Recently, the village chief of Huajia Village heard several interesting stories, and remarkably, they were all about Qu Qing.
The first story was about the young man from the Hua family at the village entrance, who, along with a wild child with different-colored eyes he had picked up and insisted on raising, was sent to marry the rogue and good-for-nothing Qu Qing. What people never expected was that not only did Qu Qing keep the two—one big and one small—but somehow he also had the two shave their heads. However, the most astonishing thing came afterward: Qu Qing even took the newly married man to the fields to start planting crops seriously!?
Many people who had previously looked down on Qu Qing were exclaiming, could it be that the heavens are about to rain red? How could someone so hopeless undergo such a significant transformation?
Some said he was possessed by evil spirits, others speculated that he had gained enlightenment, while some claimed he was thinking about becoming a monk. In any case, the speculations about him and his family became a topic of gossip among the farmers in Huajia Village during their tea breaks and meals.
Although Qu Qing’s current residence was somewhat far from the village, his fields were connected to those of other families in the village. Therefore, every move he made while diligently farming in the fields was fully observed by the villagers.
Qu Qing had originally been a source of great concern for the village chief of Huajia Village. His presence negatively impacted the village’s reputation, and on top of that, his neglect of farming caused the village chief to receive several reminders from the town’s head.
Every time, the village chief would run to Qu Qing’s house to advise him, but that scoundrel wouldn’t listen and was even rude to others. After a few attempts, the village chief decided to give up on him.
Upon hearing that he had changed for the better and was seriously farming, the village chief was the first to be skeptical. He prided himself on being the one who knew Qu Qing best in the village. Given Qu Qing’s previous behavior, the idea of him changing into a better person? That would be as impossible as the sun rising in the west.
A day later, when he asked about this again, he learned that Qu Qing not only had sown the seeds in the rice paddy field but he had also started to loosen the soil himself with a hoe.
The village chief was still not entirely convinced. That afternoon, after finishing his inspection of his own fields, he puffed on his pipe, with a small pouch of dry tobacco hanging from his waist. He leisurely walked over to Qu Qing’s field, which was not far away.
Standing at the edge of Qu Qing’s field, he carefully examined the land where the seeds had been sown and remarked, “Oh, not bad! You know that after sowing seeds, you need to drain the water.”
After saying that, he squatted down to examine the seeds sown in the field and the soil’s moisture levels, and he was surprised to find that everything was perfectly balanced.
The village chief felt a bit surprised because he knew that Qu Qing hadn’t farmed for many years since moving to the village. After thinking for a moment, it all became clear to him—it must be the young man from the Hua family’s doing. It was very likely that the entire job was done by that young man.
With this in mind, the village chief decided to head over to Qu Qing’s dry land to take a look, since it wasn’t very far. After all, those two acres of land were not something a little ge’er could finish by himself in such a short time. If Qu Qing was willing to accept that ugly ge’er, he must have had some ulterior motive. It was very possible that he was letting the Hua family’s ge’er do all the hard work in the fields.
When he actually arrived, he was shocked—could it be that the sun had really risen in the west?
All three members of the Qu family were in the fields. Not only that, but the village chief was surprised to see that the person he thought should be working hard in the fields was leisurely resting under a tree, while the one who should have been resting was sweating profusely, digging in the soil.
For a moment, the village chief doubted whether he was seeing things correctly. “Gou’er—” he called out from a distance, signaling his presence before slowly walking over.
Upon hearing the voice, Qu Qing paused his work, wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked toward the source of the sound. He saw a man in a blue cloth shirt slowly descending from a nearby hill about a hundred meters away. The man had a small goatee and appeared to be around fifty or sixty years old.
The other person called out Hua Zizhou’s previous name. Judging from his clothing, it’s suggested that he’s not someone from far away, Qu Qing could deduce that he was definitely a villager. Since the man only addressed Hua Zizhou and didn’t call out to him, it could be inferred that there was at least an 80% chance that this person had a poor relationship with his former self.
