Chapter 33 Autumn Harvest

Tang Banxia stopped at the sound and, upon looking carefully, realized the commotion was caused by someone she knew. It was none other than Widow Hu, who had once been on the receiving end of her fists.

Right now, Widow Hu was angrily pointing at the bowls of Old Lady Song and her grandson. Tang Banxia glanced over and, unsurprisingly, saw that the bowls before the two were heaped with solid rice while, as for Widow Hu’s bowl, the porridge was so thin you could see your own reflection in it.

No wonder Widow Hu was upset—her bowl was, at a glance, the most watery of all.

The one responsible for serving her team’s food was Granny Huang Xiaocui, an old lady of considerable standing in the village, who was in no way intimidated by a widow like Hu. Without hesitation, she slammed her ladle down and unleashed a barrage of curses that would have made an ancestor blush.

But Widow Hu, accustomed to throwing her weight around thanks to her cousin Hu Dashan, stood with her hands on her hips and argued back with Granny Huang, neither willing to back down. Their exchange of insults became a lively spectacle, much to the amusement of the onlookers.

In the dull, exhausting days of the autumn harvest, such moments of drama were rare and welcome entertainment. The crowd watched with relish.

Tang Banxia was equally entertained, so much so that she didn’t even notice Wen Mubai squeezing in beside her until some time had passed.

The farce ended only when the brigade leader, drawn by the noise, arrived to put a stop to it. He wasn’t alone; behind him stood two well-dressed middle-aged men, clearly out of place in this rural setting.

As for Hu Dashan, he looked furious enough to spit fire. Showing no favoritism, he scolded both women harshly and docked a whole day’s work points from each before considering the matter settled.

When the excitement was over, Tang Banxia and Wen Mubai left the canteen with the crowd, found a shaded spot, and sat down to eat.

Tang Banxia scanned their surroundings to make sure no one was watching, then pulled a piece of sausage from her bag and buried it in Wen Mubai’s bowl. “Eat up, don’t let anyone see.”

Wen Mubai noticed she had one as well, so he nodded and asked quietly, “Banxia, where did you get this sausage?”

“My eldest brother sent it,” she replied.

A month earlier, after she had settled her affairs, she had written letters to both of the original Banxia’s brothers, informing them of her marriage and enclosing a photograph of herself with Wen Mubai.

Since she had assumed Tang Banxia’s identity, she was determined to fully embrace it, maintaining the relationships with family and friends as best she could.

Her eldest brother had been assigned to frontline work in Sichuan Province, which kept him clear of the political whirlpool in the capital for the time being. Upon receiving his sister’s letter, though he was anxious, all he could do was send a large package of supplies.

This sausage came from her elder brother.

After Tang Banxia’s explanation, Wen Mubai said no more and quietly finished his meal. As they neared the end, he finally spoke: “When the harvest is over, I’ll make a few more trips to the mountains, find some good things, and send them to your brother.”

Since living together, he had seen firsthand the place Tang Banxia held in her family and how much she cared for them, which was different from his own experience.

“All right,” Tang Banxia agreed without hesitation.

After lunch, the whistle signaling the afternoon shift sounded.

They put away their lunchboxes, and Tang Banxia whispered, “There’s mung bean soup with sugar in your canteen, don’t be stingy with it. And don’t work too hard—rest when you need to, your health comes first. Of course, don’t be too obvious either. We have visitors inspecting the brigade, so let’s not draw too much attention. It wouldn’t do to be made an example of. In times like these, reputation is everything.”

While Wen Mubai helped her put on her straw hat, he listened to her words, his heart warming with every sentence.

“I know, Banxia. You take care of yourself, too.”

After their mutual reminders, they went their separate ways to their respective tasks.

By the end of an afternoon spent stripping corn, Tang Banxia’s thumbs no longer felt like her own. Exhausted, she trudged home by moonlight, too weary to cook anything elaborate. She decided on clay pot rice, conveniently making use of the sausage at home.

She rinsed the rice and spread it evenly at the bottom of the pot. She diced sausage, potatoes, and carrots, shelled kernels from corn and green peas, washed everything, and spread it over the rice. Mixing a sauce of salt, soy sauce, fermented bean paste, and seafood sauce, she poured it in, added water until everything was submerged, covered the pot, and left it to cook over high heat.

While it cooked, she sliced a few tomatoes, tossed them with sugar, and washed a couple of cucumbers.

Half an hour later, when the clay pot rice was ready, she lifted the wooden lid and called, “Xiaobai, time to eat.”

Wen Mubai came at once.

The clay pot rice was delicious beyond words—so fragrant that Wen Mubai nearly swallowed his tongue. In his heart, he resolved to send an even bigger return gift to his brother-in-law, hoping he’d be sensible enough to send more sausage in the future.

The next day.

Tang Banxia, having learned from experience, brought a metal nail to work. That way, her thumbs would suffer less when stripping corn.

Sure enough, the task was much easier.

Seeing this, Old Lady Song and Aunt Hu also brought nails with them the next day.

Soon, all the women stripping corn in the team followed suit, each with a nail in hand.

“The city girl’s mind is sharp. With this nail, my hands didn’t crack at all this time. Thank you, little Tang,” said an old lady from the next corn pile.

Tang Banxia laughed awkwardly. “You’re too kind.”

She was just looking for an easier way out for herself.

Regardless, thanks to that single nail, Tang Banxia’s reputation among the old ladies improved significantly.

The villagers were mostly simple folk who respected those with ability. To them, even a small thing like a nail was a sign of cleverness.

On the seventh day of the autumn harvest, all the corn in the fields was gathered. At the same time, their corn-stripping team was reassigned.

Their new task was to shell corn kernels.

Guyue Village lay just north of the border between north and south, and most of the crops grown there were northern varieties—mainly corn and sweet potatoes, with some peanuts and cabbage.

Once the corn was dealt with, it was time for the sweet potatoes.

Wen Mubai was sent to the fields to collect sweet potatoes. Tang Banxia, meanwhile, stayed with Aunt Hu and Old Lady Song, the three of them assigned to shell corn kernels.

When it came to shelling, Tang Banxia couldn’t help but show off once again. She brought an awl from home.

Under the puzzled gazes of Old Lady Song and Aunt Hu, she positioned the awl at the base of a corn cob.

A sharp tear—and a split appeared.

She repeated the process, making a split every row or so. After doing this to over a dozen cobs, she picked up two ears of corn, one in each hand, and rubbed them together. Golden kernels rained down, drawing bright-eyed stares from her companions.

“Little Tang, can I borrow that awl?” Aunt Hu asked first.

Tang Banxia nodded and handed it over.

Aunt Hu, an old hand at farm work, used the awl even more efficiently than Tang Banxia. After she was done, Old Lady Song also asked to borrow it. Once she’d tried it out, the awl was returned to Tang Banxia.

The next day, every member of the corn-kernel team brought their own awl.

The old ladies’ opinion of Tang Banxia soared.

Every morning at work, Tang Banxia could hear her coworkers singing her praises. If not for her thick skin, she wouldn’t have been able to withstand so much flattery.

It wasn’t really her own cleverness—she’d simply borrowed the idea from her life in the modern world. But that was something she couldn’t explain, so she could only endure the praise from Old Lady Song and the others.

Thanks to Tang Banxia’s little innovations, the corn-stripping team’s efficiency improved greatly that year.

Before the sweet potato harvest was even finished, the golden corn kernels already filled the entire drying yard.

When Hu Dashan found out, he personally praised Tang Banxia, then, without mercy, promptly assigned them to the peanut harvest.