Director Jin and An Guoming returned to the county town together.
An Guoming dropped Director Jin off at the machinery factory, then drove the truck back to the textile mill himself.
After returning to the textile mill, An Guoming took the blood sausage and pig’s head at he had prepared at ho, along with a few pounds of fresh pork, and went to visit the master who had taught him how to drive.
He was in and out in just over ten minutes.
After leaving, An Guoming went back to the textile mill. He didn’t rest, but instead fetched so water and started washing the truck.
The An Guoming of today was much more composed. He no longer showed off his cleverness and had beco reserved and low-key.
anwhile, after returning to the machinery factory, Director Jin didn’t stop for a mont.
He headed straight for Old Man Zhang Qihua’s house.
After a KNOCK KNOCK, Zhang Qihua, who recognized Director Jin’s voice from inside, threw on so clothes and rushed out.
"Did she agree?"
"She agreed!"
An excitent incomprehensible to outsiders burst forth in their eyes—an excitent unique to this era.
The two grown n hugged and started jumping up and down in the courtyard.
"Quick, quick, tell , what did she say?"
After letting go, Zhang Qihua didn’t even go back inside. He started talking with Director Jin right there in the courtyard.
"She said we need to organize the types of machinery we want, for which kinds of crops, and so on."
"Right, right, right, that’s definitely necessary."
Zhang Qihua’s mind was already racing. He quickly finished dressing and shouted into the house, "Bring my shoes."
An old woman inside, with a look of fond exasperation, brought out the shoes and also tossed a bag over.
"Everything’s in here. Go on."
Zhang Qihua grinned at the old woman. The tacit understanding of a long-married couple was evident as he picked up the bundle and left with Director Jin.
The two of them took a car from the machinery factory and headed straight for the city to find their superiors.
With a single order from the leadership, countless staff mbers were roused from their beds, rushing to their offices to start preparing the materials An Ning needed.
anwhile, the key figure, An Ning, was already in the fields, starting to pick corn.
The most widely planted crop in Shili Gou was corn, followed by sweet potatoes and sorghum. Other miscellaneous grains were also planted in smaller quantities.
During the autumn harvest, the miscellaneous grains were gathered first.
After the miscellaneous grains were harvested, the large-scale corn picking began.
Once the corn harvest started, it ant that autumn was almost over.
At this ti, everyone in the village went to the fields, including the children.
The school had its harvest break, so they could go ho and help with the work.
Even the An family temporarily halted construction on their house to go to the fields first.
Her sister-in-law, Zhou Guifen, was left at ho by Lin Cuihua to cook, while Lin Cuihua herself also went to the fields. The autumn harvest could not be delayed.
Participating in the corn harvest for the first ti, An Ning was required by Lin Cuihua to be fully covered.
In Lin Cuihua’s words, getting scratched by corn leaves all day would leave you with a burning pain at night.
So when An Ning appeared in the fields, nothing was visible except for her two eyes.
Jiang Xia, who had also co to work in the fields, couldn’t help but tease her when he saw her outfit, "Is this a newly unearthed mummy?"
A mummy?
An Ning didn’t quite understand, but she recognized the teasing and amusent in Jiang Xia’s expression.
"You’ll find out tonight."
An Ning mimicked Jiang Xia, gave a proud toss of her head, and dove into the cornfield to start picking.
Jiang Xia understood what An Ning ant, but as a grown man, he couldn’t very well wrap a scarf around his head.
’I’m a real man. A little pain is nothing.’
Jiang Xia dove in just the sa and started picking corn.
The picked corn cobs, bright yellow, were piled up, carried by hand to the edge of the field, and then hauled away by a tractor.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to use the tractor to haul from inside the field, but there was simply too much land and only one tractor. Human labor was free, but the tractor used up fuel, which cost money.
They worked from before dawn until high noon. Everyone ate a quick al at the edge of the field and imdiately went back to work without a mont’s rest.
The An family was the sa. Gao Guifen brought their al on a bicycle, as it wasn’t too heavy.
For lunch, the An family had white rice, potato and at stew—more at than potatoes—and scrambled eggs with cucumber, where the eggs made up at least half the dish.
They made sure to eat well and get their fill.
If they didn’t eat well, a person could be worn to a shadow by the end of the autumn harvest.
After lunch, everyone imdiately got up and went back to work. An Guoqing drove the tractor continuously, transporting the corn.
This repetitive work continued until evening, after it beca completely dark.
The villagers, exhausted from a full day’s labor, dragged their heavy feet ho. They forced themselves to eat, and most of them collapsed into bed right after.
They were tired. Truly tired.
But they were also happy.
This year’s corn had grown exceptionally well.
A good crop ant a bigger harvest.
This was the hope and anticipation they had worked for all year.
The entire year’s expenses—their children’s school fees, new clothes for the New Year, their sons’ and daughters’ weddings—all had to be squeezed out of this.
That night, An Ning also felt utterly exhausted.
’Spiritual power really is useful.’
Today, she had specifically observed the plots of land where she had worked.
The corn in those fields had grown particularly well.
After a night of deep sleep, she still woke before dawn, ate a hurried al, and went to the fields to work.
After another day ended, An Ning received a call from Director Jin.
"Okay, I’m not in a hurry. The village is in the middle of the autumn harvest."
"Alright. Goodbye."
An Ning hung up. Director Jin said he would be a couple of days late delivering the materials.
An Ning wasn’t worried. She went ho to rest, ready to continue tomorrow.
She worked for another three days before she finally saw Director Jin again.
This ti, Director Jin didn’t co alone. Two other people were with him.
One was Old Man Zhang Qihua, and the other was a young man An Ning didn’t recognize.
The sun shone brightly. The power of the autumn tiger was no less fierce than the sweltering sumr heat.
The midday sun could turn a person’s face red in just a short while.
At this mont, An Ning was dressed in long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, with a red scarf wrapped around her head. Only her two glistening dark eyes were visible as she looked at Director Jin.
"An Ning, let introduce you. This is the chief designer from the municipal machinery factory, Li Chengze."
"Mr. Li, this is the An Ning we’ve been telling you about."
An Ning looked toward Li Chengze and said, "Hello."
Li Chengze extended his hand. "Hello."
An Ning glanced down at Li Chengze’s hand and declined, "We don’t really do that in our village."
It was mainly because she was a young woman, and they were in the village.
If they were elsewhere, she wouldn’t have minded.
Li Chengze retracted his hand, his expression not changing much.
For the past few days, he had been hearing An Ning’s na constantly and had even seen the blueprints she drew with his own eyes.
But he still didn’t quite believe it—or rather, he was unwilling to believe it.
He was unwilling to believe that a girl who had never been to school or even left the county could produce such drawings.
"Director Jin, where are the things I asked for?"
After An Ning asked, she saw a troubled look appear on Director Jin’s face.
"Is there a problem?"
An Ning asked again.
Old Man Zhang Qihua, who had been silent the whole ti, suddenly spoke up. "We don’t have a problem, but soone else does."
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