Jian Mingyue’s Heart Aches
“Damn, it’s so foul. How can a woman stink like this? Did you get so hungry in the middle of the night that you ran to the latrine to eat shit?”
Jian Mingyue’s face turned ashen.
This uncultured bumpkin actually dared to look down on her?
Chen Zhushi finished vomiting and immediately put as much distance as possible between himself and Jian Mingyue.
Between taking advantage and saving his own life, he chose the latter. This woman was too filthy, even dirtier than the sows in their production team’s pigsty. He simply couldn’t bring himself to touch her.
Chen Zhushi jumped into the river, washed himself thoroughly, and left without looking back.
After cleaning herself, Jian Mingyue shivered as the cold wind blew. The October weather in the northeast was already freezing, and her face was nearly numb from the cold.
“Achoo!” She sneezed and turned to head back to the educated youth point.
Jiang Taohua and Wen Shunu were already asleep, but at three in the morning, the two were jolted awake by a foul odor.
Jiang Taohua thought: What a miscalculation. Hurting the enemy a thousand cost me eight hundred.
The two were nearly driven to develop sinusitis from Jian Mingyue’s stench.
Since they couldn’t sleep anyway, Jiang Taohua quietly discussed building a house with Wen Shunu, who wholeheartedly agreed.
“Taohua, I want to build a house too, right next to yours, so we can be neighbors.”
Before they knew it, day had broken.
The production team leader struck the bronze bell at the village entrance, reminding the commune members it was time to start work.
The male and female educated youths stumbled out of their rooms, still half-asleep. As soon as they reached the courtyard, a foul odor wafted over.
“Holy shit, what is that? Why does it smell so bad?”
Everyone snapped awake instantly.
Jian Mingyue walked over with a sour expression. As she approached, the stench grew even stronger. It had to be said, it was truly invigorating.
Wen Shunu grinned, her teeth on full display, and whispered to Jiang Taohua, “Hahaha, did Jian Mingyue get pickled in that smell yesterday?”
Everyone avoided Jian Mingyue, and the odor ruined their appetites for breakfast.
Today’s breakfast was a bowl of mixed-grain porridge for each person.
Someone couldn’t take it anymore and said, “Educated Youth Jian, could you stay away from us? It stinks so much, how are we supposed to eat?”
Educated Youth Jian remained silent, holding her bowl as she squatted in a corner. Inside, she was seething with rage.
[Ah, these bitches, all deliberately targeting me.]
[And that Shen Zhou, I’m his future wife. Seeing me being targeted and not helping me—what a scumbag! In the future, I’ll make him chase me to the crematorium!]
Future wife?
Everyone’s eyes turned to Shen Zhou, only to find his face dark with anger.
This woman was truly too much, still deluding herself about marrying him. Now, whenever he saw Jian Mingyue, he couldn’t help but recall that scene in the latrine. It was utterly disgusting!
He’d rather stay single for the rest of his life than marry this woman.
After breakfast, everyone headed out on time to collect their tools. The work-point recorder was responsible for distributing tools to everyone in the production team each morning, which were to be returned after work in the evening.
Work points differed for male and female commune members. Men could earn a maximum of ten points, women seven, while children were symbolically given one point.
The production team leader looked at the bustling crowd, first taking roll call to see if anyone was skipping work, then delivering a motivational speech before sending the commune members off to work.
People gathered in small groups, unmarried girls preferring to stick with those their own age, while married women spoke without restraint about how vigorous their men had been in bed the night before, causing the unmarried girls’ faces to flush crimson.
Suddenly, someone cursed, “Damn it, who is it? It stinks so bad! I wanted to say something earlier—it’s suffocating!”
“Exactly! Could they have fallen into the latrine?”
Jiang Taohua: You’ve hit the nail on the head.
“Mom, Educated Youth Jian smells awful!” a child blurted out without thinking.
Instantly, all eyes were fixed on Jian Mingyue.
Under the intense scrutiny, Jian Mingyue wished she could find a hole to crawl into right then and there.
