Chapter 6: Slacking Off

Under Second Uncle’s astonished gaze, Lin Xiangnan, carrying a sickle, strolled away leisurely.

The house was empty at the moment. Second Grandma was washing clothes by the river, and the younger children were picking Chapter up stray wheat ears in the field.

Lin Xiangnan went to the kitchen to boil water for a bath, and after cleaning up, she lay back on the bed, pulled the covers up, and took a nap.

When she woke up and yawned her way out of the room, she saw Second Grandma had already hung up the clothes and was boiling water in the kitchen, waiting for it to cool before taking it to the field.

“Why are you back? Finished with the work in the field?” Second Grandma hadn’t noticed Lin Xiangnan had been sleeping at home the whole time.

“Not finished. I’m tired, so I came back to rest.” Lin Xiangnan took the kettle from her, “You don’t need to run back and forth, I’ll take the water to the field for you.”

“Your mom told me…”

Before Second Grandma could finish, Lin Xiangnan interrupted, “My mom is talking nonsense. I’ll be going back tomorrow.”

There was no way she was staying in the countryside. As soon as she went back, she would find a job and stay in the city.

She had memories of the past eighteen years, and getting along with Hu Meili and the rest of her relatives wasn’t too difficult. Besides, people change as they grow up. As long as she didn’t reveal her secret , she will definitely not reveal the truth.

If Hu Meili and the others wanted to suspect something, let them. No matter what, she wasn’t going to suffer in the countryside.

As soon as she spoke, Second Grandma understood.

She had planned to spend ten days teaching Lin Xiangnan how to be a proper person, but in less than half a day, the girl had already learned her lesson.

However, she had already accepted the food Hu Meili had sent, so she had to keep Lin Xiangnan for a few more days. “Didn’t your mom give you ten days off? Just play around at home. In a few days, your uncle will go to the commune for a meeting. I’ll ask him to send you back. I don’t feel comfortable with you going back alone.”

Lin Xiangnan spread her hands out for Second Grandma to see, “I don’t want to cut wheat anymore. My hands are all blistered.”

“Look at you. You’re here as a guest, how can we ask you to work? Second Uncle was just teasing you.” Second Grandma acted naturally, as if she wasn’t the one who had assigned Lin Xiangnan the work earlier.

This was Lin Xiangnan being smart. She saw the difficulty ahead and backed down. If she hadn’t given in, Second Grandma might have had other plans for her.

Seeing Lin Xiangnan looking listless, Second Grandma couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re tired today as well. I’ll take the water myself. You stay at home and rest. You city kids can’t handle the hardship of the busy farming season. All our country folk are desperate to get into the city, and you, you’re so silly, you actually want to come to the countryside.”

“I know you don’t want your mom to be caught in the middle, but she’s not the kind of person who would suffer a loss. Just listen to your mom, don’t be so impulsive.”

Lin Xiangnan only mentioned wanting to go to the countryside, without explaining anything. Her family had already come up with an excuse for her, making her seem like an honest child who was thinking of her mother.

She had already had a good nap and had nothing to do at home, so she followed Second Grandma to the field, taking the sickle she had borrowed with her.

Second Grandma, feeling that cutting wheat wasn’t intimidating enough, continued to talk as they walked, “See that field over there? When it’s time to plant rice seedlings, there are leeches in the water, and they’ll burrow into your body and suck your blood. See that mountain over there? When it’s time to harvest cotton in autumn, we have to go out in the middle of the day when the sun is hottest. When we pick cotton, we have to bend over. And this irrigation ditch, we have to clean it every year…”

Weeding, fertilizing, cleaning the irrigation ditch, planting corn, planting beans, planting sweet potatoes… There were no breaks from these collective activities.

Just listening to it, Lin Xiangnan’s head was already spinning. There was no peace all year round.

No wonder some of her classmates wanted to go to the north to work in the countryside. Even though it was further away from home, it was more peaceful, and they could even hibernate during the winter.

There were definitely people who could thrive in the countryside, but Lin Xiangnan wasn’t one of them. She couldn’t handle the hardship.

When they delivered the cool water to the field, Second Uncle had already cut most of the wheat. He was drinking water from a coarse porcelain bowl, and Second Grandma went to help him tie the wheat stalks.

“Go sit over there and rest. I can manage.” Second Uncle quickly put down his bowl and took over the work from Second Grandma.

From beginning to end, Second Uncle never expected Lin Xiangnan to help with anything. Those hands of hers, so delicate and smooth, looked like they were incapable of work.

He had to keep an eye on Lin Xiangnan while working, afraid that she would hurt herself if she couldn’t handle the sickle properly.

“Little South, don’t get in the way here. Go play with your little cousin. Don’t sneak back to the city. Stay a few more days and eat some bread made with new wheat before you leave.”

“Okay.” As long as she didn’t have to work, she was happy. She didn’t know the way back to the city either, so having someone send her was just right.

It was the busy farming season, and the adults were all busy working, with no time to entertain guests. Lin Xiangnan could only play with the children.

Her little cousin was only seven years old, hadn’t started school yet, and was picking up wheat ears with the older kids in the team.

Lin Xiangnan wandered around the field with her little cousin, asking curiously, “Why aren’t those older kids going to school? Or is the team’s school on holiday?”

“They only studied for two years and then stopped. There’s no point in studying anyway.”

Lin Xiangnan argued, “You can’t say that. Studying is very important.”

Her little cousin looked at Lin Xiangnan curiously, “Grandma said you’re a high school student? Can you find a job in the city after finishing high school?”

That was a painful question. But she still stubbornly answered, “Yes, of course. I’ll be able to find a job in a few days.”

Lin Xiangnan took out a handful of candies from her pocket and stuffed them into her little cousin’s hand, tempting her, “Take me to play somewhere else. I don’t want to pick up wheat ears.”

The little cousin’s eyes lit up when she saw the candy, “Then I’ll take you to catch fish?”

“Catch fish? I like that.”