The golden wheat stood tall, layer upon layer, covering the field like a thick blanket.
A gentle breeze swept across the wheat blanket, creating waves, the ears of wheat rustling against each other, producing a 'shua shua' sound.
Wu Zhao, hearing the tune hummed by Yuan Xi, her eyes lit up, and she praised, "This melody is unlike anything I've ever heard, so melodious and lingering, truly extraordinary."
She then asked with a hint of doubt, "Isn't 'rice flower' supposed to refer to the rice paddies of Jiangdong, but what's in front of us is all wheat."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Indeed, this is a song from my hometown, and it originally speaks of rice paddies."
"But it fits the scene before us just as well."
"These several thousand acres of land were slowly cultivated by me over the three years since I came to Beixin City. Originally, there were only a little over a thousand acres of wasteland."
"In the first year, I was trapped in the city, and over a thousand acres of wheat were seized by Gongsun Zan's army."
"In the second year, both sides fought fiercely for the wheat fields, suffering many casualties, but we managed to harvest a small portion."
"In between, there were several incursions by foreign tribes, ruining much of the harvest."
"Only this year, after completely repelling Gongsun Zan's army and the Xiongnu, can we harvest in peace."
"Raising soldiers for a thousand days is for this very moment."
Wu Zhao looked at the people in front of and behind the cart, their faces filled with happy smiles. This was an extremely rare sight, and she couldn't help but be infected by it, the corners of her mouth unconsciously curving upwards.
Yuan Xi turned his head and couldn't help but be stunned. He thought, although Wu Zhao's face is disfigured, her features seem to become more and more attractive the more I look at them?
Is this because I've been single for too long?
As he was about to take a closer look, Wu Zhao noticed and quickly lowered her head, saying, "Young Master, is there more to this tune?"
Yuan Xi thought that even if he sang the entire song word for word, Wu Zhao probably wouldn't understand it. He would have to modify it slightly, so he smiled and said, "I don't remember the rest very clearly. After we finish harvesting the wheat, I'll go back and think about it before singing it to you."
He stood up straight on the cart, raised his fist, and shouted, "Today, we harvest the wheat! I'm counting on all of you!"
The crowd responded with a scattered few shouts.
Yuan Xi shouted, "There's nothing else, but these next few days, whether it's wheat porridge or flatbread, it's all you can eat!"
Only then did the crowd cheer loudly, their faces beaming with heartfelt smiles.
This was the real deal. These past few days, everyone had been rushing to harvest the wheat for these two guaranteed meals a day!
Soon, the people swarmed into the wheat fields, harvesting with sweat pouring down their faces.
There was a mill by the river, and the open space next to it had been leveled out to serve as a threshing ground, which was now coming into use.
If the Xiongnu bandits hadn't been wiped out a few days ago, this mill and wheat field would definitely have been destroyed, and the people of Beixin City would have been forced to spend this winter with nothing to eat.
The cut wheat would be sent to the threshing ground by the river to be threshed and dried. If the sun was good, it would only take half a day to dry the moisture, then it could be put into a stone mill to be ground into flour and made into flatbread.
Some women even built stoves on the spot and lit fires, putting the fresh wheat grains into pots, pouring in river water, and cooking wheat porridge.
Even more, while harvesting, couldn't wait to put the moisture-filled ears of wheat into their mouths and chew them desperately.
The others were not surprised, because they were doing the same thing.
It had been a long time since they had eaten their fill.
That Dala Erlang was also in the crowd. Dala saw Erlang eating too fast and couldn't help but say, "Erlang, eating too much of this raw will give you a stomach ache. Endure it until noon, and then we'll have wheat porridge to eat."
Erlang's sickle didn't stop, his mouth was full of wheat ears, and he said vaguely, "I'm too hungry to have any strength. I'll eat my fill first, and I don't care about anything else."
"We don't even know how many more full meals we'll be able to eat."
