Rebirth of Siheyuan: Starting from escaping famine in 42

During the evening rest time.

Wu Lirong was lying on the kang, talking to herself, "I wonder how Weijun and Weidong are doing after going to the countryside? Are they used to the living and eating conditions there?"

After hearing this, Li Qingfeng said nonchalantly: "Grandma Weidong and the others will take care of them, so you can rest assured!"

Hearing this, Wu Lirong rolled her eyes at Li Qingfeng, and then said unhappily, "You mean easy."

"The two brothers have never experienced hardship since they were young. I don't know if they can do farm work in the village now."

After hearing this, Li Qingfeng thought for a moment, then hugged his wife and said to her with a smile: "If it doesn't work, let's go to Qinjia Village to see them after some time."

Wu Lirong asked in surprise, "Really?"

"Really, really, how could I lie to you!"

Li Qingfeng got up and turned off the lights, then continued to hug Wu Lirong: "It's getting late, let's go to bed!"

Wu Lirong smiled softly in Li Qingfeng's arms, then closed her eyes and fell asleep soon.

At Li Qingshan's home in the east wing of the Siheyuan, Qin Huairu also complained to Li Qingshan.

Qin Huairu knew that farm work in the countryside was tiring and hard, and she was worried that her two children would not be able to adapt to life in the village and would not be able to endure the hardship.

Li Qingshan didn't know how to comfort his wife, so he could only promise to go back to the village to see the children after some time.

Qin Huairu then showed a smile.

 …

The brothers Li Weijun and Li Weidong in Qinjia Village had no idea that their mother (aunt) was worried about them.

After having dinner at their grandmother’s house, the brothers Weidong and Weijun returned to the house, lay directly on the kang and discussed things in a low voice.

"Brother Weijun, the village is much more fun than the city. Let's go and catch bird eggs tomorrow!"

"Weidong, aren't you tired?"

"Why are you so tired? It's just pulling some weeds and cutting some pig grass. How can it be so tiring?"

"Then let's go get grass for the pigs in the morning. If you have nothing to do in the afternoon, you can go play with Goudan."

"Brother, is this correct?"

"It's settled, go to sleep!"

After saying that, Li Weijun turned over, ignored Li Weidong, and went to sleep with his eyes closed.

Seeing this, Li Weidong also closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Goudan is a friend the two brothers met when they first went to the countryside. His home is next to Qin Dezhuo's, making him Qin Huairu's second uncle and Li Weidong's second uncle.

Still want to play! What they don't know is that the autumn harvest is coming soon, and they will be offended.

Early the next morning, the brothers Li Weidong and Li Weijun were woken up by Weidong's grandmother, Qin Huairu's mother.

"Weidong, Weijun, you two should get up and eat quickly. We still have a lot of farm work to do in the morning!"

"Got it, grandma."

Wei Jun and Wei Dong responded dazedly, then got up and put on their clothes.

As soon as Weidong left the house, he asked Huang Chunli, "Grandma, what do you want to eat in the morning?"

"What else can we eat? Sweet potato porridge, pickles, and steamed bread. You two should go wash up and eat."

"Oh!"

Li Weijun and Li Weidong quickly washed up, came to the dining table, and wanted to finish their breakfast in just a few bites.

"Eat slowly, no one will compete with you."

Huang Chunli took out two boiled eggs from somewhere, peeled them and put them into the brothers' bowls: "Eat them! Eat them well, otherwise you will get hungry and thin, and your mother (Second Aunt) will scold me again."

"My mother would never say grandma!"

"Yes! Second Aunt is very nice."

Qin Desheng held the bowl and watched them chat happily.

After breakfast, brothers Li Weidong and Li Weijun said hello to Qin Desheng and his wife, then ran out with their backpacks and sickles.

"You two should run slower."

"Got it, grandma."

Huang Chunli smiled and said to Qin Desheng: "These two brothers are like children who have not grown up."

"No matter how old they are, they are just children in front of us."

After Qin Desheng finished speaking, he drank the sweet potato porridge in the bowl, then went out to work with his hands behind his back.

The two brothers ran all the way to the gathering point, and after meeting up with Qin Meng, also known as Goudan, they chased each other while collecting grass for pigs.

The three of them quickly gathered a basket of pig grass and handed it in to the barn. Then they went on to gather another basket of pig grass. After handing it in, the three of them went to pull weeds in the field.

8 centimeters a day is enough for them to eat.

Time flies, and a month passed in the blink of an eye, and it was the end of September 1966.

The autumn harvest is an important day in the village, as it concerns the farmers' food problem. If the harvest is good, they can eat more after paying the public grain. If the harvest is not good, they will not have enough to eat after paying the public grain, so they have to eat tree bark and wheat bran.

During this month, the brothers Li Weidong and Li Weijun were either working in the fields cutting grass for pigs, or running around and playing with Goudan, like children of eight or nine years old. They both became a lot darker. Is this childhood?

Early the next morning.

Li Weijun and Li Weidong were woken up early by Qin Desheng. They asked in a daze, "Master, it's not even dawn yet. Why are you asking us to get up?"

"What are you doing? Going to harvest the food. Hurry up and get up to eat."

When Qin Desheng saw that they had woken up, he turned around and left the house.

The two brothers did not waste any time. They quickly got dressed and went out to wash up and eat.

After dinner, whether they were villagers or educated youth who had gone to the countryside, they all gathered at the threshing ground in the village.

When it comes to the autumn harvest, except for those who cannot move, the whole family, young and old, joins the battle.

After the harvesting tasks and farm tools were assigned, the autumn harvest of the year began.

Qinjia Village grows corn, sweet potatoes, wheat and potatoes. Brothers Li Weidong and Li Weijun were assigned to harvest wheat in the wheat fields.

One man took a sickle and followed the large group to the wheat field.

Looking at the endless wheat fields, the two brothers smiled bitterly. As the skilled harvesters began to harvest the wheat, the villagers went to the fields one after another.

The two brothers did not know how to harvest wheat, so they could only watch others do it and harvest little by little. However, after a while, the two brothers were so tired that they could not even straighten their backs.

But when they saw Goudan, who was younger than them, harvesting wheat quickly and skillfully, and children aged three or four picking up wheat ears behind the adults, they swallowed their words of complaint and lowered their heads to continue harvesting the wheat slowly.

At noon time, the people from the brigade who came to deliver food arrived at the wheat field and rang the gong.

The two brothers gritted their teeth, slowly straightened up, gave each other a bitter smile, and then Goudan helped them to queue up for food.

Since autumn harvest is very strenuous, the lunch is very greasy and contains a lot of fatty meat slices.

The adults finished their meal quickly and went to harvest the wheat, but the brothers Li Weijun and Li Weidong had not even finished half of their lunch!

The two brothers smiled bitterly again, then lowered their heads and ate their meal quickly, then took their sickles to harvest the wheat.

It was not until the evening that the two brothers thought they could go back to rest, but when they heard that they had to continue harvesting wheat after dinner, they immediately shed bitter tears.

The two brothers don’t know when the autumn harvest will be over. They miss life in the city so much!