Chapter 74: Jiang Zhiqing

In the past, at this time of the year, the rice seedlings in the fields would be lush and green. But this year, the crops were all withered under the scorching sun, looking lifeless and weak.

Recently, something happened in the village. The educated youth that Jiang Cuihua had mentioned earlier had finally arrived. However, this time, only one person was assigned—a young male educated youth, said to be just twenty years old.

Liu Yinyin had never seen him before, but according to her mother, the young man was quite good-looking. He had fair skin, wore clean and tidy clothes, and had a pair of glasses on. At a glance, it was clear that he was from the city—an educated and knowledgeable person.

As soon as the male educated youth arrived, he caused quite a stir in the village, especially among the unmarried young women of suitable age. Who wouldn’t want to marry a city dweller? And to top it off, he was good-looking.

That afternoon, Liu Yinyin had just finished her lessons and returned home, preparing to sort through the wild vegetables the children had gathered for her.

Just then, Jiang Cuihua came rushing in, carrying a basket full of fubi leaves. It was the season for picking them again.

Because the weather had been unusually harsh this year, more people had gone to the mountains to pick fubi leaves than before.

“Yinyin, something big has happened!” Jiang Cuihua, out of breath, hurriedly said to her daughter. “I just heard that Jiang Zhiqing is trying to steal your job!”

The male educated youth in the village was surnamed Jiang, and his name was Jiang Beichuan. The villagers simply called him Jiang Zhiqing.

Liu Yinyin raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

“Hah!” Jiang Cuihua grew angrier as she spoke. “It’s because he can’t do farm work. He can’t even tell the difference between rice seedlings and weeds. He’s from the city, and his body is weak. This afternoon, when he was working in the fields, he fainted from exhaustion.

So, the village chief said they needed to find him an easier job.”

There was no job in the village easier than being a teacher. It was said that the young man had finished high school, so he would definitely be willing to take on the teaching position.

Jiang Cuihua huffed. “But don’t worry, Yinyin. The whole village supports you! Who cares if he finished high school? As long as you don’t agree to give up your job, no one can take it from you.”

She wasn’t lying—the villagers did prefer Liu Yinyin as the teacher.

Why? Because Yinyin didn’t ask for much in return. She only wanted half a basket of wild vegetables from each student, and the kids picked them themselves.

Wild vegetables were free. But if Jiang Zhiqing became the teacher, things definitely wouldn’t be that simple.

So, even though the villagers had their own interests in mind, they were all on Liu Yinyin’s side.

Liu Yinyin responded calmly, “If he wants it, let him have it.”

It wasn’t even a good job—there wasn’t a salary. She only did it to collect wild vegetables.

Now that she had stored up enough, if someone else took over the job, she’d finally have some free time.

She only hoped that the children would continue the habit of gathering and storing wild vegetables.

“How can you just give it to him?” Jiang Cuihua objected. “You know how to teach, so why should you give up your job for him?”

Even though Yinyin’s job didn’t bring in much money, it was respectable. Now, when Jiang Cuihua went out, people treated her kindly and smiled at her.

So, of course, Jiang Cuihua wanted her daughter to continue being the teacher.

Liu Yinyin simply said, “I have to take care of the kids while teaching, and I barely have time for anything else. If Jiang Zhiqing can teach them well, then giving him the job isn’t a bad thing.”

Otherwise, she’d be so busy running around all day that she wouldn’t even have time to think about getting more food.

Jiang Cuihua grumbled unhappily, “That’s letting him off too easy.”

Even though the school didn’t have many students, Yinyin had put a lot of effort into teaching them. She had worked tirelessly every day, and Jiang Cuihua had seen it all.

However, she thought that the village chief surely wouldn’t be so unreasonable as to make her daughter give up her job for no reason.

Thinking this, Jiang Cuihua felt much more at ease. She then started plucking the fubi leaves while asking her daughter, “I picked quite a lot in the mountains. Do you want some?”

Honestly, fubi leaves had become the villagers’ lifesaver. With the unusual weather this year, everyone in the village was extremely anxious.

As a result, many people had gone to the mountains to pick and store fubi leaves.

Liu Yinyin smiled and shook her head. “Mom, you take them home to eat. There are only two of us in the house. In this hot weather, we can just make some mung bean soup to drink.”

Making immortal tofu was quite a hassle, and since their household wasn’t short on food, Liu Yinyin didn’t feel like going through the trouble.

Jiang Cuihua knew her daughter’s family had enough grain, so she didn’t insist. Immortal tofu was good, but if a family had proper food, no one would want to eat it every day.

Life would go on as usual. Whether Jiang Zhiqing would come to teach at the school or not was something Liu Yinyin didn’t concern herself with at all.

So, when Liu Changquan came to see her the next day, Liu Yinyin remained calm and even poured him a cup of cold tea.

Perhaps because of all the recent worries, Liu Changquan looked a bit more weathered than before.

“Ah!” Liu Changquan sighed. “You must have heard about Jiang Zhiqing, right?”

Liu Yinyin nodded. “Village chief, just tell me what’s on your mind.”

After taking a sip of tea, Liu Changquan got straight to the point. “Jiang Zhiqing really isn’t suited for farm work, but he is quite talented. I was thinking, since you’ve been teaching alone at the school and it must be tiring, why not have him come help you out?”

Liu Yinyin was surprised. “Help?”

She had thought Liu Changquan wanted her to hand over the job to Jiang Zhiqing entirely.

“That’s right.” If Jiang Zhiqing had been more capable, Liu Changquan wouldn’t have even considered having him teach. “How about this—you two can split the work. Each of you teaches for half a day, and the rest of the time is yours to arrange as you like.”

He couldn’t control what Liu Yinyin did, but Jiang Zhiqing definitely couldn’t just teach without doing any farm work. Otherwise, what—was the whole village supposed to support a grown man for nothing?

Having him work just half a day was already the best compromise; otherwise, the villagers wouldn’t be satisfied.

After all, for farmers, food was their lifeline. If someone wanted to eat without working, who would be willing to allow that?

Liu Yinyin remained indifferent. “I’m fine with anything, village chief. You decide.”

She truly didn’t mind either way.

Liu Changquan didn’t waste words. He simply said, “Then I’ll arrange for him to teach in the morning. As for the payment, you’ll keep things as they were before.”

After a brief pause, he reassured her, “Yinyin, don’t worry. As long as you’re willing, this teaching position will always be yours.”

The world was becoming harder to understand. Jiang Zhiqing was the first educated youth to come to the village, but he certainly wouldn’t be the last.

This actually worried Liu Changquan. These young people from the city—how could they possibly do farm work?

At least the men had some physical strength and could be given certain tasks.

But if female educated youths started arriving, it would only create more trouble for the village.

Liu Yinyin sincerely expressed her gratitude. “Then thank you, village chief.”

Liu Changquan waved his hand dismissively. “No need to thank me. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t even have this school in the first place.”