Glancing at the bright sun outside and then back at his calm expression, Ye Qiu was truly impressed.
But thinking of the points she could earn after collecting the alien energy from his body, Ye Qiu couldn’t help but soften. She turned to the side, pretending to rummage through her bag, while actually redeeming a bamboo tube filled with water from the system and handing it to him. “Here you go. I brought an extra bottle. Don’t worry, I haven’t drunk from it.”
In rural areas, few people spent money on water bottles; almost everyone used what was available locally—mostly gourds or bamboo tubes to carry water.
Jiang Yi hesitated for a moment, but then accepted the bamboo tube. “Thank you.”
Ye Qiu waved her hand. “You’re welcome.”
The two rested in silence for a while before getting up to continue their work.
Not long after, the others returned; their voices could be heard from a distance.
“Educated Youth Ye, we’re back!”
Zhao Aijun was in the lead, carrying straw in his arms, while the others behind him herded a group of chickens and ducks.
Seeing them approach, Ye Qiu turned back to speak to Jiang Yi, “Dig the other pits to these same dimensions. I’m going to check on the others.” After a thought, she added, “I’ll call them over to dig with you; you can supervise.”
Jiang Yi nodded. Because of his awkward situation, he was always silent in front of outsiders.
After giving the instructions, Ye Qiu turned and walked toward Zhao Aijun and the others.
Whether from the sun’s exposure or not, Zhao Aijun’s face was slightly flushed, though it wasn’t very obvious due to his dark skin tone.
Ye Qiu carefully examined what everyone had brought back. After a moment of thought, she turned and pointed to the field overgrown with weeds behind her, arranging: “Herd the ducks into the field to let them eat the grass. Split the rest of the people into two groups: one group will follow Jiang Yi to dig the buffer zones—listen to his instructions on how to dig. The other group will spread the straw in the field; I’ll show you how to do that.”
Zhao Aijun scratched his head and asked, “Why go through so much trouble?”
Ye Qiu explained, “Because this is the only way to compare and see which method is more practical.”
Once she put it that way, the others understood and obediently followed her instructions to get to work.
Ye Qiu spent the entire morning directing the work. When the shift ended, she strolled among the crowd with a relaxed expression, completely free of the heavy, dragging gait she had shown the previous few days.
Several aunts walking together huddled up and whispered.
“What did Educated Youth Ye go off to do? Why haven’t we seen her all morning?”
One who knew something leaked the information: “I saw Educated Youth Ye go find the Brigade Leader, and then she left. I don’t know where she went; she hasn’t come back all day.”
That was strange. What exactly did the new educated youth go off to do? Could the Brigade Leader really let her skip work?
The aunts simultaneously dismissed that possibility in their hearts.
Although Zhao Ze was young, everyone knew him to be a person who strictly followed the rules; he wouldn’t do anything that showed favoritism.
One only had to look at his own family to know this—whether it was his parents, uncles, older brothers, or younger brothers, everyone honestly went out to work in the fields. It never happened that he used his status to arrange light work for his family.
Even though his younger sister was a teacher at the elementary school, for one thing, Zhao Ze hadn’t been the Brigade Leader at the time and didn’t have the power to appoint teachers; for another, it was after taking an exam, and his sister did indeed have the highest score, which was why she could get into the elementary school.
Therefore, everyone trusted the Brigade Leader’s character.
So, coming back to the point, where on earth did Educated Youth Ye go?
The other aunts weren’t familiar enough with her to ask, but the other educated youths didn’t have that worry.
Qu Tong walked to Ye Qiu’s side. “Ye Qiu, what did you do this morning?”
“I went to find the Brigade Leader,” Ye Qiu said, swinging her arms easily. She said straightforwardly, “The farm work is too heavy for me; I have to find a way to make it easier for myself.”
Not knowing where his thoughts had wandered, Hu Kang looked horrified. “Did you give the Brigade Leader a bribe?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Su Qing covered his mouth. “Don’t talk nonsense!”
If someone else heard this and it spread, it wouldn’t just be Ye Qiu—none of the educated youths would have a good outcome.
Hu Kang also realized he had spoken too quickly and apologized hurriedly. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t… I just didn’t use my brain before I spoke.”
He truly had no malicious intent.
Life in the countryside was too bitter. Having only been working in the fields for a few days, he had already darkened by several shades. His hands were covered in blisters that had burst, and every day he spent bent over applying fertilizer, his back felt so numb it didn’t even feel like his own anymore. He had just seen Ye Qiu living more easily and wanted to ask about it.
Yuan Chao had always been level-headed. “The Brigade Leader isn’t the type to show favoritism. Ye Qiu must have had legitimate business.”
He had arrived earlier and had a deeper understanding of Zhao Ze, knowing he was someone with genuine skills who could command respect; otherwise, he wouldn’t have become the Brigade Leader at such a young age.
Ye Qiu nodded. “Qu Tong and I have been weeding for the past few days, so we compiled some methods for weeding that I’d read about in books and told the Brigade Leader about them. He asked me to take a few people to test them out, and if they’re useful, we’ll promote them.”
Qu Tong opened her mouth wide in shock. “You have such skills? That’s so impressive!”
Ye Qiu smiled. “In the countryside, if we want to live a little better, we either have to be able to endure hardship and work hard in the fields, or we have to find another path and demonstrate our own value.”
Chen Zhongshi, who had been silent until now, couldn’t hold back anymore. “What do you mean?”
“The biggest difference between us educated youths and the team is that our level of education is higher. Our brains have knowledge—knowledge they can make use of,” Ye Qiu pointed out to them. “Weeding is tiring, right? Everyone knows it, but there’s no choice. We’re afraid the weeds will affect the crop growth, so we have to organize labor to pull weeds every few days. But I can provide the brigade with methods to slow down the weed growth cycle, so of course the Brigade Leader is willing to let me try it out.”
Li Jiajun looked thoughtful, muttering to himself, “Knowledge?”
Su Qing said, looking slightly excited, “If we can also provide methods that are beneficial to the brigade, we won’t have to work in the fields anymore?”
Ye Qiu bluntly shattered his beautiful fantasy. “Keep dreaming! Just providing one or two methods doesn’t mean you’ll never have to work in the fields again. We’re all educated youths; what on earth are you thinking about all day?”
She was still worrying about it herself.
Weeding wasn’t a long-term solution. Once the Brigade Leader confirmed these methods were useful, her usefulness would end there. If she wanted to live a comfortable life, she still had to find another job that was both long-term and easy.
As for not working?
In this era, there was no such thing as being able to not work!