Chapter 16: Going to the County Town (Part 2)

Upon hearing that she was being asked to work, Li Lijuan immediately became anxious.

She didn’t want to work at all! Working is so tiring! It’s best to just laze around at home and do nothing!

Girls in the city don’t have to do any farm work. They are pampered and delicate!

Doing too much work would make one sunburned, and the skin wouldn’t stay fair and smooth. Getting all dark and skinny, looking like a bumpkin, she didn’t want that!

To her surprise, after listening to Zhao Xiulan’s words, Zhao Weiguo nodded and, after some thought, said to Li Lijuan, “Lijuan, you should go to the production team and work with the others starting tomorrow!”

Li Lijuan’s face immediately fell, and she quickly glanced at Ma Yumei for help.

Ma Yumei then persuaded Zhao Weiguo, “Weiguo, I also need someone to take care of me at home. It’s not convenient for Lijuan to go and work, is it?”

Zhao Xiulan immediately retorted, “Aunt Mei, didn’t you say that there’s not enough food at home? If there’s not enough food to eat, why are you still thinking about having someone to serve you? Besides, do you really need someone to take care of you every day? We can all help out a bit more at home!”

Zhao Weiguo agreed with Zhao Xiulan’s words, “Xiulan is right. Now, earning more work points and getting more food is the most important thing! Without enough food, everyone will starve to death. It’s useless to have someone take care of you at home!”

“Weiguo…” Ma Yumei wanted to continue persuading Zhao Weiguo.

But today’s events had already made Zhao Weiguo somewhat displeased with Ma Yumei. His own daughter was going to work because there wasn’t enough food to eat, yet Li Lijuan was lazy at home. As a father, he couldn’t remain indifferent. Would he favour his stepdaughter Li Lijuan over his own daughter? Otherwise, he would owe Zhao Xiulan too much!

“That’s it, there’s no room for discussion. It’s settled! Lijuan will start working and earning work points from tomorrow onwards!” Zhao Weiguo said with a stern face.

Usually, Zhao Weiguo rarely got so angry. Seeing Zhao Weiguo angry, Ma Yumei stopped trying to persuade him, but she couldn’t help but feel resentful towards Zhao Xiulan. Li Lijuan looked at Zhao Xiulan with eyes full of hatred, as if she wanted to tear her apart.

Ignoring the malicious glares from Ma Yumei and Li Lijuan, Zhao Xiulan finished her meal, tidied up a bit, and then went back to her room to rest.

The next morning, Zhao Xiulan woke up early. Because she had to leave early, Zhao Xiulan didn’t eat breakfast at home. There wasn’t much food at home anyway, so she just grabbed a piece of bread and a glass of milk from her space to have for breakfast on the way. Of course, it was much tastier than the stale steamed buns.

After walking for a while, Zhao Xiulan was already panting heavily.

Fortunately, she had eaten the food from her space; otherwise, she probably wouldn’t have been able to make it to the county town. In her previous life, Zhao Xiulan wouldn’t have minded this level of physical activity, but this era was different. They were too poor, and the original host had been malnourished since childhood, never eating well, which had weakened her body. Therefore, walking this distance made her so tired.

It seemed that not only Zhao Xiu Zhu’s body needed more nourishment, but hers did too.

After resting for a while, Zhao Xiulan continued on her way. The two-hour journey Zhao Weiguo had mentioned took Zhao Xiulan three hours to walk, but she finally arrived at the county town.

Seeing the buildings in the county town, Zhao Xiulan’s face revealed a hint of disbelief, because the appearance of the county town was far different from what she had imagined!

The road leading to the county town was a wide avenue, with rows of houses on either side. They weren’t tall buildings, but rather rows of low, squat houses.

(End of Chapter 16)