Complaint

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

Episode 12: Complaint. I think saying it now will motivate the host even more!

The sound of a gong came from afar. Wang Yang explained that the village chief was beating the gong at the threshing ground, signaling it was time to start work.

"Let's go to the threshing ground."

Seeing that the older educated youths all wore straw hats and towels, the four younger ones hurriedly copied them and headed out together.

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

Once the villagers had gathered, the village chief introduced the four newly arrived educated youths one by one.

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

Lin Yuzhu was thick-skinned and did not feel uncomfortable in the slightest.

Look all you want. It won't cost me a pound of flesh.

Of the four, only Zhang Yanqiu grew increasingly uncomfortable under their stares, her face slowly turning red.

An older woman teased, "Oh my, why is that girl in the middle getting shy? Got her eye on some young man's family?"

A burst of laughter rose from all around. Zhang Yanqiu's face reddened further, and she felt the people in this village were far too crude.

Seeing everyone joining in the pointless jeering, the village chief snapped, "Zhang Erjia, shut your mouth! What are you making such a fuss for? Keep talking nonsense and I'll deduct 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 hell.

Zhang Erjia grinned cheekily, seemingly not taking it seriously, though she did stop making fun of the educated youths.

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

The leader of Team One held more clout in the village, so he directly claimed the newly arrived male educated youth.

The other two team leaders objected afterward, saying that there were female educated youths as well.

Team One got one person, leaving one person for each of the other teams. The leader reluctantly chose Li Xiangwan. Zhang Yanqiu looked too introverted to be much of a worker.

And the other one looked even more delicate, 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 leader of Team Two chose Zhang Yanqiu without hesitation. Lin Yuzhu looked impossible to manage. Hadn't he seen how thick-skinned that girl had been while standing on the platform just now? Educated youths already did not know how to work, and if he picked one who was hard to control too, he would have even more headaches as team leader.

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

She was in 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 loafed around, so when grain and money were distributed at year's end—

They fell far short of Team One.

The author had not described the individual teams much in the book. Each team farmed its own land and calculated its own work points, so naturally there were better and worse teams.

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

Even though Team Three produced the least grain, no one had heard of any family starving to death because they had nothing to eat.

It was not harvest season, so their work was not too demanding. They only had to weed and water the fields.

Usually, they also had to fertilize them. There was no chemical fertilizer.

So, yes, they could only spread manure. If there were bugs, they had to get rid of them.

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

She saw that the villagers all pulled weeds barehanded, as if they were used to it and felt no discomfort at all.

Lin Yuzhu could not help grimacing. After pulling weeds for more than twenty minutes, her hands were already sore. Looking at the red marks where the grass had cut into them, she knew that if she kept going like this, the skin on her hands would peel off.

Lin Yuzhu watched Wang Xiaomei from Team One pull weeds with remarkable speed and efficiency, full of energy, and could not help admiring her ability to endure hardship.

Looking at the endless wheat fields, Lin Yuzhu's vision went black. The words "loafing on the job" kept flashing over her head.

Loafing on the job was an art, after all, and clearly Lin Yuzhu had not mastered it yet.

When work ended at noon, the Team Three leader said, "Zhuwa, someone reported that you weren't working seriously. I'm deducting work points. You'd better work harder this afternoon. If you still don't take it seriously, even eating will become a problem for you."

Lin Yuzhu looked numb. She did not need many work points anyway, only enough by the end of the year to avoid owing the individual quota.

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

Seeing that she was just a young girl, the Team Three leader did not say much more and 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 unhappy to see her receive work points and grain despite not working enthusiastically.

But honestly, Lin Yuzhu had never intended to earn many work points. Do as much work as you got points for—that was fine. The amount of work done was right there in plain sight. What was there to report?

Lin Yuzhu noticed that plenty of people in Team Three loafed around, not just her. All the teams gathered at the threshing ground to be dismissed together.

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

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

Lin Yuzhu was no longer angry with Wang Xiaomei over yesterday's matter. As long as Wang Xiaomei understood what she could and could not say, and knew Lin Yuzhu was not someone to be pushed around, 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 to support. I don't need much anyway. As long as I have enough, that's fine."

