Reborn in 1994: Starting from the Autumn Harvest

The large threshing ground (cháng) is the village's drying ground, about the size of a basketball court. This land belongs to the village collective but is allocated to the villagers for their use.

Anping Village is known for having a small population and a lot of land, so each family is allocated a large threshing ground specifically for drying grains, corn, and cotton during the autumn harvest.

The threshing ground was basically only used during the autumn harvest season; at other times it was mostly used for storing firewood, so it became overgrown with weeds, messy, and uneven.

Chen Mian walked to the sidelines, stuck the iron loom in the ground, and rested her chin on the handle, gradually lost in thought.

I remember when I was a child, the whole family would be busy working in the threshing ground.

Back then, Chen Shu hadn't been born yet. His grandparents loved him dearly and couldn't bear to let him do any work, so they would let him ride on the back of a donkey, with a big stone pulling the axle behind him.

Grandpa led the donkey, pulling it along with the rope, carrying the heavy load back and forth. He flattened and compacted the threshing ground, making himself extremely happy, which made the children in the surrounding threshing grounds so envious they cried.

Later, when he got tired of playing, Grandma laid out a straw mat on the open ground, put down a layer of work cloth, and held him in her arms, gently coaxing him to sleep.

Back then, after eating and playing, all we did was sleep. The sun wasn't hot, the breeze wasn't dry, and even the donkey dung smelled delicious.

"There's no such thing as being carefree; it's just that someone else is carrying the burden for you."

Chen Mian sighed heavily, picked up the iron spade, and shoveled at the protrusion on the ground.

The first thing to do is to level the ground, remove any protrusions, fill in any depressions, and clean up any loose stones along the way.

Sweeping away twigs and weeds with a long broom, more than a meter long, can also be called "playground sweeping".

After the playground, one side of the large field needs to be cleaned, which means using a tractor to pull the axle, cutting some tree branches, tying them together and attaching them to the back, and then pressing and sweeping it back and forth.

Because Anping Village mainly grows and picks cotton, after the cotton field is cleared, a clean mat can be laid out for "drying". As the name suggests, it is to dry cotton in a large field.

If it's processing grain crops, the procedures will be more numerous and more complicated.

Chen Mian was working up a sweat when she heard a voice calling from behind: "Hey~ it's Second Young Master cleaning up the field."

Chen Mian turned her head and saw that it was her friend Zhao Erqing's mother, with a little boy next to her, who was Erqing's son.

"aunt."

"Xingxing, come and greet your second uncle."

"Shh~"

"Hey!" the child called out sweetly, melting Chen Mian's heart.

Every time I see this child who is not yet three years old, I feel a sense of emotion for Zhao Erqing.

The guy, who was only three years older than him and spent all his time fishing and stealing birds, had somehow managed to get a wife and even have a child with someone.

If this happened in later generations, even if you had children, so what? You wouldn't be able to get married for free.

But this was in the 90s, and the woman's family was just an ordinary family. Seeing that the two were in love, and afraid of losing face, they had no choice but to let the two get married without asking for anything.

From then on, Erqing became famous in the village, and his parents were always beaming with joy wherever they went.

The woman thought it was shameful, but the man saw it as a display of ability. The villagers couldn't help but praise him behind his back: "Erqing is really capable."

But after getting married and having children, Erqing seemed to mature overnight, and he drifted further and further away from her.

Apart from spending time together during the Lunar New Year, we haven't had much interaction. After my incident, his attitude hasn't changed much.

Perhaps because he was a bachelor in his previous life, Chen Mian has an exceptional fondness for children. He spends almost all of his earnings throughout the year, except for his own daily expenses, on the younger generation.

He patted the child's head, finding him more and more endearing. He then patted the child's entire body, only to find that there was nothing there except a pack of cigarettes, a box of matches, and a large piece of bubble gum. He felt a little embarrassed.

After thinking about it, I figured Erqing and his wife must have gone to the fields, and his mother brought the children to do some work that she could manage.

The two farms are very close to each other, separated only by a small ditch a few dozen centimeters apart. There are too many weeds and wildflowers around them. Weeds like foxtail grass have to be dug up to be removed, and cocklebur seeds are full of thorns that can easily prick children.

"Auntie, it must be tiring for you to take care of the child. Let me tidy up this side for you; it's right next to it."

"Oh my, that's great! I'll have to tell Erqing about it when I get back."

"It's no big deal, we can handle it casually."

In rural areas, the most important thing is neighborly relations. When it comes to homesteads, land, and open fields, everyone wants to gain an advantage, even if it's just an inch more or less, which can easily lead to conflicts.

We'll definitely be leasing more land for cotton this year, and we'll need to borrow space to dry the cotton. So we're laying the groundwork now so that we can discuss things more easily in the future.

Chen Mian guessed that her parents had returned early after spraying the pesticides, and had rushed back as soon as they finished cleaning up the field.

But when he reached the gate of the courtyard, he was surprised to see a Honda motorcycle parked next to the side room. Listening closely, he could hear people making excuses and pushing each other inside the room.

Liang Chuncheng actually came, and so did his group.

"My nephew is back."

"Chen Mian is back..."

Everyone seemed extremely enthusiastic.

Chen Mian chewed her bubble gum slowly, offering a casual greeting.

His expression was indifferent as he detachedly surveyed the east room.

This group really brought their families; three generations from both families, plus Liang Chuncheng, all came—more people than he had seen on the day he was reborn.

A row of people sat around the kang (a heated brick bed), with Dad sandwiched in the middle.

A round table was set up outside, and the cousins ​​of the same generation stood or sat around it.

My mom looked disheveled and hadn't even tidied up. She was busy pouring water for everyone, and while they all made excuses, not one of them actually lifted a finger.

Inside the kang (heated brick bed), two old men were sitting cross-legged, surrounded by smoke, taking turns puffing out smoke, displaying an air of natural familiarity.

This made Chen Mian even more annoyed. She herself didn't dare to smoke at home, but they were acting like they were old and powerful and smoking. The smell of their old-fashioned dry tobacco was even stronger than that of cigarettes. It was almost unbearable to stay in this house.

"Dad, Mom, when did you get back?"

"I got back at ten o'clock."

"Your parents just got back too; we ran into them when we arrived," Chen Tietian suddenly interjected from the kang (heated brick bed).

Chen Mian's gaze shifted to the wall. It was not yet 10:08. Her parents hadn't changed their clothes, and their expressions weren't too bad, so they probably hadn't missed anything important.

Facing this group again, he couldn't be bothered to keep a straight face: "Are all of you so heavy-handed? Making my mom rush to pour water for you, aren't you afraid of shortening your lifespan?"

"ah?!"

Chen He and his brothers felt a sudden jolt in their hearts, and the water glasses in their hands trembled involuntarily. When they came to their senses, they immediately looked at their elders, only to find that everyone was stunned.

The two old men on the kang (a heated brick bed) had their cigarette holders hanging from their mouths, and they were both stunned. They never expected Chen Mian to suddenly say such a thing.

It's just pouring a glass of water, yet they're making such a big deal out of it; they're clearly holding back their anger.