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Although the watch was broken, since her brother had gifted it to her, Song Wei had kept it safely. She even brought it along when she was sent to the countryside, and now, it had come in handy.
Ignoring all the gossip around them, Song Wei and Gao Le quickly finished up their assigned work and made their escape, leaving the scorekeeper fuming.
This time, the unlucky scorekeeper happened to be Jiang Xiaowan.
“You two are adults and only work for three points’ worth! Aren’t you ashamed?” Jiang Xiaowan’s face was red with anger.
Both Song Wei and Gao Le shook their heads in unison, totally unbothered.
Song Wei weakly held her head, pretending to feel faint, and even leaned on Heidan for support. “Comrade Jiang, I’m still reeling from the argument with Granny Lin. I can’t handle the heat—it’s making me dizzy!”
Gao Le followed her lead but clumsily fumbled between holding his head and his stomach. His acting was so bad it was almost painful to watch. He looked at Song Wei, pleading with his eyes, “Help me, sis!”
Song Wei couldn’t believe how clueless he was. “The team leader (captain) is coming,” she said, making Jiang Xiaowan turn to look. Taking advantage of the distraction, she punched Gao Le lightly in the stomach.
“Ugh…”
Gao Le’s hands immediately flew to his stomach as he crouched down, wincing.
Jiang Xiaowan looked back to find Song Wei pointing at Gao Le with an innocent expression. “Comrade Jiang, he has a stomachache.”
Gao Le gave a weak thumbs-up. “It really hurts.”
Jiang Xiaowan’s voice rose with frustration. “How dumb do you think I am? The argument with Granny Lin was ages ago, and yet you finished over an acre of work so quickly and are now pretending to be sick. Who’d believe that?”
Song Wei closed her eyes and murmured, “It doesn’t matter. My head really hurts, and I can’t work anymore.”
Gao Le, still clutching his stomach, added, “Mine too…ow…”
He thought to himself, “Sister Song, did you really have to punch that hard?”
The team leader, who had initially been on his way over, took one look at Song Wei, sighed, and tried to change direction, hoping to avoid the situation altogether. But Jiang Xiaowan called him over.
“Team leader, you need to deal with this! These two are perfectly capable of working but only take on three work points’ worth, and now they’re even faking stomachaches!”
Back then, laboring in the fields was mandatory for everyone, even wealthy families, as a way of contributing to the community. If it weren’t compulsory, Gao Le and his friend Zhao Su would have long since stopped working and spent their time lounging around.
With a heavy sigh, the team leader made his way over. “What’s the problem?”
“Comrade Song and Comrade Gao could do a lot more work, but they’re only doing the minimum of three points. And now, even though it’s early, they want to leave,” Jiang Xiaowan explained.
Song Wei leaned weakly on Heidan, her expression pale. “Team leader, my head hurts, my chest hurts—must be because Granny Lin and her family yelled at me earlier. It was terrible.”
The team leader internally cursed. “What nonsense! You’re the one who got the better of the Lin family, and it’s been quite some time since then. Now you’re suddenly hurting?”
Gao Le still crouched on the ground, clutching his stomach. “I have a stomachache.”
The team leader gave Gao Le an annoyed look. “Comrade Gao, with your height and size, could you at least work up to your strength? It’s a waste to see you putting in such little effort!”
He regretted competing for Gao Le back when the Second Team’s leader had tried to recruit him. Now, he felt humiliated every time he saw that leader, who always teased him about Gao Le’s laziness. Gao Le was just as disappointed. “I’m doing my best! I’m working three points’ worth each day, after all,” he said with an oddly proud tone.
The team leader could only sigh, feeling utterly defeated. “Fine. Give them their points.”
“But if others start copying them, what then?” Jiang Xiaowan protested.
The team leader snorted, “Do you think they don’t need food or water? If everyone did as little as they do, they’d be starving in no time!”
Working only two or three points daily wasn’t enough to survive on. But judging by their nonchalant attitude, the team leader suspected both of them had family support. The team had strict rules that each worker had to complete at least three points of labor daily. However, both Gao Le and Zhao Su were so unskilled that even Bai Yunjiao, the delicate female comrade, could outperform them.
If he claimed they weren’t working at all, it wouldn’t be accurate—they were in the fields daily, just not putting in much effort. Every day they managed only two points, sometimes three, yet their output was so low it often dragged down their teammates’ points.
With Gao Le finally managing to complete three points alongside Song Wei, the team leader had decided to turn a blind eye to it for now, since at least they weren’t dragging anyone else down.
The scorekeeper, Jiang Xiaowan, etched their points onto the ledger with evident irritation before walking away with a huff.
As soon as she was out of sight, Song Wei perked right up, looking refreshed. Gao Le stood up, clutching his stomach, his face wrinkled in discomfort.
“Sis, next time, go a little easier.”
Song Wei shrugged. “I barely used any strength. You’re just not tough.”
Gao Le sighed, defeated. “So it’s my fault, then?”
“Come on, let’s head up the mountain.”
“Sis, wait—could you help me out with one more thing?” Gao Le asked hesitantly. “I’ve got a good friend, Zhao Su…”
But Song Wei cut him off, “Not a chance. Not interested.”
She had her own plans to go mushroom hunting in the mountains. Gao Le’s face fell, his hope deflating.
“Dummy. Just hire a few kids, maybe around 11 or 12 years old, to help. Farm kids here know how to work the fields from a young age. They’re just too young to earn points, but they help their families. Rules can be flexible if you’re smart about it.”
Eleven-year-olds could work on family farms, even though they didn’t earn points until they were fifteen to eighteen years old.
Gao Le brightened, “You’re right! I’ll go find some kids.”
“Just don’t go around flaunting money while you’re at it.”
“I’m not that clueless. I know what I’m doing,” he said confidently, trotting off.
As he left, Gao Le waved at Heidan. “Don’t forget our deal, Heidan!”
Heidan nodded eagerly, excited about earning some money—one bundle of firewood for a dime. He planned to find a couple of other kids to make money together.
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Dreamy Land[Translator]
Hey everyone! I hope you're enjoying what I'm translating. As an unemployed adult with way too much time on my hands and a borderline unhealthy obsession with novels, I’m here to share one of my all-time favorites. So, sit back, relax, and let's dive into this story together—because I’ve got nothing better to do!
Honestly the way the jobs are distributed in this brigade is highly questionable. If kids can start earning points at 15 why could an 18 y/o no-good of a wildly unpopular family hold the easiest job for so long? And this haughty chick who got her score keeper job through nepotism can throw a fit with them for only doing the minimum but giving the sleaze bag work points his baby cousin worked for was okay?