Shen Song said he wanted to go work in the fields.
The family's reactions varied.
The old couple was naturally delighted. Among the five brothers, apart from the eldest and second eldest who showed little reaction, the other three frowned in disapproval.
Farming was no game. Xiao Ba had never set foot in a field—wouldn't going be nothing but fooling around?
Among the three sisters-in-law, Xu Hongmei and Zhou Gu, the second eldest's husband, exchanged glances, their eyes brimming with dissatisfaction.
Li Maizi, the fifth's husband, stayed close to his man, head lowered, showing no reaction.
The Shen sons were filial, so even the three who were unhappy said nothing, seeing how pleased their parents were.
The old couple of the Shen family weren't blind to the fact that Shen Song tagging along might slow down the spring plowing.
But Song-ge’er couldn't be kept at home forever. Now that he was showing signs of change, the old couple wanted to take advantage of the time they had left to teach him as much as they could.
That way, when he eventually married out, he wouldn't be unable to get by in his husband's family.
Once the elders of a family passed, the family essentially scattered, and the siblings would each live their own lives.
It was impossible to count on those older brothers to support Song-ge’er for the rest of his life.
The old couple had their own calculations, and only after much deliberation did they make this decision.
On the way to the Shen family's field, Xu Hongmei secretly pinched the grinning Shen Jing and whispered, "Mom and Father agreed to let Song-ge’er go mess things up at the field, and you're still standing there grinning like an idiot. Just you wait—we won't be getting home early today, any of us."
Shen Jing didn't feel the pinch much, but he didn't like what his wife was saying. "Xiao Ba wanting to help with the work is a good thing. I think he's been pretty well-behaved lately. Didn't he keep helping out with chores all day yesterday? And didn't Wuxi say her little uncle gave her wild-vegetable balls to eat?"
At the mention of wild-vegetable balls, Xu Hongmei curled her lips again. "Mom really is something. Little Uncle does nothing all day long—so he threw up a meal once and slept a bit long, and she specially saves wild-vegetable balls for him. You work yourself to the bone every day, doing more than anyone, and I've never seen Mom save you so much as one. How can she be so biased?"
"Don't talk nonsense." Shen Jing frowned, his displeasure audible even in his lowered voice. "Xiao Ba gave our Wuxi a wild-vegetable ball to eat—how did that become a crime?"
Shen Jing felt that as the eldest, it was only right for him to look after his younger siblings. Xiao Ba's situation was special, so it was natural for their parents to give him extra care. He himself often went to bed hungry, but who in the family didn't?
Then Shen Jing thought of the night before, when Shen Song had crouched beside him, looking up at him with bright, shining eyes as he talked. Shen Jing felt that with Xiao Ba's mind now clear, things were actually pretty good.
Come to think of it, Xiao Ba had never really spoken to him before, nor to their parents.
Shen Jing added, "If Xiao Ba holds up the work today, then as the eldest brother, it's my job to do his share. The progress won't be delayed, so don't worry about getting home late and not resting well."
Hearing this, Xu Hongmei couldn't help but pinch him hard again. Suppressing her voice, she said bitterly, "What do you mean, your job? You really make a fine eldest brother, taking on everything for everyone. Who am I standing up for here? Isn't it for you? And look how it turns out—you and your brothers are one big happy family, and I'm the villain inside and out!"
Shen Jing was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Hongmei, he's my youngest brother, after all. If I don't protect him and look out for him, then apart from family, who else is going to treat Xiao Ba kindly?"
Xu Hongmei's eyes were slightly red. She wasn't some cold-hearted, hard-hearted person—it was just that spring plowing was so busy and exhausting.
The family had sixty mu of land in total, and besides the government taxes, they also had to pay rent to the landlord.
In a year with favorable weather, only by scrimping and saving, tightening their belts, could the harvest from the fields feed the whole family.
If anything went even slightly wrong—even if someone in the family fell ill from overwork—the whole family would have a hard year.
And if the heavens didn't grant them a living—if the rain was either too much or too little, if the weather was either too hot or too cold—it would take the family several years to recover.
