Yu Zhaozhao and Liu Ying instinctively stood together, so they could chat while pulling weeds.
Yu Zhaozhao pulled out her gloves from her pocket and put them on; Liu Ying followed suit.
Pulling weeds looked simple, but it had been a long time since it rained.
The ground was dry, and some roots went deep. If you didn’t pull hard, the weeds wouldn’t come out.
After a while, the joints in your fingers would start to ache. Wearing gloves made it much easier.
“Tch~ So pampered! Need gloves just to pull weeds,” Chen Zhaodi sneered. The more she looked at Yu Zhaozhao, the more irritated she became. Whatever Yu Zhaozhao did, Chen Zhaodi had to comment.
“Aren’t you pampered? If you’re not, why don’t you use your teeth to pull them instead of flapping your mouth?”
Liu Ying had a good temper, but that didn’t mean she would let anyone push her around.
Last night, she had already checked: if a fight broke out, Zhaozhao would have her back.
“Liu Ying? Who are you talking about?”
Chen Zhaodi threw down the weeds in her hand, stood up, and shouted at Liu Ying.
“What? You can talk, but I can’t? Are you some rich girl? So bossy!”
“You… nonsense! You’re the rich girl! Doing farm work and still need gloves—why come to the countryside if you’re so delicate?”
“I’m proud to be here. I wear gloves to protect my hands so I can pull more weeds. None of your business! Can’t afford gloves? Then don’t let anyone wear them? What’s wrong with you, aiming for the sky?”
Yu Zhaozhao realized for the first time how good Liu Ying was at talking back.
She couldn’t help but smile a little.
“You… I’ll tear your mouth apart!”
Chen Zhaodi grew up doing all kinds of chores and was strong; most girls her age couldn’t match her.
Now she couldn’t outtalk Liu Ying, so she wanted to use force.
She lunged at Liu Ying, reaching for her neck.
Yu Zhaozhao’s reflexes were quick—she grabbed Chen Zhaodi’s hand.
“Resorting to hitting because you can’t argue? That won’t do.”
Yu Zhaozhao glared at Chen Zhaodi, her eyes full of warning.
Chen Zhaodi took a step back, intimidated. In that instant, she even felt as if Yu Zhaozhao wanted to strangle her.
“You two gang up on me! I won’t accept it!”
“Well, why don’t you find someone to help you then?”
Yu Zhaozhao’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Someone like Wang Fangfang would only intervene if it concerned her own interests. Right now, Chen Zhaodi could forget about getting help.
Chen Zhaodi noticed Wang Fangfang looking down, pretending to be busy. She felt disappointed. Although Wang was temporarily aligned with her against Zhaozhao, Wang acted as if nothing happened—truly disheartening.
“What’s going on? What’s happening? I just stepped away for a bit and already there’s trouble?”
Zhuzi hurried over from the field, hearing the commotion, and saw the scene.
Yu Zhaozhao had Chen Zhaodi’s wrist firmly in her grasp.
They looked like they were about to fight.
With Zhuzi’s arrival, Chen Zhaodi had a way to save face. She sheepishly withdrew her hand and pretended nothing happened.
“What happened just now?” Zhuzi asked.
“Isn’t it Chen Zhaodi, causing trouble for no reason? We wore gloves; who does that bother? She started being snide, I just talked back, and she wanted to hit me. If it weren’t for Zhaozhao, I would’ve been beaten!”
Liu Ying pouted as she complained.
“Is that so?” Zhuzi looked at Chen Zhaodi sharply.
Chen Zhaodi lowered her head and mumbled for a long while.
“I was just grumbling, didn’t name anyone. She took it personally—why blame me?”
“You called us pampered for wearing gloves. We do as we like. What’s your business, nagging here?”
Zhuzi finally understood. In the end, it was Chen Zhaodi stirring trouble out of jealousy over the gloves.
“Since it’s your first day, I won’t punish you this time. Next time, I’ll deduct a day of work points.”
With that, Zhuzi returned to the field, squatting down to pull weeds.
The morning had already slowed his work, and he hoped the educated youths wouldn’t cause any more trouble, or he’d really start deducting points.
Chen Zhaodi’s mood was sour, like she had swallowed a fly. Although she had started the conflict, she couldn’t outtalk Liu Ying or outfight Yu Zhaozhao—terribly frustrating.
She squatted again, pulling weeds, letting all her anger out on the grass.
Surprisingly, this made her work faster; in no time, she surpassed everyone else nearby.
Liu Ying, having “won,” resumed work in a good mood.
Turns out, standing up for yourself felt pretty good.
After this little episode, the atmosphere among the educated youths became awkward.
For a long while, no one spoke.
By noon, everyone stood up, preparing to head back for lunch.
Working in the fields was like this: you barely feel tired while working, but once you stand up, your waist and legs ache.
Yu Zhaozhao and Liu Ying supported each other on the way back to the team leader’s house.
“Zhaozhao, I was awesome today, right? I completely shut Chen Zhaodi up.”
“Mm-hmm, awesome, awesome.”
“Next time she’s nasty, I’ll confront her again.”
“If I’m around, you can. Doesn’t matter if she’s alone or has backup—I’ll protect you. But if it’s just you, don’t argue. If you provoke her, she might hurt you recklessly.”
“I know. You’re so good, Zhaozhao.”
“Actually, when you’re not in danger, don’t always quarrel with Chen Zhaodi. She’s sneaky; if she takes advantage of me being away, it’ll be hard to defend yourself.”
“But she’s always snide with us—it’s so annoying.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll deal with her.”
“Really? Do you have a plan? Can I help?”
“No need. She’ll bring trouble on herself. We just wait for her to dig her own grave. Remember, Yingying, when dealing with someone this dark-hearted, crush them completely in one go. If she retaliates, it’ll be messy.”
Yu Zhaozhao had learned lethal skills in her past life; everyday arguments were new to her.
“Ah… got it.”
Liu Ying’s mind was a bit overwhelmed.
She’d never seen neighbors quarreling like this and completely overpowering someone at once.
But if Zhaozhao said it, there must be a reason.
When they returned to the team leader’s house, Aunt Xiumei had already prepared lunch.
Seeing Yu Zhaozhao and Liu Ying, she quickly called them to eat.
“First day in the fields—how do you feel?”
“Not bad, just that squatting for so long makes my legs a little numb,” Liu Ying said.
“It’s always like that at first. You’ll get used to it,” Xiumei reassured.
“Yeah, I think so too,” Yu Zhaozhao nodded.
“Quick, eat up. After lunch, you can rest for two hours and recharge.”
“Okay, thank you, Aunt Xiumei.”