Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Chapter 25 Can't Take a Joke

Lin Xiu came today in a mule cart, saying she was going to thresh the wheat. Thanks to everyone's hard work yesterday, we harvested seven mu of wheat. If we work a little harder today, we'll finish harvesting. The harvested wheat will be laid out on this threshing ground to dry and be threshed.

Everyone continued working according to yesterday's assignment. However, the wheat was getting farther and farther away from the threshing ground, and if Xia Lanyue carried only one bundle of wheat back and forth, it would be too inefficient.

"Ah Yue, do you know how to drive a mule cart?" Wang Cui asked her.

Xia Lanyue smiled and shook her head. Let alone driving the cart, she was afraid of being kicked even when standing next to the mule.

"Why don't you give it a try? With this, you can haul a lot of wheat in one trip, which will save you a lot of trouble," Wang Cui asked her.

Xia Lanyue felt a little apprehensive.

“I’ll transport it; I can catch the train,” Lin Xiu said eagerly.

“Who will bundle the wheat when you’re transporting it? She doesn’t know how to bundle wheat, I can’t do it all by myself,” Wang Cui complained.

“Yue tied it up pretty well yesterday,” Lin Xiu said.

"She's inexperienced, too slow, and can't keep up. What should we do?"

“Nobody is born knowing everything. If you don’t know something, you can learn it. Besides, we should ask her what she wants, right?” Lin Xiu turned to Xia Lanyue and said, “What do you think? What kind of work do you want to do?”

Xia Lanyue felt that she was in a dilemma, whether to accept the job or not, so she decided to bite the bullet and take it, "Aunt Wang, I'll go with you."

"See, I told you so. Don't worry, A-Yue is smart, she'll learn it in no time," Lin Xiu said with a smug smile.

Once they reached the wheat field, Wang Cui turned around and complained, "You shouldn't have listened to her. You fell for her trick. You're such a silly girl."

Xia Lanyue glanced at Wang Cui, knowing that she was being favored. "It's alright, Aunt Wang, I really don't know how to drive a carriage."

"Okay, then be careful when you tie it up. Even if it's hot, don't pull your sleeves up," Wang Cui told her to pay attention to the area.

Xia Lanyue silently memorized the key points.

Xia Lanyue remembered her history teacher saying that farming was not easy for people in ancient times, and they relied heavily on the weather. Now that she was "ancient," she truly understood how difficult it was. Just bundling wheat was not only prickly, but it also nearly broke her back.

"Oh dear, it fell apart as soon as I lifted it, we have to tie it up again," Lin Xiu's voice came from behind, as she drove her mule cart over to transport the wheat.

Xia Lanyue turned around and saw Lin Xiu holding the bundle of wheat she had tied. She went over to check it and asked, "Let me see, is it tied too loosely?"

“You need to tighten it here, otherwise it will easily come apart,” Lin Xiu said, pointing to the place where she had tied it up.

“Okay, I understand,” Xia Lanyue reached out to check the bundles of wheat next to her. She weighed them in her hand, and they weren’t loose. She casually tossed them onto the cart. She picked up another bundle, and it was still quite tight. By the time she and Lin Xiu had filled the cart with wheat, they hadn’t found another loose bundle of wheat.

"I'm off to catch the train. Thank you all for your hard work here," Lin Xiu smiled at Xia Lanyue, waved her small whip, and left.

Xia Lanyue sighed, gently flicked the smudges off her sleeve, turned around and caught up with Wang Cui to continue working with her.

By noon, when the sun was at its strongest, Xia Lanyue was too weak to work anymore, so Wang Cui took her to the roadside to drink water and rest.

The two sat on the ground, watching Lin Xiu spread the wheat out to dry in the sun, and then they sat down as well.

"Uncle Fan will come over to help in a bit," Lin Xiu said to Wang Cui. "What arrangements should Mother make for them?"

"Let them go to the fields to harvest the wheat; let's get it done first."

"That's what I was thinking too. We can finish harvesting the wheat in the fields today. I'll tell them when they come in a bit."

"Who is Uncle Fan?" Xia Lanyue asked curiously.