“Hey, now that you mention it, the smell really is coming from Educated Youth Jian.”
“Stay away from her now; I feel much better.”
The area around Jian Mingyue was completely empty, as if she were some kind of plague.
Chen Zhushi had a big mouth, and thanks to her spreading the word, within minutes, all the commune members knew that Educated Youth Jian had fallen into the latrine the night before.
Chen Zhushi pulled others aside, describing the scene vividly.
“You have no idea, I saw it with my own eyes last night—she even swallowed a few mouthfuls.”
Jian Mingyue’s face turned deathly pale, and she didn’t even notice her palms bleeding from clenching her fists so tightly.
Chen Zhushi’s words were like daggers to her ears, but she could do nothing about this despicable man and had to let him spread lies.
Her mind was in complete chaos.
Suddenly, she remembered the firecrackers from yesterday. She had bought them to get back at Jiang Taohua, but how had they ended up being thrown into the latrine?
After thinking it over, she concluded that Jiang Taohua was the culprit.
It must have been that woman who deliberately threw the firecrackers in—that venomous shrew!
She was the one who had caused this humiliation, and if Jian Mingyue was going to be scorned, she wouldn’t let Jiang Taohua off easily either. A terrifying madness flickered in Jian Mingyue’s eyes.
“Congratulations, Host, for angering the female protagonist. You have received ten yuan.”
Jiang Taohua—was this what they meant by money falling from the sky while walking down the road? Getting ten yuan for nothing first thing in the morning really lifted her spirits.
Jiang Taohua smiled, her eyes crinkling with delight.
Yan Jinghong glanced back and caught sight of that smile, momentarily losing himself in it. He turned away, trying hard to suppress the strange feeling stirring inside him.
Wen Shunu seemed to have discovered something new and exclaimed, “Taohua, why do you feel like you’re getting prettier and your skin is getting fairer?”
Jiang Taohua remained calm. “Really? Maybe you’re mistaken.”
Wen Shunu scratched her head in confusion. “You’re right, you were always pretty. I was just making a fuss.”
Amid the laughter and chatter, the commune members arrived at the fields. The villagers preferred not to work alongside the educated youth, thinking they were too weak to lift or carry anything—utterly powerless.
So, the educated youth always formed their own team, with Li Guangrong as their responsible team leader.
As the leader, he was diligent and dedicated.
Li Guangrong led the educated youth to the assigned wasteland, showing them how to loosen the soil and remove weeds. He patiently demonstrated over a dozen times before the new educated youth finally got the hang of it.
For those who had never done farm work before, it felt novel at first, but after a while, their fingers began to burn with pain, and their backs ached from bending over for too long.
Jian Mingyue was on the verge of a breakdown. As a modern university student, she had ended up in this book to suffer and farm, and she couldn’t take it anymore after just half a day.
“Educated Youth Li, I made this especially for you.”
Jiang Taohua looked up and saw the daughter of the old Zhou family in the village secretly slipping a pancake into Li Guangrong’s hand.
Li Guangrong glanced around and quickly tucked the pancake into his jacket.
System 001 said, “Host, that girl just now is Zhou Xiangshui.”
“The Zhou family has three daughters but no sons. They favor boys over girls and couldn’t be bothered to give their children proper names, so they simply named the three daughters Xianggu, Xiangcai, and Xiangshui.”
“Xiangshui is the youngest daughter. She admires Educated Youth Li for his education. Although the Zhou family doesn’t value their daughters, their financial situation is decent, so she often sneaks out some food to please Li Guangrong.”
“Li Guangrong accepts the food every time but never makes his stance clear. Their relationship is ambiguous—neither lovers nor just friends.”
“Ugh, what a scumbag!”
Just as Jiang Taohua was about to speak, she felt a chill run down her spine.
Jian Mingyue, seeing a venomous snake suddenly slither out, felt as if the heavens were on her side.
A fierce glint flashed in her eyes as she bent down, grabbed the snake by its tail, and swiftly hurled it toward Jiang Taohua.