Wang An originally didn't want to go out and harvest wheat; mainly because harvesting wheat was just too damn grueling!
However, after Huang Baoguo and his son, along with Er Gangzi, arrived, the amount of wheat this group harvested in a single morning couldn't be hauled back in just one four-wheeled cart. So, even if Wang An didn't help with the harvesting, he would still have to drive the walk-behind tractor to the fields around noon anyway.
Since he had to go regardless, Wang An figured he might as well join in and harvest. That way, the work would get done faster.
Once they reached the wheat field, the group of eight split up, with each person taking two rows, and began pushing forward.
It must be said that while Huang Baoguo and Er Gangzi could certainly eat their fair share, they were truly efficient when it came to work.
Even while "carrying" Huang Zhong, their harvesting speed remained far ahead of everyone else.
Even Wang Dazhu, a veteran who had spent half his life doing farm work, wasn't as fast as those two.
The "carrying" mentioned here actually meant helping; whenever Huang Zhong couldn't keep up, Huang Baoguo and Er Gangzi would step in and harvest some of the wheat in Huang Zhong's two rows.
After all, although Huang Zhong was fifteen, he was far too thin and small due to malnutrition, and he truly struggled to keep pace with the harvesting.
And so, as time passed, the exhausting morning finally came to an end—or more accurately, it wasn't quite noon yet, but it was time to load the carts.
Throughout the morning, Wang An had swung his sickle so hard it practically smoked, yet he still couldn't catch up to Wang Dazhu, Huang Baoguo, and Er Gangzi. He was consistently left behind by the three of them, performing only slightly better than the women.
To be honest, Wang An found this a bit hard to comprehend.
Clearly, the frequency with which everyone swung their sickles was about the same, and his own strength was even greater than those three. Yet, his speed always lagged; no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't catch up. This was truly an unsolvable puzzle.
Fortunately, Wang An's ambitions lay elsewhere, so he didn't feel the need to be overly competitive.
Mainly, Wang An had long since discovered a problem: wealth had absolutely nothing to do with the phrase "hard work and diligence."
If you didn't believe it, just look at Huang Baoguo and Er Gangzi. Who would dare say they weren't hardworking? Who would dare say they were better than them at farm work?
And yet, before they knew Wang An, Huang Baoguo's family didn't even have enough clothes to wear, and they couldn't even solve the problem of basic food and shelter. Now, they could even say things like "just eating steamed buns without side dishes is fine."
From this, it was evident that the phrase "hard work leads to wealth" was a total damn lie.
For people like Huang Baoguo, as long as they were willing to endure hardship, there would be an endless supply of hardship for them to endure.
In one morning, the eight of them had harvested only four mu of land. This meant that yesterday, Wang Dazhu and the other three had also only harvested four mu in a full day.
At this rate, it would take three days to finish Wang An's twenty-five mu of wheat. Furthermore, once Wang An's fields were done, Shen Wei's could not be left behind.
The two families had always tended their crops together, so the autumn harvest was naturally done together as well.
The group worked together to load the morning's harvest onto the carts, and then Wang Dazhu and Wang An, father and son, each drove a vehicle, wobbling their way back home.
At noon, while the villagers were eating, the village loudspeaker suddenly emitted a few coughing sounds.
Immediately following that, Sun Dafu's somewhat excited voice rang out
"Attention, residents of Kaoshan Village! Attention, residents of Kaoshan Village! This is Village Chief Sun Dafu. I am announcing that the electricity for Kaoshan Village has now been fully connected. Every household should immediately check if your light bulbs are working. If your bulbs aren't lighting up, hurry to the village office. The two electricians haven't left yet and can still fix things for you. Be quick about it; if your bulbs don't work later, nobody's going to help you!"
"Attention, Kaos—"
After repeating himself twice, Sun Dafu turned off the microphone.
At Wang An's house, Wang Xiaomei and Wang Xiaoli could no longer contain their curiosity. They each went and pulled the strings hanging from the pull-switches in the east and west rooms.
In Wang An's house, he had installed two light bulbs in each of the front rooms.
The reason for installing two bulbs was partly to have a backup for emergencies, and partly because the rooms were so large that sometimes both bulbs had to be lit for the room not to seem dim.
As the two little girls released the pull-strings, the two bulbs in the living room lit up.
Wang Xiaoli immediately shouted with dissatisfaction
"These bulbs aren't bright at all! Big Brother said this thing was a hundred times brighter than a candle!"
It must be noted that since starting school, Wang Xiaoli no longer spoke with a lisp.
After Wang Xiaoli finished, her older sister, Wang Xiaomei, pouted her small lips and said
"Yeah, Big Brother just lies to us."
This scene left Wang An feeling caught between laughter and tears, while the others looked at him with smiles on their faces.
Thus, Wang An laughed and said
"How can you tell if a bulb is bright in broad daylight? No matter how bright a bulb is, can it be brighter than the sun? You two have gone to school for nothing. Don't go to school this afternoon; come and help us harvest wheat instead."
The two sisters blinked their big eyes in confusion, and then Wang Xiaoli asked
"Big Brother, why isn't a light bulb brighter than the sun?"
Wang An was momentarily stunned. After pondering for a long while, he explained
"Just remember this: the sun is the brightest thing in the world. Nothing can beat the sun."
As soon as Wang An finished speaking, Wang Xiaomei followed up
"But why is that, Big Brother?"
Wang An blinked, suddenly not knowing how to explain. Mainly, he had never actually researched this stuff.
After thinking for a long time, Wang An said
"The place we live is called Earth. The sun is actually a very, very large ball of fire. It constantly emits light and heat to shine on our Earth. Our Earth revolves around the sun; one full circle is one year. But the Earth also rotates on its own; one full rotation is one day. When we can see the sun, it's daytime. When the Earth rotates to the other side, it's nighttime..."
Following this, Wang An recited a description he had seen in a magazine in his previous life.
To be fair, Wang An's explanation was quite vivid. Not only the two little girls, but even Wang Dazhu and Huang Baoguo listened with great interest.
In this era, the vast majority of people had never traveled far in their lives and lacked worldly knowledge; some still believed in the idea that "the sky is round and the earth is square."
Unfortunately, the two little girls couldn't grasp it at all. Wang Xiaomei stared with wide eyes and asked
"Then can't the Earth just rotate by itself? Why does it have to go around the sun?"
Wang Xiaoli added in a voice full of childlike innocence
"Is this like a dung beetle following a ball of poop?"