They arrived at the Production Team Leader’s home.
Zhao Na led the Educated Youth into the courtyard and told them to wait there while she went inside to call the Production Team Leader.
Liu Yong’s wife heard that the new Educated Youth had arrived and walked out with darting eyes, smiling as she said: “Oh my, city boys and girls really are fair-skinned and delicate.”
Geng Jiao and Wang Xuefei saw this dark-skinned, slightly overweight woman reaching out to grab their hands, and both of them immediately stepped back in disgust.
The team leader’s wife, Ma Mei, missed her grab, and her smile instantly stiffened on her face.
These ungrateful ones—so what if they were from the city? In the end, they still had to come to the countryside as Educated Youth and work under her. She had already shown them favor, yet they still dared to show disgust toward her.
At that moment, Su Qiu suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Ma Mei’s hand, smiling brightly as she said: “Auntie, you look just like my aunt. Seeing you makes me feel really close to you.”
Ma Mei looked at Su Qiu. Although the girl was thin and small, her dark, clear eyes looked unusually sincere. Her awkward expression faded, and she lifted her chin slightly with pride. “Is that so? We really do seem to have some fate between us.”
Su Qiu blinked and smiled. “We really are fated. Auntie, my name is Su Qiu. When I came down to the countryside, I brought some specialty roast duck from the Capital City. Since we’re so fated, I’ll bring a portion for you to try later.”
Roast duck!
And it was roast duck from the Capital City.
Ma Mei’s expression immediately changed. She warmly held Su Qiu’s hand and said: “Oh my, how can I accept that? No wonder I felt such a liking for you earlier, girl. Maybe we were family in a past life. Don’t worry, if you have any problems in the village in the future, just come to Auntie.”
Looking at Su Qiu’s thin, almost malnourished figure and her not-so-good clothing, she had thought she was just a poor girl. She never expected her to be from the Capital City.
Even if nothing else, being from the Capital City meant she would surely have access to good things.
Su Qiu naturally understood this kind of person was two-faced, but as long as she could achieve her goal, it was enough.
“Then thank you, Auntie. We should visit each other more in the future…”
The two of them continued talking. The other four Educated Youth looked at Su Qiu currying favor with a countryside woman and immediately felt a hint of disdain toward her.
Just then, Zhao Na and the Production Team Leader came out.
The Production Team Leader called out to his wife: “I’m going out for a while to arrange assignments for the new Educated Youth.”
Only then did the others’ expressions change. They finally realized this woman was the Production Team Leader’s wife. No wonder Su Qiu had been trying to please her.
Ma Mei nodded and deliberately pulled Su Qiu forward, saying: “Old Liu, this girl looks like a relative of mine. I feel a real connection with her.”
Liu Yong frowned subconsciously when he looked at Su Qiu. Then he glanced at his wife, who was signaling him with her eyes, and could only say helplessly: “Is that so? Then that really is some fate.”
Liu Yong’s family had been extremely poor. When he was sixteen, he had nearly starved to death. It was only because the Ma family had taken him in as an apprentice that he survived, and later he married Ma Mei, gradually improving his life.
Because of this, he still maintained a certain respect toward his wife. As long as it was not too excessive, he usually turned a blind eye.
Just like now—he did not know what relatives his wife supposedly had, but it was obvious she had gained some benefit to say this.
Zhao Na, hearing this, glanced at Su Qiu again. This girl was truly quite clever.
When they first arrived in the countryside, they had been made things difficult by the Production Team Leader several times. Later, they had no choice but to bring gifts to visit him, and only then did the difficulties stop.
The other newly arrived Educated Youth clearly disdained this behavior, but only Su Qiu had managed to win the team leader’s wife over.
“Let’s go. Once the assignments are finished, you can all start work in the afternoon and earn points.”
Liu Yong led the group out.
Ma Mei deliberately stayed behind with Su Qiu, patting the back of her hand and lowering her voice. “I already hinted to your uncle just now. He’ll arrange an easier job for you later.”
