She slept dreamlessly through the night, and morning came quickly. Hu Jiaojiao got up, lit her small clay stove, boiled some water, and made a cup of egg tea. After a quick wash, she returned to her room, sipping the egg tea while eating a steamed bun.
She filled her water bottle, put on a straw hat, tucked a pair of gloves into her pocket, and went out. Following the other educated youths, she arrived at the production team’s entrance to wait for work assignments.
By the time they got there, many villagers had already gathered. Everyone knew new educated youths had arrived, and they looked at them with curiosity.
Among them, Gu Chenye and Su Yi stood out the most. Even though they wore plain work clothes, their bearing made them noticeable. Even Lin Xue, dressed in army-green trousers, couldn’t draw attention away from them. Young men and women in the village kept glancing at the two of them.
Some also looked at Cheng Chen—his fair, delicate appearance was eye-catching, though his frail build clearly suggested he wasn’t suited for heavy labor. In the countryside, if you couldn’t work, you couldn’t survive. So after a quick look, people turned their attention back to the main pair.
Before the crowd could start gossiping, the team leader came out and began assigning work.
He divided them into three groups, two people per group. Su Yi and Gu Chenye were assigned to the first team, Lin Xue and her brother to the second, and Zhang Yan, Cheng Chen, and Hu Jiaojiao to the third. Each group was paired with villagers to guide them. Starting today, they would be picking corn.
Hu Jiaojiao was paired with Auntie Li from the village, who had the nickname “Big-Mouth Li.” She loved gossip, prying into others’ business, and slacking off.
Auntie Li had specifically chosen Hu Jiaojiao as her partner. Seeing her small stature and baby face, she assumed she was easy to control and that she could do less work herself.
But Hu Jiaojiao was clever.
She quickly learned how to pick corn. However, her pace perfectly matched Auntie Li’s. When Auntie Li picked one ear, she didn’t pick two. When Auntie Li straightened up to wipe sweat, she paused too. When Auntie Li chatted with other women, Hu Jiaojiao perked up her ears and listened along.
After a while, Auntie Li turned around and realized they hadn’t even finished one round. She frowned. “Why are you so slow? Hurry up! If we don’t finish, we won’t get work points!”
Hu Jiaojiao replied innocently, “I’m just following your lead, Auntie Li. It’s my first time working—I’m learning from you.”
The woman chatting nearby burst into laughter.
“What are you laughing at, Wu Caihua? Why didn’t you remind me?” Auntie Li snapped, then quickly bent down and sped up her work—otherwise her work points for the day would look bad.
Hu Jiaojiao also picked up her pace—but still matched Auntie Li’s speed.
By the time Hu Jiaojiao had lost count of how many times she’d bent over and straightened up, the end-of-work bell rang.
Without wasting a second, she slung her basket onto her back and headed toward the open space in front of the team office, where the corn would be dried. Along the way, she kept picking up firewood.
Watching her run off, Auntie Li’s mouth twitched. That “easy-to-control” little girl clearly wasn’t so easy after all.
Back at the compound, Hu Jiaojiao splashed her face with cold water and immediately felt better. The clay pot she had left on the stove before leaving was still gently bubbling, with a bit of fire remaining.
She took out the steamed buns Lin Yang had given her on the train and ate them with the pot of bone soup. The soup only had radish added, but after finishing the buns, she picked up a bone and sucked out the marrow.
This small body needs nourishment, she thought. I should grow another ten centimeters at least. At eighteen, she was only 155 cm tall, even though her parents weren’t short—it had to be due to poor nutrition.
After eating, she left half a pot of soup for the evening to cook with dumplings or dough pieces, then lay down to rest.
The other educated youths watched her routine with envy. Usually, they rushed back to cook, and by the time they finished eating, it was already time to go back to work.
The new youths who returned with the older ones were all so tired they could barely straighten their backs. Lu Yu comforted them, “Everyone is like this at first. You’ll get used to it. You may not match the villagers, but you can’t fall too far behind—otherwise, you won’t earn enough to eat.”
They all nodded—except Hu Jiaojiao, who was lying in her room.
Su Yi agreed outwardly, but she wasn’t worried about money. She worked mainly to fit in. Still, the labor was exhausting. Looking at her sun-reddened arms, she didn’t want to continue.
I need to find an easier job, she thought.
So she asked casually, “Sister Lu Yu, aren’t we here to help build the countryside? Are there other, more meaningful jobs?”
Lu Yu glanced at her, clearly understanding. “Being a teacher is easier. The village primary school has four teachers—but they’re all married into local families.”
The implication was obvious.
Lin Xue’s face fell. Su Yi simply nodded and said nothing more.
That afternoon, Lin Yang asked the team leader for leave—Cheng Chen couldn’t continue working.
The team leader frowned but, seeing Cheng Chen’s frail condition, didn’t say much and agreed.
The villagers began gossiping: “How weak must he be? Half a day and he’s already asking for leave?” They even warned young girls nearby not to marry someone like that.
The new youths felt embarrassed and flushed. The older ones were used to it and didn’t care.
Hu Jiaojiao also didn’t care. She just looked around for Auntie Li, who was already animatedly sharing new gossip.
In the afternoon, Hu Jiaojiao continued working behind Auntie Li, listening to her latest story.
Apparently, the accountant’s daughter had gone to the city for a matchmaking meeting but rejected the man for being too short. Even though he worked in a factory, his height was unacceptable.
“How short?” someone asked.
“With one hand, you could cover both ends!” Auntie Li exaggerated, even glancing at Hu Jiaojiao.
Later, it turned out he was 158 cm—not even 160.
Hu Jiaojiao felt the jab was aimed at her and became even more determined to grow taller.
At the end of the day, she earned four work points—not great compared to the older youths’ six or seven, but not terrible either. The team leader seemed satisfied and believed she would improve.
Back at the compound, she didn’t rush to cook. After washing her face, she sat at the doorway.
The older youths had already started cooking. The group-cooking new youths sat resting like her.
Hu Jiaojiao lit her small stove, reheated the leftover soup, added some cornmeal and secretly mixed in a bit of white flour, forming dough lumps and dropping them into the pot.
She didn’t even bother with a bowl—just ate straight from the clay pot with a spoon.
Li Aihua glanced over and clicked her tongue, muttering as she went to the kitchen.
Hu Jiaojiao ignored her completely.