With the days growing shorter and the weather growing colder, it meant only two things - harvesting the numerous crops grown to feed the Wei armies, and lots of manual labor.
Neither of which Suyin was very fond of.
"Just one more trip and then I can get back to my reading..." she mumbled to herself, pushing along a cart piled high with leeks and cabbages. She gave the cart one push, then another, before she realized that she wasn't going anywhere - one of the wheels had stuck in a rut.
Walking around to the front and grabbing the rope hooked to the front of the trolley in both hands, she dug her heels into the dirt, the muscles in her thin arms straining as she pulled and pulled. It was on her fifth or sixth pull that she spied a familiar figure from the corner of her eye.
"M-Mister Xu Chu!" she called, letting go of the rope with one arm to wave to him. "I hate to ask for help, but...I think I'm stuck..."
