Chapter 15: First Day of Work

Listening, listening, Tang Xiaoxiao began to doze off, swaying slightly. Soon, she fell asleep, her head resting on the edge of the bed.

This was probably the most uncomfortable but deepest sleep she had had since her rebirth. She had been under a lot of pressure these past few days, worrying about Song Jingzhi’s leg.

But now, perhaps because Song Jingzhi was by her side, she had a dream. She dreamed that his leg was healed, and he was standing by the edge of the field, smiling at her.

Song Jingzhi, who was still reading over there, heard the noise and saw that she was already asleep.

“Jingzhi…” Song’s mother called out as she walked in.

Song Jingzhi quickly made a “shh” gesture to his mother, stopping her from making any more noise and waking Tang Xiaoxiao.

Song’s mother walked to the bed and looked at Tang Xiaoxiao with pity. She said softly, “This girl probably hasn’t slept well these past few days.”

“Mother, is something wrong?”

“Nothing. Your father and I are going to work. I’ll come back early this afternoon to cook. Don’t let Xiaoxiao do all the work.”

“Okay.” He nodded.

Song’s mother and father went to work. Song Jingzhi knew that the right thing to do now was to wake her up and let her go back to the educated youth center to sleep.

But seeing her sleeping soundly, with a faint smile on her face, he couldn’t bear to do it.

Instead, he saw that she was sweating slightly because her face was pressed against her hand. He picked up the palm leaf fan nearby and gently fanned her.

The next day was Tang Xiaoxiao and He Xiaoqian’s first day of work. They got up early.

After breakfast, they followed Liu Fengjuan to the threshing ground. Everyone had to go to the threshing ground to be assigned work before starting work each day.

But Tang Xiaoxiao had already decided to gather pigweed except during the busy farming season, so she was just there to meet people today.

“That’s the girl who came to repay Song Jingzhi, right? She’s so pretty.” Several aunties started gossiping.

“Yeah, she looks so delicate. It’s amazing that she has this kind of heart. She’s really good.”

“That’s right. She’s a good person. How many people would travel so far to the countryside just to repay a favor?”

Auntie Wu had been spreading the word in the village these past two days, saying that Tang Xiaoxiao was a good girl who knew how to repay kindness.

Originally, there was a lot of talk in the village about Song Jingzhi’s return after being injured. Now that Tang Xiaoxiao had come to repay his kindness, everyone knew that he had been injured while saving someone.

Now, everyone was saying that good people are rewarded, and Tang Xiaoxiao was repaying her gratitude.

These past two days, she had been going in and out of the Song family’s house, and no one had gossiped about it. If anyone dared to say anything, someone would immediately retort, “She’s there to repay her gratitude. How can you be so narrow-minded?”

“She looks like a vixen. Look at all the young men in the village. They all have their eyes on her.” The speaker was Liu Dabao’s mother.

“Chen Fengya, who are you calling a vixen? Watch your mouth.” Song’s mother was unhappy when she heard her talking about Tang Xiaoxiao.

“Who am I talking about? You’re so protective of her. Is she your daughter-in-law?” Chen Fengya had always been at odds with Song’s mother.

Chen Fengya’s family and Song’s mother’s family were from the same village. They both married into the same village around the same time. Chen Fengya got pregnant first and was very proud, feeling superior to Song’s mother.

However, she ended up having five daughters in a row. Song’s mother gave birth to Song Jingzhi on her first try. The matter only calmed down after Chen Fengya gave birth to Liu Xiaobao.

“Chen Fengya, what are you making a fuss about? You have the loudest voice in the whole village.” Auntie Wu walked over to Song’s mother. They had been close sisters-in-law when they were younger.

Because both of their mothers-in-law had passed away early, Song’s mother only had Song Jingzhi, and Auntie Wu had four children. Song’s mother helped Auntie Wu, her elder sister-in-law, take care of the children.

Conditions were poor back then, so Song’s mother would take out the fine grain from her family and share it with Auntie Wu’s children. Therefore, the two families had always had a good relationship.

Song Jingzhi was often away from home, and Auntie Wu’s children would often go to see Song’s father and mother, helping their uncle and aunt with chores.

Auntie Wu was the village head’s wife after all. With her words, Chen Fengya stopped talking.

Tang Xiaoxiao heard the commotion and looked over. Song’s mother saw her and waved to her.

She greeted He Xiaoqian and Liu Fengjuan and walked over to Song’s mother.

Song’s mother held her hand and said to the nearby aunties, “Xiaoxiao is my daughter now. Anyone who says a bad word about her is against me, Zhao Cui’e.”

“Cui’e, don’t worry. If anyone dares to bully Little Tang educated youth, I’ll be the first to disagree.” Auntie Wu smiled at Tang Xiaoxiao.

“Thank you, both aunties.” She smiled and accepted their kindness.

On the stage, Song Jian Guo assigned everyone their work. He glanced at Tang Xiaoxiao in the crowd.

“Everyone knows that Tang came to our village to repay a favor. Because she has to take care of Jingzhi, she doesn’t have much time to work. So, unless it’s during the busy farming season, she’ll only do the work of gathering pigweed.”

There was a murmur of discussion below. Song Jian Guo waved his hand.

“Everyone, rest assured. Comrade Tang has promised that she will take as many work points as she earns gathering pigweed. She won’t cause any trouble for the village.”

After he said this, the discussion stopped. As long as they didn’t take any of the village’s grain, no one cared if you earned work points or not.

“Comrade Tang, your package and remittance slip arrived yesterday afternoon. Go to the village committee to pick them up later. Also, Comrade He’s.”

This could have been said privately, but Song Jian Guo said it in front of everyone because he wanted everyone to know that Tang Xiaoxiao’s family was well-off, so they shouldn’t be focused on her not working.

Tang Xiaoxiao had the same idea. After all, she had just bought a bicycle when she arrived, and she often cooked meat at Song Jingzhi’s house. The village head saying this did save her a lot of trouble.

As for those who were eyeing her with ulterior motives, she didn’t care about them. If they dared to approach her, they would have to face her fists.

“Xiaoxiao, let me tell you, there are many children gathering pigweed on the back mountain. Go with them. Don’t go deep into the mountains. There are wild boars. You can go get the tools with Xiaolan later.” Song’s mother pulled Tang Xiaoxiao aside and introduced Song Xiaolan to her.

“Sister Xiaoxiao.” Song Xiaolan was Song Jian Guo’s youngest daughter, Song Jingzhi’s cousin. She was a few months younger than Tang Xiaoxiao and the village’s work point recorder.

“Okay, Xiaolan, I’ll trouble you then.”

“After you finish gathering pigweed, go rest. You don’t need to go to the city to buy vegetables today. We have cured chicken, cured pork, and cured fish at home. Auntie will come home to cook at noon.” Song’s mother held Tang Xiaoxiao’s hand and instructed her.

“I know, Auntie.”

It wasn’t until several aunties who were close to Song’s mother started urging her that she let go of Tang Xiaoxiao’s hand.

“I think you really treat Little Tang educated youth like your own daughter.” Auntie Wu teased softly as she pulled Song’s mother away.

“That’s right. You don’t know how good this girl is. She’s much better than my stinky boy. She speaks softly, and she’s also soft. Oh, she’s really good.” Song’s mother said with a smile.

If Tang Xiaoxiao heard this, she would probably say, “Heh, Auntie, you haven’t seen my not-so-soft side.”