Tattling

I think saying it now would motivate the host even more!

A burst of gong beating came from afar. Wang Yang explained that the village chief was beating the gong at the threshing ground, meaning it was time to start work.

"Let's go. We're heading to the threshing ground."

Seeing that the older Educated Youths were all wearing straw hats and towels, the four young newcomers hurriedly copied them and followed everyone out.

When they arrived at the threshing ground, the village chief was fairly satisfied to see that they had all come.

After the villagers had gradually gathered, the village chief introduced the four newly arrived Educated Youths one by one.

Most of the villagers stared at them as though they were monkeys in a zoo.

Lin Yuzhu had thick skin and did not feel the slightest discomfort.

Look all they wanted. It wouldn't cost her a piece of flesh.

Of the four, only Zhang Yanqiu grew uncomfortable under all those stares, her face gradually turning red.

An older woman teased, "Oh my, why is that girl in the middle getting shy?"

"Did she set her eyes on some family's young man?"

Laughter erupted all around. Zhang Yanqiu's face turned even redder, and she felt that the people in this village were far too crude.

Seeing everyone joining in the pointless teasing, the village chief scolded, "Zhang Erjia, shut that big mouth of yours! What are you making such a racket for? Keep talking nonsense and I'll dock your work points!"

Work points meant food and money. How could they really be deducted so casually?

If work points were deducted at will, the villagers would raise a fuss.

Zhang Erjia grinned cheekily, seemingly unconcerned, though she did stop making fun of the Educated Youths.

Shanshui Village was a large village divided into three small teams, each with its own Small Team Leader.

The leader of Team One was rather forceful in the village and immediately claimed the newly arrived male Educated Youth.

The other two Small Team Leaders later objected, saying that they wanted female Educated Youths.

Team One had already taken one person, so the Small Team Leader reluctantly chose Li Xiangwan. He thought Zhang Yanqiu was too introverted and did not look like someone who could work.

The other girl looked even softer and weaker, even less like someone who could work.

This one looked a little better, so he took Li Xiangwan for his team.

Just like in the plot, the male and female leads were assigned to the same team.

The Team Two leader chose Zhang Yanqiu without a second thought. Lin Yuzhu looked difficult to manage no matter how he looked at her. Hadn't he seen it just now? While standing on the platform, that girl had been thicker-skinned than all the others. Educated Youths were already bad enough at farm work; if he picked someone hard to manage as well, he would have even more to worry about as team leader.

Lin Yuzhu was then assigned to Team Three, and Wang Xiaomei could not help covering her mouth as she snickered.

She belonged to Team One. Of the village's three small teams, Team One had the most capable workers. Their fields produced the most grain, followed by Team Two. The people in Team Three generally dragged their feet at work, and when grain and money were distributed after the new year—

They fell far short of Team One.

The author had not introduced the small teams in much detail. Each team farmed its own land and calculated its own work points, so naturally there was a hierarchy among them.

Actually, the rainfall had been good these past two years, and conditions in the fields had gradually improved.

Even Team Three, which produced the least grain, had not seen anyone starve to death from lack of food.

It was not harvest season, so their tasks were not too heavy. They only needed to weed and water the fields.

Normally, they also fertilized the land. There was no chemical fertilizer.

Well, they could only pour manure on it. If there were insects, they had to get rid of them.

On her very first day, Lin Yuzhu happened to be assigned weeding duty.

She saw that the villagers all pulled weeds out with their bare hands. They seemed used to it and showed no discomfort whatsoever.

Lin Yuzhu's teeth ached. After pulling weeds for more than twenty minutes, her hands were already sore. Looking at the red marks the grass had left on them, she knew that if she kept going like this, her skin would be rubbed raw.

Lin Yuzhu watched Wang Xiaomei from Team One weed with such clean, swift movements and boundless energy that she could not help admiring her endurance.

Looking at the endless wheat fields, Lin Yuzhu's vision went dark. The words "slack off" kept rolling across the top of her head.

Slacking off was an art, after all, and Lin Yuzhu was clearly not skilled enough at it.

When work ended at noon, the Team Three leader said, "Piglet, someone reported that you weren't serious about your work. Your work points will be deducted. You'd better work properly this afternoon. If you keep slacking off, even eating will become a problem for you."

Lin Yuzhu's face was blank. Could she not just say that she did not need many work points, only enough at the end of the year to avoid owing points toward her personal quota?

With the system by her side, Lin Yuzhu sincerely thanked the heavens. Otherwise, she might really have starved to death in the countryside.

Seeing that she was just a young girl, the Team Three leader did not say anything more. He simply shouted for everyone to disperse and go home.

Lin Yuzhu could not be bothered to find out who had reported her. It had to be someone from her team, someone who had seen that she was not working hard and did not want her earning work points and receiving grain.

But honestly, Lin Yuzhu had never planned to earn too many work points anyway. She would get as many points as the work she did deserved. That was perfectly fine. Her workload was right there for everyone to see, so what was there to report?

Lin Yuzhu noticed that plenty of people in Team Three slacked off, not just her. All the teams gathered at the threshing ground to dismiss together.

People from the other teams had heard what the Team Three leader said as well.

On the way back, Wang Xiaomei sidled over and said, "See? I told you, but you didn't believe me. The people in this village are sly. If you don't work properly, they'll report you in a heartbeat."

