“Don’t rush, take turns. Besides, can you understand it if you rush?” 

The village party secretary joked and everyone laughed.

“Come on, Jiang Yi, read it to everyone.”

Jiang Yi was one of the educated youth, just like Yang Xiaoye. He was said to be the son of a high-ranking official from the capital, an intellectual. He was well-liked by the villagers for being gentle.

“Okay, Secretary.”

Jiang Yi stepped forward. Despite wearing the same work clothes as everyone else, he had a watch on his wrist and a pen pinned to his clothes, setting him apart from the others.

When the village party secretary asked him to read, the villagers immediately quieted down.

Yang Xiaoye noticed several shy girls standing next to Jiang Yi, looking at him with admiration.

It seemed this man had quite a few admirers in the village.

Jiang Yi slowly read the newspaper and the villagers gathered around, listening attentively.

Yang Xiaoye didn’t join them and simply stood there.

She had no interest in the motivational words of the time and glanced at it casually.

She immediately noticed Gu Huai, standing alone at the back of the crowd.

But she didn’t recognize him as the one who had sent her into the dust earlier.

Yang Xiaoye was drawn to Gu Huai’s appearance and demeanor.

Gu Huai didn’t join the conversation and leaned against a tree in silence.

Though his clothes were very worn and his shoes looked about to fall apart, Yang Xiaoye still found herself drawn to him at first sight.

My god, this guy is quite handsome.

Unlike Jiang Yi’s scholarly air, Gu Huai had a touch of roughness. His face, however, was delicate, with round eyes, a straight nose and thin lips.

His look was completely different from his rough demeanor.

He didn’t seem very healthy, likely due to poor nutrition, but that couldn’t hide his striking appearance.

Yang Xiaoye became interested and was about to ask Yang Xiaoyue who he was, but she was pushed into the crowd by an aunt.

“We welcome Comrade Yang Xiaoye to speak to you all.”

After reading the newspaper, the village party secretary asked Yang Xiaoye to speak.

The villagers, now full of excitement, were eager to hear her speak.

“Sister Xiaoye, please say a few words.”

“Just say a few words, please.”

They even started calling her Sister Xiaoye. Yang Xiaoye found it a bit funny. Despite their poor conditions and closed minds, people in that era were easy to please and held strong beliefs.

When the villagers saw the words “Qingshan Village” in the newspaper, they became enthusiastic.

For them, being praised by a newspaper meant being praised by the country and its leaders.

Their village was being recognized by the country and how could they not feel proud?

After this, they would proudly show off to other villages.

“Ahem, let me say a few words then.”

Yang Xiaoye smiled.

“I am not a great person. I just want to contribute to our motherland. The working people are the most glorious. I am willing to do my best to come to Qingshan Village, be with you and learn from the most glorious working people.”

Yang Xiaoye said just a few words, but it was met with warm applause.

The villagers didn’t understand everything else, but they understood that they, the working people, were the most glorious.

When the villagers heard Yang Xiaoye, a city girl, praise them as the most glorious, they blushed with excitement and clapped their hands eagerly.

Yang Xiaoxiang stood in the crowd, head down, showing no expression.

Yang Xiaoye still had that smile on her face and gave herself a thumbs-up in her heart.

Well, yes, that’s very well said.

….

Even after the excitement faded, work had to continue.

Yang Xiaoye was assigned to plow the soil.

Now that the grain had been harvested, the villagers were split into two groups. The men went to repair water conservancy projects and clear silt, while the women stayed to plow the land.

This was to allow more oxygen to enter the soil, making it easier for crops to grow next year.

Although plowing was simpler and less labor-intensive than clearing silt, that was only in comparison to the villagers.

For Yang Xiaoye, who didn’t know much about crops, plowing felt like climbing the Himalayas.

“I have to plow all these.”

Yang Xiaoye looked at the endless ridges of the fields and swallowed.

This is too much.

“Yes, these two ridges are yours. Normally, everyone can finish turning them in a day. A capable person can even finish three or four ridges. You just arrived, so you only need to turn two.”

Liu Dong, the person in charge of the task assignment, seemed worried that Yang Xiaoye wouldn’t be able to finish, so he reminded her again.

“This is the lowest level of work in the village. Anything less would be too obvious a sign of laziness and the work points won’t be counted as full work.”  

Liu Dong added another sentence, emphasizing that it was the lowest level of work.

Yang Xiaoye: …  

There seemed to be no end to it.  

She had no choice. Liu Dong had stated it was the lowest level of work and she couldn’t just refuse.  

Moreover, she had just given a speech in the village about contributing labor, so she couldn’t slack off right after arriving.  

Resigned, she picked up the hoe.  

But the ground was too hard.  

Fortunately, she had prepared gloves and secretly took out a pair from her space.  

