Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 1086: Chapter 996: Those Years (6)

Zhou Meijuan was a pampered young lady who had never worked before. It was her first time doing farm work, and she didn’t learn properly. Her posture was wrong, and she got tired quickly.

Once she got tired, Zhou Meijuan couldn’t help but slow down. Everyone else worked in unison, moving forward together, each handling a furrow. Zhou Meijuan falling behind was particularly noticeable.

As the team leader, Lin Cheng’an had to keep a close watch on everyone’s work. Seeing Zhou Meijuan lagging so much, his expression turned sour. What made Lin Cheng’an even angrier was that Zhou Meijuan was obviously dragging her feet, pretending to work without putting in effort.

Feeling dissatisfied, Lin Cheng’an couldn’t help but scold Zhou Meijuan a few times. Who knew that while Zhou Meijuan wasn’t very skilled at working, she had quite a temper.

Zhou Meijuan’s skin was delicate, and after just this short while of farm work, her palms had developed several large blisters, causing piercing pain.

Zhou Meijuan was already feeling aggrieved because she was exhausted after walking for several hours upon arriving. She hadn’t expected farm work to be even more tiring, bending down with farm tools and continuously turning the soil, which quickly led to an aching back and waist.

When Lin Cheng’an scolded her, Zhou Meijuan immediately felt wronged, threw down her tools, and sat on the ground crying.

Looking at the blisters on her hands and a couple of small blood blisters, she cried even more bitterly.

Zhou Meijuan’s outburst garnered no sympathy. When everyone was struggling to eat, there wasn’t much compassion to spare; everyone was focused on themselves, and there was no extra sympathy to give Zhou Meijuan.

However, a few of the educated youths came over to comfort Zhou Meijuan. The life of educated youths was definitely better than that of the villagers. Their families would send supplies regularly, fearing their children would suffer. Besides mandatory hard work, educated youths had easier lives.

When life isn’t hard, there’s naturally more sympathy to spare. Being an educated youth herself, Zhou Meijuan felt closer to them.

But comforting Zhou Meijuan took time away from their work, and Lin Cheng’an’s expression grew stern. With spring plowing approaching, every day’s work was scheduled. Delays would affect plowing, and who could bear that responsibility?

Lin Cheng’an first faced the educated youths with a stern face and said, ”What are you all doing here? Get back to work if you don’t want to lose all your work points for today.”

After speaking to the educated youths, he coldly said to Zhou Meijuan, ”Bear with the blisters on your hands. Once you develop calluses, it won’t hurt anymore. The less you work, the slower the calluses form. You’ll get blisters every day this way.”

Zhou Meijuan was dumbfounded. She hadn’t expected, when she was crying and hurt like this, that Lin Cheng’an would cold-heartedly ask her to continue working. Her hands hurt just hanging there, how could she not be in excruciating pain if she picked up farm tools again?

Clearly, Lin Cheng’an was this hard-hearted. He was even frowning in dissatisfaction, most annoyed with delicate female educated youths.

With Lin Cheng’an angry, the remaining educated youths didn’t dare continue comforting Zhou Meijuan.

Although they each had family members regularly sending money and food stamps as a supplement, it only allowed them to have a slightly better life. Without work points and grain distribution, their family’s support couldn’t fill their stomachs.

The educated youths went back to work, leaving Zhou Meijuan alone, still sitting on the ground, not moving. Tears streamed down her face, pitifully.

Unfortunately, the villagers working had no intention of pitying her. The leaders were already far ahead. Falling too far behind would mean returning late at noon, leaving no rest time before they had to start working again in the afternoon. Besides, when it came to beauty, both Lin Qianqian and Wen Shuangshuang overshadowed Zhou Meijuan. No matter how pitiful her crying, that was all there was to it.

The educated youths did feel some sympathy but had been driven away by Lin Cheng’an’s words, so they didn’t dare come over to comfort her again.

Yet Zhou Meijuan had the ability to sit there and continue crying alone. When Wen Shuangshuang glanced at Zhou Meijuan, she frowned slightly. This era was not one where women could act out.

Fortunately, the village had a decent atmosphere, and with things not as chaotic as before, the villagers were kind-hearted and weren’t prone to public humiliation rituals. Otherwise, someone like Zhou Meijuan would have had a hard time.

After a morning’s work, despite the chilly spring weather, everyone was sweating.

As it approached noon, Lin Cheng’an finally announced a break, primarily urging everyone to eat lunch quickly.

Lunch was wild vegetable dumplings made by Aunt Qi. The wild vegetables mixed with cornmeal and a bit of salt, kneaded into dough and steamed into dumplings roughly the size of an adult’s fist, filled even Wen Shuangshuang’s appetite with just one.

After eating, they could rest for a few dozen minutes. Wen Shuangshuang took this opportunity to find a slightly harder grass stem and pricked her blisters.

Even though her physical fitness was improved, her hands, which had never done heavy labor before, still couldn’t stand the test.

After working till now, her hands already had several large blisters and two or three small blood blisters from squeezing too hard when she didn’t get the hang of it at the start.

Blisters hurt when pricked, but if they aren’t, water builds up inside. Any pressure only enlarges the blister, stretching the surrounding skin. But once popped, they’re raw and painful, and holding farm tools to work becomes even more painful.

Aunt Qi saw Wen Shuangshuang with several large blisters, continuing to work as if nothing happened after pricking them, and at unaltered speed. She couldn’t help but admire Wen Shuangshuang’s resilience, feeling a twinge of sympathy.

Afterwards, when working, Aunt Qi intentionally kept some distance from Wen Shuangshuang, and when loosening soil on her own patch, she’d sneakily dig a bit on Wen Shuangshuang’s section, making Wen Shuangshuang’s work easier.

Wen Shuangshuang blinked, whispering thanks to Aunt Qi, accepting her goodwill. She didn’t take advantage for free. Once her hands developed calluses, she’d repay by helping Aunt Qi out more.

Finishing the day’s work, what Wen Shuangshuang had expected - a scene from the reincarnated woman Lin Qianqian - never happened. Instead, it was Zhou Meijuan, whom Wen Shuangshuang had overlooked, creating enough drama for a large play.

Before heading home, Aunt Qi first went to the roadside to take Qi Juan off the tree, where she was tied with a strap around her waist, and carried her home.

Aunt Qi was the only one at home. Whenever she went to the fields to work, her daughter, with no one to watch, could only be tied to a tree temporarily with a cloth strap. Although it was pitiful, Aunt Qi had no other way. Until her child could fend for herself, this was the best option.

Though she had worked all day, with no one at home, she couldn’t even get a bite of hot food and had to cook her own meal from scratch.

Wen Shuangshuang rolled up her sleeves and went to help with the chores. Zhou Meijuan, her eyes red and swollen after crying all day, angrily shut the door behind her, seemingly very displeased.