Rice Planting Girl
Saotome
noun, proper noun
A young woman who is planting rice from early morning into the latter evenings is a rice planting girl. You'll see them out there all day long, from dawn till dusk, planting, taking care of, and picking rice.
This is also a common family name, and on rare occasion, a given name as well. Some well-known people with this name include historical fiction writer Saotome Mitsugu (早乙女 貢), former pro-wrestler, model, and idol Saotome Miku (早乙女 未来), and stage and screen actor Saotome Taichi (早乙女 太一).
This is a really weird exception, sorry. You've kind of learned these reading, but they're like... weird variations of them.
Take the さ from 早速, the おつ becomes おと, and then the 女 kun'yomi め (hey that one's normal!). And you get さおとめ. You might need to just memorize this one.
昔は稲の苗を水田に植えつける女性のことを「早乙女」や「植女」と呼んでいました。
Long ago, women who planted rice seedlings were called Saotome or Ueme.
早乙女勝元の児童文学作品の中では平和をテーマとしているものが多い。
In Saotome Katsumoto's children's literature there are many works with peace as their theme.
女優の早乙女愛はデビューした時に漫画 『愛と誠』の映画化で同じ名前をした主人公を演じ、そのまま芸名にしたらしいよ。
Apparently, when she made her debut, actress Saotome Ai played the lead character of the same name in the film adaptation of the manga "Ai to Makoto," then just adopted it as her stage name.