As soon as Zhou Jingjing spoke, all the villagers around her turned their attention to her.
Zhou Jingjing noticed those gazes, but she didn't understand what they meant. She thought she had exposed something they didn't want her to know.
She snorted and continued to look at Song Guangming.
“That’s not all,” Zhou Jingjing said, “you also discriminated against us, giving all the land with less grass to the people of your Qingshan Brigade, leaving only the land with more grass for us educated youth.”
"Why are we, the educated youth, so easy to bully?"
Song Guangming laughed in anger when he heard her words.
First of all, the village had very little land, and the villagers themselves didn't have enough to eat, relying on the small amount of work points they earned each day to survive.
That brigade leader was also biased; except during the busy farming season, he wouldn't let the educated youth go to work at all.
When the grain was distributed at the beginning and end of the year, the educated youth had no work points, so they couldn't exchange them for much grain.
Not only were they all starving and emaciated, but it was also said that several male educated youths had given all their money to buy food, leaving them with only one set of clothes. After washing their clothes, they would sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) wrapped in their quilts, unable to even leave the house.
Secondly, is it fair to say he's biased?
Oh, he is indeed biased.
Putting aside the fact that on one side are people who have lived and worked together on the same land for generations, and on the other side are educated youth who rarely interact or talk to each other, let's talk about their daily work. In which instance have these city people ever done more work than the villagers?
That Han educated youth from last time saw Xie Laosan carrying grain, so he also carried some.
But he strained his back after only a few steps and had to rest for several days.
The other male educated youth were even worse; they were all weaklings!
The women in the village are all better than them!
He hadn't even said anything yet, but he gave them work points, and they're already finding fault with him?
You really can't give this kind of shamelessness any leeway!
“I understand,” Song Guangming sneered, his eagle eyes fixed on Zhou Jingjing.
"You think I'm a bad person because I made you do work, and you envy those who don't have to work, right?"
Zhou Jingjing didn't say anything.
Although the male educated youth around them complained about Song Guangming's unfair land distribution, none of them dared to say such things to Song Guangming's face.
At this moment, when they heard Zhou Jingjing say that the other educated youth who had been sent to the countryside didn't have to do any work, their eyes lit up.
Song Guangming noticed their expressions.
He let out another cold laugh.
But considering that they had been together for more than half a year, she still reminded them, "Do you know how many meals they eat a day?"
“I know, one meal a day,” Wang Wenwen quickly replied.
Song Guangming glanced at her face, then looked at the faces of the other educated youth.
Then he said, "Fine, since you all really don't want to work, I'll grant your wish."
Instantly, all the educated youth looked up at him.
"From now on, except for the few days of busy harvest season, I will not restrict you at other times. You can come whenever you want, or you don't have to come if you don't want to."
“I will never go to the educated youth settlement to call you to work again.”
Song Guangming spoke very slowly, almost pausing between each word.
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Jingjing glanced at Liang Qian with a smug look on her face.
It was as if he was showing off that he was bolder than her.
If it weren't for her, they would still be sunbathing!
“However,” Song Guangming suddenly added, “I still want to emphasize the rules of our Qingshan Brigade again: Qingshan Brigade does not grant credit for grain.”
After saying that, he didn't look at them again, and with a wave of his hand, he called everyone to go home.
The educated youth were all very excited after hearing the news. Hearing that they were going back, they followed the main group and started walking back.
Wang Wenwen and Qin Li had already discussed what they would do if they didn't have to work in the afternoon.
"Wait a minute," Xu Yan, who had been watching the whole thing, suddenly spoke up, interrupting everyone's actions.
Song Guangming was in a very bad mood at this moment, thinking that Xu Yan was about to say something he didn't want to hear, so he gave her a cold look.
“Captain,” Xu Yan adjusted his straw hat, which was blocking his view, and then pointed to the place where Zhou Jingjing and the others had been working.
"How are their work points calculated this morning?"
She hadn't mentioned it, and Song Guangming had forgotten about it himself. But after hearing her say that, Song Guangming also looked towards the field.
Zhou Jingjing was surrounded by several male educated youths talking when she heard Xu Yan's voice. Her expression changed immediately, and she glared at Xu Yan. "Of course it's five work points! We're almost done!"
"Oh, almost finished?" Xu Yan emphasized the word "almost." "That means it's not finished yet. How can you get full work points if it's not finished?"
After saying that, he deliberately asked Song Guangming, "You agree, right, Captain?"
“Yes,” Song Guangming immediately said, “I said before that you have to finish weeding and empty the grass from the bags to the fodder storage area before you can get full work points. If you don’t finish, you can’t get full work points.”
After saying that, seeing that Li Li was relatively close to the ground, she pointed at him and said, "Go and see how much is left."
There's not much left.
Those who are quick and efficient can complete the task in less than ten minutes.
"There's only a little left, Captain," Zhou Jingjing said quickly.
Song Guangming didn't respond, pretending not to hear, his gaze fixed on Li Li, who had already darted into the field.
Li Li was standing where Ye Wei had just been weeding. She had only done about a third of the work, and the weeds she had shoveled were piled up on the side without being put into a sack.
“Here, Captain,” Li Li waved to Song Guangming.
“That’s not our place,” Liang Qian said anxiously. “That’s Ye Wei’s place.”
Song Guangming didn't care about any of that. He had just seen the five of them come together, so he gathered them together and turned to look at them.
“I’ll give you two choices. One, do as I said before and finish the work, and each of you will get five work points. The other, you don’t have to do it anymore, and I will deduct three work points from each of you.”
As soon as Song Guangming finished speaking, Zhou Jingjing immediately retorted, "Why should I?"
“Exactly,” Wang Wenwen also disagreed, “There’s only a little left, it’s unfair to deduct three work points.”
"You disagree?" Song Guangming looked at the five of them.
Qin Li shook her head vigorously, like a rattle-drum.
“Okay, then you can keep working. I’ll come and check when you come back to work after lunch this afternoon. I’ll start recording your work points as soon as you finish,” Song Guangming said.
After saying that, he waved to Li Li in the field, "Come on, let's go back."
The main force has restarted.
The female educated youth stayed where they were.
Zhou Jingjing wanted to ask a few male educated youths to stay and help, but they acted as if they hadn't heard her and simply followed the crowd.
Xie Zhuo glanced at Xu Yan beside him.
"Why are you looking at me?" Xu Yan noticed his gaze, tilted her head back and raised an eyebrow.
Xie Zhu didn't speak for a long time before finally saying, "You're doing fine now."
"Hmm?" Xu Yan asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Don't go back to being a little mute," Xie Zhuo looked down at her, "It's really frustrating to watch."
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