Chen Lan quickly returned to the first house and told her mother-in-law that only thirty mu of land would be harvested today, asking her to arrange for everyone to wait in the drying yard.
Upon hearing this, the mother-in-law quickly went to organize those who remained and had not gone to the cornfields. She divided them into groups of two, giving each group a synthetic carpet. When everyone saw the brightly colored, beautifully patterned, soft, and fluffy carpets, they were greatly surprised, let alone using them to sit on while shucking corn.
Chen Lan understood their thoughts and said, "This carpet is not made of wool; it's a new material. If it gets dirty, it can be washed like clothes, and when it's dry, it will be like new. So, please don't worry about putting it on the ground and sit comfortably to shuck corn!"
The crowd formed pairs of two and sat on one side of the drying yard, chatting and waiting for the tractor to bring the corn cobs.
By now, the sun had fully risen. Chen Lan hurried back to the first house to get the straw hats left there, and then handed out one straw hat to each person. Jia Hui, Jia Yao, Xiao Shi Tou, and Hu Tou all received children's-sized straw hats. The few little ones looked incredibly cute in their straw hats.
Before long, the distant sound of a tractor sputtering could be heard approaching. In no time, Xiao Shan appeared, driving a tractor laden with a full cart of corn cobs towards the drying yard.
Xiao Shan told the mother-in-law and Chen Lan that the corn variety harvested today was Long Gao. After quickly unloading the corn, he sped away. The waiting crowd surged forward, rushing to grab corn cobs to shuck. Chen Lan watched as some of the corn cobs were as long as Jia Hui and Jia Yao's little arms. Peeling back the husk, she saw that the corn kernels were golden and plump.
Soon, the husks were peeled off layer by layer, and the golden corn instantly piled up into small golden mountains. Ming Wei and the others quickly moved the corn cobs to the center of the drying yard, spreading them out evenly so that each cob could receive ample sunlight, helping the corn to dry quickly.
The mother-in-law and Old Mother sat on a carpet next to Chen Lan, rapidly shucking corn cobs while chatting. The mother-in-law said, "Daughter-in-law's mother, I've lived in the countryside for six or seven years, and I've never seen corn cobs this large. Not only are the cobs big, but they're also so uniformly grown. Look at how large each one is, and the kernels are all plump."
Old Mother quickly picked up a corn cob, peeled it, and chimed in, "Yes! I've lived in the capital for decades and have never seen corn this large sold in any grain and oil shop."
Chen Lan also sat on the carpet, listening to her mother-in-law and Old Mother chat while quickly shucking corn. She then forcefully pulled off the husk, occasionally glancing out of the corner of her eye at the twins, wearing their little straw hats, crawling around on the carpet like two little turtles.
On another carpet, the two younger brothers and Ming Zhe were also diligently shucking corn cobs.
When Chen Lan's attention returned to the twins, she couldn't help but let out a chuckle. The twins were each holding a large corn cob, lying on the carpet and using their newly sprouted front teeth to gnaw at it with great gusto. Su Dan novel network.
The mother-in-law and Old Mother, engrossed in their conversation, heard the sound and looked over. Upon seeing the twins, they burst into laughter. At that moment, Wen Kai, Wen Qi, and Ming Zhe, hearing the laughter, also turned their heads. Seeing the twins' predicament, they all doubled over with laughter. The laughter from this side alerted everyone in the drying yard, and they all turned to look. Seeing the scene, they too began to laugh heartily.
Xiao Shi Tou and Hu Tou, sitting on the carpet with their grandmother, were slowly helping to shuck corn. Seeing Jia Hui and Jia Yao gnawing on corn, they mimicked them, opening their little mouths and biting down hard on the kernels of the corn cobs they had just managed to shuck.
Needless to say, their teeth hit the hard kernels. Their grandmother quickly checked if their teeth were damaged. The mother-in-law laughed heartily again and then said, "Silly boys, this is old corn. It needs to be dried and ground into cornmeal to make corn cakes. If you want to gnaw on corn cobs, you need to pick the tender ones, boil them in water, and then you can eat them, or steam them."
She then said loudly, "Everyone, when you're shucking the corn, be careful. Pick out any tender corn cobs and set them aside. Tender corn won't yield grain, and it's troublesome to dry. Later, I'll have Mai Zi set up the iron pot and boil a large pot of tender corn for everyone to eat their fill."
Everyone was overjoyed to hear the mother-in-law's words and clamored, "Great! We'll have tender corn to eat! I really do want a bite."
As cartload after cartload of corn was brought in, everyone became quite busy. They all bent their heads, rapidly shucking corn cobs, with no time for idle chatter. The only sounds filling the air were the rustling of corn husks being peeled. Chen Lan also lowered her head, picking up her pace to shuck the corn husks quickly, paying no attention to the twins. After an unknown amount of time spent shucking, her neck began to ache. She raised her head to look at the twins and found them lying sprawled on the carpet, fast asleep. The corn cobs they had been trying to gnaw on lay discarded beside them, their hats had fallen off, and their little mouths were coated with dried corn paste, making it look like they had grown a circle of white beards.
Chen Lan quickly got up, gathered the twins, and draped her own jacket over them. Old Mother saw this and also got up to come over, quietly asking Chen Lan, "Lan'er, do you want to carry them back to sleep?" Chen Lan shook her head and whispered, "No, it's good for them to get some sun and absorb calcium." The mother and daughter then sat together, blocking some of the sun to prevent it from shining directly into the twins' eyes, allowing the sun to only warm their bodies.
Mother and daughter peeled corn cobs while chatting softly. Old Mother said, "Lan'er, looking at these cartloads of corn being brought back, this year's corn must be a great harvest, right?"
Chen Lan nodded and said, without exaggeration:
The ancients said: "One grain sown in spring, ten thousand seeds reaped in autumn."
We say: "One load of seeds sown in spring, ten thousand loads of grain reaped in autumn."
Old Mother chuckled upon hearing Chen Lan's words and said, "You just boast! You can say that to me, but if you say it to others and don't harvest ten thousand loads of grain, what will you do?"
As cartloads of corn were brought to the drying yard, the corn cobs piled higher and higher, and the corn mounds grew taller and taller.
The valley was a scene of abundance, with the air filled with the sweet scent of corn. The laughter of the people and the playful cries of the children echoed through the valley.
As the saying goes, "Autumn's busyness is better than spring's idleness." Autumn is the season of harvest, harvesting joy, harvesting hope, and harvesting prosperity and dreams.