Yun Qinghuan squinted at him for a moment. “Is there nothing else to do now?”
“N-nothing.” His voice trembled, self-reproach filling his heart for not holding back. He should have waited for her to leave before laughing.
Turning around to lead Bai Naihan and the others to cut pig grass, Bai Naihan suddenly wheeled himself in front of her. “Sister-in-law, let’s check the pigsty first. There should be more than just you cutting pig grass. We can ask them what to pay attention to.”
The entire brigade’s pigs were in the pigsty, and there were quite a few. If only one person cut pig grass, it would be impossible to finish working.
“Sure.”
Even before reaching the pigsty, Yun Qinghuan could already smell a strong stench of pig dung from afar, especially on this warm day. The odor was unbearable!
Pinching her nose, she almost vomited the breakfast she had in the morning.
Even little Bai Jin’an exaggeratedly covered his nose.
Looking at Bai Naihan, she noticed that although he didn’t pinch his nose, he held his breath. “Do we have to go?”
Bai Naihan looked at her helplessly. “We indeed have to go. After cutting pig grass, we still need to deliver it here.”
Yun Qinghuan suddenly felt a bit desperate.
So, although this job was less labor-intensive compared to farming, it was still not easy. Before even starting, she began to doubt if she could handle it.
Suddenly, the door of the pigsty opened, and a girl wearing a long cloth robe with her face covered came out. She was carrying a bucket and actively emptying pig manure. It was evident that the piles of pig manure not far from the pigsty were all cleared by her.
In this era, pig manure was considered natural fertilizer, precious to rural people. The cleaned pig manure was left there until someone with a wooden cart would come to transport it when needed.
Upon seeing Yun Qinghuan, the girl put down the bucket and walked over. “Qinghuan, you’re here! Yesterday, Sister Li mentioned that someone would replace the woman in cutting pig grass. Is it you?”
The girl approached Yun Qinghuan suddenly. Before Yun Qinghuan could react, her mouth moved faster than her brain, and she had already called out the person’s name, “Qiao Yue?”
“It’s me!” Qiao Yue waved happily. She seemed to be aware of her own unpleasant smell, keeping a distance. “I thought you wouldn’t remember me. I’m surprised you called my name!”
Just now, Yun Qinghuan’s gaze seemed unfamiliar to her, making her heart almost jump to her throat. When Yun Qinghuan called her name, she breathed a sigh of relief. “I heard that you were sick. I originally wanted to find a chance to visit you, but I’ve been busy these days. How are you now?”
She looked at Yun Qinghuan with concern.
Yun Qinghuan recognized the person before her. The girl’s name was Qiao Yue, a friend of the original host in the educated youth settlement. They had a good relationship. However, after the original host got married, she didn’t visit the settlement much, and their relationship faded a bit.
However, from the original host’s memories, Qiao Yue was a good person. Especially now, she looked genuinely worried about Yun Qinghuan. Feeling touched, Yun Qinghuan took a step forward, “I’m much better now. Why are you cleaning pig manure here?”
Qiao Yue smiled and waved her hand. “Don’t come close to me; I smell bad. You know we’re from the city and not good at any farm work. Cleaning pig manure is relatively easy. Just need to clean the pigsty. I need to earn some work points too. It’s not bad cleaning pig manure here.”
As she spoke, Qiao Yue smiled wryly. Who would have thought that after years of education, she would end up cleaning pigsties? Of course, there was another reason she didn’t mention: being a single girl without family in this rural area was dangerous, especially considering her attractive appearance.
Several times, those local ruffians at the village entrance whistled at her, scaring her to the point that she didn’t dare to walk alone. However, after coming here to clean the pigsty, she smelled bad, didn’t have time to clean herself every day, and those ruffians stopped bothering her. It made her feel a lot safer.
Yun Qinghuan sensed that she had some difficulties she didn’t want to talk about, so she didn’t inquire further. “Indeed, I’m temporarily replacing Li Ma to cut pig grass. Unexpectedly, I ran into you. It’s really a coincidence. Now, like you, I’m also thinking of earning work points to support myself. Otherwise, I can’t just sit here and wait for the northwest wind.”
Thinking her husband’s recent death, Yun Qinghuan used to have Bai Wensong doing farm work at home, and her mother-in-law was skilled at it too. She only needed to take care of herself and her child. Also, she had a younger brother serving in the army, receiving a considerable allowance each month.
Now, her husband had passed away, her younger brother got injured and retired, losing the monthly allowance, and the family was left with only her mother-in-law. Previously, Qiao Yue used to envy Yun Qinghuan. Even though they came to the educated youth settlement together, Yun Qinghuan could stay at home while she worked hard for work points. However, Yun Qinghuan married someone from the countryside and no longer had to do farm work.
At the beginning, when many in the educated youth settlement knew that Yun Qinghuan married someone from a rural background, they ridiculed her behind her back. They thought Yun Qinghuan, who came from the city, shouldn’t have easily married a rural person just to escape farm work. They viewed these city girls as seemingly willingly falling into a lower status. When Yun Qinghuan married Bai Wensong, it even gave hope to other men in the village, thinking that city girls could also marry them. This resulted in them harassing the city girls in the educated youth settlement, and Wang Shufeng and others became even more hostile towards Yun Qinghuan.
At that time, many educated youth thought they wouldn’t need much time to return to the city, holding lofty ideals. Little did they know that after so many years, instead of returning to the city, they needed introduction letters even for a short visit, and the duration was limited. Everyone was living a tough life. On the contrary, Yun Qinghuan, who married a local villager, was living a better life, looking prosperous.
Some people began to entertain the idea that if returning to the city was hopeless, they might as well marry a local person for a relatively better life. Unexpectedly, within a few years, Yun Qinghuan’s husband encountered such an incident, and now she became a widow.
Qiao Yue couldn’t help feeling a sense of pity.
Back then, Qiao Yue knew that Yun Qinghuan’s marriage to Bai Wensong was somewhat forced. After all, the son of the secretary, Lu Sunhua, pursued her relentlessly. Qiao Yue, having a good friendship with Yun Qinghuan, knew a bit about the situation. However, fearing that it might ruin Yun Qinghuan’s reputation, she couldn’t reveal the truth. When Wang Shufeng and others talked badly about Yun Qinghuan behind her back, Qiao Yue couldn’t disclose the real reason.
At some point, Qiao Yue had also considered finding someone to marry. After all, it would be nice to have someone who cared for her when she was sick.
“Indeed, for now, it’s more reliable to work hard and earn work points to support ourselves. Besides, there’s no shame in supporting ourselves with our own hands.”
Yun Qinghuan naturally noticed the regret and sympathy in Qiao Yue’s eyes, smiled, and pretended not to see. Nowadays, many people in the village liked to look at her with such eyes, as if becoming a widow was such a tragic thing.
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Translator Note
Happy new Year!
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- “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”—Proverbs 16:3
- “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”—Philippians 4:6