Yuan Xi went down to the wheat field, but Wu Zhao followed dozens of women to the river to pick wild vegetables. After washing them clean by the river, they carried them to a row of large pots in front of the threshing ground and tore the wild vegetables into pieces, putting them into the pots of boiling wheat porridge.
The aroma of wheat grains, mixed with the scent of wild vegetables, wafted from the pots, filling the entire threshing ground, causing everyone to swallow several mouthfuls of saliva.
Wu Zhao discovered that among these women, there were quite a few whom she recognized, all of whom had been abducted by the Xiongnu bandits with her a few days ago and rescued by Yuan Xi.
When they met, they were naturally overjoyed, washing wild vegetables by the river while talking about their experiences in Beixin City these days.
Those women, along with several hundred other women, were temporarily housed in empty houses in Beixin City. At first, they were still uneasy, fearing that one day they would be assigned to soldiers or sold off.
At that time, even the regular Han army, such as Dong Zhuo Gongsun Zan's subordinates, would often plunder the people. These women who were robbed were often helpless and could only accept their fate.
To their surprise, Beixin City did not force them. They only said that the city did not support idlers, and if they wanted to go home, they could only find ways to work on their own.
Therefore, these women, who were usually good at weaving, sewing, or doing odd jobs, were all trying to make a living.
Today, when they heard that harvesting wheat would guarantee a full meal, they all ran out.
Of course, some were willing to marry.
The soldiers of Beixin City received several times the salary of the common people. If they saved some, it would be enough to support another woman.
This was also the choice of many women, after all, they would have food to eat if they followed them.
Wu Zhao listened, feeling complicated. Yuan Xi sometimes thought about letting everyone have food to eat, but sometimes he did things ruthlessly. In this chaotic world, neither pure benevolence nor pure cruelty could last long. Was he the only one who was right?
Those women heard that Wu Zhao had helped Yuan Xi kill the enemy chief by chance, so she had been living in Yuan Xi's mansion, and their faces showed envy.
A young woman lamented, "If Sister Wu's appearance hadn't been ruined, she might have been favored by that General Yuan long ago. Why don't I have such good luck!"
"That's the son of the famous Yuan Zhou Mu! Even if I were to be his concubine or maid, I wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of my life!"
The other women agreed, but Wu Zhao thought it was not necessarily so. There was no surplus food in the General's mansion either.
After hearing this, the other women surrounded her, asking Wu Zhao to say a few good words for them in front of Yuan Xi.
They all wanted to enter Yuan Xi's mansion by coincidence!
Wu Zhao was dumbfounded. Only then did she realize that now, where was there a place better than the City Lord's mansion to survive and have food to eat?
She was so dizzy from being entangled by the women that she had to agree perfunctorily. In the distance, a few soldiers dressed as soldiers came over, carrying several wild rabbits that had been shot to death with arrows.
The leader was Sun Li. He took out a short knife and gutted the wild rabbits by the river, turning his head and saying to Wu Zhao, "Brother Yuan said that he wants you to go to the mill to eat later."
Among the women, some clever ones knew as soon as they heard that this young man was Yuan Xi's personal guard, and they quickly came up to snatch the wild rabbits from Sun Li's hand, helping to clean and process them.
Some bolder ones even rubbed against Sun Li's body, and Sun Li, who was just a teenager, blushed, but his eyes couldn't help but stare at the undulations in front of the women's chests, unable to take his eyes off them.
Before half a quarter of an hour had passed, Wu Zhao was stunned to see a young woman with a delicate appearance, blushing, holding Sun Li's arm, and just like that, they went back together!
She remembered Yuan Xi's words.
Don't advise others to be kind without experiencing their suffering.
Besides, marrying a soldier might not necessarily be bad for some women.
At least they would have food to eat on weekdays. Even if the soldier died in battle, the army would issue a sum of money for bereavement, enough for the widow to live for several years.
Wu Zhao felt quite uncomfortable. When would this chaotic world end, and who would end it?
Please take a few minutes every day to read along. Little Rabbit is doing a somersault and kowtowing three hundred and sixty-five times to thank you all!