As it neared work time, the production team’s loudspeaker blared once more.

Half-asleep, Shen Zhihuan was awaken by the noise from the neighboring room. She quickly got up, only to see her mother and younger brother quietly preparing to leave.

Just as the two were about to step out of the courtyard, she caught up with them.

“Mom, I’ll go with you,” Shen Zhihuan said, grabbing the bamboo basket by the door and slinging it over her shoulder.

“The sun’s too harsh for you to be running around. Stay home and rest. The two of us can handle it,” Li Qiuhua immediately objected.

Her daughter had only recently begun to recover. What if she got sick again from overexertion?

“Third Sister, listen to Mom. Just stay home and rest. Earning work points is up to us,” Xiao Weidong chimed in, supporting their mother.

Ever since he had seen Shen Zhihuan lying lifelessly on the bed, Xiao Weidong had silently vowed to grow up quickly and earn plenty of work points to afford the best doctors for his sister. He wanted to prove those who claimed his sister wouldn’t survive to adulthood wrong and make the Su family regret their actions.

“Grandpa Hua said moderate exercise is good for me,” Shen Zhihuan replied, picking up her pace to avoid further argument.

The production team’s pigsty housed over fifty pigs. Each one produced roughly eight pounds of waste daily, adding up to around five hundred pounds of pig manure in a day—close to four thousand pounds in a week. The pigsty wasn’t far from the manure storage pit, but each trip took about thirty minutes, not counting the time spent loading and dumping the manure.

For one person to finish this task in a day? Not possible. Even working through the night wouldn’t be enough.

Xu Youcai… you just wait.

Li Qiuhua frowned slightly. “If you want to go out for exercise, at least wait until the sun sets.”

“Mom, the book says sunlight is good for health. Besides, I’m just there to help a little. It won’t tire me out,” Shen Zhihuan said as she locked the door behind her.

“Fine, but if you start feeling tired or unwell, you must tell me,” Li Qiuhua relented, sighing.

“I will, Mom!” Shen Zhihuan promised cheerfully, linking arms with her mother and pulling Xiao Weidong along with her.

The three of them walked toward the pigsty, smiling and chatting.

“Did you see Li’s third daughter? She looks like she’s got a bit more energy now.”

“Yeah, but who knows how long it’ll last this time?”

“That Su Changhe and his wife are just awful people. Don’t they worry about karma in their next life?”

“She’s not bad-looking, but her health is terrible. If she were stronger, maybe the Su family wouldn’t have pushed for a breakup.”

The villagers working in the fields noticed Shen Zhihuan, who had been bedridden for so long, now out and about. They exchanged curious and cruel remarks.

“What’s the use of looking healthier? That fortune-teller said she wouldn’t live past eighteen. This year, she’s seventeen. Just wait and see…”

“Widow Chen, why do you have to be so mean? That girl hasn’t done anything to you,” Wang Lianhua interrupted, glaring at the gossiping woman.

She’s a widow herself, yet she has the audacity to call others widows at every turn.

Spending all day gossiping about others—has she even sorted out the mess in her own household?

“If that fortune-teller was so great, why didn’t he predict that he would freeze to death in the cowshed?” Wang Lianhua added, scoffing.

Widow Chen shut her mouth awkwardly.

Everyone felt happy seeing Widow Chen being humiliated.

The midday sun bore down mercilessly, amplifying the stench of the pig manure. The foul odor was overwhelming, making Shen Zhihuan’s stomach churn as she clenched her teeth to hold back nausea.

Seeing her pale face and sweat-drenched forehead, Li Qiuhua grew worried.

“Zhihuan, why don’t you go rest under that tree? Xiao Weidong and I can handle this load,” she said, putting down her shovel.

“Third Sister, you should go home and rest. Mom and I can finish this,” Xiao Weidong added with a frown.

“I’m fine. It’s just the smell that’s making me queasy,” Shen Zhihuan replied with a weak smile.

If she wasn’t afraid of scaring Li Qiuhua and Xiao Weidong, she would have moved all the smelly manure into the fermentation pit under the resort at once and finished the work in a second

“Third Sister, what if you get married and have a baby? What will you do if your husband asks you to wash dirty diapers?” Xiao Weidong suddenly asked, his tone full of concern.

Goudan’s mother was kicked into the river and almost drowned by Goudan’s father because she asked Goudan’s grandmother to help her wash diapers.

Third sister is so weak, if she is kicked into the river…

Shen Zhihuan laughed. “If that happens, you can help your nephew by washing his diapers, okay?”

“Deal!” Xiao Weidong said, puffing out his chest proudly.

“You can’t even wash your own clothes, and you think you can wash diapers?” Li Qiuhua teased, tapping Xiao weidong’s head playfully before hitching the cart’s rope over her shoulder. “Let’s get moving. If we delay any longer, it’ll be dark soon.”

Trip after trip, the family worked tirelessly until the bottom of the manure pit was finally visible, its stones exposed.

Li Qiuhua looked up at the sun, now hanging low in the sky, in disbelief. Two grown men couldn’t have finished this task before sunset, yet here they were, done before dark.

Even Xu Youcai, who came to check the work, was suspicious. Reluctantly, he marked 20 work points in the logbook.

As Xu Youcai’s face twisted in frustration, Shen Zhihuan couldn’t help but smirk.

“Mom, it’s still early. Why don’t we head up the mountain to gather some wild vegetables and firewood?”

Xu Youcai’s face darkened further, barely holding back his anger.

“I know a good spot, I’ll lead the way,” Xiao Weidong said, tugging at Li Qiuhua excitedly.

“Uncle Xu, you go ahead and do your work. We’ll go back first.” Shen Zhihuan said sweetly, her soft tone clearly grating on Xu Youcai’s nerves.

“Hmm!” he grunted, his chest heaving with barely contained fury.

As the family left, light-hearted and satisfied, Xu Youcai stomped off angrily, clutching the work log tightly in his hand.