Early in the morning, Li Lezhi was awakened by the noisy commotion around her. As someone who struggled to get out of bed, she still had not adapted to waking up this early.
Everyone around her was hurrying about. Even Shen Ruoruo, who normally seemed carefree, was seriously tidying herself up.
Left with no choice, Li Lezhi crawled out of her warm bedding and got herself ready.
After finishing, she dug out a pair of gloves and a blue face covering from her belongings. Then she followed the older Sent-down Youth toward the village committee square.
Among the crowd, Shen Yueyue’s leisurely voice drifted over.
“Some people really love putting on airs. Didn’t they say they weren’t practicing old society habits? Unlike us, who have to save cloth for ages just to make a towel.”
She simply couldn’t stand Li Lezhi. Her family clearly had problems, yet she had still ended up becoming a Sent-down Youth alongside her. This change made Shen Yueyue deeply uneasy.
Ruan Zhaodi immediately chimed in.
“Exactly! She’s always showing off.”
When she had seen Li Lezhi take out those items, her eyes had been full of envy. Now that someone had brought it up, she naturally joined the attack.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Li Lezhi.
However, Li Lezhi acted as if she did not care at all. She casually waved her gloves and face covering before speaking in a deliberately affected tone.
“Sigh, this color really doesn’t suit my complexion.”
As she spoke, she held the face covering against her face for comparison.
“You can envy me all you want, but does having something mean I can’t use it? If you’ve got the guts, write a report letter. I’ll make this clear right now. If anyone reports me, then every time I see you using something nice, I’ll send several report letters to government offices. I absolutely mean it.”
The reason she deliberately intimidated them was to guard against Shen Yueyue. After all, Shen Yueyue knew far too much about future events. Li Lezhi could not afford to lower her guard.
The person in charge of the Sent-down Youth point immediately became serious after hearing this.
Facing everyone, Zhao Guoqiang said solemnly, “We’re all Sent-down Youth here. We should support each other as a group, not spend our time playing these little games. Everyone hurry and collect your work assignments. This matter ends here. If you’ve got money, then use it.”
Although Shen Yueyue was unwilling, she could only continue following the group.
By the time they arrived at the village committee, many people were already waiting there.
As they passed through the village, they endured the scrutiny of countless villagers. The women gossiped endlessly, complaining that each new batch of Sent-down Youth seemed worse than the last, all weak and fragile, only capable of dragging down the production team.
Captain Xu climbed onto the platform and spoke passionately.
“Everyone, get your tools and start working. In a little over a month, the autumn harvest will begin. Work hard, earn more work points, and let’s all have a good New Year.”
The crowd immediately scattered toward their respective assignments.
“The new male comrades will loosen the soil. The female comrades will start by weeding the cornfields. If you don’t know how, learn properly from the comrades assigned to your group.”
Captain Xu arranged everything decisively.
Li Lezhi followed the others into the cornfields to begin weeding.
In the vast field, a woman in her thirties was assigned to teach her.
Pointing at the corn seedlings, the woman explained, “See these? These are the corn plants. All the weeds around them have to be pulled out clean, otherwise the crop won’t grow properly.”
As she spoke, she demonstrated the process.
Her hands moved swiftly, clearing the surrounding weeds in moments.
Then she had Li Lezhi try it herself.
Fortunately, Li Lezhi had brought gloves and a face covering. Otherwise, after a full day of pulling weeds, both her hands and back would have been ruined.
The woman glanced at the fine cloth wrapped around Li Lezhi’s face and couldn’t help shaking her head.
At her home, several children had to share a single hand towel.
Then she thought about the blazing noon sun. City people surely wouldn’t be able to endure it.
Quietly making calculations in her mind, she leaned closer.
“Miss, life in the city must be much more comfortable, right?”
Li Lezhi looked up at her with a firm gaze.
“Wherever we are, we’re serving the people. In this new era, there is no distinction between high and low.”
“That’s true, that’s true.”
