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“What a loud voice—hurts my ears. Has that mouth of yours not been washed in centuries? Should I help wash it for you?”
Rubbing her itchy ear, Lin Qingmei found the noise from outside the courtyard unbearably annoying. She picked up the basin of water used to rinse rice earlier and dumped it out.
Splash! The entire basin of water landed squarely on Li Chunya’s head, with a few yellowed vegetable leaves sticking to her hair.
“Ah! Lin Qingmei, I’m going to fight you to the death!” Li Chunya rolled up her sleeves, furious, ready to kick the door down. She refused to believe that the two of them—two grown women—couldn’t take on one little girl.
Lin Hongjun was just about to help when he saw the village chief and the women’s director coming toward them. Startled, he quickly pulled the door-kicking Li Chunya back.
“Someone’s coming—let’s go home first!”
Village Chief Lin and the women’s director glanced curiously at the two of them as they passed. What happened to them? It didn’t even rain today—why did they look like drenched rats?
“Lin Hongjun, Li Chunya, what are you two doing here instead of working in the fields? Don’t tell me you came to cause trouble for Qingmei! If I find out you two didn’t finish today’s work, I’m deducting work points!”
The village chief eyed them suspiciously. They were supposed to be weeding in the fields—what were they doing at the foot of the mountain? Only Lin Qingmei’s house, the pigsty, and the cattle pen were nearby. Were they bullying that poor girl?
“No, Chief! We’re going back right now—we’ll definitely finish the task today!”
Hearing the threat of lost work points, the two of them ran off to the fields in a panic. Their family barely earned any to begin with—if points were deducted, they wouldn’t even have enough grain to last until July next year.
“Let’s hurry,” said the women’s director. “Those two must’ve been harassing Qingmei.”
They both rushed toward Lin Qingmei’s house.
“Qingmei, open the door! Did your grandaunt and uncle bully you just now?”
“Don’t be upset. If Lin Hongjun bullied you, I’ll definitely help you get revenge.”
Just as Lin Qingmei lit the fire for cooking, she heard a knock at the door again. She hadn’t planned to respond—until she heard the voices of the village chief and women’s director, and reluctantly opened the door.
“Qingmei, are you okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” the women’s director asked, finally relieved to see that Lin Qingmei wasn’t injured. When Granny Lin passed away, she had clutched her hand and asked her to look after Qingmei. But it had only been two days and the poor girl was already being targeted.
“Aunt Qin, I’m fine. If anyone’s hurt, it’s them. I’ve trained in martial arts with my grandfather since I was little—those two are no match for me.”
The women’s director was named Wu Qin, and everyone called her Aunt Qin. She was a warm-hearted woman whom most village women trusted and respected.
Aunt Qin had three sons and always yearned for a sweet, gentle daughter. But fate wasn’t on her side—she only ever gave birth to boys.
So she adored Lin Qingmei. She wished she could hold the girl in her hands and protect her, and couldn’t bear the thought of her being bullied.
As for Lin Hongjun and Li Chunya, they had truly gone too far. Later, she’d be sure to give Li Chunya a piece of her mind—and as for Lin Hongjun, her husband would have a word with him later that night.
“Qingmei, just think of me as your mother from now on. If anything happens and you can’t handle it, just come talk to me.”
“And me too!” added the village chief. “I’m both the chief and brigade leader of Linjiawan. If anything happens, you can come to me.”
Grandpa Lin had once done the village a great service. If he didn’t treat Qingmei well now, the entire village would drown him in spit.
“Uncle Chief, Aunt Qin, I’m really fine. If anything happened, it was them.”
And something had indeed happened. When she kicked Li Chunya, she had used fifty percent of her strength. Although there seemed to be no visible injury now, by nightfall her chest would be aching with pain.
What a pity this was a law-abiding society. If it were the apocalypse, she could have simply killed them and fed them to zombies afterward.
But since this was a law-governed society, she had to reel herself in. She could still hit people—just not kill them or cause severe injury. That would do.
“As long as you’re okay. We actually came today to discuss something with you about work. Accountant Liu is getting old and plans to retire. Are you interested in the accounting job?”
There weren’t many high school graduates in Linjiawan, and the village chief thought carefully—Lin Qingmei was clearly the most suitable for the job.
“Me? Become an accountant? Would the villagers even agree to that?” Lin Qingmei had been a university graduate in her previous life. A rural accounting job was nothing to her.
“I plan to have a teacher from County No. 1 High School prepare an exam. Whoever scores the highest will get the job. Based on your academic record, the position is practically yours.”
Back then, Lin Qingmei had always ranked first in her class. This accounting test wouldn’t be a challenge for her.
“I’ll do my best!” she replied.
Actually, the job wasn’t as easy as it sounded. It didn’t even come with a salary—only 300 work points per month.
One work point could only be exchanged for a jin (500g) of sweet potatoes. Honestly, she wasn’t too excited about the job.
But she had no choice—she needed a job. Otherwise, she’d be forced to work in the fields. Why was it so hard to just lie down and live peacefully?
With that in mind, she realized she really should fight for the accountant position.
She had hoped to find a job in the county right after graduation, but it was hard to find employment. Factories weren’t hiring, and even if you wanted to buy a job position, there had to be someone willing to sell it.
She had no connections in the county, so she had to return to Linjiawan and wait for a chance. Unexpectedly, just as she graduated, Granny Lin fell ill, and the past three months had been a daze. She’d nearly forgotten about finding work.
After chatting with her a bit, the village chief and women’s director left—they were still on work duty and had only come because they were worried about her.
Once they left, Lin Qingmei resumed tidying the house. The original host had quite a lot of clothes, though few were attractive.
Only three white shirts and three black pants looked about eighty percent new. The rest were patched with all kinds of mismatched fabric.
Though patched, most of the clothes were actually new—just altered to throw off suspicion and hide the family’s wealth.
The original host also had a Plum Blossom wristwatch, a birthday gift from Grandma Lin on her fifteenth birthday.
She had hidden it in a secret compartment in the cabinet, reluctant to wear it. Besides the watch, there were also a stack of bills and coupons, with a bankbook and household register underneath.
Lin Qingmei counted: 1,120.68 yuan in cash, and coupons for 1 jin of meat, 5 jin of grain, and half a jin of sugar.
The bankbook held 5,000 yuan. Even excluding the treasures in the secret chamber, this money alone could sustain her well into post-reform China.
She packed up the original host’s clothes and bedding and stored them in her personal space. It was already stocked with many clothes from this era. She picked a few durable sets—ignoring the floral shirts without a second glance.
She also took out two thick, heavy cotton quilts. They were part of the dowry her mother had prepared for her in her previous life, but sadly, she had died before getting married.
Time passed quickly while she busied herself. By the time she finished cleaning out the storage room, it was already lunchtime.
She took out the leftover chicken soup from last night from her space. Feeling a bit tired today, she decided to make noodles and eat chicken soup noodles.
In her previous life, she had been a Northerner who loved noodles. But the original host was Southern and preferred rice and corn porridge.
Although the original host had been born in the 1950s, she never truly suffered.
During the famine years, while others were emaciated and starving, the people of Linjiawan, although not full, could at least eat to fifty percent satiety.
And the original host’s family never lacked grain. Grandpa Lin was a capable man, and during the famine, he brought back a lot of food to secretly sell to nearby villagers.