A Young Woman's Heart

"Smack." The buffalo flicked its tail at the spot where it had just been touched. Perhaps to it, the sensation was like being bitten by a mosquito, so it instinctively tried to shoo it away.

"Good boy, good boy, good boy." Hua Yinyin reached out to scratch the water buffalo's cheek, but the buffalo kept raising its head, trying to lick her hand with its tongue.

The rough cow tongue licked her palm with a 'slap slap' sound, making her giggle uncontrollably from the ticklish sensation.

The buffalo seemed tired of standing, so it simply lay down on the ground, letting the students pet it as they pleased, seemingly without any qualms.

"Little Yaoyao~!" Hua Yinyin ran over with a wet left hand raised, startling Mo Xueyao so much that she took several steps back.

What are you doing?

"Look, this hand has been licked!"

"So stay away from me...it stinks."

"Really?"

Can't you smell it yourself?

"Hmm... let me smell it..." Hua Yinyin put her palm in front of her and sniffed it, then her whole face scrunched up. "Ugh, it smells like fermented grass."

"Go wash your hands..." Mo Xueyao shook her head helplessly.

More students who had finished eating came over to look at the water buffalo, so Mo Xueyao stepped aside. Anyway, she had already had her fill of touching it.

The key is that the smell around a cow is really strong; if you're not a cow farmer, it's really hard to get used to standing next to it.

Later, the cattle herder even demonstrated to the students how to use cattle to plow fields.

The large iron plow was hung behind the ox, held by the herdsman to prevent it from tipping over. Then, holding the rope, he would gently pat the ox's back, and it would cleverly start moving on its own.

Contrary to expectations, the water buffalo plowed the land with remarkable ease; the heavy iron plow seemed as light as if it were made of plastic.

It moves very slowly, leisurely taking one step at a time, always in a straight line, never veering off to the side.

"If there's a calf, the adult ox will teach it to plow the field, so as long as the calf grows up with the adult ox, it will generally know how to plow," the uncle said from the side. "Don't be fooled by how easily the ox plows the field; that thing is actually quite heavy!"

As the water buffalo walked past her, Mo Xueyao couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, how heavy is that plow?"

"About one or two hundred pounds."

That means it must weigh at least 100 jin (50 kg).

Keep in mind that 100 pounds of rice is already a very large bag. It's not easy for an ordinary person to drag 100 pounds of rice, let alone such a heavy iron block.

Moreover, when plowing, there is resistance from the soil, and it is even more difficult if you encounter any stones blocking the way.

However, none of this is a problem for the buffalo; it simply walks back and forth as usual.

Whether it was gravel or large rocks, they were easily turned out of the soil and piled up to the side.

In the days before machines, an ox could increase the efficiency of farming many times over.

"How old is this cow?" Hua Yinyin asked.

"It's been eight or nine years already," the uncle replied after thinking for a while. "I probably won't be able to keep going for another two or three years."

"What will happen when you get old?" Mo Xueyao asked worriedly.

“We don’t usually eat draft cattle here. When they get old, we let them take care of the calves, and when they’re not busy, we let them graze on the mountain and live out their retirement.”

"That's good." She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ha, cows are intelligent and will even kneel down when you try to kill them! So we generally don't kill old cows here. If we really run out of money, we'll just sell the old cow, but we definitely won't kill it ourselves."

As for what would happen after it was sold, Mo Xueyao could guess without even asking.

Actually, my uncle was being rather tactful; in the countryside, what family doesn't lack money?

When these cattle get old and can no longer work, they are mostly sold off rather than kept for retirement.

The only thing that might be conscience is that I can't bear to be the executioner myself.

"There are fewer cattle now, and families are getting better and better. Old cattle that have been raised for a long time are generally not sold," the cattle herder said with a smile. "When they get old, they can be taken out to carry some goods, which is convenient when going to the market. Besides, since my children are not around, it's not bad to have a cow for company."

The water buffalo plowed the fields several times, giving many students who had never seen a water buffalo before a glimpse of the rural landscape of the past.

Then the cattle herder led it to the next shift.

The next class is next; after that, its work for the day will be finished.

"Alright, students who have finished eating, let's get to work! Let's finish early today so we can rest early! Next, we need to sow the seeds!" Uncle shouted loudly, and started singing the work song again. In a daze, Mo Xueyao felt as if she had traveled back a hundred years.

The students stopped slacking off and finally finished their tasks for the day by evening.

After planting the seeds, the boy even fetched water to irrigate them.

Although it was tiring, seeing these neatly divided plots of farmland still gave me a great sense of accomplishment.

At this moment, Mo Xueyao was already eagerly anticipating what they would look like when they grew up, wishing she could wake up overnight and harvest the food she had planted...