The woman nodded repeatedly before continuing.
“But you’ve only just arrived. You haven’t experienced the hardships here yet. When the sun is blazing overhead, you’ll know how difficult it is.”
Then she mysteriously lowered her voice.
“Would you like a straw hat? The straw hats my family makes are first-rate.”
She looked at Li Lezhi expectantly.
At first, Li Lezhi had thought she was simply a kind-hearted auntie.
Now she understood. There was no such thing as kindness without reason.
The woman then raised two fingers in front of her.
Li Lezhi looked confused.
After glancing around, the woman whispered, “Two mao. Guaranteed durable.”
Naturally, the deal was made.
The woman even kindly helped Li Lezhi weed for an entire hour. She also spent that time sharing every piece of gossip in the village.
Only after she had talked herself to satisfaction did she leave.
Before going, she warmly told Li Lezhi to call her Aunt Guihua.
At long last, noon arrived.
Li Lezhi’s entire body ached.
Just as Aunt Guihua had said, the blazing sun left her drenched in sweat.
The moment work ended, she sprinted back to the Sent-down Youth point.
Before anyone else returned, she entered her spiritual spring space and washed herself thoroughly with spring water.
Only then did she finally feel relieved.
By the time she finished cleaning up, everyone else had returned as well.
Lunch consisted of vegetables once again.
No wonder all the older Sent-down Youth were so dark and skinny.
Li Lezhi truly could not continue like this.
At noon, she decided to ask Captain Xu whether there were any easier jobs available, something similar to the Female Lead’s task of gathering pig fodder in novels.
That way, she could also spend time in the mountains searching for medicinal herbs and planting them in her space.
That afternoon, when everyone returned to work, she approached Captain Xu.
“Captain Xu, is there any lighter work available in the team? I don’t care how many work points I earn. I really can’t handle field labor. It’s not that I’m lazy, my health is genuinely poor.”
As she spoke, she stepped forward slightly to emphasize her slender frame.
Captain Xu looked helpless.
“You city kids really can’t endure hardship. Weeding is already one of the easiest ways to earn work points. Wait until autumn harvest arrives. That’s what real hard work looks like. How are you going to manage then?”
Li Lezhi replied, “I’d like to apply to cut pig grass. Right now I can’t earn many work points anyway. Before I came here, my family repeatedly told me not to cause trouble for others if I couldn’t handle the work.”
Captain Xu eyed her suspiciously.
“That’s work usually done by village children. You’re a grown young woman, and you’re willing to compete with children for it? Besides, cutting pig grass only earns two work points. That won’t provide enough grain to get you through winter. Are you sure? Don’t come borrowing grain from the team later.”
Li Lezhi answered seriously, “My family will send me money and grain. I won’t cause trouble for the team.”
Captain Xu sighed.
“Fine, you can start tomorrow. But you still need to finish today’s work first.”
Inside, he couldn’t help lamenting how troublesome these city kids were.
After obtaining the answer she wanted, Li Lezhi returned to the cornfield.
There she found Aunt Guihua waiting for her with the straw hat.
After completing the transaction, Aunt Guihua immediately asked with a curious expression,
“What were you talking to the captain about just now? Why did it take so long?”
Putting on a sad expression, Li Lezhi replied, “When I was eleven, I fell into an icy lake and almost didn’t wake up. My health has never fully recovered since then. That’s why I applied to gather pig grass starting tomorrow.”
After hearing this, Aunt Guihua immediately looked disgusted.
She turned away and began chatting with another village woman nearby.
As they talked, both women kept shooting disdainful glances toward Li Lezhi.
There was no need to guess.
She knew perfectly well that she was the topic of their conversation.
That was exactly what Li Lezhi wanted.
She wanted the entire village to know that her health was poor.
The midday heat was almost unbearable.
The scorching sun baked the earth while she moved through the cornfield.
Suddenly, from somewhere not far away, Shen Ruoruo’s cries rang out.