Harvesting corn was not as hectic as cutting wheat, but it was still exhausting work.
The broad corn leaves spread out overhead, providing shade from the sun while blocking the airflow completely. Anyone working inside would soon become so hot and stuffy that it felt hard to breathe. The fine hairs on the leaves brushed against the skin, leaving it prickly and itchy.
Song Ziyao was wearing long sleeves, but her neck and face were still swept by the leaves from time to time.
Before long, large patches of skin had turned red.
“I even brought a gauze scarf. Do you want to use it?”
Meng Jing had actually taken the initiative to speak to her and was even offering to lend her the scarf. Song Ziyao was surprised for a moment before shaking her head and saying: “Thank you, but there’s no need.”
The women in the production team all wrapped their heads and faces with square cloth scarves made from homespun fabric, but Meng Jing used a gauze scarf.
A gauze scarf was easily snagged and torn by the leaves, so she decided not to borrow it.
Song Ziyao used the space spring water she had brought in her canteen to dab her face and neck. Sure enough, she immediately felt much better.
Meng Jing tugged lightly at the corner of her mouth. “You’re quite an interesting person.”
Song Ziyao smiled as well. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Fieldwork required efficiency, and neither of them had much energy to chat. After that, they both buried their heads in their work.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, their progress was almost enough to meet up with the people working from the other side.
The people on the other side were all women from the production team, and they still had enough energy to chatter away while they worked.
However, the atmosphere, which had been fairly cheerful and lively, was suddenly shattered by a long string of colorful curses.
“Wang Chunhua, damn you and your whole family! People who spread lies ought to have their tongues rot away! My Lao Si is a perfectly good young man. Since when did he become a hooligan?! Your son is the real gambling addict!”
Another auntie refused to back down and retorted: “I wasn’t the one who said it. Why are you cursing at me?”
“I heard it from your mouth, so I’m cursing at you! You old hag, and you’re supposed to be a matchmaker! Spreading lies and slandering people, I think your heart’s gone moldy from being so rotten!”
“Zhou Kailian! Those rumors all came from the Li family in Hongxing Commune! If you’ve got the guts, go confront them! Why are you throwing your weight around with me here? Hmph. Besides, everyone already knows what kind of person your son is. I think what the Li family said wasn’t even wr… Ahhh! Someone’s hitting me!”
The moment Song Ziyao heard the name Zhou Kailian, she had already started moving in that direction.
By the time she got there, she saw two aunties tangled together in a fight.
Two others were trying to pull them apart.
Song Ziyao looked toward one of the women fighting.
She looked much younger, and only some familiar facial features could vaguely be recognized.
This was Tan Jinhe’s mother.
For most of the year, Zhou Kailian lived back in her hometown. She only moved in with Tan Jinhe and Song Ziyao for a period during the winter.
Song Ziyao had not spent a great deal of time with this mother-in-law, but their relationship had always been fairly harmonious.
In her memory, Zhou Kailian had always been a kind and amiable old lady.
She had never expected her to be so fierce when she was younger.
But there was no time to think about that. Song Ziyao hurried forward and joined in the effort to break up the fight.
She was taking sides.
She had just heard the argument between Zhou Kailian and this Wang Chunhua and knew that Wang Chunhua had been badmouthing Tan Jinhe. Naturally, she was going to seize the opportunity for a little revenge!
Originally, Zhou Kailian and Wang Chunhua each had one person pulling them back, making things fairly evenly matched.
But once Song Ziyao joined in and firmly grabbed one of Wang Chunhua’s arms, Wang Chunhua completely lost her fighting ability and ended up taking several solid scratches from Zhou Kailian.
Wang Chunhua turned her head and glared angrily at the suddenly appearing Song Ziyao. “Who are you?!”
With an expression full of righteous indignation, Song Ziyao said: “Auntie, please stop fighting!”
Wang Chunhua: “… Let go!”