"It's Lin Xiulin's house."

"Is it the family with a daughter that Aunt Wang mentioned this morning?" Xia Lanyue thought of the family that had introduced Dai You to a potential partner that morning.

“Yes, yes, that’s his house,” Wang Cui turned to Lin Xiu and asked, “Is Fan He coming today?”

Lin Xiu thought for a moment, "They should come together. Tian Kuan and I went to her house to help a couple of days ago, so he should bring two people to help today."

Wang Cui nodded and said to Xia Lanyue, "It's a pity your brother is unwilling. If he were, it would be good to meet him. I like that girl."

"Yes, she almost became the Tian family's daughter-in-law," Lin Xiu said jokingly.

"You're never serious," Wang Cui said, giving Lin Xiu a disdainful look.

Lin Xiu smiled and continued, "Her father's name is funny. It's Fan Bao. Fan Bao means 'full of food,' which means he would eat his fill in the future, so he named her that."

Xia Lanyue laughed along with her, but a pang of sadness followed her laughter.

This person is afraid of being talked about; just as we were talking, he arrived.

"Hey, He'er and I are here." Fan Bao greeted everyone.

Fan Bao was a farmer, tanned dark, while Fan He looked slender and taller than her, the kind of dutiful and family-oriented girl.

Xia Lanyue and the other two quickly stood up, and Wang Cui introduced them to everyone, "This is Uncle Fan and his daughter Fan He."

Xia Lanyue nodded to the two of them as a greeting.

Wang Cui then introduced Fan Bao and the others, "This is my guest, Miss Yue."

"I've heard that my sister came to the village, and I'm so glad to finally meet her today," said Fan He.

“I’ve been longing to see you. I’ve heard you’re a beautiful and intelligent girl, and seeing you today, I can confirm it,” Xia Lanyue said.

Wang Cui and the others wanted to continue chatting with them, but time was short, so they stopped talking, prepared their tools, and went to work in the fields.

Xia Lanyue offered to take Fan and her companion to Tian Guang to harvest wheat together.

"Fan He's younger sister looks like a hardworking person."

“There’s a lot of farm work to do, and it mainly depends on my dad and me. We have to be diligent. If it weren’t for Brother Tian’s help a few days ago, we would still be harvesting wheat right now.”

Xia Lanyue understood; this was about helping each other. Whoever harvested their wheat earlier would get help first.

Before they knew it, they had arrived.

“Brother…brother,” Xia Lanyue called out as she waved to Dai You, then turned to introduce him to Madam Fan, “This is my brother, Dai You.”

Dai You straightened up, looked at the three people who had come over, and recognized only Xia Lanyue. He then asked, "What's wrong?"

"These two are neighbors, they came to help harvest the wheat. Where's the sickle?" Xia Lanyue asked.

Dai You pointed to the edge of the field in the distance, "There," then turned and called to Tian Kuan, "Tian Kuan, come here quickly."

Tian Kuan responded and walked over, wiping the sweat from his face. He greeted Fan Bao happily, "You're here, Uncle Fan, Ahe."

Fan He smiled and nodded.

While everyone was chatting, Dai You quietly turned around and went to cut wheat.

After settling Fan Bao and the others in, Xia Lanyue circled back to Dai You. "Brother, did you see that girl just now? She's the girl Aunt Wang mentioned to you this morning, Fan He." Xia Lanyue deliberately drew out Fan He's name.

Dai You frowned, ignored her, and continued cutting wheat.

Seeing that Dai You didn't react, Xia Lanyue tilted her head to look at him, but he deliberately turned his head away so she wouldn't see him.

Xia Lanyue snorted coldly. Was he shy again? Should she tease him a little?

"I think this girl is quite nice. She's about your age, her looks are above average, and she has a good personality. She's a good match for you."

Dai You stopped cutting wheat, sighed, and said helplessly to her, "You should go back to work," before lowering his head and ignoring her.

Xia Lanyue couldn't understand him. If he had a girl he was interested in at home, he wouldn't rush back. If he didn't have anyone he was interested in, he would get upset when she introduced him to someone. He was really hard to guess.