Reborn in 1994: Starting from the Autumn Harvest

Chen Hongguo feigned anger and gave his son a meaningful look, but he was also curious as to why he got so agitated when Chen He was mentioned.

"Brother, where did Chen He go? Why didn't he come along?"

Chen Hongqiang chuckled and said, "He has something to do, he'll go to the fields later, everything's arranged."

"Are you going to leave by yourself, or do you want me to tell them for you?" Chen Mian clicked his tongue, put his hands in his pockets, and kicked the stool aside. His long-lost roguishness returned. "Is your son a human being? Are we all made of mud? Do you want me to tell everyone in the village about the brick-hauling incident?"

When Chen Hongqiang saw Chen Mian's posture, his heart skipped a beat. Oh no, this kid really knows.

But how did he know? Could it be that the three companies leaked the information? Didn't they agree to work together quietly and make some money?

Chen Mian's kicking of the stool startled the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the main room. They thought Chen Mian was about to act recklessly again, but then they realized something was wrong and there was more to the story.

Seeing the family gather around and ask what was wrong with their serious expressions, Chen Hongqiang knew he was in the wrong and tried to leave when he sensed the situation was turning bad.

"Well, Fifth Brother, I won't trouble you with the ditch clearing. I'll have your nephew work overtime later. You two get back to work."

"Go back and tell Liang Chuncheng not to come back for cotton trading. We can't afford to associate with him."

"If you dare to mess with my dad again, I'll go to the brigade headquarters and use the loudspeaker to tell the whole village about your messy affairs. I want to see who's more shameful, you or me."

Hearing Chen Mian's blunt warning, Chen Hongqiang, who was over fifty years old, didn't dare to utter a single word in rebuttal, and his pace quickened.

There was a small slope at the gate of the courtyard. He was in a panic and didn't notice it. He tripped and fell flat on his face.

Meanwhile, the family of four inside the house also learned about the brick-moving incident. Tang Xiuyun glared at Chen Hongguo fiercely, only because it was in front of her daughter-in-law; otherwise, she would have scolded him again.

However, when he saw his son Chen Mian, he breathed a sigh of relief. These children were all easy targets, and it was all up to his second son to stand up for them.

"Dad, eldest brother, there's an old saying: 'Fear authority, not morality.'"

"The more you tolerate and the easier it is for others to talk to you, the more they will take advantage of you and disregard your authority. Don't you know what kind of relatives they've become since my grandparents passed away?"

"I'm getting out of bed."

The four family members watched in disbelief as the Chen family walked away with steady steps, each with their own thoughts, deeply shaken.

……

Time flows like water, and each household is living their lives in an orderly manner according to their own plans.

Xiushui Village is only eight miles away from Anping Village. Because a relative of Chen Hongqiang's father-in-law passed away, Chen Hongqiang and his wife also had to come and spend some money to have a feast.

When acquaintances meet him, they can't help but ask how he got the scratches on his forehead and cheeks. Chen Hongguo euphemistically says: "I was careless while working."

After being scolded by Chen Mian that day, Chen Hongqiang went back home and, besides sulking, pondered how the news could have leaked. However, after asking around, everyone said they hadn't told anyone, so he could only suffer in silence.

He didn't want to provoke that family anymore. Chen Mian was too reckless; if he dared to say something, he really dared to do it. Just thinking about him spreading rumors all over the village made Chen Hongqiang's heart pound.

In this village, reputation is everything, so we can't let him talk nonsense and ruin our cotton trading business. We'll deal with this kid when we have more money later.

During the evening feast, men, women, and children are separated.

A long bench can seat two people, so Chen Hongqiang started chatting with an acquaintance from the neighboring village.

"Just do whatever job you can. Your nephew is out hauling bricks; he can earn a little bit."

A bystander glanced at him in surprise: "Where do you haul bricks? How much do you make a day? This kind of money is hard to earn without connections."

Chen Hongqiang stuffed a piece of enema into his mouth, making a loud smacking sound with his big lips, and his hoarse, muffled slurping voice was even more distinctive.

"His uncle introduced us to the brick factory and construction site. All we have to do is drive around hauling bricks. We can earn fifty yuan a day while having fun."

Upon hearing this, the other guests at the table stopped talking. They were all farmers, and they were all thinking about ways to make more money. Fifty yuan was absurdly much.

Everyone looked at Chen Hongqiang with envy, and some relatives even asked if he could introduce them to someone.

Chen Hongqiang didn't have that ability, so he simply declined, saying that he was also a temporary worker and would only work for ten days or half a month to earn some extra money.

Everyone assumed he was unwilling to help, so they wisely stopped asking and didn't want to be so shameless as to offer their help to someone who wouldn't listen.

Just then, an acquaintance asked, "I remember your family also has dozens of acres of land. With you hauling bricks every day, how can you manage the land?"

Chen Hongguo took another gulp of liquor, the spicy taste shooting straight to his head. He grinned and said, "The weather forecast doesn't say it'll rain either, so a day or two won't make a difference. I'll wait until I get back..."

But before he could finish speaking, a strange wind suddenly arose, and within a minute it turned into a strong gale.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "It's going to rain!"

"Bang!"

Chen Hongqiang suddenly became weak and frail, and was knocked down in an instant. His face turned black, much like the sky darkening in the blink of an eye, which made people feel inexplicably depressed and suffocated.

His fall also affected the acquaintances nearby.

"Ouch……"

"Someone come quick, help them! They've both fallen."

……

"Hurry up and move your things, it's about to start raining."

……

"Oh no, the melons in the field haven't been harvested yet."

……

A sudden rainstorm disrupted the people's production plans.

People stood at their doorways and pressed against their windows, wondering what impact the rain would have on their homes.

Those who were prepared were still filled with lingering fear, while those who were unprepared were even more panicked. The only thing they could do now was wait for the rain to subside or rush to the fields to deal with the situation after the rain.

At that moment, Chen Mian entered the courtyard right on time. He was wearing a hooded raincoat made from a fertilizer bag, which was tied tightly around his neck with a woolen rope. The wind couldn't blow it away, and the rain couldn't penetrate it. Not a single raindrop got on his clothes.

As soon as Chen Hongguo and his wife saw their son enter the door, they breathed a sigh of relief.

At noon, Chen Mian specifically reminded them that the wind direction was not right today, so they should not dig melons in the field yet, but pick the melons first and dig them up slowly. It was because of this advice that they avoided getting soaked.

He himself worked from dawn till dusk, putting in real work for three days straight, and single-handedly finished cleaning up the rotten peaches and the drainage ditch.

"I told you so, didn't I? I'm back now, aren't I? Of all the family members, Er Mian is the one who gives me the least trouble." Tang Xiuyun said, turning around and going into the house.

Chen Hongguo stared at the dark sky without saying a word. The wind howled from all directions, and the raindrops pounded on the ground, shattering into eight pieces, growing visibly larger and larger.

He felt a pang of fear. Even with such frantic efforts, he had barely managed to harvest all the ripe melons. The unripe ones were left to fend for themselves. He couldn't imagine what would have happened if he hadn't listened to his son's advice.