Rebirth in the 1980s: Xiaoxiao's road to becoming a top student

A few days later, it was October 1st and the school was on holiday for two days. Everyone had already started harvesting corn several days ago.

Yan Xiaoxiao's family planted corn late, so now is just the right time to harvest it.

Three months into her pregnancy, Yin Xiu's baby was stable and she also came to the fields.

Yan Guoqing brought her a small stool and asked her to sit on it to peel corn. He wielded a sickle to cut down the corn stalks one by one and arranged them neatly.

Yan Xiaoxiao kept some distance from Yin Xiu, squatted down and began to peel the corn on the stalks, throwing the peeled corn aside, and soon there were piles of bright orange corn next to them.

My younger brother was running all over the ground, catching crickets or grasshoppers. When he caught a big one, he would tie grass around its legs and carry it around to play with.

"Xiaoxiao!" Yin Xiu waved at Yan Xiaoxiao from a distance.

Yan Xiaoxiao skipped over and Yin Xiu handed her a piece of corn stalk. Her eyes lit up and she peeled the skin and started eating it.

The younger brother threw the grasshopper in his hand and said, "Mom, I want one too!"

Yin Xiu peeled the skin for him, told him to spit out the residue, and then started to peel the corn again.

Yan Xiaoxiao smacked her lips after finishing the meal. Hmm, it wasn’t as juicy as sugarcane juice and wasn’t as sweet, but it still tasted the same as she remembered.

By dark, half of the corn in the field had been peeled. Yan Guoqing drove a tractor to load piles of corn and took them home.

When they got home, mom went to cook, and dad drove the tractor to the side of the house, and he quickly climbed onto the roof. He lowered a frame tied with a rope, and Yan Xiaoxiao quickly filled the frame, and Yan Guoqing carried it onto the roof.

In this way, the father and son carried all the corn up basket by basket. Then there was nothing for Yan Xiaoxiao to do. She went to wash her hands and wait for dinner.

Yan Guoqing sorted out the corn on the roof a little bit before coming down. At this time, Yin Xiu's meal was ready, and she also bought some cooked food. The family ate very satisfied.

The next morning, Yan Xiaoxiao got up at five o'clock again. When she went out, she saw Yan Guoqing and Yin Xiu. Both of them were up. Even her younger brother was woken up and was yawning.

As soon as Yan Guoqing saw Yan Xiaoxiao, he said, "Xiaoxiao, your mother and I are going to the fields to peel corn. Let's take your brother with us."

Yan Xiaoxiao thought for a moment, and her eyes paused on Yin Xiu's abdomen for a moment, "I'll go too!"

After washing up, she trotted to her master's house, said something to her master, and ran back.

At this time, Yan Guoqing had already driven out the tractor. Yin Xiu sat in the truck bed, hugging her son. Yan Xiaoxiao got on the truck swiftly, and the family set off for the cornfield.

Yan Xiaoxiao was no longer hiding her skills today. She moved her hands very quickly. She wanted to finish shelling the corn quickly so that her mother could have a rest.

My mother usually attends classes at school and has to work in the fields during breaks, not to mention that she is pregnant. Yan Xiaoxiao feels so distressed.

Her acceleration stunned Yin Xiu. This was the first time she felt her daughter's strength. Yan Guoqing was much calmer as he had become numb to it these days.

In the morning, the family ate some egg cakes in the field. Yin Xiu carefully took out the thermos he brought, poured two enamel cups of hot water, and the family shared it.

Yin Xiu took out a few more apples and each of them ate one. Yan Xiaoxiao took a bite and it was sweet! It tasted just like what she remembered.

In Yan Xiaoxiao's memory, it was very difficult to apply pesticides to the fruit trees when she was a child, and it was just a matter of watering them.

When it grows up, it is basically fertilized once a week, and there are many diseases and insects. If you want a good harvest, you have to be diligent.

This will dilute the original flavor of the fruit.

Thanks to Yan Xiaoxiao's efforts, all the corn was finally shelled before noon.

Yin Xiu went home first. It took twenty minutes to walk back from the field. Yin Xiu walked back slowly with her son.

Yan Guoqing and Yan Xiaoxiao loaded the corn into the truck and drove back. They first transported the corn to the roof before the family started eating.

After eating and resting for a while, Yan Xiaoxiao went to the small courtyard to continue studying.

Yan Guoqing went to the field and pulled back corn stalks, which were good firewood for starting a fire.

In the following days, Yan Xiaoxiao went to the fields from time to time in the afternoon to help with the work. She harvested peanuts, dug sweet potatoes, cut cabbage, and picked apples. It took more than half a month to harvest all the crops.

The work in the fields comes to an end when the wheat is planted.

This is because Yan Xiaoxiao's family doesn't have much land. If there was more, the two or three people in her family probably wouldn't be able to harvest it all.

Yan Xiaoxiao hadn't been to her grandfather's house for a long time. This day, her mother asked her to bring some vegetables grown by herself to her grandfather. Yan Xiaoxiao ran out of the house with a basket.

Yan Xiaoxiao's old courtyard was only half a village away from Yin Hongjun's home, and they arrived there quickly.

As soon as she entered the yard, she saw a pile of corn in the yard. Yin Hongjun was stacking the corn under the eaves.

Yin Hongjun's land and the land of several of his daughters who were not from the same village were rented out to others for cultivation, and they were given a symbolic amount of wheat and corn every year.

He was very happy to see Yan Xiaoxiao, and he picked a big red apple from the apple tree at the door and handed it to her.

Yan Xiaoxiao took it with a smile. The apples from her grandpa's apple tree are quite old, but they are delicious.

She looked around the yard while eating. Next to the apple tree was a pomegranate tree. It was said that it was planted by her mother when she was young. The pomegranates on the tree had been picked long ago.

In the middle of the yard, near the wall, there is a persimmon tree that is as tall as a two-story building, with persimmons hanging from the treetop like small red lanterns. There is also an apricot tree planted behind the screen wall at the gate.

After eating the apple, Yan Xiaoxiao started to climb the persimmon tree. She was craving for persimmons, especially those that ripened naturally on the tree. They were so sweet that her mouth was watering.

She climbed to the top of the tree in a few steps, and Yin Hongjun was so anxious that he shouted from below, "Xiaoxiao, come down quickly! If you want to eat persimmons, they are in the house. Why are you climbing so high? Be careful not to fall! Come down quickly!"

"Grandpa, it's okay! Don't worry!" Yan Xiaoxiao said as she carefully picked the persimmons from the branches. These persimmons were already ripe and would fall off if shaken too much.

Sure enough, Yan Xiaoxiao felt that the persimmons had fallen before she even tried to use any strength. She leaned against the tree trunk and started eating. In one word, they were sweet.

Under Yin Hongjun's concerned gaze, Yan Xiaoxiao picked several flowers from the treetops before coming down satisfied.

Yin Hongjun glared at her and took the vegetables in the basket into the kitchen in the east room. When he came out, the basket was full of apples, persimmons and pomegranates.

Yan Xiaoxiao took it with a grin, "Thank you, Grandpa!" Yin Hongjun asked Yan Xiaoxiao to stay for dinner, but Yan Xiaoxiao refused.

Yin Hongjun was worried that the basket was too heavy, and the words he wanted to give her a gift were stuck in his throat. In a blink of an eye, his granddaughter disappeared.

He laughed and scolded, then continued to sort the corn in the yard. In his heart, he was thinking, it seems that my granddaughter has learned a lot of skills from Grandpa Wu Zu, and her strength alone is not what a five-year-old girl should have. One day, I will bring some good wine over to have a couple of drinks.