The croton fields of the Dasheng Dynasty glowed a vibrant green in late autumn, their plump pods bending the branches. A pungent, slightly bitter aroma hung in the air. Within this magical field, a place so breathtaking it could leave one gushing for three days, a figure crouched on a ridge, scratching crooked words in the mud with a branch. Liu's coarse prison uniform had been stained a dark purple by the croton sap. Her triangular eyes, gleaming from beneath her sparse bangs, scanned the surroundings warily, like a crow perched on a dunghill.
"Listen up!" She used a half-broken croton stalk to knock on the mud in front of her, using it as a blackboard eraser. "The first principle of an honest person is to eat shit with a smile even if someone asks you to!" Her saliva splashed on the clay desk, startling a few grasshoppers that were pecking at bean leaves. "Just like my good niece last time—"
"Teacher!" A burly man with a stubbled face suddenly raised his hand, the cuffs of his prison uniform gleaming with wear. "Are you talking about the Seventh Prince's wife asking you to rub your hands in mud?"
Liu's triangular eyes drooped, her face twitching as she forced herself to remain calm. "Don't talk nonsense!" She poked the words "suffering is a blessing" written on the dirt with a croton stalk. "That was me volunteering to honor her mother on her behalf! Do you understand filial piety? An honest person should have a spirit of sacrifice. They shouldn't fight back or talk back when they're hit or scolded. Even if they're stuffed with beans, they have to swallow them!"
A faint sound of footsteps echoed from the distant ridges of a field. Chen Weiwan, wearing a bamboo hat and a lilac skirt with a few specks of mud on the hem, was walking along the ridges of the field, holding hands with Kenkeng and Wawa, accompanied by Xiao Yu. Chuntao followed closely behind, the sweet aroma of freshly baked croton cakes wafting from her food box, drawing the foraging sparrows along the roadside to follow, fluttering their wings.
"Look, Mom!" Kengkeng pointed at Liu, who was dancing in the distance. Xiaopang's face was full of disgust. "Auntie is drawing circles with a stick again!"
Chen Weiwan took off her bamboo hat, revealing the newly inserted croton flower on her temples. Looking at the twisted lines Liu had drawn on the mud with the croton stalk, she couldn't help but chuckle, "It seems she hasn't eaten enough crotons to clear her mind." She took the croton cake from Xiao Yu, took a bite, and the crispy crust fell onto her skirt. "What did the Ministry of Justice say?"
"What else can I say?" Xiao Yu brushed the debris off her shoulder, raising an eyebrow helplessly. "Since she refuses to change despite repeated warnings, I plan to make her responsible for fertilizing the croton seeds on the entire farm—three acres a day. Bring your own tools."
"That suits her perfectly," Shen Weiwan said with a smile, her eyes curved. "She's a natural croton manure fork. Once she sticks it into the ground, it's guaranteed to be fertile."
Before she finished speaking, laughter suddenly erupted from Liu's "classroom" in the distance. She twisted and turned, her bony fingers scratching her neck, leaving red marks and wrinkling her coarse prison uniform. "Itchy... so itchy!"
"Teacher, what's wrong with you?" The strong student pretended to step forward to support her, but he quietly raised his sleeves and sprinkled a handful of white powder mixed with croton powder accurately on the back of Liu's neck.
"There's a bug! It must be a poisonous bug from the croton field!" Liu was so itchy that she was spinning in circles. Her sparse hair fell down, covering half of her distorted face. "Help me check! Did it get into my clothes?"
"Report to the teacher!" Another skinny prisoner jumped out holding an oil-paper bag, "Student has anti-itching powder here!" As he said that, he poured it into Liu's collar. The powder slid into the prison uniform along the lapel, causing her to scream continuously.
"Ah! Stop it! It's itching me to death!" Liu jumped up and down like a monkey whose tail was stepped on. Her prison uniform was soon covered with white powder, which glowed strangely in the sunlight.
Chen Weiwan was watching from the edge of the field, almost dropping her Croton Cake on the ground: "Chun Tao, did you make this itching powder?"
Chun Tao blinked proudly and pulled out a small paper bag from her sleeve pocket. "Miss, have you forgotten? It's the grass scraps that Chen Ruorou sewed into your clothes at last year's Spring Festival banquet. I dried it, ground it into powder, and mixed it with some loose soil from the croton fields. The effect is guaranteed to be doubled!"
On the ridge of the field, Liu was so itchy she didn't care about her appearance anymore. She scratched at herself, her prison uniform ripped to reveal her patched undershirt. The students surrounded her and started to make noises. Some picked up clods of dirt and imitated her movements: "Teacher! Is taking a loss the same as eating the itching powder?" "Hurry up and teach us how to eat the powder obediently!"
Liu was both ashamed and angry. She wanted to push everyone away and run away, but was stopped by the strong student: "Teacher, don't go! You haven't taught us the advanced mental method of 'honest people should accept everything'!" As he said that, he stuffed another handful of powder into her trouser leg.
"Rebellion! You bunch of traitors!" Liu was so angry that she was shaking all over, but she couldn't even speak coherently because of the unbearable itching.
"Madam, your trick of killing someone with a borrowed knife is really too mean." Xiao Yu looked at the chaotic scene in the distance, holding his forehead helplessly, but his fingertips couldn't help stroking the jade pendant on his waist - that was the "Scam the World" pendant made by Chen Weiwan using croton powder.
"To deal with such people, you have to use her own tricks to hit them in the face." Shen Weiwan wiped the tears of laughter and looked at Liu's embarrassed appearance rolling in the mud. "Look at her now. She is so socially destitute that even Croton insects find her embarrassing."
At that moment, the farm guard came over carrying a water and fire stick and heard Liu screaming from a distance: "What are you yelling about! You don't have to go to labor camp anymore, right?"
Liu rushed over like she had seen a savior: "Sir! Quickly arrest these rebels! They are using witchcraft to harm me!"
The burly student immediately knelt on the ground, his acting stunt perfect: "You are being unfairly accused, sir! It was the teacher who said 'suffering a loss is a blessing' and told us to use itching powder to relieve her itching, and even said this was a compulsory course for honest people!"
The guard looked at Liu's head and face covered with white powder, then looked at the oil-paper bags in the students' hands, and his mouth twitched as he tried to suppress a smile: "Liu! Instead of doing your labor reform properly, you are still here spreading rumors to confuse the people! Come with me to the office!" After saying that, he picked up the back of her collar and walked towards the guard room like he was carrying a chicken.
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