Meat coupons were scarce. City workers had channels for obtaining them, but rural people had very few options for getting coupons for scarce resources. Some people only had one meat coupon a year.
However, one advantage of rural areas over cities was that they could rely on the mountains or raise a few chickens at home, which was a source of meat for each household.
Song Wei coughed lightly, looked around, and quickly took the meat coupon.
"Are you sure you want to give me this? Even if I planted all the crops for you, it wouldn't be worth the price of this meat coupon."
Gao Le rubbed his hands and looked at her expectantly: "Hey, sister, I was thinking, could you help me for a few more days? Winter is coming soon here, and my buddies and I need to go up the mountain to get firewood, but..."
He looked miserable: "We... can't carry it."
He was really making his uselessness seem perfectly legitimate.
Song Wei looked at him and asked in a low voice, "You're not short of money?"
Gao Le quickly shook his head, "My buddy and I came to the countryside because we were sponging off our parents. I don't know how we upset the two old men, so they packed us up and sent us here. But they still send us a lot of things every month."
So he and Zhao Su were fine with earning two work points a day, even though the old ladies and gentlemen of Ping'an Brigade looked down on them for being grown men earning only two work points.
But they were thick-skinned and preferred to be looked down upon rather than work hard.
Song Wei guessed that something must have happened at home for these two idiots to have them sent here, but they knew nothing about it.
"If you're not short of money, then I'll teach you a method. Find some kids in the village to help deliver firewood, and you can pay them according to the amount."
Gao Le's eyes lit up immediately. Why hadn't he thought of such a good idea?!
"That's a good idea, thank you, sister! Then, sister, do you think 50 cents a bundle of firewood is enough?"
Song Wei looked at his clear yet foolish eyes and was speechless.
This guy is really rich.
"A bundle of firewood that a child can carry is about ten pounds. You can pay ten cents per bundle based on that weight."
"So cheap!"
Song Wei started working again. The girl, who looked as delicate and frail as Lin Daiyu, had fair skin that reflected the sunlight, but she wielded the hoe with incredible speed and power.
The uncles and aunts next to her were completely dumbfounded.
"That...that's Song Zhiqing, right?"
They even doubted their eyes and dared not admit that it was Song Wei.
"It seems so."
Just then, Song Wei had finished hoeing the firewood next to them, and she greeted the aunts with a smile.
"Song Zhiqing, how come you're so fast?"
Song Wei: "I'm strong, one hoe and it's done."
Her ability was not only reflected in her strength, but also in her stamina.
Even her frail appearance did not affect her performance at all.
"Aunties, you're busy, I'm off!"
Then she overtook them at a visible speed.
The two aunties: ...
What happened to being unable to lift heavy objects?
What happened to being sickly?
Gao Le chuckled foolishly behind them.
"Gao Zhiqing, why aren't you catching up?"
Those who had previously refused to team up with Song Wei now regretted it. This Song Zhiqing looked so weak, who would have thought she was so fast?
After finishing digging the planting holes for one acre, Song Wei energetically ran back to plant vegetables with Gao Le.
Gao Le became a mere supporting character; his only responsibility was to throw the seedlings into the holes.
Planting vegetables was more strenuous for Song Wei than digging the holes; it required squatting for a long time. It didn't require much strength, but it was really hard on the back.
The two of them only received enough for one acre, so they finished quickly.
But five work points were hard to divide between two people, so they got an extra work point's worth of land, which neither of them touched.
The scorekeeper: …
This was the first time Gao Le had finished so early, and he radiated a triumphant air, like a victorious rooster.
Song Wei hurried up the mountain, and Gao Le, having received Song Wei's advice, didn't plan to tire himself out at all. So, with his hands behind his back, he strolled like an old man to find his brother.
"Zhao Su, good brother, I've come to see you."
Zhao Su: ? ? ?
"Are you alright? Coming here instead of working."
He looked like a wilted eggplant, listlessly tending to the seedlings in his hands. The auntie who was planting seeds in front of him looked at him with utter disappointment.
"Zhao Zhiqing, you should hurry up! We're already way behind!"
Her work points! Was this Zhao Zhiqing deliberately trying to ruin her work?!
Zhao Su's voice was almost tearful.
"Auntie, this is my fastest speed, please slow down."
The auntie: ...
So big, all that fat is
just for nothing! Gao Le, instead of sympathizing with his good brother, laughed heartily.
"Hey Zhao Su, you need to hurry up, Auntie is already eight meters away."
Zhao Su glared at him, annoyed: "Go do your own thing, you're only two centimeters tall, what right do you have to talk to me?"
Gao Le sat on the edge of the field, legs crossed: "No, no, no, I got three work points today, and I've already finished the work."
"What!!!"
In that instant, Zhao Su's previously weak voice became incredibly loud.
Everyone working in the field around him looked at him.
"You, three centimeters, finished?!"
"That's impossible!"
The two were evenly matched, everyone knew each other.
Only then did Gao Le raise his head high, proudly and boastfully telling him in a low voice about his collaboration with Song Wei.
"Sister Song is really strong."
Everyone in the educated youth compound had noticed this, after all, she'd been going into the mountains every day for the past few days, dragging a huge tree trunk and carrying so much stuff on her back.
Despite looking frail and sickly, as if she could collapse at any moment, she was incredibly strong!
She was like a real-life Lin Daiyu uprooting a willow tree.
They hadn't expected her to be so fast at work, even helping his useless brother with his share.
"Do you think I could trade some tickets with Sister Song?"
Gao Le: "I reckon she wouldn't be too keen; Sister Song seems to prefer going into the mountains."
Zhao Su's eyes were practically filled with envy and jealousy as he looked at his good brother.
"Zhao, are you going to work or not?!" The
two of them had been chatting, and Zhao Su had forgotten what he was doing. He was already slow, and this annoyed the auntie he was working with.
Under the auntie's watchful gaze, Zhao Su hung his head and continued squatting on the ground planting vegetables.
"Waaah... I want to go home..."
He was so aggrieved.
But Gao Le chuckled and said, "You go ahead with your work, I'll go find some village kids to help us chop firewood."
He then slipped away under Zhao Su's resentful glare. Better to lose a friend than myself, hehe...