Chapter 32: Full Measure, Borrowing an Awl

With the newly bought small stool in hand, she arrived at the workplace.

As soon as Zhou Sinian appeared, the entire place fell silent.

Choosing the usual spot by the corn pile, Zhou Sinian was quick and skillful in his work. Without the need for Ming Dai to demonstrate, he took the awl and began working on his own.

Ming Dai followed behind, rubbing corn, wearing her new cotton gloves. The women around them couldn’t help but call her extravagant, while the young girls and newlyweds admired her greatly.

Today, Aunt Huang’s family had chosen the corn pile beside Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian.

With everyone looking on in admiration, Aunt Huang leaned in.

“Xiao Ming, you’re too kind. You even gave Tiedan four pieces of peach crisp, such a precious thing.”

Although her voice trembled slightly and her posture suggested she was ready to flee at any moment, she had become quite bold.

Ming Dai smiled and looked up. “Aunt, you gave us so many vegetables and mountain goods. This morning, we had chive pockets—they were so fresh they practically melted in my mouth! I have to ask, how do you grow such delicious food?”

The compliment went straight to Aunt Huang’s heart. Delighted, she moved closer and eagerly shared her farming techniques with Ming Dai, eventually even promising to give her a batch of chive roots.

“Wait until next spring. Once you plant them, you’ll have chives in no time. Let me tell you…”

As she was speaking, she suddenly realized she had sat directly in front of Zhou Sinian, and the words got stuck in her throat.

Fortunately, Zhou Sinian was focused on his work and didn’t lift his head, so Aunt Huang was able to relax.

Seeing that Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian worked quickly, Aunt Huang no longer spoke much. She simply told Ming Dai to come by sometime to dig some soybean paste and sauerkraut.

Here, winter couldn’t do without soybean paste and sauerkraut.

Ming Dai smiled and agreed.

Aunt Huang returned to her spot and was immediately surrounded by a group of people. While chatting, she occasionally glanced toward Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian.

Neither of them paid attention. Ming Dai planned to finish the work early so she could go back and clean out the vegetable cellar, then head to the village to buy some vegetables. Otherwise, with winter setting in, her meals would consist of nothing but cabbage, and Zhou Sinian, even if he were crazy, would start wondering what was going on.

Ming Dai quickly finished her share of corn, earning the admiration of those around her. With Zhou Sinian handling most of the work, she had barely rubbed off a third of the corn herself.

The villagers watched with envy, while the other educated youths felt only jealousy—especially the female ones.

Among the older educated youths, Song Lanlan eyed Ming Dai’s brand-new cotton gloves, her mouth almost watering with envy.

These were cotton gloves, something even the city girls would hesitate to use. They usually saved them to knit scarves. Now, Ming Dai was using them to rub corn, and it seemed like such a waste.

Liu Yan, on the other hand, gritted her teeth in resentment. Both of them were from the capital, but with just one train ride, how was it that Ming Dai, from the west side of the city, was doing better than her, from the east side?

Although she worked at home, she had never done such rough work. At most, she washed clothes and cooked meals.

Yesterday, after rubbing corn for a whole morning, she had gotten three blisters and had cried her way to ask Chen Erhong for leave.

Before Chen Erhong could say anything, Song Lanlan had already scolded her.

“Aiyo, you really act like a proper capitalist’s daughter! Even Fang Rou has blisters on her hands, yet she hasn’t complained or asked for leave. So what makes you so special?! Or do you still want to be the master, oppressing us poor laboring slaves?”

Those words were harsh—so harsh that if this weren’t the simple and honest village of Liujiawan, Liu Yan would have definitely been dragged off for interrogation.

Liu Yan was completely dumbfounded, holding up her hands, unsure how to respond.

Chen Erhong saw that things were escalating and shot Song Lanlan a glare. Turning to Liu Yan, she frowned and said, “We all go through this. Asking for leave isn’t possible. I’ll help you pop the blisters later. You’ll get used to it.”

Liu Yan could only agree, continuing to work with the deflated blisters, and by evening, she had developed four more.

Meanwhile, Fang Rou was also feeling frustrated inside. Her hands hurt too.

