Chapter 42 : First Time Working

“I’ll be ready soon,” Yun Siying replied as she quickened her pace to wash up. The other educated youths in the yard looked at her with envy. Feeling their burning gazes, she hurried to finish washing and then went into Nangong Ruochen’s room. Han Yuecheng and the others had already started eating. When she saw the dumplings in the bowl, she knew they had been specially saved for her, and she happily began to eat. It felt wonderful to have a meal waiting for her the moment she woke up.

The four of them finished breakfast in about ten minutes. They locked the door, each carried a water bottle, and left the educated youth courtyard together. The older educated youths had already gone on ahead, so the new ones quickly caught up, not wanting to leave a bad impression on the villagers on their first day.

When they arrived at the brigade’s threshing ground, most of the villagers were already there. The brigade leader stood on a high platform holding a white loudspeaker. When he saw the educated youths had arrived, he said, “All the new educated youths, please come up and introduce yourselves to the villagers.”

So the four of them stood on the platform, facing the many villagers’ curious gazes. Most of them felt a bit uneasy except for Yun Siying, who stood calmly among the others.

Taking the loudspeaker from the team leader, she gave a brief introduction with her name and where she came from. But when it was Shu Ruxue’s turn, some villagers who hadn’t heard about the incident at the Li family the day before exclaimed in surprise, “Isn’t this Yinyin from the old Li family?”

“Yes, that’s Li Yinyin from the old Li family. She’s been living in the city for half a year and looks much more polished now. But she goes by Shu Ruxue these days. I heard she brought 1,000 yuan with her when she came to the countryside, but she was unlucky it got stolen on the train,” said Li Hongyun, who always had the latest gossip.

“Tsk, 1,000 yuan? I’ve never seen that much money in my life! She really lost it? Why didn’t she just lose herself while she was at it?” another older woman said with dramatic pity.

“I heard both her parents are high-ranking officials in Beijing. They’re wealthy, so that little bit of money probably doesn’t matter to them,” someone else chimed in.

“Wasn’t she engaged to Xue Zhiqiang? Now that her family has such powerful backing, are they still going through with the engagement?”

“No way. Xue Zhiqiang’s fiancée is Li Gang’s biological daughter. Shu Ruxue was only adopted by the Li family, so she has every reason to cancel the marriage.”

“Ah! If Zhiqiang hadn’t been injured last year, and if it hadn’t affected his ability to have children, they would’ve been married already. The Li family has been looking to break off the engagement ever since that happened, and now it’ll be even harder for the marriage to go through.”

“Zhiqiang is a soldier and receives a military allowance. It’s a shame his family loves their daughter and just can’t bear to marry her off to someone in his condition.”

“Did you hear? That pretty girl Comrade Yun is said to be Li Gang’s real daughter, but when she met Li Gang and his wife the other day, she claimed she didn’t look like either of them and said she wasn’t their biological child.”

“Didn’t they say the hospital made a mistake and swapped two children? How can she not be Li Gang’s real daughter?”

“She said it wasn’t just her and Shu Ruxue who were mixed up, there were more children involved. Honestly, I don’t think she looks anything like Li Gang or his wife either.”

“Your info’s outdated. It’s said that she brought 2,000 yuan when she came to the countryside. As soon as she arrived, she paid five years’ rent upfront and bought a ton of furniture. She’s not only beautiful, but also loaded.”

“There are two wealthy educated youths in the brigade, so my boy has a chance,” an old lady said, her eyes sparkling with hope.

“Only your Ergouzi would be a match for Ruxue? What nonsense are you talking about? And that young Comrade Yun, didn’t you see? With Nangong Ruochen watching over her, who would dare mess with her?” someone retorted.

“My Ergouzi is tall and strong. Why wouldn’t he be worthy of Shu Ruxue? As for Yun Siying, she’s just an orphan. My Ergouzi wouldn’t even be interested in her!” the old lady snapped.

The people nearby muttered to themselves: ‘Ergouzi’s mother is as shameless as ever, still dreaming big.’

The four educated youths quickly wrapped up their self-introductions. The team leader took back the loudspeaker and began assigning groups.

“Shu Ruxue and Shen Subai will join Group 3. Yun Siying and Lin Zikang will join Group 4. Team leaders, take your group members to pick up tools.”

The team leaders from both groups stepped forward to lead their new members. Their expressions weren’t pleasant after all these educated youths were seen as dead weight: inexperienced at farm work, and often the first to cause trouble.

Everyone queued up to get tools from the warehouse manager. Afterward, the team leaders brought their groups to the worksite and started assigning tasks.

The leader of Group 4 looked at Yun Siying and Lin Zikang and said, “You two are new. This piece of wasteland is your responsibility. If you don’t know how to work, just watch what others are doing and learn. It’s simple enough.”

“Got it, team leader,” they replied in unison.

They could tell they weren’t well-liked, which was why they’d been assigned to their own group, to avoid slowing down the rest.

They watched how the others worked. The male comrades were reclaiming land, while the women shook soil off dug-up grass roots and stacked them. They also picked up stones, put them into dustpans, and carried them to dump in a stone pile at the edge of the field.

It was then that Yun Siying realized what the tool she was holding a dustpan, was for.

Once they understood the process, they returned to their assigned plot. Lin Zikang used a hoe to break the ground while Yun Siying observed.

After about half an hour, she put on gloves and began gathering the grass roots and picking up stones. No one had said anything earlier when she was standing idle because Lin Zikang’s pace was simply too slow.

Li Hongying and Wang Yunfeng saw how slowly the pair were working but didn’t comment, they themselves were also slacking. Their families had several strong men who could earn work points, so they didn’t rely on the little bit of labor they did for survival. They were simply there to pass the time.

Yun Siying quickly cleared away all the roots and stones Lin Zikang had dug up in just a few minutes. Bored, she sat on a smooth boulder to rest and began to activate the wood and spiritual powers within her body. Immediately, she sensed small energy particles flying toward her and merging into her. The powers that had dried up within her were starting to regenerate, though very slowly. Still, it was a surprise, she hadn’t expected that the air in this world contained power elements.

This was a huge discovery. Her space didn’t have many crystal cores left, and she hadn’t expected to be able to absorb power from the air itself. This meant there was a chance her abilities could fully recover. She quietly continued circulating the energy within her, drawing in more power elements.

Meanwhile, Lin Zikang was exhausted. He finally collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily and rubbing his aching lower back. The pain in his palms made him flinch, and when he looked down, he saw blisters had formed. With a helpless sigh, he said, “Comrade Yun, I didn’t expect farm work to be this hard. My hands are full of blisters.”