Lin Yuzhu was no longer holding yesterday's grudge against Wang Xiaomei. As long as Wang Xiaomei knew what she could and could not say, and knew Lin Yuzhu was not someone to be bullied, there was no need to truly make their relationship hostile.

So she lazily replied, "Let them report me if they want. I'm alone, with no family depending on me, and I don't need to hand over much. As long as I have enough, that's fine."

With that, she strode ahead in a carefree manner.

Wang Xiaomei kept shaking her head behind her and muttered to Zhao Xianglan, "She's so young and shortsighted. With more work points, even if you don't exchange them for grain, you can still get money. Doesn't she understand that?"

Zhao Xianglan did not comment, but she sighed as she watched Lin Yuzhu's retreating back.

Girls were naturally weaker. Even if Zhao Xianglan worked herself to the bone, her yearly work points would only be enough to keep herself fed, and she would not receive much money at all.

She could not help agreeing with Wang Xiaomei. Perhaps Lin Yuzhu's family spoiled her and could subsidize her a little. Otherwise, how could she be so confident?

The more Zhao Xianglan thought about it, the more certain she became, and a trace of envy rose in her heart.

When they had first arrived, everyone had been like hotheaded fools. Once winter came and they suffered from hunger, they would understand the importance of work points.

After returning to the courtyard, everyone busied themselves washing the sweat from their faces and necks.

Lin Yuzhu leaned close to Li Xiangwan and whispered, "Xiangwan, do you have an extra pair of cotton gloves? I'll pay you for them. How about I give you two taels' worth of grain coupons?"

She had seen Li Xiangwan wearing cotton gloves today and wanted to ask whether she had another pair. If Lin Yuzhu waited until she had free time to go into the county town and buy some, her hands would probably be ruined by then.

Li Xiangwan nodded. She happened to have an extra pair.

With the male lead helping her, Li Xiangwan had not been too exhausted from the morning's work and could hold on. Lin Yuzhu could also manage despite slacking off a little.

The important thing was that the two of them had long been mentally prepared. They knew how the future would unfold and had Golden Fingers, so naturally they felt confident.

But Zhang Yanqiu was a native resident of the original novel. She did not know when she could return to the city and could not see any future at all. At that moment, she felt extremely depressed and lost.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she picked out a shady spot and sat down.

She was the cleanest among them, yet she had no desire to wash her face or wipe the dust from her body.

Her hands were trembling uncontrollably. The places where her palms had already been rubbed raw stung so badly whenever she sweated that the pain drilled straight into her heart.

No one could understand the desolation in her heart at that moment. She did not know why she had to go to the countryside. If she was truly destined to farm, then she might as well have been born a rural person. Why let her experience city life first, only to come here and suffer?

Even Lin Yuzhu could see the waves of resentment pouring off the girl, so she did not go over to provoke her.

A changed living environment required time to adapt to alone. No one could help anyone else; all they could do was rely on themselves to come to terms with it.

As the sun grew hotter, every household began preparing meals. Among the Educated Youths, the girls took turns cooking, while the male Educated Youths took turns doing heavy work such as fetching water and chopping firewood.

Before Lin Yuzhu and the others arrived, Zhao Xianglan and Wang Xiaomei had been responsible for cooking every day. Now that three more female Educated Youths had arrived, they naturally had to take turns. They would work in pairs, leaving one person extra.

Although Li Xiangwan appeared to be on good terms with Zhang Yanqiu, she had long since begun to distance herself from her inwardly.

When they discussed cooking assignments, she took the initiative to suggest partnering with Lin Yuzhu. The atmosphere became slightly awkward. Having one person cook for nine people would be too slow, so they decided that the extra person would wash everyone's dishes each day.

Zhang Yanqiu had always been a clean person and might not have trusted others to wash the dishes, so she accepted the arrangement.

Still, being so obviously pushed aside made her uncomfortable.

There was a hint of resentment in her gaze toward the female lead, but the female lead pretended not to see it. After all, they had only known each other for a few days. There was no deep friendship between them to speak of.

Since Li Xiangwan had deliberately chosen to distance herself, she naturally did not care what Zhang Yanqiu thought.

Wang Xiaomei and Zhao Xianglan were cooking that day. After work, Lin Yuzhu sat idly in the courtyard, spacing out on a small wooden stool, when she saw the village chief bring in another male comrade. Lin Yuzhu looked over, and her eyes brightened considerably.

The legendary second male lead?

If a novel needed a male and female lead, then the second male lead was also indispensable.

When the village chief brought in the man, Lin Yuzhu took one look and more or less knew that he had to be the second male lead from the novel.

After all, his first appearance in the book came with a long string of descriptions: a gentleman like jade by the roadside, a peerless young master in this world.

He truly lived up to the author's words.

That was what Lin Yuzhu thought.

Even with a bedroll on his back and a bundle in his hand, standing in that messy rural courtyard, nothing could conceal the light, verdant-bamboo-like air about him.

His straight posture carried an unyielding strength.

Temperament was something mysterious. Once someone possessed it, it could transform their entire presence. What was more, he was also remarkably handsome. The second male lead's features leaned toward delicate beauty, yet the indescribable tenacity in his eyes suppressed that softness, making him look exquisitely beautiful beyond belief.

The Educated Youths in the courtyard were all stunned. This man was far too good-looking. After leading him into the courtyard, the village chief said to the Educated Youths, "This is the last of the Educated Youths in your batch. He only arrived today. Help him get settled in."