Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 258 - 0258: The Autumn Harvest Begins2_1

Chapter 258: Chapter 0258: The Autumn Harvest Begins2_1

Feng Qingxue also put on a wide-brimmed hat, dressed in a grey long-sleeved shirt and black trousers.

The hat, woven out of bamboo strips and oil paper, provided protection from sun and rain.

With a shout from Wang Dachun, everyone began their work.

The first task was to cut the red potato vines. After the vines were removed and the land was given time to dry, they then started digging up the potatoes.

As soon as the potatoes were dug up, Wang Dachun arranged for strong workers to guide the cattle to plough the cleared land. Women followed behind sprinkling wheat seeds.

There was much work to be done, but everything was carried out in an orderly manner, creating a bustling scene.

Feng Qingxue held the production team’s register in her hands. She began by making a roll call, but did not record the work points early in the morning. Instead, she made her assessments based on the day’s work. Whoever worked the hardest and best that day received ten work points, regardless of gender. Miao Fengqin and Wang Dachun, who were brother and sister-in-law, worked hard without slacking off. However, those who preferred to slack off like Wang Jiao, were only given six work points.

In this regard, Wang Zhengguo managed things very strictly.

So, he had to patrol all the production teams and only worked in the fields during breaks, to prevent team leaders and accountants from showing favoritism. They might record high work points for their friends and family, but low work points for the illiterate ordinary folks.

The majority of the villagers were illiterate, and as the production team leaders held all the power, they had no choice but to tolerate such unfair treatment.

Wang Zhengguo’s approach won the support of many people.

Bending over to cut the red potato vines was not easy work. After bending down for a long time, everyone would inevitably suffer from backaches, and had to straighten up from time to time to relieve the pain before continuing with their task. After all, wasn’t it better to quickly bring in the crops while the weather was good, instead of waiting until the weather turned bad?

Digging up red potatoes also required some skill. Skilled farmers could extract the potatoes from the ground without damaging them at all. However, those who didn’t have a good sense of strength often ended up hurting the potatoes they dug up.

Once the potatoes were damaged, they inevitably collected soil, which made them look unclean.

The dug-up potatoes were transported to the farmyard in bamboo baskets and pails, as the red potatoes were to be sliced and used for food. Regardless of the size, all the potatoes were sliced with a potato peeler, and the slices were uniformly sprinkled onto the cleared land that used to grow the red potatoes, and where wheat had been sown, to be dried in the wind.

The current soil moisture was neither too dry nor too wet, which was good for digging potatoes and sowing wheat, although it was slightly less humid than the standard for sowing wheat.

The entire production brigade had more than 6,000 acres of land, and a production team was responsible for approximately 500 acres. With so much urgent work, there was no room for delay. Who knew whether the weather in the coming days would bring violent storms or clear skies? If there were heavy rainfall, it would be a long time before they could dig potatoes or sow wheat. And if there were no rainfall, it would affect both potato digging and wheat sowing.

Therefore, even if the moisture level wasn’t high enough, they had to hurry and sow the wheat.

The land where the wheat was sown was the natural drying ground for the red potato slices. Portions of red potato slices were left to dry on the spot. If there wasn’t enough space, they were transported to the threshed land and spread out there.

The black-brown soil and the stark white potato slices formed a clear contrast.

The potato peeler used to slice potatoes was a rectangular wooden board about 80 to 90 cm long, 20 to 30 cm wide, and 3 to 4 cm thick. There was a slit in the middle of the board with a sharp iron sheet fixed underneath.

Most of the women and older men handled the job of slicing the potatoes.

They sat in front of piles of potatoes, the potato peeler placed between their legs at an angle with one end higher than the other. They held a potato in their hands and slid it down the peeler. The iron sheet cut the potato into slices, which fell directly through the slit in the middle of the board.

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Feeling sick with a cold, I updated two Chapters first, the remaining two will be updated in the afternoon or evening.