Chapter 3: Harvest Season

The Maple Leaf Brigade’s harvest season had officially begun.

With students on summer break and workers taking leave, nearly everyone who could take a breath was out in the fields harvesting rice.

Several people in the cattle pen were participating in the harvest season for the first time. They knew how important it was, and none of them dared to fall behind.

Tong Lingxian was paired with Tang Yao’s grandmother, Wu Meixia.

Neither of them was particularly strong, and their pace was slower than the others’. After half a day of work, they hadn’t even harvested as much as others had in a single hour.

Both of them were anxious, especially Wu Meixia.

After a morning of labor, her clothes were soaked with sweat, and the cloth covering the wound on her head was drenched, sticky, and uncomfortable.

Wu Meixia had been at the Maple Leaf Brigade for several days. Due to her previous severe injury, the brigade leader had made an exception and allowed her to recuperate. Today was her first day returning to work.

She had never done farm work before, and now she was suddenly thrust into harvesting rice, during the most important harvest season. Her stamina simply couldn’t hold out.

Tong Lingxian was struggling on her side as well. She had never done farm work either, and lasting two days was already a small victory.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before the whistle signaled a break. Everyone dropped their tools and rested on the ground.

Wu Meixia shivered as she stood up and climbed the field embankment, ready to go back and cook. Today it was her turn to cook, and no matter how tired she was, she had to return.

Tong Lingxian forced herself to stand as well. “Sister Xia, I’ll go back with you.”

Wu Meixia smiled gratefully. “Lingxian, thank you.”

“No worries. Yaoyao is watching Xixi for me. This is nothing,” Tong Lingxian said, waving with a smile.

Fang Bo Song also approached. He was worried about his granddaughter at home and had decided to check on her at noon.

Just as the three of them reached the field embankment, a familiar figure appeared in the distance.

The figure seemed familiar. Wu Meixia rubbed her eyes and tugged at Tong Lingxian. “Lingxian, doesn’t that person look familiar?”

Tong Lingxian’s eyesight was sharper. A glance revealed who it was. “It’s Yaoyao. She’s even carrying Xixi.” As soon as her granddaughter arrived, she and Fang Bo Song immediately went to meet her.

Yaoyao was here?

Wu Meixia immediately perked up and hurried forward.

On the field embankment, Tang Yao was carrying Fang Mingxi on her back and holding a wooden bucket nearly as tall as herself as she walked toward the three of them.

Whatever was in the bucket was heavy. Tang Yao struggled to carry it and had to pause every few steps to catch her breath.

On top of that, Fang Mingxi had two water pouches strapped to her back, which remarkably hadn’t fallen off along the way.

“Yaoyao, what’s this? Did you bring water for Grandma?” Wu Meixia ran up to Tang Yao, worriedly fanning her flushed face with her hand.

“Yes, Yaoyao, you didn’t have to come all this way under such a hot sun,” Tong Lingxian said, taking off her straw hat and placing it over Tang Yao’s head. She loosened the straps around her waist and lifted Fang Mingxi into her arms.

She checked Fang Mingxi’s diaper, noticed it had been changed from the one in the morning, and beamed. “Thank you, Yaoyao. Did Xixi have an accident? I was planning to change her at noon.”

Tang Yao exhaled heavily. “She peed right before we left, so I changed her on the way.”

Fang Mingxi’s cheeks flushed. She hadn’t wanted to pee, but after holding it all morning, she couldn’t anymore.

“Yaoyao, why did you bring this bucket?”

Wu Meixia lifted the lid and was startled to see the contents steaming: a bowl of boiled wild vegetables, eight pitch-black potatoes, and sweet potatoes.

Could this really be lunch?

Tang Yao hesitated. “Grandma, I heard the harvest season is busy. I guessed you wouldn’t have time to cook, so I tried to make some sweet potatoes.”

Wu Meixia beamed, lifting the bucket. “Yaoyao, you’re so thoughtful, even helping Grandma cook now.”

Meanwhile, the rest of the brigade was getting ready to go home.

Some who were too lazy to run home brought snacks and made do with water and dried cakes for lunch, finishing quickly before lying down in the shade to rest.

Those going home passed the field embankment and sneered at Tong Lingxian and the others.

“Hmph, the brigade leader is just too soft-hearted, letting these old scholars come see what ails them.”

“You didn’t see it, but those two old ladies harvested only a small patch all morning, less than the kids did.”

“Really don’t know what the higher-ups were thinking, letting these old scholars join our brigade. What if they ruin our atmosphere?”

The loud-mouthed men’s crude, dialect-mixed chatter reached Tong Lingxian and the others’ ears.

Their smiles vanished immediately.

Fang Mingxi frowned and babbled a few curses at the men in front.

The others in the cattle pen also heard the comments, but having been here for a long time, they were used to such words. One complimented Tang Yao on her skills, and they started distributing the lunch.

Tang Yao, disheartened, snapped back to herself amid the praise, her cheeks flushed. “Grandma, you all eat first. I’ll take my sister back.”

Wu Meixia paused. “Yaoyao, have you eaten?”

Tang Yao reflexively nodded. “Grandma, I ate. My sister ate too, and finished all the rice soup.”

Fang Mingxi cooed softly in Tong Lingxian’s arms.

No, Grandma Wu. Yaoyao didn’t eat. She’s lying.

Tang Yao had steamed eight sweet potatoes and potatoes in total. All of them were for the others. She hadn’t eaten a bite all morning except for drinking soup.

Fang Mingxi squirmed and squealed, wanting to communicate with Tong Lingxian at that moment.

Wu Meixia had known her granddaughter long enough to understand she was lying, but seeing her thoughtfulness, she quietly teared up.

Potatoes, once a mere snack for children, had now become a rare treat.

Wu Meixia blinked and said nothing, simply splitting a potato in half and handing it to Tang Yao before turning back to the shade.

“Yaoyao, take Xixi back. It’s too hot.”

Tang Yao stared at the half-warm potato in her hand and watched Wu Meixia’s hunched back for a long moment before lifting Fang Mingxi onto her back and heading back the way they came, bucket in hand.

…

The break wasn’t long. After finishing lunch, the team members walked back to the fields from home. Tang Yao, avoiding the crowds, took a much longer route back.

With Fang Mingxi occasionally crying or making noise, they unknowingly ended up at the back of Maple Leaf Mountain.

Maple Leaf Mountain belongs exclusively to the Maple Leaf Brigade, named for the maple trees covering its slopes. In autumn, the mountain is blanketed in fiery red leaves.

Like any other mountain, it provides both food and resources. Wild vegetables grow year-round, small animals roam freely, mushrooms proliferate after rain, and wild fruits occasionally appear.

The back of Maple Leaf Mountain leads to a village. Many villagers often come up the mountain to gather food.

Over time, this route became much easier and safer than the path from the cattle pen.

Tang Yao had never been here before, and upon realizing she had taken the wrong path, she immediately thought of turning back.

There were too many people here, and Grandma had explicitly warned her not to come to this side of the mountain. Being seen by brigade members could bring trouble.

She knew she was in a sensitive position and had to avoid others whenever possible, wary of ill-intentioned eyes.

Tang Yao had experienced betrayal before.

But one betrayal was tolerable; two would not be.

Her grandmother was her only family. This was a matter of life and death, and she had to remain fully alert.

Tang Yao wanted to retreat, but there was no way Fang Mingxi would agree.

The “golden finger” was within reach, a key to her and her family’s fate. She couldn’t afford to drop it now.

Realizing Tang Yao intended to withdraw, she instantly opened the interface and clicked, Explore.