Chapter 13: Starting Work

Luo Qiao felt grateful to the woman who spoke up for her and nodded at her in thanks. She also glanced at the woman named Xiulan who had made the sarcastic comment earlier. One look at her and Luo Qiao could tell she was a mean-spirited person.

Li Xiulan, seeing Sun Haitang defending Luo Qiao, snorted and said, “You always have something to say, Sun Haitang. I’m just stating the truth.”

Luo Qiao responded, “I’ll earn as many work points as I do work. Thank you, Aunt Xiulan, for worrying about me.”

Li Xiulan gave Luo Qiao a dismissive look, “Who’s worried about you? Just don’t drag everyone down.”

The captain’s wife, Qiao Lanlan, came over and said to Li Xiulan, “Say a little less. Use that time to worry about your own second and third sons.”

Li Xiulan fell silent at Qiao Lanlan’s words. Her two sons were big and strong, but unfortunately, both were lazy and avoided work daily.

Over the years, they earned fewer work points than many of the village’s teenagers. As a result, despite being in their twenties, no family was willing to marry their daughters to such men. Moreover, Li Xiulan’s sharp tongue had made her quite unpopular in the village.

When enough people had gathered, the captain began assigning tasks. It was already March, and the ground was slowly thawing. Today’s task was to spread the farm manure that had been composting all winter out onto the fields.

In a few days, they would use iron plows for a shallow plow, preparing the fields for spring planting. Luo Qiao’s task was the same as the captain’s wife’s: after the men used tractors, donkey carts, and ox carts to transport the compost to the fields, they would use shovels to spread it out.

Although Luo Qiao looked thin, she had done a lot of work on the farm before, so she was quite strong. Plus, the past few days of drinking the well water from the space had strengthened her, so she worked efficiently.

However, the soul inside this body was now the Luo Qiao from the future, who had grown up in the city and never done such labor. Even during the apocalypse, she used her abilities to accelerate plant growth rather than manual labor.

So the smell of farmyard manure almost made her vomit, but Luo Qiao, having survived the apocalypse, was determined not to give anyone a reason to gossip about her on her first day at work. She did her best to ignore the smell.

This effort earned her a bit more favor from the captain’s wife, Qiao Lanlan, who appreciated that Luo Qiao could at least support herself. Qiao Lanlan shared many farming tips with her.

Lu Yichen, the team’s tractor driver, noticed the thin girl busy working in the field from a distance. She looked so frail that a strong wind might blow her away. He couldn’t help but watch her a few times.

After the morning shift, Luo Qiao felt quite tired. Although she had dealt with farming in her previous life, she had never done such heavy physical labor. Luckily, she had the original owner’s memories to help her manage.

Returning home at noon, she boiled a pot of hot water in the courtyard kitchen. She didn’t want to raise suspicion by not having smoke come from the chimney.

While resting and stoking the fire, she waited for the water to heat. Once it was ready, she removed the firewood and fetched a medium-sized bathtub from the storage room in her space. After cleaning it, she filled it with hot water.

She secured the main door, moved the bathtub to the bedroom, and closed the doors and windows. Taking a thorough bath helped her recover a bit. She figured it would take a few more days of work to get used to it.

After dumping the bathwater in the courtyard and cleaning the tub, she took out a large bowl of rice porridge from the space. She paired it with some pickled spicy cucumbers and radish strips, and finished off the meal with the two leftover scallion pancakes from breakfast.

Luo Qiao took a nap in the bedroom within her space. Hearing the sound of the gong, she came out and prepared to go back to work.

Locking the main door, she headed to the fields. The afternoon task was the same as the morning: spreading manure in the fields.