Chapter 347 - 347 336 Mutual Assistance

Words : 1578 Updated : Oct 7th, 2025

347: Chapter 336: Mutual Assistance 347: Chapter 336: Mutual Assistance It was impossible for Zhou Liulang to cook porridge, because all the food was in Ms. Qian’s room. The Zhou’s old grain had been eaten up long ago, and now they were consuming the newly harvested grain that had been dried not long ago, the newly husked rice brought back from the mill. The porridge made from this was very fragrant. Zhou Liulang had just sneaked into the room hoping to steal some rice when he was caught by Ms.Qian. In the end, it was Ms.He who went into the room and scooped out less than half a bowl of rice to cook porridge for Manbao. Ms.Qian called her daughter into the room to talk, “Why did you come back home?” Manbao pointed to her fingers and said, “I came back to get some things...” Ms.Qian didn’t ask what things she came to get but simply said, “Eat at school before you come back in the future, and don’t bring food home.” As for the matter of Zhou Sanlang and Sanya joining together to eat all of Manbao’s food, she didn’t blame them or scold anyone. Children of that age could not control their appetite when it came to food. The Zhou family never let the children go hungry, but it was impossible for them to eat well or be fully satiated. Wanting to eat was natural. As long as Manbao didn’t bring things home, the children at home wouldn’t be envious or fight, and that was the best solution. So, in the end, Manbao was the one who received a reprimand. Manbao listened to the scolding with her head bowed and said, “Mother, my friend said that people outside eat three meals a day to grow up strong.” “Mother also knows that people who eat four meals a day are even stronger than those who eat three, but our family does not have the means to do that. Just being able to ensure you survive is enough,” replied Ms.Qian. “We don’t have much rice left at home, just enough for a little over three months. Luckily, the wheat harvest this year was good. As soon as we exchange the wheat seeds with the villagers, we’ll start eating wheat.” Ms.Qian said, “Although we’re going to plant winter wheat this year, we still need to save some grain for next year, just in case the heavens get angry again and we need to be prepared.” Therefore, eating white flour was impossible, and the flour they would use would undoubtedly include some bran ground into brownish or blackish steamed buns. Because they needed to plant winter wheat after the Double Ninth Festival, the villagers rested lazily for a few days after the Mid-Autumn Festival before starting to come to Old Zhou’s house to look for wheat seeds, one after another. The flooding this year was bad, and not only was the rice crop severely damaged, but the wheat suffered greatly too, with some households experiencing even worse damage to their wheat than to their rice. After all, wheat is less water-logging tolerant than rice. But the Zhou family’s situation was somewhat exceptional, everyone had seen the condition of their wheat fields, and they all guessed that their yield per acre must still be around two hundred catties. Also, they had seen the heavy wheat ears, so that’s why they wanted to get wheat seeds from him. One catty for one catty, the Zhou family had already picked out the best wheat seeds. The rest of the wheat was all for eating, and naturally, they didn’t mind exchanging with the villagers. The good wheat seeds were also dried well and the Zhou family just put them in a sack and placed them in Old Zhou’s room. Old Zhou still felt that he could only be at ease if the family’s grain was under his own watchful eye. Every day before sleeping, a glance at the grain sacks in the room allowed him to sleep a bit more soundly, and a look at the sacks again upon waking made him feel more spirited. This was similar to how Manbao needed to look at the cashbox in the system before going to sleep every night, and the cashbox was also the first thing she looked at when she woke up. Ever since the last trade of wheat seeds, Doctor D had not appeared again. Manbao walked around the village with her hands clasped behind her, and finally sighed at the bird that perched alertly on the book she had just walked past. It looked like she had no choice but to ask for Zhou Hu’s help. Zhou Hu also decided to plant winter wheat, but he planted less, exchanging only forty catties of wheat seeds from the Zhou’s, planning to plant around two acres. Now, his family had only him as the labor force, and he still had to take care of his wife and child, so he left home late and returned early. When Manbao walked over with her hands clasped behind her, he was turning the soil, intending to sun-dry it a bit before spreading it on the field later. Dafu was holding a shovel, helping nearby, and his head was covered in sweat. Manbao came over, acting like a little adult, and asked, “Zhou Hu, did you plow your field?” Zhou Hu smiled while turning the soil, “Not yet.” Manbao then said, “Is it okay if I ask my elder brother to help you plow, and then you help me catch some birds?” Pointing at the birds on the nearby trees, Manbao said, “Those kinds, I want them alive, catch quite a few...” Zhou Hu looked up at the birds in the tree and laughed, “If Manbao wants to play with birds, I’ll catch a couple for you later.” “Catch them today, today is a good day because my brothers are plowing the fields; they can plow your field along the way.” Zhou Hu was surprised, thinking she was joking, but Manbao was clearly serious. She quickly ran into the fields. Zhou Dalang and the others were plowing, and with only a mention from Manbao, Zhou Dalang agreed. They were planning to help anyway; it was just a bit earlier than intended. Plowing the field at least required one person to pull the plow and another to guide it. To save a bit of effort, like in the Zhou family’s case, two people pulled and one guided. Now, Zhou Hu was the only person in his family. Unless he used the hoe to single-handedly turn the soil over two acres, he would still need to hire help. When Zhou Hu arrived in the fields, Zhou Dalang and the others had already moved the plow to Zhou Hu’s field. He felt touched but also a bit ashamed and hurried over to hold the plow, “You haven’t finished plowing your own land yet, how could you...” “Oh, why stand on ceremony with us,” Zhou Dalang pushed Zhou Hu’s shoulder with a laugh, “We just finished plowing this side of our fields, so we’re shifting locations. We might as well plow this bit over one acre of yours while we’re at it.” Zhou Hu had decided to plant two plots of fields, one was a bit more than an acre, and there was a smaller one close to his house, even closer. Upon hearing this, Zhou Hu sucked in a somewhat sour breath and did not refuse further. He went forward and took the pulling rope from Zhou Er’s hands, “Let me do it.” Zhou Er laughed but didn’t insist, allowing him and their eldest brother to take over pulling the plow first. Zhou Sanlang guided the plow, and after three turns, Zhou Er and Zhou Si came forward to take over. Zhou Hu was reluctant to stop, but Zhou Dalang pulled him aside, “Rest for a while, what’s the hurry?” So, Zhou Hu silently plowed alongside the Zhou brothers. Once his own field was done the next day, he continued working in the Zhou’s fields. The Zhou brothers accepted the cooperation between the two families. This kind of cooperative model was not uncommon in the village, but more often it involved two families with similar labor resources and similar amounts of fields to till, where cooperation could increase efficiency and speed. Clearly, the Zhou family and Zhou Hu’s family were not a perfect match. Since the obviously disadvantaged Zhou family said nothing, no one in the village talked about the issue either. In fact, many even quietly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, with the Zhou family taking over completely, they didn’t have to help Zhou Hu anymore. Otherwise, it was a burden for them and for Zhou Hu’s family as well. Every trip to help out at least required eating one meal, and given Zhou Hu’s tight circumstances, it was awkward whether they ate the meal or not. Manbao wanted to ask about her birds several times, but seeing her brothers and Zhou Hu looking tired, she could only stay silent. Then she watched the birds flitting between the trees with a look of concern, disappearing in moments. Had she known, she wouldn’t have caught them so fiercely. Now they were all too alert.

Chapter 347 - 347 336 Mutual Assistance

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