In late July, the weather was hot. As the wheat harvest began, watermelons ripened too, and vehicles of all sizes carrying watermelons drove through the village. Watermelons were cheap at this time, just seven or eight fen a kilogram, while muskmelons were one jiao a kilogram. Most households in the Fourth Team hauled them home by the sackful.
Beside each household's wheat stacks on the threshing ground, there were not only watermelons but also cooled tea to help beat the heat.
Watermelon was cooling, after all. Some older people could eat a slice or two, but not too much. They still preferred brick tea that had been left to cool.
The children, on the other hand, would return from work or play, roll a watermelon out from under the bed, cut it in half, and scoop it out with a knife or spoon. Some even liked taking half a thoroughly sun-dried steamed bun from the bread basket hanging on the outdoor frame and soaking it in watermelon juice to eat.
In summer, people generally steamed three tiers of buns at once, several dozen in all. As mentioned earlier, there were no refrigerators for these things now. If they were all left in the steamer, mold spots would appear within two days. To keep them for a long time, the only option was to break them apart and dry them thoroughly in the sun for storage.
Li Qiang took Mingming and Haohao to glean wheat. None of the three minded the heat, and after finishing their own wheat field, they would go glean in other fields too.
Actually, no household in the Fourth Team was short of grain by then, but everyone treasured it. Liang Yuemei had specifically found this job for Li Qiang and told him to take Mingming and