And she had forgotten to bring her work gloves, so now she was rubbing the corn with her bare hands.

In her previous life, she had arrived here in the summer, two years later, during the busy farming season.

At that time, the work was even harder, and on her first day of labor, she had cried in the fields from exhaustion.

No one pitied her; they just told her that she would get used to it.

But how could she get used to it? She didn’t belong here in the first place.

Fortunately, she later received help from Luo Cheng, which allowed her to escape the heavy labor.

This time, she had come earlier, hoping to lay the groundwork for meeting Luo Cheng, but she had forgotten that there was work to do in Liujiawan during the winter as well.

Looking at the shiny blisters in her palm, she thought it was time to bring up the idea of teaching at the commune school.

Nearby, Qi Zhijun was also gritting his teeth and rubbing corn. As a young master, his hands were softer than most girls’, so naturally, he had developed blisters as well.

However, seeing Fang Rou, who didn’t complain or act tired, inspired him. He was determined to follow Fang Rou’s example, to work hard, and not take any shortcuts or slack off!

Fang Rou had no idea. If she knew, she would probably resent him even more, as she had already experienced this in her previous life. After a brief promise, Fang Rou still had to do the work herself. That useless young master couldn’t even take care of her and was too busy with his own troubles.

Before long, the corn pile that Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian had been working on was finished by midday.

After the team leader inspected their work, a girl with a big braid, wearing a butterfly hairpin, came over to ask for their names.

When she learned Ming Dai’s name, the girl’s eyes brightened, and her attitude became much friendlier.

She was Liu Shuji’s little daughter, the treasured gem of the family—Liu Miao.

Ming Dai noticed Liu Miao looking at her and winked, which made Liu Miao break into a smile.

“Ahem, Ming Dai and… uh, Zhou Sinian, full measure, recorded as 8 centimeters.”

When Liu Miao said Zhou Sinian’s name, Ming Dai felt like she had just heard something inappropriate.

After saying that, Liu Miao flipped to the last page of her small notebook and wrote the number 8 next to their names.

Ming Dai glanced down at the page, and yes, there was another 8 before them.

She looked at the names above:

Liu Yan: 4;

Qi Zhijun: 6;

Fang Rou: 6;

Liu Daye: 6;

Zhang Xiaojun: 6;

Cai Mingcheng: 8;

Qin Fangfang: 8.

Ming Dai stood up, feeling satisfied, and smiled at Liu Miao. She grabbed the small stools for both of them, while Zhou Sinian, carrying four bags of leftover corn cobs, walked ahead.

“Ming Zhiqing, could I borrow your awl for a moment?”

Ming Dai turned and saw Fang Rou, who looked unusually weary. It was rare to see her not with her usual prideful demeanor.

Fang Rou didn’t want to ask for help, but she was truly exhausted.

Her hands, trained to play the violin, were now covered in blisters from rubbing corn.

At this rate, she would be lucky to finish half of what she had done yesterday.

Aunt Luo had always favored capable and frugal wives, so Fang Rou couldn’t afford to give her a bad impression.

The people around them, especially the older educated youths, were watching closely. Most of them didn’t have an awl and were curious to see if Ming Dai would bypass them and lend her tool to the newer educated youth.

Fang Rou clearly noticed the situation, cursed under her breath, and pulled out a piece of candy from her pocket, handing it to Ming Dai.

“Ming Dai, after you’re done using it for the half-day, can you lend it to me? I’ll give you a piece of candy every time.”

Ming Dai looked at the six pieces of candy in her hand. The female lead sure was generous!

She nodded and handed over the awl.

Fang Rou relaxed and smiled at her before returning to her seat.

The other older educated youths turned their gaze away. After all, a piece of candy wasn’t something they, the poor old intellectuals, could easily offer.

Ming Dai, holding the candy, left with Zhou Sinian.

At home, Zhou Sinian poured the corn kernels into the kitchen and neatly stacked the bags, which he would take with him to work the next day.

“Want some?” Ming Dai held up the candy to Zhou Sinian.

Zhou Sinian glanced at it and shook his head, then went back to his room. He came out with a piece of egg cake and ate it while leaning against the door frame.

Ming Dai smiled. She knew he wouldn’t eat food from others.