At the old house, all the men had already gone with the convoy to the Prefecture, leaving only Old Liu and Liu Zhong behind.
Liu Zhong couldn't leave the factory, and as for Old Liu, who knows which acre of land he's turning over right now, he never has a moment of rest. It makes him uncomfortable to idle around, so after breakfast, he picked up his hoe and headed out to work.
When Qin Yao entered the courtyard, it was very quiet, with only slight sounds.
Mrs. He and Mrs. Qiu had just come back from working at the stationery factory; one was washing clothes in the yard, while the other took over her son from Mrs. Zhang to care for him, planning to put him to sleep so she could go spin and weave, both looking very busy.
Mrs. Zhang had just handed over the noisy Da Mao back to his mother, and without a break, picked up a mallet and started pounding the already sun-dried and brittle soybean pods under the eaves.
