It’s fine if they don’t give money but provide food instead; food is hard currency.

Lu Shaotang felt a bit embarrassed.

He couldn’t stand this little widow’s constant insistence.

He really wanted to assert his position as the elder and lecture Lin Shu, but seeing Fang Dihua’s displeased expression, he didn’t dare to act out.

If Fang Dihua weren’t present, he would have felt bold enough to teach Lin Shu a lesson, claiming his role as the elder brother to impose the traditional virtues on her.

Lin Shu said, “If you give me work points for the whole day and another two pounds of soybeans, I can consider helping you sort out the accounts.”

It wasn’t a joke to say that Lin Shu could sort out Lu Shaocai’s accounts for a whole month in a single day.

Of course, many people in the brigade were more skilled than Lu Shaocai, but they didn’t have the opportunity.

After all, this was not a time when capability alone determined one’s role.

Lu Shaocai remembered that during the wheat harvest, when Old Man Lu helped out, it was similar.

He struggled for days to sort out a day’s worth of work points, but Old Man Lu could easily sort them out.

He had already told the brigade secretary and the brigade leader that he couldn’t manage alone and needed help during the busy farming season.

The brigade agreed.

If they hadn’t agreed, it wouldn’t have worked.

If he didn’t finalize the accounts, the brigade couldn’t deliver the public grain, calculate the remaining grain for the production teams, or determine the work points for the team members, which would also affect the distribution of autumn grain.

Distributing rations was a critical moment.

Furthermore, after the autumn harvest, each household had to clean out the pigsty, remove the manure accumulated over half a year or a year, and deliver it to the production team for composting.

This too counted towards work points.

Wasn’t it all his responsibility?

Fortunately, each production team had its own accountant.

He only needed to handle the brigade’s overall accounts.

Otherwise, he would be utterly exhausted.

Hmph, those accountants in the production teams are either the brigade leader’s relatives or someone with connections.

They aren’t even as competent as he is, and their accounts are poorly managed, making his job even harder.

It made him furious!

At least he had his father, a senior military officer, backing him.

What about those production team accountants?

How could they be accountants without even finishing elementary school?

Don’t they have students who’ve completed junior high?

Why aren’t they allowed to become accountants?

Isn’t it because you’re monopolizing the positions and refusing to give them up?

After all, accountants are also cadres and can receive wages.

Lu Shaocai could rely on connections to become an accountant but wouldn’t allow anyone else to take up the position, feeling bitter every day.

He looked down on Lin Shu and didn’t believe she could handle accounts. He wanted to transfer Lin Shu elsewhere and give her a good lesson to vent his frustrations with the second household over recent times.

He was getting increasingly frustrated with the ongoing issues, from fixing Lu Shaotang’s grave to buying paper offerings and hosting guests.

Every day, he had to listen to Zhao Meifeng’s relentless efforts to set up Lin Shu with a match.

However, the young widow wasn’t cooperating and even had Second Aunt threaten Zhao Meifeng.

“That annoying widow is really pushing it!” he thought angrily.

He said to Lin Shu, “If that’s how it is, then after lunch, come to the team office. There are some people who want to help, and I’ll test you.”

Fang Dihua was surprised, thinking, “You’re going to test my daughter-in-law? Who do you think you are?”

Lin Shu, however, responded calmly, “Alright.”

Pleased with himself, Lu Shaocai left, planning to embarrass Lin Shu and teach her some manners about proper conduct.

Lin Shu finished ironing the clothes, and Fang Dihua packed up the food.

The children had roasted the bean worms, and each had one for themselves and one to give to their older brothers.

Fang Dihua said, “Don’t go to the fields; stay home and wait for them to come back for a meal.”

The fields were now full of sharp stubble from harvesting beans and sorghum, which could easily injure the delicate skin of children.

The kids agreed to stay home and accompany their mother to the team office.

Lin Shu delivered the clothes to Zhao Meifeng.

She wasn’t worried about Zhao Meifeng’s potential malice because her skills were something Zhao Meifeng had bragged about to impress Zhang Sisi.

Zhao Meifeng, however, felt something was amiss.

She felt like Lin Shu was treating her like a servant, but she quickly dismissed the thought.

After all, she needed Lin Shu’s help to find a job for her son!

Lin Shu locked the door and took her children to the team office.

Lu Shaocai was angrily berating the accountant from Lu Jia Village Production Team.

“Why can’t you figure out this number? How can you be an accountant if you can’t do this?” Lu Shaocai shouted, completely forgetting that he used to rely on Old Lu to clean up his mistakes.

The accountant, Lu Changong, in his thirties, felt embarrassed and tried to hide in a corner when he saw Lin Shu.

Lu Shaocai didn’t care and continued his harsh reprimand.

Lin Shu interrupted, “You said you’d test me. Where are the secretary and the team leader?”

Lu Shaocai snapped back, “I’ll test you myself.”

He threw the poorly calculated ledger at Lu Shaotang. “You come and figure this out.”

