Chapter 30 Busy Farming Season Arrives (Massive Release 1, Seeking Support)

Hongji's father stopped painting and went to smoke bamboo cigarettes instead, and while his wife and son were talking, he didn't utter a single word.

Daya had Er Ya and Sanya put the bags of wood they had gathered into their room. Her younger sister had asked for toys this time, and they were not to be left outside, to prevent their grandmother from using them as firewood.

Ye Shiqi realized that her father, who had a bit of conscience before, was increasingly standing up for her and her sisters, proving to be a good father. He was just a little too blindly filial, but that could slowly be changed.

After finishing the paint job, Hongji hurried to take a bath. The smell of the paint was strong, and he didn't want to bring the odor back into the room and affect the children.

The next morning, before it was light out, Mrs. Lai got up and knocked on the door. Hongji woke up, washed his face, picked up two loads of water to pour into the water tank, and went with his father to cut the rice crop.

At home, Mrs. Lai hurried Daya, taking her five younger sisters to the rice field. The older ones helped with cutting the rice, while the younger ones helped by picking it up.

"Grandma, should Qing go too? She's so little. Wouldn't it be better to leave her at home? Please look after her, Grandma," Daya said, feeling sorry for her little sister who was also being taken to the fields. In the mountainous fields, there would be insects, and what could such a small child, who could not even walk, do?

"You impertinent girl, giving me orders. I don't want to have to watch over a money-losing proposition while I need to cook at home."

When Mrs. Lai said this, her eyes flickered. She hadn't agreed to her eldest daughter's request from yesterday, but later that evening, she thought that if she didn't help her older daughter with the children, her daughter might someday not acknowledge her as her mother, or even forbid her from seeing her grandchildren. How could she allow that?

Mrs. Lai decided to let Daya take even the youngest with them to the fields, so she would have time to help her eldest daughter with her children.

Daya glanced at her aunts' rooms, which were still closed. She didn't dare call them, afraid of getting hit. She had no choice but to carry Qing on her back, have Er Ya carry a back basket, and Sanya carry one too. Siwa, with his hands empty, held onto his sister's hand, and together they went to the fields outside the mountains.

Just as dawn was lightening the sky, they set off through the mist. Normally, they would have breakfast before going to the fields, but today they had a heavy task of cutting the rice, so they set out to work before coming back for breakfast.

Sitting on her elder sister's back, Shiqi saw the fields for the first time - she had been too engrossed in books for the past three months.

Enduring days of hunger and inadequate clothing, Shiqi finally got to see the outside sun, and she felt today was a great opportunity.

Now that she was able to get up, she could enter the "space" to farm. She could sit and plant with her own hands, and as she grew, the well of "Spiritual Spring" in the space had expanded a bit, and her apprentice already had a room as large as that of her family home, ready to plant rice or other crops.

Shiqi had no experience in farming and hadn't found any seeds before, but taking advantage of today's outing, she planned to plant useful crops in the space. She couldn't let herself go hungry any longer.

In the warm sun of the morning, drenched in dew, there were others going to cut the rice in that harvest month of October.

When Daya and her sisters arrived at the edge of the field, their father and grandfather had already cut many bundles of rice and left them in the field.

Daya spread out a sack on the path by the field and gently laid Wuwa on the ground, softly saying,

"Qing, be good, okay?"

Shiqi nodded her head. Daya wasn't sure if she understood, but she instructed Siwa to watch over her, fearing that Qing, not knowing any better, might crawl towards the water ditch on the side.

Daya took Er Ya and Sanya down to the field with her.

Hongji, who was bending over cutting the rice, straightened up at the sound. Seeing his eldest daughter arriving with the little ones, he scolded them with a stern expression,

"Daya, why did you bring Siwa and Qing as well? Aren't your grandmother and aunts still not out yet?"

"Father, it was Grandma who asked me to bring the younger sisters out. Aunt and the others haven't even gotten up yet," Daya said, holding a sickle and lowering her head in distress.

Er Ya and Sanya went to pick up the rice grains that had fallen to the ground and put them in the bamboo basket.

"Hongji, don't scold the children. Let's harvest more rice and carry it back after breakfast, and have the children stay at home," Hongji's father said, not wanting to say more. He might have guessed some of the thoughts of Mrs. Lai and her daughters, sighing in his heart.

Hongji could only tell his eldest daughter to be careful and continued to bend over to harvest the rice.

The weather in October was a bit drier, and the farmers knew it was about time to harvest the rice. The walkways were no longer being watered, so the fields were not muddy. Adults and children stepping in the fields only got their cotton shoes wet with dew.

Ye Shiqi's gaze followed her elder sisters and grandfather, father working, and she also saw on the edge of the field where a mouse had eaten rice grains, leaving behind the husks.

Idly sitting there, she wore the straw hat her elder sister had put on her. She couldn't just sit there counting ants forever.

Her gaze moved from the rice fields to the mountainside; she noticed the pine trees.

With her sharp eyes, she saw a bird's nest in a big tree. Glancing at Siwa beside her, Siwa was absentmindedly looking at the adults and elder sisters working with the rice.

Ye Shiqi, feeling an itch in her hands, reached out and picked a leaf from a small tree nearby. Suddenly, a line of text appeared in her mind.

Riberry, also known as taojin niang, the whole plant is used as medicine, with effects such as promoting blood circulation, relieving diarrhea, and stopping bleeding.

Then her mind overflowed with images of hillsides covered with pink taojin niang blooms and fruit everywhere.

Ye Shiqi was stunned by the sudden appearance of words and images in her mind. She had never known such a plant before, so why could she recognize the species now?

Her heart skipped a beat, could this be another aspect of the Golden Finger?

To confirm whether this was indeed the Golden Finger, Ye Shiqi directed Siwa to pick some wildflowers by the roadside for her.

She encountered a variety of wild daisy, saw something resembling wild orchids, and even found honeysuckle.

They all thrived on the edge of the mountain, by the water ditches. Growing vigorously without any fertilizer, much like weeds, they flourished effortlessly.

"An'gui an'gui," Ye Shiqi muttered an incomprehensible phrase, crawling on her hands and knees, pointing at the blooming wild daisies, wild orchids, and the vines of honeysuckle. It was nearing the end of the honeysuckle's blooming season, with only a few flowers left and some withered ones.

"Little sister, such pretty flowers. Hehe, Siwa likes flowers too. I'll help you pick them, and we can all play together," Wuwa obediently offered to go and pick the flowers, but Daya, who was busy harvesting rice, occasionally stood up to check on her two younger sisters.

Worrying that the young girls might wander off and end up playing in the water.

"Siya, why are you going towards the water ditch? Stop, what if you fall in?" Daya called out as she hastily ran back from the field, stepping unevenly through the muddy paddies.

Hongji, hearing Daya's voice, also turned to look. He saw that the youngest child was still obediently sitting, and Siwa, normally so sensible, had run off toward the water ditch.

The honest man was anxious, fearful for a child falling into the water, and he too ran over.