She did not let go.
Zhou Kailian sneered. “Wang Chunhua, you can’t beat me, so now you’re taking your anger out on a young Educated Youth girl. You’re really something, aren’t you!”
“Bullshit!” Wang Chunhua spat several times in Zhou Kailian’s direction. “If you’ve got the guts, tell all of them to let go. I’ll fight you one-on-one.”
Unfortunately for her, even if everyone had let go, Wang Chunhua would not have gotten the chance to fight Zhou Kailian one-on-one.
The Production Team Leader had arrived. Without bothering to determine who was right and who was wrong, he pointed at both women and began scolding them.
“What time do you think it is now? It’s harvest season! Are you competing to become the rotten rat droppings that sabotage production and construction? You’re both so old already, and you still don’t know any better. Have you been eating food all these years for nothing?!”
“Get back to work properly! If either of you causes trouble again, don’t even think about getting today’s work points!”
Scolding them was not enough. The Production Team Leader also transferred Wang Chunhua to another work area, separating the two women.
Even after Wang Chunhua had walked away cursing under her breath, Zhou Kailian still spat on the spot where she had been standing.
Then she looked up and saw that Educated Youth Song was still there.
Thinking back to what had just happened, Zhou Kailian could not help but feel a growing fondness for the young girl.
“Educated Youth Song, those leftover scraps from your furniture project, I’ll have your uncle piece together a small box for you.”
Normally, leftover wood scraps and sawdust from carpentry work were kept by the carpenter. After all, the labor fee was low, and it served as a little extra compensation for the hard work. It was an unwritten rule.
Song Ziyao quickly tried to decline.
Zhou Kailian put on an unhappy expression. “I truly mean it. If you keep refusing, it’ll make me look insincere. You have to accept it!”
After thinking it over, Song Ziyao smiled sweetly. “All right then. Thank you, Auntie.”
Zhou Kailian looked at Song Ziyao a few more times and clicked her tongue inwardly. This girl was as pretty as a flower. She wondered whose family she would eventually marry into.
Song Ziyao deliberately tried to become closer to Zhou Kailian, so she became much more talkative.
After the two of them worked together for the entire morning, Zhou Kailian even learned how many people were in Song Ziyao’s family and how her stepmother appeared sweet on the surface while harboring cruel intentions underneath.
She had already been quite fond of Song Ziyao, but now she felt even more that the girl had a hard life, and her heart filled with sympathy.
Even after returning home, she was still talking about Song Ziyao at the dinner table.
However, she did not mention any of Song Ziyao’s family matters because she felt those were a young woman’s private affairs and should not be casually spread around.
She only talked about how good Song Ziyao was.
Wang Guiying found it unpleasant to hear. “Mom, you’re not thinking of making Educated Youth Song your daughter-in-law, are you?”
Zhou Kailian’s face immediately darkened. “Does that mouth of yours have no filter at all? Educated Youth Song is a respectable young woman. Are you trying to ruin her reputation?!”
Yu Xiu gave a cold laugh. “Big Brother, aren’t you going to do something about Eldest Sister-in-law? It’s one thing for her to talk nonsense at home, but if she starts saying things carelessly outside, she’s going to offend people.”
Tan Jinshan opened his mouth, just about to say something, when Wang Guiying viciously kicked him.
He immediately lowered his head and focused entirely on shoveling food into his mouth.
Tan Jinhai gently tugged on Yu Xiu’s sleeve. “You should say less…”
Before he could finish, Yu Xiu shot him a glare. “Eat your food!”
Tan Jinhai shrank his neck and said nothing more.
Zhou Kailian watched coldly, but inwardly she sighed endlessly.
Both her eldest son and second son were afraid of their wives.
She glanced at Tan Jinhe, who was silently eating his meal, and could not help placing all her hopes on him.
She hoped that her youngest son would not be afraid of his future wife and would have some opinions of his own.