Chapter 26: Earning While Working Is Only Fair

The old educated youth did not expect that Ye Siran looked thin and weak, but had such a tough temper.

And she clearly understood the ways of living in the countryside. Perhaps she even had older siblings in nearby villages—there would be no way to take advantage of her!

Seeing that even their squad leader didn’t dare force them to hand over food, the others could only leave reluctantly.

Ye Siran watched them leave, then pulled out a handful of White Rabbit candies and called after them:

“Dear seniors, Wen Lin brought some candies from home. Each of you can have two to try. We’ve just arrived, so please take care of us.”

The sent-down youth who regretted sharing his own supplies immediately turned to take the candy from Ye Siran.

“Thank you, little sister. After a day of hard work, I’m exhausted and hungry. Getting even one White Rabbit candy is a real treat—it gives me strength!”

Everyone eagerly unwrapped the candies and popped them into their mouths. They hadn’t tasted this sweetness in a whole year!

“These are expensive and heavy. The supply store in town doesn’t even sell them. Just having two is already a blessing!” one educated youth wiped at the corner of his eyes.

“Don’t complain that it’s too little. Wen Lin didn’t bring many. We mainly rely on them for the journey. Sorry we couldn’t let you enjoy more,” Ye Siran said politely.

“Oh, no, little sister. Don’t mind that we were rude earlier. Life here is tough, so tempers flare easily,” one veteran reassured.

“Exactly! I used to be a gentle and cultured youth, but a few years here eroded all my refinement.”

“Little sisters, rest early. You’re delicate and tender-skinned. Tomorrow you can request lighter work.”

“Can we really choose our work?” Wen Lin asked eagerly as she caught up.

“Yes. If you have enough money, you can even choose not to work and not take any work points. The villagers will still be pleased with you!”

“Oh, I don’t have time to chat. I need to go cook some wild vegetable porridge.”

“You’ve been working all day, and you’re eating wild vegetable porridge?” Wen Lin asked in disbelief.

“At night, we don’t need to work. Wild vegetable porridge is enough. In winter, there’s less work, and we sometimes can’t even spare porridge,” Ye Siran explained.

“But in the morning and at noon, we eat some mixed-grain cakes to keep us going. It gives us energy for work.”

“Ah! I’ll tell you a secret: when working, the villagers always expect us to take the dirtiest, hardest jobs.”

“I spent the whole afternoon carrying soil. My shoulders have blisters, and they’re swelling badly now.”

“Stop scaring the new ones. You chose to carry the soil yourself to get more work points—nobody forced you.”

“Ha! I just wanted to earn extra grain! My family hasn’t sent supplies in a long time. Low points wouldn’t fill my stomach.”

The veteran youth talked while walking away, but Ye Siran gleaned an important piece of information from their conversation:

Sent-down youth could choose not to take hard or laborious jobs—or even not work at all. But not working meant not earning work points, and without points, there’s no rationed grain.

“Ranran, giving out that White Rabbit candy was worth it. You got so much useful information from it,” Wen Lin said, patting her chest nervously.

“Wen Lin, what are you thinking? You look so happy about something.”

“Ranran, we’ll talk when we get back to the cave,” Wen Lin said, pulling Ye Siran along.

“Ranran, I don’t want to make things hard for myself. If I can’t work and mess everything up, but with money and tickets, I can live well even without work.”

“Wen Lin, have you considered that since we came to the countryside, doing nothing might get us labeled as capitalist?” Ye Siran cautioned.

“Ranran, you’re amazing. You think of everything. If it weren’t for you, the rice at home would definitely have been gone by now.”

“….”

“I was scared when they came aggressively. I would have just handed over all the rice to avoid trouble.”

“If I hadn’t been there, you’d have welcomed them warmly—they wouldn’t have been so fierce,” Ye Siran admitted honestly.

“Even if they weren’t fierce, seeing their yellow faces and thin bodies, I wouldn’t have been able to resist giving them things,” Wen Lin sighed.

“Wen Lin, I know you’re kind, but have you ever heard the saying: ‘human greed knows no bounds; favor given in small amounts can be repaid with great resentment’?”

“I have. My father and brothers taught me, but when I meet someone pitiful, I forget it. Ranran, like I said before, without you, I’d be doomed!”

Ye Siran looked at Wen Lin deeply. No wonder she had suffered so much in her past life here!

“Wen Lin, go wash the dishes and sleep early. Tomorrow we’ll request lighter work. And remember, no special treatment.”

“Ranran, you’re like my new parents. I’ll follow your lead. I’ll wash the dishes now—you go rest first.”

Taking advantage of Wen Lin washing dishes, Ye Siran entered the space and practiced Shaolin boxing. She had improved considerably since her rebirth.

After washing, Wen Lin planned to fetch water at the well before it got dark, but just as she stepped out, she ran into Zhong Qingfeng.

Curious, she asked, “You came back from town? What did they buy?”

“Just some daily necessities. They found our town’s supply store inadequate and spent the whole afternoon picking things.”

“Did you charge extra?” Wen Lin asked. She trusted Zhong Qingfeng—charging for work is only fair—and she didn’t mind.

“No, you were generous, Wen Zhiqing. You even gave my grandmother fifty cents and a handful of candy. I covered water and firewood for the month.”

“Good! Haha… you’re such a good person!”

Zhong Qingfeng smiled awkwardly at the praise. “Wait here, I’ll go get water.”

“Bored, I’ll go with you and hear about Jian Yueshi and your brother,” Wen Lin said.

“Haha, nothing much happened between them. Jian Zhiqing has a bad temper; she almost got left in town by my brother,” Zhong Qingfeng whispered.

“Really? Then you have to tell me. I’m her neighbor. I’m the domineering girl in the courtyard, she’s the obedient one in the elders’ eyes.”

“Ha! Your elders were completely fooled by her! Let me tell you… haha…” Zhong Qingfeng started laughing before finishing.

“Finish talking first! You laugh too soon, and now I want to know the rest even more. Hurry up.”

“Jian Zhiqing thought our town’s supply store stuff was bad and asked my brother to take her to the county town to buy.

My brother is a straightforward guy. He was immediately captivated by Jian Zhiqing’s beauty.

But straight guys are straightforward. He said she was too fussy.

When asked how she would live in the countryside, Jian Zhiqing got annoyed and said she would never stay in the countryside forever.

My brother realized if she didn’t want to stay in the countryside, she wouldn’t marry him, so he left her in town and ran off, haha…”

“Hahaha… and then?”