You can use a sickle to cut grass and clear paths, so what are you going to do with a winnowing basket?"

"The hermit has his own ingenious use!"

"I'll give you a good pat on the head." Wang Guizhi laughed and gently patted Chen Wenfeng's head.

Chen Wenshui went to school, while Xiaofang continued to ask for leave—under the pretext of harvesting the autumn crops.

Chen Wenfeng's family doesn't have many walnut trees; they were all planted when his grandfather was alive. There were more than a dozen trees in total, but after the family divided the property, they each got five trees.

As the walnut trees mature and grow stronger, they have borne more and more fruit in the past two years, and the walnuts have also grown larger and larger.

These five walnut trees are all at the foot of the southern mountain in Chenjiazhuang. Although it is called the foot of the mountain, it is actually a small hillside, with three trees on the hillside and two trees in the ditch below the hillside.

Walnut trees are much taller than apple trees, and they are generally out of reach by hand, so people often use sticks to knock them down and then pick them up.

But here's the problem: the area under and around the walnut tree is covered in grass, so the walnuts with their green husks on are completely hidden in the grass. Therefore, before harvesting the walnuts, all the grass around the walnut tree must be cut down to expose smooth soil.

Chen Shouyi parked the oxcart at the foot of the hillside, and he and Wang Guizhi each took a sickle and began cutting grass.

The two quickly cleared the grass under one of the walnut trees, and Chen Wenfeng picked up a long stick and started hitting the walnuts on the tree. The long stick had an iron hook at the end, and Chen Wenfeng used it to hit the walnuts. Soon the ground was covered with walnuts.

After plucking a walnut tree, Wang Guizhi, Chen Wenfeng, and Chen Xiaofang would take bags and collect the walnuts.

Chen Shouyi continued cutting grass, feeding the cut grass to the old ox. The ox was tied to the side of the cart and slowly ate the grass. Chen Shouyi bundled up the excess grass and threw it onto the cart.

The family worked together methodically and in just over two hours, they had knocked down all the walnuts from the five trees, almost filling the oxcart to the brim.

Chen Shouyi stood by the car drinking water, while Wang Guizhi and Xiaofang continued searching for the fallen walnuts a little further away.

Chen Wenfeng then took a sickle and a winnowing basket and walked towards the jujube bushes at the edge of the field.

This is the season when jujubes ripen, and clusters of jujube thorns are covered with star-like fruits, densely packed together.

Due to differences in sunlight exposure and ripeness, some jujubes are redder and some are greener, but all are large and plump.

Chen Wenfeng reached out and picked a few, popped them into his mouth, and found them both sour and sweet, extremely delicious.

Chen Shouyi saw Chen Wenfeng holding a sickle and winnowing basket and became very interested in what he was going to do.

Chen Wenfeng used a sickle to cut the jujube branch off completely, put it on a winnowing basket, and then beat it wildly with a wooden stick, causing the jujubes and leaves to fall into the basket.

When most of the jujubes had fallen, Chen Wenfeng discarded the branches and vigorously shook the basket to knock off all the leaves.

Only sour dates remained in the winnowing basket. He took a bag and poured the sour dates into it.

Chen Wenfeng, knowing that Chen Shouyi was watching from the side, said:

"Dad, what do you think of my idea?"

Chen Shouyi gave a thumbs up and praised him repeatedly.

Not only Chen Shouyi, but even Wang Guizhi was surprised that Chen Wenfeng had this method. It was a very simple method, but most people are used to picking jujubes one by one by hand and never thought that they could be picked so quickly.

Chen Xiaofang grabbed a handful of sour dates from the bag, stuffed them all into her mouth, and mumbled:

"Big brother's method is better. Picking them one by one, you might accidentally prick your hand on a jujube thorn..."

When Chen Wenfeng saw that Chen Xiaofang's mouth was stuffed full of sour dates, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.