Chapter 14: Dealing with Such a Lazy Daughter-in-Law

“She probably didn’t even come out; she might still be sleeping soundly in her room,” Zhou Yun scoffed.

This morning, when she left, she had seen everyone from the Fu family except for Jiang Yuman.

“What? She’s still not going to work?” The others gasped in disbelief, their jaws almost dropping.

How could one be so carefree as to sleep while everyone else worked, especially since workloads and food rations were directly linked? Would food just fall from the sky?

“Why not?” Zhou Yun replied sarcastically. “After all, she’s not the one who has to worry about making a living.”

The older women nearby widened their eyes. “This is unbelievable. How can she not work and still expect the family to have enough food for the summer harvest? Are they supposed to survive on air?”

“Exactly! You wouldn’t believe it. When we arrived yesterday, that family was busy cleaning, and she didn’t lift a finger,” Zhou Yun said excitedly.

Seeing that the others’ sentiments aligned with hers, she felt emboldened. “So yesterday, I guessed she definitely wouldn’t work.”

Hearing that, the younger girls looked indignant.

They had all seen how Fu Jingchen worked harder than anyone else in the fields. Plus, he looked handsome and tall, with a powerful presence. Who wouldn’t be smitten?

Was it fair for such a good man to be stuck with a lazy wife like that?

The married women exchanged glances, confused. As women themselves, how could they tolerate someone who neither did farmwork nor took care of household chores?

They were used to working hard in the fields and still returning home to cook and clean; it was ingrained in their mindset.

“Is his wife at least pretty?” someone asked curiously.

If she did nothing, surely Fu Jingchen didn’t mind just because she was attractive—what other reason could there be?

Zhou Yun snorted. “Can a pretty face fill the stomach?” Her tone was laced with jealousy and disdain.

Even though she looked down on Jiang Yuman, she couldn’t deny that the woman was attractive enough.

But apart from her looks, that’s all she had.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“True, there are plenty of beautiful girls in our brigade. Who else can afford to skip work like her?”

“It’s unfortunate for the Fu family; with one less worker, they’ll have even less food to eat.”

While they talked, the group’s attention was drawn to Fu Jingchen, who was sitting away from them resting.

Fu Jingchen sat far off, uninterested in the attention he was garnering from the crowd. He was gazing at the brightening sun, silently wondering whether Jiang Yuman had woken up to eat breakfast.

—

In the meantime, Jiang Yuman, who was currently sitting on a donkey cart, had been sneezing continuously, desperately clutching the side of the cart to avoid falling off.

She hadn’t slept much, considering she needed to go to the commune and make lunch. She had to get up before everyone else to prepare.

So shortly after the others left, she had gotten out of bed, tidied herself up, and left.

As luck would have it, just as she reached the village entrance, she encountered an uncle driving a donkey cart.

After asking, she learned that the uncle’s last name was Li and that his cart was privately owned, unlike the one that had picked them up yesterday, which belonged to the brigade.

Uncle Li was a retired soldier who had sustained an injury and couldn’t farm. Without any children, the brigade allowed him to engage in a small business, helping him maintain a living while also providing a service for some brigade members.

Usually, Uncle Li transported people to the commune, and those in the surrounding villages would wait at the Shinianzi Brigade’s stone mill for the donkey cart.

There were often many people waiting when it was off-season, but during busy farming times like now, few people were about. Today, Jiang Yuman was the only one.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuman quickly negotiated with Uncle Li to take her to the commune and help bring back a cartload of goods.

She offered to pay him the full fare for a complete cartload.

Uncle Li was thrilled and surprised to get such a good deal.

After a good while of traveling together, Jiang Yuman asked, “Uncle, are we almost at the Hongqi Commune?”

“Yes, just around the bend!” Uncle Li replied enthusiastically.

He had taken this route many times and was very familiar with it. Sure enough, after turning the corner, they arrived at their destination quickly. “You wait here, and I’ll be back in half an hour.”

“Okay!”

After giving Uncle Li directions, Jiang Yuman hurriedly grabbed her bag and went off.

The trip to the commune was complicated, so she wouldn’t be able to come frequently. Thus, before leaving, she had specifically packed a bag to carry her things.

Following Uncle Li’s directions, Jiang Yuman quickly reached the commune’s supply and marketing cooperative.

Naturally, the cooperative here couldn’t compare to those in the provincial capital, but they had the basic daily necessities.

Holding her ticket and money, Jiang Yuman bought a pound of dried mushrooms, which were freshly picked from the mountains and were nice and big.

She also picked up several rolls of kelp; these were delicious whether stewed with ribs or pork trotters.

Additionally, she bought several pieces of seaweed, great for making seaweed egg soup.

She didn’t buy any spices because she had stocked up on various seasonings back in the province, enough to last their family for a year.

After a quick look back, her eyes caught sight of some eggs.

Jiang Yuman couldn’t resist buying three pounds. Those who cooked knew that eggs were essential ingredients that many dishes required.

Plus, they wouldn’t spoil, so it was wise to purchase them.

With these items in hand, she checked around once more but found nothing else to buy and decided not to spend more.

In summary, she made this extensive trip to reasonably take out items from her space.

She only bought what she needed, while others could wait. After all, she had stocked up on many items previously.

To be frank, if she were to take everything out from her space, she could easily open her own supply and marketing cooperative here.

After paying and glancing at her space’s timer, she noticed it was already ten-thirty in the morning.

Hurrying out of the cooperative, she made her way back toward where Uncle Li had parked the cart.

When she was still a street away, she found a secluded and empty alley and quickly shifted some items from her space into her now slightly deflated bag.

The bag was soon filled with rice, flour, pork, vegetables, seasonings, and several daily necessities.

With the busy harvest season approaching, she had to ensure her family had good meals in order to recharge from the exhausting labor.

However, carrying so much was exhausting! Just a short distance of a few hundred meters had Jiang Yuman panting.

This was under the condition that she had drunk the spring water, which had improved her constitution.

Without that spring water, she would have been unable to carry this bag at all!

“Girl, did you buy this much?”

Uncle Li, noticing the heavily stuffed bag, was astonished. “You should have called me to help you carry it.”

Jiang Yuman smiled, “No need; I can manage. Uncle, let’s head back.”

“Alright, hold on tight!”

Once Jiang Yuman settled into the cart, Uncle Li slapped the donkey’s back, and they slowly moved off.

Half an hour later, the donkey cart arrived at the Shinianzi Brigade.

Uncle Li, being a kind-hearted man, noticed Jiang Yuman’s pregnancy and the heavy load she carried, so he insisted on dropping her directly at the youth station.

Since he could take a shortcut through the back to avoid being seen by those working in the fields, that’s how Jiang Yuman had come earlier this morning.

However, the donkey cart could only go along the main road, the same path they had taken yesterday, which meant they would be seen by the crew working in the fields.

Jiang Yuman didn’t want to refuse Uncle Li’s good intentions. After considering it, she realized carrying all those items would be too hard on her, and she didn’t dwell on it too much.

As they passed by the fields, she lowered the straw hat that rested atop her head.

The villagers working in the fields were quite busy, and suddenly hearing the sound of the donkey cart, several of them looked up in unison toward Jiang Yuman—