Chapter 55: Dragging Things Out and Killing Time

Li Xinyue stopped crying, her tear-filled eyes glaring at Lin He.

“Lin He, do you even know how to talk? We’re both this sad, and you can’t even comfort us a little?”

Lin He turned to Zhao Zirui. “Zhao Zirui.”

Zhao Zirui had his head lowered, lost in thought. When he heard his name, he looked up in confusion at Lin He.

Lin He said, “You’re supposed to comfort her.”

Zhao Zirui looked at Li Xinyue helplessly. “If we’re late, we’ll lose points, Xinyue.”

Lin He: “…”

With a way of comforting like that, no wonder he got scolded.

Li Xinyue clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and stomped her foot. “Points, points! Points, my ass!”

—

Say what you will, but the village really was small.

Song Yue picked up her pace. She had just put some distance between herself and Lin He’s group when she immediately ran into Yang Chunhua, who was waddling along with her pregnant belly.

Yang Chunhua spotted her and greeted her with a smile. “Song Yue… what a coincidence, we meet again.”

Song Yue glanced up at the scorching sun.

It was about 1:30, maybe 2 PM… the hottest time of the day.

She frowned. “Sister Chunhua, are you heading to work in this heat? Shouldn’t you be resting at home?”

Yang Chunhua shook her head with a smile. “No rest. The more I move, the faster the baby will come.”

“Oh, right, the cabinets you and Comrade Lin ordered are ready. My father said he’d bring them over after work today.”

Song Yue said, “Sister Chunhua, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would’ve forgotten.”

“No rush on delivering the cabinets. I need to confirm something first before bringing them over.”

That “something” was, of course, the house construction.

If the brigade leader didn’t come looking for her tonight, she’d go find him instead.

“Alright.” Yang Chunhua didn’t ask further and simply agreed. “I’ll let my father know.”

Song Yue appreciated her not prying.

Her gaze fell on Yang Chunhua’s belly again. She couldn’t help but want to ask if she had seen a doctor.

If not a doctor, even having an experienced midwife check would be better than nothing.

Yang Chunhua noticed Song Yue staring at her belly and suddenly recalled what her eldest daughter had whispered to her in the kitchen that day.

Just as she was about to speak…

And just as Song Yue was about to ask her…

The work bell rang.

“Clang, clang, clang—”

Yang Chunhua swallowed her words and smiled. “The work bell’s ringing. You should hurry, Song Yue. I’m not in a rush, take your time.”

Song Yue nodded. “Alright. Be careful, Sister Chunhua, take it slow.”

“Mm.”

They parted ways.

Song Yue ran all the way to the fields.

Yang Dashan was already digging holes with his hoe.

Chen Juhua and Li Tao hadn’t moved, waiting for her to scatter the corn seeds.

Chen Juhua scowled. “Song Yue, you’re late. Points will be deducted.”

Song Yue slung the seed-filled basket over her shoulder. “Aunt Juhua, the record keeper hasn’t reached here yet, so what points are you deducting?”

Chen Juhua looked surprised. “You actually know that?”

Song Yue ignored her and started planting corn.

Chen Juhua watched her back and muttered, “Not easy to fool.”

Song Yue lowered her eyes, smiling faintly. Who was fooling who here?

She had been bluffing, but it turned out to be true…

—

Time passed, and the afternoon wore on.

The four of them worked well together and moved fast.

Meanwhile, Liu Wei’s team lagged far behind.

They were only about ten steps away from finishing their assigned plot.

Song Yue was already thinking about finishing early and sneaking off to gather firewood.

Just as she was planning…

Chen Juhua suddenly grumbled, “Yang Dashan, why are you digging so fast?

We only need to plant this much land today. Even if you dig faster, you still can’t leave early. When the record keeper comes and sees us sitting around, they’ll mark us down for slacking off and deduct points!”

Song Yue paused mid-motion. So… even if they finished early, they still couldn’t clock out ahead of time. They had to wait for the dismissal bell.

Finishing early would actually get them penalized…

What kind of ridiculous rule was that…

Yang Dashan realized it too. “Got it. You sure are a naggy old woman.”

That said, he immediately slowed down.

Earlier, he could dig a hole in seconds.

After Chen Juhua’s complaint…

It now took him five minutes to dig just one.

Since Yang Dashan had started dragging his feet, Song Yue had no choice but to match his pace.

She started counting the corn kernels, tossing in more or fewer each time…

Just taking her sweet time, really.

The most amazing part?

The record keeper passed by a few times and didn’t notice they were slacking off.

They dragged things out…

Until the dismissal bell finally rang.

The four of them quickly wrapped up the last few holes and clocked out.

Before leaving, they had to return their tools—

The hoes, baskets, and Song Yue’s seed pouch.

Where they got them, they had to return them.

As they finished up, angry voices drifted over.

“All because of you! Look, everyone else is done and leaving!”

“And we’re still stuck here!”

“Can you hurry up with the fertilizer? You’re so damn slow—so annoying!”

Song Yue glanced over.

Sure enough, Zhang Jiaojiao was berating Liu Wei again.

Liu Wei kept her head down and stayed silent.

Song Yue took another look.

Liu Wei’s group still had a large portion of land left unplanted.

It was obviously the hole digger’s fault, yet they were blaming Liu Wei, who was just spreading fertilizer?

How ridiculous.

But now that she thought about it…

Liu Wei sure had a lot to say in front of her, always making trouble.

Now that she was the one getting scolded, she didn’t dare make a peep.

Song Yue smirked, looked away, and went to return the corn.

After handing back the seed pouch, the young man at the counter marked the return.

Then he handed her a small notebook. “Song Yue, after work and dinner, bring this to log your work points.”

Song Yue took it and thanked him. “Mm, thanks.”

“Hehe,” the young man chuckled shyly. “No need to be so polite, Song Yue.”

Song Yue smiled but didn’t say more. She tucked the notebook away and headed toward the woods where she had gathered firewood at noon.

She had promised to return some.

The outer areas had already been picked clean, so she had to go deeper.

She walked and collected as she went.

Once she had enough, she was about to carry it back when—

Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention.

Near the roots of a rotting tree, there seemed to be… something.

She set the firewood down and walked over, pushing aside the weeds.

Song Yue’s eyes lit up!

Wood ear mushrooms!

Clusters of them!

So many!

Wood ear mushrooms stir-fried with meat were delicious!

Even with eggs, they were great!

She had no container on her.

Glancing around to make sure no one was nearby, she quickly retrieved a woven bamboo basket from her space.

She picked the mushrooms and tossed them in.

Ten minutes later—

She had harvested them all.

The basket was overflowing.

She stashed some in her space, left some in the basket, and covered them with leaves.

Then she hoisted the firewood onto her back, picked up the basket, and headed back.

Just as she was about to leave the woods—

She heard voices up ahead.

They sounded… oddly familiar.

Song Yue looked up.

Well, well, well!