By the time Er Niu and the others working in the fields returned at dusk, they announced they had finished cutting half the crop today and would complete the rest tomorrow. That evening, Lin He had prepared several dishes: a bowl of steamed rice with minced pork, the leftover ribs and braised pork from lunch, and stewed pig trotters soup. For vegetables, she made smashed cucumber salad and stir-fried shredded young pumpkin.

Lin He brought the food out for them. The evening meal was once again quite rich. The soup, stewed with pig trotters, soybeans, and lotus roots, was thick, its aroma making everyone’s mouths water. Huang Shi and the others had never made pig trotter soup this way before and were unaware it could be prepared so well, and it certainly looked and smelled delicious.

Everyone sat at the table and ate ravenously. They all agreed that although they were tired today, having such good food made the exhaustion worthwhile, and they highly praised the dishes Lin He had cooked. After finishing, they planned tomorrow’s tasks, washed up, and went to bed. Exhausted from the day, everyone in the house, even Chen’er and Xiao Bao, fell asleep the moment they lay down.

The next day, before dawn, the family was up again. Another round of busyness was about to begin. Lin He could barely keep her eyes open. Thankfully, this intense labor wasn't a daily occurrence; otherwise, her body wouldn't have held up. It seemed being wealthy was far more comfortable; being a landlord meant never having to suffer such toil—just collecting rent from vast fields would ensure they ate and were clothed.

Lin He decided against cooking elaborate dishes that morning. There was leftover pig trotter soup from the night before. She planned to mix it with some flour and make a hearty bowl of soup noodles for everyone, which would be filling without taking much effort. Furthermore, there were still many side dishes left from last night. Fearing they might spoil, Lin He had kept them iced with well water, making them perfect to eat with the noodles this morning before they turned bad.

Then followed another full day of labor, finally completing the wheat harvest. At this time, many households had also planted sorghum, which was also ready for harvest. Many families, in addition to harvesting wheat, also had to gather sorghum. However, Lin He’s family had only planted wheat, so they finished harvesting in two days. After completion, Er Niu told everyone to rest at home for a day before threshing.

For the past two days, everyone had been so tired that they wanted nothing more than to sleep the moment they hit their beds. Since the weather was good, leaving the wheat to dry in the threshing ground for an extra day wouldn't hurt. Having finished harvesting, they all planned to take a day off. The sun had been intense these past two days. If they let it dry for one more day tomorrow, the wheat harvested on the first day should be ready for threshing. With so many people in the family, the first batch of threshed wheat would be just enough for their own consumption, which they could then take to the mill to be ground into flour. Most of the remaining wheat would have to be given to the landlord as rent.

Renting land from the landlord required a six-tenths share of the yield. This meant that more than half of the grain harvested from a year’s hard work had to be surrendered as rent. Lin He felt this rent was exorbitant, almost inhumane, but at this time, this was the norm, and nobody found it inappropriate.

On the morning of the third day, the wheat lay drying in the threshing ground. Lin He checked on it occasionally and instructed everyone to rest at home, especially Da Bao, who was young and truly worked hard these past two days. She told him to rest at home for a few days. Because of the wheat harvest, the school had given a few days off, and Da Bao had also taken leave from the shop to come home and help.

Lin He felt Da Bao was the busiest person in the family. Usually, he studied in the mornings and helped at the shop in the afternoons, with only two days off per month. For an eleven-year-old, this was still quite demanding, although an eleven-year-old wasn't considered small at this time. Lin He let Da Bao rest at home and asked him what he wanted to eat so she could cook it for him.

At noon, Huang Shi was also home, helping Lin He prepare lunch. They had nearly finished the store-bought vegetables; only some preserved offal, dried tofu, and one chicken remained. Lin He asked Huang Shi to prepare the chicken for lunch. Lin He herself wasn't good at killing chickens, though in dire necessity, she would do it herself, preferring to chop off the head directly.

Lin He had witnessed Huang Shi and Er Niu killing chickens and couldn't bear it. When they killed a chicken, they would catch the live bird, pluck the fine feathers beneath its neck, slice its throat with a cleaver, and then toss it aside. Every time Lin He saw the chicken struggling on the ground until it was faint and finally lifeless, she felt a pang of pity. She thought chopping off the head in one clean stroke would be quicker and less agonizing. Therefore, she avoided such tasks unless absolutely necessary.

For lunch, Lin He opted to make soup again, as it was an old hen, so she started stewing it early to ensure it would be tender. They also had some of the preserved offal, which Lin He stir-fried with chilies, making a large plate, along with another large plate of stir-fried dried tofu. After lunch, they rested briefly; the afternoon was dedicated to threshing the wheat.

Everyone was busy again for the entire afternoon, returning near dusk. They decided to take the wheat to the mill the next day. Lin He overheard Er Niu saying the weather had been excellent this year, and the yield was good; the three mu of land yielded nearly nine hundred jin of wheat. After paying the rent, they kept over three hundred jin for themselves.

Lin He smiled inwardly. To call three hundred jin per mu a good harvest! If they knew the yields of a thousand jin per mu from her previous life, they would be astounded. Lin He knew methods from her past life to increase wheat production, so she told Er Niu, "Dad, I read in a book that you can significantly increase the harvest if you select good seed wheat and apply fertilizer well while the wheat is growing. I don't know if it's true, but you could try."

Er Niu’s eyes widened. "Really? But we use the same type of seed; there’s no other choice. What do you mean by fertilizer?"

In truth, Lin He didn't know much about selecting seeds, as she was from the south in her past life where wheat wasn't grown; she only recalled reading about seed selection and fertilization in books. She replied, "Then there's not much choice for the seeds. As for fertilizer, after the wheat is sown, adding some manure at a specific time will work just as well."

Lin He remembered reading in a book that wheat has two optimal fertilization periods: once during sowing to ensure seedling survival and wintering rates. The second time is around the Spring Equinox; the Spring Equinox fertilizer is used to boost the yield, which can increase production substantially if the fertilizer is rich enough.

Lin He told Er Niu what she knew. Er Niu committed it firmly to memory, saying that next year it would be their own land, and if the yield could really increase even a little, it would represent a substantial income in grain alone for the family. Er Niu even had Da Bao write it down so they wouldn't forget.

The next day, Er Niu, Old Man Qin, and Huang Shi went to the mill to grind the flour. It didn't matter if the wheat in the threshing ground dried a bit longer since most of it was for rent; only threshing was necessary, and a delay wouldn't matter much.