“Boss is so generous.” Zhang Yunxi smiled.

Her smile was bright and radiant.

Zhao Rencheng could tell—when coaxing a little fox, material things worked best. “Mhm, work hard.”

“Understood!” Zhang Yunxi raised an eyebrow with a grin and lifted two fingers to her forehead in a salute.

She looked bold and spirited.

Watching her happily walk downhill, Zhao Rencheng was infected by her energy, and his own steps became much lighter.

As she walked down the mountain, Zhang Yunxi suddenly remembered something and asked, “How did you get your hands on malted milk? I wanted to buy some but couldn’t find any.”

“I talked to a middleman.”

Previously, when he noticed that Zhang Yunxi liked drinking malted milk, he had specifically gone out of his way during a supply run to buy a few cans for her.

“How much did it cost?”

“Five yuan.”

“Five yuan? Isn’t it two-fifty?” Zhang Yunxi remembered that the supply and marketing cooperative sold it for just two and a half yuan.

That was already ridiculously expensive.

And even at that price, it was always in short supply.

She was only earning twenty cents at a time!

Spending two and a half yuan on malted milk was already a huge luxury for her.

And here, Zhao Rencheng had paid five yuan!

Zhao Rencheng explained, “The black market doesn’t require ration tickets, and there’s no limit on quantity.”

“True.” Zhang Yunxi sighed. Even spending two and a half yuan was a big decision for her. Five yuan? She’d have to wait until she made more money.

To be honest, malted milk wasn’t some amazing delicacy—it was just a milk-flavored drink. In modern times, no one would care for it; they might even find it too sweet and high in calories.

But right now, the food people ate was too low in calories, and the labor they had to do was too intense. The imbalance made high-calorie, sweet foods like malted milk highly sought after.

Even Zhang Yunxi felt like drinking it gave her an energy boost.

Zhao Rencheng said, “You can start working after the autumn harvest. Two hours a day, and you can earn around ten yuan. It’ll make buying things easier.”

“Deal!”

She could already imagine how exhausting the autumn harvest would be.

Zhang Yunxi didn’t want to overwork herself and instead asked, “I want to send a letter. Do I have to go to town for that? Could I borrow the brigade leader’s bicycle to ride to the commune post office?”

“The postman comes every half-month. The next visit is in two days—you can just hand it to him directly.”

“Really? That’s great!”

Zhang Yunxi was thrilled.

That way, she wouldn’t have to trade an egg just to borrow the brigade leader’s bicycle.

“He usually comes around four or five in the afternoon. Keep an eye out, or have Zhao Mo and Er Gouzi watch for him.”

“Got it!”

Zhang Yunxi agreed and carried her basket of eggs home.

The next day, when Deng Damei saw them, she asked, “Which one of you bought these?”

Zhang Yunxi raised her hand high. “Me.”

“That must’ve cost a lot, huh?” Deng Damei was envious.

“Yep. The autumn harvest is coming up, and I’m afraid Zhao Mo and I will be exhausted. I wanted to make sure we had something nutritious.”

Even if Zhao Rencheng hadn’t given her the eggs, she would have bought some herself.

Since he gave them to her, it saved her the trouble.

“Having a little aunt like you is amazing.” Deng Damei sighed for the umpteenth time, then excitedly held out a bowl for Zhang Yunxi to see. “Our hen laid a double-yolk egg! Wow, this is awesome.”

Everyone was allowed to raise two chickens.

That included the educated youth dormitory.

They kept them for eggs, then slaughtered them for the New Year. Normally, just having eggs was already great, but a double-yolk egg? That was rare.

“Wow, really?” Zhang Yunxi marveled at it. “Looks like it’s been eating well lately.”

Er Gouzi and Zhao Mo were always picking things up to feed the chickens, and the hens had been laying eggs more frequently.

“Yeah. Hopefully, they keep at it so we can have eggs during the harvest. I think I’ll steam this one into egg custard.” Deng Damei said.

“Good idea. I’m going to go weed the private plot.” Zhang Yunxi put on gloves and went to the backyard to pull weeds. Once the harvest was over, she needed to plant some lettuce seeds.

“Breakfast is ready!” Deng Damei called.

“Coming!” Zhang Yunxi gathered the weeds neatly, took off her gloves, and sat down to eat.

This morning, they had steamed eggs and sweet potatoes.

Just as they were eating, Brigade Leader Zhao arrived and called out the male and female educated youths. “During the autumn harvest, you’ll be working twelve hours a day. Your work points will also be adjusted to twelve. If you want to earn more, work harder. And don’t slack off—anyone caught slacking during the harvest will be sent straight back to the educated youth office! Understood?!”

Spring plowing, double cropping, autumn harvest.

These were the three most important events of the year.

They directly determined everyone’s food supply!

“Understood!”

The group responded in unison.

Thinking about how exhausting the work would be, Zhang Yunxi decided to skip her midday nap and copy manuscripts instead. When she hadn’t finished by noon, she took the papers to the fields, using a rock as a makeshift desk to continue writing.

When the postman arrived, she quickly handed him her letter.

The next day, at the break of dawn, the loudspeakers echoed across the entire brigade—

The autumn harvest had begun!

Everyone got up at 5:30 AM, their expressions turning serious.

No one was exempt except for those physically unable to work. Even the brigade leaders worked in the fields.

Even the children picked up sickles and tried to imitate their grandparents.

In the south, autumn harvest days were still hotter than earlier in the year.

But no one complained.

They would rather endure the heat than have it rain.

Zhang Yunxi stepped into the rice paddies. The fields were full of water, and leeches were rampant. They could burrow into the skin and suck blood. She had seen elderly farmers covered in them, and just the thought made her scalp tingle!

Rice leaves had tiny serrated edges. Zhang Yunxi was lucky—she had gloves and long sleeves. The work was exhausting, but at least she wasn’t getting injured.

Those without gloves had their hands covered in deep cuts—long, thin scratches crisscrossed over their skin.

The wounds were shocking to look at.

During the harvest, everyone pushed themselves to work hard.

The weather was hot, and people sweated profusely.

When sweat trickled into their wounds, the pain was unbearable, but they couldn’t stop.

They could only rub at the cuts with the backs of their hands and keep working.

Everyone knew that gloves helped.

But gloves cost money!

Spending money just to work? Not worth it.

Zhang Yunxi bundled up the cut rice stalks into sheaves. Others carried them to the drying ground, where they were stacked into small mountains.

By noon, she was utterly exhausted.

She napped briefly before heading back to the fields.

The midday sun had heated the water in the paddies to scalding temperatures.

The moment her feet touched the water, she instinctively pulled back.

After hesitating for a moment, under Brigade Leader Zhao’s watchful eyes, she stepped in.

The ridges between the paddies were scorching hot.

Zhang Yunxi tentatively dug her feet into the mud to adapt to the heat.

Beside her, Deng Damei plunged her feet in without hesitation and bent down to work with all her might!

She was determined.

She had to earn money for the bride price!

Brigade Leader Zhao was somewhat pleased.

The female educated youths weren’t slacking today.

Especially Deng Damei—she was striving hard to earn ten work points. Very impressive!

Then, as he walked over to the male educated youths, his expression darkened.

“Zhao Erhua!!!”

Zhao Erhua flinched and straightened up, looking at the brigade leader nervously. “Brigade Leader Uncle, I worked hard this morning! I just came over to help Wu Zhiqing for a bit—isn’t that part of the spirit of urban-rural cooperation?”