Su Xiaoruan no longer needed to go to school every day, so naturally, she had time to go to work.
However, Grandma Su couldn't bear to let her go work in the fields under the sun, so she sent Zhao Yingzi to the field, leaving the household chores for the two of them, grandmother and granddaughter.
The family was raising two pigs, which also counted towards Work Points.
Raising one pig earned three Work Points per day, and at the end of the year, the Production Brigade would uniformly slaughter them and distribute the meat.
Su Xiaoruan's family was raising two, earning six Work Points daily.
Grandma Su fed the Chickens and Ducks at home, and Su Xiaoruan went out to gather Pig Feed.
At the foot of the mountain, there were large patches of alfalfa; this grass, once planted, could be utilized for five to eight years, though the fresh grass yield started declining from the fifth year.
This was very convenient to grow, requiring little effort and no fertilizer at all.
Besides alfalfa, Su Xiaoruan also planned to cut some pigweed and thistle, as pigs liked to eat these too.
If you want the pigs to grow well, you definitely have to feed them well and clean the pigsty every day to prevent them from getting sick.
The pigs being fed now belonged to the Production Brigade, meaning they were public property.
If one of these pigs died due to one's own negligence in feeding, not only would the Work Points be lost, but there might even be deductions.
After gathering the Pig Feed, Su Xiaoruan thought about digging up some Wild Vegetables to take back.
The Wild Vegetables this season were delicious—fresh and tender—and great whether served cold or used to make Dumplings or Steamed Buns.
She had just dug up two clumps of Shepherd's purse when someone approached.
"Oh, Xiaoruan, you aren't going to school Today? Don't tell me your family stopped you? See what I told you, even though your Grandmother protects you like a treasure every day, she's still biased toward those Eldest grandsons."
Su Xiaoruan looked up; it was an Acquaintance, Li Hongxing.
Li Hongxing was Yu Zhanyong's Wife, making her Yu Zhansong's Cousin's Wife, in a way.
Because the engagement was broken off and it caused quite a stir, the two families basically didn't speak when they met now.
Su Xiaoruan never had a good impression of this Li Hongxing; she was lazy and loved to take advantage of others. Seeing her eagerly approaching now was truly annoying.
"Sister-in-law Hongxing, my family matters are none of your business as an outsider. Also, who told you I stopped studying? You start babbling the moment you arrive; what do you even know!"
Li Hongxing paused for a moment before her face turned cold.
"You, Su Xiaoruan, I was speaking kindly on your behalf, yet you don't appreciate it?"
"Nonsense!"
Su Xiaoruan showed no mercy, as there was no one else around anyway.
"You were speaking kindly on my behalf? You are clearly trying to Provoke! I can't be bothered to pay attention to a malicious woman like you. Stay away from me in the future, or I will tell my Grandmother how you disparaged my family members' Reputation in front of me."
This final Threat was quite effective.
Grandma Su held a very high Reputation in the Village.
Back then, she, a Woman, raised four sons and two daughters, managing to survive those difficult times, relying on more than just a sharp tongue.
Grandma Su was once a fierce person who chopped off a wolf's head with a cleaver!
Even though nearly twenty years had passed since that incident, the villagers still talked about it animatedly.
After all, such a fierce Woman was truly rare.
The key was that Grandma Su's fierceness was a survival skill in those harsh times.
It was precisely because of Grandma Su's ability that she managed to support six children, raise them all, and ensure every one of them married a Wife.
For that alone, which villager wouldn't give her a thumbs-up?
Li Hongxing flinched, shrinking her neck back in fright, but quickly realized that the one speaking harshly to her was just a Little girl.
Looking left and right, Li Hongxing cursed, "Ungrateful wretch! You'll have your time to suffer later."
After throwing out that remark, Li Hongxing hurried back the way she came.
Su Xiaoruan couldn't be bothered to argue with her and continued digging the Shepherd's purse with her head down.
The Shepherd's purse at this time of year was still very tender; if she dug up enough, she could add some meat to steam Steamed Buns.
Right, adding some Wood Ear Mushroom would make it even tastier.
Su Xiaoruan dug for a while longer, satisfied with the basket full of Shepherd's purse. After feeding the pigs later, she could dig another basket, which should be enough for the Family to have a meal of Steamed Buns.
Su Xiaoruan looked up and saw a figure blocking the sunlight ahead.
Su Xiaoruan squinted for a moment before recognizing him as her Benefactor, Huo Yunting.
"Why are you here?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Su Xiaoruan realized it was inappropriate.
This wasn't her home; why couldn't he be here?
"That's not what I meant. Um, thank you for saving me earlier."
As Su Xiaoruan spoke, she quickly lowered her head, her eyes darting around, and then bowed again.
Huo Yunting took half a step back. "It was just a small effort; you don't need to take it to heart."
If it were anyone else, they might use the custom of 'a Life-saving grace demands repayment with marriage' as an excuse.
But Huo Yunting dared not, nor did he wish to.
Since childhood, people had called him an Unlucky Egg; the villagers called him Huo Meixing. He had never imagined that a Woman would become involved in his life.
He didn't want to harm her.
Su Xiaoruan didn't know his thoughts; she still insisted on thanking him again before quickly fleeing the area.
For some reason, facing Huo Yunting always gave her a strong sense of pressure.
Thump-thump!
Her heart pounded rapidly.
Upon returning home, Su Xiaoruan sat on a stool and began recalling Huo Yunting's fate in her previous life.
This Man seemed to have remained unmarried. He suffered many injuries, big and small, while serving in the army, but two years later, he took his Father and Huo Xiaoyan away, and never returned after that.
Because of this, the Huo Family's bizarre Grandmother and Grandfather sat by their door almost every day, cursing Huo Yunting as an ungrateful wretch.
It wasn't that the Huo Family Members didn't try to cause trouble at the Military Region, but the problem was they had never cared about Huo Yunting before. Moreover, Huo Yunting was transferred away later and never wrote home, not even informing them of his promotions, so they were completely in the dark—where could they even look?
Thinking of Huo Yunting's lonely life in the previous life, Su Xiaoruan felt immense sorrow.
Hadn't she herself remained unmarried in her past life too?
Ultimately, it was all thanks to that bastard Yu Zhansong!
If he hadn't kept stringing her along while being ambiguous with other women, how could she have missed the most beautiful time of a Woman's life?
In the end, she had successfully taken revenge on the Scumbag man, and her career was somewhat successful.
But what did it matter?
Her blood relatives were all dead, and she didn't have a single person beside her with whom she could share intimate thoughts.
In her past life, she was probably worse off than Huo Yunting.