Considering all of this, Qu Qing decided not to approach and engage in conversation with the man, instead, he just continued to speak less and work more. After all, the two acres combined totaled over 1,300 square meters, and he had only just begun to loosen the soil. He and Hua Zizhou had taken turns resting and working all morning and had only managed to cover about
fifty square meters. Such efficiency was truly disappointing. Now he finally understood why the invention of the curved plow in ancient times was considered a significant agricultural revolution that made its mark in history. If he had an ox right now, the efficiency would have definitely increased several times over!
Of course, for someone who was currently worried about having enough to eat, let alone owning an ox, even a piece of beef was out of his reach.
He had to find a way to raise an ox.
Qu Qing dug the hoe into the ground with determination, drops of sweat falling into the soil. His palms had become chafed and bloodied, but he couldn’t stop, nor did he dare to stop.
Indeed, survival had never been a simple matter, money and good fortune were not easily obtained. However, he willingly accepted everything he was facing now and was more than willing to work for it.
After all, he had suddenly received three hundred thousand, there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. If you get something, you must be prepared to lose something else in return.
After calling out, the village chief clearly saw that Qu Qing stopped his movements. He thought the young man would at least greet him, but to his surprise, he merely paused for a moment without acknowledging him.
“As expected, he’s still that impolite wild kid,” he said, slightly furrowing his brows as he slowly walked over to Hua Zizhou’s side. He teased, “You’ve got quite a knack, Gou’er. I didn’t expect that after just a few days apart, you’d gotten married and managed to tame that monkey to do the farming while you enjoy the comforts on the side.”
Qu Qing, who was quietly listening nearby, felt uncomfortable upon hearing the harsh meaning in the village chief’s words and frowned slightly uncomfortably.
In Huajia Village, regardless of gender, everyone was expected to work in the fields. In ordinary families, both men and women labored together, while some lazy families would make their wives do more work while they enjoyed a more comfortable life. Even if a woman was pregnant, they still had to work in the fields. It was unheard of for a man to farm while his wife enjoyed a life of leisure, especially for a young man of low status who was not skilled in reproduction.
After hearing that Qu Qing had been literate and educated for many years, Hua Zizhou wished he could hold Qu Qing in the palm of his hand, treating him with utmost care. He seemed to completely understand and express deep sympathy for Qu Qing’s past reckless behavior, simply because of their connection through being an educated son.
The next day, when it was time to work in the fields, Hua Zizhou eagerly tried to take on all the labor himself, wanting to prevent Qu Qing from having to lift a hoe even once.
“Don’t make me dislike you.”
In the end, it was only after Qu Qing said this with a cold face that Hua Zizhou gave up his insistence on taking on everything himself. Afterward, while Qu Qing was digging, he took Mao’er to search for wild vegetables. Estimating that the time was about right, he returned to replace the exhausted Qu Qing. However, once Qu Qing had rested, he would snatch the hoe back and continue working. By the end of the morning, the total time he spent holding the hoe probably didn’t even add up to an hour.
Because Qu Qing wouldn’t let him work, he spent the entire morning feeling anxious and guilty in the rain. When the village chief spoke up to inquire, he detected a hint of sarcasm in his tone but didn’t dare to retort. Feeling ashamed, he buried his head in his chest, feeling unworthy to face the village chief.
“V-Village chief… I…”
At this moment, Qu Qing walked over with a hoe in hand. Upon realizing the other person’s identity, he wore a smile that carried a hint of sharpness in his eyes. His pace was neither hurried nor slow, exuding a certain demeanor. “Why does the village chief speak like this? He has been working hard. Everything under that tree over there is the result of his labor this morning. Also, since there’s only one hoe at home, we take turns working the land. It just so happened that you arrived while I was working. Lastly, he has changed his name. I hope the village chief won’t call him by that old name anymore. Let me formally introduce him: his current name is Hua Zizhou, and beside him is my son, Qu Xin.”
For a moment, the village chief was really shocked by him. However, he quickly noticed that the hand hanging by his side was subtly trembling, and the skin was broken, revealing the flesh and blood underneath.
The village chief laughed in his heart, ‘Well, it turns out this kid has quite a presence, he almost had me fooled.’