Autumn is the harvest season, and farmers see the heavy rice ears in the fields with joy that can't be closed. After finishing the harvest, the grain storage at home is full again. Rural people have the habit of storing food, and they won't sell grains easily unless they are really short of money. This is a year's worth of food for a family!

  When harvesting soybeans, the whole family had to work together. The entire courtyard was filled with a thick layer of soybean stalks. When you stepped on them, the soybeans would pop out of their pods.

  At this time, Zhou Guoqiang and Zhao Yuzhen sat on a small stool all day, using a long wooden stick to beat the bean straw. The four siblings of Zhou Xiaoyun found some smaller sticks that they could hold to beat the beans. This was a fun thing to do, and everyone liked it.

  The beans were all threshed out and fell into a full yard. Then use an iron fork to pick up the bean stalks and pile them up, the dried bean stalks are best used for burning fire and cooking, and when burned, the fire is very strong and crackles continuously.

  The soybeans on the ground are swept into a heap with a large broom, and after removing dust and debris from the beans with a bamboo sieve, they can be packed into bags. In winter, the beans can be exchanged for tofu or made into fermented bean paste to eat, which is even more expensive than grain. So every household planted many soybeans.

  The Zhou family's several acres of land were mostly planted with beans, and this year they had a bumper harvest. With no place to store them at home, they sold off more than half of the beans, leaving only two sacks behind.

  Zhao Yuzhen specially picked out a lot of big beans and left them for this winter to soak more beans to make bean paste.

  Zhou Xiaoyun raised both hands in approval, she was the one who loved to eat fermented bean paste the most. Zhao Yuzhen's craftsmanship was excellent, and the fermented bean paste she made had an unparalleled flavor. With just the fermented bean paste, Zhou Xiaoyun could finish two bowls of rice without needing any other dishes.

  Picking corn wasn't that pleasant. Prying the ears off was hard work, and Zhou Xiaoyun could barely manage it, but what she feared most were the squirming insects inside; often a loud shriek would be followed by Zhou Xiaoyun dropping the ear of corn in her hand.

  Dabao rarely sees Zhou Xiaoyun eating corn on the cob with a big laugh, and after laughing, he still has a conscience to remove the worms from the corn stick for Zhou Xiaoyun.

  A basket full of corn stalks was filled, which was a heavy task that only Zhou Guoqiang and Zhao Yuzhen could handle. Basket after basket of corn stalks were poured onto the flatbed truck, and finally transported to the courtyard of their home, filling up the entire yard.

  Tear open the outer skin of the corn on the cob, and then comes the more painful process of peeling the corn.

  Zhou Guoqiang used a scraper to scrape out several cuts on the corn, and Zhao Yuzhen was in charge of bringing the children to peel the corn. The corn kernels were piled up on the cement floor of the main room, which couldn't be placed on the muddy ground, as eating corn noodles with mud would be disgusting.

  This is not just a big deal, even Zhou Xiaoyun wants to get out of here.

  But thinking about it is also an impossible thing, at this time children helping with household chores isn't a matter of course?

  Haven't seen Big Treasure reluctantly sitting on the side peeling corn kernels one by one? He simply didn't dare to slip away!

  Xiao Bao peeled very seriously, and soon his small hands were all red. He pouted and complained: "Mom, when can we finish peeling? My hands hurt."

  Zhao Yuzhen felt a pang in her heart and told Xiaobao to go play with Er Ya for a while before coming back.

  "Mom, my hand hurts too, can I..."

  "How many corn cobs have you peeled so far?" Zhao Yu Zhen scolded: "Just thinking of being lazy, sit there for me. Look, your sister hasn't made a sound yet!"

  Zhou Xiaoyun showed no pride in being praised, and secretly complained in her heart: My hands are so painful!

  Dabao's eyes lit up, and he thought of a good idea. He took two corn stalks in his hands, one in each hand, and rubbed them together with force. The corn kernels fell off quickly, and soon the two corn stalks were peeled clean. His hands didn't hurt at all.

