The villagers worked together for two days to finish harvesting the wheat from the main house's fields, stacking it in piles, just waiting to be carried to the threshing ground to dry. However, before they could even finish transporting it, the sky began to change, and panic spread among them. After all, this harvest determined their annual income. Everyone rushed to carry the grain home, but before they were done, the rain started, leaving some wheat still stranded in the fields. The farming families who had labored these past two days felt as if a fire had been lit in their chests, their mouths dry with anxiety.

Fortunately, the rain wasn't heavy, but it still brought losses to the farmers; some wheat grains, still attached to the stalks, had already begun to sprout. But the families knew that lamenting the waste was useless; they could only carry back the grain that remained sound.

Looking at the sprouting wheat, Mrs. Tian secretly resented the second and third households for not harvesting sooner, causing their main household to suffer a loss. She began plotting how to recoup this loss from the other two branches of the family.

Once the main household had dried their wheat and used the heavy stone rollers to thresh the grains, they stacked the straw into hay piles, intended for use as firewood later. The threshed grain only needed winnowing and sun-drying to be complete. With the straw cleared, the threshing ground now had ample space. After discussion, the second household began harvesting, followed by the third. Heaven smiled upon them; no more rain fell during the harvesting periods of the second and third households, which only fueled Mrs. Tian's jealousy. Meanwhile, Wang Qingchen, resorting to an old trick, secretly introduced more wheat seeds into his personal space.

The wheat harvest this year was excellent, which, for these farming families, was the greatest reward for their arduous labor. However, the families were not completely intoxicated by the bounty, as a new round of planting was about to commence.

Before the new planting cycle could begin, the Dragon Boat Festival arrived. The children looked forward to this festival with excitement, as it meant food and fun.

With a good wheat harvest, everyone in the family was in good spirits and prepared to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival properly. Of course, some farming families were still busy with fieldwork and did not rest for the holiday. The custom for the Dragon Boat Festival included eating salted duck eggs and zongzi. Mrs. Yang went to town early that morning to buy a few salted duck eggs, some glutinous rice, and a few catties of white flour. Upon returning home, Mrs. Yang used the reed leaves that Wang Youfu and Wang Qinghua had gathered that morning along with the purchased glutinous rice to wrap zongzi. While zongzi can have many fillings—salted pork, fresh meat, red dates, and so on—Mrs. Yang decided against spending more money and planned to make only plain, unfilled ones.

When Wang Qingchen woke up, he noticed mugwort leaves placed on the doors and windows. This was a special custom for the Dragon Boat Festival; common folk believed mugwort could ward off illness, serving as a unique way for the populace to pray for blessings.

Once the zongzi were cooked, Mrs. Yang took out the white flour bought that morning and paired it with some of the zongzi to make gifts for the Old Master and Old Mistress, which she sent Wang Qinghua to deliver. They should have also sent gifts to Mrs. Yang's natal family, but since her parents had passed away, Mrs. Yang had not kept in close contact with her brothers and sisters.

When Wang Qinghua went to the old house to deliver the gifts, the Old Mistress was complaining about how stingy the third household was with their offerings. Upon learning that the third household's gifts included zongzi, a foot of fabric (chitóu), and rice, the entire Wang Qingchen family didn't know how to react.

This, however, did not dampen Caiyun's spirits; she was delighted. Mrs. Yang had woven a small net from red thread for her, inside which sat a salted duck egg. Caiyun played with it obsessively. There was a folk custom on the Dragon Boat Festival to balance an egg upright, and after greeting Mrs. Yang, Caiyun excitedly ran off to see if her egg could stand up, challenging Hongying and the others.

At lunchtime, Mrs. Yang produced three sachets she had embroidered, distributing one to each child, instructing them to wear them. It was said that children wearing sachets on the Dragon Boat Festival could ward off evil spirits.

Listening to Mrs. Yang recount the various customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, Wang Qingchen couldn't help but think that the most famous custom he remembered from his previous life was the dragon boat race—where many people rowed the long boats in unison toward the finish line, though that was more common in the south. There was also the custom of drinking realgar wine; wasn't it after drinking it that the White Snake spirit transformed, terrifying Xu Xian to death? Thinking of this, Wang Qingchen felt a pang of sadness, realizing he could never return to that world.

After the Dragon Boat Festival, the villagers plunged back into the demanding farm work. Wang Youfu spent thirty wen to rent a plow ox from a wealthy villager for two days. In those two days, he managed to plow the family's three mu of paddy field and seven mu of dry land. Wang Youfu and Mrs. Yang had already decided: the three mu of paddy would be used for planting rice, and of the seven mu of dry land, three would be for peanuts and four for millet.

Wang Youfu and Mrs. Yang first planted the peanuts and millet in the dry fields. When they reached the paddy fields, Wang Qingchen observed the leeches sucking blood and insects stinging people during transplanting, making him immensely grateful that he was spared this task and only needed to help with household chores.

During these days, when he wasn't busy, Wang Qingchen would go to see Li Yuntai to learn to read. The academy had closed for the busy farming season, so Li Yuntai had been home these past few days. Li Yuntai's family hired temporary help, so Li Yuntai spent his time at home reading and practicing calligraphy.

Li Yuntai was delighted to see Wang Qingchen arrive, as there were few people in the village with whom he could truly converse.

"Qingchen, you're here!" Li Yuntai looked up from behind his desk. Since he began his studies, Li Yuntai's family had dedicated a room specifically as a study, a room that only he used.

