The Vicious Ex-Wife Stripped Me Bare, and Now the Commander Is Seeing Red Every Day - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: First Day of Work, Give Full Emotional Value First

If Ye Shiyu found out Gu Yan was here—and living as miserably as he was in a cowshed—how would she react?

Would she sneak over to see him?

The more Lin Ning thought about it, the more excited and expectant she became!

“Educated youths, come over here! Register here and collect your tools.”

Suddenly, from the front of the crowd, the village chief shouted in the direction of the educated youths.

Everyone looked over at the sound. Seeing the direction the village chief was waving, they followed the footsteps over.

Gu Rou moved with the crowd, retreating to Lin Ning’s side. “Sister, I see the villagers are all wearing straw hats. Should we buy straw hats to wear too?”

Lin Ning’s gaze swept over the heads of the villagers nearby. “You’re right, that was an oversight on my part. I’ll ask where they are sold after work.”

Gu Rou immediately spoke up happily, “I already asked about that! You can buy them at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative at the village committee. One straw hat is 30 cents.”

Lin Ning was curious. “When did you ask?”

Gu Rou had tied two small pigtails behind her ears today. She played with her hair while saying smugly, “Just now. I asked an auntie in the village and she told me.”

Lin Ning looked at her with approval. “Not bad, nicely done!”

Gu Rou’s smile grew even more radiant. Turning around, she noticed the line in front was almost gone. She stopped talking and stared at the village chief ahead, wondering what kind of work would be assigned to them.

The village chief looked up from the names registered in his book, then looked at the two of them. “You two sisters go to Nanhu to pick cotton. Each of you take a basket and follow Auntie Zhang with your hemp bags. She’ll take you to Nanhu and teach you what to do.”

As he spoke, the village chief wrote down their names and their assigned work type in the book.

Auntie Zhang, who was waiting nearby, looked at the two delicate young girls with a smile and comforted them, “Don’t you worry! Picking cotton is the easiest and lightest job; you’ll learn it as soon as you’re taught.”

Lin Ning and Gu Rou looked at the auntie, who wore coarse cloth clothes and a straw hat.

“Thank you, Auntie Zhang. Sorry to trouble you to teach us,” Lin Ning said politely.

Auntie Zhang made a dismissive “hai” sound. “No trouble, no trouble at all. Come, I’ll take you to recognize the spot first.”

Auntie Zhang led them toward the cotton fields, being extremely enthusiastic along the way, introducing this and that about the village!

She told them, “When you’re working, there must always be someone in the field. Even if you go to urinate, you can only go one at a time. Otherwise, if the scorekeeper sees no one in the field, they’ll deduct your work points.”

“For a day’s work points—whether for village comrades or you educated youths—the full score for men is ten points, and for women, it’s eight points. Six points is considered a passing grade.”

At this, Gu Rou asked, “Why is the full score for women lower than for men?”

Auntie Zhang didn’t seem surprised by the question and explained with a smile, “Because in the same amount of time, men do more work than women, and it’s heavier work. That’s why their points are higher than ours.”

Gu Rou nodded, indicating she understood, but had another question: “Then why is the passing line the same? If it’s six points for both, shouldn’t it be eight points for men?”

Auntie Zhang shook her head. “It’s not calculated that way. Although the full score for male comrades is ten points, those who can actually do ten points—especially those who do it regularly—are very few. Most only do eight points, so a six-point pass is about the same as us women.”

“Even though our full score is only eight points, most of us can reach it. If you only count the full scores, we women actually have more than the men.”

She then remembered something else. “You’ve just arrived so you don’t know, but in our village, those with many full scores—regardless of whether they are men or women—get extra rewards at the end of the year.”

“Rewards?” Hearing about rewards, Gu Rou became interested and asked, “What rewards?”

Auntie Zhang: “Daily necessities—cabinets, bed frames, quilts, blankets—it depends on what’s available at the end of the year. My family, for instance, got two new quilts last year, plus pillows, sheets, and duvet covers—a whole set. This year we’re hoping to get a bed frame. Our Niuniu is getting older and needs her own bed.”

As she spoke, she used her own family as an example, eventually sharing more and more.

Crucially, Lin Ning and Gu Rou were a great audience. Both listened with rapt attention, especially Gu Rou, who looked at her with a face full of admiration. “Wow~ Auntie Zhang, your family is amazing! Since you’re so capable, I’m sure you can do it this year too.”

The emotional value provided was at a maximum.

Auntie Zhang was so coaxed that she couldn’t stop grinning. She started sharing even more, even including some tips on how to slack off a bit.

As they talked, Lin Ning and Gu Rou saw a vast expanse of cotton fields.

Looking at the rows of withered branches topped with clusters of pure white cotton, the field seemed to stretch beyond sight.

The smile on the corner of Gu Rou’s mouth froze. “Auntie Zhang, surely these aren’t all ours?”

Lin Ning also looked at Auntie Zhang. No way! No way!

Auntie Zhang waved her hand. “Of course not. This plot here is yours—one mu of land. If you finish it today, it’s eight points; eight points for each of you.”

Auntie Zhang’s face was written with an “it’s your lucky day” expression.

Gu Rou’s face immediately fell. “One mu? That much? We can’t finish it!”

Auntie Zhang acted as if she had heard something hilarious. “How is one mu a lot? Especially with two of you working. If it were me, I’d be done in half a day.”

Remembering they had never done farm work, she added, “This is super simple. I’ll teach you. Even if you’ve never done it, you can easily finish in a day.”

As her voice landed, Auntie Zhang rolled up her sleeves and stepped into the field. With a flick of her hand, a boll of cotton was picked.

“See, how simple.” Auntie Zhang held the cotton out in front of the sisters.

The cotton was truly white and soft like clouds; holding it in one’s hand gave a warm sensation.

Gu Rou and Lin Ning also entered the field. Gu Rou mimicked Auntie Zhang’s move, reaching out to pick, but despite the seemingly simple action, she couldn’t pick a complete boll of cotton.

Auntie Zhang watched from the side and reminded them carefully, “The cotton stems and husks are very hard. Be careful when picking so you don’t poke your hands. It’s okay to go slow.”

Then Gu Rou got poked. Fortunately, it didn’t break the skin, just scraped it slightly.

Auntie Zhang saw it didn’t break or bleed, so she acted as if she hadn’t seen it. The village chief had said these youths should be given time to adapt and get used to it, but they shouldn’t be coddled.

Lin Ning saw it too and similarly didn’t make a fuss. Let alone a scrape—even if the skin actually broke and bled, she wouldn’t make a scene.

She picked cotton on her own. Her movements were very standard—picking the whole boll each time—and her speed wasn’t slow.

Auntie Zhang looked on in surprise and blurted out, “Has Comrade Lin done cotton picking work before?”

Support The Vicious Ex-Wife Stripped Me Bare, and Now the Commander Is Seeing Red Every Day