Chapter 6 The "Meat Grinder" in the Wheat Field

Yan Moshan finished cutting a row of wheat and then lit up another Red Towerhill Cigarette. With his energy still peaking, he began cutting the wheat again.

This time, Yan Moshan was even more formidable, like a warrior who grew fiercer with each battle. The sickle in his hand swung with zest, and swathes of wheat began to fall like the meat grinders in movies. In less than an hour, he had cut down all one and a half acres of wheat and even bundled them up.

Glancing at the sky, he guessed it must have been about seven o'clock, and he indeed felt quite hungry.

Just then, as he looked up, he saw his younger sister, Xu Xiaona, wearing a blue floral checked shirt, running over breathlessly, and she exclaimed in surprise while running, "Brother, what happened? Did you find someone to help our family harvest the wheat? How come all the wheat is already harvested?"

"Heh, where would I find someone to harvest wheat for us? Besides, at this time, people can't even finish cutting their own wheat, let alone help us with ours," Yan Moshan retorted irritably.

"Brother, are you saying you cut all this wheat by yourself?" Xu Xiaona asked with her big watery eyes wide open and with an exaggerated expression.

"I knew you wouldn't believe it. If you don't believe it, forget it. Believe it or not," Yan Moshan couldn't be bothered to explain, and glanced at his sister, "Is the meal ready?"

"It's ready, it's ready! Isn't that why I'm calling you over?" Xu Xiaona said as she looked around, not seeing anyone else. She felt a little puzzled. Could it be that her brother actually finished cutting one and a half acres of wheat in just one hour? How could that be possible? Even the three strongest men in the village combined might not be that fast.

Seeing his little sister's puzzled expression, Yan Moshan couldn't help but feel amused.

Back home, their grandmother had already prepared porridge and a few simple side dishes. While they were eating, Xu Xiaona mentioned to their grandmother that the one and a half acres of wheat on the hillside were all harvested.

Yan Moshan's grandmother wore a meticulous old-fashioned black long gown, always displaying a calm and kind smile on her face. Despite being close to eighty, her face barely had any of the wrinkles typical of old age, and she was quite adept at handling some simple farm work. It looked like she could easily live another twenty or thirty years.

Yan Moshan had always had a question about his grandmother, namely what her real name was, whether she was originally from Liu Family Village, and who his grandfather was.

Although he was not related by blood to his grandmother, Yan Moshan still wanted to know about her past. He had asked his third uncle, Xu Xiaona's father Xu Fusheng, but strangely, the third uncle didn't know the details about their grandmother either. What was even stranger was that the third uncle was also adopted by their grandmother back in the day!

His eldest uncle had left for other places years ago and had not returned, and his second uncle had organized a team to explore the mountains for mineral deposits. Afterward, they went missing without a trace. People from the village had organized a search party to look for them in the mountains for several days but found nothing. It had been six or seven years since then.

Thus, with the third uncle not knowing their grandmother's name, and with both the eldest and second uncles out of reach, it became even more difficult for Yan Moshan to learn about his grandmother's past.

He wanted to ask her directly, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Every time the thought came to him and he went to his grandmother, he inexplicably found himself unable to speak, which left him feeling rather dejected.

At this moment, upon hearing what Xu Xiaona had said, the grandmother gently smiled and took Yan Moshan's hand in hers, "Moshan, you must be exhausted. Don't work so hard next time; it would be serious if you overstrain yourself and damage your health."

"Grandma, don't worry about me. I'm not tired at all. I'm full of energy," replied Yan Moshan with a smile. For some reason, as his grandmother held his hand, he suddenly felt an icy chill down to his bone. Before he could even shiver, warmth returned to his body.

Yan Moshan wasn't sure if it was his imagination. He looked at his grandmother in surprise to find her still smiling kindly, letting go of his hand, "Moshan, find some time to visit your third uncle tomorrow, he's looking for you."

"Oh, okay, Grandma." Yan Moshan agreed, wondering what his uncle, who worked at the forest farm, could want. Were his uncle and Aunt Guiying too busy to manage everything?

After dinner, the grandmother took a plastic bucket with some leftover food to the orchard. Big Old Hei, the dog, must have been hungry; they couldn't forget to feed him. He was the number one contributor to guarding the orchard.

Yan Moshan, on the other hand, pulled the handcart, letting Little Na sit on it as they made their way to the fields.

The harvested wheat needed to be transported back home, to the drying yard in front of their house. It had to be spread out there so the sun could scorch it for a day. Then they'd have to get a walk-behind tractor with a thresher to roll over the wheat, pressing the grains out.

Arriving at the wheat field, Yan Moshan stopped the cart and helped Xu Xiaona off.

As soon as she got off, Xu Xiaona headed into the field, ready to carry wheat bundles. Yan Moshan quickly pulled her back by her arm, saying with a smile, "Little sis, go, go, go sit under that big locust tree and cool off. I'm counting on you to go to a famous university in the city and bring honor to our family. Don't let the sun fry your brain."

"Bro, why are you being so nice to me today? Has the sun risen from the west?" Xu Xiaona pouted, grinning. Usually, Yan Moshan was affectionate, letting her do less work, but he had never stopped her from working altogether.

"Why ask so many questions? I told you to rest, so just rest. No need to make a fuss," said Yan Moshan, as he stretched his arms, feeling in very good shape, even better than he had in the morning.

Xu Xiaona rolled her eyes and kept quiet, curious about what was going on with her brother today. Perhaps the sun had fried his brain, making him speak in ways she found utterly baffling.