Originally, the family only had one hoe, so even with two adult laborers, the efficiency of weeding in the fields was still not optimistic. After a day and a half, they had only cleared half an acre of weeds, leaving another acre and a half waiting for them.
In fact, this was just the first step in starting a farm—loosen the soil and bury the weeds, then plant the potatoes. Only then could they consider it the end of this phase.
Thanks to Jiang Zhu bringing two hoes today, one large and one small, the family now had a total of three hoes. They no longer had to take turns using them, and with Jiang Zhu joining in, the efficiency had roughly doubled.
Since the little Mao’er was still young, they let him play in a spot visible to the adults. Although Jiang Zhu had a specially made small hoe and was working alongside them, Qu Qing specifically advised him not to overexert himself, as this work was primarily for the adults.
Qu Qing’s arms were still very sore, but there was no way around it, he gritted his teeth and continued. He planned to finish the remaining half-acre today so that they could start planting the prepared potatoes tomorrow. They had already been left for two days, it was time to plant them, and he worried they might spoil if they delayed any longer.
He raised the hoe, dug into the ground, turned the soil, and then lifted the hoe again…
One must say, farming work, much like an assembly line worker’s, is repetitive, tedious, uninteresting, and physically exhausting. By the time evening approached, one would feel thirsty and hungry, while being covered in dirt.
When thirsty, there was no choice but to drink the flowing raw water. As he drank the sweet water to quench his thirst, he suddenly recalled how unhealthy drinking raw water was and decided that tomorrow he would bring boiled water from home to drink.
Little Qu Xin obediently stayed within the adults’ sight, but he wasn’t idle, instead, he picked a large tree leaf and began collecting edible wild fruits or searching for edible wild vegetables, planning to share once he gathered enough.
Although the quantity of wild fruits was small and their effect minimal, they were sweet enough to warm the heart and bring immense comfort.
Sometimes, Qu Qing couldn’t help but marvel at how such a small child could know and accurately find so many edible wild vegetables, it was truly incredible.
Then he suddenly realized that perhaps it was because he had experienced hunger that he had developed such survival skills. Thinking of this, he quietly lifted his eyes to glance at Hua Zizhou and thought that these skills must have been taught to him. That day, seeing how his mother treated him, he could sense that his life at home was probably not easy either.
So he continued to work while distracting himself with these random thoughts to relieve the boredom.
Because Qu Qing worked slowly, taking a break for a few seconds after digging each time, he hardly took any breaks. Jiang Zhu noticed how hard he was working and vaguely felt that his family was indeed struggling. Yet he was still willing to take him in. With this in mind, even as a
ten-year-old, he pushed through without resting, but when exhausted, he would voluntarily seek shade under a tree.
Qu Qing was so lost in thought that he hardly paid attention to his surroundings. Besides, he felt that anyone would naturally take a break when tired, so there was no need to call it out. As a result, he didn’t notice that Hua Zizhou had been pushing through, maintaining a high level of labor without taking a break.
Although Hua Zizhou worked the fastest and most efficiently, seeing that the other two weren’t able to keep going, he took it upon himself to bear all the burdens, hoping to take on more to relieve Qu Qing’s load. Of course, part of him wanted to prove his usefulness to Qu Qing through this.
If Qu Qing had known his thoughts, he would have undoubtedly scolded him without hesitation.
Although it was spring, the afternoon sun after noon was still quite intense, and Hua Zizhou ended up—’successfully’ suffering from heatstroke.
Qu Qing noticed his figure swaying and felt a sense of unease. Suddenly, Hua Zizhou tilted to the side and collapsed straight down.
Qu Qing’s heart skipped a beat. He dropped his hoe and rushed over. The two younger ones noticed his movement and then saw Hua Zizhou lying on the ground, which startled them. They quickly ran over.
Qu Qing rushed over and quickly helped him up. Seeing that Hua Zizhou’s face was pale and his lips were colorless, he didn’t hesitate, gritting his teeth to force his aching hands to exert more strength. He horizontally lifted him up but was unexpectedly surprised by how light his body felt in his arms. Hua Zizhou must have been at least 1.7 meters tall, but how could his body be so light?
For the moment, he couldn’t dwell on this matter, so he hurriedly carried him to a shaded spot under a tree. The two younger ones surrounded them, looking nervously at Hua Zizhou and then at Qu Qing, asking what was wrong.
Seeing that Little Qu Xin was almost in tears, Qu Qing quickly said, “Your Dad might be suffering from heatstroke. Don’t disturb him, and step back a bit to let him breathe some fresh air. He’ll be fine soon.” Surely, nothing serious would happen, he looked so healthy most of the time.
Qu Qing wasn’t entirely sure it was heatstroke, but after gently touching his face and forehead, which felt very hot, he frowned. He told the two younger ones to keep an eye on him and went to gather a large handful of leaves to fetch some water.
Fortunately, the water source wasn’t far away. He gradually got Hua Zizhou to drink a few sips, then used some water to cool his forehead and the back of his neck. After several trips back and forth, Hua Zizhou finally began to react.
