Courtyard House: After disbanding the Elderly Care Gang, I went to the countryside to cultivate immo

For the next few days, the weather was exceptionally kind to us, with sunshine every single day.

This made everyone in the village very happy, as their biggest fear was that the wheat they had worked so hard to harvest would be ruined by a few rain showers.

The wheat in the threshing ground had been dried for several days, but the commune members only rested for two days before starting work again.

Early in the morning, the commune members, who had been assigned tasks, drove their livestock to start plowing the fields.

It's not easy to cultivate all 200-plus mu of wheat fields. The livestock's strength is also limited, so they can only go to the fields early in the morning and come back around noon.

A single animal can only work on a maximum of two acres of land per day.

The adults drove the livestock to plow the fields, while the women and children followed behind, breaking up the large clods of earth.

After all the wheat fields in the village were plowed, the wheat in the threshing ground was also dried.

It's time to thresh the wheat.

Around 10 a.m., the sun was shining so brightly on the threshing ground that it was almost blinding.

Hu Guangming directed everyone to untie the wheat bundles and spread them out evenly layer by layer, forming a huge circle on the threshing floor.

This is when the livestock need to be brought in again.

A dozen or so donkeys and mules from the village were led to the edge of the threshing ground. Two animals were paired up, and stone rollers were attached to them. One person stood in the middle of the threshing ground, directing the animals to drag the stone rollers around and around the dry wheat.

An hour later, the livestock were led to the side of the field to drink water and rest.

The commune members began to use wooden forks to shake and turn the wheat on the threshing floor, and then put the threshed wheat under the straw to one side of the threshing floor.

After all the turning is done, the stone roller is pulled by livestock and turned over for another hour, and then turned over again. This process is repeated three times in total to make it considered properly turned over.

After threshing, the adults would shake the wheat out of the straw, then transport the straw to the edge of the threshing floor and stack it layer by layer into a round or square haystack.

The children were happiest at this time because their task was to stand on the ever-rising haystacks and tamp down the hay that the adults threw up.

The children were having a great time standing on the ever-growing haystacks.

The grinding continued until around four o'clock in the afternoon, when the sun's power had weakened, and it was no longer possible to grind the grain.

Taking advantage of the gentle breeze, experienced commune members began winnowing, standing at a 90-degree angle to the wind with large wooden clubs, and winnowing the wheat one club at a time.

A gentle breeze blew away the wheat husks, and the golden wheat grains fell down, slowly forming a pile of wheat.

Working alongside the winnowers was a meticulous sweeper who gently swept the wheat pile with a large broom, moving debris and partially threshed ears of wheat to the edge of the pile.

After winnowing, Hu Guangming organized the commune members to bag the wheat, and he made a rough estimate.

He sighed and said, "Well, it's about the same as I estimated. This year's yield from one mu of land will probably be just over three hundred jin."

Hearing Hu Guangming's sigh, Lin Shengli felt a pang of sadness, because he had often heard similar sighs when he was a child in his previous life.

A wheat yield exceeding 500 jin per mu (unit of land area) is something that won't happen until the new century.

However, the things they grow in their cave dwelling space will be optimized to their peak after three generations. At that time, even if the seeds in the space are taken outside to be planted, they will not degenerate in the short term.

He planned to persuade Grandma Hu Liu to take some wheat and plant it in her private plot after the wheat in the space had been planted three times.

He believed that once Grandma Hu's private plot was harvested, the villagers with discerning eyes would definitely notice.

If the village had used Grandma Hu's harvest as wheat seed back then, the wheat yield would definitely not be as low as it is now.

Thinking about his future plans, Lin Shengli didn't stop working.

His performance during the harvest season has been witnessed by the entire village, and everyone has become much more welcoming to these educated youths from the city.

Before the arrival of the educated youth, the villagers had some doubts: could the city kids farm? Could they endure the hardship?

It seems that these city kids are still reliable.

Lin Shengli had no idea what the villagers were thinking; if he did, he'd probably just laugh it off.

The four young men who came to Heisonggou Village this time were all educated youth. He was a given, and Li Kuiyong, who also came from a poor background, was quite strong.

With the two of them leading the way, all four educated youths integrated well into village life. However, in those villages where female educated youths were assigned, it's unknown whether they would fight each other like in female-oriented novels. Perhaps there would be a few time travelers, a few reborn individuals, a few female protagonists, a few cannon fodder, a few veterans, and a few rough men.

Thinking of this, Lin Shengli couldn't help but smile. Female authors really know how to have fun.

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the random thoughts.

Lin Sheng continued to work alongside the commune members.

It took five whole days to mill all the wheat in the village, and then it was time to dry it.

For the farmers, drying grain was simply a matter of carrying the grain sacks out every morning, spreading the wheat out to dry on the threshing floor, and then putting it back into the sacks in the afternoon.

As for the tasks in between, leave them entirely to the children, letting them turn over the wheat from time to time and keep an eye on it to prevent birds from scavenging it.

After drying for a few days, pick up a few grains of wheat from the ground, put them in your mouth, and bite them. If they make a crisp "crunch" sound, it means that this year's wheat can be stored away.

Hu Guangming, accompanied by his accountant Hu Laogen, personally supervised the warehousing process, carrying account books and scales.

Before each bag of wheat is weighed, the bag must be opened, and an old hand like Old Man Hu or Grandpa Hu San will reach in and grab a handful to check its color, smell it, and make sure it is dry, clean, and free of mold or odor before it is weighed.

Hu Laogen meticulously recorded the data in the ledger, while Hu Guangming watched the weights on the scales and hoarsely recited the numbers.

Each reported figure means that the entire village has an extra layer of security in terms of food rations and work-point grain during this year's spring wheat harvest.

The villagers who were watching listened to these figures with a sense of security and anticipation on their faces.

After being weighed, the sacks of wheat were carried by strong young men, who steadily carried them into the depths of the granary, using wooden planks as stepping stones. The wheat was then neatly stacked according to variety and grade. The granary gradually filled with the unique, dry, and mellow aroma of the new wheat.

As the last bag of wheat was delivered to the warehouse, the commune members stood in twos and threes outside, watching the warehouse door slowly close, their hearts filled with anticipation.

Lin Shengli watched as Li Kuiyong and the other two were panting, supporting themselves on their knees. He patted Li Kuiyong on the shoulder and asked, "Kuiyong, how have you been these past few days? Can you still hold on?"

Li Kuiyong lifted his dust-covered face, grinned, and said, "This was even more tiring than fighting Yuemin and the others!"

Speaking of Zhong Yuemin and the others, Li Kuiyong sighed and said, "I wonder if there's any news about Yuemin and the others wanting to join the army."

Lin Shengli shook his head. He couldn't very well tell Li Kuiyong that Zhong Yuemin should forget about joining the army this year.

"Although Ji Yuemin and the others are also going to the countryside, the most likely place for them is the Northwest, where they have an emotional attachment."

Li Kuiyong nodded. If Zhong Yuemin and his team were to go to the countryside, they would definitely choose the Northwest.

After all the grain was stored in the granary, Hu Shengli's hoarse voice rang out again: "Our village's spring wheat has been stored in the granary this year. The next period is the off-season for farming. According to the national policy, more educated youth will be assigned to our village in the future. So starting early the day after tomorrow, everyone should come to the east end of the village to start building the educated youth settlement. We can't let the educated youth come in the future and have to stay in the villagers' homes like Shengli and the others."