Three people sat around the table. Yaelle was the first to pick up a corn and started eating. Her way of eating was not very ladylike, even a bit like a pufferfish.
The other two at the table thought she was not pretending and found her very genuine and cute. They imitated her slow and careful way of eating corn. They were well-educated young men, and eating was like watching an art performance, very pleasing to the eye.
Seeing this beautiful scene, Yaelle ate an extra ear of corn. This food was quite filling; three ears were enough. After that, they drank a bowl of tomato and egg soup and felt very satisfied.
Michael and the others thought the food was not amazing but very novel in taste. They agreed that even fancy dishes could get boring, so trying new flavors was nice. After eating, they chatted for a while, and then Xavier said goodbye.
He felt his feelings for Yaelle growing stronger. She was capable and full of fresh ideas. She invented card mahjong and watermelon, and could cook simple dishes.
She only knew how to make simple noodles, and the tomato dishes were very easy to prepare. She could not cook stir-fry. Still, she was very attractive to him now.
He even considered being her side husband, but he did not know how his parents would feel. Xavier smiled softly as he walked away, thinking about all this.
Michael thought differently. He heard that the corn yield per acre was over a thousand jin. He thought even if it was coarse grain and a bit hard to eat, it would still save lives.
When truly starving, people even chew tree bark, so taste was not important. In the end, the corn was not only edible but even better than rice. He could eat three or four ears and feel full.
"Yaelle, is this corn ready to harvest?"
"Not yet. You can pick fresh ears to eat, but you cannot store them long. They are still tender and need about half a month to dry like rice and wheat."
"Call me when it is time to harvest. I want to see if the yield is really that high."
The high yield of watermelon was confirmed. They got about six thousand jin per acre. The average melon sold was about ten jin each.
The small ones at the end did not count. He was very hopeful that the corn would have a good harvest too.
More than half a month later, Yaelle came to the field. Seeing the corn was ripe, she felt very happy.
She called Michael to help harvest the corn. Because of the hot weather, farm work had to start early.
At dawn, the siblings went to the cornfield to experience picking corn by themselves. This was a memory they would always treasure.
It showed them the hard work of labor and the joy of harvest. First, they wore straw hats, carried baskets, and took sickles.
Fully prepared, they joined Helper Beau and others in the field. Standing before the rows of strong, healthy corn stalks, they felt very excited.
Yaelle showed them the method she learned online. First, tilt the corn stalk slightly. Then hold the ear with the left hand at the connection with the stalk.
Use the right hand to twist and break the ear from the stalk. With a "crack" sound, she snapped off the first ear. Michael and the others copied her and broke off theirs.
But it was not as easy as Yaelle thought. Picking corn required strength and skill. Sometimes, even using full force, the ear stayed firmly attached, as if mocking her weakness.
She got very tired and sweaty. Her hands even got blisters. Still, she did not give up.
She slowly figured out how to use her body strength better and how to break the ears more quickly with skill. Michael was stronger, so it was easier for him.
Helper Beau and the others treated it like a game.
As time passed, Yaelle got faster at breaking the corn and became more skilled. Watching the basket fill with more and more ears of corn, Yaelle felt very satisfied and proud. After harvesting one whole row, Michael made her take a break.
Women are precious. Playing is fine, but getting hurt would be a problem.
During the work, Yaelle deeply understood how hard farmers work. Every grain of food is hard-earned, the result of farmers' sweat.
This corn harvesting experience made them value food more and understand the meaning of "every grain is hard work."
They also learned how to face difficulties and overcome them through effort. This labor experience was a valuable growth process for both of them.
After working for half a day, they finally finished harvesting all the corn.
The sun was high when they returned full of harvest. Though tired, their hearts were filled with joy. This experience gave them more than just corn; it gave them the happiness and growth from labor.
Looking at the piles of corn, Michael smiled.
He said to Yaelle, "Little Meng, you are amazing. This corn yield is probably more than 1000 jin per mu. We planted less than one mu this year, but there are hundreds of jin here."
"This needs to be dried and threshed before we know the exact weight. Let's wait a couple of days. I'll tell you when we weigh it."
Yaelle smiled happily. She knew this corn was not only the result of their labor but also hope for improving the lives of all the people in Dayu Kingdom.
The sun was good for these days, and after two or three days, the corn dried completely.
Yaelle prepared to thresh the corn with Helper Beau and the others. She had the carpenter at home make a simple threshing board, like a washboard. This was the easiest to make since there wasn't much corn this year. The hand-crank threshing machine needed more study.
She picked up one ear of corn to demonstrate. First, she broke the ear in half horizontally.
Then she carefully inserted a pointed knife into the core of the corn. The deeper the better. She was very careful not to point the blade toward her hand.
Slowly pushing the knife in, the corn split into two vertical halves.
Do not cut the corn directly with a knife; it easily damages the kernels. This method keeps the kernels whole.
Next, she took one half and rubbed it hard on the threshing board. Using fingers on the side of the corn, the kernels easily came off in rows.
Removing kernels row by row felt very satisfying. This method was very good for shelling corn. It took about a minute to remove kernels from one ear, and the kernels were neat and whole.
But fingers would get sore. She taught both methods and let them choose which worked better.