The crowd hurried into the rice paddies. The autumn fields were like a golden ocean, with vast stretches of radiant golden paddies. Each plump grain head hung heavy, shimmering with the golden glow of the autumn sun, radiating the joy of a bountiful harvest.
A gust of autumn wind swept through, and the heavy grain heads swayed, rustling softly. Waves of golden ears rippled, carrying the promise of harvest and hope.
Chen Lan gave the order, shouting loudly, "Begin harvesting!"
The rumbling of machinery immediately filled the air. The combine harvesters and multi-functional farm tractors worked in perfect sync, weaving back and forth through the waves of rice. Harvesting, threshing, shredding, and loading were all done in one seamless operation, creating a scene of bustling labor in the fields.
The rice had ripened, and the land, and indeed the valleys, seemed to boil with activity. Wave after wave of heavy grain heads were "swallowed" by the mouths of the combine harvesters, only to be spat out as plump, golden grains.
Across the vast fields, the air was filled with the rich aroma of rice.
Wherever the harvesters passed, large swathes of rice were swept away in an instant, leaving bare ridges that startled the field mice into a panicked scatter.
The fields were alive with rolling waves of rice and the roar of machinery. Combine harvesters crisscrossed the golden expanse, while tractors, laden with rice, shuttled continuously between the paddies and the drying grounds, forming a pleasing tableau of abundance.
Harvesting with combine harvesters was swift. The 150 mu of rice were completed in just three days. Chen Lan estimated the average yield per mu to be around 900 jin. The total harvest exceeded 130,000 jin. While not an exceptionally high yield, it was considered a great success.
The harvesting in the paddies was complete. The remaining task was to deep plow the fields with the multi-functional farm tractors, burying the shredded straw to fertilize the soil.
The rice harvest had drawn to a close, making way for the drying grounds to take center stage.
The drying grounds were a sea of gold, with sun-kissed rice spread across the entire area. Women, both elder and young, wielded wooden rakes, working back and forth under the sun to turn and dry the rice. The joy of the harvest was etched on their sun-kissed faces.
Everyone was eager to seize the fine weather to speed up harvesting and drying, ensuring a full yield and that every grain was safely stored.
Busier than the people on the drying grounds were the sparrows, mynas, and countless other small birds that had been waiting in the valleys. They flocked around the drying grounds, darting in to snatch a few grains of rice whenever no one was looking.
As evening approached, Uncle De and a group of elders arrived at the drying grounds. Old Man Xu picked up a small handful of rice from the ground, rubbed it in his palm, blew away the dust from the husks, and then bit into a grain. With a crunch, he smiled and said, "It's almost dry, the grains are plump!" After a quiet discussion among the elders, they unanimously decided that, for safety's sake, another full day of sunning would be needed before storing.
Old Man Li looked up at the sky and said, "The sky has mackerel scales; we don't need to collect the rice from the drying grounds tonight. We can simply cover it with rainproof tarps to prevent dew from dampening it in the morning."
Chen Lan and everyone else were delighted, realizing how much easier tomorrow's drying would be.
Chen Lan couldn't help but look up at the sky herself. She stared for a long time but couldn't discern any particular pattern.
Uncle De chuckled and explained, "(Mackerel scales in the sky, no need to turn the grain when drying) means tomorrow will be sunny, with no rain all day. We won't have to keep turning the rice, and it can be dried and stored in a single day."
Old Man Zhou added with a smile, "What we fear most during the autumn harvest is sudden rain. A clear day can suddenly be overshadowed by a mass of dark clouds, followed by a downpour that drenches the half-dried rice. Sometimes, if we're unlucky, we can encounter this several times a day, which is a real nuisance."
Once the rice was dry, the next step was to remove impurities. The multi-functional grain sorter made this process quick. The removed impurities contained a significant amount of rice weevils, weeds, and shriveled grains. These impurities held a lot of moisture, preventing heat from dissipating from the grain pile, which could lead to the growth of bacteria and spoilage.
It was crucial that the rice stored was thoroughly dried. Newly harvested rice had strong physiological activity. Due to the rice's own respiration and the influence of microorganisms and pests, it could heat up, turn yellow, mold, or even sprout within the grain pile, severely affecting the quality of the rice.
Therefore, thorough drying before storage was essential. Furthermore, the storage facility needed to be rainproof and well-ventilated. This was to prevent the rice from getting damp a second time. When storing rice, it was best not to let the containers touch the ground directly; storing them on wooden racks could help preserve them for a longer time.
As soon as the rice was dry, Chen Lan, Hu Yuzhen, Cui Qiao, and the others eagerly loaded a cart of dried rice and headed to the temporary workshop next to the main kitchen.
Upon arriving at the workshop, they all got busy. Some loaded the rice, others got bags, and someone started the rice mill. Chen Lan slowly poured baskets of rice into the funnel of the rice mill. Soon, one outlet produced bran and husks, while the other yielded the white rice we eat.
Chen Lan estimated that for every 100 jin of rice, about 80 jin of white rice could be milled.
The freshly milled rice made for fragrant meals. When everyone came for dinner at the main kitchen that evening, the aroma of rice wafted from afar. Lifting the lid of the pot and scooping the rice into bowls, the steam and fragrance were intoxicating. Each grain was plump and glistening.
Chen Lan eagerly took a bite. The texture was soft and chewy, with a rich rice fragrance. Chen Lan felt she could eat a whole bowl without any side dishes.
Whether it was because she had personally planted, harvested, and processed the rice, or because new rice simply tasted this way, Chen Lan felt that the rice that evening was the most delicious bowl of rice she had ever eaten in her life.