Pei Nian was actually doing fairly well.
The spiritual spring water had eased most of the soreness in her muscles, and with Gu Zheng taking over part of her workload, her body had adapted much faster than she’d expected. Aside from the mental exhaustion that came after spending the entire day on edge, she felt physically fine.
The moment Gao Juan entered the women’s dormitory, she collapsed onto the edge of the kang bed.
Later, after fetching hot water and washing up, she looked at the blisters covering her palms and the red scratches left by the bean vines on her arms.
Her eyes instantly filled with tears.
Her shoulders trembled as she sobbed quietly, completely lacking the energy she usually had for picking fights with Zhou Jin.
Sitting on the kang undoing her hair, Zhou Jin glanced at Gao Juan and felt nothing but irritation.
Annoyed as she was, she didn’t say anything.
After all…
She wasn’t much better off herself.
She was utterly exhausted.
Farm work really isn’t meant for human beings.
Meanwhile, Zhou Jin was making plans.
The most important thing now was to wait until the next rest day, then head to either the commune or the county town to sell some goods in exchange for cash and ration coupons.
When autumn came and grain was distributed, if she hadn’t earned enough work points and didn’t receive enough grain, she’d have to buy extra food herself.
Watching Gao Juan, Li Xiao suddenly began rummaging through her luggage.
A moment later, she pulled out a small brown glass bottle and walked over.
In a low voice, she asked,
“Gao Juan, I’ve got an ointment here. It’s specially for blisters and scrapes, and it works really well. Want one? Twenty cents a bottle.”
Pei Nian was making her bed nearby.
Hearing that, her hands paused.
Good grief…
Li Xiao really can find a business opportunity anywhere.
Gao Juan looked at the medicine bottle, then at the blisters on her hands.
She hated the thought of spending twenty cents.
But she was even more afraid that her hands would be too badly injured to work tomorrow.
Finally, gritting her teeth, she pulled a wrinkled stack of bills from the pocket closest to her body and handed over the money in exchange for the little bottle.
Wu Min returned after washing up.
Seeing Gao Juan red-eyed as she applied the ointment, she curled her lips in disdain.
Her voice wasn’t particularly loud, but it was just enough for everyone in the room to hear.
“You can’t even handle this? So delicate. Who hasn’t gone through the same thing?”
As she spoke, her gaze swept across Zhou Jin, who was combing her hair, and Pei Nian, who had already lain down.
Her tone grew even more sarcastic.
“If you ask me, some people are just stupid. They insist on struggling through everything themselves.”
“Unlike certain others…”
“They’ve got plenty of people lining up to curry favor by doing their work for them.”
The malice in those words was like a poisoned needle.
Pei Nian’s eyes snapped open.
Zhou Jin stopped combing her hair as well, her expression turning cold.
Zhang Aihua had been soaking her feet.
The moment she heard that, she knew trouble was coming.
“Wu Min!” she hurriedly interrupted. “What nonsense are you talking about? Stop it!”
“How is that nonsense?”
Already in a foul mood, Wu Min raised her voice.
“Didn’t Gu Zheng and Jiang Xu help them with their work? Everyone saw it!”
Zhou Jin’s short temper flared instantly.
Setting down her comb, she looked straight at Wu Min.
“Comrade Wu Min, you can eat carelessly, but you can’t speak carelessly.”
“Jiang Xu helping me was simply comrades lending each other a hand.”
“Afterward, I thanked him properly according to etiquette.”
“So what’s the problem?”
Pei Nian was equally annoyed.
Although she’d noticed Gu Zheng treated her differently, she’d also been careful to keep proper boundaries.
He had helped her work.
She had thanked him in return.
Without hesitation, she raised the issue to a moral level.
“Wu Min, today was our first day. We weren’t used to the work.”
“Helping each other and thanking those who helped afterward—that’s called comradeship among educated youths.”
“Unlike certain people…”
“…who take other people’s kindness completely for granted and treat them like unpaid hired labor.”
The “hired labor” she was referring to was Zheng Ping.
The man hadn’t even finished his own work before running off to help Wu Min.
Afterward, he hadn’t received so much as a single word of thanks.
The moment the words “hired labor” left her mouth, Wu Min’s face turned deathly pale.
Her voice changed with panic as she frantically waved her hands.
“Zhou Jin! Don’t talk nonsense! I never did that! Zheng Ping helped because he wanted to! I never treated him like hired labor!”
She’d practically confessed without realizing it.
Pei Nian gave her a sidelong glance.
“Did I ever say I was talking about you and Zheng Ping?”
Nearby, Zhang Aihua continued soaking her feet, secretly feeling immensely satisfied.
