Meng Yan's Transformation

Chapter 151: Picking Sorghum

The corn, sorghum and soybeans planted in Zhan Yu's family's private plot are also ripe and ready to be harvested.

Yunqing's heart disease often attacks, her face is always pale, her body is weak, and she is often exhausted. Every day when she cooks, when she needs to carry firewood to burn, Yunqing dare not bend down to carry the firewood directly, but first squats down slowly, holds the firewood in one hand, and stands up slowly with the other hand holding the firewood stack. If she moves too fast, it will cause a heart attack. So Yunqing wanted to go to the fields to help Zhan Yingying with the autumn harvest several times, but was stopped by Zhan Yingying.

"Yingying, did you finish harvesting the sorghum a few days ago? How many days has it been drying? The day after tomorrow is Sunday, I think the three of us, Zhan Mengyan, Zhan Zixun, etc., should go to the fields and help you harvest the sorghum heads. After harvesting, you can drive the horse-drawn carriage and take the sorghum heads directly home." Yunqing said to Zhan Yingying, who had just returned home from the fields after working on the autumn harvest.

Zhan Yingying used a ladle to scoop half a ladle of cold water from the water tank and drank it down with a "dong dong" sound. She wiped her mouth and said, "The sorghum was cut down a few days ago and tied into bundles. The sorghum piles are standing in the field. The ears are dry, and it's time to pick the sorghum ears. The day after tomorrow I will cut the sorghum ears myself, and I will take as many as I cut home. I'm afraid they will be lost if I leave them in the field. On Sunday, sister Mengyan and brother Zixun will have an autumn sports meeting at school, and they don't have time. Mom, don't think about going to the field to help with the autumn harvest. Don't make trouble for me. Can you go to the field to cut sorghum ears with your health? Bending over and over will definitely strain your heart disease. It's sad enough to have a sick dad at home, and mom can't get sick again. You just stay at home and take good care of dad, pass him water and medicine. Don't cook for now, wait until I come back, and you can't do the work of carrying firewood anymore."

Yunqing wiped the sweat off Zhan Yingying's forehead and said distressedly, "What nonsense are you talking about, kid? You're saying that mom is made of mud and will break if touched. So many fields need to be harvested and everyone is busy with the autumn harvest. How can a 15-year-old girl like you handle it? Mom feels really bad seeing you sweating profusely every day. I'll go to the fields and work slowly. I'll help you as much as I can. I'll put the water and medicine where your father can get to them, and he can take care of himself. I've already talked to Zhan Mengyan and Zhan Zixun and asked them to take a few days off to help you. Zhan Mengyan is still participating in the annual two events - high jump and long jump. She has already participated and won first place in both. There will be no events for her to participate in the sports meet on Sunday."

"Mom, don't be stubborn with me. Let's give in. You just stay at home to take care of Dad and you must not go to the fields to harvest. I didn't intend to delay Sister Mengyan and Brother Zixun from participating in the sports meet. Since they have both taken leave, let them go to the fields to help me with the harvest." Zhan Yingying said decisively.

"Yunqing, help me get the chamber pot, I need to go to the bathroom." Zhan Yu shouted.

"Look, I said it won't work if no one is at home. We have all gone to the fields to harvest in autumn. What if Dad wants to go to the toilet?" Zhan Yingying handed the chamber pot to Yunqing and said.

"What were you two whispering about just now? Is it that everyone else's family has finished the autumn harvest, but ours is the only one that hasn't finished harvesting yet? It's all my fault that I broke my leg at the busiest time. I can't move or walk, and I have to rely on someone to take care of me. Let Zhan Yingying pull the corn cobs back home to the yard. You help me to the yard, and the two of us can help peel the corn husks. If you really can't, ask Ziyou, Zichuan, Ziqiang, and Zi'an to help us with the autumn harvest." Zhan Yu said as he handed Yunqing the chamber pot after he finished relieving himself.

