After the night passed and breakfast was finished the next morning, Lin He and Madam Huang boiled down the remaining popped corn and malt candy to make two more pots of rice-crispy candy, yielding over a hundred pieces. Madam Huang gave about ten pieces to Aunt Xu, sent Da Yuan and Xiao Fang home with a few more, and delivered some to her mother-in-law’s house. The rest were left for Xiao Bao and the younger children to snack on at home.

Da Bao stayed home for two days. On the morning of the third day, before dawn broke, Er Niu hitched up the ox cart to take Da Bao to town. He needed to get to the schoolhouse that morning. On the cart, Madam Huang packed the rice-crispy candy into two oil paper bags, tying the openings tightly with string to prevent them from sticking together. She also packed several boiled eggs for Da Bao to eat on the road. Lin He even made Da Bao take dozens more eggs, telling him he could boil those too if he got hungry at night; they were both tasty and nutritious.

Watching Da Bao leave for school with so many provisions, Lin He remembered her previous life, when she was in school. After elementary school, she had been a boarder all the way through university.

Back then, living in the dormitories, her roommates always brought large supplies from home when they returned to school, and they would share everything. Lin He, being an orphan, never had anything to bring. She always ate others’ food, which made her feel embarrassed, but she had no family to provide for her and no money to buy things.

As time passed, Lin He grew reluctant to accept food from others. Such is childhood friendship; when things cannot be shared equally, estrangement naturally follows. This was a major reason why Lin He had few friends from childhood onward.

With Da Bao gone, Madam Huang felt the lively atmosphere of her home settle back into quiet. "If only the whole family could be together," she sighed. Lin He, sensing her mother’s reluctance to part with Da Bao, comforted her, "It’s only for a few years. Once we earn enough money in a few years, we'll buy a house in town and move there. Then we can be with Big Brother."

Madam Huang had never considered leaving Lin Family Village and knew her daughter was only trying to soothe her feelings. She smiled and patted Lin He’s head.

These days were the crucial time for weeding the wheat fields. After dropping Da Bao off in town, Er Niu rushed back without even entering the house before heading out to the fields to weed. Madam Huang would also go to help in the afternoons. The pulled weeds were taken to the fish pond to feed the fish.

Da Jiang and Da Sheng’s couple had also returned these past few days, as their own wheat fields needed weeding. Every day, Da Jiang would carry the weeds pulled from his field to Er Niu’s pond to feed the fish. Lin He accompanied Madam Huang to inspect their own wheat field. In a little while, the harvest would begin, but the growth of the wheat wasn't very good. However, Lin He recalled Er Niu mentioning that the yield at this time was only around two hundred jin per mu. Their family had three mu of wheat, meaning a total output of only six hundred jin. Such a low yield was certainly not enough to eat; no wonder people were so poor in this era.

In her past life, Lin He was from the South, where wheat wasn't widely grown. But she remembered reading in books that yields in the North already reached a thousand jin per mu. Calculated that way, their three mu of fields could yield three thousand jin of wheat. If that were the case, the family could get rich just by farming.

Lin He knew that in ancient times, improving crop yields depended only on seeds and fertilizer. Since the wheat seedlings were already so tall, the seed issue was moot; even applying more fertilizer now probably wouldn't help much.

This season’s wheat would have to remain as it was. When planting wheat next season, she would discuss it with her father and aim to raise the yield. Reaching a thousand jin per mu might be too difficult now, but aiming for around five hundred jin should be achievable. If they had their own land and didn't need to pay rent, the grain harvested would be more than enough to feed them.

With the wheat harvest approaching in a few days, Madam Huang frequently went to the fields to assist. All household matters were left to Lin He. Lin He cooked daily and looked after the younger children, preparing two meals—morning and noon. In the afternoon, she took the little ones to the fields to deliver the pulled weeds to the pond.

Small enclosures had also been dug near the pond, and ducks had been introduced. They were already about half a jin each and could be eaten by the Mid-Autumn Festival; some female ducks would be kept for laying eggs. Every day, Lin He brought weeds and grain scraps to feed them. Every evening, Da Jiang would also go to the river to scoop up duckweed to add to the pond for the ducks.

Lin He felt that feeding the ducks solely on grain every day was uneconomical. She told Da Jiang that if he found any pond snails or river mussels in the river, he should bring them back. The river mussels could be kept in the pond, and the pond snails could be minced and mixed with grass to feed the ducks.

While Lin He’s family worked together diligently weeding the wheat in preparation for the upcoming harvest, trouble brewed on Zhou Shi’s side. These past few days, Zhou Shi had also been weeding her wheat field. She brought Xiao Shan and Xiao Yun along, letting them play near the edge of the field since she didn't feel comfortable leaving them alone. Suddenly, someone arrived shouting that people from Zhou Shi’s maiden family had come.

Zhou Shi found this odd. Her maternal relatives rarely visited. Since her husband died, they seldom came; occasionally her mother would visit, always urging her to remarry. Her brothers and sisters had never shown concern, as if she no longer existed. Zhou Shi no longer associated with those relatives either. Now that people from her maiden family were here, perhaps it was her mother.

Fearing it was another lecture about remarrying, Zhou Shi sighed and walked back with the children. As she neared the house, she saw her elder brother and sister-in-law standing in the courtyard. Zhou Shi was even more surprised. Had something happened to her parents?

Upon entering the courtyard, Zhou Shi greeted her brother and sister-in-law and invited them into the house to sit, asking Xiao Shan to keep Xiao Yun occupied in the yard. Inside, Zhou Shi opened the conversation, "Elder Brother, Sister-in-law, what brings you here today? Is everything well at home?"

The sister-in-law nudged the elder brother, who spoke with an unnatural expression. "Things at home are fine. Father and Mother are well. We just came to see Xiao Shan and Xiao Yun."

Zhou Shi smiled faintly, saying nothing. She knew exactly what kind of people her brother and sister-in-law were: driven by self-interest and focused only on profit. When her husband was alive and often hunted in the mountains, the family frequently sent game to her parents. During festivals, they sent gifts or significant amounts of money. At that time, her brother and sister-in-law treated them very courteously.

But after her husband passed away and their family's situation declined, her brother and sister-in-law never inquired whether her children had enough to eat or warm clothing. When she visited, her brother was somewhat better, but her sister-in-law never offered a pleasant look, often making veiled, sarcastic remarks implying she came only to take advantage. After several such unpleasant visits, Zhou Shi stopped going back to her parents’ home.