The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

Chapter 43: Chapter 41: 1 Yuan for Free

After their initial amazement, the way everyone looked at Wu Cuizhi changed.

Before, they had been envious that Wu Cuizhi was about to get an easy dollar. Now, they only looked at her with pity.

Wu Cuizhi’s face turned pale with anger. She couldn’t hold back her fury. ”Gu Zhiqing, are you doing this on purpose?”

Hearing this, Gu Jiaojiao just smiled and said, ”I am!”

”After all, young ladies from the city like me are useless for anything but reading books. I just wanted to show you, Auntie, that this thing... it was made by someone who reads books.”

Having said her piece and leaving Wu Cuizhi practically fuming, she leisurely began to shell the corn.

On her way back yesterday, she had been mocked by quite a few people. She had very clearly heard what Wu Cuizhi said back then.

”That young lady from the city doesn’t know how to do any real work. All she can do is read a few books. But what’s the use of reading? She still has to work the fields in the end!”

Today, she would show them just how useful reading could be.

Now that she had the machine, Gu Jiaojiao was in no hurry. She turned to Aunt Zhao beside her and said, ”Auntie, why don’t we work together? You feed the corn in, and I’ll work the machine. We’ll go faster that way.”

Wu Cuizhi immediately protested. ”No way! This is a bet between the two of us. You can’t just get someone to help you!”

Her voice was so loud that it immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Gu Jiaojiao dug a finger in her ear. ”Auntie, I can hear you just fine even if you’re quiet. Since you think it’s unfair, how about this: I’ll do Aunt Zhao’s share first. Once hers is done, I’ll do mine. Then Aunt Zhao can help me with my share.”

Wu Cuizhi was speechless.

Though she was indignant, she had to admit Gu Jiaojiao’s proposal put Jiaojiao at a disadvantage. What else could she possibly say?

Swallowing her anger, she sat back down and began to furiously shell her corn by hand.

’Gu Jiaojiao is just putting on an act,’ she thought. ’That so-called thresher... thingamajig. Is it really that amazing?’

’She refused to believe it.’

Aunt Zhao also felt Gu Jiaojiao was getting the short end of the stick. It was supposed to be one person’s workload, but now it had become two. From her perspective, just tossing the corn cobs in took almost no effort; she was clearly the one benefiting.

But Gu Jiaojiao didn’t seem to mind. After convincing Aunt Zhao, the two of them got to work.

Aunt Zhao focused on feeding the cobs in. With each press of the pedal from Gu Jiaojiao, another corn cob was shelled.

Aunt Zhao saw how fast it was going and started feeding two cobs in at a time. The wheel inside, which Leng Yuan had specially forged from high-quality iron, was incredibly sharp and durable. That’s why the shelling was so fast.

And because of that, Gu Jiaojiao didn’t have to use much effort at all.

In less than two hours, all of Aunt Zhao’s corn was finished.

The crowd was stunned into silence.

Wu Cuizhi, who had been hoping Gu Jiaojiao’s machine would break, was also speechless.

Unlike the others and their complicated feelings, Aunt Zhao was stroking the thresher in admiration. ”This is a real treasure. If we had a few more of these, our work would get done so much faster.”

Gu Jiaojiao was covered in sweat. No matter how easy a task is, it becomes tiring if you do it long enough, and this still required a good deal of strength.

Seeing that Gu Jiaojiao was getting tired, Aunt Zhao insisted they switch places. Gu Jiaojiao was hesitant to agree, but Aunt Zhao was firm.

As it turned out, Aunt Zhao was much faster than her.

’My stamina can’t even compare to Aunt Zhao’s.’

She was out of breath after two hours of work, but Aunt Zhao, after working for two hours, wasn’t even flushed or breathing hard. The only thing that changed was the way she looked at the thresher, her eyes practically glowing.

By noon, both of their shares were finished. This also meant that Wu Cuizhi had lost the bet.

A cheerful Aunt Zhao went to get the Brigade Leader. He was astounded when he saw that both Gu Jiaojiao and Aunt Zhao had already completed their tasks. He immediately bent over the thresher, practically hugging it as he began to study it.

His eyes gleaming, he looked at Gu Jiaojiao. ”Did you make this?”

Gu Jiaojiao shook her head. ”Leng Yuan made it.”

”Excellent, excellent! You’re both fine young people! Gu Jiaojiao, how about this: you and Leng Yuan can stop your regular fieldwork. Help me build a few more of these machines, and I’ll award you twelve work points.”