With that, she strode ahead coolly.

Wang Xiaomei kept shaking her head behind her and muttered to Zhao Xianglan, "She's young and short-sighted. If you earn more work points, even if you don't exchange them for grain, you can still get money. Doesn't she realize that?"

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

Girls were naturally weaker. Even if she worked herself to the bone, a year's worth of work points would only be enough to keep her fed, and she would get very little money besides.

She could not help agreeing with Wang Xiaomei, thinking Lin Yuzhu's family must spoil her and could probably support her a little. Otherwise, how could she be so confident?

The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became, and a hint of envy rose in her heart.

When they had first arrived, they had all been like clueless 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 wiping the sweat from their faces and necks.

Lin Yuzhu moved close to Li Xiangwan and quietly asked, "Xiangwan, do you have an extra pair of cotton gloves? I'll pay you. Would two taels of grain coupons be enough?"

She had seen Li Xiangwan wearing cotton gloves that day and thought she would ask whether there was another pair. If she waited until she had free time to go into the county town and buy some, her hands would probably already be ruined.

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

With the male lead helping her out, Li Xiangwan had not worked herself too hard that morning and could still keep going. Lin Yuzhu could also hold on despite slacking off.

The key was that both of them had long been mentally prepared. They knew how the future would unfold, and they had Golden Fingers, so naturally they felt secure.

But Zhang Yanqiu was a native resident of the original novel. She did not know when she would be able to return to the city and could not see any future ahead of her. At that moment, she felt incredibly low and lost.

After entering the courtyard, she chose a shady spot and sat down.

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

Her hands were trembling uncontrollably. The places where her palms had already split open stung so badly whenever she sweated that the pain seemed to pierce straight into her heart.

No one could understand the desolation in her heart then. She did not know why she had been sent to the countryside. If she was truly destined to farm, then she might as well have been born a rural girl. Why let her experience city life first, only to suffer this afterward?

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

A change in living environment was something one had to slowly adapt to alone. No one could help anyone else. All one could do was learn to let it go.

As the sun grew hotter, every household began preparing lunch. Among the educated youths, the girls took turns cooking, while the male educated youths took turns doing heavier chores 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 come, they naturally had to take turns. They would work in pairs, leaving one extra person.

Li Xiangwan appeared to be on good terms with Zhang Yanqiu, but she had already begun distancing herself from her inwardly.

When they discussed how to divide the cooking duties, she took the initiative to suggest pairing up with Lin Yuzhu. The atmosphere became slightly awkward. One person cooking for nine people would be too slow, so they decided the extra person would be responsible for washing everyone's dishes each day.

Zhang Yanqiu had always been someone who liked cleanliness. She might not trust others to wash the dishes, so she accepted the arrangement.

Still, being so obviously excluded made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

There was a trace of resentment in the way she looked at 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 she intended to distance herself, naturally she 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 little wooden stool. Then she saw the village chief lead another male comrade in. Lin Yuzhu looked over, and her eyes brightened noticeably.

The legendary second male lead?

If a novel had a male lead and a female lead, then a second male lead was indispensable as well.

When the village chief brought in the male comrade, Lin Yuzhu knew at a glance that he was probably the second male lead from the story.

After all, when he appeared in the novel, he was described with a whole passage of praise: a gentleman as refined as jade, a peerless young master without equal.

He truly lived up to the author's words.

That was what Lin Yuzhu thought.

Even with luggage on his back and a bundle in his hand, standing in that messy rural courtyard, he could not conceal the elegant air about him, light and fresh as green bamboo.

His upright posture carried an unyielding strength.

Temperament was something mysterious. Once a person possessed it, it could transform their whole being. And when that person was also exceptionally handsome, it was even more striking. The second male lead's features actually leaned toward the delicate side, but 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 simply too handsome. After leading him into the courtyard, the village chief said to the educated youths, "This is the last educated youth in your group. He only arrived today. Help him get settled in."