Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Zhao Lei was forced to drink a lot of alcohol by Qin Changlin, and went home and fell asleep immediately.

He was awakened by a series of noises outside around four o'clock the next morning.

A short while later, Jiang Xinyue came in to wake him up.

After the whole family washed up and ate breakfast, Zhao Lei looked at the bright moonlight outside.

"How much time has it been? Why are you up so early?"

Jiang Xinyue pointed to the clock hanging in the main room: "It's almost four o'clock, it's not early."

Qin Yuchan added, "Sanshi, are you still half asleep? You always have to get up this early during the double harvest season."

Zhao Lei scratched his head, and then he remembered.

Having lived two lives, he hadn't experienced anything like this in decades, so he couldn't recall it for the time being.

This reminder made me realize that in 1978, there was no household responsibility system; the economy was collective.

Every year at this time, when the brigade is working, everyone gets up and assembles at three or four o'clock.

The production brigade would centrally allocate all the labor force in the village, and everyone would have their own tasks to perform.

The men were responsible for harvesting and carrying rice, while the women were responsible for cooking and transplanting rice seedlings.

Older women are responsible for drying rice and so on, and each person has their own daily work quota.

Recalling all of this, Zhao Lei couldn't help but shudder.

He recalled the fear of being dominated by rice!

I couldn't help but feel an itch all over my body.

Seeing Zhao Lei scratching himself so comically, Qin Yuchan couldn't help but scold him, "Sanshi, what's wrong with you? Are you getting all uncomfortable now that I've asked you to do some work?"

Zhao Lei was also helpless.

That's why they say it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

Having truly experienced the conveniences of the 21st century and the new agricultural era, he is genuinely a little afraid of the current backward agricultural environment.

However, as the pillar of the family and the only adult man in the Zhao family, he couldn't back down now.

So he forced himself to stay awake and said, "What are you talking about? I just felt like there were lice in my bed last night."

Qin Yuchan, however, did not believe his nonsense at all.

Because Zhao Lei has always been like this, he would feel unwell whenever it was time to harvest rice or do farm work.

One minute they're in pain or have some ailment, the next they're sick or something, they're either dawdling at work or taking leave, and in the end their family can't even pay their grain tax.

Three women had to hold up half the sky for their families and children.

I thought Zhao Lei had improved after a month of good behavior, but I didn't expect him to be like this again.

Not only Qin Yuchan, but Jiang Xinyue and Su Wanqing next to her also showed expressions of disappointment.

Zhao Lei didn't notice this detail; he simply took his sickle and walked out of the courtyard first.

The three ex-wives exchanged glances, seeing helplessness and disappointment in each other's eyes, before leaving with their children.

That's how collective labor works; everyone has to get involved.

Families with young children who need care should entrust them to the collective, which will arrange for someone to take care of them collectively.

Even slightly older children can't be idle; they must participate in the work.

Zhao Lei's family was also subject to a unified labor allocation.

Qin Mancang, the father-in-law and the brigade leader, did not give them any special treatment or extra care; he treated them all equally.

They even assigned Zhao Lei to the rice-harvesting post, which he feared most!

This work lasted all day!

Everyone in the Peace Brigade was engaged in intense labor, and no one had a moment to spare.

By the time we finished work, it was already past nine o'clock at night.

Zhao Lei felt that he had lost a lot of weight.

My hands and arms were covered with tiny cuts from rice leaves.

Moreover, my whole body was itchy, as if I was being pricked with needles, and the itching was unbearable.

After finishing their work and eating communal meals at the commune canteen, everyone tacitly went to the Qingshui River.

The men jumped into the river wearing only their underwear, taking a bath and swimming all at once.

At the same time, swimming in the river is also a good way to beat the heat in this hot weather.

After all, there was no air conditioning in those days, and even electric fans were extremely rare.

The only way for people to escape the heat was to either swim in the river or stay by the riverbank, which served as a natural air conditioner.

The little boys, with their bottoms bare, played on the shallows with the help of adults, and many of them also took the opportunity to wash their clothes by the river.

Zhao Lei suddenly swam to the shore and ambushed Jiang Xinyue, dragging her, who was washing clothes on the bank, directly into the river.

"Hey! San Shi, what are you doing?"

As Zhao Lei splashed water, he said with a smile, "Xinyue, come down and cool off."

As he spoke, he started playing tricks again, dragging Qin Yuchan, who was watching the child, into the mess as well.

Immediately, the two ex-wives took a cold shower while still fully clothed.

Only Su Wanqing remained on the shore, looking after the three children. Upon seeing this scene, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle to herself.

Splash splash splash...

Jiang Xinyue, as if in retaliation, frantically splashed water on Zhao Lei.

Not to be outdone, Zhao Lei pushed with both hands, sending huge waves crashing onto his two ex-wives, soaking them completely.

The thin clothes clung to their graceful bodies, revealing glimpses of their skin.

Qin Yuchan, in particular, with her ample bosom that seemed to burst forth, so large that one hand couldn't even grasp it, made his blood boil.

If he hadn't been soaking in cold water, Zhao Lei would probably be standing at attention by now...

"Sanshi, I think you need a good beating!"

Qin Yuchan shouted and plunged into the water, creating a splash.

The couple and their two companions frolicked and played in the river for quite some time, finally stopping only after getting the whole family soaked to the bone.

The days of hard work repeated themselves one after another.

On the third day, an accident occurred at the Dashi Dam grain drying ground...

That day, the brigade's grain had already covered half of the land at Dashiba.

It was evening.

Zhao Lei and other able-bodied young men were harvesting rice in the field when Zhang Sanpo suddenly ran up to the edge of the field, breathless.

"Lei Zi! Zhao Lei, where are you?"

Zhao Lei was bending over in the field cutting rice when he heard Zhang Sanpo's voice and suddenly stood up.

"What's wrong, Granny? What do you want?"

"Lei Zi, something terrible has happened! Some animals are stealing our grain from Da Shi Ba! I just discovered a lot is missing!"

"What?"

Several strong young men all stood up with a jolt.

"Lei Zi, you'd better hurry over and take a look! That thing has ruined all the grain in Da Shi Dam!" Zhao Lei sensed something was wrong and followed Zhang Sanpo to Da Shi Dam.

"Third Aunt, what's wrong?"

Granny Zhang pointed to the messy footprints on the large stone dam, which looked like scribbles.

"Lei Zi, can you tell what did it do?"