When the noon bell rang to signal the end of work, Li Ruolan checked her watch. It was already twelve o’clock.
They had started work at seven in the morning. From seven to twelve was a total of five hours. The afternoon shift began at one-thirty and lasted until six.
At this time of year, work usually ended around six because it got dark soon after. In a month or two, darkness would fall even earlier, making the end of work sooner.
In the Northeast, work would stop around late October because snow would start to fall, and the soil would freeze. Work wouldn’t resume until March or April the following year, giving nearly five months of downtime.
This was also why Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao had chosen to come to the Northeast. They could work hard for half a year and spend the rest of the year resting at home.
On the way back for lunch, Li Ruolan finally realized that the earlier argument had been between Guo Xiaoya and Qin Wan.
The two had been assigned to work together, and for reasons neither understood, they started arguing.
The brigade leader had no choice but to separate them, placing several groups between them. Only then did Guo Xiaoya and Qin Wan calm down and continue working.
On the way back, Li Ruolan approached Qin Wan. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Qin Wan sighed. “I’m fine. It’s just that Guo Xiaoya keeps targeting me. I got frustrated and ended up arguing with her.”
While weeding, Qin Wan discovered that the grass contained a lot of wood-element energy. She carefully absorbed some of it while working.
With some of the wood-element energy absorbed, the grass became much easier to pull, making her work very light.
Guo Xiaoya, who had no experience with fieldwork, only used brute force while weeding and ended up falling more than once.
Qin Wan’s quiet laugh at this drew Guo Xiaoya’s attention. Guo Xiaoya thought Qin Wan was mocking her, got angry, and the argument escalated.
Qin Wan, already annoyed by Guo Xiaoya’s attitude and rude speech, kicked her, which finally triggered the full-blown quarrel.
“Forget it! After lunch, I’ll go see the village chief and have him help me build a room. I absolutely have to move out, and it’s best to stay far away from Guo Xiaoya and Xu Tao, that unmarried couple. Otherwise, Guo Xiaoya will act like a protector over Xu Tao, making it awkward if anyone looks their way. Besides, Xu Tao isn’t exactly a prize catch. Who would interfere in someone else’s engagement for no reason?” Qin Wan scratched her head in frustration.
Li Ruolan felt a little awkward because Xu Tao was walking not far behind them and had likely heard Qin Wan’s words.
Deng Minghao walked beside Li Ruolan, noticed her glance, and followed her line of sight to see Xu Tao. He moved closer and explained to Xu Tao what had happened between Guo Xiaoya and Qin Wan.
“This actually isn’t much about Qin Wan. Guo Xiaoya didn’t like her from the start. You and Guo Xiaoya are engaged. All of this is your fault—you didn’t give her enough security, so she thinks Qin Wan might take you away. As a man, you need to take responsibility. If you’re going to marry someone, you need to treat her well. You have to give her a sense of security. Otherwise, when she realizes the truth, it might be too late for you.”
Deng Minghao spoke like an older brother, sharing his advice with Xu Tao.
Like Li Ruolan, he no longer treated this world as just a story after transmigrating.
In the previous life, Guo Xiaoya and Xu Tao had broken off their engagement, and Xu Tao ended up with Qin Wan due to fate.
Now, Guo Xiaoya and Xu Tao had not broken their engagement and were still in the countryside as an engaged couple. Qin Wan, being principled, would not interfere with Xu Tao.
Thus, Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao felt that the two would not end up together.
They did not meddle in the love triangle and only spoke out when they felt it necessary.
Since Xu Tao had not broken off his engagement with Guo Xiaoya, he needed to fulfill his duties as her fiancé. If he truly did not like her, he could have ended the engagement directly.
He shouldn’t make Guo Xiaoya create trouble for an innocent Qin Wan. The conflict between the two women was ultimately caused by Xu Tao.
Xu Tao listened carefully to Deng Minghao, thoughtful, then glanced at the fuming Qin Wan ahead of him and nodded in thanks.
“Thank you. I understand what I should do,” Xu Tao said, then went to find Guo Xiaoya.
Back at the youth commune, the male youths chopped wood and fetched water while the female youths prepared meals. Everyone was tired, so they simply stir-fried some vegetables and ate coarse grain cakes.
During lunch, Xu Tao and Guo Xiaoya were absent. The others left their food aside and began eating.
Halfway through, the two returned. Guo Xiaoya’s face was red as she followed Xu Tao. Passing by Qin Wan, she hesitated but said nothing.
After finishing lunch, everyone rested briefly on the kang, then returned to work when it was time.
The day ended with Deng Minghao, Shen Yi, and Ji Hongjun earning the same nine work points as the older youths.
Xu Tao earned eight points. Liu Kunming, one of the weaker male youths, still earned seven points.
Li Ruolan and Li Yingying earned seven points each. Qin Wan, the highest-earning new female youth, earned eight points.
Zhou Shengnan and Zheng Fanghua earned five points each. Guo Xiaoya earned the least—only four points.
After a full day, the new youths were sore all over. Li Ruolan and the others were fine since they wore gloves, but Li Yingying had several cuts on her hands.
Exhausted, the new youths returned to the youth commune. There, they saw the brigade leader with a few others measuring land beside the commune.
Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao were instantly alert. This was likely for their new houses, so they could build them quickly and move in.
They truly had no desire to see coarse grain cakes again.
Qin Wan glanced over as well. She had already given the money to the brigade leader at noon to build her house. Now, during the land measurement, her house would also be included.