"Zhan Yu, just focus on recovering from your injuries and stop worrying about it. Everyone is busy now, and most families haven't finished the harvest yet. Only a few families with more laborers are making faster progress. Ziyou's family also has a lot of things to do. Zichuan's wife is about to give birth, and Zhan Zichuan is the only one doing the work in the fields, which is busy enough for him. I wonder if his mother-in-law abused him in the end. Zhan Ziqiang and Zhan Zi'an, you taught them a lesson for coming home for meals a few times, how can you have the nerve to ask them to come back to help us with the harvest?" Yunqing said.

"They are my sons. Their father is in trouble, and as a son I should help him. It is only natural for a father to teach his son a lesson. Yunqing, I find that you always think about simple things so complicatedly. Don't you feel tired? Tell Yingying not to worry too much, her brothers will come to help her."

On Sunday, Zhan Yingying led Zhan Mengyan and Zhan Zixun to the field. Zhan Mengyan and Zhan Zixun did not know how to use a knife, so they could only use a sickle to cut the sorghum heads. They cut slowly, and the sorghum heads they cut were uneven.

To pinch sorghum, you use a pinching knife - a palm-sized blade, square, about two and a half inches long, two inches wide, and about two millimeters thick. Put it on your hand and pinch off the sorghum head. The blade is very thin, tied with cowhide, leaving only a thumb-sized hole. Put your thumb in, pinch the blade, and hold the sorghum with the other four fingers. Press hard with your thumb, and the sorghum head will come off.

Zhan Yingying used her legs and one hand to fix one end of the sorghum head, and then with the other hand, she held the pinching knife tightly, kept close to the ground, and cut along the root of the sorghum stalk. During the cutting process, Zhan Yingying kept her body stable and balanced to prevent being scratched by sorghum leaves and stalks. With bursts of crisp sounds, the sorghum stalks gradually broke, while the sorghum head remained in place. As Zhan Yingying shuttled back and forth among the sorghum bundles with the pinching knife, pinching off the sorghum stalks, it didn't take long for Zhan Yingying's hands to be covered with bloody cuts from the sorghum leaves, with dozens of them large and small. Her hands were red and bloodstained, like a blood gourd, and the pinching knife was also stained with blood.

The sorghum heads that Zhan Yingying picked were almost all over a foot long. When she put them on the ground, they were tilted upside down, with the sorghum heads facing outward and the tips facing inward. A few bunches were enough to make a bundle. When tying, she found a sorghum stalk of moderate thickness, stretched it forward from the middle of the bundle, pulled the lower side with her left hand, pulled the upper side with her right hand, stepped on the middle, crossed her hands one after the other, and tightened them with force. She twisted the bundle with her right hand and pressed it down, and a bundle of sorghum was firmly tied. Zhan Yingying was quick and agile, and she worked efficiently, which was really admirable.

Zhan Mengyan and Zhan Zixun encountered difficulties when cutting off the sorghum heads. Both Zhan Mengyan and Zhan Zixun did not know how to tie the sorghum heads. They could not find suitable straw to tie the sorghum heads. Due to the characteristics of the sorghum variety, the straw was thick and brittle, which increased the difficulty of tying. Cutting sorghum heads is a labor-intensive task, and it is also a comprehensive embodiment of technology and strategy. The two of them placed the long and short sorghum heads on both sides, with the stalks in the middle, picked up the sorghum stalks and tied them in the middle. As soon as they lifted them up, they all fell apart and could not be tied.

Zhan Yingying found it a bit funny to see the two of them being so clumsy, so she said, "Sister Mengyan, Brother Zixun, you two should just cut the sorghum heads and don't bundle them. I'll bundle them all at the end."

The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the three people's bodies covered in mud. The three people loaded bundles of fiery red sorghum ears dotted with round and plump pearls onto the carriage. Zhan Yingying wiped the sweat from her forehead, let Zhan Mengyan and Zhan Zixun sit in the carriage, and sat sideways on the edge of the carriage. She held the whip tightly in her right hand, raised her wrist slightly, and then suddenly pulled it down. The whip tip then swung, and the crisp and pleasant sound of the whip could be heard between her ears...

"Right...Gee, gee..." As Zhan Yingying shouted, the dust raised by the horse's hooves created a warm and romantic atmosphere under the reflection of the setting sun.