Chapter 14: Forced to Earn Work Points with Tears in Her Eyes

“Whoa, that smells amazing!”

“Comrade Jiang, how did you make this chicken stew with mushrooms smell so good?”

Tang Xiaomin, who had returned with the table and stools, sat down and eagerly dug into the chicken. She nodded repeatedly, clearly impressed. No wonder this Comrade Jiang was on the plumper side—turns out she was a fantastic cook.

That explained a lot. Over where she was from, the chefs at state-run restaurants and factories were all a bit chubby too.

“Manman, this chicken is so delicious. The mushrooms make it extra savory.”

Jiang Manman glanced at Tang Xiaomin, then looked at Zhou Ye, who was sitting upright on a small folding stool by the bamboo fence. He was sitting tall and proper, holding a large bowl of chicken and mushroom stew, eating it with a coarse grain bun in hand, savoring every bite.

As for Jiang Manman, she only had some chicken breast and mushrooms, not even daring to drink too much soup. She took a bite of the coarse grain bun Zhou Ye had handed her—it scratched her throat a bit, but coarse grains were good for digestion.

Even though she had made everything herself, she was the one who ate the least. She constantly reminded herself to lose weight. Lose weight. She’d start dieting right after this meal.

That night, she and Tang Xiaomin used a curtain to divide the kang (a heated brick bed) down the middle and placed cabinets on each side, giving each of them their own private space.

“Manman, do you miss home?”

Jiang Manman replied immediately, “Nope!” What she missed was money.

She hadn’t even finished spending the money from her past life. Her family had always favored boys over girls, and once she left, she’d probably be cremated without a second thought.

Then all her assets would end up in the hands of her shut-in, game-addicted younger brother.

And worse, maybe some random streamer would get a slice too. Just thinking about it made her heart ache.

Tang Xiaomin sighed at her blunt answer.

“But I miss home. I miss my mom. Manman, was your stepmom good to you?”

“Look at all this fat on me. Would you believe me if I said she wasn’t?”

“Nope. But I guess not all stepmoms are evil. My mom, for example, is actually really kind. Neither she nor I ever expected anything from my stepdad.

My biological dad died a martyr, and one of his old army buddies—who had lost his wife early—married my mom.

That man had two kids, both older than me. They used to bully me all the time, but I wasn’t easy to bully either.

Still, my mom never mistreated them. They mostly lived with their maternal grandparents, but whenever they saw my mom with me, they acted like she was their enemy.

Now that I’m down here alone, I wonder if they’re bullying my mom again.”

Jiang Manman was speechless. Problems between stepmoms and stepchildren were just as bad as mother-in-law issues.

She did some stretching yoga while listening and shook her head.

“It’s tough—really tough!

This issue is one of those timeless, unsolvable problems. I have a stepsister too—she stole my fiancé.

She convinced my dad to break off my engagement in the morning, and by the afternoon, she and the guy were engaged. I gave them a proper public shaming right then and there.”

Tang Xiaomin gasped in shock.

“There are people like that? Your stepsister sounds awful.

Good thing I don’t have a fiancé. My older stepsister does, but I don’t trust that guy. I told her once, and she thought I was just trying to stir trouble, so I never brought it up again.”

Jiang Manman continued doing yoga while they chatted. Mid-conversation, soft snoring came from Tang Xiaomin’s side.

She checked the clock—it was only 8 p.m. When had she ever gone to bed this early?

Not staying up until midnight almost made her feel like she wasn’t alive.

After two hours of yoga, her body was exhausted.

For once, she fell asleep before 11 p.m.

“Manman, there’s still hot water in the thermos. Let’s mix some malted milk powder. I’ve got peach crisps too—two pieces each, soaked in the milk. Tastes amazing!”

At that moment, Jiang Manman didn’t care about her figure anymore. She’d be working it off soon enough anyway.

She already had malted milk, so she declined Tang Xiaomin’s offer. But she didn’t turn down the peach crisps.

After breakfast, they locked the house and courtyard gates before heading out.

Jiang Manman looked at the fenced yard and felt helpless.

What was even the point of locking up?

“Oh right, did you tell the village secretary that we want to build a courtyard wall?”

Tang Xiaomin nodded at her question.

“I told him, but he said he’s too busy these days. He’ll talk about it once things calm down.”

Well, nothing she could do about that. Hopefully, the iron padlocks would keep things secure.

Wasn’t there some saying about how you didn’t need to lock your doors at night and people didn’t steal on the roads?

Her mind wandered aimlessly as they followed the villagers to the fields.

The brigade leader introduced the new educated youths and then assigned everyone to plant corn.

Everyone went to collect tools and seeds. Jiang Manman was paired with an auntie she had met on the ox cart yesterday.

Since she was trying to lose weight, she gave up on pigweed gathering duties.

She didn’t see Zhou Ye around either. They’d said he was a factory director—but what factory? She hadn’t seen any factory in the village.

The auntie beamed at her.

“Well, we’re fated to work together! I’ll dig the holes and you drop the seeds. Just two or three kernels per hole—don’t overdo it.”

Jiang Manman nodded and started working. After a few rounds, she frowned.

“Auntie, why don’t I dig instead?”

The auntie was just too slow. Jiang Manman was just standing there, tossing a few kernels into each hole. It was way too easy—and not nearly enough to burn the calories she needed.

The auntie was surprised.

“Sure, you do it! Just don’t dig too deep or too shallow. And walk backward like this—”

Before she could finish, Jiang Manman had already grabbed the hoe and started digging—one step, one hole, backward the whole way.

Dig, dig, dig—until she was just a black speck in the distance. The auntie stared in shock.

Wow… no need to go that hard, right?

“Hey, Liu family’s girl! Can’t you move faster? Look at that new girl—she’s working like lightning!

At this rate, her holes will dry out before you can even plant the seeds!”

Auntie Liu’s expression stiffened into a dry laugh.

“Heh… didn’t think the new girl was such a hard worker.”

That’s the thing with teaming up—if you’re too slow, you get blamed. Too fast, and you still get blamed.

All morning, Auntie Liu chased after Jiang Manman. By lunchtime, Jiang Manman had dug out one extra ridge of holes, while Auntie Liu was still huffing and puffing.

She thought Jiang Manman would come back to help with the seeding—but nope, she was gone.

Just up and left!

Scorekeeper Du Jianye gave her a satisfied mark—five work points.

After finishing her part, Jiang Manman didn’t go back to cook. Instead, she went for a run in the mountains.

High-knees, simulated jump rope—she did it all.

When she got back, she opened the gate, went inside, and rested for half an hour. Then she filled a basin with hot water and took a warm bath.

She collapsed onto the kang, completely exhausted.

And just like that, word spread around the village: the new female educated youth worked like a tiger.

Even Auntie Liu—famous for her slacking—was forced to earn two extra work points, tears and all.