Su Meier had originally thought that her task for the day was simply to finish drying the fifty-odd sacks of rice spread across the yard.
To her complete surprise, just as she was down to the last two or three sacks, the men working in the fields kept carrying over more bags, one after another.
Leaning on her shovel, Su Meier watched them unload sack after sack of rice.
She wanted to see exactly how many more they planned to bring.
“Why is someone working in this section today? Has Educated Youth Chen come back?”
A wheat-skinned man wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up at the girl standing there staring at them.
“Little Sister Su, why is it you?”
He looked genuinely shocked to see her there.
Su Meier recognized him as one of the three educated youths she had met yesterday.
A bright smile appeared on her sun-flushed face.
“So it’s you, Comrade. I still don’t know your name.”
“My name is Shen Jianyang.”
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“Hello, Comrade Shen.”
Su Meier looked at him the way she looked at a bag of snacks, her eyes practically glowing.
“Hello, Little Sister Su.”
Shen Jianyang grew a little shy under her gaze, while his heart trembled with a shocking realization.
Could it be…
Did she like him?
But…
In another year, he would be returning to the city. His parents had worked hard to pull strings and secure the opportunity for him. He couldn’t afford to waste it.
“Little Sister Su, do you have feelings for—”
Before he could finish, a cool voice interrupted from behind.
“Shen Jianyang, if you keep dawdling around, don’t expect me to help you finish your work.”
Shen Jianyang slapped his forehead.
He had forgotten this plague god was still here.
“Coming, Brother Song!”
Picking up his carrying pole, he hurried over.
“Brother Song, I wasn’t slacking off this time. I just ran into an old acquaintance and exchanged a few words.”
He tried to sling an arm over Song Cili’s shoulder, only to have the latter dodge away.
Awkwardly shrugging, he continued,
“Captain Su’s daughter is working here today.”
Smacking his lips regretfully, he added,
“Why did she come here to work instead of catching wild game? Where am I supposed to get more game meat to eat now?”
Sure enough, Song Cili glanced back at the girl.
At that moment, Su Meier was waving enthusiastically at him.
“You’ve only met her a few times. Since when is she an old acquaintance?”
Song Cili shot him a disdainful look.
“Three times total! You’ve met her just as often. Seeing her today makes it the third time for you too.”
The first meeting had been in town.
Back then, she was probably still in school, shopping with several classmates.
He had happened to see her mother come looking for her, which was how he learned she was Captain Su’s daughter.
“Look, she’s waving at you. Want to go chat for a bit? If we build a good relationship, then maybe we can— Hey! Brother Song, where are you going?”
Shen Jianyang quickly chased after him.
“Brother Song, wait for me!”
Song Cili shot him a cold glare.
Shen Jianyang immediately wilted.
“My mistake, Brother. With your background and status, you don’t need to curry favor with anyone.”
Watching the two walk away, Su Meier narrowed her eyes.
Just wait.
My snack bag!
Once she finished dealing with this pile of rice, she was going hunting at noon!
Throughout the morning, she had done more physical labor than she had in her entire life.
Fortunately, the original owner’s body was sturdy.
Aside from aching all over from exhaustion, there were no other problems.
Finally, noon arrived.
Looking around, among the eight workers responsible for the area, only her section still had a neat row of sacks waiting to be dealt with.
Su Meier couldn’t care less anymore.
Work ended when work ended.
Without hesitation, she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed toward the back mountain.
“Comrade Su, you still have a lot left unfinished!”
Fang Zhaodi called after her.
Turning around, Su Meier smiled.
“I did my best. I’ll work harder this afternoon.”
“Oh dear, that won’t do. Morning work should be finished in the morning. There’ll be afternoon work waiting in the afternoon.”
She clicked her tongue while looking at the row of sacks.
“Don’t expect us to help turn them over again later. We’ve already worked for ages and were hoping to take it easy today.”
Her words clearly implied that she wanted Su Meier to stay and work overtime.
But Su Meier wasn’t someone people could push around.
If others treated her well, she would repay them generously.
If not, the opposite applied.
“Comrade Fang, people are made of iron and food is steel. Without eating, where am I supposed to get the strength to work?”
She waved her aside without courtesy.
“Move. I’m going home for lunch.”
She only had one hour.
She still needed to hunt.
If she had enough time afterward, she’d return home to eat.
The force of her passing caused Fang Zhaodi to stumble sideways.
Fortunately, Huang Yuhua caught her before she fell.
“Yurong, look at her attitude!”
Fang Zhaodi exploded with grievance.
“I only said a few words and she got angry at me!
She’s slow herself, drags everyone down, and we’re not even allowed to point it out?”
“Alright, Zhaodi.”
Huang Yurong comforted her.
“She’s new. She’s never done this kind of work before. We should be a little more understanding.
Besides, having her help push the drying boards is still better than having no one here at all, isn’t it?”
For a first day, Huang Yurong was actually quite satisfied with Su Meier’s work progress.
Jiang Honglian strode past them carelessly.
“If I finish my work this afternoon, I’ll help her with a bit of hers.”
Fang Zhaodi sneered.
“Hmph. Such a saint.”
That tomboy had never gotten along with the two of them.
Meanwhile, Su Meier hurried toward the back mountain.
After more than ten minutes, she finally arrived.
Taking out her compound bow, she attached the elastic string and tested it a few times.
Only after an arrow sank firmly into the dirt did a bright smile appear on her face.
Popping a White Rabbit Milk Candy into her mouth, she picked up her bow and began moving quietly through the forest in search of prey.
After half an hour of searching, she finally spotted a gray rabbit.
Without hesitation, she drew her bow.
The arrow sat taut like a full moon ready to be released.
She aimed.
Waited.
Then released her fingers decisively.
Whoosh!
The arrow shot forward.
With a sharp thud, it pierced the rabbit’s hind leg and pinned it firmly to the ground, leaving no chance of escape.
Knowing it was already hers, Su Meier ignored it for the moment.
She hurried after the two white rabbits she had spotted earlier.
Drawing and firing in one smooth motion, she released another arrow.
Though they had already run quite far, she still managed to hit one in the foot.
The other was less fortunate.
In the rush, her arrow struck directly through its heart.
It died instantly.
If she had more time, she could probably have hunted several wild chickens as well.
Unfortunately, she still needed to rush back for lunch.
Today’s hunt would have to end here.
After collecting everything, she carried two live rabbits in her left hand and the dead one in her right.
Taking long strides, she headed back.
As luck would have it, she spotted three familiar figures ahead.
She had been worrying about how troublesome it was to carry three rabbits.
And now, potential buyers had appeared on their own.
“Comrade Song! Comrade Shen! Wait!”
Using every ounce of strength she had, Su Meier shouted while running toward them.
At first, Shen Jianyang thought he had heard wrong.
But as the voice grew clearer, he turned around.
An unexpected person appeared before them.
Then his eyes landed on the three rabbits hanging from her hands.
He nearly drooled.
“Little Sister Su, you caught game again?”
And not just game—
Three fat rabbits!
Bright, tempting meat right before his eyes!
He was practically dying from craving.
Panting heavily, Su Meier stopped in front of them.
“That’s right. Just caught them. They’re fresh.”
“Want to trade?”
She stared directly at Song Cili.
“Your snacks for my rabbits.”
Song Cili was clearly studying her as well.
“Trade! Of course we’ll trade!”
Shen Jianyang rubbed his hands together excitedly.