Gao Le: “I’m so tired, I want to go home.”
Zhao Su: “My hands can’t move anymore.”
Both spoke in unison: “Do we really have to earn these work points?”
Song Jing could immediately tell that these two were pampered rich kids who had never lifted a finger at home.
In his unit, there were men like this too, but after training, they became as tough as steel.
These two, however, weren’t soldiers under his command, so he had no authority to discipline them.
“Sister, I’ll give you another meat ticket, please help me~”
Gao Le’s expression and tone were very flattering and attentive:
“Or… maybe even a bicycle ticket?”
His expression showed deep reluctance. The bicycle ticket had been saved to buy himself a bike because traveling to town on an ox cart was a hassle.
Every time they rode the ox cart, the older women bombarded them with questions about their families and their plans to find a wife. Then, they would enthusiastically recommend local girls.
The worst part? These women often ended up arguing and fighting among themselves over their suggestions.
Song Wei & Song Jing: …Whose spoiled sons are these?
Song Wei looked at the two men and said, exasperated: “Do you even hear yourself? You’re offering a bicycle ticket for me to pull radishes for you for just two or three days?”
Although the brigade had planted plenty of radishes and cabbage, it wasn’t as much as grain crops. Besides, with so many people working, it would only take a few days to finish.
“There’s not much left. You two can hang in there a bit longer.”
Song Jing found these two comical.
Gao Le and Zhao Su whined: “We can’t take it anymore! We’d rather go to the mountains to gather firewood.”
Although they went up the mountains with empty baskets and returned with barely a few twigs, the alternative sounded better than pulling radishes.
“Father, when are you going to take us home?”
Song Jing: “How much have you harvested?”
Zhao Su: “An acre!”
He even sounded a little proud. He remembered how, when he first arrived, he couldn’t manage even half an acre. This was progress!
Gao Le puffed out his chest: “I’ve harvested more than him—a little over an acre!”
If it weren’t for the rules prohibiting workers from leaving before finishing their tasks or earning their points, they would have fled long ago.
Song Jing sighed. “What are you offering in exchange? I’ll help you.”
Though they were pampered, they weren’t bad people and got along well with Song Wei.
Hearing this, Gao Le and Zhao Su excitedly pulled out tickets from their pockets, though not the bicycle ticket—such a rare item was kept safe at home.
Song Jing saw their stash of tickets and realized that their families must regularly sent them supplies, tickets, and money, ensuring they lived comfortably despite the hardships of village life.
Song Wei still had a small patch of radishes left to finish. She left her brother to help the two men and went off to work.
By pure coincidence, as soon as she reached the field, she stumbled upon some juicy drama.
The drama came from her old nemesis, Madam Niu’s family.
Liu Guifen caught her husband, Wang Shu, helping out widow Hu from the next village.
The shouting was loud enough to reach their field, and the scene was chaotic. Song Wei abandoned her radishes to join a group of gossiping women rushing toward the commotion.
The team leader shouted at them to return to work, but they all pretended not to hear and ran faster.
In the chaos, Liu Guifen, hair disheveled and face bearing slap marks, screamed: “Wang Shu, I’ll fight you to the death! I slave away for the family, earning work points and raising our kids, and you come here to help this shameless woman?”
Her husband, Wang Shu, stood protectively in front of Widow Hu and retorted: “What are you making a fuss about? I was just helping her with some chores. Nothing’s going on!”
His tone was defensive but guilty.
Liu Guifen’s eyes burned with fury: “You dare lie? And now you’re even defending her!”
Widow Hu chimed in with a soft voice: “Sister Liu, you misunderstand. Brother Wang Shu was just helping me as a widow. There’s nothing inappropriate between us.”
This only made Liu Guifen angrier. She charged forward and slapped Widow Hu twice.
“Shut your filthy mouth! That’s my husband. Why should he help you? Are you so helpless without a man that you have to seduce mine?”
Widow Hu, clutching her face and hair, screamed in pain.
Wang Shu, instead of calming the situation, slapped his wife twice in return.
The crowd erupted in disbelief at his actions.
Though a few tried to break up the fight, they were quickly caught in the fray.
Song Wei stood among the crowd, munching on a radish while listening to the gossip.
The women around her chatted fervently:
“Wang Shu’s no man—hitting his wife to defend a widow!”
“He says there’s nothing between them, but who’d believe that? I’ve seen him sneaking off to visit her before.”
“Me too! Men like him can’t control themselves. They have a wife at home but still go looking elsewhere. It’s disgusting.”
“Poor Liu Guifen. Her mother-in-law is hard to deal with, and now her husband’s fooling around.”
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