The sky is just barely bright, and every household in the village has started to bustle around.
Today is the first day of the autumn harvest, the most important day of the year.
Seeing not a single cloud in the sky, Qi Zheng breathed a sigh of relief and prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain.
This is what everyone else is hoping for too.
Taking advantage of the good weather, everyone tried to quickly harvest the crops; otherwise, if it rains, the grains in the fields will be soaked and unharvestable.
And the grains that are harvested won't be able to dry either; if they get damp, it will be like all the year's efforts have gone to waste.
It's not just the wasted effort that matters, but more importantly, without food, everyone will go hungry.
Before long, many villagers were already busy harvesting in the fields.
Mostly adults were working, as the children hadn't woken up yet.
The busy people in the fields focused on their work, not talking, just intent on gathering the harvest.
Unnoticed, the sky became completely bright, and the sun rose, instantly increasing the temperature.
When the sun was halfway up the sky, the children from every household came out to help.
Girls who were of suitable age were busy at home cooking and boiling water to send to the adults in the fields once they were done.
The younger children went to the fields to pick up ears of rice.
Although the grains of rice scattered in the field might seem insignificant, serious effort in gathering them could yield quite a bit of food.
The Qi Family did not have girls of a suitable age to cook at home, so Yi Meng was sent home to make food, and to check whether Qi Manman was awake.
The young girl had cried yesterday afternoon when she woke up and didn't see any adults, which had become a worry for the whole family.
Thus, sending Yi Meng home to cook and look after the child didn't seem bad to anyone, instead, they urged Yi Meng to go back earlier.
Once home, the first thing Yi Meng did was check if her daughter had woken up.
Seeing the little girl still sleeping soundly, and her shirt pulled halfway up due to restless sleep, exposing her fair belly, Yi Meng's heart softened.
She went over to pull the edge of the blanket back over the belly, then turned to prepare food.
Qi Manman was awakened by a waft of fragrance.
After sniffing, she fluttered her long eyelashes and soon opened her somewhat sleepy big eyes.
Blinking, Qi Manman turned over and scrambled up.
Sitting on the kang (heated bed), she looked around left and right, then sniffed aggressively again.
"Yummy!"
Her eyes lit up, and she climbed down the kang, running out wearing the little cloth shoes her mother had prepared for her yesterday, with her messy baby hair.
"Mom! Mom!"
The soft milky voice rang out, and Yi Meng, busy in the kitchen, couldn't even set down the spatula before hurrying out.
"Oh dear, slow down, slow down."
Yi Meng saw her daughter hustling toward her, scared, she rushed to scoop the little one up in her arms, her heart finally settling.
"Mom, it smells so good! What are you making that's yummy?"
Qi Manman clung to her mother's neck, still sniffing the air filled with the aroma of rice.
During the autumn harvest, it's all about using strength, so even if the food doesn't have much oil, it is thicker than usual; otherwise, without eating enough to be full, one wouldn't have the strength to work.
"You little foodie, Mom is making porridge, you go back to the room and wait, I'll dress you once I'm done."
Yi Meng carried her daughter back to the room, sat her on the bed, and hurried back to the kitchen.
The vegetables in the pot still needed to be stir-fried to perfection, she couldn't leave them unattended for long, lest they burn and go to waste.
After stirring the various wild vegetables and eggplants several times in the pot, Yi Meng added half a pot of water, checked the flames and, ensuring there was no problem, returned to the room.
As soon she entered, she saw Qi Manman earnestly struggling with her little clothes.
"Mom, this shirt, I can't wear it properly."
Seeing her mother, Qi Manman immediately complained, looking quite aggrieved.
One arm was already stuffed into a sleeve, but the other arm couldn't find the other sleeve for anything.
The shirt was twisted like a rope and hung behind her, looking quite a mess.
Yi Meng held back her laughter, stepped forward gently and helped the little one dress properly, teaching her how to wear it in the process.
Qi Manman listened with sparkling eyes, nodding repeatedly to show she understood.
Yi Meng smoothed down the little one's hair, tying two small ponytails before putting on her shoes.
"Mom, I know how to do this."
Qi Manman stretched her little hands out, determined to do it herself.
Yi Meng didn't refuse, handing a shoe to Qi Manman.
The shoes were new too.
Crafted with thousand-layer soles and made from a piece of light gray coarse fabric for the upper.
Due to the rush, there wasn't time to find someone to embroider it, so from the household's stash, Yi Meng cut rabbit fur into two balls, sewing them onto the shoes.
Though the rabbit fur wasn't purely white, it looked quite cute.
Qi Manman took the right shoe and tried to put it on her left foot, looking so adorably serious one couldn't resist planting a kiss.
Yi Meng then taught the little girl how to distinguish the left from the right shoe; once Qi Manman learned, she began working hard again.
Finally, she managed to put on both shoes with their fluffy little balls correctly.
"Mom, I finished putting them on!"
"Mom's little Manbao is amazing!"
Yi Meng planted a kiss right on her daughter's cheek.
Qi Manman giggled, not forgetting to smack a kiss on her mother's cheek, softly saying, "Manbao's mom is awesome too!"
The mother and daughter laughed and talked as they left the room.
Yi Meng wanted the child to wait outside while she checked on the food.
However, Qi Manman trotted along with her into the kitchen.
The aroma from the rice porridge mingled with the stew made Qi Manman gulp down her saliva involuntarily: "Mom, it smells so good!"
"Hungry? It'll be ready soon, once it's done, I'll dish some out for you."
Yi Meng smiled indulgently.
Though there were buns and cornbread at home, except for what's warming in the pot, the rest were cold, and she couldn't bear to let her precious daughter eat cold food.
Qi Manman nodded earnestly: "Okay, Mom, Manbao will be good and wait obediently."
After that, the little one sat on the kitchen doorstep, resting her pudgy little cheeks on her hands, watching her mom busy at work.
But just then, a loud cry came from Old Five Qi Quanyin's room.
Yi Meng was startled, and Qi Manman was also surprised.
Qi Manman quickly reacted, "Mom, it's Brother Shi!"
Yi Meng also came to her senses, quickly heading towards her fifth brother's room, reminding as she went, "Manbao, stay here, don't move around, don't go near the stove, Mom's going to check on Xiao Shi."
"Mom, I'll go with you!"
Qi Manman was like a little shadow, following Yi Meng into the fifth room.
Qi Shilang was just four years old, had just woken, and upon seeing the room empty except for him, immediately burst into tears.
Yi Meng entered to see the little one sitting on the bed, crying pathetically, feeling both amused and distressed.
At this moment, following inside, Qi Manman saw him too and said in her soft little voice: "Brother Shi is so silly, he even cries!"