No matter whether Shen Yueru would end up transmigrating here or not, she had already set her sights on this male lead.
If it weren’t for her roommate venting her frustration by writing her into a novel, she wouldn’t have been inexplicably pulled into the story and landed in this situation.
It was 1975—right in the middle of the Great Movement.
In this era of hard work, she, a young lady who couldn’t lift a shoulder, carry with her hands, or endure a single bit of hardship, wouldn’t even be able to continue lying flat like a lazy fish.
If she hadn’t transmigrated early enough, if she didn’t have her space…
She didn’t even want to think about how much suffering she’d have to endure.
The angrier Wen Qiao thought about it, the more infuriated she became.
So, in the book, someone wanted to strike back at her and vent their anger, huh?
Looking for an invincible true love?
A happy life?
A perfect existence?
Dream on!
Since she had transmigrated here, this book wasn’t going to follow the original plot anymore.
Right now, she had already taken the initiative to meet the male lead, Gao Junshuai.
She had to win him over.
Let’s see how Shen Yueru could enjoy true love and be the darling of the male lead’s family now.
When Wen Qiao walked into the farm, it was no longer chaotic like yesterday. Everything was orderly.
“Wen Zhiqing is back!”
Zhao Ziwen saw her first, his face beaming as he ran quickly toward her.
At his shout, more people gradually came over—mostly young adults.
Though they looked older than her.
Compared with Wen Qiao’s slightly youthful face, they looked weathered, more than a little.
They appeared to be in their twenties to early thirties, clearly experienced “old educated youths” who had spent considerable time at the farm.
The newly arrived youths had already seen Wen Qiao.
But the veteran youths were seeing her for the first time, and all of them froze.
A group of people stared blankly at Wen Qiao’s stunning, almost unreal beauty.
There were many pretty girls among the educated youths, but someone like Wen Qiao, beautiful enough to resemble a little fairy, was truly one of a kind.
“Alright, alright, everyone disperse. Don’t just stand here—get to work!”
A middle-aged man with a square face came over, his expression full of concern.
“I’m Farm Director Yu Jianjun. Wen Zhiqing, where did you go yesterday? Were you hurt?”
Wen Qiao replied politely,
“I sprained my ankle a bit, but it’s nothing serious. A short rest will be fine.”
“The wind blew the oilcloth off the granary yesterday. I went to retrieve it, and on the way back, there was a landslide, so I got blocked over there. The storm was too severe, so I had to find shelter for the night. Thank you for your concern, Director Yu.”
She naturally couldn’t tell the full truth.
In this era, male-female interactions were strictly monitored; even a handshake could be misinterpreted.
Not to mention that she had spent the night in the same room as Lu Yanchen.
Better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Yu Jianjun clearly remembered: she was the first of the new youths to rush out yesterday.
Wen Qiao’s appearance was far too striking—he would find it difficult to forget her.
Yesterday, he had been busy leading people to save the grain, with no time for anything else.
The new rice had just been stored—it was the farm’s lifeblood.
If the landslide had caused the grain to be soaked, the losses would have been massive.
All the farm’s grain was meant to supply the Yangcheng Military District.
If anything went wrong, he, as farm director, wouldn’t even have a position to keep.
A group of people had been rushing and working until midnight.
When the new educated youths were registered at dawn, they noticed one girl named Wen Qiao was missing.
He immediately led a search, but she was nowhere to be found.
The road on the other side had collapsed.
They could only return to prepare tools, clear the obstacles, and then go search again.
Yet she had returned on her own.
Yu Minghui breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
No one else knew, but he did.
He had checked Wen Qiao’s background that morning.
This educated youth was not ordinary.
Her grandfather had once served as commander of the Capital Military District; her father was now at division-level rank, and her mother was deputy director of the General Political Department’s Performing Arts Troupe.
A legitimate third-generation Red.
Her background was solid.
As for why she had gone to the countryside and why she didn’t take her father’s surname—those were matters beyond a small farm director’s concern.
There must be some unknown reasons inconvenient to share with outsiders.
If something had happened to her on her first day, he would have been held responsible.
Fortunately, she wasn’t injured.
This girl had plenty of fighting spirit, but her looks were blindingly beautiful.
Her brief appearance had already caused a small stir at the farm.
Trouble would likely continue.
He glanced at Wen Qiao’s stunning face a few times, his expression complicated.
“You can rest this afternoon. If your health is fine tomorrow, you can start working.”
After all, she had been injured on duty, so there was no rush.
Wen Qiao smiled and nodded, pulling out a medical certificate from her pocket and handing it over.
“Director Yu, I’m not in good health and can’t do heavy work. This is a certificate from a Beijing hospital—please take a look.”
She had prepared this certificate while still in Beijing.
At the time, the original owner’s health was indeed poor, so the certificate was easy to obtain.
She had come to this countryside, but there was no way she would work in the fields like an ox.
She couldn’t endure that kind of hardship.
Yu Jianjun read the hospital report: severe malnutrition causing serious anemia.
It recommended timely nutritional supplementation and temporary rest, reducing labor intensity.
He looked up at Wen Qiao’s rosy cheeks and shiny black hair.
Though she looked a bit delicate, she didn’t appear malnourished at all.
Wen Qiao spoke sincerely, her tone firm.
“Director Yu, I’m not trying to avoid work. Even though the doctor strongly advised rest, I’m genuinely here to undergo re-education by the poor and lower-middle peasants. I don’t need a break—I can participate in labor.”
Her goal in showing the certificate was not to escape fieldwork.
She just wanted to be assigned lighter tasks.
She had come to the countryside, so doing nothing was out of the question.
After all, she was only malnourished, not incapable of work.
Better to show a proactive attitude early and earn a good reputation.
Yu Jianjun frowned—there was no light work at the farm.
He held the certificate for a long moment before saying,
“You can rest for now. I understand the situation.”
Even with the certificate, she couldn’t avoid work entirely.
Moreover, food supply was rationed back then. With shortages of secondary foods, few people truly lacked nutrition.
Wen Qiao had made her point.
At this time of year, farm labor was intense.
July coincided with double rice harvests: early rice harvesting and late rice transplanting.
Everything was done manually: cutting rice, threshing, and carrying rice to the drying field.
After harvesting, they had to plow the fields, apply fertilizer, then transplant and bundle the rice seedlings.
The labor was extremely demanding.