Chapter 55 : Picking Pig Grass

Seeing that there was nothing more exciting to watch, the villagers began to leave the Youth House.

On the way, they chatted about the day’s events in the village.

“Today has really been full of incidents. First, Li Minglang fell into the toilet, then Shu Ruxue fell and knocked out her two front teeth. Then Ergouzi and his gang of five got beaten up for no reason. And now Wang Haixia ran into the thorn bushes and got hurt, and Shu Ruxue got hit by falling tiles again,” sighed Li Hongying.

“So many things happened today, how come I didn’t hear about any of it?” asked an older woman beside her, clearly suspicious.

“Why would I lie to you? You know my information is always reliable,” Li Hongying replied confidently, she had plenty of sources.

“Could it be they ran into something… unclean?” the woman speculated cautiously.

“Shh! Don’t say things like that. That’s considered spreading feudal superstitions. If someone hears you, you could get reported and locked up behind bars…”

Back at the Youth House, Yun Siying seemed entirely unaffected by everything that had just happened. She called out, “Han Yuecheng, Chen Banghua, Nangong Ruochen, I’ve made something delicious come eat!”

The four of them sat down to enjoy fragrant chicken stewed with mushrooms and soft, warm steamed buns. Nangong Ruochen smiled and said gently, “Siying, I didn’t expect your steamed buns to be better than mine.”

“Nangong’s right. I didn’t know Siying could cook so well. We’re really lucky,” said Han Yuecheng between mouthfuls. “But where did the chicken come from?”

“I went up the mountain today and hunted it. There’s also a wild rabbit I haven’t cleaned yet, we’ll eat that tomorrow. I also made plenty of steamed buns, so we can have them for breakfast,” Yun Siying said, eating enthusiastically, her cheeks puffed out like a little fox.

“Alright, steamed buns for breakfast it is,” Nangong Ruochen replied.

After dinner, Yun Siying returned to her room, took out a pound of brown sugar, and quietly made her way to a remote path, out of sight of the villagers. Soon, she arrived at the front door of the captain’s house.

“Captain, are you home?” she called.

“Who is it?” came a middle-aged woman’s voice, somewhat familiar. Footsteps approached the gate.

“I’m a newly arrived educated youth assigned to the production team. I have something I’d like to ask the captain,” Yun Siying replied in a sweet, clear voice.

The door opened and to her surprise, it was Aunt Cuifen.

“Aunt Cuifen? Why are you at the captain’s house?” she asked in surprise.

Zhang Cuifen burst into laughter. “Haha! Siying, the captain is my husband, how do you not know that yet? Come in and have a seat.”

Yun Siying scratched her nose in embarrassment. “Aunt Cuifen, sorry, I didn’t mean to make you laugh. I really didn’t know you were the captain’s wife.”

“Old Jiang, Siying wants to ask you something,” Aunt Cuifen called into the main room, where the captain was smoking a pipe, then turned and left.

“Aunt Cuifen, this is my first visit to your home, so I brought a little something as a gift,” Yun Siying said quickly, handing over the small bag she was carrying.

“Child, you just arrived there’s no need to bring gifts. I can’t accept this,” Zhang Cuifen said, trying to return the bag.

“But I already call you ‘aunt.’ Isn’t it normal for a niece to bring something when visiting? If you don’t accept it, does that mean you don’t want to acknowledge me as your niece?” Yun Siying insisted as she handed the bag back. She had quietly added two packs of cigarettes to the bag earlier.

“Well, since you put it that way, I’ll accept it,” Aunt Cuifen smiled.

The captain, seeing how warmly his wife was treating Yun Siying, said, “There mustn’t be a next time. Now, tell me what you came for.”

“Captain, I’d like to ask if I can be assigned to the pig grass-cutting job,” Yun Siying said with a cheerful smile, smoothly switching to a more respectful form of address.

“Yes, but this job pays two work points per basket of pig grass. You must ensure you collect at least two baskets of pig grass per day. If you collect less, you’ll be docked points or punished by being made to carry manure,” the team leader said casually. Right now, it was easy to gather pig grass, but after the autumn harvest, it would be much more difficult.

“Captain, I can do it,” Yun Siying promised earnestly.

“Alright, don’t scare the child,” Aunt Cuifen said as she brought over two bowls of sugar water and set them in front of the team leader and Yun Siying. “Siying, have some sugar water.”

“Thank you, Aunt Cuifen,” Yun Siying said, sipping it slowly. She didn’t see anyone else at the house but didn’t ask about it.

After chatting with Aunt Cuifen for a while, she noticed it was getting dark. “Aunt Cuifen, it’s getting late. I should head back.”

“Wait a moment, auntie will pick some vegetables for you to take home.” Aunt Cuifen took Yun Siying to their family’s private garden.

She picked a bit of everything, leafy greens, peppers, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, and eggplants filling an entire basket.

The next morning, just as the sky began to lighten and the mist still lingered, Yun Siying got up early. She felt that her physical strength had been lacking lately, preventing her from fully using the superpowers in her body. Now that she could begin training again, she was determined to improve her physical fitness so her powers could grow.

She ran to the riverbank, did some warm-up exercises, and began practicing a set of body-strengthening techniques developed by survival experts during the apocalypse. After that, she sat cross-legged, circulated the energy of her superpowers, absorbed surrounding power factors, and entered into cultivation.

It was nearly 5:30 a.m. when she finished her practice and jogged back to the educated youth station. Nangong Ruochen was already making breakfast.

“Nangong Ruochen, good morning!” she greeted cheerfully.

“Siying, breakfast is almost ready. Come out and eat,” Nangong Ruochen said, glancing at her flushed face and the slight sweat on her forehead. He didn’t ask where she had gone.

“Okay,” Yun Siying replied with a smile, then returned to her room. She closed the door, entered her personal space to take a quick bath, changed into clean clothes, and came out for breakfast.

Whenever Yun Siying went into Nangong Ruochen’s room, the doors and windows were left wide open, so no one would have a reason to gossip.

That day, Yun Siying successfully started her job picking pig grass. She followed a few half-grown children to learn how to identify the right kind, afraid of picking the wrong ones and accidentally poisoning the pigs, which would cause a big loss.

As tuition, she gave each of the children two White Rabbit milk candies. The kids beamed with joy and eagerly taught her how to distinguish pig grass, where to find more of it, and what to watch out for.

After picking a full basket and carrying it back to the village, she encountered a young man along the way. He nervously approached her and held out two boiled eggs.

“Hello, Comrade Yun . I’m Chang Huaxing, the brigade secretary’s son. I’m a full-time worker at the county furniture factory. I boiled these eggs for you, please eat them to nourish your body.” He looked at the beautiful female educated youth before him with sincere admiration. He’d never seen such a stunning woman even in the county town and had fallen for her at first sight.

Yun Siying instinctively took a big step back, alarmed. “Comrade Chang, I can’t accept this I haven’t done anything for you.”

“Comrade Yun, this is just a token of my goodwill. I don’t want to see you suffer,” Chang Huaxing said, clearly not expecting her refusal, which only made him respect her more.

“Comrade, I don’t know you well. I really can’t take your eggs. If someone sees, it could damage my reputation. Are you trying to ruin my reputation?” Yun Siying said bluntly. Whatever this person was planning, it wouldn’t work on her.