Chapter 25: The More You Work, the More You Earn

“Mmm… it’s so good, I almost want to swallow my tongue. I’ll eat first, then I’ll tell you later.”

After saying that, Wen Lin stuffed her mouth full of rice, her chopsticks moving even faster.

“If it’s tasty, eat more. Take your time, there’s plenty. I haven’t had a proper meal all the way here, so I need to savor it slowly.”

Ye Siran deliberately played the pitiful role, though in reality she had eaten very well during the journey, thanks to the well-equipped kitchen in the villa.

The fridge was stocked with fresh ingredients. She had slaughtered a chicken—either stir-fried with tea mushrooms or stewed with potatoes—along with shiitake mushrooms and sautéed greens. Every meal had been excellent.

“Ranran, these past few days I’ve just been surviving on candy and biscuits. I’ve been dreaming of a hot, proper meal. If it weren’t for meeting you, I’d probably still be starving like Xia Tiantian.”

She continued, eating quickly, “I tell you, just now when I washed the greens by the well, I drove Xia Tiantian crazy. I couldn’t eat too slowly—if she smelled the food coming, it wouldn’t be pretty!”

Her ravenous style contrasted sharply with Ye Siran’s slow, careful chewing, but Wen Lin didn’t care about appearances. She had just thoroughly provoked Xia Tiantian!

“Why would washing greens make her angry?” Ye Siran asked curiously. Could it be that Wen Lin was showing off again?

Wen Lin’s flashy personality easily drew envy. If she wasn’t careful with her possessions, trouble would inevitably follow.

“Ranran, you have no idea. Xia Tiantian is so annoying! She says that I do nothing at home, yet here I have to work and eat grass!”

“So you told her we’d have preserved meat with rice tonight? And the ‘grass’ you washed were actually vegetables sent by some village aunties?”

“Yes! That’s exactly what I said. Ranran… were you just now by the well?” Wen Lin paused, eyes widening.

“I wasn’t. I guessed you’d show off. Did Xia Tiantian stomp her feet and say, ‘Shishi will buy meat later’?”

“Exactly! Exactly! I just mentioned that there might be pork here, and she lost it! Hahaha…”

Wen Lin laughed proudly, completely delighted. She gazed at Ye Siran with eyes full of admiration, sparkling like little stars.

Her clear eyes fixed on Ye Siran, who paused for a moment, then awkwardly smiled back.

“Ranran, your smile is so beautiful, it makes everything else seem dull by comparison.”

They chatted while eating, and by the time they finished, Xia Tiantian was really approaching.

A group of older sent-down youth followed her, so the two girls instinctively fell silent and quickly finished their rice.

Xia Tiantian stepped up, only to see empty pots and bowls, with just the lingering aroma of preserved meat with rice. She swallowed hard in anger.

“You, Wen Lin… how can you two sneak off and eat by yourselves when we’re all sent-down youth here?”

“Yeah! How can you eat alone? Newcomers should know better—if you bring tasty food from home, you should share it with us.”

A thin, dark-skinned young man scorned them. Though his family lived in the city, it was a small county town with poor conditions.

Two years ago, when he came to the countryside, he brought only basic necessities, barely any money.

In the two years since, he hadn’t received any parcels. Life had been tough. Even the poorest new sent-down youth would bring some good food.

“Two young ladies, now that you’re new here, there will be many times you’ll need our guidance,” said another.

“We’re sent-down youth from all over, don’t make it seem like we’re deliberately excluding you!” a female youth added, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Seeing Wen Lin turn red as everyone gossiped, Ye Siran quickly stood up in front of her:

“Who are you bullying? The village head already told us that in Gaotang Village, sent-down youth choose who they live and cook with. Wen Lin and I share a cave, so it’s perfectly normal for us to eat together—and we’re eating our own food, so how is that sneaky?”

“You just brought food from home, you should share it,” a male youth argued confidently.

“Why should we share what we brought? Go to the village head’s house and take it if you dare!” Wen Lin snapped.

“Exactly. They just arrived with plenty of food and money. Let them eat however they want. If they get hungry later, that’s on them.”

A well-off young man nodded in agreement. He admired the courage of the two girls. When he first arrived, naive and rich, he had invited everyone to eat, not realizing the value of rice and oil.

Months later, the parcels from home could barely sustain so many people, and he lost weight from hunger.

So he started secretly hiding food. If others saw it, they would scold him for being stingy—just like this situation.

Frustrated, he wrote home to stop sending parcels: if you’re hungry, we’ll all be hungry. Money doesn’t grow on trees.

The group following Xia Tiantian consisted of ten sent-down youth—seven boys and three girls—all thin and pale.

Ye Siran had heard from Chen Wei on the way that Gaotang Village was extremely poor. Youths would try to return home if possible, or transfer to another village.

The ten Educated Youths turned red with embarrassment; they had assumed these city girls were clueless.

But they were wrong. Ye Siran knew exactly what she was doing.

The Educated Youth leader, Yu Bingkun, noticed her delicate, fairy-like appearance. She seemed frail, but her words were flawless.

Her eyes seemed to see through people, hiding a quiet loneliness within endless darkness.

He unconsciously softened his voice: “May I ask your names?”

“She’s Wen Lin, I’m Ye Siran. And you are?”

“I’m Yu Bingkun, Educated Youth leader of Gaotang Village. Guidance isn’t necessary. If you need anything, ask. You’re new, so rest early. Work starts tomorrow.”

He turned to the others: “Go back and cook your meals, rest early. Work resumes tomorrow.”

At first, they had shared meals together, but conflicts arose over unequal portions.

The villagers initially sympathized with the city kids and tried to give them lighter tasks.

Still, it was exhausting. Arguments erupted whenever it was someone’s turn to cook.

The village head eventually stopped intervening. Whoever worked more got higher work points, and at harvest time, more grain.

Simply put: the more you work, the more you earn. You could also choose not to work, as long as you had food, you wouldn’t starve.