They went home for lunch, then the three of them went to help the Gu Family harvest their Oil Sunflower that afternoon. Gu Boyuan had only four mu of land, half corn and half Oil Sunflower. With Gu Boyuan and the four members of the Li Family working together, they finished in under two hours.
"The old folks were right. There really is strength in numbers," Gu Boyuan said with a sigh. "If I did this myself, it would take two days at least."
"Sure does. More hands make work easier; fewer mouths leave more bread to eat," Li Jianguo said with a smile. "Each has its advantages."
You people could never imagine it now, Li Long thought. In another forty years, it won't even be a matter of more hands making work easier. A cooperative will have thousands of mu of land, and a handful of people will handle it all. Of course, even if I told you now, you wouldn't believe me.
A cool breeze blew that evening as the family ate watermelon beneath the canopy. Li Qiang had accidentally snapped his mud-slab pistol, so Li Long had him fetch one of Li Juan's used exercise books, tear out the pages, and fold them into a Mauser pistol.
Children back then had read the illustrated storybooks Landmine Warfare and Tunnel Warfare, and thought the kind with the long, twenty-round magazine looked imposing. So he first folded five little packets, then threaded them together with a chopstick. Each packet used two sheets of paper, and assembling them took another two, but once folded together, it looked fairly convincing.
Once it was finished, Li Qiang happily took it off to play. Li Long had told him it was a reward for his good grades.
Li Juan merely watched from the