Chapter 4: Working in the Fields for Work Points

So, if possible, Liu Yinyin still wanted a space of her own.

At this time, everything belonged to the collective. After thinking it through, she realized she needed to ask the village officials to see if there were any vacant houses where she could temporarily stay.

However, this wasn’t something that could be decided on a whim. A woman asking for a house wouldn’t be that simple.

…

Next door, Jiang Cuihua also tossed and turned, unable to sleep. In fact, ever since Liu Yinyin came back home, she hadn’t had a proper night’s rest.

Every time she thought about her daughter’s current situation, a deep pain surged in her heart.

“Stop thinking about it and get some sleep. We have to wake up early for work tomorrow,” Liu Defu sighed.

What was done was done—feeling sad and upset wouldn’t change anything. Life had to go on.

“But why does our Yinyin have such a bitter fate?” Jiang Cuihua lamented.

When she got married last year, it was such a grand occasion. People from all the surrounding villages envied her for finding such a good match. Yet, in just a few months…

Now, her daughter had become the laughingstock of the entire area.

“There’s no one to blame for this,” Liu Defu said, feeling sorry for his daughter, but also helpless. This was fate.

“But… do you think our daughter can still find a good husband if she remarries?” Jiang Cuihua asked anxiously.

In her heart, she still hoped Liu Yinyin could find another good match. Otherwise, what would she do when she got old?

However, Yinyin had already been married once. Even though she had no children, her situation wasn’t much better.

In this era, it was difficult for a divorced woman to find another partner.

“We’ll talk about this later,” Liu Defu said, furrowing his brows. Even if she were to remarry, now wasn’t the time. If Liu Yinyin rushed into another marriage, she would truly become the biggest joke in the village.

…

The next morning, after breakfast, Liu Yinyin went up the mountain to gather wild vegetables as usual.

This time, she didn’t take Liu Zhizhi with her but went alone to a farther location.

In truth, Liu Yinyin preferred to collect wild mushrooms since they sold for a higher price. The farther she went from the village, the more wild mushrooms she could find.

Sure enough, deep in the mountains, she discovered a bamboo forest and managed to gather over ten pounds of wild bamboo fungus!

She sold ten pounds to the system—wild bamboo fungus was worth 240 yuan per pound. In an instant, she made 2,400 yuan!

Liu Yinyin was overjoyed!

Although the money in the system couldn’t be withdrawn, having such a large balance meant she could use it for a long time.

Apart from the bamboo fungus, the forest was also full of young bamboo shoots poking out of the ground.

This was another unexpected surprise!

She didn’t even bother with wild vegetables anymore and focused entirely on digging up bamboo shoots.

Harvesting bamboo shoots was quite labor-intensive. The shoots only slightly emerged above the ground, but most of their length was buried deep in the soil.

Liu Yinyin had to carefully dig around each shoot to loosen the surrounding soil before pulling them out.

After a whole day of digging, Liu Yinyin was exhausted. Her back ached, and her hands were starting to blister.

Despite the fatigue, her efforts were well rewarded.

She sold fifty pounds of bamboo shoots to the system and earned another 500 yuan.

Her system balance had now grown to 3,180 yuan.

Feeling satisfied with her day’s earnings, Liu Yinyin carried a basket full of bamboo shoots back home, beaming with happiness.

That night, there were two new dishes on the dinner table: mushroom and egg soup, and braised bamboo shoots.

Unfortunately, there was no cured pork at home. Otherwise, adding a few slices to the bamboo shoots would have made them even more delicious.

Still, after eating radishes and pickled vegetables for so long, the fresh bamboo shoots tasted incredible to everyone.

Even Liu’s second sister-in-law, who usually didn’t have a good attitude, couldn’t help but take several servings of braised bamboo shoots, eating with great enthusiasm.

That night, knowing she had to work in the fields the next day to earn work points, Liu Yinyin went to bed early.

The next morning, she woke up feeling refreshed.

Technically speaking, with the system’s help, she could earn much more by collecting wild vegetables than by working in the fields. However, she couldn’t let anyone know about the system.

From an outsider’s perspective, she had no job and no money. The only way she could support herself was by working in the fields to earn food.

So, no matter what, Liu Yinyin had to temporarily keep up the pretense of earning work points to secure a future source of food.

Otherwise, without a job and not working in the fields, where would she get food to eat?

After several months, when Liu Yinyin reappeared in the fields, she immediately attracted a lot of attention.

There was no denying that Liu Yinyin was the most beautiful girl in the surrounding villages. Otherwise, the well-off Gu family wouldn’t have chosen her in the first place.

With rosy lips, white teeth, delicately arched eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, a straight nose, and exquisite features, her petite face was as smooth and fair as a freshly peeled egg.

Many of the women watching felt a pang of envy in their hearts.

Liu Yinyin had worked in the fields before, but she was one of those people who never tanned, no matter how much time she spent under the sun—a trait that made others even more jealous.

And now, after a few months, her features seemed to have matured, making her even more stunning.

In reality, it wasn’t that she had changed physically. The original Liu Yinyin had been introverted and always kept her head down to avoid being talked about.

But this “Liu Yinyin” from the modern era was different—she was confident and carried herself with ease.

Though the face was the same, her aura had changed, giving her an added charm and vitality.

The village’s task for the day was planting corn, and Liu Yinyin was assigned to sow seeds and cover them with soil.

The original Liu Yinyin had experience doing this, so it didn’t take long for the current Liu Yinyin to get the hang of it.

It wasn’t the hardest job, but spending an entire morning bent over in the field was far from easy.

Maybe it was because she hadn’t worked this hard in a while. After a full day of digging bamboo shoots yesterday and now a morning of farm work, Liu Yinyin felt an intense soreness in her lower back.

After lunch, she rested for a short while before heading back to the fields in the afternoon. By the end of the day, she had earned seven work points.

Liu Yinyin: “…”

Lying in bed, exhausted beyond words, Liu Yinyin couldn’t help but feel puzzled. The original Liu Yinyin wasn’t someone who shied away from hard work.

Before and after marriage, she had a great reputation in the village. She was beautiful, hardworking, and widely recognized as an ideal wife.

So why was it that now, in “her” body, just one day of work left her feeling completely drained?

She popped a White Rabbit candy into her mouth and thought, This can’t go on.

Not only was it exhausting, but working in the fields every day left her with no time to earn money through the system.

She wondered if there were any tasks in the team that could let her earn work points without interfering with her side income.

Spring plowing and autumn harvesting were the most important events in the village, and almost everyone had to participate. During this period, it was nearly impossible for villagers to take time off.

Even though she was exhausted, Liu Yinyin gritted her teeth and pushed through.

A week later, the spring planting season came to an end. For the time being, not everyone was required to work every day, and villagers could take turns resting.

Liu Yinyin had reached her limit, so she took a day off.

That morning, she told Jiang Cuihua, “Mother, I’m going to the county town today.”