When she came out of the room, even Zhou Jin was stunned by her appearance.
She had a checkered headscarf wrapped around her head, a homemade gauze mask covering her face so that only her clear, bright eyes were visible, and wore a faded but tightly woven long-sleeved shirt and pants. The cuffs and pant legs were tied tightly with cloth strips, and she even had on a pair of slightly worn work gloves.
Good grief—aside from her eyes, not a single inch of skin was exposed.
Looking at Pei Nian’s “bandit heading down the mountain” outfit, Zhou Jin’s expression turned uncertain. She couldn’t help wondering, Could Pei Nian be like me—a time traveler from decades in the future? Otherwise, what girl from this era would protect herself this thoroughly? This level of awareness is way ahead of its time.
Pei Nian sensed Zhou Jin’s scrutinizing gaze and knew exactly what she was thinking.
She wasn’t worried about arousing suspicion. Unlike Zhou Jin, whose soul had transmigrated midway through life, Pei Nian had genuinely lived here for eighteen years. Every habit she displayed had a perfectly reasonable explanation.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Jin walked over and asked cautiously,
“Pei Nian… aren’t you hot dressed like that?”
Her voice muffled behind the cloth, Pei Nian replied,
“Didn’t you know? We’re weeding and loosening the soil in the soybean fields today. The soybean plants scratch your skin, and the sun is brutal. You’re planning to go dressed like that?”
She pointed at Zhou Jin’s clearly inadequate outfit.
The moment Zhou Jin imagined the soybean fields, she chickened out.
“I… I’ll go put on another long-sleeved shirt and find a headscarf!”
She hurried back inside and copied Pei Nian’s outfit as closely as possible, wrapping herself up from head to toe.
When she came back out, she noticed that although the senior educated youths weren’t dressed quite as extremely as they were, they all wore straw hats and headscarves, with their pant legs tightly tied as well.
As expected. Working people aren’t stupid.
For some reason, Zhou Jin breathed a sigh of relief.
So Pei Nian wasn’t a transmigrator after all.
The two women stepped out of the dormitory dressed like that and immediately ran into the male educated youths waiting in the courtyard.
Shen An let out a whistle and laughed.
“Whoa! You two heroines heading off to hunt tigers?”
Gu Zheng’s gaze immediately settled on Pei Nian. Seeing that only her eyes were visible beneath all the protective layers, amusement flickered in his usually cool eyes.
Shen An quickly noticed the gloves on their hands.
“My mistake—I didn’t think to buy any.” He looked at them hopefully. “Comrades Pei Nian and Zhou Jin, would you ladies be kind enough to spare us a pair?”
Pei Nian shook her head honestly.
“I only have one extra pair.”
As she spoke, she really did pull a brand-new pair of work gloves from her shoulder bag.
Shen An’s eyes lit up, and he reached out—
Only for another long, well-defined hand to get there first.
Gu Zheng smoothly took the gloves, slipped them into his pocket, and then looked at Pei Nian.
“Thank you.”
His deep voice was calm and natural.
Shen An froze with his hand hanging awkwardly in midair.
“Brother Zheng, you…”
Gu Zheng gave him a casual glance.
“First come, first served.”
Shen An: “…”
He withdrew his hand with a deeply aggrieved expression.
“I have an extra pair.”
Zhou Jin spoke up at just the right moment.
She had bought two extra pairs at the commune the previous day, figuring she’d have a chance to trade them for money or supplies.
“Comrade Shen An, do you want them?”
She shot him a meaningful look.
Shen An immediately got the hint.
“Yes! Absolutely! Comrade Zhou Jin, you’re a lifesaver!”
His mood instantly brightened as he walked over to Zhou Jin, the two of them lowering their voices as they negotiated the terms of their little “trade.”
Meanwhile, there was no discussion of payment between Pei Nian and Gu Zheng, as though ownership of those gloves had always been perfectly obvious.
Watching from the side with envy, Gao Juan approached Zhou Jin and stared at the gloves.
“Zhou Jin, we came here together. Could you lend me those gloves first?”
At least this time she didn’t try calling her “Little Jin” to sound friendly.
Without even raising her eyes, Zhou Jin asked,
“Do I look like an easy mark to you?”
Gao Juan choked.
“But… you have extras. What’s wrong with lending me one pair…”
Only then did Zhou Jin look up at her, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
“Comrade Gao Juan, I paid for these with my own money. You think you can have them just because you opened your mouth and asked? What, are you trying to exploit the working people and get something for nothing?”
