Reborn with a Space: Building a Fortune Amidst Famine

Chapter 70: 70 Autumn Harvest

Su Yuanyuan harnessed the sheep in the afternoon and rolled the stone roller back and forth over the soybeans.

Then, using a fork, she lifted the soybean stalks, allowing the soybeans to be collected.

Since she only worked in the afternoon, the pace was not fast, but she was not in a hurry. Moreover, since it was on dirt ground, many soybeans got pressed into the soil.

Su Yuanyuan looked worried; this wouldn’t do, but it wasn’t a concrete surface, and she was reluctant to turn the ground into a threshing floor.

In the end, she simply left it as it was. The ground was firm now, and there wouldn’t be so many soybeans pressed into it in the future.

It took a total of three days; the soybean stalks were pressed twice, and after a check, there were no beans left. These were all collected; they would be fodder for the sheep in the winter.

The wheat she sowed had sprouted, and Hu Chunhua even remarked, ”Yuanyuan, soaking the wheat seeds overnight really worked. In the past, our family’s wheat didn’t come up so quickly. I’ll do the same this year.”

With the wheat sprouting, so did the weeds, and it was time to start weeding again.

While she weeded, the two neighboring families harvested corn. Was Zhao Yanli envious of Su Yuanyuan?

”Yuanyuan, why is your family’s work so much faster than ours?”

”My family has less land. I brought cucumbers; do you want some?”

”You still have cucumbers?”

”I planted them late.”

”When did you plant them? I’ll do the same next year; I can still eat such tender cucumbers now.”

Su Yuanyuan shared the timing, then they each returned to their own work.

The Zhao Tian family had ten acres of corn; luckily, the whole family could work, and they finished in three days.

Su Yuanyuan looked at the exhausted Zhao Yanli, thinking she must have been in the same state those days. Too tiring.

The other family’s progress wasn’t as fast as Zhao Tian’s, and their corn cobs weren’t as large either. During work, there was constant arguing and quarrelling. Their kids were older than Su Yuanyuan but lazier with work.

Su Yuanyuan shook her head; with such an attitude, she really didn’t know what to say.

They’re working for themselves, yet they’re so lazy. They’ll definitely go hungry in the future.

Weeding now involved crouching with a small hoe. It was very tiring.

But once the first round of weeds was cleared thoroughly, it would save effort later.

Su Yuanyuan was lucky; it rained the day after she finished weeding. Though not heavy, it soaked thoroughly.

Only the sorghum was left, now matured and attracting many sparrows.

Su Yuanyuan felt distressed; she couldn’t let it be, so she decided to harvest the sorghum heads today.

Initially, Su Yuanyuan thought she was clever using scissors to cut, but after a while, her hands began to ache, so she resorted to using a sickle.

Su Yuanyuan wasn’t tall enough to cut the sorghum heads, so she had to stand on tiptoe, pulling them down to cut.

It slowed her down a lot, but the work had to be done; as long as you were willing to work, the pile would gradually diminish.

She did it right at her doorstep. When she could lift it, she’d carry it back home.

In a day, she managed just three-tenths of an acre, and there was much left; the two-acre area would take a week.

By evening, she found she couldn’t lift her arms. Truly exhausting; maybe she wasn’t suited for growing sorghum after all.

Once the sorghum grains were milled, if the yield was too low, she might switch to growing corn instead.

By late October, she finally finished harvesting the two acres of sorghum.

She left the sorghum stalks for now. It was time to thresh the grains from the heads.

She would sit on the ground, turn the large hoe blade up, and, wearing gloves, scrape it along the blade.

This task was uncomfortable, but better than cutting sorghum heads.

It took five days to scrape the sorghum from the two acres. Judging by the amount, she estimated about 400 pounds per acre.

That was acceptable. Everything was dried, packed into burlap sacks, and stored on top of the granary in the west wing.

The large ram would now be useful, grinding the sorghum daily with a stone mill.

This was white sorghum; she cooked porridge with the first batch, finding it a bit fire-consuming.

By mid-November, everyone’s grain was harvested. Only sweet potatoes were left in the fields.

During this time, Su Yuanyuan continuously milled sorghum, with nearly 900 pounds of sorghum grains in the end.

Not bad. If possible, she’d continue growing sorghum next year.

Su Yuanyuan went to Yang Minggang’s house. ”Uncle, most of the work is done. It will take some time for the sweet potatoes, and I’m thinking of fencing the yard.”

She still wanted to go out this winter. Having a courtyard wall made her home safer.

”That’s fine. I’ll find some people and have them bring the adobe bricks. We’ll discuss it, and they’ll start work in the next couple of days.”

Su Yuanyuan didn’t go home but went to find Zhao Yanli, telling her to send the adobe sellers over after her courtyard construction started for three days.

That evening, Hu Chunhua notified her that construction would begin the next day. They found ten people, with two people primarily responsible for mixing mud, starting work on both sides simultaneously.

That night, Su Yuanyuan collected more soil, piling it on both sides. It wouldn’t be enough, but it would speed things up considerably. She would collect more soil the next night.

They didn’t need to provide meals, and the pay was five cents per person per day.

The earliest to arrive the next day was Yang Minggang. ”Girl, how big do you want the courtyard to be?”

”Uncle, the village chief said I could fence up to an acre, along with three-tenths of an acre in the backyard.”

Yang Minggang marked out the lines with a stick.

Su Yuanyuan watched from the side, thinking this was a good size for the courtyard. Just as it should be.

The work was swift. In three days, even the main gate was installed.

Standing outside, Su Yuanyuan gazed at the courtyard and felt very comfortable. This was what a home should look like.

Soon it would be time to dig sweet potatoes. Frost had already fallen in the mornings and evenings. Su Yuanyuan had already cut the sweet potato vines and dried them to one side for winter fodder for the sheep.

The first pickax swing damaged two sweet potatoes.

Su Yuanyuan threw down the pickax in frustration. That would never do; if all the sweet potatoes were damaged, they wouldn’t store well.

She thought she should widen the area where she swung the pickax. It would be more tiring, but at least the sweet potatoes wouldn’t get damaged.

As she worked, she consoled herself. This plot would be for corn next year, effectively turning over the whole field.

By noon, she had only dug two tenths of an acre, but she was getting more adept. The afternoon should be much quicker.

She prepared many baskets, lined with dry grass at the bottom and sides, to hold the good sweet potatoes. Without any help, she stored them directly in her space.

The damaged sweet potatoes were carried directly to the courtyard. Once all the work was done, she’d wash, slice, and dry them for storage.

After all, the large vat and the space already contained plenty of grain and vegetables.

In three days, all the sweet potatoes were dug up. Very few were damaged towards the end. She collected over a thousand pounds from the acre of sweet potatoes.