Bai Jiaojiao was overjoyed. With witnesses and written evidence, it was now a sure thing that her older brother would become the squad leader.
Other team leaders simply led everyone in labor, their only responsibility being to take attendance and supervise. They earned one more work point than ordinary members, managing only a few dozen people, and didn't have much real power.
But if you get an extra work point every day, excluding the two months when the door is blocked by heavy snow during the Lunar New Year, that's 300 work points a year!
Bai Shihai has been working for a month now!
Bai Jiaojiao happily hummed a song on the way, while Li Hongtao secretly laughed at her for being silly.
If Shen Heng knew that Bai Jiaojiao was helping outsiders to deal with him, wouldn't he be worried about Bai Jiaojiao's life or death when he got home?
She even had the mood to sing.
Li Hongtao pursed his lips.
"Captain Li, I'll go up first. Whatever you do, don't tell him we're in cahoots!"
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, Bai Jiaojiao suddenly quickened her pace.
Before Li Hongtao could react, Bai Jiaojiao had already walked away.
What an idiot.
She still has that agreement! When she pulls it out, how could Shen Heng not know that Bai Jiaojiao was involved?
Shen Heng lost money, so he was bound to vent his anger on someone.
Li Hongtao was happy to watch the show, and he strolled along slowly in the back without reminding Bai Jiaojiao.
Bai Jiaojiao walked with a heavy heart, afraid that Li Hongtao would realize what was happening and catch up with her to snatch the document away.
"What's the rush? Take your time." Shen Heng saw Bai Jiaojiao as if she were being chased by wolves.
Bai Jiaojiao was covered in sweat and panting heavily, but she walked up to him without stopping, handed him a piece of paper, and said breathlessly, "This time... ha... this time... he can't renege on his debt!"
Shen Heng opened the paper and found that it was actually a written agreement, with Li Hongtao's fresh handprint stamped underneath.
"You really are..."
Shen Heng didn't know what to say.
He gazed at Bai Jiaojiao's innocent and pure face, like a little lamb, and discovered that she was not only like a vixen in seducing him, but also as cunning as a fox when she was being manipulative.
No wonder she's his woman!
"Heng-ge, you'd better keep it safe, don't let Li Hongtao snatch it!"
Bai Jiaojiao finally caught her breath and gave some instructions.
"Okay, okay."
Shen Heng folded the document twice and put it in his pants pocket.
No one has been able to take anything from him yet.
Bai Jiaojiao was relieved. She had just distributed water to everyone when she saw Li Hongtao, his face ashen, hurrying up the mountain.
"Bai Jiaojiao, are you kidding me?"
When Li Hongtao reached the halfway point of the mountain, he discovered that the Bai family had already moved to another plot of land. He comforted himself by saying that they were working recklessly because of the bet, which was why they were moving so quickly.
But as he got closer, he saw how Shen Heng and Bai Shihai worked. They were so efficient and quick. At this rate, the thirty acres would be harvested in less than five days!
Li Hongtao then realized he had been tricked. Bai Jiaojiao didn't want Shen Heng to bleed; she was here to tear him apart!
Turns out I was the idiot!
"Captain Li, what do you mean by that?"
Bai Jiaojiao pronounced the three words "Captain Li" clearly and slowly, with a strong sense of sarcasm.
Li Hongtao took a step to rush into the field, but Bai Shihai grabbed his arm: "Captain Li, what are you doing?"
"Your family conspired to cheat me, didn't you? You knew perfectly well that these lands were doomed, yet you deliberately lured me into a bet. I'm going to find the brigade leader to settle this matter!"
"Li Hongtao, how dare you bring up the bet? Wasn't it because you were greedy for small gains and thought our family couldn't possibly finish the job that you made the bet with my brother-in-law? The brigade leader told you not to gamble this morning, but you wouldn't listen!"
Bai Shiqing, like a submachine gun, kept firing at Li Hongtao.
Li Hongtao knew he had been tricked. Looking at the Bai family members scattered on the ground, he felt utterly powerless and pointed hatefully at Shen Heng:
"You just wait! You dare mess with the Li family? You don't want to live in Shili Village anymore, do you?"
The Li family is a prominent family in Shili Village; Li Hongtao's grandfather alone had more than a dozen cousins.
“Captain Li, what are you saying? You are a member of the brigade, and so are we. How come you, surnamed Li, are a higher class than us? My family and the Shen family are both poor peasants. I would like to ask, what is your family’s class stance that allows you to drive us out of Shili Village?”
Bai Jiaojiao had at least attended high school, and her experience in the city was far superior to that of Li Hongtao, who had lived his entire life in Shili Village.
After being subjected to such a serious reprimand, Li Hongtao dared not say a word.
Class stance is now the most sensitive topic; whoever fails to unite the masses will be attacked.
Li Hongtao's eyes darted around; he was good at making a big deal out of nothing. He sneered, "What kind of good people do you think your family is? Why didn't you hand over these two sickles? Are you being selfish?!"
Bai Shihai's grip on the sickle tightened involuntarily.
"What you're saying is hilarious. Jiaojiao can't even pay for her own tools? Does your family not even have a kitchen knife? They're all just pieces of iron with wooden handles, what's the difference? We're asking you to hand over your kitchen knives and pots first, Captain Li!"
Bai Shiqing squinted and retorted in one breath, feeling extremely satisfied.
"A bunch of selfish bastards who have no sense of the collective! You don't hand in your contributions just to highlight your individual abilities, don't you? You're willing to sacrifice the collective interest for your own sake; you're truly a bunch of parasites on the collective!"
Li Hongtao's mouth opened and closed, and the label of "commune parasite" was once again pinned on Bai Jiaojiao's head, just like in her past life.
This was a source of deep distress for her.
Bai Jiaojiao's face immediately turned cold: "Morts? Who are the parasites? Our two able-bodied men harvested three mu of land in less than a day, and you call us commune parasites? You can go and ask around. This sickle was just made and delivered to us by my third brother this morning. Why should we hand it in early?"
Bai Shiqing had long disliked Li Hongtao, and she didn't care about being a squad leader or anything like that: "Li Laosan, don't push your luck. The whole village is busy in the fields, even seven- or eight-year-old children are working, and you're just wandering around in the hills. With your work ethic, what gives you the right to supervise us?"
Bai Jiaojiao and Bai Shiqing, being sisters, together left Li Hongtao speechless, unsure how to refute them.
Their argument also attracted Li Lide's attention.
In the village, matters related to the collective, such as labor, are the responsibility of the brigade leader. In terms of daily life, such as mediating disputes, the village head and the women's director are responsible for resolving conflicts.
"What are you doing? What time is it? Instead of getting to work, you're arguing!"
Li Lide couldn't stand Bai Jiaojiao. Ever since she came to Shili Village, she hadn't had a single day of peace.
He almost broke his back from exhaustion in the field, and then people started arguing during that break.
Li Lide was genuinely worried. If he couldn't finish harvesting the wheat this year, wouldn't he lose face as the village chief in the town?
"Village chief, come here and be the judge!"
Li Lide was Li Hongtao's cousin, within the third degree of kinship. Li Hongtao was overjoyed to see him arrive.
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