Seeing her step out, Ling Hao emerged from his own house as well. The moment his eyes landed on her outfit, the corner of his mouth twitched—she was bundled up like a mummy. He couldn’t help wondering if she wouldn’t faint from the heat once the field work actually started.
Wen Ya offered a quick greeting before walking ahead, with Ling Hao falling into step right behind her.
By the time they arrived at the gathering point, the other educated youths had already assembled. Standing together in a tight cluster, they formed a stark, visible divide against the local villagers, who kept their distance.
Wen Ya made her way over and took a spot on the edge of the crowd. Ling Hao walked over as well and stood right beside her, though he made sure to leave a polite amount of space between them.
From the moment the two made their entrance, Xie Ling’s eyes had been glued to Ling Hao. Seeing him naturally settle next to Wen Ya sent a spike of fury through her. She didn’t care how much space he left between them—distance didn’t soften her sheer hostility toward Wen Ya in the slightest.
Still, she didn’t dare scheme up ways to sabotage her anymore. Over the last two days, every time the thought crossed her mind, a splitting headache would seize her. She was thoroughly terrified. Yet, even if she couldn’t plot against her, she couldn’t stop herself from shooting venomous glares in her direction.
Wen Ya didn’t pay her any mind. In fact, everyone else who glanced at Wen Ya couldn’t help their lips from twitching at her bizarre outfit.
She wore long sleeves, thick trousers, a wide straw hat wrapped with a protective veil, and heavy work gloves. To top it off, a canvas water canteen was slung across her shoulder.
The local villagers stared at her as if she were a circus attraction. Having worked these fields for decades, they had never seen anyone bundle themselves up so absurdly tight.
Truth was, Wen Ya was terrified of getting tan, and even more terrified of insect bites. Although she carried a sachet of pest-repellent herbs in her pocket, she had no idea if it would actually work out here; keeping fully covered was the only way she felt safe.
Before long, the production team leader arrived and began assigning the day’s tasks. The women were assigned to weed the crops, while the men were sent off to heavier labor. The newly arrived male educated youths, however, were placed on weeding duty alongside the women for a few days to help them adjust.
Wen Ya followed the main crowd out to the cornfields, where an experienced villager showed the newcomers how to pull the weeds without damaging the stalks.
Stepping into the tall corn, Wen Ya immediately felt vindicated about her outfit—those razor-sharp corn leaves brushed against skin like saw blades!
The veteran educated youths were used to it and had dressed appropriately. Wang Meiyu, having done this work in her past life, also knew exactly what to wear.
The rest of the newcomers weren’t so fortunate, many having shown up in short-sleeved shirts.
Xie Ling was one of them. At first, she had scoffed at Wen Ya for over-bundling herself, but it didn’t take long for utter regret to set in. Within minutes of starting, her bare arms were crisscrossed with red, stinging scratches.
Her face burned under the sun, and watching Wen Ya glided through the sharp leaves completely unscathed made her blood boil.
What she didn’t realize was that Wen Ya was suffering in her own way. Wrapped up so tightly under the sweltering heat, she felt like she was being steamed alive inside a bamboo basket. Sweat drenched her clothes from head to toe. Yet, if she unbundled herself, her fear of bugs and cuts won out every time.
Worst of all, they had no proper tools—they had to pull every single weed with their bare hands.
Watching the local women glide down their rows at lightning speed, Wen Ya looked down at her own reddened hands and felt like they’d be completely ruined by the end of the day.
She sighed, looked down, and kept plucking at the dirt.
The field was split into individual plots, with work points assigned based on completed sections. If she managed to finish her designated plot today, she would earn four work points.
Who am I kidding? she thought miserably. At this rate, it’s going to take me two whole days just to finish one plot.
So, she kept her head down and ploughed through. Slow as she was, she didn’t dare stop completely; even if she was just going through the motions, she had to keep moving.
Just then, the team leader’s booming voice echoed across the field, dressing someone down. She could afford to earn fewer work points, but she certainly didn’t want to get publicly chewed out.
“Educated Youth Xie! Can you stop slacking off?” the team leader shouted. “Everyone else is working their fingers to the bone while you just stand there! Do you want work points or not?”