And to help make ends meet, after spring plowing, the men of the family all had to go out and do hard labor to earn a few copper coins.
She was just afraid that if he didn't rest well during spring plowing and truly wore himself out, how would they get by afterward?
But the man she married had always been a simple fool—he always did the most work, the most exhausting and dirtiest jobs, never willing to take it easy, for fear that his family would suffer.
Now that Song-ge’er had come to his senses and wanted to help the family, she was happy in her heart. She hoped he would fully come around and become another pair of working hands, so the family wouldn't have to support an idle mouth on top of worrying about food and clothing.
But farming was the family's livelihood, and spring plowing was of utmost importance—the timing was extremely tight.
With Song-ge’er there, if everyone slowed down even a step, they would have to work longer to make up for it.
Who knew what kind of sudden idea he had gotten, treating it like a game for a few days?
Xu Hongmei didn't think she was overthinking. Ever since she married into the family, Song-ge’er had never been normal for a single day.
How could he suddenly become normal overnight?
Just wait and see—once they got to the fields, who knew what kind of fuss he would make.
If he just sat there spacing out, fine. But if he made trouble and delayed the work, even if it upset her in-laws and her own husband, she would drag him back home.
Liu Chunxia hadn't heard the conversation between Shen Jing and Xu Hongmei clearly, but she could guess what was said.
She said nothing, just pulled Shen Song along to walk faster, so that Shen Song wouldn't hear a word of it.
As for Shen Song, his attention was completely absorbed by the natural scenery.
Feeling the slightly cool spring breeze, he gazed at the misty mountains, at the endless stretch of fertile fields, at the sunrise breaking through the dawn.
Everything interested him; everything seemed impossibly beautiful.
The Shen family's fields weren't too far from home—at a brisk pace, it took a little over a quarter of an hour on foot.
The farming tools were limited in number, and since Shen Song had never done farm work, Liu Chunxia had him work alongside her.
Liu Chunxia held a hoe to loosen the soil—raising it and bringing it down swiftly, quickly digging out a stretch of ground.
What Shen Song had to do was take a thick branch and break up the large clods of earth.
This was actually a job the hoe could do in passing, but since Shen Song insisted on working and there were no other tools available, he could only be given this task.
If he did it well, it would actually save Liu Chunxia quite a bit of effort.
If he didn't, well, she could always go over it again later.
At first, Shen Song thought this kind of work would be a piece of cake.
But only when you actually started working did you find out whether it was a piece of cake or a whole feast of trouble.
Yesterday, when digging wild greens, Shen Song had filled a whole basket, and his fingers ached terribly.
When he wasn't using his fingers, he didn't feel anything.
But now, gripping the thick branch, his fingers throbbed with piercing pain from the exertion.
Shen Song gritted his teeth and endured it—this much pain was bearable.
But then, not only did his fingers hurt, his palms also got rubbed raw by the rough branch, burning with pain at the slightest movement.
Shen Song looked down at his palm. It was somewhat dirty—sweat, mud, and bits of bark scraped off from the branch clung tightly to it.
His whole palm was red, and the slightly raised spots over his knuckles hurt unbearably; the skin there seemed to have broken.
Those were the easiest places to blister.
If they broke repeatedly, calluses would eventually form.
Shen Song blew on his palm a couple of times to ease the pain. Seeing that Liu Chunxia had already dug quite a distance ahead, he didn't dare rest any longer.
The more he rested, the less he wanted to pick the branch back up. Every time he picked it up, that pain wore down his willpower, making him want to just throw it aside and quit.
But whenever Shen Song thought about how quitting meant the spring plowing wouldn't be finished early, which meant he couldn't go out to work for wages early, which meant he couldn't get copper coins early—in other words, couldn't eat his fill early—
Well, that simply wouldn't do.
Shen Song gritted his teeth and pressed on. The skin on his palm had already been rubbed raw, but he didn't stop, forcing himself to continue.
Clearing land, hoeing fields, planting crops—all of it required bending over and working carefully.