Only heaven knew how many arguments she’d had with Wu Min over the past year.
That woman’s mouth had always been unbelievably stubborn.
Turns out…
It wasn’t that she was impossible to deal with.
She’d simply never been hit where it really hurt.
The commotion in the women’s dormitory quickly attracted the attention of the men’s side.
Standing in the courtyard, Zhao Xingguo called loudly,
“What’s going on? Why’s everyone arguing over there?”
Pei Nian couldn’t help thinking,
Well, here he comes…
The educated youth leader who’s a little too fond of acting like an official and sticking his nose into everything.
The people directly involved—Pei Nian, Zhou Jin, Wu Min, and Zhang Aihua—walked outside, followed by Li Xiao, who was eagerly craning her neck for gossip, and Gao Juan, who was still quietly sniffling.
Seeing Zhao Xingguo approach, Zhang Aihua rolled her eyes.
Still, she knew that although Zhao Xingguo loved throwing his authority around, he was at least one of the few veteran educated youths—aside from herself—who still tried to be reasonable.
In just a few sentences, she objectively explained what had happened, focusing mainly on Wu Min’s thoughtless, sarcastic remarks and the argument that followed.
After hearing the story, Zhao Xingguo predictably tried to smooth things over.
Frowning with a worried expression, he said,
“Let’s not make a big deal out of this.”
“As educated youths, we need to pay attention to our reputation in the village.”
“If this reaches the production team, it’ll only make the villagers think even worse of educated youths.”
“That won’t benefit anyone.”
Li Xiao, who had been mostly silent, suddenly interjected coolly,
“When have the villagers ever had a good impression of educated youths?”
That was the truth.
Because Quliu Production Brigade had relatively good living conditions, educated youths were assigned there every year.
Among them were always a handful of well-connected youths with influential families.
Those privileged youths came only to add a little political experience to their resumes.
They’d cause some trouble, then quickly find a way back to the city, leaving the mess behind for the educated youths who came afterward.
The brigade leader and village party secretary had long grown sick of educated youths.
They thought the young people couldn’t work, couldn’t endure hardship, and only created problems.
Eventually, they’d simply separated the educated youths from the villagers, assigned them their own plot of land, and let them work independently.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Neither Pei Nian nor Zhou Jin had intended to report the matter to the brigade office anyway.
They still hadn’t figured out the village’s relationships and unwritten rules.
Acting rashly now would only cause trouble.
Looking directly at Wu Min, Zhou Jin made a straightforward demand.
“Wu Min, you must apologize to Pei Nian and me for those irresponsible remarks.”
“And promise you’ll never spread rumors like that again.”
Wu Min was unwilling in every possible way.
But under everyone’s gaze—especially Zhou Jin’s icy stare and Pei Nian’s amused expression—she had no choice.
Grinding her teeth, lowering her head, she mumbled,
“I’m sorry.”
“I promise I won’t say things like that again.”
Even after apologizing, she couldn’t resist adding in an affected, pitiful tone,
“I just felt sorry for Comrades Gu Zheng and Jiang Xu because they worked so hard…”
“I only thought some people didn’t know how to appreciate others…”
Pei Nian nearly burst out laughing.
Well now…
This girl’s ambitions really aren’t small.
She’s got her eye on both the big boss and the male lead at the same time?
Quite the appetite.
Hearing that, Zhou Jin felt thoroughly disgusted.
Instinctively, she shot Jiang Xu, who was standing nearby, a fierce glare.
Men are such a nuisance!
She said irritably,
“Did you hear that?”
“Comrade Wu Min ‘feels sorry’ for how hard you worked.”
The completely innocent Jiang Xu:
“???”
His face was a perfect picture of confusion and awkwardness.
Gu Zheng, who hadn’t spoken until now, suddenly broke his silence after hearing Zhou Jin’s words.
“Labor is honorable.”
“I don’t need anyone’s sympathy.”
“And I don’t think it’s hard.”
After a brief pause, he swept his gaze across everyone present before deliberately adding,
“Comrades helping one another is only natural.”
Besides…
It was best to leave himself some room.
What if tomorrow he couldn’t bear seeing Pei Nian struggling again and wanted to help her?
Seeing Gu Zheng make his position clear, Jiang Xu hurriedly followed suit, waving both hands.
“Right! I don’t need sympathy either.”
“It’s not hard at all. Really.”
The two men’s responses, one after the other, left Wu Min completely speechless.
Her face shifted from green to red.
She felt as though a lump had lodged itself in her chest.
She was so frustrated she nearly passed out.
The courtyard gradually fell silent once more.
Each person carried their own thoughts as everyone dispersed and returned to their rooms.