Early the next morning, Qu Tong walked into the pigsty with a look of anticipation.
“Yueh—”
Qu Tong pinched her nose. “It stinks! Why does it smell so bad? Yueh—”
Before coming, she had prepared herself psychologically and even had a long talk with Zhao Lan the night before, asking just how smelly raising pigs could be. However, no matter how much she had prepared, she never expected it to be like this.
“It’s practically a biochemical weapon,” Qu Tong said, dry-heaving as she spoke.
Ye Qiu wrinkled her nose and, holding her notebook, said, “The pigsty needs regular cleaning. Once it is cleared out regularly, it shouldn’t smell quite this bad.”
The reason the pigsty was so pungent was actually because no one had cleaned it since Zhuzi’s mother got injured. Fortunately, both of them had prepared in advance, wearing old, worn-out clothes and specifically asking Zhao Lan to help them make two face masks.
The two of them endured for over an hour before they finally managed to clean the pigsty.
Qu Tong breathed in the fresh air outside and let out a long sigh of relief. “My god, it’s finally done.”
“We still have to go cut pig grass,” Ye Qiu said, outlining the next work arrangement. Luckily, there was still some grass left over from before; otherwise, they would have been even more flustered.
“It feels like it’s no easier than working in the fields,” Qu Tong said, half-laughing, half-crying. Between cleaning the pigsty and cutting pig grass, they were so busy they didn’t have a single moment of leisure.
Ye Qiu sat on the grass, gazing at the distant mountains. “If you want to make it easier, there are other ways.”
Qu Tong pressed her, “Tell me quickly!”
“It’s hard to find people to help clean the pigsty, but cutting pig grass doesn’t necessarily have to be done by us.”
Qu Tong’s eyes brightened: “You mean find someone to help us cut pig grass?”
Ye Qiu nodded.
But realizing she didn’t know anyone besides the other educated youths, Qu Tong felt deflated again. “But I can’t think of anyone I can ask for help.”
Just as she was feeling discouraged, a sudden flash of inspiration hit her: “I know who I can ask for help!”
When she went to the Jiang household to find Jiang Yi earlier and didn’t find him, she had seen his younger siblings. Weren’t they the perfect candidates? It would solve her desire to be lazy, and it would give her a legitimate reason to get close to the villainous boss.
Qu Tong, are you actually a genius?
Qu Tong shook her head smugly.
Ye Qiu looked at her changing expressions with curiosity. “You have an idea?”
“Mm-hmm,” Qu Tong nodded proudly. “Just leave everything to me.”
Ye Qiu was actually a bit worried. Asking people to help cut pig grass was a small matter, but if the villagers found out, it might not be a good thing. Qu Tong’s personality was too flamboyant, and she was a bit concerned. “Who do you want to ask for help?”
“Ask the village children to help—how about that?”
Ye Qiu raised an eyebrow. “Not a bad idea. Which children do you want to ask?”
Qu Tong stammered, “Just, just the Jiang family’s children.”
It was exactly as Ye Qiu had expected. Besides having the energy to act alone on the first day, Qu Tong had spent every day after work lying in bed, having no opportunity to interact with the villagers. However, she held an unusual interest in the Jiang family, so it wasn’t surprising she knew about their situation.
Ye Qiu had no objections. “How about we each take responsibility for one week’s worth of pig grass, and we do the feeding and cleaning together?”
“Mm-hmm.”
After sitting on the grass watching the scenery for a while, the two grabbed their baskets to cut pig grass; tomorrow’s feed wasn’t sorted yet.
The news that two new educated youths were going to raise pigs immediately spread throughout the brigade. Those who heard it were very dissatisfied.
Only after Zhuzi’s mother was injured did many people start eyeing the pig-raising job. In their view, raising pigs was light work with high work points—a truly excellent job. When they heard the news, they had discussed with their families how they might secure the position, only for the job to be snatched up overnight by two newcomers.
“Why? I don’t accept this! I don’t believe that educated youths from the city know how to raise pigs!”
“Exactly! It’s not like we haven’t seen educated youths before; when they first arrived, they couldn’t even tell the difference between crops and weeds. How could they raise pigs well?”
“That’s right! What if they kill the pigs, or let them get skinny?”
“It’s unfair! I’m going to find the Brigade Leader and see what kind of explanation he can give!”
The people complaining were green with envy, all of them having wanted the job.
Although some were dissatisfied, others supported the village officials’ decision.
“Everyone knows the Brigade Leader’s character; there must be a reason. He wouldn’t let anyone ruin our pigs for nothing.”
“Exactly. Let’s discuss it properly. I believe the Brigade Leader will give us an explanation.”
Persuaded by them, the villagers decided to calm down and ask the Brigade Leader what was going on. Since they couldn’t all rush to the village committee at once, they chose a few leaders to go.
“Brigade Leader? Brigade Leader?” the leaders called out loudly at the entrance.
Before long, Zhao Ze heard them and came out. “Uncle Er, why are you here?”
The leader was an old man of about 50 or 60 years old who held a high seniority in the village; the younger generation all called him Uncle Er. Leaning on his cane, he said, “Ze Wa, we came to ask why you arranged for two educated youths to raise the pigs? The educated youths from the city haven’t even worked in the fields; aren’t you afraid they’ll ruin our pigs? Everyone is counting on these two pigs for meat at the end of the year!”
Seeing the group of people behind Uncle Er, Zhao Ze greeted them into the courtyard. “Uncle Er, come in and sit down first; I will explain it to you slowly.”
Inside the courtyard, he handed everyone a stool before sitting down himself.
“I know everyone has objections to me handing over the pig-raising work to the educated youths, so today I will tell you why the village committee made this decision.”
Someone shouted, “No reason justifies handing over the pigs to two outsiders!”
Zhao Ze ignored the interruption and continued speaking to himself: “Everyone knows that Educated Youth Ye previously led some young men to dig some pits that allow weeds to grow slower, saving us a lot of effort.”
This matter had long since spread, and everyone nodded in agreement.
Zhao Ze continued: “From this, it can be seen that Educated Youth Ye is capable. She reads a lot and can apply the knowledge she learns from books to real life. When she found out the village needed someone to raise pigs, she was the first to find me and apply, even writing a ‘Scientific Pig-Raising Guide.’ I’ll let you all see it—it’s very well-written!”
The people below laughed and waved their hands, refusing. “I haven’t even stepped foot in a school door in my life, I don’t recognize a single word; don’t show it to me.”
Zhao Ze laughed too. “If you can’t read it, have your sons or grandsons read it to you. The money spent on the village elementary school shouldn’t be wasted.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Seeing the atmosphere soften, Zhao Ze vouched for Ye Qiu: “The village officials have all read this guide. We all think the methods Educated Youth Ye proposed are excellent and highly feasible. We thought, why not let her try? Let our Qingshan Brigade ride the wave of science for once!”
“I am the Brigade Leader of the Qingshan Brigade; I will certainly consider the villagers’ interests. Once Educated Youth Ye and her partner fatten up the pigs, I’ll make sure everyone gets a few more ounces of meat at the end of the year!”
His words were reasonable and well-grounded. Coupled with the fact that the village committee had agreed, the villagers dispersed after receiving a satisfying explanation.