“This afternoon, we will divide into small groups to work. One villager will be paired with one new educated youth.”
As soon as they returned to the fields at noon, Zhao Yuanchao announced the new plan.
He simply couldn’t stand it anymore. The older educated youths were fine; they were used to the work. Although they couldn’t compare to the villagers, the work they did was passable. As for the few new educated youths, don’t even mention them. They had spent the whole morning slacking off. The total work done by two of them weeding all morning couldn’t even compare to one half-grown boy. The male youths were even worse than the female ones.
Su Qing gave a sheepish smile. “We just arrived and aren’t skilled yet… not skilled yet…”
Facing Zhao Yuanchao’s “I see through you but won’t say it” gaze, he chuckled and scratched his head in embarrassment.
He had known that rural fertilizer was hard to come by and that farm manure was used, and he thought he had mentally prepared himself, but he never expected the smell to be this intense! Add in the scorching sun that could peel the skin off a person, and he felt he had done quite well just to last the whole morning.
“Don’t give me that nonsense.” Zhao Yuanchao waved his hand helplessly. “I know you new educated youths from the city don’t know how to work, but you can’t fool the crops. If you fool them today, the harvest will fool you later!”
After speaking, Zhao Yuanchao signaled for several villagers nearby to come over and lead the new educated youths in their work.
The villagers all looked reluctant, but due to Zhao Yuanchao’s arrangement, each of them had no choice but to take a youth and leave.
“Don’t worry, just follow me. I will definitely look after you well!”
The person paired with Ye Qiu was a woman in her fifties with a face full of smiles.
Qian Feng had noticed Ye Qiu yesterday. The young girl had carried two large bags without looking the least bit strained, and she had a delicate and quiet appearance. She looked like someone who was easily pushed around. If she were in a group with her, couldn’t she slack off?
How could Zhao Yuanchao not see through her little scheme? Looking at the quiet girl beside her, he warned, “Don’t you go causing any trouble, or I’ll deduct your work points.”
Qian Feng put her hands on her hips and scolded, “You and your low-level views! Can’t you believe I’m being helpful?”
The few villagers nearby who heard this burst into laughter.
“Old Lady Qian isn’t even blushing saying that. She’s the biggest slacker in the Qingshan Brigade!”
“Who’s to say not? She actually has the nerve to brag.”
…
Qian Feng didn’t care what others said; she was determined to take this advantage!
Ignoring the others, she led Ye Qiu away.
“Hurry up and squat down to weed. Don’t just stand there.” Once they reached the plot Zhao Yuanchao had assigned to them, Qian Feng urged, “Just this patch of land. Use your hands and feet quickly. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can rest.”
Ye Qiu obediently said “Oh” and squatted down to pull weeds at a leisurely pace.
Looking at her obedient demeanor, Qian Feng felt pleased. She felt lucky that she had acted fast; this educated youth Ye was agile and obedient—wasn’t she much better than that delicate educated youth Qu?
Thinking of this, Qian Feng stopped watching her closely. After all, Zhao Yuanchao would come to inspect from time to time, and she didn’t dare let him catch her not working, or he would really deduct her work points.
After pulling weeds on about four or five square meters at a slow pace, Qian Feng took a breath and turned her head. Her eyes widened larger than brass bells. “Ye Qiu, why haven’t you started working yet? Are you trying to slack off?”
Ye Qiu looked up, looking bewildered. “I am working.”
As she spoke, she held up her dirt-covered hands and pointed to a small patch of land in front of her. “Look, isn’t this what I’m doing?”
Looking at that palm-sized patch of land—admittedly, it was weeded quite cleanly—but after working for so long, to have only pulled that little bit of weeds! Being clean was useless!
Qian Feng pointed at her in dissatisfaction. “You’ve only done this much work after so long. You have the nerve to speak? You aren’t even as good as a five or six-year-old child!”
Ye Qiu blinked innocently. “But I have been working very hard.”