Lin Shu raised an eyebrow. You want me to calculate this for free?

Do you think you’re dealing with some unscrupulous merchant offering a free trial period?

At this moment, Song Chunfang, Widow Sun, and three other men came over.

They all came to apply for the position of accounting assistant.

During the busy farming season, helping with the accounts not only earned work points but also provided some food supplements.

Widow Sun half-covered her face and threw a flirtatious glance at Lu Shaocai, thinking no one would notice.

Lu Shaocai nearly lost his balance, his body almost going limp.

He quickly grabbed the back of a chair for support.

He turned to a page of accounts. “Whoever can do it faster and correctly will be chosen.”

Song Chunfang snatched the abacus away, though she had forgotten how to use it, she didn’t want Lin Shu to have it.

Widow Sun couldn’t calculate at all.

She kept sneaking glances and smiling at Lu Shaocai, silently asking him for the answers, hoping he would write them down for her.

Lu Shaocai enjoyed the attention but pretended to be unaffected by her flirtation.

He cleared his throat and said, “Calculate properly.”

It inflated his ego.

Seeing Lin Shu standing still, he snorted. Did this little widow think she’d get a chance just because she’s pretty?

Hmph, standing there rigidly like a stick! If you’d only flatter me a bit…

I might be willing to give you a chance to teach you.

The five of them continued to argue, discuss, and clack away on the abacus, but they still couldn’t get it right.

Lin Shu took advantage of their distraction, grabbed the ledger, and quickly worked out the answer with a pencil and wrote it down at the end.

Lu Shaocai glanced at it. “What are you doing… Is this the answer? Did you calculate it?”

Lin Shu replied, “Do you think I guessed it?”

The brigade leader and the old secretary outside were watching.

They really wanted to kick Lu Shaocai out for his incompetence.

The brigade secretary frowned. “Get that Widow Sun out of here.”

He had been making advances towards Lu Shaocai with his gaze several times already.

If Widow Sun stayed, Lu Shaocai would be even more distracted from his work.

The brigade leader, however, just smiled.

Lu Shaocai was an idiot.

He couldn’t handle the accounts himself and wanted to pick someone who couldn’t calculate and only flattered him?

Lu Shaocai was so absurd that if he kept Widow Sun around and caused a scene, it would directly anger the villagers. It would be better if the commune ordered his removal.

The old secretary snorted angrily. “Stop making a fool of yourself.”

He walked in with his hands behind his back, while Lu Shaocai was still there, spouting nonsense.

The old secretary reviewed everyone’s answers and decisively said, “Let Lin Shu stay and help for a few days.”

Song Chunfang protested, “Why her? I did the calculations too!”

The old secretary replied, “Did you nearly faint from exhaustion?”

Song Chunfang’s face flushed with embarrassment.

The other men were reluctant but had to accept that Lin Shu was better at accounting.

They resigned themselves to working in the fields.

The old secretary continued to test Lin Shu with a few more problems, and she solved them quickly and accurately, surpassing Lu Shaocai by far.

He decided to let Lin Shu handle the accounting tasks, thinking it would be good for her to take over from Lu Shaocai.

The old secretary noticed that after Lu Shaotang’s death, the old couple had visibly been struggling with their grief.

However, recently they seemed to be more cheerful, which led him to believe that perhaps Lu Shaotang’s situation wasn’t as dire as initially thought.

He figured if Lu Shaotang’s situation was improving, it made sense for his wife to take on the accounting role.

Seeing the decision made, Lu Shaocai was frustrated and threw the accounts on the table, “You handle it.”

Lin Shu told the old secretary, “Please make sure my responsibilities are clearly defined and separate from Elder brother Shaocai, to avoid any confusion later.”

Lu Shaocai grumbled, “Whose responsibility? It’s definitely not mine. You’ll just have to figure it out.”

The old secretary assigned the most urgent and complex accounts to Lin Shu, such as public grain and work points.

Lu Shaocai was secretly pleased, thinking that these were the toughest tasks and any mistakes would lead to trouble from the secretary and team leader.

Lin Shu was not afraid of difficult tasks, but she was concerned about clear accountability to avoid being blamed for any issues.

The old secretary also mentioned the compensation, which would be the same as for Lu Shaocai: basic work points plus an extra thirty cents per day.

Lin Shu negotiated with the old secretary to have the money exchanged for food instead of cash, which was preferable for her.

The old secretary agreed to exchange thirty cents for two pounds of soybeans or one pound of cotton seeds, which was useful for making tofu, bean sprouts, and soy sauce.

After the old secretary left, Widow Sun grumbled to Lin Shu, “You have thousands in compensation, and you still come to compete with us for a few measly items.”

Lin Shu calmly replied, “It’s not about the few items. It’s about making sure everyone gets their rations sooner.”

She was determined not to rely on Lu Shaocai, whom she doubted would ever finish the accounts and distribute the rations on time.