When Qu Qing saw him open his eyes, the heavy stone that had been lodged in his heart finally fell away. His legs went weak, and he collapsed backward onto the ground, resting his head while exhaling deeply, feeling a lingering sense of fear as he said:
“You scared me to death! It’s good that you’re okay, I thought… How are you feeling now? Why did you suddenly faint just now? Did you not feel anything before? If you were tired or feeling hot, you should have taken a rest! Are you an idiot? In the spring, you get yourself heatstroke? Am I your landlord, whipping you and forcing you not to rest?”
Qu Qing was filled with a mix of anger, helplessness, and worry, but in the end, he was relieved that nothing serious had happened. After all, in ancient times, even a cold could be life-threatening.
Hua Zizhou turned his head slightly, dazed by the beautiful scenery under the sunlight. He stared blankly at Qu Qing, who was above him in his line of sight. With his handsome lips, thick sword-like eyebrows, high nose bridge, and brilliant eyes… This beautiful face, with the most beautiful eyes in the world, was filled with concern and tension for him.
His heart began to pound violently, thumping loudly against his chest, so loud that it seemed his ears could hear the sound of his own heartbeat.
“I’m… sorry.”
What was happening to him? He suddenly felt so strange.
Qu Qing helplessly rubbed the top of his head. “I don’t mean to blame you. You don’t need to apologize. I just want to tell you not to keep pushing yourself. If you’re tired or feeling unwell, just rest properly, got it, Hua Zizhou?”
Hua Zizhou blinked and, after a few seconds, softly replied with a gentle “mm,” the corners of his mouth curving up in a slight smile.
Qu Qing noticed that his gaze seemed a bit dazed, staring at him without moving his eyes, and guessed that he probably hadn’t fully recovered yet. He leaned in a little closer and touched his forehead, comparing its temperature to his own, saying, “Your temperature has come down. Is there anywhere else you feel uncomfortable? Should I take you home to lie down?”
Hua Zizhou shook his head, trying to sit up straight. Qu Qing hurriedly supported him, allowing him to lean back against the tree. The two were suddenly much closer, and Qu Qing felt his breathing become a bit hurried, making him immediately tense up. “Are you really okay? Don’t
lie to me. If you get sick, I don’t even know if we have enough money at home for your treatment.”
Hua Zizhou slightly turned his face away so that Qu Qing couldn’t see his flushed cheeks, using the back of his hand to cover his burning face. He spoke nervously and softly, “I’m really fine, just a bit hot. I just need to rest a little.”
For some reason, he realized that whenever Qu Qing came a bit closer, he would become so nervous that it felt like his heart was about to leap out of his throat.
Qu Qing was about to say something when Little Qu Xin piped up eagerly, “Dad, can I go to Daddy now?”
“Yes, you can,” Qu Qing nodded and then moved aside a bit to make room for Little Qu Xin. He noticed that Jiang Zhu also seemed to be still in shock, so he said, “Let’s all take a break. We’ll continue once the sun isn’t so harsh. As for Hua Zizhou, your most important task today is to rest well, you absolutely must not get sick. Got it? Farming is secondary, our primary goal is to stay healthy. Don’t mix up the priorities.”
Hua Zizhou hugged Mao’er and visibly relaxed. Hearing Qu Qing’s words, his voice was no longer as tense as before: “Okay, I… got it.”
Qu Qing pinched his legs and hands, and when he felt they had rested enough, he resumed working.
Although the process was a bit bumpy, by the end of the day, they had managed to clear all the weeds from the entire acre of land they needed to plant potatoes.
When they were almost done, Qu Qing instructed Hua Zizhou to take Qu Xin home to cook while he and Jiang Zhu wrapped up the work.
After returning home and eating, Qu Qing heated a bucket of water and, with the whole family, took clean clothes—fortunately, the formerly poor Qu Qing had exactly four sets of clothes to change into. This allowed them to at least have one set of clothing to rotate. They awkwardly carried the hot water to the stream, quickly washed up in a relatively concealed thicket, and then let the others mix the hot water for washing.
Hua Zizhou took Qu Xin to wash, while Jiang Zhu waited outside, very aware of his surroundings.
Qu Qing washed his dirty clothes and then curiously sat down next to Jiang Zhu, asking, “Why aren’t you going to wash with them?”
Jiang Zhu looked at him as if he were an idiot. “What are you thinking? I’m a boy, and they’re ge’ers. How could we wash together?”
“Ge’ers?” Qu Qing had heard this term before, but he still didn’t really understand what it meant.
Jiang Zhu was speechless. “You don’t even know this? My gosh, where are you from? Even if ge’ers are rare, you should know this. Ge’ers are males who can have children.”
Qu Qing was still shocked. He had thought about such things, but it had always been in the realm of speculation. However, when the matter was laid out so clearly before him, he was still utterly astonished.
“So, Mao’er is really his child?”
Hua Zizhou came out just in time to hear this statement. He bit his lower lip tightly, his fists clenched, looking very angry, as if he might cry at any moment.
Qu Qing looked blankly at Jiang Zhu, then at Hua Zizhou, not understanding where he had said something wrong.
Jiang Zhu lowered his head, pretending not to see. Let the adults handle their own affairs!