  Zhao Yuzhen noticed and her eyes lit up, calling on Zhou Xiaoyun to follow along and learn together.

  Needless to say, the method of reform is quite different. Not only has it sped up a lot, but also won't make your hands sore. Zhou Xiaoyun thought that good methods are indeed thought out by lazy people. Someone as meticulous as her wouldn't be able to think of this trick.

  Dabao felt proud of his contribution and started to peel the corn with renewed energy. Soon, a pile of empty corn cobs formed around him.

  There are pros and cons, the downside is that it's too troublesome, Zhou Xiaoyun's hands were sore in a while.

  Just in time, Xiaobao played a circle and came over to take over. Zhou Xiayun made an excuse to go to the toilet and slacked off for a while. This was the first time for Zhou Xiayun, who had always been a diligent and hardworking good assistant, but peeling corn was one of the things she hated doing the most. She couldn't help but slack off a bit.

  After finishing using the restroom, Zhou Xiaoyun eagerly suggested that she would go cook dinner. After Zhao Yuzhen nodded in agreement, Zhou Xiaoyun happily went to the kitchen to start cooking.

  Dabao hastily raised his hand and reported: "I'll take my sister's place in cooking."

  Before Zhao Yuzhen could speak, Da Bao also slipped away quietly.

  Zhao Yuzhen thought that Dabao had also peeled corn for a long time, so she followed him.

  A whole house of corn on the cob was peeled for four or five days, fortunately most of the time was spent at school, and after school I still had to do my homework, so every day I would peel for more than an hour at noon and night.

  Finally finished peeling all the corn on the cob, Zhou Xiaoyun thanked heaven and earth repeatedly.

  Zhao Yuzhen used the newly harvested corn to soak some peanuts and beans in water for an afternoon. In the evening, she went to Zhou Guofu's house to borrow their mill to grind some congee paste. At night, they cooked a large pot of congee. The fragrant congee was very chewy, and everyone ate two big bowls each.

  Zhou Xiaoyun found a few tender ones among the immature corn stalks, and used an iron fork to hold them over the fire, roasting them against the bottom of the pot. Before long, the slightly charred corn stalks were cooked through.

  That smell is so pungent it can peel the skin off your tongue.

  Dabao ate three before stopping, and the porridge cooked in the evening was not reduced. He was ridiculed by Xiaobao as a rice bucket. Seeing his brother turn to him with a glance, Xiaobao began to feel afraid. Holding the roasted corn stick in his hand, he ran to Zhou Guoqiang for refuge.

  Roasted corn is delicious, but unfortunately it's too much trouble. The remaining majority was put into another pot by Zhao Yuzhen and boiled with water, and the cooked corn sticks were also very sweet and refreshing.

  But no matter how delicious something is, it can't stand being eaten every day. In the end, some leftovers were left uneaten, and Zhao Yu Zhen had to feed them to the pigs.

  Zhou Xiaoyun herself doesn't dislike eating corn, nor can she say she likes it. Eating some corn porridge is okay. But when Zhao Yuzhen makes pancakes with corn flour, she really can't stand it. They're hard and tasteless, and swallowing them is a chore.

  Of course, if there's braised fish in the pot, it's a different story.

  Corn pancakes with fish soup are a great taste, Zhao Yuzhen cooked two big-headed carp in the pot and stuck a large circle of corn flour cakes on the side, originally wanting to eat two meals at noon and night.

  Unexpectedly, the fish meat and fish soup were finished by the whole family in one meal. Among them, Dabao ate the most fiercely, and after finishing the meal, his belly bulged out a big chunk.

  Xiao Bao and Er Ya also ate until their mouths were shiny with oil, Zhou Xiaoyun loved to eat but couldn't eat too much, in her heart she wished Zhao Yuzhen wouldn't make this dish every day, even delicacies would get tired of being eaten.