Su Qiu immediately responded with understanding, also lowering her voice. “I will never forget Auntie’s great kindness. I will prepare gifts and come visit you.”
Ma Mei nodded in satisfaction and said with a curled smile: “Good. Auntie will cook something nice for you then.”
……
Liu Yong directly took them to the fields to assign work.
“Xu Xiangyang and Liu Bin, you two will follow the first team. Recently, there will be work to rebuild the grain warehouse, so follow the team leader’s arrangements. Wang Xuefei and Geng Jiao, you two will follow the second team for farm work. Male comrades earn 10 work points per day, female comrades earn 8 points.”
“As for Su Qiu, with your build you can’t do much heavy work. Don’t go causing trouble. For now, go and take care of the team’s pigs.”
When they heard that Su Qiu was assigned to feed pigs, Geng Jiao couldn’t hold back and laughed out loud.
Wang Xuefei quickly pulled her friend, while the male Educated Youth Xu Xiangyang and Liu Bin also raised their eyebrows, clearly thinking that feeding pigs was dirty and exhausting work.
They had thought that by pleasing the team leader’s wife, Su Qiu would get an easy job. They never expected her to be assigned such a dirty and smelly task.
They had originally regretted not pleasing the team leader’s wife earlier, but now they also found Su Qiu amusing.
Zhao Na looked at the reactions of the other Educated Youth and sighed inwardly.
These people were still young and new; they simply did not understand what was easy work and what was hard work.
Raising pigs was indeed smelly, but it was not exposed to wind or rain. At most, it required feeding twice a day and did not involve heavy labor.
In contrast, farm work meant holding tools, suffering in the fields, exposed to wind and sun all day, repeating it day after day. That was true exhaustion.
After finishing the assignments, Liu Yong let them go find their respective team leaders.
Zhao Na then led Su Qiu to the village pig farm.
It was called a pig farm, but in reality it was just a fenced pigsty at the back of the village near the mountain, housing six pigs.
The household responsible for it was Aunt Hua’s family, which lived closest to the pigsty.
Aunt Hua had originally raised pigs together with her daughter, but last month her daughter had married into the neighboring village, leaving the position vacant.
Zhao Na brought Su Qiu to Aunt Hua’s home and explained the situation.
Aunt Hua was quite easygoing and directly took Su Qiu to the pigsty to explain everything.
Seeing this, Zhao Na left first.
When Su Qiu arrived at the pigsty and smelled the strong odor, she instinctively covered her nose.
Aunt Hua smiled and said: “It’s a bit smelly in summer. Next month will be autumn, and once it gets cooler, the smell won’t be so bad. If you’re not used to it, you can wrap a cloth around your nose first. You’ll get used to it later.”
Su Qiu politely nodded. “Alright, thank you, Aunt Hua.”
After explaining the condition of the pigs, Aunt Hua also went over the daily tasks.
Every morning, pig grass had to be cut. The pigs were fed twice a day, and their condition had to be checked morning and evening to ensure they did not get sick.
In addition, there was mixing pig feed and other relatively simple tasks.
Su Qiu finally felt relieved. Feeding twice a day was manageable; she did not need to stay here all day breathing the foul air.
Compared to working with a group in the fields, cutting pig grass on the hills was relatively freer. She could also find a place without people to enter her dimension space at any time.
After Aunt Hua finished explaining, she happened to be preparing pig feed, so Su Qiu rolled up her sleeves and helped her.
At this time, food was precious, so pig feed was made by mixing small amounts of grain with pig grass.
Although Su Qiu looked thin and small, she had done heavy work in Su Family for years, so she still had strength in her hands.
This made Aunt Hua glance at her repeatedly, smiling in satisfaction as she praised: “Educated Youth Su looks small, but she’s quite strong. At first glance, she’s a hardworking and honest girl. The team leader really sent me a capable helper.”