“I-I’m not! Don’t make things up!”
Gao Juan’s face turned pale. She hurriedly looked around, and seeing people watching, quickly backed away.
Li Xiao, who had been eavesdropping nearby, had secretly hoped Gao Juan would successfully borrow the gloves so she could benefit as well.
When she saw Gao Juan retreat after just a few sharp remarks from Zhou Jin, she curled her lips in disdain.
Useless.
Watching the exchange, Pei Nian found it hilarious.
Gao Juan was like one of those NPCs that constantly respawned—she simply couldn’t function without getting roasted by Zhou Jin every so often.
Seeing Pei Nian’s smiling eyes, Gu Zheng found himself smiling too.
He didn’t know why, but ever since he had first laid eyes on the young woman, he’d had the constant urge to smile.
By the time they arrived at the threshing ground where everyone was gathering, their group had become the center of attention.
The villagers looked at the newly arrived female educated youths, their faces wrapped up so tightly, and couldn’t help teasing them.
One elderly woman laughed.
“Oh my, where did these new brides come from, all wrapped up like that?”
Another outspoken aunt chimed in,
“Oh, Zhang Chunhua, give it a rest! These city girls have delicate skin. They’re not like us, weathered by wind and sun every day. Of course they have to protect themselves!”
The surrounding villagers burst into laughter.
Pei Nian couldn’t care less.
They couldn’t even see her face. Let them laugh if they wanted. It wasn’t going to cost her a piece of flesh.
The educated youths from Qu Liu Brigade always worked in a separate section of the fields.
Most of the villagers disliked teaming up with them because they worked slowly and lacked farming experience.
Brigade Leader Wang Fugen assigned the experienced educated youths to mentor the newcomers, splitting them into two groups.
Pei Nian, Gu Zheng, Shen An, Zhao Xingguo, Li Hong, and Zhang Aihua were placed in the same group.
The moment Pei Nian stepped into the soybean field, she was immensely grateful for her foresight.
The edges of the soybean leaves were surprisingly sharp. As the sun climbed higher, the heat grew increasingly oppressive, and mosquitoes buzzed everywhere.
After working for only a short while, her waist felt as though it were about to break, and her back ached terribly.
She secretly took a drink of spiritual spring water to ease her fatigue and gritted her teeth as she struggled to keep up with everyone else’s pace.
She silently took back her earlier boast that “farming isn’t that hard.”
Compared to real farming, planting crops with nothing but a thought inside her space was practically child’s play.
And when it came to this kind of endless, repetitive manual labor, all her tremendous strength was almost useless.
Tired was tired.
She cursed inwardly.
Damn Zhao Jianguo! It’s all his fault I ended up being sent to the countryside! That beating I gave him wasn’t nearly enough!
In the next row over, a skinny, dark-skinned middle-aged woman was weeding as well.
Watching Pei Nian’s slow movements, she deliberately raised her voice for everyone nearby to hear.
“Tsk, see that? City girls are just too delicate. Wrapped up tighter than rice dumplings, and she’s already exhausted after doing so little work. If we had to rely on people like them for the autumn harvest, we’d be waiting until the day lilies bloomed!”
Already physically and mentally exhausted, Pei Nian immediately lost her temper.
She straightened up and noticed that the woman herself hadn’t done much more work than she had.
Raising her voice, she shot back,
“It’s true that I’m working slowly, but at least I’m not deliberately slacking off. Unlike some people who hardly get any work done but sure have plenty of energy to flap their gums.”
The woman had been struck right where it hurt.
Her face flushed red as she argued,
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Pei Nian couldn’t be bothered arguing with her.
She simply raised her hand and called out to the work-point recorder not far away.
“Comrade scorekeeper! This auntie keeps talking and is disrupting my work!”
The scorekeeper had already noticed Aunt Wang loafing around and had been looking for an opportunity to warn her.
Hearing this, he immediately walked over and said sternly,
“Aunt Wang, focus on your work. If I catch you slacking off and gossiping again, don’t expect to earn any work points this afternoon.”
Aunt Wang instantly panicked.
“I know, I know! I won’t talk anymore! I’ll get back to work right now! Please don’t deduct my work points…”
She hurriedly lowered her head and started working again, her hands moving much faster than before.