"I just finished my chores, so I came to learn characters," Wang Qingchen replied cheerfully.

"Are your fields all planted?" Li Yuntai asked doubtfully.

"Not quite, just the three mu of paddy fields left. I helped pull up the seedlings this morning, but I can't help with the transplanting below. Never mind whether I know how to transplant or not, just thinking about the leeches and bugs in the water... Hiss... it makes my whole body uncomfortable just thinking about it," Wang Qingchen finished, mimicking a shiver.

"Haha, it's not as bad as you say. If it were, wouldn't anyone dare to transplant seedlings?" After laughing, Li Yuntai opened the Thousand Character Classic Wang Qingchen had started learning a few days ago. "Let me test you on the character you learned yesterday. Do you still recognize this one?" Li Yuntai pointed to a character on the page.

Wang Qingchen deliberately failed to answer. Li Yuntai patiently re-taught him the character. In truth, Wang Qingchen certainly recognized it. However, when he first started learning characters with Li Yuntai, he hadn't properly moderated his pace, leading Li Yuntai to repeatedly exclaim over his speed and muse how wonderful it would be if Wang Qingchen could also attend school. Only then did Wang Qingchen quickly pretend that recognizing characters was a difficult struggle. But even so, based on the first two impressions, Li Yuntai classified Wang Qingchen as intelligent and a promising talent.

After finishing the day's lesson, Wang Qingchen borrowed the Thousand Character Classic to take home. Li Yuntai agreed but cautioned him not to damage the book.

When Wang Qingchen returned home, his family hadn't arrived yet. Figuring the fieldwork should wrap up that day, he first went to the kitchen and lit two large pots of water to boil. With the water heating, and his family still absent, Wang Qingchen brought out a stool, took the borrowed Thousand Character Classic, and sat in the courtyard to study. Realizing that just recognizing characters wasn't enough, Wang Qingchen picked up a stick from the firewood pile in the yard and began tracing characters on the ground. Although this was the only way he could practice characters now, he firmly believed it wouldn't be long before he had the chance to truly study.

Those returning from the fields saw this scene: Wang Qingchen holding a book in one hand and tracing characters on the ground with a stick in the other. Mrs. Yang felt a pang in her heart; her child was so eager to learn, yet the family couldn't afford to send him to school. Wang Youfu felt a surge of frustration—on one hand, guilt for not being able to pay for his son's education, and on the other, a sense that many village children never studied either.

Hearing the noise, Wang Qingchen turned around and noticed the troubled expressions on his parents' faces, looking slightly puzzled. "Dad, Mom, is the fieldwork all done? I boiled some water; you two go wash up."

Mrs. Yang nodded. "The fields are finished."

Wang Youfu and Wang Qinghua put the farming tools away in the storage room, and Mrs. Yang went to the kitchen. Caiyun ran over. "Second Brother, were you just practicing writing?"

"Yes, I learned from Brother Hongying." Wang Qingchen replied, then paused and asked, "Caiyun, did you help transplant seedlings in the field?"

"No," Caiyun replied with regret. "As soon as my feet sank into the paddy water, I couldn't pull them out. Mom said I need to wait until I'm a bit older."

Wang Qingchen smiled and patted Caiyun's head.

Since those who had worked in the fields were covered in mud, Mrs. Yang decided everyone should bathe before cooking. Wang Youfu bathed first, followed by Mrs. Yang, who then dragged Caiyun in to wash with her. As soon as Mrs. Yang finished, she went to the kitchen to cook. Transplanting rice was tiring work today, so to reward everyone, Mrs. Yang used the last of the white flour in the house to make dough drops (miàngēda).

Normally, during busy seasons, the family would prepare some meat to replenish their strength, but this year, since they still had to repay the debt for the piglets, the family needed to save money to clear that obligation quickly.

By the time Wang Qinghua and Wang Qingchen finished bathing, Mrs. Yang's dough drops were ready. Watching everyone eat the fragrant dough drops, Wang Qingchen knew that eating white flour was already a rare luxury for the family. Caiyun's mouth was stuffed full, and the others ate with more vigor than usual. Seeing this, Wang Qingchen resolved that he needed to earn money quickly.

After the peak farming season, the work in the fields lessened; generally, only watering and weeding were required. However, while the field tasks were done, other obligations remained—this season's taxes had not yet been paid.

Once the family had largely finished their fieldwork, the village headman arrived with officials from the yamen to collect the taxes. Besides the land tax, there were various other miscellaneous levies. After paying, the farming families usually had only about half their grain left. Nevertheless, the villagers were quite pleased, as the harvest was good this year, leaving them with more surplus after taxes than in previous years.

Wang Qingchen was also happy because the rice in his space was ready for harvest. He immediately replanted the harvested rice. The wheat had been planted later than the rice, but it should be ready in another two or three days. Furthermore, Boss Xue's orchids had returned to a vibrant, flourishing state and showed signs of growth. What troubled Wang Qingchen was that the grass mushrooms in his space had grown another large patch, but how could he sell them? After all, he had sold so many to the Huo Merchant House last time; normally, it was impossible to accumulate such a quantity in such a short period. Should he perhaps travel to the county seat to sell them?

Before Wang Qingchen could decide whether a trip to the county was necessary, Wang Qingtong from the old house arrived with a summons for a meeting at the old residence. What was to be discussed this time? Could it be about Wang Qingyun's marriage? Wang Qingchen wondered. With this thought, he followed the messenger to the old house.