CHAPTER 78: CHAPTER 78: IS THE SHANGJIANG TEAM YOUR FAMILY’S ONE-VOICE RULE?

When Xu Qinghuan arrived, Jiang Xingye had almost finished hoeing her entire row, with less than two meters left. She hoed for a while before it was time to start work.

The atmosphere was different today; everyone coming to work seemed quite cheerful, apparently aware that Jiang Xingye had caught a wild boar.

Seeing Xu Qinghuan at the end of the field, everyone was dumbfounded.

Is the new educated youth this hardworking?

Does she really love farming this much?

Only Zhou Guiying felt a twinge in her heart. She cautiously walked over, trying not to let Xu Qinghuan notice her.

But Xu Qinghuan did not look up.

Instead, Xie Zaohua greeted her, "Xu Zhiqing, you did so much work at noon!"

Xu Qinghuan straightened her back to rest, smiling, "Yes, it’s time to start work!"

"Hmm, let’s work quickly today and go back early; there’s meat to be divided," Xie Zaohua said, afraid Xu Qinghuan wasn’t aware. "Jiang Xiaowu caught a wild boar, and it’s being slaughtered at the team office. Soon, everyone can get a pound of meat."

In the village, when distributing things, it was either per person for large quantities or per household for smaller ones, ensuring fairness and justice as much as possible.

But not every production team was like this.

In other teams, no matter what was distributed, the educated youths got nothing; they were highly rejected and bullied.

But the Shangjiang Team was different; educated youths and members were treated equally, and resource allocation was fair.

"That’s good news! Autumn harvest is approaching, and eating some meat can replenish energy, making it easier to withstand the rush," Xu Qinghuan said with a smile.

"Exactly!" Xie Zaohua slapped her head. "I remember now; weren’t those a few poisoned educated youths? I heard they’re getting discharged tomorrow. The team arranged a tractor to pick them up."

Xu Qinghuan smiled silently, probably thinking it wasn’t cheap to stay in the hospital these days!

She quickly finished her task, intending to leave after the team leader checked it when Dong Aimei approached with a stern face, "Xu Zhiqing, you’re not working actively; your thoughts have issues. You can earn six work points daily, so why not do more?"

Xu Qinghuan was quite annoyed, "Mind your own business?"

She didn’t want to argue with others in the fields every day.

In the past few days, after work, she would go up the mountain to collect firewood, nuts, mushrooms, and wild fruits. During this season, raspberries, red beans, lingonberries, wild roses, and blue fruits were all delicious.

Of course, she didn’t recognize any of them. She gave candies to the kids, and in return, they shared wild fruits with her.

After eating them a lot, she recognized them.

As for mushrooms, she dared not pick them randomly, only picking a few common kinds. When she brought them back, she asked the kids to help identify poisonous ones to throw out quickly.

She didn’t want to end up in trouble after eating them.

Today, she planned to watch Jiang Xingye slaughter a pig, as she had never seen a pig being slaughtered before.

"It’s none of my business, but since you’re an educated youth here to accept the re-education of our poor and lower middle peasants, it’s my duty to educate you. You don’t love labor, earning only four work points daily, showing laziness and lack of progressive thinking. Either write a check or hoe another row."

Dong Aimei pointed towards the sorghum field.

Xu Qinghuan looked at her coldly and passed by.

Dong Aimei trembled with anger. If she let her go like this, what face would she have?

As Dong Aimei reached out to grab her, Xu Qinghuan seemed to have eyes in the back of her head, dodged, and casually lifted a foot, tripping Dong Aimei into the small ditch nearby.

"Help, help!"

The team leader was too lazy to bother with the grudges between these two girls. Taking the opportunity, he left when they began quarreling.

Unexpectedly, after only two steps, he heard a splash of someone falling into the water.

Then came Dong Aimei’s cries for help.

Everyone stopped working and ran over, with Sun Guihua rushing ahead to pull her daughter up, "How could you walk and end up in the ditch?"

Sun Guihua, the village party secretary’s wife, had three sons. This daughter was the youngest and much cherished, though whether she was truly close was unknown. Nevertheless, she was treasured like a jewel.

Dong Aimei cried angrily, "It was Xu Qinghuan, that vile woman, who tripped me into the ditch."

The ditch wasn’t deep, but it had a lot of silt and overgrown weeds. It hadn’t rained for a while, so the water was quite dirty and murky.

Pulling Dong Aimei up now, she was covered head to toe in stinky mud, with only a pair of eyes showing, looking very miserable.

Sun Guihua stamped her feet angrily, shouting at Xu Qinghuan’s retreating figure, "Xu Zhiqing, stop right there!"

Zhou Guizhi was unhappy, "Aimei, you have to have evidence when you talk. Xu Zhiqing was so far from you. You fell into the ditch yourself and are blaming it on someone else?"

Xu Qinghuan came over, hearing this, and was quite grateful to Zhou Guizhi.

"She did trip me into the ditch. She walked quickly and was far away after tripping me," Dong Aimei whined, "Aunt, she’s just an outsider, yet you always side with her?"

Listening to her words, everyone snickered inwardly, knowing her little schemes very well!

Before Zhou Guizhi could reply, Xu Qinghuan said, "Comrade Dong Aimei, we educated youths came to the countryside to participate in rural construction. Are you saying that you all don’t welcome us, or is it just the secretary’s family?"

When it came to pointing fingers, Xu Qinghuan was quite adept.

Moreover, the village secretary’s position was quite sensitive.

Dong Aimei was panic-stricken, but with her face covered in mud, others couldn’t tell her expression.

Sun Guihua was furious, "You little educated youth, can’t work but have a sharp tongue, who are you putting a hat on? Is that what my daughter means, or are you being unreasonable?"

Xu Qinghuan’s eyes turned cold, "Then what does she mean? Urging all the team members against us educated youths? If others don’t help her, are they against the secretary’s family? Even the team leader’s family must listen to you?

I feel this is like landlord tyranny; how come there are such feudal remnants in the Shangjiang Team?"

Sun Guihua’s face turned completely pale with anger, pointing at Xu Qinghuan, "You, you, you..."

Furious to the point of being speechless.

Xu Qinghuan pushed aside her hand, "Auntie, a few days ago, Comrade Dong Aimei wanted to dock my work points for no reason. Just now, she wouldn’t let me off work and insisted on me doing two more work points, otherwise claiming I wasn’t active in labor and had thoughts issues.

Why is it that she can repeatedly bully me by virtue of being the secretary’s daughter, but I can’t even defend my rights? Is the Shangjiang Team your family’s unilateral decision?"

"I didn’t, I’m not, you’re talking nonsense!" Dong Aimei hadn’t expected Xu Qinghuan to be so difficult, fearing that if this spread, not only would her father lose his secretary position, but the whole family would be implicated.

"You take advantage of your father being the secretary, doing the lightest work in the whole production team while criticizing others for doing less. Where do you get such audacity, daring to claim this Shangjiang Team doesn’t belong to the Dong family?"

Xu Qinghuan’s words not only terrified Sun Guihua and her daughter but also made the onlookers feel anxious.