"Aren't there small harvesting machines now? The kind you sling over your shoulder, with the cutting wheel facing the grain. It's pretty fast, right?"
Zhang Yanping couldn't help asking.
"No good," Song Sancheng waved his hand, "I've tried it in the town's store. It's especially heavy. Without some strength, you young folks can barely lift your arms after a couple of swings."
They could, of course... but what's the need, eh?
"Besides, those things guzzle gas, and the wear and tear on the saw blades is substantial. The machine isn't expensive, around three to five hundred yuan, but if it gets jammed while using, it really holds things up..."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but reminisce about the past:
"I used to be really good at harvesting rice. I could cover one and a half 'fen' of rice field in an hour."
Song Youde nodded too, "Indeed, you work better than me at this. I can only manage one 'fen'."