Even when breaking up hard clods of earth, Shen Song bent over and buried himself in the work just the same.
Not far away, Xu Hongmei, who was also loosening the soil, watched Shen Song working so diligently without straightening his back even once, and was inwardly astonished—her opinion of him improved considerably.
Sweat dripped from his cheeks into the earth. One of Shen Song's sleeves was already soaked from wiping away the sweat that kept threatening to run into his eyes.
As he worked, Shen Song thought: farming in ancient times and farming at the Interstellar Agricultural Academy were truly two entirely different things.
Farming in this era required people to labor bit by bit with their own strength.
Farming at the Interstellar Agricultural Academy only required an earth-element ability user and a wood-element ability user to work in tandem; the rest could be left to time as they waited for the crops to mature.
He worked and worked, and who knew how long had passed, when Shen Song suddenly felt his head heavy and his feet light, dizzy and vision blurring.
Then he pitched forward—he had worked himself unconscious.
The whole family had been keeping a casual eye on Shen Song. At first, seeing him actually working hard, they had gradually relaxed.
His fainting now was truly unexpected.
Xu Hongmei had imagined her brother-in-law might cry or fuss, or perhaps just stand there dazed, but she never imagined he would work himself into a faint.
The little tasks assigned to her brother-in-law could hardly be called work at all.
But when she came over, she saw that even unconscious, he was still clutching the rough branch tightly. His mother-in-law had struggled to pry his fingers open—his palm was a bloody, mangled mess.
Xu Hongmei couldn't help feeling a pang of sympathy.
She nudged her eldest son beside her. "Mother, let Yi'an carry Song-ge’er home to rest."
Shen Yi'an was twelve this year and had been doing farm work with the family since he was ten. Though he wasn't very tall yet, two years of farm work had given him real strength.
Liu Chunxia nodded. The adults certainly couldn't leave. Shen Yi'an had enough strength to carry him back, and the adults could help with his share of the work—he'd catch up soon enough.
On the way back, many villagers saw Shen Yi'an carrying the unconscious Shen Song on his back, and everyone speculated about what might have happened to him.
But even those who had unkind things to say only said them quietly; no one actually spoke up loudly enough to be overheard.
If something bad really had happened and their words came true, it would make things awkward in a village where everyone saw each other day in and day out.
Shen Yi'an paid no attention to the whispered gossip of those they passed. Bent forward, his face red from exertion, he carried Shen Song steadily all the way home.
Seeing his little uncle being carried back on the eldest brother's back, Shen Sanqiu quickly put down his broom and hurried over to help take him.
Only after much effort did they get him laid down on the bed board, and without pausing to rest, Shen Yi'an hurried back to the fields to keep plowing.
Afraid that the four children would disturb Shen Song, Shen Sanqiu told them to sit on the stones in the outer courtyard and soak up some sun.
He carried a freshly washed cloth into the room and wiped Shen Song's dirty face and hands.
When wiping his hands and seeing the skin worn raw on Shen Song's palms, Shen Sanqiu was careful, careful, and careful again. He kept watching Shen Song's expression the whole time—if Shen Song's brow so much as furrowed, he would wipe even more gently.
After three trips back and forth, he finally finished, and Shen Sanqiu went back outside to continue sweeping.
Inside the room, the unconscious Shen Song felt his heavy body become light as a feather. At the same time, a flash of light passed over his two palms.
With his body finally getting some rest, Shen Song quickly came to.
He didn't get up right away, but stared at the roof beams and sighed softly.
Farming here was just too hard. It seemed he wasn't any good at it either.
But what could he do? Was there really no way at all to get rich?
Shen Song's heart sank in despair. He was out of ideas.
Then he remembered that his hands were injured—if the wounds were too serious, they might affect his ability to eat, which he actually cared quite a bit about.
So he raised both hands, wanting to look at the wounds on his palms.
He blinked.
Huh? Where are my wounds?
I remember I was injured.
Wait—not only are the wounds on my hands gone, but my back doesn't ache and my waist doesn't hurt anymore either!
Could a single nap really have such restorative power?