It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

The stream flowing out of Xiaoqing Peak flows through the southwest and northeast sides of Dongshan Village. The village’s arable land is concentrated in these two places, making it convenient for villagers to obtain water for irrigation.

In recent years, with the loss of strong labor force, the number of displaced people in Rongcheng County has increased. Even in remote mountain villages, safety may be seriously affected.

In February, when Jiang Yan followed Jiang Da and his wife to Wangjia Village, five kilometers away, to visit several aunts who had left Dongshan Village, they were told that something had happened to a family in Zhangjia Village next to Wangjia Village.

When the family went to the fields outside the village to water the wheat fields, the parents-in-law were hit on the back of the head and fell to the ground. All their clothes were stripped away, and the daughter-in-law who went with them was probably also abducted.

It was not until the evening that the neighbors noticed that there was no movement in their house and called a few people to look outside the village before they found them.

It was a cold day, and the two old men were hit on the head with several sticks. They are still lying in bed and haven't woken up yet. I guess they won't last for a few more days.

This incident scared Jiang Yan and his friends so much that they didn't leave the village for a long time.

Jiang Wang even called down two or three young boys from the mountain, and arranged for them and the old men who still had some strength to take turns guarding the village entrance so that they could notify the villagers to take shelter in time when there was danger.

But the old are old and the young are young, so even if there are two or three people guarding the village entrance at a time, it is not very reassuring.

The grandmothers and aunts who stayed in the village felt that there was strength in numbers, so after finishing their work, they would carry a bench and take their work to the village entrance to help guard it.

The bad guys don’t have to go door to door to look for them, they can just take them all down at once.

Jiang Wang couldn't dissuade Jiang Yan from doing this. Jiang Yan also didn't understand it at first, but after a few days, she joined in. After all, it was really lively here.

Now they have to go to the fields to plant corn. Even though there are two people guarding the village entrance, the people of Dongshan Village still choose to act collectively.

On the one hand, it is convenient to guide the young people who have recently been promoted to become the main farming force in Dongshan Village. On the other hand, they can take care of each other and improve efficiency.

For more than a year, Jiang Yan had only sown vegetable seeds in the open space in front of her house and picked them to eat. This was the first time in her life that she went to the fields to learn how to grow crops.

Dongshan Village could not afford to buy oxen, and had only five iron plows, which could only plow a little over ten acres a day. The rest had to be plowed bit by bit by the adults and a few strong boys using hoes.

Girls who were older than Jiang Yan or about the same age took hoes to dig the plowed furrows deeper and compact the soil on the ridges more firmly.

Jiang Yan was in poor health, so he and several of his younger brothers and sisters, who were one or two years younger than him, used pickaxes to dig trenches on the ridges. They then asked the younger children to carry cloth bags and sow seeds into the trenches, and then covered them with soil and tamped them down.

Jiang Yan worked at a slow and steady pace, his breathing slowed down, his mind focused, and his movements mechanical throughout.

We worked like this for four days in a row, and the spring planting was basically completed, except for applying fertilizer and adding water.

That night she dragged her exhausted body back home and fell into a deep sleep. When she half-awake, it was already noon.

"Aunt Li Yue, how many days did I sleep this time?" Jiang Yan sat up reluctantly and asked in a hoarse voice.

"It's the third day. Are you feeling okay? I'll bring you a bowl of porridge."

Aunt Li Yue is the second daughter-in-law of Grandpa Jiang Fa and Grandma Li Hao. Because she's not in good health after giving birth, she usually stays at home and does light chores. Because she lives near Jiang Yan's home, the village entrusted Li Yue with her care when Jiang Yan was bedridden.

Later, Jiang Yan's health improved, and Li Yue felt relieved. She only went into the house to check on her during the few days when she was exhausted and fell asleep to recuperate.

"By the way, it rained two days ago, and Jiang Ying and the others are going into the woods to look for food. If you can walk, come with them and bring back some food to replenish your energy." Li Yue reminded Jiang Yan as she saw that he was in good spirits.

"Okay~" Jiang Yan felt a little excited when she thought about the various wild vegetables that would improve the meals.