Before dinner time, the students dispersed and went about their own free time.

It's a little past four o'clock now, and the school's scheduled lunch time is five o'clock.

Taking an hour's rest is good, since you don't have much of an appetite after finishing work.

"Phew, I'm covered in sweat." Wang Jiale fanned herself with her hand, fine beads of sweat running down her cheeks. "I'm going to take a shower before coming down for dinner."

"If I wash now, I'll have to wash again after I eat, won't I?" Although Mo Xueyao also felt a little uncomfortable, she still wanted to hold on until after dinner.

Anyway, once the wind dries the sweat, you don't feel much of a sensation anymore.

"No, I really can't take it anymore. I can just take another shower." Wang Jiale shook her head vigorously.

"I want to go wash too!" Mo Zhuyou followed.

Actually, it's not just girls; some boys also can't stand the smell of sweat and go upstairs to take a shower.

However, it's much easier for boys to take a shower than for girls, at least their hair dries faster.

Actually, for guys, what they call taking a shower should more accurately be called taking a cold shower.

"Then... I'll go take a shower too." Mo Xueyao couldn't help but mutter. She wanted to shower as soon as possible so she could wash and dry her clothes quickly. If she sweated again after working, she could just take another shower without changing her clothes.

Anyway, I'll only sweat a little, but it won't get my clothes dirty.

"Oh, I want to be with Xiaoyao!" Of course, Hua Yinyin wouldn't miss out on such a lively occasion.

Everyone quickly walked towards the apartment.

The large water buffalo they had seen earlier was standing in the middle of the road, grazing on weeds, blocking their way.

"How do we get there?"

"Go around it?"

Will it give way?

Just as everyone was discussing how to get across, the water buffalo looked up at them, then, like a gentleman, stepped aside and stood in the nearby farmland.

"Wow, she'll let me pass!" Hua Yinyin exclaimed excitedly, as if she had discovered a new continent.

Cows... are indeed quite intelligent animals.

……

Chapter 85 The Last Day of Agricultural Training (Part 1)

Friday, July 6, 2000.

Today is the last day of the agricultural training program.

Mo Xueyao had originally planned to get up, but when she saw the raging storm outside the window, which seemed to be about to overturn the entire lake, she shrank back into the covers.

"Little Yaoyao, you don't have to do farm work today, right?" Hua Yinyin raised her right leg high and nudged the upper bunk.

"I don't know... but it seems like I can sleep a little longer." Mo Xueyao yawned several times, touched the tape recorder under her pillow, and after confirming that it was still there, she closed her eyes again with peace of mind.

"But it's already 6:30."

“There are no students down here… If we really want to continue learning agriculture, Wen will definitely come and call us.”

"Then I'll go back to sleep too." Hua Yinyin said, climbing up the ladder to the top bunk and crawling into Mo Xueyao's bed.

"Hey, what are you doing..."

"Hey, let's sleep together."

"Tsk..." Mo Xueyao moved closer to make room for Hua Yinyin, but the two of them still had to stand close together.

I thought she would move around, but to my surprise, her breathing quickly became steady, and she fell asleep even before Mo Xueyao.

It was pitch black outside the window, and the streetlights seemed to be flickering due to the heavy rain.

If you didn't look at the clock, you'd probably think it was only one or two in the morning.

Li Wanyan had already gotten out of bed, and the sounds of her washing up could be heard coming from the bathroom.

Perhaps the torrential rain had clouded people's senses, so the apartment building was quiet—after all, when you open your eyes, it's still pitch black, and most people would choose to sleep a little longer.

Li Wanyan never misses a spare moment. After washing up, she stood by the living room window and started memorizing vocabulary.

Time flowed slowly amidst the sound of rain, and the downpour showed no sign of stopping.

The country lanes became muddy, and a few rays of light finally appeared on the horizon, but the whole world remained incredibly hazy.

The truck drove up from the distant country dirt road and stopped in front of an open space by the lake.

It seems that the breakfast delivery truck was also late due to the sudden downpour.

A short while later, the instructors ran out of their rooms in the rain, unloaded the food from the truck, and carried it to the apartment entrance.

"Crack-!"

Li Wanyan opened the window a crack, and the dense sound of raindrops and wind immediately entered her ears, several times louder than what she had heard through the window before.

Those below could only communicate by shouting, otherwise all their voices would be drowned out by the sound of the rain.

The truck that delivered breakfast turned around and left without stopping, because it needed to deliver lunch later and couldn't afford to waste time.

There's no need to worry about the food for dinner, especially the vegetables, which are all freshly picked from local farmers that day.

Even in such heavy rain, it won't take too much time.