Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 438 - 0438: In the End, We Must Part2_1

Chapter 438: Chapter 0438: In the End, We Must Part2_1

As Feng Qingxue was educating her younger sister and other children, the adults in the main hall were discussing recent events.

"I’ll arrange for people tomorrow," Wang Zhengguo took a swig of his wine, "Taking advantage of the absence of rain and snow these two days, haul the manure first and spread it evenly over those two thousand acres of land. We will plant sweet potatoes in spring; they yield high and are drought-resistant. We’ll also plant some economic crops such as cotton, peanuts, sunflowers, and beans. There are leftover seeds in the warehouse that have been well-preserved and usable. In this way, by next autumn, every household will be able to get some oil and cotton."

Having just food is not enough, as people also need clothes to wear.

Whether the farmers have cloth or oil depends on whether the production team has cultivated cotton and oil-producing crops or not.

"According to Brother Wang’s plan, we’ll be pretty busy. The two thousand acres land represents one-third of the brigade’s area," said Chen Dazhuang.

Wang Zhengguo laughed, "No doubt it’s tiring, but the joy of harvest would make it worth it, as it outweighs any labor. It’s better for everyone to work hard now, store more grains in the granary for emergencies than to be idle when the weather is bad."

Indeed, it was worth it. Every villager of the Wanglou Brigade strongly supported Wang Zhengguo’s every decision.

Upon receiving the order, men and women, young and old, all set to work.

With that extra piece of land, they could harvest more grains. Even if it does not go into their own mouths, they feel reassured when it’s stored in the granary.

Those who have experienced famine hold an unswerving attitude towards food.

They first shattered the ice layer in the manure pit, then collected the accumulated manure from the cowshed into baskets and barrels, and transported it to the two-thousand-acre field. However, it only covered less than half of the field. Therefore, every family brought out their own accumulated plant ashes, chicken manure, duck manure, goose manure, and other organic wastes, which earned them work points when handed over to the production team.

There were fixed points for each load of plant ash or manure.

Feng Qingxue stayed at home, taking care of the children and cooking, having no part in the labor. Despite only having a few holidays left, Lu Jiang also worked diligently. He left home clean every morning and returned stinky in the evening.

Despite his care, he was occasionally splattered with a bit of manure.

"Yuck!" Xibao complained about the smell. Unless Lu Jiang washed, he wouldn’t let him come near.

"Thankfully you wore only my old clothes. If this ended up on your uniform, with this cold weather, you would have to wear something stinking on your way back!" Feng Qingxue also complained about the smell, "Go take a bath right away. We’ve heated up plenty of water in the pot. Call for Tianjun and Acheng to join you, and only sleep after everyone has washed."

"No need to be so elaborate. We’re going to be busy for many days. Maybe I just won’t bathe? It would waste firewood." Lu Jiang sniffed his arm, "When I was in the regiment, we were covered in mud from crawling and rolling. If we bathed every day, there would be no time for fighting."

"Can fighting be compared with handling dung? Whether you wash or not is up to you. If you don’t, you’ll sleep in the cowshed with father."

No way! How can he give up a warm bed, especially when his wife and child are there?

Lu Jiang quickly fetched water for a bath, then returned promptly. As for Lu Tianjun and Guan Cheng, they only removed their outer clothes and left them outside, washed their feet and face, and after a full meal, they slept like logs.

Adolescents like Lu Tianjun and Guan Cheng were only responsible for scooping the manure from the pit into barrels, or collecting dry manure into baskets using a spade. The task of transporting the manure and fertilizing the field was left to the adults.