By mid-October, there was gradually less cotton left to pick. Apart from the lusher fields, where a third crop could still be picked, most only needed their bolls stripped and stalks cleared.
Some cotton grew more vigorously and flowered and set bolls later. Once the weather cooled, the bolls could no longer open, though the cotton inside had matured. Those bolls had to be stripped off, taken home, and slowly peeled open.
This time, the cooperative brought back more than two thousand sacks of bolls alone. Each household received some, while some of the remainder went to families in the team who had not planted cotton.
Those families had not planted cotton, but wanted some to make cotton mattress fillings without paying for it, so they stripped bolls from the cooperative's fields.
Toward the end, Xie Yundong discussed it with the other members. Any household that wanted the bolls still left on the plants could come and take them. The cooperative no longer wanted them.
Cotton prices had risen this year, and the cooperative had made money. Of course, the other two cooperatives had made money too.
But this cooperative had earned the lion's share. After all, it had over a thousand mu of land, and plenty of people were watching.
Even now, before the fieldwork was finished, gossip had already spread through the team. Some made sour remarks; others privately harbored complaints.
So letting a few small benefits go and giving the team's residents a taste of the rewards was no bad thing.
After all, with cotton prices high, the other two cooperatives were picking every bit of cotton and stripping every boll they could, selling it all while the Cotton and Hemp Company was still buying.
According to what Xie Yundong had observed and told Li Long, every