Luo Xi looked up and saw Team Leader Yang Xiulan holding two corn seedlings in her hands, her expression dark as she glared at Song Xingui.
“Educated Youth Song, I just told you that since you’re not familiar with weeding, you can take your time. But you absolutely cannot hoe up the corn seedlings!”
“If you accidentally hoe one up, fine. We can plant another corn seed in its place and still get a harvest. But you actually went and hoed up a seedling, then, afraid someone would notice, stuck it back into the soil!”
Fortunately, Yang Xiulan had been careful. Knowing that the educated youths weren’t particularly reliable when it came to farm work, she kept an eye on this area most of the time. Otherwise, she really might not have noticed.
Luo Xi looked closely and, sure enough, saw that the broken end of the corn seedling had quite a bit of soil on it. Clearly, the seedling had been chopped in half and then stuck back into the ground.
Now that was quite a move.
Being scolded in front of so many people, Song Xingui’s face flushed bright red. But she had no grounds to argue, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.
Seeing her look so unwilling to accept the criticism, Yang Xiulan became even angrier.
“These are all crops! If everyone did what you did, what kind of harvest would we have this year?”
“Making a mistake isn’t scary. What’s scary is making a mistake and refusing to admit it. If you keep behaving like this, I really don’t dare have someone like you in my group.”
Song Xingui was furious and blurted out, “It wasn’t just me! Why are you only picking on me? You’re doing this because you think I’m easy to bully!”
Yang Xiulan frowned. “Who else? Point them out.”
Song Xingui immediately pointed at Zhang Xiaoqiao.
“Her! I just saw her hoe a corn seedling to death too, and she stuck it back in!”
Zhang Xiaoqiao was also an educated youth who had been sent down to the countryside, but she had arrived more than two years ago.
Being pointed at by Song Xingui, her expression turned ugly.
“Educated Youth Song, you need evidence before making accusations. When did I ever hoe up a seedling?”
Song Xingui snorted. “You dare do it but don’t dare admit it? I clearly saw you hoe it up and then stick it back in.”
Yang Xiulan didn’t want to waste any more time.
“Then show us. Is that corn seedling the one she stuck back in?”
Song Xingui puffed out her chest and strode over to a corn seedling. Without hesitation, she yanked it hard.
Sure enough, the seedling came out of the ground with almost no resistance. Its top had been cleanly chopped off, leaving a fresh, even break covered in soil.
“How about that? I told you I saw her do it! Hmph, I’m not the only one who does this.”
Zhang Xiaoqiao hadn’t expected Song Xingui to have actually seen her. She was extremely embarrassed.
“I—I didn’t do it on purpose. I only accidentally chopped up one seedling…”
Song Xingui was determined to take this all the way and refused to let her off.
“Heh, what do you mean, you didn’t do it on purpose? Maybe chopping it up wasn’t intentional, but sticking it back in wasn’t intentional either?”
Yang Xiulan’s expression was extremely grim. Every time she was assigned educated youths to her group, she felt like it shortened her life by several years.
“Educated Youth Song, two work points deducted. Educated Youth Zhang, one work point deducted. If you make the same mistake again, you won’t be staying in my group.”
Song Xingui was dissatisfied. “Why does she only lose one work point? I refuse to accept that!”
“If you don’t accept it, swallow it!” Yang Xiulan snapped.
Song Xingui pouted. Seeing that nobody was speaking up for her—not even Yuan Jiansi, who kept his head lowered and didn’t even look at her—tears began to fall from her eyes.
She looked rather pitiful and delicate as she cried, if only her face had been completely healed.
Unfortunately, although the swelling had gone down, her face was still mottled with patches of blue and purple. Combined with her crying expression, the effect was more comical than pitiful.
Luo Xi lowered her head and continued working, calculating how much longer until they could clock out.
The weather was getting hotter and hotter. By the time she finished the water in her canteen, it happened to be the end of the workday.
Shi Yanlan walked beside her.
“I’m exhausted. And I still have to go back and cook.”
