Chapter 12 Arguing with a Gossipy Woman
They got up before dawn, and Du Ruoxia and the others cooked some cornmeal porridge. After eating, they went to the old educated youth's courtyard.
They also had to be led to work by the older educated youth, which is why they couldn't offend the older educated youth. Besides, they had been in the team for so long and were familiar with everyone in the team.
You never know when you might need their help. Of course, if they're really bullying you, they're not pushovers either.
Liu Guihong led the girls to work, explaining the work hours and tasks to them.
Basically, we start work at 7:00 AM sharp and finish at 11:30 AM. Then we start work again at 1:00 PM and finish around 6:00 PM. There are no holidays, except during festivals when we don't have to work.
The production team is currently harvesting wheat. In those days, the harvest season was long, lasting almost a month. After the wheat ripened, people used sickles to cut it, piled the harvested wheat into stacks, and then carried it back to the threshing ground to dry.
The wheat was then crushed using a millstone pulled by livestock, and the straw was removed with pitchforks. When there was wind, the wheat was winnowed, relying on the wind to separate the wheat. The remaining straw was finally piled into a large stack.
Du Ruoxia and her friends encountered a bad time; it was the season when the first batch of wheat was ripe.
People often say "the wheat has turned around," which sounds like "the house is on fire." This is because this season marks the beginning of the rainy season, and the unstable weather, coupled with consecutive cloudy days, causes the wheat to mold, greatly affecting its yield and quality.
However, most of the wheat has been harvested, and it will be all done in about ten days.
It just so happens that the previous scorekeeper was the team leader's nephew, who had just received a recommendation from the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University a couple of days ago, so the position became vacant.
The brigade leader's nephew was also a good student, having graduated from the county high school. The brigade leader had heard him mention that the top high school in Beijing was the best, so he asked some of them if they had graduated from that school.
It just so happened that He Meiling and Xiang Xinming were both girls, so the brigade leader directly gave the position to He Meiling, since she was a girl.
Du Ruoxia couldn't help but sigh that He Meiling was lucky; she got the job of a scorekeeper on her very first day.
But after a while, I won't think that way anymore. After all, if such an easy job is left vacant, many people will be watching, and if things go wrong, it could cause trouble.
Du Ruoxia and the other female educated youths were assigned to harvest wheat. Xiang Xinming and Chen Zongliang were directly assigned to transport the wheat to the threshing ground, which required carrying such heavy stacks of wheat, a real test of physical strength.
Du Ruoxia's palms were scratched red by the wheat ears, and as time went on, the sun became increasingly scorching.
Supply and marketing cooperatives in this era probably didn't have sunscreen, so she had to research how to make it. The original owner already had yellow skin, and she didn't want to get even darker from the sun.
Du Ruoxia's speed was generally good; she had almost finished cutting a small patch of land. Luo Xiaojuan was about the same, while Tian Xueying was a little slower, but she was also working very hard.
Du Ruoxia felt she had dried off enough. The sun was blazing, and her body, already weak, couldn't withstand such intense sun exposure, so she went to rest for a while.
When Aunt Lin and Aunt He from the neighboring fields saw that Du Ruoxia had gone to rest, they started gossiping. They had never liked these female educated youths who came from the city.
"They're all useless at their jobs, but they're great at seducing men."
"That is to say, the female educated youth from the city are delicate and pampered, how could they possibly do these farm jobs!"
"I wonder if her seductive skills are innate."
Aunt Lin and Aunt He felt that the female educated youths had completely captivated the strong young men in the village.
The main problem is that Aunt Lin's youngest son has taken a liking to Li Lanjun, but Aunt Lin is unwilling for her precious son to marry a female educated youth without any connections, and consequently looks down on all female educated youth.
"That's right, they really think they're something special just because they have a little money. I heard they even built a house!" As for Aunt He, she was simply resentful of the rich, thinking that these educated youth really knew how to squander money.
"Oh dear, these new educated youths are so delicate. They only cut a little wheat and then went to rest. Unlike us, who are destined to work hard!" Aunt Lin not only didn't lower her voice, but instead spoke louder and louder.
Du Ruoxia overheard this, and it also attracted the attention of the captain.
Du Ruoxia immediately went over to Aunt Lin and said, "I was just taking a break and it didn't bother you. You gossipy old woman who talks badly about others behind their backs!"
"You, you, you little slut, calling me a gossip! I'll tear your mouth apart!"
At this moment, the team leader walked over. The production tasks were already heavy, and instead of working properly, they were fighting. "What's going on? Don't you want your work points anymore? Huh!"
Aunt Lin's words were really awful. What did she mean by saying that the educated youth didn't work properly and only knew how to seduce men?
There's a saying that goes something like this: "The most tragic thing is when women start belittling other women."
Du Ruoxia strongly agreed with this statement. Although gender equality is advocated now, feudal ideas are still deeply rooted in China and have been ingrained in people's bones. It will take time to change them.
"Captain, she insulted me first without any reason," Du Ruoxia said indignantly.
The team leader just wanted to smooth things over, saying, "What's there to argue about? Half of your work points will be deducted today, so get to work!"
After reprimanding him, Jiang Dezhu strode away.
It just so happens that everyone has been a bit lax lately, especially Aunt Lin and the others who have been dawdling every day, so they need to be disciplined.
As for that new educated youth, Du, he caused trouble as soon as he arrived, so he needs to be taught a lesson.
"Hmph!" The two aunties glared at Du Ruoxia because they were going to lose work points, but they didn't dare to say anything more.
Du Ruoxia wasn't afraid of them. She had money in her own pocket and didn't care about the work points. She made a face at Aunt Lin, which angered Aunt Lin and the others, who then moved to a plot of land farther away from Du Ruoxia's group to harvest wheat.
At noon, after finishing work, I washed my face. Everyone was exhausted on their first day of work and had nothing to eat. We ate the leftover corn porridge from the morning.
The brigade leader saw everything and knew that the new batch of educated youth were very serious. However, because the two aunts insulted Du Ruoxia and the brigade leader did nothing, Du Ruoxia gave the brigade leader a cold look.
Jiang Dezhu was also a little embarrassed, but the aunties in the village were not easy to deal with. As the brigade leader, he had to balance the relationship between the educated youth and the villagers. The educated youth and the local team members had all sorts of conflicts every day, which were complicated and difficult to resolve.
Seeing Du Ruoxia's sour face, Jiang Dezhu could only quietly walk over and say, "Du Zhiqing, you've been wronged today. I'll give you a day off tomorrow, okay?"
Du Ruoxia's dark expression softened somewhat.
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