The green bean and soybean fields together spanned only ten mu. Because there were so many people harvesting—the soldiers of the Si Family Army combined with the villagers totaled nearly two hundred and sixty people—each mu was being worked by about fifty people. It took just two hours, by the end of the morning, to finish harvesting all the mature green beans.
When it was time for lunch, Si Boyan led the villagers back, hoes over their shoulders. He had set aside fifty jin of pork from the public stores for them. As for Gao Chong and his men, Si Jiuyue had already provided them with pork, so they were not lacking; their household was preparing a grand feast that day, including braised pork hocks and various mutton stews. They had stewed four large pork hocks alone. Lunch was served with rice cooked with flat peaches. Si Jiuyue polished off three bowls of rice, a large bowl of mutton, and seven or eight pieces of Hongshaorou in one go.
After lunch and a short rest, everyone put on their straw hats and headed to the small grove of trees beside the bean fields, while others went to harvest the soybeans.
Chapter 482