“Hard work is useless! You need to show me that you do good work!”
Ye Qiu pretended to be dejected. “Auntie Qian, you know, I came from the city and have never worked in the fields since I was a child.”
“I know.” Qian Feng rolled her eyes. Having seen many educated youths come to the countryside, she had a profound understanding of how useless these city kids were. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind, and she asked in disbelief, “You don’t mean for me to do your work for you, do you?!”
Well, why wouldn’t she?
Ye Qiu’s eyes darted, and she encouraged, “Brother Zhao said we can only rest once we finish weeding this plot. Auntie Qian, don’t worry. Although I work slowly, I will work hard. Let’s both work hard together. At most, we will be an hour or two later than the others. We can do it!”
Who is “both of us” with you! Who wants to work an extra hour or two with you!
Qian Feng was so angry she rolled her eyes. “Stop talking about useless things. Can you work or not?”
“I am really, really trying my best,” Ye Qiu promised with an earnest expression.
Qian Feng threatened, “I don’t care about that. If you don’t finish, I’ll tell Zhao Yuanchao to deduct your work points!”
Hearing her blunt tone, Ye Qiu remained unmoved. “Auntie Qian, I told you I’m working hard. How can you be so harsh to a girl who is striving? Although I don’t work well, I am trying hard. Isn’t trying hard enough?”
Dizzied by the series of “trying hard,” Qian Feng felt her head go numb. Only after a while did she react. She put her hands on her hips and started scolding, “I don’t care if you’re trying hard or not. You have to work. I will absolutely not help you with what you are supposed to do. When the time comes, I’m clocking out!”
Ye Qiu hung her head, looking wronged. “In that case, I’ll go talk to Brother Zhao. I’ll ask him to give us a smaller plot so we don’t delay your rest, Auntie Qian. At most, the work points will just be lower.”
“You…”
A reckless person can defeat a master. Qian Feng wanted to slack off, but she didn’t really want to make a scene in front of Zhao Yuanchao. The threat to report her was just to bluff this newcomer. After all, Zhao Yuanchao was not an easy person to deal with. If he caught her with unfinished work, he would genuinely deduct points, and no amount of pleading would work.
Qian Feng dryly persuaded her, “Let’s not bother Brother Zhao. He’s busy right now.”
Ye Qiu looked at her disapprovingly. “I don’t want to bother Brother Zhao either, but the fact that we can’t finish this plot is an objective situation. We have to reflect the situation to him and change to work we can handle, so we don’t delay everyone’s progress!”
“That won’t do.”
“It will, it will. Brother Zhao is a good person and will understand. After all, I work slowly, and you, Auntie Qian, are getting older; we can’t let you get worn out.”
“I’m not tired, I can finish it. Let’s just not bother Yuanchao.” Qian Feng was on the verge of tears. Feeling hopeless, she reallocated the work. “Then you finish weeding that patch, and I’ll do the rest.”
Ye Qiu said righteously, “That won’t work. That’s unfair to you. Let’s work together; it’ll only take an hour or two.”
Qian Feng replied with dead eyes, “Just follow my allocation. The sooner we finish, the sooner we clock out.”
“Then I’m really sorry, it’s too hard on you, Auntie Qian.” Ye Qiu’s face flushed slightly, and she nodded in embarrassment.
Qian Feng no longer wanted to see Ye Qiu putting on an act. She finally understood: this female educated youth was nothing like her appearance; she was the type who wouldn’t suffer a single bit of loss.
Looking at Qian Feng’s back as she squatted to weed with a sour expression, Ye Qiu smiled.
She didn’t want to be this way, but who told Qian Feng to treat her like a soft persimmon?
Considering that there was a new educated youth, the plot Zhao Yuanchao assigned to them was already small. Since Qian Feng still wanted to slack off and dump three-quarters of the land on her to do alone, she was just giving back exactly what was given to her—a return of a favor.