011 The scene is exquisitely soothing.

At that moment, Second Aunt appeared in the distance, walking along the edge of the field. In her left hand, she carried a bamboo basket; in her right, an aluminum teapot long blackened with age. Exhausted, uncle and nephew halted their harvesting. Scythes in hand, they moved toward her.

Second Aunt placed the bamboo basket carefully on the path, then set the teapot down as well. From the spout, she took out an upside-down plastic cup. “Come, drink some water first.”

Working for hours without water easily leads to dehydration, and can cause heatstroke in severe cases.

Chen Anquan held the steaming cup of warm water in both hands and drank it all in one gulp.

The three sat together on the edge of the field, sharing three large bowls of food placed between them.

Second Aunt’s cooking was far from delicious—indeed, it was barely edible. The cucumbers, once green, had been boiled to a sickly yellow, mixed with several unknown leftover vegetables. The sight alone sapped one’s appetite.

But after an hour of running and four hours of harvesting, Chen Anquan was ravenous. However unappealing the food looked, he ate with gusto.

After the meal, Chen Anquan turned his attention to his attribute panel:

Name: Chen Anquan
Age: 24
Strength: 1.24
Agility: 1.04
Spirit: 1
Constitution: 0.92
Unused Attribute Points: 0.04
Skill: [Tai Chi LV0 (15/100)]

The improvement was evident!

He assigned the 0.04 unused attribute points to Constitution.

Watching the numbers change, his Constitution rose to 0.96—almost at the level of an average person!

After eating, Second Aunt tidied up the bowls and chopsticks and headed back home.

Second Uncle leaned against the sloped path, sheltering himself from the sun.

The oppressive heat felt like a blazing fire, roasting Chen Anquan’s delicate skin.

He extended his forearm, noting how his pale skin had turned red, as if scorched.

Clearly, he’d suffered a sunburn.

“Anquan, let’s rest here for a bit,” Second Uncle called, beckoning him over.

Chen Anquan looked at the unharvested rice ahead, fighting the urge to keep grinding for attribute points. He jumped down from the path and lay beside Second Uncle.

Balance work and rest for endurance!

*

“Anquan, wake up!”

Through a haze of sleep, Chen Anquan heard Second Uncle calling him.

He wiped sweat from his face and pushed himself upright.

Farming was exhausting; he’d quickly drifted off after lying down.

“Second Uncle, how long did we sleep?”

“Half an hour.”

“So long?” Chen Anquan felt only a few minutes had passed—how could it be half an hour?

When he stood fully, Second Uncle was already harvesting again.

Chen Anquan opened his left palm and felt a sharp pain. His palm was red and deeply scored with cuts, filled with dust and sweat, intensifying his discomfort.

A wave of resistance rose within him.

Harvesting rice was a quick way to gain attribute points, but it was truly tiring!

“Anquan, hurry up! If we don’t pick up the pace, we’ll never finish this rice!” Second Uncle called.

“Alright!” Chen Anquan gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

A bite of determination and he’d get through it.

Returning to the task, he suddenly realized his harvesting speed had increased.

Second Aunt returned, watching from afar with a pleased smile. “That boy, he’s catching on fast!”

Though his attributes hadn’t grown much, the combined improvement made the work noticeably easier for Chen Anquan.

Now, his harvesting speed nearly matched Second Uncle’s.

Three hours passed.

October nights come early; by now, dusk had settled over the fields.

Second Uncle and Chen Anquan stopped their work, exchanged a glance, and nodded in satisfaction.

The rice in this field was fully harvested and bagged—Second Aunt had packed it all in woven sacks.

Second Uncle’s three-wheeled vehicle waited on the gravel road, about twenty or thirty meters away.

They needed to load all the rice onto the motorbike before night fully descended.

The threshing machine would remain, as another field still awaited harvesting.

“Ah!” Second Uncle wrapped his arms around a sack bursting with rice and hefted it onto his shoulder, heading for the motorbike.

Chen Anquan imitated his motion and picked up a large sack.

Not too heavy...

He watched as Second Uncle walked away, veins bulging on his neck, clearly straining with effort.

“Have I become a strongman?” Chen Anquan placed his sack on the ground, dusting off his hands.

Second Aunt’s expression darkened. “Anquan, it’s getting dark—help out!”

To her, Chen Anquan’s pause seemed lazy and improper.

She shot him a glare, then shouldered a sack and walked off.

“I...” Chen Anquan spread his hands in helplessness.

He picked up another sack and placed it beside the first, leaving just enough space for his waist. He crouched, grasped one sack in each hand, and hoisted both onto his shoulders. “Ah!”

His voice was so loud it startled Second Aunt and Second Uncle, who turned to look back at him.

“What’s that boy doing?” Second Aunt muttered. Anquan lived and ate with them—was he really so exhausted after helping with the harvest?

In the next instant, her expression changed.

Chen Anquan was carrying two sacks at once!

Never mind how he managed the strength—one sack was so large you couldn’t reach your fingers around it, let alone carry two at the same time.

Second Uncle’s mouth fell open. “How’s Anquan gotten so strong?”

That morning, when Anquan helped him harvest, he was weak as a kitten—now, he was a powerhouse.

Chen Anquan grinned without explanation and walked on.

He was as astonished as they were that he could manage this feat.

At that moment, Chen Anquan looked like an African porter balancing massive bundles atop his head—a most satisfying sight indeed!