Luo Xi laughed. “Oh, right. It’s your turn to cook again.”
Shi Yanlan nodded.
“Exactly. But it’s only steamed mixed-grain rice and some boiled greens.”
She was hardworking and willing to put in the effort. For her, these household chores really weren’t much trouble.
“You’re living alone now, so you have to do everything yourself. It must be tiring, right?”
Luo Xi wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“It’s fine. I steamed extra rice this morning, so I can just eat the leftover rice for lunch.”
After returning home, Luo Xi quickly took a shower.
Her space had a preservation effect, so she had boiled plenty of hot water the previous night. Now it came in handy.
After washing up and eating lunch, she lay down on the bed for her afternoon nap, but she couldn’t quite fall asleep.
She simply got up and started drawing instead.
Come to think of it, she felt that her drawing skills were getting better and better.
At the very least, her characters’ hairstyles had evolved from big waves to small waves, and then to tiny, subtle waves—the style commonly known as a “ramen head.”
When she first came down to the countryside, she had only brought a few dozen yuan with her. After buying a quilt and other necessities, she barely had anything left.
She had sold yellow books, sold watches, and gotten more than a hundred yuan back from Yuan Jiansi. Altogether, she had made more than four hundred yuan.
But after building the house, digging the well, ordering furniture, buying a cooking pot, and purchasing other necessities, she had only a little over eighty yuan left in her pocket.
She sighed.
She simply couldn’t make money as quickly as she spent it. What was she supposed to do?
If she relied solely on selling yellow books, how long would it take to make enough money to achieve financial freedom?
Now that she had her own house, it was more convenient for her to draw. But she only got one or two days off each month. During the busy farming season, she might not even get a single day off.
She wouldn’t have much time to go to the county town to buy and sell things, so she had to think of another way.
Then she remembered that her hemp thread was almost running out too.
To save money, she had bought ordinary white drawing paper. She cut it to size, drew the illustrations, and only after finishing them did she bind the books with hemp thread.
Busy days always passed quickly, and soon another day off arrived.
Luo Xi reached the county town early that morning. She had changed her makeup again.
Speaking of which, her cosmetics were things she had brought back from overseas before, and now they were finally coming in handy.
However, not long after she set up her stall, a boy began staring at her.
Luo Xi looked up and, to her surprise, recognized him.
It was none other than Ma Dongdong—the same Ma Dongdong she had beaten with a brick over and over again.
She pretended not to recognize him and forced a smile.
“Are you looking to buy some books?”
Luo Xi’s makeup skills were quite good, and Ma Dongdong failed to recognize her. However, he recognized the covers of her books.
“How many of these books do you have?”
He lowered his voice as much as possible.
Luo Xi frowned slightly and glanced behind him.
There was another boy about the same age following him.
She assessed her own strength. Taking on two people at once seemed a little difficult.
After all, she was just an ordinary, delicate young woman.
“I only have one set. These are red books—very, very red books. I’m not charging much either. Three yuan per book, or fifteen yuan for the whole set.”
Ma Dongdong frowned.
Why was it more expensive this time?
He looked Luo Xi up and down.
“I’m genuinely interested in buying. How about we find somewhere to inspect the goods?”
Luo Xi looked at him strangely.
Was this a trap?
Was he trying to lure her somewhere so they could extort her?
She firmly shook her head.
“We’ll trade right here. Money in one hand, goods in the other.”
Ma Dongdong thought she simply didn’t trust him, so he lowered his voice and explained.
“I don’t mean anything else. I bought two sets of books some time ago, and the covers look a lot like yours. If they’re the same kind, I’d like to get them from you regularly.”
Luo Xi was genuinely surprised.
“How would that work? You want to make a business out of this?”
Ma Dongdong nodded.
“That’s right. It’s a long story, and this isn’t a convenient place to talk. Why don’t we find somewhere to discuss it?”
Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, Luo Xi thought for a moment before nodding.
She gathered up the books she had laid on the ground, stood up, and followed Ma Dongdong and his companion, quickly leaving the black market behind.