Chapter 5: If I Can’t Take the Hardship, I Won’t

Lin Xiangnan, with her luggage on her back, sat on the back of the bicycle, feeling the breeze blowing in her face, humming a tune with a cheerful heart.

Hu Meili pedaled ahead, not saying a word. She was too lazy to bother with her silly child. She had never planted crops in the countryside, and she really thought going to the countryside was a good thing.

The roads in the city were fairly smooth, but the roads in the countryside were mediocre, with bumps every now and then. Later, Lin Xiangnan couldn’t smile anymore, because her butt was numb from the jolting.

It was the busiest time for farming, and everyone in the team was working in the fields. At her second aunt’s house, only her second aunt was busy preparing lunch.

“Meili is here, I’ll go to the field and call your second dad.”

“No need.” Hu Meili pulled her in, went to the kitchen, and started whispering, occasionally pointing at Lin Xiangnan.

It was obvious that she was talking bad about her. Lin Xiangnan didn’t care, she put down her things and looked around.

The Hu family had three brothers. Hu Meili’s father was the eldest, and he was lucky enough to find a job in a pharmaceutical factory in the city after liberation, becoming a city dweller. The second and third brothers didn’t have that opportunity, so they stayed in their hometown to farm.

Although Hu Meili’s father moved to the city, he would return to his hometown every year to pay respects to his ancestors. If his two brothers in the countryside needed help, he would also lend a hand, so the relationship between the three families was good.

Hu Meili left Lin Xiangnan behind without a worry, leaving without even eating lunch.

As soon as she left, her second aunt warmly arranged, “Xiao Nan, go and unpack your things first. I’ll have your eldest cousin arrange some work for you this afternoon.”

Although the rooms in the countryside were bigger and brighter than those in the city, Lin Xiangnan still had to sleep with her two cousins at night. There were many children in the family, it was impossible for everyone to have their own room.

However, there weren’t many people in her second aunt’s family, because they had already split up, and they lived with their eldest son. Her eldest cousin was the village accountant, and their family was among the best off in the team.

Lin Xiangnan only brought two sets of clothes, so there wasn’t much to unpack. She put her things in the room and then went to the kitchen to find her second aunt to find out what was going on.

“Are there any educated youths in our Victory Brigade?”

Her second aunt shook her head, “Not to mention Victory Brigade, there aren’t any educated youths in the entire commune. Our commune isn’t a placement point for educated youths. But don’t worry, the rules in our countryside are all similar, Just follow the team leader’s instructions and work hard.”.”

“Can I take leave?” Lin Xiangnan asked.

Her second aunt smiled kindly, “You can take leave usually, but don’t think about it during the busy farming season, the team leader won’t approve it. If you insist on taking leave, you’ll be deducted work points and criticized. Even the laziest people in our team wouldn’t dare do that.”

Lin Xiangnan didn’t mind owing the team work points for a year.

She was just worried that if she slacked off too much, the brigade cadres would report her, she would be returned, and the educated youth office would arrange for her to be sent to a remote corner.

Worse, during some big meeting, they would make her an example and criticize her on stage. This was something most people couldn’t handle.

Since she was already prepared to go to the countryside, Lin Xiangnan was mentally prepared for work. It was just about not dropping the ball at crucial moments, she could definitely do it.

She had the attitude for work, but if she didn’t do it well, it wouldn’t be her fault.

She was still planning in her mind when her second aunt suddenly screamed, dropped the vegetables she was picking, and ran outside.

“The pig is loose, Xiao Nan, you’re fast, help me chase it back.”

“Ah?” Lin Xiangnan didn’t understand, but she still followed instructions and ran out to chase the pig.

Thanks to the Body-Strengthening Pills, Lin Xiangnan ran very fast and quickly got ahead of the pig, but when she saw the pig charging towards her, she didn’t dare to stop it…

She watched helplessly as the pig ran away, her second aunt slapped her thigh in regret, “You stay home and watch the other pig. I’ll go out and call for help.”

The current policy in the countryside for raising pigs was “buy one, keep one.” Each household could raise two pigs, one to be sold to the state, and one to keep for themselves. Although there was this regulation, not many households in the team raised pigs. Piglets cost money, and if there was a pig plague, it was easy to lose everything.

Her second aunt went out to find people to chase the pig, leaving Lin Xiangnan alone with the pig at home.

The remaining pig wasn’t well-behaved either, it put its two front hooves on the pigsty, ready to jump out.

Lin Xiangnan heard that pigs bite people, so she didn’t dare to get close. She took a bamboo pole and used it to interfere whenever the pig tried to jump out.

She waited at home for half an hour before her second aunt chased the other pig back and locked it in the pigsty.

Her second aunt wiped the sweat off her forehead and explained to the bewildered Lin Xiangnan, “The pigs at home don’t get enough to eat, so they always try to jump out and run away.”

“Aren’t your younger brothers and sisters going to cut pigweed?”

“That little bit of grass isn’t enough to eat.”

The children also had a tough job, going to cut pigweed every day. The banks and hillsides were all stripped bare, it wasn’t easy to find any pigweed. Moreover, the team was harvesting wheat, and they all went to pick up wheat ears, so there was even less pigweed cut. The pigs at home were so hungry that they thought of going outside to find food.

After helping to feed the pigs in the morning, Lin Xiangnan went to the field with her second father in the afternoon.

Lin Xiangnan held a sickle, stood on the field ridge, looked at the scene of the wheat swaying in the wind, and cheered herself up in her heart.

“My task this afternoon is this field. With you helping, I should be able to finish work early today.” Her second father asked with a smile, “Can you cut wheat? Do you want me to teach you?”

“I can.” Lin Xiangnan nodded confidently.

The current high school wasn’t exam-oriented, they had to learn agriculture, industry, and military, and there were also fields in the school. Lin Xiangnan, following the memory in her mind, adjusted her posture for cutting wheat and started bending down to work.

Ten minutes later, Lin Xiangnan scratched her neck, feeling itchy and painful from the wheat awns.

Half an hour later, her waist couldn’t take it anymore, it was so sore that she quickly stood up and stretched.

She didn’t feel it when she was bending over to work, but when she looked up, she realized that her second father’s speed was simply crushing hers. He was already cutting the third row of wheat, while she hadn’t even finished the first row.

Seeing her slacking off, her second father even took the time to urge her, “You have to hurry up, your speed is no good.”

Lin Xiangnan gritted her teeth and continued to bend down to cut wheat.

After another half hour, Lin Xiangnan discovered that two blisters had formed on her palms.

Her hand holding the sickle trembled slightly.

Damn it, she seemed to be a real good-for-nothing who couldn’t do any physical labor.

Originally, she wanted to slack off with the rest of the team, but the team leader actually assigned tasks to each small team when it came to working, and then the team leader assigned the tasks to individuals. If she didn’t finish her work, she wouldn’t be able to finish work.

The people in the brigade had their families to help them if they couldn’t finish their work. But if she went to another brigade to be an educated youth alone, the consequences were unimaginable.

Before today, she seemed to have overestimated herself. She really wasn’t cut out for farm work, she just couldn’t take the hardship.

If she couldn’t take the hardship, she wouldn’t, Lin Xiangnan calmly straightened up, “Second father, you go ahead, I’ll go back and have some water, then I’ll come back.”