Hearing the shout, Wen Ya hurriedly picked up her pace.
“Team Leader, the corn leaves cut my arm!” Xie Ling protested, trying to defend herself so she wouldn’t leave a terrible impression. “I was just checking the cut!”
The team leader glared at her.
“Next time, wear long sleeves or put on arm guards!”
With that warning, he turned and marched down the path.
Not daring to stand around any longer, Xie Ling dropped back down to her knees and resumed weeding. She silently cursed herself for not wearing long sleeves, wincing as the rough leaves scraped across her raw skin with every movement.
An hour into the labor, Wen Ya felt like her hands and legs no longer belonged to her.
Why does it hurt so much? Waaah… Damn that scumbag father of mine! I let him off way too easy!
I should have made him suffer ten times worse than this! Because of him, I’m stuck here enduring this agony!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she grew. She spent the next few minutes silently cursing her scumbag father’s entire ancestral line until her rage finally cooled into a dull simmer.
She made a mental vow: the very first chance she got a day off, she was going back to give that scumbag another beating. There was no way she was letting him live comfortably while she broke her back out here.
With her inner rant finished, she stood up, wiped the sweat from her brow, and pulled out her canteen to take a few gulps of spiritual spring water.
As the cool liquid hit her throat, a wave of energy washed over her. Ah, nothing beats the spiritual spring from the courtyard space!
She glanced around to gauge her progress. She wasn’t the fastest, but she certainly wasn’t the slowest either.
She couldn’t compare to the fast workers, but as for the slow ones…
Well, she had to admit: Xie Ling was the only person slower than her. Everyone else was outpacing her by a mile. Even the female lead was moving with surprising efficiency, and the male lead wasn’t doing too badly either.
The biggest shock was Ling Hao. He was moving at a blistering pace, leaving even the seasoned villagers in his dust. Insane strength, she marvelled.
Straightening her back, she took another small sip of spring water, feeling the last traces of physical exhaustion melt away.
She lowered her head and dove back into the soil. She had originally estimated it would take her two days to finish this plot, but with such a powerful cheat up her sleeve, she refused to believe she couldn’t handle a little field work!
Another hour passed. Wen Ya gathered her pulled weeds into neat bundles, scooped them into her arms, and hauled them out to the edge of the field.
Dropping the pile, she collapsed into the shade of a tree, pulled out her canteen, and took small, careful sips. As she drank, her eyes darted nervously around the perimeter, terrified the team leader might catch her resting and scold her.
After taking a short breather, she pushed herself up and walked back to her plot. There was still a mountain of work left.
The moment she crouched back down, Xie Ling—who was standing nearby—glared at her back, bitterly thinking: How come the team leader never catches HER slacking off? What a waste!
“Educated Youth Xie! How is it that every time I walk past, I catch you slacking off?”
Xie Ling jumped out of her skin. She spun around to find the team leader standing at the edge of the plot, his face thunderous and his brows knitted into a tight scowl.
“Team Leader, I…”
“You what? Look at this field! Out of all the new youths, you’re the absolute slowest—and you still have the nerve to stand around goofing off?”
“I wasn’t—”
“Get back to work! You keep this up, and I’m calling a village meeting to criticize you publicly!”
Xie Ling’s face flushed a deep, burning crimson. Tears burst from her eyes and streamed down her cheeks in heavy drops.
“You still have the nerve to cry?” the team leader barked, entirely unsympathetic. “Look at Educated Youth Wen over there! She’s younger than you, and while she might be a bit slow, she’s diligent and keeps her head down without slacking off! Now look at you—I’ve walked past twice now, and both times you were standing there doing nothing!”
Hearing that, Xie Ling sobbed even louder. Why hadn’t he seen Wen Ya taking a break earlier? Why did he only ever catch HER?
Waaaaah!
The team leader let out a disgusted huff, turned on his heel, and marched off.
Useless, he grumbled inwardly. Can’t do the work, can’t take a bit of criticism, and bursts into tears the second you call her out. Why can’t she just put her head down and work like everyone else?