Yang Xiaoye swung the hoe repeatedly.  

Each person had their designated area to work and hers was at the edge. There was no one to talk to while she worked.  

Once, twice, the sun slowly rose and the temperature became much hotter.  

Yang Xiaoye was already sweating, but unfortunately, she hadn’t prepared a straw hat. So, she had no choice but to take out a scarf and wrap it around her head.  

Slowly, the morning passed. Yang Xiaoye didn’t stop working, as she wanted to honor what she had said, but she had only made a little progress.  

Not only was the finish line still far away, but she had only completed one ridge of land.  

The sunlight grew more intense and Yang Xiaoye felt her movements slowing down and her arms growing heavier.  

She suddenly dropped the hoe from her hands.  

After a whole morning of labor, she truly couldn’t continue.  

Defeated, she threw down the hoe and walked to the shade of a tree. She felt that this was her limit. if she kept working, she would risk dehydration.  

Near noon, the village children began bringing meals to their parents working in the fields.  

More people gathered in the shade.  

Pain radiates from her palms. When she took off her gloves, she found blisters.  

Yang Xiaoye felt like crying. She had never worked so hard in both of her lifetimes combined. Her whole body was covered in dust. Her face might have been sunburned, her calves ached and her hands were tender with several blisters.  

“I can’t keep doing this,” she thought. “How can I continue?”  

Yang Xiaoye bit her lip and managed to hold back her tears.  

There were so many people around. she couldn’t cry now.  

The person who brought her meal was Yang Xiaohua. Because she was too small and thin, she could only earn half a day’s worth of work points. So, Grandma Yang decided not to let her work in the fields but instead have her do housework, like cleaning, washing clothes, feeding the chickens and delivering meals.  

“Big sister Xiaoye, here’s your lunch.”  

Yang Xiaohua handed her a bundle, speaking very timidly, as she didn’t seem to interact much with the villagers.  

“Thank you.”  

Since Yang Xiaoye didn’t know her well, she didn’t complain to her.  

Yang Xiaohua appeared busy, leaving quickly without stopping.  

“Little Ye, come see what delicious food the Yang family has made for you.”  

Due to what had happened in the morning, the villagers had a favorable impression of Yang Xiaoye and often came over to chat with her.  

Yang Xiaoye quietly unwrapped the bundle. It contained the same pancake as in the morning, a potato and what appeared to be pickled radish strips beside it.  

“Oh, there’s white flour in here. Aunt Yang is so generous.”  

It seemed like Aunt Yang had expected the villagers to come by and check on Yang Xiaoye’s lunch.  

The pancakes were actually larger than the ones from the morning and they contained more white flour.  

Yang Xiaoye curled her lips and her impression of Grandma Yang deepened.  

“My dad made me bring five kilograms of white flour and twenty kilograms of cornmeal,” she joked.

“He’s afraid I’ll eat too much and steal the food at home.”  

“Five kilograms of white flour and twenty kilograms of cornmeal. Wow, that’s quite a lot. That’s enough for you to eat for a whole month.”  

The villager gulped down their saliva and didn’t say more.

She also wanted to say that there was no place to buy five kilograms of white flour, not to mention Yang Xiaoye’s own work points.  

“Then this pancake is a little small, not enough for Xiaoye.”  

An aunt nearby said indignantly.  

“Didn’t they give you a potato just to make sure you have enough to eat?”  

Another aunt chuckled.  

The villagers didn’t say anything more, but everyone knew the Yang family had gone a bit too far.  

Not to mention Yang Xiaoye’s work points, but the food they had brought was enough to feed a young girl. Using potatoes as the main food was hardly fair.  

There wasn’t much time for a lunch break and the key point was that if you rest too much, you won’t be able to finish the work.  

Everyone chatted and ate together before returning to work.  

Yang Xiaoye took a bite of the pancake but didn’t want to eat any more.  

It wasn’t that the pancakes weren’t tasty, but they had gotten cold by the time Yang Xiaohua delivered them.  

The furoshiki^[1]a traditional Japanese square piece of cloth used for carrying items. wasn’t a lunchbox and didn’t keep the food warm at all.  

The pancake was fine when it was hot, but it became too hard when cold. Without any hot water available, Yang Xiaoye couldn’t swallow it.  

*Sigh…*  

She sighed and secretly found a spot behind a large tree to tend to her hands.  

As for the remaining field, she chose to forget about it for now.  

*Hiss…*  

The blisters on her hands really hurt. Yang Xiaoye didn’t know what to do, so she applied some ointment.  

Fortunately, Chen Yu had been well-prepared. She had known that Yang Xiaoye might get injured, so she had prepared a lot of supplies.  

“Who!”  

There was a rustling sound and Yang Xiaoye instinctively put her things into her space before staring at the branches nearby.