TATLC Chapter 11 – Autumn Harvest

Lu Lin thought about what the two brothers might know, but since they weren’t saying anything, he didn’t expose it either.

Besides digging up yams every day, Lu Lin also took on some wood-chopping duties.

Firewood was a major source of heating in winter here, and with winter approaching, it was best to stockpile as much as possible.

Lu Lin was an adult after all. Although he had a different core now and was somewhat clumsy with work, he was still an adult and considerably more efficient than children. However, compared to Chen Xiaomi, he was still far from good.

Lu Lin watched as Chen Xiaomi dragged several thick branches back from the mountain, swinging a rusty machete and huffing as he split the wood into pieces. His awe for this Shuang’er immediately grew. Chen Xiaomi looked like an ordinary high school student, but his strength was really terrifying.

While the Chen brothers counted on Lu Lin to share some of the workload, they didn’t know that the Lu family also had plans for him.

This period was the peak of autumn harvest. The Lu family had originally planned to send Lu Lin to Chen Xiaomi after the harvest was complete, but Lu Lin had attempted suicide by jumping into the lake and was now sickly.

The Lu family didn’t want to pay for a doctor for Lu Lin, nor did they want him to die in their home, so they sent this “plague god” away early.

Lu Laoda was the father of the eldest grandson, who was also a scholar. He considered it a great achievement, so he didn’t pay much attention to fieldwork.

Besides the scholar grandson, Lu Laoda also had a daughter named Lu Tong. Convinced that her brother would become a high-ranking official in the future and that she would marry into a wealthy family and become a rich madam, Lu Tong was raised like a young lady despite being from a farming family, and never worked in the fields.

The third child, Lu Lan, was already married. Although she was quite loved by Grandma Lu, she only came to the Lu family to freeload. Now, with autumn harvest work to be done, she naturally stayed as far away as possible.

The Lu family’s fourth child was the old woman’s youngest son. She doted on him greatly, and Grandpa Lu used his connections to find him work in town, earning two taels of silver monthly. Since he disliked farm work, he simply stayed in town and didn’t return home.

The autumn harvest waited for no one. Seeing that no one was working in the fields, Grandpa Lu forced his elderly wife, son, and granddaughter to work the fields together.

Farm work was not easy. As soon as Lu Laoda started working, he complained incessantly about his aching back and waist.

Lu Tong’s body was covered in red, swollen insect bites, which made her unwillingly miss the benefits of having Lu Lin’s family around.

Everyone in the Lu family who worked liked to slack off and cheat.

Several people working together couldn’t match one or two people from other families.

Grandpa Lu was extremely angry. At this point, Lu Tong suggested calling Lu Lin back. Anyway, that Chen Xiaomi didn’t have any fields and didn’t need to busy himself with the autumn harvest.

Lu Lin was so useful! Previously when they made him work late into the night, he was willing to do it.

Lu Lin was sent to Chen Xiaomi’s place while he was sick. Chen Xiaomi didn’t call for a doctor, and many villagers thought Lu Lin was pitiful and likely wouldn’t survive. Unexpectedly, Lu Lin recovered and even went into the mountains with Chen Xiaomi.

Although Chen Xiaomi’s house was somewhat remote, there were still people who could see Chen Xiaomi and Lu Lin.

When Lu Tong heard that Lu Lin had recovered without seeing a doctor and had gone into the mountains with Chen Xiaomi, she immediately felt cheated.

Had she known earlier, they should have kept Lu Lin for a few more days, at least to get some work out of him.

During this season everyone was busy with the autumn harvest. Hiring a capable farmhand cost at least thirty wen per day, plus two meals.

“Should we call Ah Lin back?” Grandpa Lu puffed on his pipe, silently calculating whether it was possible.

When Chen Xiaomi offered the ten taels as bride price, he had said that once the person married into his family, they would have no more ties with their birth family. Chen Xiaomi’s ten taels essentially bought out the relationship between Lu Lin and the Lu family.

“Yes, let’s ask him to come back. It’s not right that our whole family is busy with farmwork while he’s out there taking it easy,” Wang readily agreed with her granddaughter Lu Tong’s suggestion without giving it much thought.

Grandpa Lu glanced at his wife and said, “Ah Lin married into another family, after all.”

Wang dismissed this, saying resentfully, “He still came from our Lu family. We raised him for so many years. What’s wrong with asking him to come back and do some work? I’d like to see him refuse.”

The old man frowned and asked, “Who will go invite him?”

Chen Xiaomi had a fierce reputation. Although Wang was a bully, she was only fierce within her own home.

Despite how viciously she scolded Lu Lin, Wang didn’t dare to approach Chen Xiaomi to demand Lu Lin to come back.

Although Grandpa Lu hoped Lu Lin would come back to work, he didn’t want to confront Chen Xiaomi, that disaster star, so he pushed the task onto Lu Tong who made the suggestion.

Lu Tong didn’t want to work, so she was willing to go ask Lu Lin to return. At least going to find Lu Lin meant she could slack off for a while.